Disclaimer
The characters of Severus Snape, Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Peter Pettigrew, Sturgis Podmore, Albus Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort, the Death Eaters, Narcissa Black, and Lucius Malfoy don't belong to me. They belong to Joanne Kathleen (J.K.) Rowling. I have also borrowed a section from Chapter Twenty-Eight, Snape's Worst Memory, which belongs to J.K. Rowling, but I have altered it a little. But it still belongs to J.K. Rowling, and I am not trying to make any money out of this. Thank you.
End of Disclaimer
HIDING FROM THE TRUTH
"They have been taken captive. But they are not in immediate danger- yet. This will take some time and thinking, but there is not much time for it. Will you do it or not?" The half moon spectacles flashed dangerously as piercing blue eyes swept over the room before them. Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, stood up to his full height, the kindly twinkle gone from his eyes, his face hard as stone.
Before him sat a 23-year-old man and woman, though their ages were just about where the similarities ended. The man had long, greasy black hair and a hooked nose with a hard expression on his face. He looked dangerous and deadly because of this, but it was getting pushed around so much in school that had made him this way. Even though he was 23, his hard and serious look made him look a lot older. The woman had friendly olive green eyes that usually shined with happiness, long dark red hair, and usually a smile to accompany them. But today, her whole expression was hard and serious. She, on the other hand, looked her age now, but usually looked younger.
"WILL YOU DO IT OR NOT!" roared Albus Dumbledore, causing the phoenix behind him to screech and fly around the room, the pictures on the wall to shout, "Now really, Albus, was that necessary?", and the man and woman to lean back in their chairs.
"Well?" he inquired in a reasonable voice.
"We'll do it," said the man and woman together quickly.
"Thank you," said Dumbledore.
"But it would help to know exactly what we're agreeing to," added the man.
"What he said," agreed the woman.
"All right," said Dumbledore, sitting down. "Certain members of the Order of the Phoenix have been taken captive. Severus, when you fled from the hands of Voldemort-," Neither the man or woman flinched, though a look of defiance crossed the man's face, but he said nothing. "-he did not know that you had left him. But now, he does. That is the simple truth, and we will not dawdle on it. Agreed?" The man, Severus Snape, nodded sullenly. "Then, he wanted to lure you, Severus, back, to kill you. So he has taken one person dear to you back.
"Mother!" cried Severus. He recovered from his shock quickly. "He'll kill them if I don't come." Dumbledore nodded. "But how can I-" He looked up. "I have to duel with him!" Dumbledore nodded again, as though Severus had asked a simple question like, "May I sit down?"
"Professor Dumbledore, sir?" the woman, Lily Evans, asked in her usually quiet voice. Severus had a sudden memory of her shouting angrily, "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" His face showed a flicker of a grin that died suddenly. He remembered what he had said to her after she had said it... he shook his head to clear the memory.
"Yes, Lily?" replied Dumbledore politely as though he were answering a question in his classroom.
"Who else, besides Severus's mother, has been taken captive?"
"From the Order of the Phoenix, they have taken-,"
"Professor, please wait."
"Yes, Lily?" replied Dumbledore, watching in polite interest.
"Severus isn't in the Order."
Dumbledore looked at Severus, who looked back defiantly. "I am aware of that, Lily. Severus is completely trustworthy."
"But Professor-"
"I won't give him any information, Evans." spat Snape angrily.
"I assure you, Lily."
"No, Professor, I wasn't implying on that. It's just that- certain members of the Order may not know he's- you know,- switched sides, and they may be a bit... reluctant to have him rescue them."
"It's all right, Lily, because Severus will not be rescuing anyone, as he will be dueling with Voldemort."
"Oh- right."
"The members of the Order that have been taken captive are Sirius Black-" Severus's mouth formed one grim, thin line. "-, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter, all of which are very good friends and are dangerous when given a wand." At the last name, Severus had to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying a stream of curse words and hexing the closest thing to him.
