Into Emerald Flames

Chapter Fourteen: Shadows

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Beta read by: SiriusBlackIsAwesome

-l-Third-l-

Remus looked at Severus, who had lain unconscious, but was now waking up.

" What happened?" he mumbled, sitting up.

" You were being foolish, nearly got yourself killed and then we brought you here," Lily said, from where she was, eating a piece of toast.

Then he stood up, looking around, and then grabbed his forearm, glancing at Lily as he did so.

Lily leapt up, eyes wide. " Does it burn?" she whispered.

" He's angry. He's calling on us, all of us," Severus replied.

" What did you do?" Remus asked now, directing the question at Severus.

Severus turned his black eyes away from Lily. " I cleared her memory of him."

" Who?" Lily asked, while Remus's gaze turned stony.

" James," Remus replied in a cold tone that matched his expression. " James Potter."

Lily sensed the coldness, but didn't pause in her questions. " And who exactly is James Potter?" She turned to Severus, who didn't meet her eyes, looking very interested in the wall. " Sev, who is James?"

" That boy you said you loved."

Lily blinked. She didn't remember ever saying she loved anyone. She cursed her memory. It was his fault after all. " Is he the one who left?" Lily asked, fumbling with the silver chain.

Severus nodded, not even looking at her, or the necklace's chain.

" Open it," Remus instructed, motioning to the necklace he'd put in her trunk those ages ago after James got rejected.

Lily hesitated, ducked her head to take it off, and pulled it over her head. She looked at Remus, meeting his eyes briefly, if only for a second, before she dug her nail into the metal, cracking it open. On the left was a picture, a girl once recognizable as her, kissing a boy, clearly James, sweetly on the lips as she laughed. On the other side, written in elegant letters of gold were the words: "Should our love linger forever." And drawn at the very end, was a silver stag stamped on the bottom.

Lily turned it over in her hands, and on the back of the locket was a silver doe, stamped next to another printing of the stag.

She didn't understand the significance of it, but looked at Remus, who was watching her, smiling sadly. " He kept this all from you Lily, and yet you stayed with him."

Lily closed her eyes, holding the locket tightly. " I know. But I still love him. I know I do. He might have done all of this, and I know it looks horrible to you Remus, but it isn't. It's a gift. It's a miracle that I'm even alive. You don't know all of the story. I would have died if it wasn't for him. I know some of the story, even though it's not in my memory. If I had married James, we would have been attacked, and forced to join. I said what if I said no, and this is what would have happened. Severus would have to try to recruit me, and if I refused, I would die. But...he couldn't. So he made me a Captured when I rejected his offer."

Remus stared at both of us. " How do you know this? Your memory is gone!"

I sighed sadly. " I've been with the Death Eaters long enough to know their ways. When someone offers you a place on the Dark Side, they don't just let you walk away from the deal. It's either you choose to be, or you are forced to be."

" You've changed a lot Lily," Remus said, watching me with calculating eyes.

" So? I'm older...and I'm-"

" That's not what I meant. I've seen you fight. You don't hold back like you used to. You aren't the same girl I knew at Hogwarts," Remus explained carefully.

" I don't even know who you are," she whispered, half horrified.

Remus looked away. " Severus, maybe you should tell us what happened now."

Severus tensed, and took in a long breath. " Lily was right. I obliviated her so that she wouldn't remember James. Then I told her that we were on a mission. I was the one who trained her. I made her fearless, a fast, strong fighter. No holding back, nothing like that. No weaknesses. I taught her how to block her mind, and yet read others. I made her learn nonverbal spells. She's an expert at it now, and can even kill nonverbally. I started teaching her wandless magic, she can shoot sparks," Severus rattled off. He tilted his head to Lily.

She perked up, getting the message, and snapped her fingers, which helped her with wandless magic. And sparks flew from nowhere.

" Anything else?" Remus asked calmly.

" I've taken her on raids. She's fought something wonderful. Until he arrived on scene. She started getting flashes of her memory back when we captured him. So that's why I had Ella take you guys back. I didn't want you here, messing with her mind. But somehow, he managed to get in anyway. On the battlefield, he kissed her. He is able to bring back her memories, some of them. Bits and pieces in flashes, tiny flashes. But they're still there. Finally I came out and had to tell her that she was a Captured. She didn't talk to me for weeks after. Then you two came in and decided to steal us away."

Lily nodded, confirming Severus's claim. " So what about my old life?"

Remus tensed at that. How was he supposed to tell her that James was depressed beyond belief? Furious, and upset. Heartbroken and torn to pieces over this girl, who was a shadow of who she used to be. There were some moments when he saw the old Lily flicker behind her eyes, and she would surface sometimes. But other than that, she was hidden behind a veil of memories that she didn't know of.

So...anyone ever going to review, or has everyone just left my story? I hate saying this, but I haven't gotten a single review since chapter 11, did it go downhill from there or something? Or are people just speechless?