A/N: Okay, so this might be a heavy chapter…it's mainly going to be about the letters from Snape to Annemarie, but there might be a few other things thrown in the mix. I know I said all would be explained in this chapter, but not really…almost everything will be. Heh. Gotta keep some things secret for a while longer. ^_^

Enjoy!

Random disclaimer: I wish I would have been given the opportunity to come up with this wonderful series, but I didn't. JK Rowling received that honor. The universe belongs to her; I just stuck a few random characters in with it.

Ch. 13

When we got into Lorissa's room, I stopped in the doorway from the shock of the place. There were papers EVERYWHERE; all of them being lined notebook paper with scribbles on them. "It looks like a hurricane blew through here!"

"Yeah, well, I was keeping track of things I read," she grabbed the pile of papers off of her chair and gestured for me to sit in it. I opted instead to sit on her bed. "It all got a little crazy after a while, and I started throwing the papers around after I had written something on them."

"I understand, honey." I watched her pick up more of the papers, gathering them into a pile as she did so. This took her a few more minutes, even with me joining in and helping her. After she had sorted them in piles, she grabbed the pile of faded parchment on her desk, and gave it to me. She hung on to the notebook paper.

"Why did you give me the letters?" I asked, flipping through them. They were in complete date order, starting with a letter from the summer before Annemarie's 7th year.

"I wanted you to have them so you could follow along with my notes." She grabbed her glasses off of her desk and put them on. "Okay, the first letter you have there. That was from the beginning of mom's summer before her 7th year. He seems to be vehemently apologizing for something that he did, but he doesn't go into much detail about it, only saying that he wanted a chance to explain himself and why things are the way they are.

"Look at the next letter. This was written a few days before they would have gotten on the train to Hogwarts. He requests a meeting with her before they leave, practically pleading with her to let him explain himself. He also mentions Lily Evans, saying that he wanted to explain what was going on with her and him as well. Lily Evans is Harry Potter's mom, correct?"

I nodded, reading the letter over. I couldn't even imagine Snape writing something like this. Phrases like, "I would do anything to change what happened" and "I'm begging you, even if you don't want to continue our friendship, to at least listen to what I have to say" jumped out at me. The emotion contained in them made this trip into his teenage mind even more fascinating.

"That's what I thought. Okay, now, next letter. This one was written a few days after they got back to school. He asks mom to meet him in the Astronomy Tower, 'like they used to do before everything happened'. Short letter, doesn't have much information in it.

"The letters get pretty basic here, with him writing to mom, talking about things from their classes, how much homework they had, et cetera. I assume that they corresponded with letters and notes during their classes, since most of the ones he wrote were rather short.

"Skip to around Christmas time." I shuffled through the papers until I reached the ones from December. "This is where it gets interesting. Apparently, mom had brought him home before, when they had met to have their 'discussion', and grandma didn't really approve of him. Actually, if I remember right, he wrote that 'she practically disowned me from the moment I stepped in the door.'" I nodded to signal she was right. "It seems as though my mom had invited him, as well as a girl named Stacie and your dad, over to her house for Christmas vacation. He spoke as if he was eager to go, but afraid of what her mother would say about it. The next letter," she signaled me to go to the next one, "shows that mom had said something along the lines of 'She can suck it' in her letter back. He accepts the invitation, and asks her what she wants for Christmas, and whether or not he should get presents for the rest of her family. I guess that word had traveled to Lily Evans that she was going to have him at her house for break, because the next letter is actually a note from one of their classes together." I went to the next one and noticed the different handwriting. Snape's was very loopy and elegant, while Annemarie's was more choppy and scribbly, much like my and Lorissa's handwriting.

"Mom started the conversation, saying that Lily had tried to talk to her again about him. She mentioned that she seemed very worried about her hanging around with him. They talked about it for a little bit. He told her to believe him when he said that 'wouldn't let anything happen to her', and that she was 'too precious to him' to ever consider causing her pain. This is where mom mentions his name." She leaned over me and pointed to his name. "Severus. Right there. After I found his name, I went through a bunch of books and collections from the Daily Prophet and Hogwarts, looking to see if I could find any information on him…but, I'll get to that later." She sat back down where she was and continued.