"Wait...-" said Lily slowly. "-I have to save all these people, but what about rescuing Severus's mother?"
"All in good time, all in good time. But you must see that Serena was a Death Eaters at one time, and you can't just leave when Voldemort hires you to work for him." He stood up briskly. "But there is no more time for chit-chat. Here you go, now get out of my office." He stuck a few rolls of parchment in Severus's hand and a small bag in Lily's. "Now begone with you." He pushed Severus out the door as he opened his mouth to speak.
So at this, Lily and Severus started out on their journey. They left Hogwarts, neither saying a word, wandering without any fixed idea of the direction they were going in. After about a half hour of walking in this way, Lily attempted to start a conversation.
"You must be really attached to your sister, because she understands about magic and doesn't think you're a freak... Petunia doesn't really pay much attention to me, and she thinks I'm a freak because of what I am. When I got my Hogwarts letter... that was the end of any normal conversation I would ever have with her..."
Severus said nothing at first. "We should look at the things Dumbledore gave us somewhere where we have no chance of being overheard."
"There's a cluster of trees up ahead." Lily answered. They made their way towards the trees. After walking about a half mile through the cluster, they realized that it must be a forest. They saw a clearing and decided that would be safe enough. It was pretty roomy, enough to hold a two-story house. The trees were very tall, and formed a canopy high above. Lily looked at a small tag on her small bag (which was about the size of a purse). It showed a smiling blond witch putting her bed inside. The label read, "Darly's all-fitting bag; it holds anything smaller than the city of London."
Snape was busy looking at the pieces of parchment, which were blank. He wondered what he was supposed to do with them. He scratched a particularly itchy part of his robes, at the very top, and his finger scraped a piece of parchment. "Of course... when he pushed me, Dumbledore stuck this piece of parchment on my robes..."
Lily had reached into her bag and pulled out a small square piece of substance she could not place. There was a bright button at the top of it. She walked over to Severus. "I found
this in my bag... what do you think it is?"
Severus took one look at it and said abruptly, "Tap it 3 times with your wand, say Drodendissim, and go as far back as you can in this clearing." Lily wordlessly did what he saidand ran far behind, to the edge of the clearing beside Severus and watched with her mouth open in a silent gasp as it opened into a large two-story house, hidden by the canopy, right in the center of the clearing.
"Wow," she whispered, looking at it. It was a white house with red doors and window shutters, the roof made with some sort of wood painted a dark indigo color.
"Well, don't just stand there, lets go inside," said Severus, his face still expressionless. They walked inside. There was a kitchen with a refrigerator that had plates and glasses in it, two bedrooms that looked as though they had been made for their own personalities, which (Lily pointed out) they probably had been. Lily reached inside her bag again and gasped as she pulled out two invisibility cloaks with a note with Dumbledore's writing on it. "I have my sources," it read.
Severus put the parchment in his robes, deciding to look at the clues and papers Dumbledore had given him later. He sat down across from Lily in a table for two, where two plates and two glasses were. He decided finally that there was no point in ignoring her, and decided to think of her as Evans Rosier, his childhood best friend.
"So, are you hungry?" he asked her abruptly.
"Yeah, kind of," said Lily. At once, the plates before them were filled with sandwiches and a drink.
"What's this?" Severus asked Lily, looking at the dark brown drink.
"It's called Coke. Or it can be called Coca Cola or Soda. Ever heard of it?" answered Lily.
"No..."
"Try it. It's good."
"OK...." he looked at it suspiciously and took a sip. His eyes lit up, making him look 10 years younger. "It's good!"
Lily laughed her warm, quiet laugh at his surprise. "Yeah, it is."
They drank quietly for a moment. Lily broke the silence. "I can help you with that stuff Dumbledore gave you, if you'd like."
"Yeah..." said Severus, glancing up the stairs to his room. "I'll do that later."
"Your sister went to Hogwarts, didn't she?" asked Lily, changing the subject.
