"Bloody hell!" Severus exclaimed as he fell backwards onto the floor after a few moments.
Remus rushed over and helped him up. Rover came in with tea and biscuits. He quietly served everyone and upon seeing how shaken his master was he popped out and then back in a minute later holding a vial.
"Master need calming draft. You drink now. Hurry. Master must calm down. Drink potion like a good Master now." Rover said as he uncorked the vial and tipped the contents into Severus's mouth. Once the potion had taken effect Severus looked at Remus and began shooting questions at him.
"Remus, what kind of an education has Tala had? Where was she schooled? If she was taught at home, who were her tutors? Why would you let them teach such a young child mind magics? Can I see into your mind to see if your defenses are anything like hers?"
"Well Severus, she had the same education as the other children in the village. The elders taught them how to identify and gather all kinds of healing plants and herbs, also how to hunt and their native martial arts. I taught them English and Latin, writing, arithmetic, and very basics of meditation. Go ahead and enter my mind."
Severus proceeded to gaze into Remus's eyes as he said, "Legilimens."
About three minutes later Severus exited Remus's mind and sat quietly for a minute contemplating what he had seen.
"Rover."
"Yes Master? What can Rover do for you?"
"Bring me my large Pensieve and six vials of calming drafts."
"Yes Master." Rover said before scurrying out of the room.
"Why do you need a Pensieve Mr. Snape?" Tala asked as she nibbled on a chocolate biscotti and sipped her tea.
"Well Tala, I want everyone to see the difference between how yours and your fathers minds are protected."
"Severus, you should also show how someone that does not know Occlumency is unprotected. You can use me." Petunia said as she took a seat in front of him.
"Yes that would be wise. Legilimens." Five minutes later Severus pulled out of her mind and stared in shock at Petunia.
"I am sorry Severus. I did not know how to tell you. I did what I thought to be best. Can you please forgive me for waiting so long?"
"Y-yes. Merlin. How do I contact them to get them back?"
"I honestly don't know. She did it before she left. Though I am sure that if you try to send her a Patronus that she will…well…you never know with our cousins. I think Simone might know, but I wouldn't recommend jumping into that stew pot. No person of non-Fae blood would ever be allowed to leave. Any way, isn't it the wrong time of year for fairy rings?"
"No you are right. Fairy rings are not due until December."
"Dad."
"Yes Harry?"
"What exactly is a fairy ring?"
"They are naturally occurring circles of magical mushrooms. They are extremely dangerous. If a person were to step into one they would be transported directly to the Fae realm."
"Well that sounds cool."
"No most definitely not cool, any creature you came across would have the right to claim you as theirs. They could keep you as a slave, a pet or even have you for a meal."
"I think having lunch with a Fae creature would be fun."
"Harry, you would BE the meal. They would be allowed by rights to eat you."
"Oh. That would be bad."
"Harry, Severus I really hate to interrupt but you were going to show us some things in the Pensieve."
"Yes. Right. Forgot momentarily." Severus filled the Pensieve with a small amount of water and then proceeded to pull several memories out of his head. He lowered them into the water and motioned for the rest of the people in the room to touch the now silvery shimmering liquid.
They appeared to be in a meadow next to the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts. As they approached it a werewolf loped out of the forest and approached the 'memory' version of Severus. The wolf sniffed the air, yipped and darted back into the forest. They followed Snape into the forest and watched in shock as he touched the trees and memories oozed out.
They were now in the Gryffindor common room and witnessed Remus arguing with the rest of the marauders.
"What you guys did to Snape was horrid. He wasn't bothering anyone. Why did you have to remove all his clothes? He has not done that to any of us! Why must you torment him so?"
"Moony relax. We were bored. It's not like we tried to kill him. We just gave the girls a preview of what a slimy Death Eater looks like."
"James he did not have the dark mark. That means he isn't a death eater. He might have oily hair and spots but so does Peter. Does that mean he's slimy?"
"Remus, he is a Slytherin. That means he is going to join up with the rest of those degenerates as soon as he can. I should know. My parents keep badgering me to join when I graduate. That is why when this year is up I am going to go stay at Prongs' house. His parents have always said we all are welcome anytime."
"Just leave him alone Sirius. He barely has any friends. Anyway I am sure that what happened today lost him his friendship with Lily."
"Good, now she'll be more open to dating James."
"Yeah Remus. Sirius and James are right. It's just a bit of fun. Anyways, it sounds like you are interested in dating him yourself. You need to decide. It is him or us. You should be aware of how dangerous secrets can be. It would be a shame if the world were to find out about your 'furry little problem'."
Remus joined Lily in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express.
"Hello Remus, how are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm tired. But then I always seem to be tired. How are you doing?"
