Once again, yes, this is really bad timing, considering that the sixth book is out (and I HAVE read it) but I couldn't care less. I am not planning on changing anything at the moment. This happens in a completely different universe, or something.

Glad to see old readers back as well as new ones popping up. That's always a pleasant surprise. And at the moment I am suffering from post-Harry Potter 6 syndrome, and I am therefore not sure how much I feel I am up to writing. Ah, well. We'll see.

XxXxX

Chapter Two

And where does this put us? (The boys are back in town!)

"Well, that was most certainly the weirdest thing I ever saw!" Ron exclaimed loudly, as they watched the grownups making their way to the castle. "Snape even almost seemed to... like her."

"Like her? Hermione asked incredulously, staring at him. "Ron, are you completely daft? Didn't you SEE!"

"See what?" he asked in hurt tones.

"How he looked at her! The way he smiled! How he touched her hand!"

"Heh?"

"Obviously not" she sniffed, rolling her eyes. "He's in LOVE with her. Anybody could see that."

Ginny nodded slowly in approval, and Ron stared at them both. "You're insane" he stated determinably. "It's SNAPE we're talking about. He can't fall in love."

Hermione's eyes flashed indignantly. "Anyone can fall in love Ron, and just because you're too insensitive to..."

"Hey guys, just... stop biting each other's heads off, alright? Just drop it." Harry mumbled tiredly, his eyes still on the disappearing backs of the adults. There seemed to have come something new, something not quite recognisable over his face.

"Harry?" Fred asked curiously, waving a hand in front of his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just fine."

They all looked dubiously at him, and a sudden anger flashed in Harry's eyes. "I am fine! Great! Never been better, alright!"

Hermione sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "If everything really is fine, Harry, then why are you shouting?" There was nothing accusing in her manners, nothing that suggested that she was laughing at him. Harry looked as if he almost wished that had been the case.

"It's just that..." He sought for words. "I though I knew all about it, and now she suddenly appears, and I really live on all that I've heard..."

He fell silent, staring at his feet, obviously embarrassed. Hermione and Ron exchanged looks, and both nodded.

"Come Harry" Ron urged him, grabbing his right arm. Hermione took the left, and they both started to march him away. He made no attempt to protest, only put one foot in front of the other without uttering a word. He said nothing when they arrived at the Gryffindor tower, nothing when they sat him down in a large armchair.

"Will you tell us now, Harry?" Hermione inquired quietly, sitting down opposite him.

Harry still did not look at them. "It's just... Everything everyone ever told me has been proved wrong."

"No." said Hermione matter-of-factly. "Everything was correct. It only missed a piece."

"Exactly! And... and..."

"And this is very important to you" she finished. "We know that, Harry. But you will finally hear the last part of the story, won't you?"

"I guess so." He shrugged. "But still... It still feels... odd."

"Not going to argue with you there, mate" said Ron, flinging himself on a couch. "It IS odd. I mean, WHAM! All out of nowhere appears a girl marauder who erased herself from the world, and who wants to marry Snape?" he shook his head. "Mental."

"Hey!" Harry suddenly exclaimed. "The Maps!"

Ron stared at him in incomprehension, but Hermione quickly got to her feet. "Brilliant, Harry!" she called, as she ran up the stairs to the boy's dormitories, only to return a few seconds later with the yellowed pieces of parchment in her hand.

"Here!" she spread one of them out on the table. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." She waved her wand, and lines started to spread across the smooth surface.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

along with the lovely Miss Wing
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP."

"Well, that settles it." Hermione mumbled.

"Wait..." Harry wiped the map clear with a short "Mischief Managed" and then once more tapped it.

"I am Harry Potter and I want you to reveal your secrets!"

And new letters spread across the surface...

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs all hails Harry Potter, and wishes him kindly to bugger off and stop being such an idiot.

"Miss Wing likes to add that the boys are in no position to question other people's wits, since they are in such sad lacking themselves. She bids Harry Potter farewell and wishes him all the happiness in the world. Preferably somewhere very far away indeed."

Hermione laughed at that.