"Yeah, she did," said Severus moodily. "I should be reading all that stuff Dumbledore gave me."
"I'll help," said Lily quickly. "Let's go to the study."
They walked to the study and sat down together at the desk. Severus took out the only piece of parchment that had writing on it and looked at it.
"One day, one time at
The peak of day or night
At the jagged rock that
Juts into a pool of light
You will uncover the road
To the place you seek
And if the river had flowed,
You will not arrive weak."
Severus sat back and sighed with disappointment. He was pretty good with logic, but this one had him stumped. He hopelessly turned it over and was surprised to find more writing on the back.
"As the marauders say
'Read it in this way.'"
It was shorter, but Severus was even more stumped. He looked to Lily and was surprised to find her smiling gently.
"It's simple, really. Well, I only know because of Peter, blundering Pettigrew, who could never keep a secret if his life depended on it... he told me about the Marauders, these people Sirius told him about, jokesters that would tap any paper they wanted to keep secret, and say, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.' to read it."
Severus grabbed the blank pieces of parchment from his robes. There were 4. Severus tapped the first one and said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." At once, writing scrawled over the parchment. Severus eagerly tapped each of the remaining parchments and said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The second had a map. The last two pieces, Severus was surprised to see, were addressed separately to each of them. Severus instinctively put down the map and the first parchment and handed Lily the piece addressed to her and started to read his piece of the parchment.
Dear Severus,
I know you and Lily have your differences, but I know you will forget all
that and learn to talk to each other just as you would talk endlessly to Evans
Rosier and how she would to Remus Lupin. I have not written this to you to harp
on you to talk to Lily, but to give you some warnings and some advice.
"Oh great," thought Severus. "Must talk to Lily, now must take his advice and be his faithful servant forever... why did I even agree to come with him back to Hogwarts?" Severus thought and answered himself. "Because Dumbledore knew I had left the Dark Lord. He knew I could be switched around. He gave me another chance. Because he's the only one that would believe in me. Because I didn't want to stay at the hands of Voldemort or be one of his Death Eaters."
First, it is too dangerous to tell you the way to go on your quest, but I
hope you and Lily will be able to crack the poem I gave you and find your way
quickly. You both are very good at logic.
"Yeah right, and that's why we both couldn't even understand the first line."
I suggest you keep some sort of journal. Building up anger and sadness
inside you is not good, so I'd suggest you to write down things every now and
then. If you don't want to do this, please speak to Lily. She is an excellent listener
and I think if you forget she ever had any connection to James Potter, she will
prove better than any journal.
"Oh, so now I'm supposed to confide my 'deepest thoughts and feelings' to someone who liked James Potter, the arrogant freak! The git! The stupid, ego-filled git he was!"
I cannot help you with your dueling with Voldemort, but all I know is that if you can free Stephina and Serena first, they will help. By free, I mean giving them a safe way to double-cross Voldemort. But you will have to figure out the rest for yourself.
My last word to you is that sometimes, you have to feel the pain of letting go of something that you love to save it the pain of becoming helpless to others. Even if you know it is safe, you need to consider if it is happy as well. Letting go is sometimes the best gift to give.
"Riddle me this, riddle me that... can't the man even speak clearly?"
With Urgency,
Albus Dumbledore
In her chair, Lily was silently reading her letter, while she, like Severus, was thinking her own thoughts as she read.
My Dear Lily,
I know you are a very forgiving person and that you will forgive Severus
quickly. He is only a man that has made a mistake in his life, but is working to
correct it. He knows he will be forgiven by the entire world if he succeeds in this.
"If he succeeds he'll be forgiven... if not, then what?" thought Lily. "I guess his mistake was joining the Dark Side... What do I have to forgive him for anyway?"
You know that you'll need to free James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. But, though you may not understand it, you can't let them see Severus and Voldemort.
"Wait... does he expect Severus to kill him in the end?"
If Severus kills him, it would rid the world of evil's highest power. But I don't expect him to kill him. Nor do I want him to. All I want him to do is hold him off long enough for you to escape.
