The twenty year old Severus Snape looked up into the terrifyingly red eyes of Lord Voldermort. Those eyes… portraying a soul nearly as black as his now broken heart. Beside them, a girl with astonishing blue eyes lay dead. A look of utter terror eternally etched on her now ghostly face.

Just hours before, the young couple had been married. It had not been in a church in the usual manner. "I've thought about my dream wedding since I was a little girl. Please Severus, things are so uncertain these days. Can we not have this one bit of enjoyment?" Her eyes had convinced him more than her words and Snape couldn't bear to let her down.

And so it was planned. They would be married on midsummer's eve beside the black lake at Hogwarts. At the stroke of midnight, they would become husband and wife under the stars. Dumbledor agreed to visit an old friend of his to ensure it would not rain on that night. "Severus you deserve this and I want you to be happy. Even if only for a night."

Snape had shed a tear at his headmaster's kindness. This man had been there for him when his parents had been murdered just two years ago. He'd helped Severus when darkness threatened to overwhelm him, "Thank you sir," Dumbledor had chuckled slightly at that and wrapped his arms around the young man in a fatherly embrace.

But all that was over now. Severus Snape was on his knees at the feet or the Dark Lord. A devastating look of defeat in his eyes. What did it matter anymore? Good? Evil? There was no difference. Neither had saved his beloved bride.

FlashBack

They stood at the alter, each happier than they had ever been in their entire lives. It was as if all the horror and tragedy outside this moment had and never would happen.

"Everyone told me not to fall in love with you Severus" Ballad started her vow, "My parents, my friends and even you yourself. But I wouldn't listen. I loved you hard and I was positive you loved my back though I had little evidence to the fact. There was one moment though, where I was absolutely positive. It was scarcely more than a few seconds but I knew. It was just after we met when we both ended up, somehow, in Hogsmead. As you passed by me on the street, our eyes locked. In that moment, I saw such love, such devotion that I knew you were the one. You were the one and only person I could love with all my heart. I love you Severus Snape and I always will,"

"Ballad," Snape began, smiling shyly from her passionate speech, "I know I am a hard man to love. I can't express myself that well so I usually don't even try. I can count on one hand how many people in this world that I have let into my heart. I've had a hard life but you… you make it all worth while. Every trial I've been through now seems but a stepping stone to your heart. Merlin knows that it isn't easy to love me but you never gave up. For that…for that I love you. I love you Ballad and I will never stop,"

Dumbledor smiled down at them. He had also agreed to marry them as priests seemed very busy these days, "Do you Ballad de Belle, take this man, Severus Snape, as your lawful wedded husband? To have and to hold, to cherish in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do," Balled smiled.

"And do you, Severus Snape, take this woman, Ballad de Belle, as your lawful wedded wife? To have and to hold, to cherish in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

Severus looked at his mentor smiling then turned back to Ballad, "I do,"

"Good," Dumbledor said, "Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the beautiful bride Severus,"

Never had either person experienced such a kiss. So much love it held, that it seemed to light up the night sky.

End of FlashBack

Only an hour after that glorious kiss, Voldermort himself had appeared before the young couple. Severus fought like he had never fought before but even he could not triumph over the killing curse. That ability would come many years later in a young boy.

But now, Snape watched in horror as the green light enveloped the only woman he loved and could love him back, in a blanket of death. Her lifeless body cradled in his arms, Severus felt the Dark Lord standing behind him. The aura of evil made the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

"Severus, will you join me? She is gone and you have no one left. The only life left for you is in my service,"

Snape was not afraid to die so it was not the fear or death that made his decision. Despair was what evaporated all the reasons he had to remain on the path or good. Voldermort was right. She was gone and there was nothing left for him. In that moment, hatred took over what was left of Severus Snape's heart. It would not be till many years later that someone would be able to tear a hole in that black veil.

He laid her head gently to the ground and got up turning to the evil creature before him. "Release me from my pain," He said fearlessly, all emotion drained from his eyes.

Voldermort spread out his long, inhuman fingers and Snape was pushed to his knees by an invisible force. "Do you Severus Snape, swear your soul to me, your one true Lord?"

For a moment, Snape thought how ironic it was that he had given quite similar vows in another life. "I do," he replied as if in trance.

"Good," The Dark Lord hissed, "Rise, my loyal slave,"

Snape rose and as he did, Voldermort grasped his right forearm tightly. A powerful serge of magic coursed through the young mans body. When the hand was lifted it left in its place an ugly mark with dark meaning.

Faraway, Albus Dumbledor felt a surge of dark energy that knocked him to the ground. As he was getting up a pained tear fell from his right eye. In barely a whisper, the old man uttered a question that its distant receiver was trying desperately to ignore…

"Why Severus?"