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January, 1977

Regulus' concern for Amelia had been growing at an exponential rate over the last several months. Whenever Jen wasn't around or she wasn't occupying her time with some theory from Manipulating the Energy Within in the courtyard, she would sneak away for hours at a time. Regulus had followed her a few times. Sometimes she went to a pub that played live music, other times she went to a rather shady disco. He had followed her there for the first time on New Years Eve, where he watched her kiss some stranger. It had made his stomach churn. She had caught him lurking in the shadows of the disco a few nights later, and while she was clearly on something, that hadn't stopped her from yelling at him.

"Why are you here?" she demanded.

"Making sure you're safe."

"I'm having fun! Something you clearly don't understand."

"Doing drugs and drinking so that you'll forget about your problems isn't fun. It's dangerous. You're going to end up killing yourself."

She wiped her nose on her sleeve, "Fuck you!"

"You don't mean that, come on. I'm taking you home."

She had kicked and shrieked from the time they left the club until they were back in Room Seven. She had thrown herself onto her bed with a huff, but about ten minutes later she'd burst into tears. The effects of whatever drug had clearly worn off.

He kneeled beside her bed, putting his hand on her arm. Her back was to him.

"Amelia. I need you to listen to me. What you're doing...it scares me. I could never forgive myself if something bad happened to you."

"You and Severus told me to find something that helps me. This is what I have found helps me," she said in a small voice.

Since then, he had been spending every spare moment researching Occlumency. He thought that since Amelia was already gifted in one mind art, surely she could pick up another. He had been refreshing his previous Occlumency skills with Severus a bit, so that when the time game, he would be able to both penetrate Amelia's mind, and avoid being penetrated by hers.

He cared for her so much. The burning pain he felt in his chest each time he heard her scream herself awake, only to cry herself back to sleep, killed him inside. He just wanted to be able to help.

That evening, Regulus had pulled Jen aside in the tavern, telling her his plan to use Legilimency on Amelia during their next training session to see if she could properly Occlude. Jen thought it was a brilliant idea, and thought that they should start the next morning.

XXXXX

While Regulus had spent his time holed up in bookshops and libraries, Severus spent all of his time at the Apothecary. The Apothecary in Allee Deschamps was owned by the finest Potions Mistress of the age, Myriam Bachelot. Despite slowly overcome the language barrier, he had learned loads more from her in under a year than he did five with Slughorn, not that that was a hard feat to accomplish.

He, like Regulus, had grown concerned about Amelia's current state. She was fine whenever Jen, Azi, or he and Regulus were around, but the moment she was alone she would always dive off the deep end, like she couldn't stand to be alone with her own thoughts.

Severus understood that on a whole different level. No matter how hard he tried, how empty he made his mind, it always came back to Lily. He missed her desperately. He had seen so much of her personality in Amelia, which is why he thought they got on so well, but now that Amelia had become a shell of the person she was when he first encountered her, he found himself missing Lily more and more.

He wondered how she was. If Potter had won her over. What Hogwarts was like with the war looming. He knew he shouldn't be bothered with such things. He was living a new life, with a different name and a different face. With a sigh, he added some newt eyes into his cauldron. Perhaps he needed more Occlumency revising with Regulus than he thought.

XXXXX

Lily had thought she had been a wreck before Christmas Holidays, but she couldn't have been farther from the truth.

On New Years Day, she had read in the local paper that Tobias Snape had died. How he died wasn't mentioned, but she suspected some sort of bar fight. The thought of the man knotted her stomach. She had only had two encounters with him, but she had seen first hand what he had done to him son. As a child, she was too naive to pick up what was happening at Severus' house. She had believed his lies about falling down the stairs or running into a doorknob. It was until she saw the horrendous amount of bruises and scars on his back one summer when his shirt rode up that she finally put it together.

She had cried to her mother for days about it, unable to comprehend how someone could possibly treat Severus that way. She still didn't understand it, which is why she felt no sympathy for the dead man.

The day she was set to return to Hogwarts, the copy of the Daily Prophet had Amelia, Severus, Regulus, and two other wizards who had disappeared or died in mysterious circumstances on the front cover. The headline was 'What Happened to Them?'. It had been strange to see a photo of Amelia, alive and smiling. Lily had felt a pang of sadness looking at the girl. For over a year she had regarded her as The Dead Girl, but upon reading the excerpt about Amelia in the paper, she had the sad realization that they probably could have been very good friends.

Severus' had been harder for her to take. He wasn't exactly smiling in the photo, but he had that small smirk of his on his face. Lily wasn't sure how the editor had gotten the photo, but it ripped her heart to shreds.