"I don't think Dumbledore even cares what happens to Severus!"
I don't want you to think I don't care what happens to Severus. I don't even know if he will be forgiven by our society. Life will certainly be hard for him for a few years. Now, you need to save these 4, and you know it. I won't tell you how in words, too dangerous, but here is a poem I know you can crack.
With silence, stealth, and tricks,
You must get through the room
Which is surrounded by bricks.
Make a mistake and arrive at doom.
Come to a stop where a cat lies
Concealed by a brick that will
Change. Tap with your wand the eyes
3 times and the space will fill
Think hard of what you want to do.
The answer there will be written for you
Just out there in the blue.
"Great, more poems, just what I need."
You also need to read the other papers I left in Severus's possession. Good
luck to you, Lily.
"Luck?"
I don't know if you will succeed. No one knows that for sure. But we can hope. Good Luck.
With Hope,
Albus Dumbledore
"'With Hope?' 'I don't know if you will succeed?' Why did I even agree to do this?" She suddenly remembered the cause. "Because of James... I needed to rescue him. James." The thought made her smile and think happily of the good times she had with James. The thought also made her think of the times when James had been an ego-filled teenager...
Flashback
5th Year at Hogwarts
James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew sat under a shady tree. Sirius, eager for some action after his O.W.L.s spotted Severus Snape walking in no fixed direction anxiously looking through his Defense Against the Dark Arts question sheet.
"That'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James, looking at Severus.
"What?" asked Sirius, looking around and spotting Severus. "Excellent... Snivellus!"
James started to curse Severus. Severus was unable to keep up with James's hexing speed.
Lily watched from the lake's side. She glared furiously at Remus, who was determinedly reading his Transfiguration book. This was the time to stop this.
"Leave him ALONE!" she shouted, her green eyes flashing with disgust and fury.
"All right, Evans?" asked James, making his voice sound pleasant, more mature.
"Leave him alone. What's he ever done to you?"
"Well," said James, flashing a self-confident smile. "It's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean."
Several people surrounding laughed. Lily glared furiously at them. She then turned her glare back to James.
"You think you're funny. But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."
"I will if you go out with me, Evans. Go on... Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid."
"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius briskly. "OY!"
Severus had finally reached his wand and a gash appeared on James's face. James whipped out his wand and brought Severus up in the air and then turned him upside down, displaying graying underpants.
Lily felt her mouth twitch for a second. Then, feeling disgusted with herself, she said "Let him down!"
"Certainly," said James with an evil smile. He jerked his wand upward. Snape fall down in a heap on the ground. He got up and pointed him wand forward, but Sirius said lazily, "Locomotor mortis!" Snape kneeled over.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" shouted Lily, her own wand out.
"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James.
"Take the curse off him, then!"
James sighed with disappointment and muttered the countercurse.
"There you go," he said as Snape tried to get up. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus-"
"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"
Lily felt every bit of sympathy leak out of her. "Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."
"Apologize to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed to his throat.
"I don't want you to make him apologize!" Lily shouted. Every eye on the grounds was on them now. Even Peeves, the ghost, had abandoned trying to scare a couple of first-years to watch. "You're as bad as he is..."
"What?" yelped James, sounding like a hurt puppy. "I'd NEVER call you a-- you-know-what!"
"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can-- I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."
She took off along the ground, her face red with anger and her green eyes shining with angry tears.
"Evans!" she heard James shouting. "Hey, EVANS!" She only ran faster, pulling open the door to the castle, and running inside.
End of Flashback
After she remembered this memory, Lily looked guiltily at Severus. She didn't blame him for hating James. But then she remembered what he had said about her. She couldn't help that she was born from Muggles. And it shouldn't matter, anyway. She realized what Dumbledore had said about forgiving Severus and stubbornly decided she wouldn't. At the same time, Lily decided she and Severus were not going to be on first-name terms. She'd call him Snape, like everyone else. She sat back moodily.