"Well, it was much nicer to me than to Snape." Harry pointed out.

Hermione nodded. "Well, it only figures. They hated each other's guts."

"Not she." Harry answered, shaking his head is mild confusion. After a pause, he added: "You really think they are in love, Herm?"

"Yes" she answered without even the faintest trace of doubt. "I really do."

Harry shook his head once more, with a look of mild disgust, and Ron muttered another "Mental".

"He might've been different once" Hermione pointed out, refusing to let it drop. "And if it is true that she actually managed to perform a memory sleep-spell on everyone... Well, he might change, right? Perhaps he will change to the better. Love is a very powerful force indeed, isn't that what Dumbledore usually says?"

"Dumbledore has been wrong before" Harry pointed out, his voice flat.

"Not about this" Hermione snapped. "I believe it too. Your mother believed it, Harry. That's why she did what she did. That's why she gave her life for you. She believed in love."

Harry flinched, and Ron sent Hermione a scandalized look. Harry's parents were one of those things that you Didn't Speak About.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry" she breathed, looking horrified at what she had just blurted out.

"No" said Harry very quietly. "You're right."

XxXxX

I arrive at Dumbledore's office together with Remus and Severus, knocking softly at the familiar door.

"Come in" comes a voice inside, and I fling it open, proudly walking inside.

"I heard you wanted to speak to me, Dumbledore?" I demand to the old man sitting on the other side of the large desk. He nods at a chair, and I sit down opposite of him, facing him quite calmly.

"Would you kindly tell me why, Alexita?" he asks, giving me a long, steady gaze. I hold my ground.

"I was scared" I tell him truthfully. "I was scared, and so I fled. I can't say that I am proud of it, but that's how it was."

He nods. "I see. And how did you manage this?"

"Memory sleep-spell." I reply evenly.

"Impressive" his eyes twinkle a bit. "I see you truly earned your grades."

"I am almost as powerful as Voldemort was in those days" I answer him without much emotion. "And he was almost as powerful as you. So yes, I do believe I did."

"And now...?"

"Now I'm back. And I will battle him this time as well as the last. I think I will pursue my auror-training, actually. I don't believe I've forgotten that much."

He squints at me over the rim of his spectacles. "I once heard Therese Egelia pointing out that you were one of her most singular students" he says with half a smile in his voice. "I do believe she was right."

"If there was any kind of insult implied in that, I choose grandly not to notice" I quip back, smiling slightly.

"Well, I suppose you will want to rest yourself and... talk things over" he sends Severus a glance. "But afterwards, would you please be so kind as to visit my office, and I will give you details about what the Order is up to now?"

"That will be my pleasure" I bow slightly, still smiling, and he gestures me to the door with a friendly wave.

Outside, Remus touches my shoulder very lightly. "I should go see Harry. You just... get some rest, right?"

"I promise" I smile at him, giving him a last hug goodbye, before following Severus back into the dungeons. We do not talk, but I am not sure it is necessary. I do not know where to begin, anyway.

He opens the door into his quarters, stepping aside and letting me in. I remember this place from Andromeda's time, although it looked different then.

"I suppose you are still spying for the Order?" I say, letting my hand slip over the smooth stone wall. "I haven't kept that much track of things. I... found it hard."

"Yes, I still am" he answers, and there is a slight tension in the air, I can feel it now. We are both... unsure, I suppose. "I do not think I am suspected."

"It is dangerous" I point out, and I am truly worried for his sake. I do not want to lose him, not after all this.

"Yes. I know it is. But I am the only one who can."

"You always beat me with logic" I say with a small smile, which he returns after a few seconds. He does not look like he is used to smiling that much. Well, why in the world would he?

"It's a gift" he murmurs, his eyes meeting mine. There is a short silence before he speaks again, filled with the background-buzz of the castle.

"I've missed you."

I quirk an eyebrow at him. "That's impossible, you know."

He shakes his head. "I didn't mean you in person. I mean all the things you stand for. Understanding. Warmth. Familiarity. Someone who... cares."