"The letters stop, since they were together at grandma's house. They pick back up in January, with him saying that 'Grace and Ben seemed to really fancy each other by the end of the holiday.'" She saw my smile, and smiled as well. "I thought you would like that. That's when they must have met. Anyways, he rambles on about how he enjoyed the stay, and enjoyed being with her family and her closest friends. He also mentions The Beatles, which I found surprising. He said that before he came back to Hogwarts, he went out and purchased 'Abbey Road' for mom, after he discovered that her all-time favorite song was 'Something', and she didn't own anything with the song on it. He said that he would have given her his copy, but his copy was so scratched, and the album cover itself was so worn out, that he wanted her to have a good copy."

I felt my eyes get a little wider. My mind drifted back to the time when Su and I had found Snape in the Astronomy Tower, plastered, playing 'Something'. That tidbit of information made the event make sense. That was Annemarie's favorite song, and he was listening to it to remind him of her.

"As the letters go on, the language becomes much more flowery and sweet. It was as if he was trying to write 'I love you' in code, as if he was trying to tell mom how he felt without the risk of rejection. He also started signing his letters with 'Yours', furthering what I said just a little bit ago about the whole code thing. This goes on for a while, with nothing too exciting happening…until about the end of March." I flipped to March, feeling like my brain was going to explode from all of this new information, but hooked nonetheless.

"Once again, he asked her to meet him in the Astronomy Tower, but, this time, it was going to be late at night. He also told her to bring a jacket or blanket, since it was March, and it was cold. He signs it 'always yours', and actually puts 'Severus' down, instead of the curly S. The letter after it is filled with mushiness that I've only ever read in the Twilight books. I almost stated crying from the raw emotion he wrote in that letter. It's signed with 'love you, always and forever', and his name.

"Every letter after is filled with this flowery mushiness. Suddenly, near the end of April, he starts talking about where they were going to go after graduation. He lists off several places where he says 'no one, not even Him, would think to look', including different places in France and America. He mentions that they would be safe wherever they went – he would make sure of that. He keeps telling her that everything would be all right, as if she was in danger somehow." She paused, trying to keep the fact that she wanted to cry back. "It's simply signed with 'I love you'.

"They discuss America for a while, but then he yields to her apparent decision that they should be 'as far away from her family as possible'. They settled on looking for somewhere outside of Versailles, so that they could be alone, but close to some businesses and shops when they needed anything. The letters end in the middle of July after their graduation, when he told her that he was going to pick her up on the 14th at 2:00 in the morning, and that they would then leave for Versailles." She took a breath, trying to choke back the tears again.

"Wow, honey…that is pretty intense."

She nodded, wiping a tear that had escaped off her cheek. "Do you want to know how I found out exactly who he was?"

I nodded, still looking at the last letter, wondering what had happened from the time that they were 17 to after Lorissa was born, when Annemarie went missing, and, apparently, Snape took her to Michelle to have her take care of her.

"After I finished reading the letters, I trekked over to the library to look up anyone with the name of 'Severus' who was alive back in the late 70s and early 80s, and who attended Hogwarts at that time. I figured it would be an easy search, since I had never heard his name before. It wasn't exactly easy, but I did find what I was looking for." She paged through her notes before coming on the page she wanted.

"I scoured the library for records of students from the other wizarding schools. Oddly enough, the only ones I found were from Hogwarts. I grabbed the one that was their graduating year and started looking through it. I found an index in the back, and, upon finding his first name, discovered that his last name was Snape." She paused, her face darkening slightly. "I had heard that name come up in conversations before, especially when it was grandma and Aunt Sarah talking, and they didn't think I could hear them. I figured that it was just because he was my dad, and they didn't want me to know about what happened to him.

"I turned to each page, and eventually found the graduation photo that had been taken of all of them. His picture was…humorous, at best. He was looking over at a person beside him, swatting the hand that was trying to poke him in the ear away from him. He looked incredibly pissed, but after several swats, a smirk started to show up on his face. Now that I had a face, I decided to see if I could get any information on him.

"There wasn't much, honestly; a small article about how he had been reported missing by his mother, an article about his appointment to Potions Master at Hogwarts, mentions of him in articles written about Harry, things like that. And then…I found it."