Across the table, Severus was uncannily thinking of the same memory. Guiltily, he glanced across the table at Lily, who was sitting there moodily. Then he remembered how James had humiliated him and how Lily had gone out with him in her 7th year. He, too, sat back moodily. She loved him. Still loves him, he reminded himself. He automatically decided that they should no longer be on first-name terms. He'd call her Evans, as he used to, or still did when he was mad.
For a long time, they stared at the table and floor, but then at the same time shot their glare upwards at each other. For a few seconds, their eyes locked. Suddenly scared, Severus saw a flash of fire in her eyes. Lily saw the fear in his eyes and her eyes became satisfied. It was that satisfaction that made Severus show fire in his own eyes, and change then to satisfaction seeing hers turn to fear. They both turned their gaze away and turned to the floor again. After a few more minutes, they looked up again.
This time, when their eyes locked, Severus saw the innocence in her eyes, and Lily saw the pain in his. At once, their anger melted. They both had suddenly realized that they had lost people very dear to them, and it was up to them to find them.
"We'd better get some sleep and get a fresh start on that poem tomorrow." said Severus, breaking the ice.
"Right," said Lily quickly. They both looked at each other, and decided it was stupid to treat each other coolly when they could start over. Severus climbed the stairs with Lily right behind him. At the top of the stairs, Lily hesitated and said, "Goodnight... Severus."
Severus smiled a very rare smile at her. "Goodnight, Lily."
The next morning, Severus heard a knock at his door. Quickly pulling on some robes, he ran to open it. Lily was at the door. Severus noticed, as he had so many years ago, how the sunlight bounced off her red-gold hair.
"I found some breakfast... all you have to do is say into the plate what you want." Lily said tentatively.
"Okay... then we'd better pack up this place and get on the road." answered Severus.
"We'll need to figure out the poem first... remember?"
"Oh, yeah..."
They ate their breakfast in silence, and then Severus went up to his room to get the poem.
"Ok," Lily agreed. "What's on the other two parchments?"
"I don't know... we'll figure that out later. Let's take another look at that poem." Severus went up to his room and took out the poem from the pockets of his robes he had worn the last night. Lily followed him. As he caught a glimpse of her face in a mirror in his room, he realized that James Potter probably was a completely different person talking to her. She didn't even know how much of a jerk he really was. Instantly, Severus let go of the last bit of his anger.
Severus got the poem and walked to the doorway where Lily was. She looked into his face and found for the first time that she could pity him. His childhood could not have been easy, father an abusive Death Eater, and she didn't know about his mother and sister. Instantly, she let go of the last bit of her anger.
Both Severus and Lily went downstairs to read the poem.
"Line by line?" Severus suggested.
"Yes," agreed Lily. They looked at the poem.
"One day, one time at," read Severus. He looked at Lily. "Well, that doesn't tell us much."
"Read the next line," urged Lily."
"The peak of day or night," recited Severus. He looked at Lily again. "No clue. Next line?"
"No..." said Lily. "That's an important clue. What's the peak of day or night?"
"Well, there's a.m. and p.m. but that not much help..."
"Peak... highest point."
"That could also mean the end."
"I guess."
"End of day or night."
"End of the day is when sun sets."
"End of night is when sun rises..."
They both looked at each other. "THAT'S IT!"
"When sun sets... or when sun rises..." breathed Lily.
"That's it!" said Severus. "That's when we leave!" He looked outside. "Better make that sunset today."
"I think each clue is two lines."
"At the jagged rock that juts into a pool of light," read Severus. "Well, it's obvious. As we set out, we have to look for a jagged rock that juts into a pool of light."
"The moon..." muttered Lily.
"Excuse me?"
"The moon! Where the moon shines at sunset is where the jagged rock that juts into a pool of light.
"You will uncover the road to the place you seek."
"Wherever the jagged rock is, we'll find the road to where Voldemort is holding James and your mother."
