Chapter 38

Severus crouched in the undergrowth nervously, his heart rate still racing at the scene that had unfolded in front of him. Weasley's return had been timed almost to perfection, saving Severus from having to reveal himself and save the boy. That would have made things extremely difficult. All he could do now was watch, make sure the boys were successful, and make sure he was not discovered.

The boys had moved on to discussing the Patronus and who it could belong to. No one would guess the reality, even Dumbledore had been shocked by it the previous year. Weasley was still clinging on to the locket, and the sword he'd retrieved from the frozen pool.

"You didn't see anyone else?" Potter asked his friend.

"No, I -" Weasley glanced over to where Severus was hiding, "- I did think I saw something move over there, but I was running to the pool at the time, because you'd gone in and you hadn't come up, so I wasn't going to make a detour to - hey!" he shouted as Potter ran towards his hiding place. Severus held his breath cautiously, checking his disillusionment spell was active. After a moment, Potter returned to Weasley.

"Anything there?"

"No" Potter answered.

"So how did the sword get in that pool?"

"Whoever cast the Patronus must have put it there" Potter reasoned correctly.

"You reckon this is the real one?" Weasley asked as he examined the sword.

"One way to find out, isn't there?" Potter told him.

Weasley held on the locket, twitching curiously. Severus wished he could get a closer look at what was happening.

"Come here" Potter instructed, brushing the snow from a large, flat rock. "No, you should do it" Potter told him as his friend offered the sword.

"Me? Why?"

"Because you got the sword out of the pool. I think it's supposed to be you. I'm going to open it, and you stab it. Straight away, ok? Because whatever's in there will put up a fight. The bit of Riddle in the Diary tried to kill me"

"How are you going to open it?" Weasley asked, looking terrified.

"I'm going to ask it to open, using Parseltongue"

"No! Don't open it! I'm serious!"

"Why not? Let's just get rid of the damn thing, it's been months -"

"I can't, Harry, I'm serious - you do it -"

"But why?"

"Because that thing's bad for me! I can't handle it! I'm not making excuses, Harry, for what I was like, but it affects me worse then it affected you and Hermione, it made me think stuff, stuff I was thinking anyway, but it, made everything worse, I can't explain it, and then I'd take it off and I'd get my head on straight again, and then I'd have to put the effing thing back on - I can't do it, Harry!" Weasley shouted. Severus was worried, he suspected Potter was right, and if Weasley couldn't destroy it, there was nothing he could do to intervene himself.

"You can do it, you can! You've got the sword, I know it's supposed to be you who uses it. Please, just get rid of it, Ron!"

"Tell me when"

"On three. One...Two...Three..." and a hiss followed as Potter spoke to the locket in Parseltongue. Severus caught sight of the locket opening, Potter shouting at the other boy to stab it as he kept the locket firmly on the rock.

A voice came hissing out of the locket, echoing around the trees. Severus tried to shut it out. The Dark Lord. A piece of him, tormenting the Weasley boy, trying to stop its destruction. Severus heard the voice continue its teasing and torment, Potter shouting at his friend to ignore the voice, stab the locket.

Distorted figures of Potter and the Granger girl rose from the locket, the Dark Lord moving on to the next stop in torturing the boy. Potter continued to shout at his friend to stab the locket.

"Do it!" Potter yelled, "Ron -"

Weasley brought the sword down on the locket, and the locket screamed. And then silence. No hissing. No talking figures.

All that was left was a destroyed locket, lying on the rock, smashed glass, silk lining still smoking. That little piece of the Dark Lord was dead. With a sigh of relief, Severus disapparated, returning to Hogwarts to continue in his duties.

...

It was a beautiful day, spring was trying to make its presence known - though being March, it wasn't warm. But the sky was mostly blue, the grass was green, and spring flowers were starting to bloom, providing the breeze with a delicate fragrance.

Lily and Severus were outside, enjoying the fresh air and bright skies, seated by the lake against a rock. Lily's cloak was spread across the ground, so they could sit more comfortably. Severus lay on the cloak, on his back, his head resting in her lap as she stroked his hair away from his face.

