Hey guys! I like to thank everyone who is following along. Greatly appreciated. Also, I know I am whipping out these chapters quickly but I want to get them all in before exams start. Hope you enjoy!
James stood there frozen and slowly lowered his wand. "I thought you were dead." He said, not looking at her but where Snape had been formerly standing. Where she kissed him on the cheek. He didn't know what else to say, but his eyes were beginning to swell up as the adrenaline began to disappear.
"James" she said running to him and putting both her hands on his chest, forcing him to look at her. "He saved me James!" she tried to explain, not even really sure if he could hear.
"And what?!" he spat, stepping away from her. "That's suppose to make up for the fact he became a death eater? That he kills innocent people! And that he ruined our wedding!" Each sentence grew in volume. "You haven't talked to him in over 4 years and now what, you want to be friends or something?!" He almost looked like he was about to go mad and his whole body shook.
"No. I guess not" she sighed, perhaps he really was right. Lily had always been a dreamer and imagined that for every bad side there was a good. But with a war approaching, maybe she would have to be more realistic.
Since that day, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't forget. Everything would bring up small memories of him. A potions book in the book store, the smell of peppermint or the quills he would always use. And although she could try to push him out of her mind during the day, she had no control over her thoughts at night.
Every night he would come to her in her dreams. Sometimes he would just be there, other times they were laying on the grass again as children. On one occasion he even kissed her! And she woke up suddenly, laying next to James.
These have to stop, it's been three weeks, she thought to herself as she turned over and tried to fall back asleep. It didn't help that she couldn't find a single job yet that didn't involve the lines "Would you like pumpkin juice with that?" and some reason she was placed on paper work duty for the Order which gave her to much time to think. Plus, to top it all off, her relationship with James had been extremely strained. Lily found it hard to be… intimate… with James if all she could think about was Severus.
The next day, Lily decided to give her mum a surprise visit. They hadn't really talked much since the wedding but when she arrived, they were not home. Sighing, Lily really wished she had someone she could talk to about this whole situation who wouldn't judge her or look horrified. Instead she decided to go for a stroll to pass the time.
She walked through the park her and Sev spent a lot of time in during the summer. It really hadn't changed much. Before she knew it, she was walking along the sidewalk to Spinner's End where she saw Severus's old house. She knew that his father had left and his mother passed away, but she didn't know who lived there now. But, as she continued to walk closer, on the opposite side of the street, figures began to emerge.
"I will see you next week then…" a man stepped out of the door with long blonde hair and a cane. He didn't take long to identify: Lucius Malfoy.
Merlin's Beard! She swore in her head and ran for the nearest bush, tripping over a recycling bin on the way. It made a lovely scraping noise against the cement as she fell into the garden. It would have looked ridiculous if she wasn't fleeing for her life.
Shrubbery Really! She smacked herself mentally but there was nothing else around. She would of apparated but the small pop would of given it away. Not that the recycling bin didn't but that really wasn't part of the plan.
Both the blonde wizard and the dark haired one who happened to be Severus himself looked over with wands raised. He could have sworn he had seen a flash of red hair but made up a lie quickly.
"Badgers" he explained. "They get rather big around here." Hoping Lucius hadn't seen anything.
"I don't know how you do it Severus. Living in this … environment." And with that he poofed right off his front lawn. There must be some sort of protection so as to not alarm muggles.
Lily let out her breathe, and thought she was off the hook until she felt her whole body tighten as magical ropes were being wrapped around her. Looking through the branches she could see a pair of black boots on the other side of the bush and felt her body being dragged out across the dirt, taking a few flowers with it. How did he do that? But she didn't have much time to think.
"I could have sworn it was you." He said through clenched teeth, angry at her stupidity. "Do you know how dangerous it is here. What if someone saw you? What if there were more of us?" He was trying to keep his voice down to not attract attention. It was starting to get dark though and the street lights were coming on.