"And if the river had flowed you will not arrive weak."
"That I don't know about, but I guess we'll figure out after we find the road."
"Good, then how about breakfast."
"The other two parchments... we need to see them."
"Oh, right..." Severus took out the other two rolls of parchment and opened them.
His eyes widened and Lily moved closer to him to see what the rolls said. The two rolls were clippings of stories from The Daily Prophet. One was from 12 years before. The other was from 20 years before. Severus and Lily first looked at the one from 20 years before.
SNAPE: LARGEST SUPPORTER OF YOU-KNOW-WHO
INCLUDES AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH EX, SERENA SNAPE
Evidence shows that Snape is the largest supporter of You-Know-Who, writes Fredrick D. Griffith, reporter of the Daily Prophet, order of Merlin, 3rd class. Snape has been donating the Ministry of Magic gold for many years for various charities and some say that he must be possessed.
"Stevertus and I divorced after having two children, Severus and Stephina," says ex-wife Serena. "He became too dangerous."
In the past few years, evidence now shows that Snape may be behind the killings of 7 muggles and 13 witches and wizards. Almost 150 memory charms have had to be cast on muggles present at these killings, risking letting muggles know that there is such thing as magic.
The Daily Prophet decided to go further into this case by interviewing Snape's ex-wife (as said above), Serena Snape.
"When did you and your ex start dating?" asks this reporter.
"Stevertus and I started dating in our last year of school, when we were 17. He used to be very charming and well-known back then and we got married at 23. We had a son a couple years later, Severus, and then a year and a half after that, our daughter, Stephina."
"What made you divorce?"
"I never knew that Stevertus had any connection with the Dark Lord. When I found out, I became frightened, and ordered a divorce. But he could hunt me down. I am spending my life running from him. My dear Severus was only 2 when Stevertus left, and poor Stephina was just a year old."
The article went on and on with more questions. When Severus was finished, he threw the paper down with force. He then stamped on it, a look of great dislike and hatred on his face. "Well, she never thought it was important to tell us that we're running away from our father!"
Lily kept quiet. Severus looked at the one from 12 years before. It was titled, "Evans: The story behind this quiet little family." Severus wordlessly handed it to Lily.
EVANS: THE STORY BEHIND THIS QUIET LITTLE FAMILYLiza Evans is said to have a connection with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, writes Susie Chaping, reporter of the Daily Prophet, Order of Merlin 4th class. Her husband, Frank Evans, pleads her not guilty, but our evidence left by an anonymous source has her in question. She is allowed to stay at home with her two daughters, Lily and Petunia, but she must come to court twice a week. This is the first time we have had to have a muggle in our court, but since she might have an idea of the next target of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, we are willing to bend the rules. Petunia is also a muggle, as of Frank Evans, but their youngest daughter Lily is currently at Hogwarts, and a very bright witch indeed.
Their father is clean, without any criminal record even by the muggle police. It is only Liza that has this connection. How she knows, we don't know, and what she knows, we don't know. For the safety of the whole of our people, she needs to speak so we can protect those that are next in target of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
The article went on to say what would happen if Voldemort directed an attack at someone within the next few months. Lily tore up the article and threw it into the fire. "Aerobics exercise?! And all this time she was in court!"
Severus was actually smiling slightly. "What?" shot Lily.
"Well, it's just that I never thought we'd have anything in common, but here we are with truths about our families!" answered Severus.
"I was just thinking..." mused Lily. "What if James had something that he wasn't telling me? Something like this?"
"I doubt it," said Severus, to Lily's surprise. "James is like me at this- not like our parents. For the one you love, I think we both believe that you need to tell them the truth- not keep them guessing with lies. The truth can tear you apart, but at least you'd know that they knew the truth."
"You're right," said Lily. "But maybe we should put off going to rescue these people for another day... how about sunset tomorrow?"
"Right," agreed Severus. They both knew exactly why they were putting off the rescue, but they were both doing something neither had ever done- Hiding from the truth.