"It's such a beautiful day" Lily said as she gazed out across the lake.

"Mmm" he agreed. Lily looked down at him, to see his eyes closed, looking totally relaxed as he rested against her.

"So peaceful. I wish we could stay here all day" she told him. And she meant it. They could hear other students milling about up towards the Castle, but nobody bothered them. In fact, since Rosier had been expelled last month for using the Imperius Curse on her, the Slytherins had barely even glanced in her direction. And for that, she was grateful, she was nervous about walking alone in the Castle, and she knew Severus felt the same way. He wouldn't leave her anywhere if it meant she would be alone, he always made sure she was left with people she could trust - mostly Mary and Alice, though on a couple of occasions she had walked with Remus and Potter.

"Me too" he replied eventually, disrupting her current chain of thought. "I need to go and see Dumbledore again soon, only a quick visit" he told her, opening his eyes to look at her then.

"Oh?"

"I had another one, last night" he told her quietly, even though he'd cast a Muffliato to avoid any eavesdroppers "I just want to drop it off, so he can take a look before our official meeting tomorrow"

"Is it strange one, or did it have anything useful?"

"Useful. I'm pretty certain I saw another one of His hiding places destroyed" he explained.

"A bit of his soul?" she frowned.

"Yes. In a locket, and I'm sure I've seen that locket before" he whispered.

"Really, where?" she asked curiously.

"In something Dumbledore showed me a few weeks ago. At least, I'm pretty sure it's the same locket"

"When was it destroyed? Sometime soon?" she asked, though the question sounded ridiculous.

"No, way in the future. Not too long before my death judging by how I looked" he told her. She didn't like the sound of that, didn't want to think about his death, in this life or in the memories from a different life.

"Who destroyed it?" she asked him. Severus sighed.

"A friend of your son" he whispered, looking away again. Clearly the son was still a difficult subject, even though he was never going to exist in their lives.

"How did they destroy it?" she asked him cautiously.

"Sword of Gryffindor. Apparently I took it to them specifically to destroy the locket. I was hidden, so my cover wouldn't get blown, I led your son to where I hid the sword using a Patronus" he explained. Clever. Lily continued stroking his hair as he looked up at her.

"Any idea on where you can find the locket?"

"No, unfortunately. Maybe Dumbledore will have some ideas, who knows what other memories he's got hidden away in his office"

"Well, at least you've got something to add to your list"

"Yes, that's at least three things we know of, to find and destroy - the Diary, the ring, and the locket. Who knows how many more there are" he said, sighing.

"It will be ok. You'll figure it out" she said confidently, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on his lips.

"I wish I had your optimism, Lily" he said, smiling sadly as she pulled away.

"I'll just have to be optimistic for the both of us" she declared confidently. If that was the support he needed from her, then she would gladly do it, he was getting these memories for a reason. He was more than capable of solving the problem, she didn't know anyone who matched him intelligence-wise. "You'll do it" she affirmed again, his smile becoming warmer as she grinned down at him. Severus sighed, closing his eyes again.

"Have you decided what you want to do for the Easter Holidays?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I still haven't heard from my mother" he said, looking into her eyes again.

"Mum said you're welcome to stay with us"

"I think I'd like that" he said, reaching up to stroke her cheek, his fingers slipping into her hair. "I can go and check on her myself, see if I can get any answers out of her, or find out why she hasn't replied to any of my letters"

"I really thought she'd start writing to you, after, you know" she told him.

"Me too" he admitted, "Dumbledore was going to try and find out how she was, but didn't really find much"

"That's a shame"

"He could find out more if he sent someone to her house, to actually talk to her, but I don't want to resort to that yet"

"That's understandable, I don't think she'd really like it if someone she wasn't expecting suddenly appeared on her doorstep" Lily agreed, his mother had always been very private from what she'd seen, and heard from Severus, and in all the years she'd known him, Mrs Snape had spoken few words to her. Severus nodded. "Well, you'll just have to come home with me" she smiled. She liked that plan anyway, she'd missed talking to him as they fell asleep since they got back to school. True, they had the mirrors now, but it wasn't the same as actually being in the same room.

