"Who is Cadmus?" Lucia asked, looking at Severus with slight concern.

"I think this conversation is best had in one of our offices." Severus said.

Lucia thought for a moment, remembering that he had never been in her office or chambers. If the information was bad or important, perhaps she'd like to be somewhere she felt more comfortable.

"Mine." Lucia answered after a moment.

The walk back was silent, with only the sound of Lucia's heels against the cold stone of the castle. Lucia couldn't help her hands from shaking a bit at her sides. She clenched them at her sides, digging her freshly painted fingernails into her palms. Her lipstick was smudged from biting her lips and her hair had come unpinned and wild from running her fingers through it.

Severus wasn't fairing much better, but he was well used to compartmentalizing his anxiety and stress. He knew that the conversation would be long and difficult, but he was more concerned about the emotional distress of the woman next to him. It was clear she was anticipating some terrible news.

They entered Lucia's office. Lucia conjured a couch and comfortable chair for them to sit on, imitating the setup of his chambers.

"I'm unsure whether this is good information or bad information, but I will tell you what I know." Severus began. "It is common knowledge after Potter defeated Voldemort that the deathly hallows are real. The three hallows were at one point all possessed by Potter, but prior to that they were mostly understood only as myths."

Lucia looked at him in confusion. "What does that story have to do with my ancestors?"

"The three brothers in the story were named Antioch, Ignotus and Cadmus Peverell." Severus explained.

Realization flashed behind Lucia's eyes. "The fiance who he resurrected. The woman who was brought back from death but could not pass fully through the veil, suffering to live a half life instead."

Severus nodded.

"It's never said if she was sent back once he realized his mistake." Lucia continued. "What if she never left?" Her eyes were wide.

"It's possible. Ghosts have not been known to possess people, but from my understanding, she would have been somewhere in between a ghost and human." Severus replied.

"How did he die? Perhaps he was her first murder." Lucia asked.

"He committed suicide, or so the story goes." Severus said.

"He remarried though, and had more children. What about the child that Isabella had?"

"It's possible that the child was Euphemia. We know he had other children by his wife, and that his line eventually turned into the Gaunt line." Severus explained.

"Oh merlin, that means I'm a distant cousin of He Who Shall Not Be Named." Lucia said, ruining her hair further by running both hands through it at once.

"About as distant as Potter. I do not think you have an ounce of his spirit in you." Severus said, intending to bring comfort.

"Are there any books specifically about Cadmus in the library?"

"Likely some that mention him, though I'm not sure that there would be any full novels."

Lucia looked resigned for a moment.

"So, while interesting, this information only tells us that an unknown entity, possibly Isabella, with unknown abilities is seeking revenge against the men in my family for an unknown reason."

"If you choose to look at it that way." Severus said.

"Where can we go from here?" Lucia asked, leaning forward from her place on the couch.

"Perhaps you can reach out to speak with the Grey Lady again? I know Luna attempted to intercede for you."

"She did but it only resulted in Luna being told she was a traitor to her house." Lucia sighed.

Luna had visited her earlier in the week, apologizing for failing at getting information from the Grey Lady but recommending that Lucia persist in her stead.

"Perhaps I could ask." Severus recommended.

"You could try. I'm unsure if that would help or hurt at this point." Lucia sighed.

Severus, despite his nature, found himself trying to find something positive to say when he saw how defeated Lucia appeared. He knew it was his life at stake, but that seemed less dire than her mood. Only a half hour ago she was excited, if not a bit nervous, to find out the name of the headboy who had married her ancestor. Instead the discovery had led down a longer series of questions, none of which he had answers to.

"Any information, even if it doesn't seem to lead anywhere, is a step toward solving this." Severus said, leaning forward in his chair and grasping her clasped hands.

"Aren't I supposed to be the positive one? I expect only doom and gloom from you."

"If you wish for me to resume being cynical, that is very possible."

Lucia squeezed his hand, allowing a ghost of a smile to appear on her mouth. "No I suppose one of us has to have hope at this point."

There was a moment of silence before Lucia spoke again. "Thank you. For helping and understanding or trying to anyway."

Severus was about to reply when she continued.

"It takes a very unusual person to know that they may die by the hands of someone and choose to help them anyway."

"Lucia, I thought I would die by the hands of any number of people over the years. I have sworn allegiance to people I've hated, and I've served under and with people who hated me." He touched his left arm absentmindedly. "My only purpose for the longest time was to die to protect someone else. I somehow failed to do that, and here I am with a life I have no idea what to do with."

