Threshold - Severus Snape

Chapter 27 - Then It Was Gone

Reu and I left Severus's. Ever perceptive, Reu had stepped out first, giving me and Severus the privacy to steal a goodbye kiss. Reu and I had shared our plan with Severus, and after a few minor tweaks, we were ready. Reu and I were going to kill Professor Stone, thereby sending him, or the Terran to be exact, back to our world. Reu would leave via his Ether Stone, and then return here with the information to deal with Voldemort. Severus had balked a little at how dangerous it was for me specifically, but I insisted. Hopefully that wouldn't bite me in the ass.

"Why did you need to meet early, Reu?" I asked as we walked.

"I didn't," he said, not looking at me. "I wanted to bring Severus into the fold. We could really use his help, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do so indirectly," he said.

"I've always suspected you were a genius, Reu," I said, and he gave me an adorable smile. We reached Reu's room, and he retrieved the rucksack with hopefully everything I would need. I tapped my wand on my thigh. I was ready. Reu stepped up to me, placing his hands on my shoulders.

"I'm sorry about all of this, Avia. Remember, if things look bad, use your Ether Stone to go back. I will be close behind you," he said reassuringly.

"Reu..." I said, not really knowing what to say.

"Avia, we will be fine. We make a great team. I can't believe the universe put us here together only to fail. Maybe it will be our finest hour," he said, and it reaffirmed my own optimism, as well as my feeling that we were meant to meet each other in this extraordinary circumstance.

He pulled me into a tight hug. "I love you Avia. I can't say 'always', because that would be cliche. How about forever?" he said, smiling.

"That sounds perfect, Reu. I love you too... forever," I replied. We pulled away, and he slapped me on the shoulder.

"Knock 'em dead, killer," he said, and I couldn't help but laugh. I needed that. I took off towards Hogsmeade, on foot no less. There was still dew on the grass since it was still morning, and the air was wet and thick. I stuck to the footpath, trying to look like I was taking a leisurely stroll. Yesterday, Reu had asked Professor Stone to meet us for lunch at The Leaky Cauldron. Reu didn't expect Ermias would willingly show up just to share the company of two fellow Travelers, but he suspected Ermias wanted my Stone since he had given his to Voldemort. Reu had even suspected that Ermias was trying to find me alone to take it from me, possibly even kidnapping me or putting me under a curse to keep me from telling Reu. But 'fortunately', I had spent my last couple nights with Severus, and he hadn't dared try with the powerful wizard that is Severus at my side.

This was maybe even more dangerous for me than I expected.  This is what I had asked for, though... to take life by the horns and not let go or back down when it really mattered, and I knew I couldn't let myself down... I also knew I couldn't let them down. The threat to this world and mine seemed overwhelming. I wanted this life, and I would defend it, along with all of those who were dear to me, with my life. I suspected I might never reach the Leaky Cauldron now when I saw Professor Stone step out from behind a boulder... fitting.

"Professor Stone, are you on your way to meet us for lunch?" I asked casually. For all he knew, I could have thought he was just behind the boulder taking a piss.

"Not exactly," he said, drawing his wand. This was all part of the plan, I reassured myself. I was bait.

"Professor Stone... what's wrong? Why are you pointing that thing at me?" I asked in mock innocence. Lord, I could never be an actress. Maybe Reu should have let me sit in on some of his theater rehearsals. Ermias must not have suspected, though.

"You can walk or I can drag you. Your preference," he said seriously, and his lack of humor had always disturbed me.

"I can walk," I said in real resignation. I wasn't about to make it too easy on him, and I stood there with my feet planted in their place. He came and got me though, grabbing me roughly by the scruff of my jacket, yanking me forward. "Easy now! I said I would walk!" I said, and I didn't feel the need to act any longer. I walked in the direction he had yanked me, away from the footpath, with him none-to-gently pushing me when I wasn't moving fast enough for his pace. I can't believe I told Reu that Ermias was hot... he was definitely not. I don't even think Reu's wonderful persona could make him such, and I hoped I wouldn't find out.

"Did Reu tell you who I am in our world?" he said, finally speaking, but still in the same gruff voice.

"No," I said. I never really thought to ask Reu. For a split second, I wondered if Reu had been dishonest with me. Sure, I've even said recently that withholding information wasn't a lie if it wasn't meant to deceive. I had a bad habit of having to eat my own words, and at this point I'd had my fill.

"Figures. Then I will tell you," he said, and I wondered why he wanted to tell me anything. Maybe he wanted someone to know why he was doing this. He grabbed my arm and stopped me, turning me to face him. I looked in his eyes and found... nothing. With all of his seemingly emotional words and actions, his expressions full of rage... his eyes were empty, as if void of any life, or even a soul. It was disturbing, and I felt scared now in a way that I hadn't felt before. I suddenly knew this man had no concern for me or our world or any Realm in the Ether for that matter. "I discovered the Threshold. 'I' did! Johnathan McLeod!  That was 'my' name a thousand names and lifetimes ago," he said in apparent anguish.

His revelation hit me deep. Jo had told me the Threshold was discovered decades ago. She didn't say how many decades. This man must have been traveling through the Realm for who knows how long, and now fate it seems had chosen my Occasion to push him over the edge. Why me? I asked myself... Katherine from nowheresville who led an almost ordinary life and decided to write some smutty Fanfiction about Severus Snape. Maybe this was my penance, I thought, and I couldn't help but find some ironic humor in all of it. My dumb smile reached my lips, and he slapped it off of my face. I hit the dirt hard. Dammit, I would never learn. My ears were ringing, and I shook my head, trying to clear it. I slowly stood to face him again.

"I'm sorry, Johnathan. I truly am," I said, and I was being truthful in my own way. If my dear friend Reu, aka Alan, had begun to grow weary of his life in the Ether Realm, and only after several years of traveling it, I knew that this man had decades to lose himself. 

"You will be," he said in a low, dangerous voice, and I wondered why his anger was channeled to me. Maybe I was the embodiment of all of those who came before me. Actors in a play that he himself had created.

"What do you want?  Why destroy what you helped to create? Why now?" I asked, wanting to know what had turned him so bitter that he wanted to ruin his magical discovery, along with even our own world.

"Because I'm dying! And because, at the end of my own existence, none of it mattered! I've lived a thousand lives in dozens of Realms, and it is like none of it even happened. Everything gets reset, and someone else goes in to get their turn to play God.  Anyone I've ever loved just dies, and then they do it all over again, except they end up loving someone else. We're not special. There's no such thing as soulmates, there's not even any souls here. I know I don't have one, not any longer... even if I ever did," he said, and I could almost see a flicker of his soul in his eyes... but then it was gone.