I looked at her questioningly. She pulled out a couple sheets of paper with yellow highlighter on it. The first highlighted line, about a third down the page, said 'In a shocking twist of events, Professor Snape revealed himself as a Death Eater, killing Dumbledore at the top of the Astronomy Tower.' The lines she highlighted after that were basic mentions of his history; his brilliance in Potions, his interest in the Dark Arts, and the betrayal that the faculty, staff, and students at Hogwarts were feeling after his true allegiance had been shown.

I looked up at her with true sympathy in my eyes. She wiped more tears off of her cheeks, trying not to completely break. "I can see now why no one wanted to tell me about him. He's a Death Eater. They didn't want me to know what a…a….monster he is." She sniffed. "I'm wondering if he had something to do with mom going missing." She paused, her face getting all screwed up. "I wonder if he killed her." She broke into harsh, ragged sobs.

I hugged her close to me, my mind still reeling from all the information I had received. When other people cry, I start to cry as well, so I joined her. We cried in each other's arms for quite some time. When we both started to show signs of calming down, I broke the hug and took her face in my hands.

"What are you going to do?" I asked her, speaking in almost a whisper.

"I don't know."

I pulled her in a hug again, and she resumed crying, though not as hard as before.

"Krys…" she tugged on my shirt a little bit when she spoke, "I'm really scared."

I held her closer to me. "I know, baby. I know."

We sat in silence for what seemed like forever, with her crying into my shoulder.

~*~

"Miss Carter, do you realize how serious this is?" Headmistress Sarto said, peering at Lorissa and I through her thick, round glasses. We stayed up the entire night, Lorissa trying to figure out what to do to keep herself and those around her safe, since she didn't know if he was going to come back and try to take her. I, on the other hand, tried to think of some way to make Lorissa feel less scared about the whole situation. Truthfully, I was worried for her, and wondered as well if Snape would try anything – but I didn't let her know that. We eventually decided that we would go and talk to Sarto before our first classes in the morning, just so we could get it out of the way, and so Lorissa could have some piece of mind.

"To a degree, ma'am, yes. I felt like it would be good for you to be aware of what I've discovered." She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. I squeezed her hand, trying to let her know that I was there for her. "I wasn't sure what would be the best thing for me to do in this situation. I feel as though as long as I'm here, I'm putting people in danger."

"Hmm…" Sarto looked over Lorissa's notes, and the printed article about Dumbledore's death. "This is a very serious situation." She took her huge glasses off, rubbed her eyes, and leaned forward, looking straight at Lorissa. "As you well know by now, since you evidently did your research, your father is currently the Headmaster at Hogwarts. I have actually had communication with him, as have several of the other Headmasters from the other wizarding schools. The things he said to me…" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I won't go into that. What I'm getting at is that, unfortunately, these are dangerous times, not only for you, but also for all of us. Have you notified your grandmother about your findings?"

Lorissa looked down at her feet. "No, ma'am, I have not."

Sarto sighed. "You might want to, my dear, so the two of you can discuss the actions that you will need to take to ensure your safety. As much as the staff here at Ashberry works to keep all of the students here safe, what we are dealing with, in this case, is far from simple. It would be very difficult for us to effectively protect you from the various things that he could do to you, even from as far away as he is."

"So…are you saying that I should leave the school?"

I looked over at Lorissa in shock, a "No!" escaping my mouth. I turned to Sarto. "Ma'am, please. There has to be something that could be done to keep Lorissa here. Her schooling shouldn't be interrupted because of this."

"Miss Koromashi…I'm afraid that Lorissa's idea is what I was, myself, thinking. I am worried about the student body as a whole, but I am more concerned right now with her well-being and safety. I believe that it would be in her best interest to go into hiding somewhere, away from her home and the school, so that he won't be able to find her and, possibly, harm her." Sarto looked directly at Lorissa, the sadness in her heart pouring out from every inch of her. "I'm sorry, Lorissa."

"I understand, ma'am." Lorissa looked up at Sarto, giving the best smile she could, given the circumstances. "I will get in touch with my grandmother, and we'll work it out."

