If Muggle romance novels are to be believed, a
relationship based on friendship, comfort, and commonality is never
successful; the young lady always leaves the steady young man for a
wild man of dubious character and smoldering charms. Our heroine,
luckily, never read any Muggle romance novels. With only the most
mundane of stumbling blocks, and those encountered easily resolved,
Mariah and Silas’ relationship grew throughout their remaining years
at Hogwarts. When Silas graduated the next year, he gifted Mariah
with a ring to symbolize the promise that when she too finished
school, they would be wed. Silas joined the family business and let
a small flat in Brighton with one of his former classmates, saving
up as much money as he could for his wedding and to buy a house for
his bride-to-be.
Mariah tried not to be lonely her last two
years of school, she had her friends and her frequent letters from
Silas to keep her company. Her skill in herbology continued to
grow, and she spent the majority of her final year working on a
special honors project with Professor Samling. She wasn’t a
prefect, or Head Girl, that would have been too extraordinary for
our ordinary Hufflepuff. She was content with her calm and peaceful
life and imagined the day that she and Silas would finally be wed.
Sirius Black eventually forgot about the
Hufflepuff he was once obsessed with. He spent his final years at
Hogwarts chasing the prettiest girls he could find. Silas was very
amused to read in one of Mariah’s letters that Sirius had asked Erin
to the Yule Ball – he and Mariah made a bet with each other over
which one of them would tire of the other first, but ironically
enough they dated for the remainder of their time at Hogwarts. When
Sirius was arrested for murder and sent to Azkaban, Erin moved on,
but never found anyone quite like him again.
As to what became of Severus Snape during his
remaining time in school, no one really knows. He was often seen in
the potions dungeon, or by himself in the library, but almost never
in the company of others. No one was close enough to notice when
the Dark Mark appeared on his left forearm, and none noticed him
watching from afar as Mariah stepped on to the Hogwarts Express for
the last time. None heard the vow he spoke as he left her view.
“That little Hufflepuff whore will pay.”
End Part One – Stay tuned for Part Two – “The
Joys of Revenge” Coming Soon.
Back to Chapter Seventeen
Author's Note:
Thank you all for reading this - this was my first fanfiction to be started, though the second to be completed. I hope you aren't too disappointed by the ending,
from comments it seemed that the majority of people wanted to see her forgive Severus. Well, the story isn't over yet! I don't think Severus deserved to be forgiven at this point in
the story - and the deep-seated anger that he has is essential for his development into a first-class baddie before his redemption. I enjoy delving into what made Severus the dysfunctional
person we see in canon, several of my other stories have this same theme though they attack the problem in different ways. I think it is too easy to say that it was all MWPP and their treatment of him,
there would have to be something a little more personal I think. And that's where this came from.
The Joys of Revenge takes place twenty years after the events of the original story; all the characters are very much adults and thus there will be many adult themes in the story, and probably
some lemons as well. As a result, the sequel will be posted in the Shags Erotica section of the site. My apologies to any younger folks reading, but it's necessary for the development of the story.
Again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!