I feel my eyes fill with silent tears. "I am so very, truly and utterly sorry, Severus. I really, really am."

"So am I, love. So am I."

I slowly walk towards him, slipping into his arms. It feels just as it did for all these years ago, like had no time at all passed. But time HAS passed. When I look up at the face smiling down at me, I can see a few more lines, it is not the face of a twenty-year-old man anymore. Nor is mine that of an eighteen-year-old woman. We are not the same persons as the last time we met, too much time has passed for that. But the feelings, rising and churning in my chest, almost threatening to choke me, are the same.

Kissing him gently, I mumble smilingly against his lips:

"It is good to be back."

XxXxX

"Harry?" Remus inquired gently, brushing his hand through his golden-brown-turning-grey-hair. The youth looked up from his homework. His friends seemed to evaporate from the spot as soon as they noticed who it was, leaving the two of them alone. Harry sat silent, crouched in the window, his eyes intent on Remus's face. "I'm listening" they told him.

Remus sat down at the bedside, his shoulders sagging slightly. "So... what do want to know, Harry?"

"Everything" the young man answered truthfully.

"That I cannot tell you" Remus told him with a slight smile. "Only Alex knows everything. That is the way it's always been. She was our leader, in a manner of speaking. The leader of the marauders."

Harry looked surprised at this. "I always thought..."

"Sirius? No, he didn't take things seriously enough. And your father, strange as it may seem, was prevented by his own modesty. He was more the person to act on the impulses of others among friends, even if he was a supreme leader indeed in pressed situations. I was too shy to be a leader, and Peter... well, he was Peter." He looked sad as he saw the scorn in the young man's eyes. "You mustn't think that Peter was bad in the beginning" he said in a low tone of voice. "He wasn't. He was as good a boy as any, and very intelligent and charming at that. He just always had very low self-esteem, and while none of us really treated him badly, I suppose we didn't encourage him enough." Remus sighed. As Harry, looking angry, was about to say something, he interrupted. "You were there when I met Peter, you know as well as I do that I am furious with him for doing what he did. I am not trying to tell you that your father in any way deserved what happened. I am only saying that once, Peter Pettigrew was an ordinary, very nice boy, that I think you would've liked, if you'd met him. An unsure boy that got into the wrong kind of company. Peter was never strong in his mind and soul, like Snape was, and could never have fought it, never have rebelled against them, so he merely gave in, to save his own life. That is a cowardice I could never, ever forgive him, for it cost me two of my best friends, and what more, for twelve years I had to live believing that another of my INNOCENT best friends had been the cause of it, as well as Peter's death. But never could I look back at the Peter I once knew and hate him."

Harry looked quite surprised at hearing all this. Indeed he was used to Lupin talking to him like to another adult, but to hear him speak his mind like this he was quite sure was a privilege that very few had ever had.

Remus smiled gently. "But this isn't what I came to speak to you about, although I think it is good that I told you. I was going to tell you about the woman you met today, the fifth marauder. Wing, as we used to call her."

"What was she?" Harry asked, curious in spite of himself.

"As an animagus, you mean?" Harry nodded. "She was a falcon, something that suited her very well. In her mind, she was always more or less a bird of prey, although decidedly more intelligent than such an animal."

"She went in the same year as you?"
"No, she did not. She was in fact two years younger. But that was never something we really thought of, for she was never the kind of person to look down upon. Believe me, Harry, when I say that she is the only girl except your mother that could ever stare Sirius down. And when she got angry, you cowered and begged for mercy." Remus looked amused at the memory, Harry surprised. The weak and exhausted woman he had met had hardly been intimidating. Although when he thought about it, there had been something about her... the same kind of respect that Snape brought forward in everyone. He had a feeling that when she spoke, you were quiet and listened.

"I hope you don't mind, professor" Harry said hesitantly "but she seemed very... well... Slytherin."

Remus laughed. "Indeed she does. She actually told me once that she would've been placed in Slytherin if she hadn't begged the hat to sort her into Gryffindor. Reminds you of someone?" his golden-shaded eyes sparkled merrily, as Harry looked down at his hands. "Despite that, no-one can say that you aren't a true Gryffindor Harry, and the same goes for her. She was very proud of being one of us, and in heart she never seemed to have the slightest doubt about where she belonged."