She looked at him with sadness, realizing the weight of his words.

Severus continued. "I do not wish to die." He paused for a moment. "I am not sure what future I have or with who I may have it with, but I don't fear it."

Lucia thought for a moment about what Severus said. He was very much still the lost teenager without a purpose in many ways. She felt an inexplicable urge to hold him, but settled for running a thumb over the tops of his hands.

"I believe it is time for me to retire." Severus said, reluctantly letting go of her hands and rising from his chair.

"I suppose that would be best." Lucia replied, standing up and smoothing out her skirt.

"Let me know if you find out anything new. I will do the same." He said as he exited into the hallway.

"Of course." Lucia replied, trying to smile as sincerely as she could.

The door closed behind Severus and she immediately felt tears start to well up in her eyes. Lucia wiped furiously at them, refusing to let them fall. They were partly from anger, but also sadness and fear.

The more she knew Severus, the more she wanted him to have a second chance at a life that was stolen from him. He deserved a semblance of happiness and a future that looked very different than the one she had seen for him. She let the thought cross her mind of running a shop together like she had mentioned. When she had brought it up, it was more of an absent minded suggestion, but as she thought about it more and more, she liked the idea.

Lucia thought that it would make her happy, though she had proven herself to be adaptable in most situations as long as she was given her freedom. Ryan had always been excellent at that, allowing her to come home late with no question or concern for where she was or who she was with. If she wanted to do something, she never had to ask for permission. It was something that she had discovered was actually not entirely common among married couples. He trusted her to be doing things that would do no harm to their relationship. If she wanted to sing karaoke until the bar closed, he knew she'd at worst flirt with the karaoke jockey to get her song higher in the queue.

It seemed a bit optimistic for Lucia to be considering a life with Severus. Beyond the whole dream situation, they hadn't so much as kissed. Even when she met Ryan there was a reasonable level of cynicism. He was an older healer and she was fresh out of school, not ready to settle down. They both had wanted something casual and it had turned into a marriage. With Severus it seemed like the opposite had occurred. They had immediately begun chatting and interacting as if they were a bickering but affectionate couple on their twentieth anniversary.

Not that the physical attraction wasn't there. When he had grasped her hands earlier, Lucia couldn't help but notice how large and calloused his own were. She imagined them holding her waist. His fingertips running across her inner thigh. Perhaps he might even grab her neck if she asked him.

Lucia suppressed a shiver, going into her chambers. She knew it probably wasn't healthy, but the thought of his hands on her had incited a fire in her belly. Under the covers, Lucia slipped a hand down her panties, trying to imagine they were Severus' and let out a whimper. She knew it didn't feel as good as the real thing, but it would have to do.

The next couple weeks occurred with relatively little new revelations.

Lucia had attempted to speak with the Grey Lady again, receiving increasingly cold and even hostile exits, this most recent one shaking the portrait that Helena passed through as she exited the room.

Similarly, many of the books both Lucia and Severus scoured, often together in one of their offices, only informed them of conjecture regarding Cadmus. One did mention a possible squib child, but it did not say gender or if it was the child of Isabella or his later wife.

Lucia was frustrated, and it was beginning to show in her classes. She had nearly made a mistake during the potion brewing for the seventh years. Thankfully Severus had noticed.

"Professor Sometimes, I think it would be best to not put Ms. Weasley's hair in with Ms. Granger's leaf."

Lucia looked down, noting she was indeed placing the hairs in the wrong vial and blushed. She was in the dungeons with Severus and around ten students, all of which were continuing on with being an animagus. The room needed to be completely cut off from the outside, save for direct moonlight. Lucia had specially transfigured the ceiling to open up at the right moment, giving the potions the bit of moonlight they required.

Lucia swore under her breath, grabbing the correct vial from the shelf and smiling at Severus in thanks.

The potions were completed without incident, thanks in no small part to Severus, and all they had to do was wait for a lightning storm. Aurora informed Lucia that they were very rare in the fall and winter, and that students may have to wait until spring. A few of the less patient students had complained, but it couldn't be helped. A lightning storm was necessary for the transformation. Lucia had to wait six months for her own final step in gaining her animagus form.

Halloween Feast was on a Sunday and Lucia waited anxiously for Severus to arrive at dinner. He had met with The Order, which she was embarrassed to find out was a secret organization that helped to save all of wizarding and muggle kind, and had presumably talked to Potter about how he had overcome his possession. Severus had not been at breakfast this morning, meaning Lucia had to make her own coffee, and he had not been in his office as he normally was.

