My name is Emily Bishop and as far as the muggle world is concerned, I am dead. Why would they think that, you ask? Why would I want them to think that? It might be because I can no longer stand to be away from my fellow witches and wizards. It might be because my heart is no longer with the muggles, but with like minded people.

To understand what I'm going to tell you all, you need to first understand my past. I grew up in a military family. My father was a navy seal, hell he was one of the best. He taught me everything I would need to know to make it in the muggle world. He knew right from the get-go that my mother was a witch, but I didn't. I just thought me and her were special. I lead a solitary childhood, for the other kids were scared of me and what I could do. Looking back, I don't blame them. I threatened them, ran them off when they came near me, and just did everything in my power to keep them away. I hated them, and they knew it. I did have two friends though. Severus Snape, and Lily Evans. I went to school with Lily, and had known Severus through our mothers since we were small. It was he who told me the he and I were magical, that I was a witch. Why my mother never told me that, I never found out.

I came home one day after playing in the park with Severus and Lily to find my mother and father sitting on the couch, both reading a letter.

"Who's the letter from, father? Is it from grandmother?" I asked, taking off my shoes and walking over to them.

"No, honey, it's a letter from the school you'll be attending next year." My father's voice was grave. I didn't know why until later that year.

My eyes lit up, "Hogwarts?" I was ecstatic! Severus had told me at the park that he had received his letter from Hogwarts, but was slightly saddened I hadn't received mine.

My mother smiled at me, nodding her head, "We leave tomorrow to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies."

I won't bother boring you with the details of my parents and I shopping for my supplies. We did however see Severus there with his mother, but we didn't have time to stop and talk. I got my wand, ebony with vines carved into the handle, and a beautiful calico kitten that had been abandoned nearby.

Nothing else happened until I was on the train. My father and mother had said a teary farewell to me before I got on and found the compartment with Severus. He was sitting with a few other boys who I didn't speak to. All I wanted to do was get to school, and found out which house I belonged to.

The other boys kept asking me questions, but Severus distracted them. I was grateful. I had never been very open to strangers. Both me and Severus were socially awkward, having never really spoken with other people before.

Once we got to the school, all of the first years were sorted, and I ended up in Slytherin. I was beyond happy. Severus was placed in the same house, meaning we stood a good chance of sharing classes. We did in fact share all our classes together throughout our school career.

Late into my first year I learned my father had cancer, and went home at Dumbledores request. My father told me he had had cancer since a month before I went to Hogwarts. He hadn't told me because he didn't want me to be distracted from my school work. Me and my mother, along with a team of doctors did everything in our power to help him and in the end our efforts bore fruit. He got better and beat the cancer.

The next few years went a little like this; James Potter and his idiot friends would bully Severus, and I would scare them off. We practiced in secret the dark arts, not wanting to be under fire from anyone. In the months between school, I met and fell in love with a boy named Gareth. He was magnificent. He had short, fire red hair, beautiful blue eyes, and knew how to make every girls heart sing. After I had left school, I married Gareth, only to find out that he wasn't the man I thought he was. He beat me, raped me, and made my life hell. Lily found out, and despite our friendship having been ended after she found out about me and Severus practicing the dark arts, she came with Severus and Molly Weasley and saved me. That night is worth mentioning.

/

That night Gareth had been beating me over him losing his job. It was the worst beating yet. I don't know why I didn't just use the dark arts to kill him. Maybe I still thought he loved me. Most abuse victims think that way.

"STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!" He yelled, kicking me hard in the ribs. I felt a couple of them crack. I couldn't move out of pain and fear. I just let him keep yelling and screaming and hitting, wondering all the while why I didn't just kill him. Then I reminded myself that he had taken my wand and hidden it. A knife? That would involve going into the kitchen to retrieve it. That also meant I would be beaten to death.

After a few hours, he stopped and went into the kitchen to get himself a beer. I lay on the ground, my long bright ginger hair surrounding me as I silently cried and wished for death. My gaze wandered over to the door as two figures snuck in. I thought one to be Death, the other a reaper to guide me to heaven. I couldn't see them well, Gareth had kicked me in the head and I was near unconsciousness. All I remember is someone casting a spell as Garth walked back into the room, his limp body falling to the ground. I was then lifted into the air by a pair of strong arms clad in black before I passed out.

I awoke in The Burrow a few days later, bandages covering various injuries. I looked around the room I was in, and saw Severus in one corner, James, Lily, Arthur and Molly talking near my bed. I didn't know why Severus was there. The last I had heard of him was that he had joined up with Voldemort. He even offered to help me join, to get away from Gareth. I had declined. In my delusion I had thought that Gareth beating me was just his way of affection. I was an idiot. I cut off communication with him, along with my friends from all the houses of Hogwarts.

Severus was the first to notice I was awake, the first to walk over and speak with me. He was as much of a gentlemen as I remember him being. He made sure I was okay, and told me that I would never have to worry about Gareth again. He had used his own spell, sectumsempra, to kill him. At first I was a saddened, but I quickly grew numb. I realized that I no longer cared about Gareth. Hell, I was almost relieved he was dead. Soon Lily and Molly noticed me, and Molly began to fuss over me. Severus soon left, much to my relief. I didn't want him and James fighting when I couldn't stop them.

I stayed there for a few years, attending a muggle psychology school and graduating at the top of my class. I was successful as a therapist, and even took to writing stories, like I am now, but they tend to be better than this. Fiction always is better than truth. You can fluff fiction up, but you can't when you're bound to tell nothing but the truth as I am now.