Working for the Dark Lord surely has it's downsides, Severus thought, but it has it's upsides too. It's way too late to back out anyway – the man who could do that and live to tell the tale hasn't come around yet. Still, he sometimes wondered. What if…
His thoughts got interrupted by a noise in the other room – as if something got knocked over. Wand at the ready, he approached the noise. When he got to this house, he had checked everything. There was no-one here. Or, at least, not one hour ago. Did the owner get back? Was there a pet that somehow got his way back in? He reached the door and peeked in the other room. Nothing. The sound had to have come from here… Violently, he pushed the door open with his left hand and held his wand up high with his right. The room appeared to be empty. It had been a bedroom for a boy – some toys of robots and dinosaurs still lay on the floor. His bed had the Star Wars-sheets laid back and the wooden closet stood ajar. Severus frowned. Some toys appeared to have been moved. He turned to the closet. There was definitely someone in there. "Come out…. Slowly." he said, gritting his teeth. A slender hand appeared, the fingers gripping the door and opening it. The figure wasn't holding a wand. It stepped out of the closet, into the light. Severus froze. She stepped forward with her palms up. Slowly, involuntarily, his wand lowered. She stood right in front of him, an uncertain smile running over her face. He gathered himself again, held his wand under her nose. "You're deceiving me," he whispered, "you're not her." Her smile disappeared and she gazed into his eyes. "I would never deceive you", she replied. Hearing her voice broke something inside him. He stepped back, wand falling to the floor, back to the wall. "Lily…." His voice was no more than a breath. His head was spinning round – why was she here? She made her choice, he made his. He thought their paths would never cross again. Why had she come? Was she tormenting him? Did she receive pleasure out of this, seeing how much power she still had over him? Her eyes looked so sad, so filled with pity. He hardened himself yet again. He didn't need pity. "Why are you here?" It pleased him to hear his voice had no more emotions shimmering through. "I've been thinking about you." His heart made a jump. "About what you do. Why you do it." She bit her lower lip. "I couldn't help thinking… that deep down, you're a good guy. You're still a good guy. You just can't see it anymore for yourself." A hollow laugh followed. "You think I'm a good guy?" He laughed even louder. "After all I did, I'm still a good guy?" Her eyes teared up. He was hurting her, again, and he knew it. He couldn't stop himself. "You're delusional. Go back to your Potter and leave me be!" Unable to look at her, he picked up his wand and kept staring at it. "You're your own bad luck charm, Severus." He couldn't ignore her any longer. "You think yourself a bad guy, and because of that you make it hard for yourself. You're making yourself into a bad guy." She stepped closer. He closed his eyes, not sure if he wanted to hear what she had to say. "Let's make something good happen to you for once. Good times create good men. You need more good memories." Startled, he looked at her – just at the moment she grabbed his shoulder and the world swirled around them.