Harry nodded, understood this very well. Since his second year, he had never doubted which house he truly belonged to.

"And... I have to ask..." Harry blushed. "That is... what she said... about professor Snape..."

Remus laughed gently at the youth's apparent discomfort. "I almost thought you'd come to that. Well, you see, in our sixth year at Hogwarts, one evening James and Sirius looked down at one of the Marauder's Maps, and saw Alex and Severus alone in the Room of Requirements. They of course thought that they where duelling or something like that, since EVERYONE knew that Wing and Snape were sworn arch-enemies. But that, we found out that evening, was only an act to cover a well-hidden friendship. When your father and Sirius stormed into the room, they had the great misfortune to stumble into the two of them kissing. Their very first kiss, I should add. But of course, Sirius was absolutely furious, and refused to forgive her for it."

"And my father?" Harry asked, leaving the window to sit beside Remus. The older man smiled at him.

"Your father knew very well what it is like being in love, and so did Sirius, but James moreover was aware of that you do not choose who is to be the object of your affection. And even though he many times pointed out for Alexita that he though that she had an ABYSMAL taste in men, he was there for her all the time."

"But... you said that they had been putting on an act for a very long time. To cover up their friendship..."

"Yes, they had. They had been since her first year, as a matter of fact, and very cunningly so. I only suspected that she was hiding something for us, and maybe I got close to the truth sometimes, but she always managed to lie her way glibly out of everything. She was VERY good at it, I have to tell you."

Harry looked quite stunned, but a suspicion was also dawning on his face. "That was why it happened... the whole Whomping-Willow incident, am I not right?"

Remus looked distressed. "Yes Harry, that is why. Sirius rarely thought before he acted, and in such a state of rage and shock and hurt at all his friends sidling with Alex, he didn't even consider the truly massive damage he could've caused, not for Severus, not for me, not for Alexita."

Harry looked thoughtful and a bit ashamed, a bit too caught up in all this new information even to flinch at the name of the godfather he had so very recently lost, and still mourned deeply. "I actually never thought about it that way... What I mean is, it must've been awful for you."

"It was, Harry" Remus said seriously. "I have never been so angry in all my life. I even punched Sirius."

Harry's face took on a mildly startled look. "I have problems seeing you hitting anybody" he pointed out. "It surprises me that you did, and still not."

"It surprised Sirius as well, I can tell you that" Lupin said a tad wryly. "But that was also the beginning of the end of Sirius' anger with Alex, throughoutly ashamed of himself as he was. After that, he no longer avoided the rest of us, and he begun speaking to her again, although it was tough going sometimes. You see, Alexita had been sneaking around for more than four years then; now she wouldn't have it anymore. And now that she openly acknowledged her relationship to Severus... well, as I said, sometimes Sirius really had trouble choking it down."

Harry could very well imagine that. It was like trying to imagine what it would be like if Hermione started to date Malfoy. He grimaced at the idea, and Remus laughed. "I see you can imagine the feelings of us all. But we accepted, since we all loved Alex dearly, no matter who she choose to love."

Harry thought of stern, sardonic, menacing professor Snape, and found it REALLY hard to see him kissing anybody, not even as the young man that he had once caught a glimpse of in Snape's Pensive.

Lupin seemed to be reading his thoughts, for he grinned at him, although he choose not to comment on it.

Then a sudden though struck Harry. "But..." he faltered "...didn't Snape join the Death Eaters?"

Remus' eyes darkened. "Yes, he did. That was one of the most horrible things I experienced during that war, and that is to say a lot. To see Alex, who always had a fighter's spirit and a will of steel, give up. She was totally devastated, broken, both mentally and in body. She lay for several days without speaking to anyone, without eating, hardly even sleeping, not even looking at us. The only thing she did was to cry. I have never seen a person so totally bereft and lonely and... helpless." Lupin shook his head. "And all of us that loved her... Oh, it was truly horrible. But one day, Emily went in there with that 'Now, REALLY'-look on her face, and when she came out, Alex came with her."

