South

Act II

Scene V

Grimmauld Place was gone.

Not just number twelve, Grimmauld Place, which cannot be seen except by those who are told where it is.

All of it.

All of Grimmauld Place was -

"Gone!" Lily cried. "Graveyard, Elizabeth, graves!"

"Even I am surprised," Elizabeth said quietly. Her face was shattered, changing emotions quickly. So this is the what if

"I can't believe it." Lily traced a finger down one stone angel's wing, then yanked her hand back as if burned. Digusted. "This place is full of Muggles. And - and the Order - but you wouldn't know about it, would you?"

"Quite the contrary," Elizabeth said, but Lily had already turned away.

"Bloody hell."

"Oh, dear," Elizabeth said, having a vague idea of what happened.

"Bloody hell."

Elizabeth looked over Lily's shoulder. The tombstone, illuminated by Lily's wand, was grey, rectangular, and overall a normal tombstone. Except the epitaph was very, very wrong.

Here lies Severus Snape

son of Tobias and Eileen

1960 - 1973

"No...no..."

"You were never there, Lily," Elizabeth told her. "You weren't there to feed James's honor, and so he wasn't there to save Sev's life."

"You're lying!" Lily cried. "Remus wouldn't hurt a fly - and Sev - Sev was my best friend until fifth year -"

"He never lived past thirteen," the angel said sadly.

"No!" Lily was almost delirious with fright at seeing the gravestone. It was suddenly her only focus now, very stark against the frosty ground. "You're lying!"

"I'm an angel. I don't lie."

"What's going on here?" A voice called. Light shone across the dark yard now, illuminating every stone. Quickly, Lily flipped her wand to point towards the voice.

A figure emerged, the flashlight flickering out of their eyes so they could see the stranger's face.

"That's interesting," Elizabeth said, but Lily had already thrown herself forward.

"James!" She wrapped her arms around the man, squeezing him tight. "Oh! I've missed you so much! I'm going crazy, James, strange things are happening to me!"

"Do I know you?" James asked, bewildered. Elizabeth was no longer in sight.

"Know me! Of course you know me! We met in Hogwarts," she started.

"Hogwarts was the loneliest seven years of my life," James said harshly, pushing Lily away. She stumbled backward and looked up, her face pale with shock. "And I don't know who you are."

"What?" Lily breathed. "Of course you do. I'm your wife. Lily Evans Potter! Where's our son, James? Where's Harry?"

"You're not my wife," he said coldly. "Petrificus Totalus."

Lily toppled over, a look of surprise frozen on her face.

"You're just another one of those," he said calmly, looking at her without an ounce of regret. It struck Lily that he was different now - that he did not have the same lively step, the same light demanor, the same abandon and love of life her husband had. That hurt her. Deeply.

"You," James said slowly as if speaking to a child, "are wrong in the head. Voldemort did this to you. I will take you to St. Mungo's where they can help you."

Lily stared, frozen. So many things had just happened - seeing Severus's grave - which should not be here, oh no - and running into James, who was painfully un-James-like...

"I am curious, however," James said, and with a wave of his wand Lily's face was prickilng and unfrozen. "Why are you ehre, in teh graveyard of all places?"

"I beg your pardon," Lily said shakily, knowing something was too wrong here, "but I am not wrong in the head" - or maybe I am, she thought - "and - and I was here to - to find Sirius - " and here she broke into tears.

"You know Sirius?" James asked suspiciously, lowering his wand a bit.

"Yes! I know all the people you know - Remus, Fabian and Gideon -"

"Remus is in St. Mungo's," James said shortly. "Sirius is in Azkaban for murder. I don't know how you knew the twins, but they're dead."

"Of course they're not!" cried Lily, hysterical. "The twins are alive! They were at the last meeting of the Order - and Sirius and Remus - innocent! They were innocent!"

"Sirius tricked a thirteen year-old boy into his death," James spat. "Innocent. Bullocks."

Lily fell to the ground, her heart pounding in her ears and her throat hoarse. "I want to live again - oh, I want to live again."

Voices spun inside her head. James was shouting something at her. Black drizzled through her vision, and her temples pounded: You were never there, Lily. I'm an angel. I don't lie.

"Elizabeth..."

Yes? The voice was smoothed out now, almost familiar to Lily.

"I want to go home." A sob broke free. "Please."

Go home, Lily. The voice retracted, but Lily called it back feebly. Yes?

"What if - what if I had done it?"

Suddenly, Elizabeth's face was in full view...confused. Pardon?

"What if I had gone through with it? What would have happened?"

Elizabeth smiled grimly. The mail carrier would've found you. You would've survived.

Before Lily could question that, Elizabeth faded away, leaving only, You know, Bret McGlie is a very uninteresting man.

Then it was totally black.