Over the past few weeks Lucia had made a habit to stop by Severus' office with a stack of papers she needed to grade and occasionally she'd bring a bottle of something to share, though Severus wasn't much of a drinker. He must have been absent because his office was locked, as were his chambers.

"Have you seen Severus at all today?" Lucia asked Aurora during the feast, beginning to become concerned.

Aurora waved a hand of dismissal. "He sometimes misses the Halloween Feast. I imagine it has something to do with it being the anniversary of their death and all."

Lucia had a moment of realization. She knew very well what it was like to have a day of celebration become a day of anguish and grief.

"Does he miss every year?" Lucia asked.

"No, but he's always an even more foul person on Halloween." Aurora rolled her eyes at the memories. "Honestly Lucia, I can't see why you two are so close."

Lucia smiled at her friend. "Well, he's perhaps a bit nicer to me."

"A bit." Aurora scoffed. "The man practically falls to pieces to help you with anything. Lucia needs a potion for her sniffles, Severus has it for her in an instant. Lucia couldn't find a book in the library, Severus found it. Lucia is afraid of the boggart in her office closet, Severus will banish it for her."

"In my defense, I can't cast Riddikulus worth a shit." Lucia muttered.

"That's a third year spell." Aurora raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes and I am excellent at other valuable things thank goodness." Lucia took a sip of her Pumpkin juice, noting that the strange drink had grown on her since her time at Hogwarts had begun.

After the feast Lucia headed down into the dungeons with some pasties stuffed into her pockets, resolving to speak with Severus whether he wished to be spoken to or not.

It's not that she wanted to intrude on his privacy, but more that she knew privacy was not what he needed.

Lucia knocked on the door to his office aggressively, calling out his name. "Severus! I was wondering if you wanted to have dessert with me."

She paused for a moment, preparing to knock again before the door next to his office opened and Severus looked at her from the doorway to his chambers.

"Oh excellent." Lucia said, squeezing past him despite not receiving a formal invitation.

Severus looked more disheveled than usual, his hair usually neatly parted in the center was in disarray around his face. The crease that normally resided on his forehead had seemingly deepened overnight, making him appear even more ill tempered the normal. He was looking at her with something between confusion and exhaustion.

Lucia pulled the pasties from her robes, noting they were beginning to look a bit soggy and held them out to him with a nervous smile. "Perhaps we can ask Winky to get us something less… crushed." Lucia said nervously.

Severus couldn't help but let a small snort of laughter escape before he immediately began to feel guilty again.

Grief was not a linear path, that he knew. It ebbed and flowed with the years and he had accepted that. But this year had been particularly difficult, mainly due to the woman in front of him.

Lucia had managed to bombard his emotional wellbeing with a barrage of flirtation, kindness and an inexplicable desire to spend time with him. Before the first war, people had usually avoided him. Even Lily had eventually stopped wanting to be near him. That had certainly not changed over the years.

And Lily. Today was her day. It was the day he was supposed to dedicate entirely to her and yet he had wanted to see Lucia, even missed her. The guilt overwhelmed him and he had locked himself in his chambers, promising to spend the day honoring Lily.

But then Lucia showed up with crushed pasties and a nervous smile and for a moment he had not forgotten, but the pain hadn't felt so overwhelming.

Lucia could see the conflict on his face and put the pasties down on the coffee table, sitting down on the couch.

"I was wondering if you could tell me about her." Lucia asked, her eyes softening. "Or share a memory. I'd like to know about her. She must have been wonderful."

Severus was confused for a moment. Why would she want to know about Lily? He paused for a moment, examining Lucia's face to see if there were any false intentions behind them, or even a morsel of resentment, but none laid there.

He said down in his chair and sighed. "She had the most beautiful eyes. They were a shade of green I don't think I could ever replicate, and yet there they are in her son. Many described her as charming, and she was, but she was also stubborn. If she believed in something, she believed in it above all other things. She loved more fiercely than anyone I've ever known and I'm thankful that she loved me, even if it wasn't how I wanted."

"She sounds like an amazing person." Lucia said. "Do you have a picture of her you could show me?"

Severus crossed the room to his bedside stand pulling out the picture he kept there. He paused for a moment, looking down at the smile. If Lucia hadn't been there, he may have allowed himself to cry. "Here." He said, handing it to her.

Lucia took it gingerly, understanding the importance of such a thing. "Oh she is lovely. I wish I could see her eyes better." After a moment Lucia said "You should frame this. Put it somewhere you can see it. Ryan is right next to my bed where he belongs."