"Emily?" Harry said with a blank face.

"Peter's girlfriend and Alex's classmate" Remus explained. "She was truly an angel. She could always give you your hopes back, kick you into working order, if that was necessary. And that is exactly what she did to Alex."

"What happened to her? Emily, I mean."

Remus looked sad. "She died, I'm afraid. Gave her live for her friends, had to because of a stupid miscalculation. That, I think, was the thing that finally tipped Peter over to the wrong side. But in some way, she lives on. Ginny bears a great resemblance to her." He was quiet for a moment, before he continued. "What happened after that, I do not know. I was never aware of it when Severus came back to our side, they had to keep it secret, and I do not know if Alex was. But I suspect that she knew. And then... well, it was your parents getting killed and all that followed it. I would suspect that Alex left about then. Erased herself from all our memories and went falcon for all these years up until now."

"Sirius..." Harry's eyes were pained, as he forced the name from his lips.

Lupin closed his eyes. "I do not know what kept her from coming any sooner. I suppose she was afraid we would be angry with her, and kept away, waiting for the right time to come. And lost Sirius for ever, more finally and painfully than any of us. No-one could ever comprehend how much those two loved each other. They were like sister and brother, always fighting, always bickering, but always TOGETHER through all the trials and pain. They were always there for each other, like two pieces of something whole. And he died without even knowing she existed. Imagine the pain Alex is enduring now. I suppose that is why she hasn't appeared until now. She had to have her time of mourning."

Harry looked down at his hands, once more feeling the weight of a thousand held-back, swallowed-down tears pressing at his chest. And he remembered the unbearable, hardly comprehensible agony in the woman's voice when she had yelled those words straight at Remus's face.

'I loved Sirius like a brother.'

"As a matter of fact" Remus went on "I believe that she keeps a photo-album somewhere about her person. Some of the pictures should... interest you. Oh, that reminds me... Haven't you got an album with pictures of your parents around here somewhere? That Hagrid gave to you..."

Harry nodded, getting to his feet and scrambling through his trunk until he found the much-used leather book that contained one of his few links to his parents. Remus opened it and flipped through the pages until he gave a satisfied grunt and shoved the album back in Harry's hands. It was the picture of his parent's wedding, the one that he had first ever seen the face of Sirius Black on. But now, beside him, stood a young woman dressed in a light-blue dress, a small smile on her face and her eyes shining with happiness. He immediately recognized her as the woman he had met earlier that day, even though there was a world of difference. She was just as skinny and pale-faced, but the Alexita in the pictured lacked the hollow look in her eyes and dark circles under her eyes that the Alex he had met sported. And even though the smiling girl in the picture had a certain Hermione-tendency when it came to her hair, it was nothing compared to the veritable birds-nest of the woman he remembered from today. But most of all, even though this elegantly dressed young woman both in her eyes and smile bore the mark of pain, there was not the thin lines of disappointment and disillusionment that he had seen in the face of the Alexita of today.

"She was the bride's maid" Remus said in a very, very low voice. "She was always a good friend of your mother's. They agreed very well with each other when it came to what they thought about boys that kicked and hit and humiliated someone that couldn't defend himself. Did you never wonder at the fact that you couldn't see the bride's maid in the picture? I am surprised that I didn't take notice."

Harry shook his head, usually had not looked at anything else than the faces of his parents or his father's best friend. When he thought about it, since his third year he had known quite much about the friends of his father, but almost nothing about his mother's years at school. He suddenly hoped that Alex might be able to tell him.

"Do you think I can see her?" he asked. Lupin smiled, a tad wickedly Harry noticed with a twinge of surprise.

"I don't think it would be a good idea just now."

"Why not?" Harry asked curiously. "It is not that late" he added with a glance at the dormitory clock.

"Harry... Severus and Alex are engaged to marry each other, they love each other, and moreover, they have not seen each other in fifteen years. Don't you think they are slightly busy right now?" Remus replied evenly, but with a meaning glance at the young man. First, Harry looked completely blank, but then he started blushing furiously.