"Hmm. Home with you" he smiled, "I like the sound of that"

"You'll always have a home with me" she told him sincerely, meaning it completely. Severus pushed himself up to sitting then, slipping his hand back into her hair, pulling her into a passionate kiss, her own hands clutching his robes tightly. She was totally at home in his arms, and knew he felt exactly the same.

A rustle interrupted their blissful escape, the sound of someone nearby. They broke apart sharply, both worried about a sneak attack, or simply someone hoping to hear what they'd been discussing - not that they'd have any luck with that. Lily frowned as Severus slowly stood, peering over the large rock they'd been sitting behind. She saw him frown.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Nothing. There's no one there" he frowned, starting to walk around the rock.

"You heard it too though, right?" she asked, completely sure she hadn't imagined it. Severus nodded.

"Oh, I heard it" he confirmed.

"Do you think someone is hiding?" she asked, though didn't know how they could be.

"I don't know" he shrugged, "But something isn't right"

"Do you want to go back inside?" she asked him.

"I think we should. I still need to go and see Dumbledore, why don't you come with me, then we can go to the library afterwards" he suggested.

"Is it ok for me to come?" she asked him, she hadn't been with him to the Headmaster's office for months.

"Yes it's fine, I won't be there long" he assured her.

"Alright then" she nodded, getting up from the floor, lifting her cloak and carrying it over her arm.

Severus nodded, reaching for her hand, the two of them making their way back to the Castle in silence, casting cautious glances around them as they went, still feeling uneasy at the mystery interruption.

...

James Potter cursed inwardly as his feet caught in some leaves, he'd not been paying much attention to the ground around him, purely focused on keeping the invisibility cloak covering him completely. He'd seen Lily Evans and Severus Snape leaving together after the apparition lesson this morning, and wanted to follow them. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't seem to help himself.

He hadn't really expected them to go outside, he thought they'd have headed for the library, he knew if he got close enough to listen to some of their conversation he'd be able to figure out what was going on with Snape.

James had stepped back as softly as he could when Snape made his way around the rock, a sinking feeling in his stomach that they knew someone was there. Not that they could see him, but it was suspicious. But try as he might, he couldn't hear a word they said to each other, he could only hear a buzzing noise - probably another of Snape's creations. He could see their lips moving as they discussed - whatever it was. Must be something serious if they went to the trouble of disguising their conversations.

The buzzing stopped as they made their way back to the Castle, he must have ended the spell, but still, they didn't talk to each other - they really were a paranoid pair, weren't they? Well you are trying to listen in on them, another part of his brain reasoned. Perhaps he wasn't the only one trying to gather information about Snape.

James had expected them to head to the library, where they spent the majority of their spare time, or perhaps even his room seeing as they'd had a good snog interrupted - don't go there, his brain told him. That thought was disturbing to say the least. It surprised him greatly when he realised they had in fact made their way to the Headmaster's office.

Why would they be going to Dumbledore? Surely not because of the noise? There had to be another reason for them coming here. Why did Snape come here so often? It really made no sense. He didn't think he was ever going to figure out Snape. James desperately wanted to follow the couple into Dumbledore's office, but that was something he didn't dare do. He had the sneaky suspicion that Dumbledore would figure out he was there, even if Snape didn't. And if they found out, then there would be a whole new level of anger on their part, and who knew what kind of punishment he'd get.

The only thing he could do was head back out quietly, find his friends and join in with whatever they were doing. He knew he could tell Sirius about this, he'd understand why he was following, why he needed to know more. Sirius trusted Snape as little as he did. But Remus was another story. Remus still kept hold of their map, determined to keep him from following them around too much. For some reason, Remus trusted Snape, only a little bit, but enough that it annoyed him. And he didn't know how upset Remus would be if he told him he'd been following him under his cloak. James knew something was going on with Snape and Dumbledore - good or bad, he didn't know which. And he needed to make the others understand he couldn't be blindly trusted, they needed more information. And James Potter would keep on trying to get it.

Dream base on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow - The Silver Doe.