"I'm okay. Are you seeing anyone?"
"No. Speaking of seeing people, James likes you."
"Unfortunately I know he likes me. He's been obvious about it."
"So you don't like him?"
"Absolutely not! He is deplorable! He is a womanizing conceited prick. He bullies other students for his own amusement! I truly and irrevocably despise him."
"You know, he's been telling everyone that you are going to marry him."
"WHAT? He's crazy. I would never. Anyways I am engaged."
"Really? You are engaged? To who?"
"The Heir to the House of Prince. My father arranged it."
"You, a muggleborn, have a marriage contract with the Heir to the second most powerful wizarding family in Great Britain? How did your dad manage to pull that off?"
"I asked him to."
"Why, for the love of all that's holy, would you do that for?"
"Because I love him, I always have."
"Wait, you know him?"
"Yes, he goes to Hogwarts."
"Which house is he in?"
"He's a sixth year like us. He's in Slytherin."
"Lily no. All Slytherin's hate"
"REMUS JOHN LUPIN! With your history I would think you wouldn't jump to conclusions and judge people on false preconceived notions."
"What do you mean?"
"That's like saying all werewolves are savage beasts that eat babies and wanted to be infected. It's complete rubbish and an out right lie."
"What do werewolves got to do with me?" Remus asked as color drained from his face.
"Remus. I know. I've known since second term our first year."
"Known what?"
"That you are a werewolf. You are 'sick' every full moon and avoid silver like I avoid James."
"Oh, but you've not told anyone. Why?"
"Because it is not my secret to tell."
"Thank you."
"No problem. So are you going to tell your friends?"
"Naw, they already figured it out. That's why they became animagi. So they can keep me company during that time of the month."
"So that's why they keep saying you have a 'furry little problem'?"
"Yeah."
"You do realize that the rest of our house thinks that you have a badly behaved rabbit and are a hermaphrodite?"
"I knew about the rabbit rumor. But a hermaphro what?"
"A hermaphrodite."
"What's that?"
"It means somebody who is both male and female."
"Why would they think that?"
"Well, James and Sirius are always chuckling about your 'mood swings' and your chocolate cravings and they even say you have PMS."
Remus laughed. "I do get PMS. You know…Post Moon Sickness…PMS."
"Oh, that's actually funny. You come up with it?"
Remus sat in an armchair in an office and watched in silence when Severus was ordered by Headmaster Dumbledore to never tell or talk about the incident under the shrieking shack, and then given a weeks detention for being out of bounds after hours. Tears fell down his face as he watched Sirius grin with pride. Snape exited the room angrily. Remus leaped up and punched Sirius in the face as he screamed at him.
"You bloody bastard! I could have killed him or worse turned him! What were you thinking? How could you do this to me? If that had happened I would be thrown into Azkaban or given the Dementor's Kiss. I'm a werewolf! I would not even get a trial!"
"It was just a prank. James was there. He didn't let you get to him. I didn't realize that the trap door wasn't warded. I just intended for him to get the piss scared out of him. No harm done."
"He was hurt you arse! I had his blood on my hand when I came to this morning. Luckily Fawkes healed the slashes on him."
"Exactly Remus, he's not anymore. He can't tell, if he does he'll be expelled."
"You wanted to see me Dumbledore?" Remus asked as he entered the Headmaster's office at Hogwart's and sat down.
"Yes, I would like you to infiltrate the werewolf packs and find out how many are going to be in Voldemort's ranks."
"I am sorry. I will not do that. I am leaving in the morning."
"Leaving? To where?"
"I am leaving the country. Too many of the Order think I am on You Know Who's side. I refuse to be thought of like that. Even my friends think that. I don't think I will ever return. Find another lackey to do your dirty work for you."
Dumbledore sat slack mouthed in shock as Remus left his office.
Remus's memories faded away and their surroundings changed as the next memory Severus had extracted came into play.
They were on a path facing a massive forest. It was a mixture of a rainforest and the forbidden forest that bordered the grounds near Hogwarts. A short stonewall separated the forest from the path they were on. There was a double-hinged gate similar to the one outside the Entrance to Hogwarts. About ten feet in front of it sat a woman in a loose flowing gown. She was tracing symbols into the dirt. As Severus approached her she looked at him with a serene look on her face.
"Who are you?" The woman asked.
"Just a thought. A daydream really." Snape answered.
Suddenly the woman was standing and was wearing full armor holding a shield and was armed with a spear made out of a shaft of lightning.
"You speak lies magic man. Go. Leave this one in peace. Seek no further. There is nothing here for you."
"I seek nothing. I am but a random thought of teachers at school. I can not harm or learn."
"I am The Guardian. You need tarry here no longer. Leave."