"I didn't need to think of that" he said with a pained expression.

"You asked" replied Lupin innocently, and Harry was shocked and a tad outraged at the mischievous glint in his former professor's eyes.

"You are absolutely horrible."
"And I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Harry. Absolutely none at all."

XxXxX

"Hi there" I whisper, emerging from under the blanket. Severus looks at me with slight surprise.

"There you are" is all he says.

"Obviously" I say, with a small giggle.

Hey, wait a second? Did I just say GIGGLE! Did I actually giggle? Oh, the disgrace!

Severus stares at me. "Who are you and what have you done to Alexita and how did you get your hands on a polyjuice-potion anyway?" he says, all in one breath, eyebrow quirking teasingly. I kiss him, hard.

"Are you convinced that I'm me now?" I wonder, as I finally pull back.

"No I'm not" he says, still keeping a very straight face. "You'll have to give me some more proof."

I look up at him, smiling. "You know what, love?"

"No. What?"

"You are beautiful." I tell him, pulling my hand through the hopeless, lank wisps of his raven-black hair. His eyebrows goes up, and he shakes his head.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire."

"What pants, Sev? I was naked the last time I checked. And I am not going to listen to you" I declare defiantly. "I will always think you are beautiful, and there is nothing you can do about it. In fact, I am going to claim that you are the most beautiful man I've ever met. There! Now what have you got to say to that?"

"That you are mad, for instance" he replies with that caustical, patronizing glint in his eye that just makes me want to hit him. "Now you," he ads, kissing the tip of my nose, mimicking the gesture that always cranks him off every time I practice it "YOU are the one who's beautiful, but I'll let you continue your nonsense if it amuses you."

I glare at him. "You know what, Severus? You are a true and incurable prat."

"Once" he answers, black eyes teasing "you told me that was why you ever fell in love with me in the first place."

"I was young and foolish." I tell him sulkily, and he only smirks infuriatingly at me, giving my cheek a light pat.

"And besides, my dear, my love, my only one" he continues softly "so are you."

Laughing with sudden light-hearted delight, I kiss him once more, wrapping my arms around his neck and melting into the feeling of those wonderfully soft lips pressed against mine. His arms slip easily around my back, and I am swept away into a world of skin and touch and warmth and breath.

"You, my love" he mumbles against my lips "smell like a colony of doves."

"Very romantic, Sev" I quip, giving him a fake bitch-slap. "You know, you do not exactly smell like all roses and violets yourself. As a matter of fact, I will tell you what you smell like. You smell like the apartment where Sirius used to live. The full-force odeur of a bachelor, and I can inform you that it isn't pleasant."

"Your fault if I smell like a bachelor" he returns.

"No, my love, it is my fault that you've BEEN one. The smell is only to be blamed at a lack of exposure to something called dihydrogen-oxid. More commonly referred to as H2O or water."

He grimaces sourly, pulling at a tuft of my hair. I laugh at him. "But I, the almighty and revered Alexita of the Glycerin-based Products have already found a solution." I roll out of bed, dragging him with me.

"If McGonagall opens the door and catches me running starkers through my office, YOU will have to explain it to her" he mumbles in my ear. I just laugh some more, pulling him into the bathroom and flinging us both into the shower.

"The solution" I tell him, gently pressing him up against the wall "is called soap."

And then we kiss some more, whilst my hand strays to turn on the water. Admittedly, I first manage to turn on only the cold, but after some general chaos and exclamations, I manage to correct this, while never actually breaking contact between our lips.

"This" I mumble contentedly "is something I would definitely want to see professor McGonagall's reaction on."

Severus looks horrified by the idea, to my immense amusement. "I have a lot of missed teasing to make up for" I tell him.

And then he cheats awfully, by kissing me in that way that turns my blood to liquid fire and my brain to a puff of hot fumes. I gasp, my knees nearly giving away, and I can hear him chuckling against the sensitive skin on my neck.

"There are other things you need to make up for as well, love."