Sarto nodded, and we both took that as our cue to leave. As soon as we walked out of the room, Lorissa took out her cell phone and dialed her grandmother.

I heard it ring on the other end faintly four times, and then the answering machine kicked on. "Hi, Grandma. It's me. I wanted you to know that I know. I know everything. I know who he is. I just spoke with Sarto about it, and I'm leaving the school. I'll talk to you more about it when you get me. Love you. Bye." She shut her phone and kept walking.

"Lorissa…" She stopped and turned around to look at me. Once again, tears were welling up in her eyes. "Do you want to talk about this or anything?"

She stared at me for a little bit, and then shook her head. "No. I need to start packing. Who knows when grandma will come get me." She half-smiled. "Go on to class, cuz. I'll be all right."

With that, she turned on her heels and walked towards her dorm hallway. I stood there, not knowing whether to cry or scream about the whole situation.

~*~

I was walking to my Arithmancy class when, all of the sudden, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the hallway and into a corner.

"What the fuck?" I said rather loudly. Looking up, I saw that it was Tim, with a serious, concerned look on his face. "Oh, it's you. I thought someone was going to rape me."

"Why is Lorissa in her room, packing?"

I paused, wondering how I could answer this question. He noticed my hesitation. "Something happened yesterday, didn't it? Something big?"

I looked down at my feet, trying not to cry. I nodded slowly.

He tipped my chin up so he could look into my eyes. "You don't have to tell me. I understand. Just answer one thing for me – is Lorissa leaving for good?"

"She's leaving until all of…everything blows over."

He nodded with understanding, and then sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Is she going to be okay?"

I looked him straight in the eyes, tears welling up in my own eyes as I spoke. "I sure as hell hope so."

~*~

I ran down the 5th year hallway after I finished talking to Tim, hoping that I wasn't too late. I nearly yanked the doorknob off of Lorissa's door when I opened it. Stumbling in, I saw Lorissa slowly putting her clothes in her suitcase, while Michelle was sitting on her bed, looking at the letters she had never known about.

They looked up simultaneously at me. "Hello, Krystel," Michelle said flatly, turning her attention back to the letters. That surprised me; normally, Michelle was happy to see me. I caught Lorissa's eye, and she shook her head no, signaling me not to ask any questions about what was up her grandmother's ass.

I didn't even have to ask, because, not even seconds later, Michelle started to talk.

"This is all ridiculous. All of this. Every last bit of it." She slammed the letters down on the bed (I saw Lorissa flinch when she did this). "My daughter is gone, and you're in danger, all because of him." She shook her head, resting her forehead in her hand. "I told her that he wasn't good. I told her. But she didn't listen…" She turned to Lorissa, looking at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, honey. I tried to tell her. I did."

Lorissa shook her head, obviously not wanting to hear anything about her dad at that moment. She finished putting all of her things in her suitcase. Zipping it up, she pulled it off the bed, extending the handle so she could pull it through the hallway easily. Michelle took this as a sign to start loading up, so she grabbed a couple bags and Lorissa's pillows.

"Is there anything I can do for you, honey?" I asked when Michelle was out of earshot, hoping that I could do something – anything – to help my cousin out.

She walked over to her bed and grabbed the letters and her notes. She then shoved them into my hands. "Hold on to these. I don't want grandma or anyone else getting to them." I started to straighten them out in my hands, trying not to bend or alter their shape in any way.

"Also…"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"…I need a hug." She jumped into my arms, clinging to me tightly. I returned the favor, whispering things like "It's going to be okay" and "I love you" in her ear. She abruptly ended the hug, mumbling, "I have to go now", and wheeling her suitcase out of the room. I heard her sniff a few times and saw her hand go up to her cheeks as she walked down the main hallway and exited the building.

For the first time since I was in the dungeons at Hogwarts, I was truly scared; not only for Lorissa, but also for everyone.

This was getting serious, and I wasn't sure how to handle it.

A/N: Wow. Just wow. Lots of tears, lots of tears…there were several parts in there where I thought I was going to burst out crying. Heavy, heavy stuff. I'm stopping it here because I need to mentally recuperate…

Read and review! It's because of all of you that I write! ^_^