"Lily never belonged in my life. She was much too good for me." Severus said.

Lucia placed the picture on the table before she approached Severus, putting a hand on his arm. "Your path to becoming the man you are today may have been filled with mistakes. You may have chosen darkness. You may have hurt people. But today, the man you are, the person you have shown me, he is a good man. A better man than most and certainly one far too good for me."

Her voice was earnest and Severus could tell she meant it. The guilt rose up in him again. This witch had quickly taken his mind from Lily. He shirked her hand, walking back to his chair.

Lucia watched his expression shift and knew she had to change topics again as she sat on the couch. "Would you tell me about a memory you have of her? Something you think exemplifies who she is?"

"I don't know why you'd care to hear-"

Lucia cut him off. "If she's part of the reason why you are who you are, then she is important to me."

The statement struck Severus as odd, but she continued to speak.

"And that is a choice I am making. Ryan doesn't ever have to be important to you, but he is always a part of who I am so I'd hope you'd accept him regardless."

Severus thought for a moment. He had never felt jealous when Lucia brought up Ryan, and she did often. She sometimes seemed sad when she spoke of specific things, but often it was a comment about a trip they took together or that she tried to get him to go sing with her and he never did. Severus had never felt like he was in competition with Ryan, partially because how can you compete with a dead man, but also because Lucia never seemed to speak about him like she was mourning. She spoke about him like she was celebrating.

"We were eleven, just getting on the train for the first time. She was so excited to do magic for the first time. I was just excited to get away from my home. She had just gotten her wand but hadn't been able to use it yet and was scouring through her charms book, trying to find something she could do. I remember how beautiful and excited she was. Her eyes were glowing. She managed to cast a rather powerful lumos, illuminating the entire cabin and nearly blinding both of us. But she couldn't manage to extinguish it. We made it all the way to the castle with a glowing wand before Minerva extinguished it."

Lucia let out a small chuckle at the story. "Was she embarrassed at all?"

"No I remember her being quite proud actually."

Lucia let out a full laugh this time. "Good girl, she ought to be proud!"

"She was quite the potion maker as well."

"I'm sure you helped quite a bit."

"Perhaps at first, but she didn't need much help at all. Although I was always a bit better."

"I see you are a very modest man Severus." Lucia teased, happy the conversation was being lighter.

"She did often tell me I took myself a bit too seriously."

"You should have listened to her." Lucia said.

Severus was quiet for a moment. "Do you ever feel guilty? Moving on, that is?"

Lucia leaned forward, picking up the picture again. "I never was so vain as to think Ryan was the only person I could ever be with. He wasn't perfect and no one ever will be, so I knew early on that I might meet someone else. But for awhile I didn't want to. I think I felt like his grief took up so much space inside me, I didn't have enough room to love someone. And then the grief became… well it didn't really get smaller. It doesn't get smaller. My heart got bigger, I was able to handle the grief, handle the love I had and still have for him, and still know that there is space to love again. None of those three things have to take away from the other. They can all exist at the same time in the same person and all be equally true. I can celebrate Ryan's life, mourn his death, love him until the day I die like I promised, and love someone else." Lucia glanced up at Severus.

He noticed her eyes were welling up with tears and had the distinct urge to hold her.

"You know, it helps a lot to know that Ryan would have wanted me to be happy. He always did. It's hard to feel guilty when it's what he would have wanted for me." He could hear the strain in her voice.

"Lily would have wanted me to leave the death eaters. She would have wanted me to protect her son. I did those things. I'm not sure what she would want me to do now."

"You have earned some happiness, Severus. Even in death I am sure she wants that for you." Lucia glanced at the rather sad looking pasties. "What a shit friend am I. Bringing you ruined dessert and then crying on you." She wiped her eyes quickly before handing the picture back to Severus. "She really is beautiful. You were lucky to have known her. What a gift to have loved someone so good."

It didn't feel like a gift, but Severus looked at the picture, silently vowing to frame it as she recommended.

"I did speak to Potter about his possession." Severus offered up, hoping she would stay a bit longer.

"How about we talk about that tomorrow? I'm a bit tired and I don't want to intrude further on your evening."

"You're not intruding."

Lucia laughed. "Oh yes I am, but thank you. I hope perhaps you feel a bit better."

"I suppose I feel marginally better." Severus said.

Lucia was in the doorway about to head to her room when she turned around, nearly running into his chest. "Thank you for telling me about Lily." She looked up at him, slowly lifting a hand to move a stray hair back into place behind his ear before she turned around again and walked quickly back to her quarters.