A/N:

Wow! Always is getting a LOT of hits and thank you to all those who have added it to your favourites and alerts lists : ) However...I'd really appreciate a few more reviews. It would be good to hear what you like/ don't like about the story and if there is anything you think I ought to improve.

DISCLAIMER:

Sadly I make no money from this story and do not own the Harry Potter series, it belongs to J. K. Rowling and WB, I just like to play with her characters : )

In the previous chapter...

She raised her wand, pointing it directly between his eyes ad without breaking eye contact began walking backwards to join the other women, all of whom were hissing and growling at the stunned wizard from their crouched positions. "This isn't over" his former childhood friend vowed.

With his head spinning and the pain across his chest starting to make itself known, Severus clambered out of the cellar over the collapsed rear wall and promptly apparated away; heart pounding and feeling as though it had broken anew.

oOoOoOoOo

Chapter 4.

Severus gingerly lowered himself into his chair at the teacher's table in the Great Hall the next morning, back and neck aching terribly from his slumped position the night before. He welcomed the discomfort; it proved to him that the events of last night were real and not one of his nightmares. That and the fact that he had a burn mark across his chest and a memory in his Pensieve that he must revisit soon.

Adopting his trademark scowl he poured himself a steaming cup of black coffee and began sifting through the facts whilst his colleagues around him chatted and gossiped as they piled their plates high with toast, sausages, eggs, English muffins and pancakes or whatever else the house elves had made for them.

Fact: on 31st October 1981 Pettigrew gave the Dark Lord the address of Lily, Potter and The Boy.

Fact: the Dark Lord had gone there and killed Potter, then Lily and would have killed The Boy to if it weren't for some strange accident which had caused the curse to rebound so that the Dark Lord was apparently hit by his own curse and The Boy got no more than a scar.

Fact: he knew all this to be true because the Dark Lord had made his intentions very clear...and I was at Godrics Hollow afterwards. I saw the aftermath.

Fact: She – Lily – was dead. I held her in my arms. She was already growing cold. She was gone.

Severus lowered his now tepid coffee to the table, sneering as he realised the Headmaster was silently watching him over the rim of his pumpkin juice. He hastily reinforced his ever present Occlumency walls and took his planner from his robe pocket, pretending to look over his plans for the term's lessons.

Calming himself he continued to review the situation. Fact: Lily died and he admitted to himself that a part of him had died with her that night. Lily died...and yet...last night we duelled. She was there. She stood and watched those women; those Vampires kill three Death Eaters.

Fact: the way the women communicated without words and the way the word 'Mudblood' had been plucked from his head despite his skill as an Occlumens suggested she had learnt Legilimency and some form of telepathy.

Realisation hit him. Pettigrew! She only involved herself once she heard his name in my head! She wasn't only there to help the Brocklethwait family, she was there for Pettigrew! Severus' nostril flared as he triumphantly pieced together the facts and made sense from the chaos. He was now almost certain that if he watched the memory he would see that whilst Lily was keeping him occupied the other women – vampires – were after Pettigrew.

He stood so suddenly that his chair scraped loudly on the stone floor and almost toppled over. Some of the staff observed his speedy exit with interest before going back to their breakfast and conversations. Only one pair of blue eyes stayed staring at the door once Severus had left through it, not twinkling with their usual mischief but coldly assessing the situation and already mentally composing a request for another meeting with a certain red haired Griffindor alumni.

A/N: So that was a rather short chapter I know, but it was necessary to set the scene for the next chapter. Also as i'm sure you've already noticed, some of the characters in this story are a little ooc and although the story follows the events of the book to a certain extent i have also created a lot of events and characters so it will not follow the books/ movies exactly.

Pleeeeeease review, positive or negative I would appreciate the feedback : )