Severus sat in the cold hard chair of the interrogation room. Never before had he ever felt like a prisoner in his life, except for maybe once, but it was nothing more than a reoccurring thought in his mind. Sometimes he felt like a prisoner when it came to his feelings for Lily. He had tried so many times to forget her, to just move on and throw it all away like he could easily cast her aside. No matter how hard he tried, it could never be done. He just didn't have the willpower to forget Lily. He had become a prisoner of Lily Evans memory a long time ago.

"Just what do you expect to learn from this little interrogation, Potter?" Severus asked, calling Harry by that name that used to once intimidate his former student.

"I want a few answers," replied Harry. "Things that are not yet clear to me."

"Fine. Ask away."

"You killed Dumbledore," Harry stated. "Why didn't you tell people that he told you to kill him when the time was right?"

"Imagine how absurd that would sound to the public," answered Severus. "They would never believe me, especially being known as a Death Eater turned good in the First War. They could have just assumed that I decided to revolt against Dumbledore after all these years. There is no point in taking a life and then condemning your own in the process."

"But you did condemn your own live. You killed him and will have to live the rest of your life with that on your conscious." Harry explained, feeling like he still had a guilty conscious for some of the lives that died in the Second War.

"I never would have killed him if he hadn't told me to. Dumbledore was the only person who ever cared about me. He only would have had less than a year to live and I'm not sure what's worse; letting him suffer and stand by and watch it, or to kill him when the time is right and put him out of his misery. Could you have honestly stood by and watched the one man that you witnessed do so many heroic things in one lifetime, slowly fall apart and wither into nothing?" Severus asked with a bit of sadness in his voice for the one man who had actually treated him decently.

"I guess not," replied Harry quietly as he found this subject still painful. "That still doesn't explain why you helped me all of these years."

Severus knew the real answer to that question. It should have been obvious after the memories he let Harry see. "I assumed that was quite obvious by now." He replied, glancing away for a slight moment because of the painful memories, which kept returning to him.

"My mother," answered Harry. "But you didn't have to help me. It must have been pretty painful for you, looking into my eyes and seeing hers."

Severus did not reply and did not look into Harry's eyes. Those were the eyes that had haunted him so many times, and yet, here they were again. He hated how a pair of eyes could have so much power over him and how they could bring back so many painful memories he did not want to remember. There were several times when Severus thought he would go crazy because he could never get rid of those eyes. They were like his disease that would not go away; a constant plague upon his mind.

Harry could tell Severus did not like this subject. "Anyways, we're not really here to persecute you. We're here to ask for your help." Harry explained.

Severus glanced back up at Harry, avoiding those eyes with a direct gaze at all costs. "What kind of help?" He asked curiously, wondering what Potter could possibly want from him.

"The Auror Department could use you," answered Harry. "You know Death Eaters and could help capture them. You could help make the wizarding world a better place again."

"And just what would I get out of this?" Severus asked, wondering if there was some catch to this situation.

"It would help clear your name. We could simply state that you left Hogwarts after the Second War to hide from Death Eaters since you planned on turning them in. It would clear up the whole running away scenario. You would also be given a salary if that helps."

"I was going to accept before the details," replied Severus. "I have nothing to lose."

"What about the girl?" Harry asked.

Severus never considered Paige as something he could lose. Now that he thought about it, she definitely was something he could lose. She had been so nice to him; taking care of him and helping him get back to an almost normal state of health. He had brought her into the wizarding world and it was his fault if something happened to her because of it. He didn't want to lose her, not like how he lost Lily. He didn't want to let another woman go from his life, unless it was her own choice to leave. Even then, he might feel like he had to convince her to stay if she wanted to go.

"Yes," he replied. "What are you going to do with her?"

"That depends on how much she knows."

"She knows about a few things. She knows that we can do magic with wands, have special potions for things, and that we can travel by different means of transportation like the Floo Network and apparating." Severus explained in a detailed list.

"Well, she has two options really," mentioned Harry, trying to be a nice guy about things and give Severus the benefit of the doubt for once. He had rarely ever seen Severus with someone so he wasn't about to take that away from him, especially after what happened with Severus and Lily. "She could be left in your custody or she can have her memory wiped of the things she's learned recently."

Severus nodded and sat there quietly. If they removed her knowledge of the wizarding world and magic, she would also forget the things she had done within the past few days. It meant she would forget Severus and everything they had done together. She would have never found him, helped him, been saved by him, or even have slept with him. It just wouldn't exist in her mind or be nothing more than a vague dream to her. Severus didn't want this to happen to her and he especially didn't want it to happen to him.

"That decision is up to her," replied Severus with a ping of fear in his voice. "I already have an answer, but it's not my decision to make."

"Very well," said Harry. "I never planned on questioning her to begin with. I'll let you be the one to talk to her." Harry sat up from the cold metal chair that he sat in. He walked over to the door, opened it, and stepped over to the room next door, which had been just like the one he was just in. He knocked on the door with a type of signal. He knocked twice, paused, and then knocked once more. It was a way of to communicate and let the other Auror know they were not the bad guys trying to get into the room.