Severus Snape was last seen in the library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Evidence of foul play was discovered in the Forbidden Forest near the school's grounds, but his body has never been recovered. Mr. Snape was an exceptionally gifted student, especially within the realms of potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. While his mother was a member of the pureblood Prince family, his father was a Muggle, which is what authorities believed was the main contributor to his disappearance.

The excerpt of Severus made her sad. While she may not have spoken to him for the last six months of him being at Hogwarts, she didn't feel like it captured the essence of who he was as a person. Lily had been up late an uncountable number of nights questioning everything in regards to Severus. Emily Vanity's outburst in the library during sixth year had sparked it, but the confirmation of Remus being a werewolf and Ackley Nott verbally attacking Calvin Warbeck for being a half-blood had caused her to go absolutely mental late at night.

Lily had seen Sirius Black reading the paper on the train, having a nauseous look on his face. She imagined he was probably having the similar train of thought that she was, but in regards to his brother. She tried to talk to Sirius about the article in the paper, but he wanted to hear none of it. She imagined that he probably felt some degree of guilt, which she had never seen him or James possess during all their time at Hogwarts.

Had Severus really been as invested in the future Death Eaters as everyone had made him seem? Did he really mean to call her a mudblood? Had he been peer pressured by Slytherin to dive into the ideals of You-Know-Who? What had ever happened to that girl that he took to the Yule Ball?

Most prominent was Lily's feelings of guilt, especially in regards to the situation with Remus in the Shrieking Shack. She had told Severus that his friends used Dark Magic, which was true, but when he argued that what the Marauders did was just as bad, she had tried to downplay the severity of what was really going on. Had she known that Sirius Black tried to sic a werewolf on Severus, well...she isn't sure what she would have done.

As much as everything inside of her was screaming that Severus was dead, a small voice inside of her told her not to lose hope. After all, they had never found his body.

Lily's mind came back to the same question. What had ever happened to Evelyn Grey after the Yule Ball? Surely she must have went back to America, but she would nearly be finished with school. Overwhelmed with curiosity, and the desire to talk to someone who probably knew Severus as well as she did, Lily penned a letter and addressed it to Evelyn and gave it to her owl.

Maybe her curiosity could be satisfied.

XXXXX

Severus and Regulus watched as Jen was dueling Amelia, waiting for their opportunity to intervene with Legilimency.

Amelia had gotten much better at defending herself. They both knew she had been towards the top of her year in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she had finally gained the confidence that allowed her to flourish in duels outside of a classroom setting.

When she had successfully disarmed Jen, Amelia turned to face the two of them, confident in her ability to take on both of them at the same time.

And she did, she had them both in vulnerable positions within a few spells. However, as she turned her attention to Regulus, Severus made his move.

"Legilimens!" he yelled, pointing his wand at her.

Her eyes widened when they made contact with his, and suddenly he found himself in the depths of her mind. She wasn't able to put a wall up to stop him.

Severus found himself inside of a farmhouse kitchen. There were various religious icons and family photos around the room, though the presence of Amelia was severely lacking in said photos. A thin, blonde-haired man was reading the newspaper at the table, a brunette woman was making breakfast. There was the sound of children playing in the room above them.

There were a few clunks on the stairs as Amelia heaved her trunk down them. She entered the kitchen, trunk in tow.

The man looked up.

"Back to that Hellish place already?" he asked.

"Yes, Daddy," she said quietly.

"Sit down, Amelia," he said.

She did. Severus noticed the unease on her face.

"I'm worried about you," he said, flashing his eyes to her, "It's a sin."

"And you're supposed to love me, no matter what. That's what a parent does," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

"So you admit that what you do is a sin then?"

Amelia sighed, "Daddy, I know that the validation of what I am was hard for you to accept, but it's been five years. You should have adjusted by now."

"I'm scared for you, what you do...it's an abomination. It's an eternity in Hell," her father said, folding up his newspaper.

"Now Eugene, let's not go using words like Hell," the woman said.

Severus noticed the pain in Amelia's face, her hands toying at the fabric of her skirt.

"So that's why you sat me down this morning, to tell me I'm going to Hell?" she asked, her voice becoming stronger, "It's not like I've known that for the last ten years of my life!"

There was a pause.

"I just don't know where I went wrong with you!" he exclaimed suddenly, "Or Evangelina for that matter!"

"Where you went wrong?!" Amelia shrieked.