"I..didn't..know… you… still.. lived.. here" she replied trying to struggle against the ropes. She couldn't even reach into her pocket to get her wand out.
"Clearly." He replied and let her go. "Come with me" He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into his home as if she was a small child being reprimanded.
Lily Evans had never really seen the inside of Severus Snape's home before, even as children, despite the fact they lived near by. The entrance stepped right into what appeared to be a shell of a living room, only now it was dark, and the walls were covered in bookshelves holding books and jars full of strange ingredients. There was very minimal furniture but before she could really take anything in, and her eyes adjusted to the dark, a wooden chair flew into the back of her legs, forcing her to sit and the door slammed shut. So many wards went up around the house that you could feel the layers of protection in the walls.
"This is a very… unique.. place you have here." She said, not really sure what word to call it. It wasn't exactly… nice.
"Don't try to flatter me." He said in a serious tone and placed a sticking charm to Lily so she couldn't get off the chair.
"Do you think that is really necessary?" she asked squirming but rather than answering, Severus whipped another chair that faced her backwards and he sat upon it, legs straddling the back rest.
"Who sent you?" he quizzed, raising his wand up to shine light on her face. "Why are you here?"
"Bloody hell. Can you stop that?" she asked trying to shield her eyes. "No one." She answered. "I was just visiting my mum but no one was home so I went for walk."
He lowered his wand and flicked some candles on to create a soft glow. "Who knows you're here?" he asked, still not done with the questions.
"No one." She said confused, not really sure if that was a trick question.
With his free hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose. No one knew she was here? Where was her bloody husband, wasn't he suppose to be protecting her? Or their beloved Dumbledore? Instead she is just wandering the streets, clearly unaware. He even wondered if she knew how to defend herself.
"Oh wait, I mean loads of people." She waved her hand, pretending to act as cool as a cucumber, although she was starting to get a little nervous. "Uh, there is.. Sirius, and Remus and.." and she began to name off names he already knew while counting on her fingers. But as she ran out of names, she looked around some more and noticed what looked to be bright shinning torture instruments, hung in different places. In reality, they were meant for making potion ingredients but still created a threatening effect.
"And you expect me to believe that?" he asked rhetorically. He thought about doing legilimens on her but the story was rather convincing and he didn't want her to hate him completely. He started to pace the room and then sat back down, but then started to pace some more, and sat again. He didn't know what to do.
"Sev." She interrupted his inner thoughts. "I am really sorry. Again." She said, realizing she put them both in danger. "And if you let me go, I promise I won't tell anyone." She suggested meekly.
He was getting frustrated. How could she be so innocent? He grabbed her chin with one hand and forced her to look at him. Their noses were a mere inch apart. "And what about when Dumbledore reads your mind? HHmmmm? Then what?" he asked in a dangerously low tone. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her lips. Although she was intimidated and her heart was beating faster, she couldn't help realizing that he smelt of sandalwood and parchment.
She wasn't entirely sure if he wanted her to answer but there was an awkward pause, "I.. don't.. know? Lie?" she shrugged.
"Oh because you are so good at that." He said. If it wasn't for all the practice he had hiding his own emotions, a small smirk would of broke across his lips. He was trying to teach her a lesson though.
"Well I don't know! This isn't my fault!" she was starting to get angry now and annoyed her bum was still stuck to the chair. She tried to shake his hand off of her face but his grip grew stronger keeping it in place. Instead she went for her wand but that quickly changed when he casually flicked it out of her hand with a spell not even having to say a word aloud.
"No!?" he shouted, "Not you're fault?!"
He let go of her face and placed both hands on either arm rests of her chair. "Than who's is it? Were you imperiused to walk here? Or maybe the nargals told you to do it?" His eyes narrowed. "Because, according to you, the order didn't send you."
"Well of course not." She partially shouted back. They were both almost yelling in each others faces now, and Lily realized after it was probably not smart to get into a yelling match with a Death Eater. But this wasn't any Death Eater. It was Sev.