Severus moved to walk around her. She laughed menacingly as she thrust her spear into the ground. Suddenly two clouds of smoke formed from a heavy mist that rolled out of the forest and up out of the ground. They took the shape of two enormous creatures. One looked to be a cat and the other a canine. The clearing went from daytime to night. One half was pitch black and the other had a soft glow about it. He looked up and was startled to see two moons. On the dark half of the sky was what looked to be a new moon, the other had a full moon. The stars were swirling
Severus took a couple of steps back. He took a couple of calming breaths and started to walk forward again. The shadowy forms solidified. One was a massive white panther with cerulean eyes that pierced through the dark. The other was just as massive but it was a graying light brown wolf with bright amber eyes. They started circling Severus while growling ferociously and just as they leapt at him it went dark.
They appeared in a circle of stone pillars not unlike those at Stonehenge. Severus looked around in wonder. Fairies, fawns, brownies, pixies sylphs, dryads and nymphs surrounded them. Beyond the Fae creatures were meadows of herbs, flowers and different fungi. The trees were gigantic. He looked up expecting to see a sun lit sky. Instead it was like looking into the heart of the cosmos. The planets and stars looked as if he could reach out and touch them. When he focused on the constellations they appeared to be real.
He glanced at Lily and smiled at her beauty. She had huge wings shaped similar to those of a butterfly. They were iridescent and the coloring was like the finest fire opals. Her dress was pale silver and flowed in the breeze like ribbons of light.
He paid more attention to the creatures surrounding them, and was quickly filled with terror at what he heard them saying.
"The male looks strong and young too. He's ripe with young magic. He'll make a good pet or meal. Nayeli what would you trade got the human male?"
Nayeli threw back her head laughing. "Sorry folks, this one belongs to Lily. They're here to visit the queen and get her blessing on their union. I doubt she would be willing to trade him"
'Such rotten luck, well maybe the next one."
Lily picked up a bowl and handed it to Severus. She turned around and rubbed her wings together. Dust filled the bowl. Once it was about half full she stopped, took the bowl back and proceeded to sprinkle the contents onto Severus.
"Think happy thoughts Severus."
"What? Why?"
"Do you remember the muggle fairy tale Peter Pan?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it was a true story. Think happy thoughts."
"Are you saying this is Never Never Land?"
"That is one of the names for it."
"Okay. Happy thoughts coming up."
"Please give us your blessing. I too would give up everything. She is my reason for living. I do not want to live without her.
"Do you think that is enough?"
"I give you my word that I shall never willingly harm her for she is more precious than my own soul. I vow on my soul to protect Lily and all of her offspring with all that I am and should I fail I pledge myself to you as what you would have me for the rest of time.
"Do not make vows you cannot keep human."
Severus pulled out the knife and slashed his wrists open. As his blood poured to the ground he spoke.
"On my very blood I give you my word that I will keep Lily and her descendants above my own life"
"Very well, I claim you life's blood. Every last drop."
Lily watched in horror as Severus's blood proceeded to stain the ground. As it came to a stop Her grandmother cut her wrist open and brought it to his mouth.
"Drink Severus and you shall receive my blessing."
Severus drank until he was stopped. Within a minute or two Severus went into convulsions. Foam spilled out of his mouth.
Lily's grandmother smiled and spoke.
"Lily, Severus, I bind you as mates for all time. You should go now. It is nearly morning on Sunday in the human realm."
Everyone fell out of the Pensieve and onto the floor. Remus was teary eyed as he hugged Tala.
"Tala honey, the panther we saw looked like your mother. And the wolf.."
"Looked like you dad. But who is the woman that called herself 'The Guardian'?"
"I honestly don't know. But we at least know that you are a superb natural occlumens."
"Sorry to interrupt but why didn't it work? Why wasn't there a memory from you looking into my mind?"
"I don't know. Maybe it is because of your Corvinus half? They are a relatively unknown magical race. I know what I saw and tried to pull it out to view. But I bet that you would be the best secret keeper around. I tried to look further into you mind than I did and was thrown out. Did you try and resist me at all?"
"I knew what I wanted you to see. But the rest of my mind is my own and is private."
The faint sounds of multiple apparition cracks filled the house. Petunia went and looked out the front window. She gasped as she saw Lucius Malfoy walking up to the front door. Their eyes met and he went red with rage. With a flick of a wand he was wearing a Death Eaters mask. She ran over to the boys as she called out for Dobby.
A/N: I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER. PLEASE HIT THAT BUTTON AND SEND ME SOME REVIEWS. On a milder note, please re-read chapter 4, I discovered upon reviewing this story that I left out an important scene. I fixed it and reposted the corrected chapter.