Severus suddenly noticed a lack of noise above them, and poked his head around the corner to see a few children crouching on the stairs, clearly eavesdropping. Another teenaged girl had just come in the front door, the children gesturing for her to stay quiet.

"We raised you in a wholesome, Catholic family and still you…" he let out a frustrated sigh, "Isaiah. The Lord has rejected you because you welcome foreigners who practice magic," her father recited.

"Oh don't do that Daddy. Don't quote the Bible at me!" Amelia complained.

"Chronicles. He practiced divination and witchcraft. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger."

Amelia straightened herself suddenly, "Jesus. A new commandment that I give unto you, that you love one another."

"Leviticus. A man or a woman who engages in witchcraft shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them."

"Jesus. He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone."

"Exodus. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."

"Jesus. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Jesus. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is my savior, Daddy. Not you!" Amelia yelled, pointing between a portrait of the man on the wall and the man across from her.

She stood suddenly, throwing her chair back, "And Jesus...Jesus would be ashamed of you for judging me. He would be ashamed of you for turning your back in me! He would be ashamed!" she sobbed, her voice finally breaking.

With that, Amelia grabbed her trunk, stormed out of room, past her siblings, and out the front door, which shut with a slam.

Suddenly, Severus was thrown out of her mind. Amelia looked at him, a look of utmost malice on her face. Regulus and Jen stood nearby, wondering what he could have possibly seen. Amelia stormed by all three of them.

"I'm leaving," she muttered.

Regulus and Severus hurried after her, Jen just stood there and shook her head. She should have known that this wasn't a good idea.

The boys entered Room Seven to see Amelia aggressively stuffing her minimal belongings into a small trunk, muttering under her breath about how she couldn't trust anyone.

"Amelia…" Regulus started.

"Don't," she said through gritted teeth, "This arrangement is done. I'm leaving."

"I'm sorry, Amelia," Severus said.

"Sorry for what? Were tired of dealing with my drunken and depressive antics so you decided to find a way to get rid of me? Well congradufuckinglations. Your wish is my command."

"We were only trying to help," Regulus said.

"Help how? Oh, yeah let's dive into the mind of the girl with horrendous PTSD, depression, and Daddy Issues! That'll go well! Brilliant idea you two," she muttered sarcastically.

Regulus could feel himself growing anxious. She really was determined to leave them. His heart was panicking in his chest.

Suddenly, an owl tapped on their window. The all looked at it in surprise, in all their time here not one of them had received an owl. Regulus retried the letter in its beak and sent it on its way.

"It's for you," he said, giving it to Amelia.

"Odd," she said, opening the letter.

She let the envelope fall to the floor. Severus scooped it up, and his heart stopped. He knew that loopy handwriting, that signature purple ink.

"Well, who is it from?" Regulus asked.

"Lily," Severus and Amelia said in unison.

Dear Evelyn,

I'm not quite sure how to begin this letter, but I figured I should, as I feel you're the only person who knew Severus as I did. Things are starting to get worse here, more people are disappearing. The Ministry still hasn't found a whole lot in regards to Severus, and I fear that they never will. Sometimes I wonder if he somehow survived the attack. Emily Vanity certainly seems to think it's possible, but she's also been a complete mess since Regulus has been missing, so some of what she says is complete nonsense. I've been thinking about leaving Britain, but I feel as if that would be an insult to Severus' memory.

I don't know why I'm telling you about this, for all I know you could have moved on from Severus already, but I feel like no one at Hogwarts understands me, so I hope you'll get back to me.

Best,

Lily Evans

Severus tried to retrieve the letter from her grasp, but she set fire to it instead.

"Why would do that?!" he exclaimed.

"It's what you get after the little stunt you pulled today," she mused, fluttering over to sit on her bed.

Severus sulked out of the room.

"Amelia, that was mean," Regulus said.

Amelia inhaled on her newly lit cigarette, and blew smoke in his direction.

"The two of you invading my mind was, what you like to call, mean."

"We were only trying to help," he mumbled, "Are you going to write her back?"

"Perhaps."

"Are you still leaving?"

"Yes, I think so. Azi asked me to come visit his family in Africa."

"We'll come with you."

Amelia blew smoke out of her nose and sighed.

"Fine. I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon."

Regulus hesitated, "What...what did he see? In your mind?"

"The last time I ever saw my parents," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry," he said, putting his hand on her arm, "I just wanted to help."

"I don't doubt that Occlumency would work, but that was just not the way you two should have gone about it."

Haha, did anyone recognize the Grey's Anatomy influence? ;-)

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