He knew she wasn't entirely intimidated. Most of the people he brought back to his house against their will were either crying or begging to leave at this point.
"Lily." He said, his eyes softening ever so slightly. "Do you even realize how dangerous it is for you to be wandering the streets alone? Even in your own neighbourhood?" he asked.
"I'm a full grown witch." She replied, no longer shouting but still offended. "I'm pretty sure I can take…" but before she could finish, he flicked his wand and she flew off the chair and was being held up against a wall between two book shelves. Her hands magically tied above her head.
"You can take care of yourself huh?!" he stood up and his chair toppled over as he walked towards her. "What if I was another death eater Lily?" The tip of his wand began to glow red as he pointed it at her chest. "Do you think you would still be alive?"
This time she didn't answer. But as she stared at him, both embarrassed and completely vulnerable, she could see his eyes glaze over as he kicked into death eater mode. She could not tell anymore whether he was joking or fully intended to torture her.
"I said I was sorry." She said softly. She could feel her eyes burn as they began to fill with water. I won't cry, she said to herself, Not in front of him like this. I must be strong. But it was hard. "I..I.. didn't know." Was all she could come up with, not really sure what to do next.
He lifted his wand higher and slightly parted his lips as he was about to summon the spell and she gasped. Shutting her eyes quickly, two tears rolled down her cheeks. She waited, but nothing happened. Instead she felt a soft finger press against her cheek to stop the tear.
As she slowly opened her eyes again, she noticed he was studying it on his index finger. All his features softened again and the death eater face gone.
"I dreamed a long time that you would come back." He said softly, almost as if he was talking to himself. "But never like this." And he dropped his hand with the tear. "You need to learn to protect yourself Lily. Has the order taught you nothing?" he asked.
"Uh, not really?" she replied awkwardly. She was still pinned to the wall with her hands above her head. "I've been doing paper work mostly.."
"That is ridiculous." he cut her off, "A war is coming. And if you can't protect your own thoughts, you have no chance. Let me teach you occlumency." He suggested, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
"Occlumency?" she repeated. "First you plan to torture me and now you want to teach me occlumency?"
He sighed. "Lily, I could never really hurt you." He strained the really. "And it will be for your own good." He added while he swooshed his wand and she dropped to the ground. He held out her wand in the palm of his hand as truce. She took it back.
"Alright, lets say I agree. Where would we do this Occlumency?" she asked, placing one hand on her hip.
"Right here." He said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
She didn't know if this was brilliant or completely absurd.
"Please Lily." He nearly begged. He looked almost… desperate. She could feel her heart melting. "You know, I could always keep you here." But now he was actually joking… right?
"Alright Alright." She said, not liking how easily he could convince her.
"Good." He smirked and clapped his hands together. "I'll see you next Tuesday. And if you don't show up, I'll find you and assume the worse."
Lily knew he wasn't lying without legilimens.
Lily eventually returned home, still not sure if she made a huge mistake. Before she could open the door with her key, the door whipped open.
"Oh thank merlin it's you." James breathed and let her step in. "Apparently they got Paul Pumpkin." He shut the door tightly behind them and put up the wards. She looked confused, who the hell was Paul Pumpkin? And why would anyone ever name their child that?
"You know Paul Pumpkin." James encouraged. "The assistant to the Minister of Magic and the wizard who perfected pumpkin juice."
She still didn't totally know who he was but understood the importance of the matter. Lord Voldemort was starting to infiltrate the ministry but before she could think about it some more, Sirius began to laugh.
"I told you no one knew who that bloke was!" He continued to chuckle and throw cards into a bowl with both feet kicked up on the table. Humour was always his defense mechanism.
"Yah I guess eh." James replied, chuckling under his breath as he let some of the tension out. He rang his hands through his hair as he did while at school. Only now instead of doing it to look dashing, he was doing it to keep calm.