One of the two Aurors, Dobbs, answered the door. "What is it?" He asked in a deep voice.

"I need you and Gueverra to step outside of the room," explained Harry. "I'm letting Severus speak to the girl alone."

"Yes, sir," said Dobbs in a military response. Gueverra and him left the room quietly, leaving Paige inside by herself. This showed just how much power Harry really had inside the Auror Department. These two men who were bigger than him, could easily take him down with the blink of an eye by just using their muscle, but they followed his orders because Harry was the one in power.

Harry went back to Severus and told him he could go into the room. It didn't matter if Severus had his wand with him. He couldn't try anything because there was no apparating allowed inside of the Ministry. The only way of traveling into or out of the Ministry was through the Floo Network or the main entrances. Severus could easily attack them with spells, but it was no use having three against one. Plus, he didn't want to risk Paige getting hurt, and he didn't want to fight.

Severus stood up from the chair, walked over to the room exactly like his, and stepped inside. Once he had entered the room, Harry closed the door and locked him inside. Severus looked at Paige as she just sat there quietly in the chair. She appeared to be unharmed and still looked the same as when they were at Malfoy Manor. He walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her. "Are you alright?" He asked with sincerity in his voice as if he actually cared about her.

"Yes, but I didn't even get my phone call." She joked sarcastically.

Severus gave her a slight grin. "I see they have not damaged your spirit." He teased slightly. "Should I offer to let you take them out? I'm sure you could do it without magic because of that attitude."

"Haha. Very funny," replied Paige. "So what do they want with me?"

"They have given you two options. You can either stay with me or have your memory erased so that you won't remember anything from the past few days." Severus explained. He looked down for a moment as he mentioned the second option. He didn't want her to have her memory erased, but he couldn't stop her if she wanted to.

"Why the hell would I want my memory erased?" She asked with irritation in her voice. "I don't want to go back to that life where I have to run away from people who might try to hurt me."

"So you want to stay with me then?" Severus asked to make sure that was her answer and to reassure himself.

"Yes," she replied. "Unless I'm too much of a hassle for you."

Severus grinned before taking her face in his hands and kissing her on the lips gently. "It's the hassle that I like." He grinned.

Severus walked over to the door and knocked on it. Harry opened the door and looked at Severus. "So what is the answer?" Harry asked as if he needed it right away.

"She wants to stay with me." Severus replied, trying to hold back a grin in front of Harry. He loved the decision that Paige had made. He didn't know if he loved her, but he definitely cared about her. He had enough time to get to know her since she would be staying with him. He could possibly grow to the point of loving her.

"Very well," stated Harry. "We will give you a week to get settled back in and start to adjust to things at your home. After that, I will come for you and tell you what your first assignment is. Understood?"

"Yes." Severus answered, feeling like he had become the student all of a sudden. He didn't mind taking orders from Harry. He knew Harry would probably receive this position with everything he had done throughout the years. Severus wanted to help make the wizarding world a better place so he didn't care who ordered him around. He had been the man to once order people around, and even though he had been told what to do now, he would probably be telling people what to do once again. Severus had a feeling he would be given a pretty high position inside the Auror Department. He remained a valuable asset, and he knew the Ministry wasn't going to let someone like him get away. They would simply make it worth his wild, or make him an offer he couldn't refuse, which is what they had done.

Severus turned back to Paige. "Come on." He demanded.

Paige stood up from her chair and walked over to Severus. The two of them started to leave the room with ease, not being stopped by Harry, Dobbs, or Gueverra. He kept walking until Harry opened his mouth.

"Don't think we won't be watching you," stated Harry, trying to sound threatening but not doing a very good job of it. "Don't try to run away."

Severus glanced back at Harry for a slight moment. "I wouldn't dream of it." He smirked before continuing to walk off with Paige.

Severus led Paige back to the way they had come into the Ministry. They had to take the elevator once again. This time it moved in different directions to take them back to the main floor. It moved up, backwards, forwards, and then up again. Eventually they arrived on the main floor where everything appeared to be in a dark marble color. The fountain, which used to squirt water like some type of beautiful waterfall, had been damaged with pieces of rubble lying around it. The water no longer spewed almost like it symbolized how the Ministry had fallen during the Second War.

"So what did you have to agree to for them to let you go?" Paige asked as they walked towards one of the Floo Network fireplaces.

"A job." Severus replied.

"What kind of job?" Paige asked curiously.

"The kind someone might not come back from alive." Severus answered as if the answer didn't scare him at all.

On the other hand, the answer appeared to make Paige feel slightly distressed. She stepped into the fireplace with Severus, having that look of being scared on her face. Severus put one of his arms around her to hold onto her. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright," he replied. Severus threw down the Floo Powder, which was in his other hand. "Spinner's End!" He shouted, letting the green flames engulf them and take him to his home, which he had longed to see since he had left the Second War. After all, there's no place like home.