September 3rd, 1995

Severus woke with a start, the face of a younger Tom Riddle etched into his mind. Chills crawled along his spine as he dressed and readied himself for the day ahead, unable to shake the trepidation that filled him at the thought of what dark words lay in wait within the next book.

Going to the small table in the corner of his quarters, he poured a cup of tea and scanned the last few pages of the second journal. The urge to skip ahead to the later years burned within him, but Minerva warned him against doing so, going as far as to making him take an oath to read each to the letter.

Midway through the first journal, he stopped reading and poured all of his efforts into dating each of the books, using every spell at his disposal into proving Minerva wrong. There was no way that Potter was telling the truth about having visions of the future. The girl was affected somehow by her connection to the Dark Lord. He had pervaded her mind to the point that she no longer knew fiction from reality. It was the only explanation.

His efforts were useless. Each of them were written in the summer before Potter's third year, proving that the journals were written before the Dark Lord's rise.

Severus tossed the book against the stone wall, watching the pages crinkle as it slid down to the floor. With a wave of his wand it flew back into his hand and a few spells later it was back in its original pristine condition, Potter's neat script covering every page.

Without further delaying the inevitable, Severus stepped into the Floo. "Lupin's Quarters!"

Red rimmed eyes and a tumbler of black liquid in hand, Potter looked up with a raised brow. "Morning, Professor," she said, knocking back the drink.

"It's half six in the morning, Potter, what are you doing up?" He lifted the glass to his nose, pulling it away as the harsh scent of alcohol invaded his senses, and set it down on the table. "And drinking rum? Where are your guardians?"

"Remus is with Tonks and Sirius has taken my report to Ami," Potter said, leaning back onto the sofa. "His Darkness knows about the visions and he's using them to taunt me."

The hair on his neck stood on end at the revelation and he took the seat across from her, watching and waiting for a sign that the Dark Lord had broken through. "Are you sure of this?"

Potter dragged the glass forward and poured another drink. "I'm a terrible host. Would you like tea, sir?"

"Answer the question!" He snapped, pulling the glass from her grasp.

"He said that he wanted me to be entertained," Potter whispered, putting the bottle to her lips and taking a long drink. "I never gave much thought to how new spells were invented, but last night I was given a front-row seat to the process. Tom has made it a goal to find a spell that will turn a person inside out while they're still alive." Potter let out a scoff. "Stupid bastard didn't get it right until the eighth try."

Revulsion boiled within him and he quickly drained the glass of dark rum, hoping to wash down the bile that crept into his throat. "Were you Occluding?"

"That's all I ever do, sir." Potter met his gaze, a haunted look in her eyes. "I Occlude until I lose all sense of self, time, space, everything, but he still finds his way in."

"That can't be," he said, sitting straighter. "You've likely been lax on practising."

Potter sat up leaning her elbows on her knees and tilted her head to the side in challenge. "Try me."

With a flick of his wrist, his wand was in hand, pointed at the girl. "Keep me out for as long as you can."

Potter nodded and he cast the spell, letting his mind meld with her's. It was seamless. There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. He felt her happiness as she listened to her Muggle music and danced around the Gryffindor common room without a care in the world. He dug deeper, or tried to, but found himself surrounded by her classmates, all talking and laughing as they readied themselves for one last day of fun before the term started.

The Mary Potter sitting on the plush red sofa looked up, a smirk on her face. "You won't get through, sir."

Not one to be defeated so easily, he put more power into the spell.

What felt like hours later, he pulled away, completely horrified by the amount of Gryffindor camaraderie he'd been subjected to. "That was sufficient, but you mustn't keep your thoughts so positive, Potter. The Dark Lord will know that something's amiss if you've been prancing about with your friends mere moments after witnessing his more sordid activities."

"Sordid?" Potter took another long drink from the bottle. "Last night was one of the most horrific things I've ever witnessed. For three hours I fought him. I tried to take control. I tried to stop him. I failed, sir. I failed and now there are ten more Inferi in the pit."

"His actions are not your own," Severus said, trying to keep his tone neutral. "You're not the one at fault."

"Everyone tells me that!" Potter snorted, standing quickly and rubbing at her forehead. "The power he knows not. What a crock of shit."

Severus flinched at the line of the Prophecy, feeling that aching grief claw its way back to the surface. Teeth ground together, he moved to chastise the girl but stopped. She was no longer pacing, she was staring at the far wall, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

With a swift move, she cracked her neck, turning toward him. "I'm sorry, sir. There's probably a more important reason you're here than to hear me ramble."

It took all of his willpower not to look away. Wild magic crackled through the air, setting every nerve and instinct on edge.

"Andromeda and I require a sample of blood for our research," he said, grateful that his voice stayed as steady and acerbic as always. "That is if you're finished with your tantrum and disgraceful bout of binge drinking."

"Would you prefer I take a sobering potion, sir?" Potter asked, letting her wand fall into her hand. "Aunt Andy said the samples are better untainted, but I didn't know you'd be stopping by too."

"That would be preferable," he replied, raising his own wand and summoning a vial. "It will take at least a half-hour before the alcohol leaves your system. Do try to eat something in the meantime. I'd rather not have our progress hindered by your inability to behave rationally."

Potter took the vial from his hand and downed the contents with a grimace. "I'll go to the kitchens and make something."

Severus stopped her before she could walk away. "You smell like a brewery. Get yourself cleaned up and I'll have something ready when you return."

Potter put her head down. "Thank you, sir."

It wasn't until he heard the water running in the bathroom that he could fully relax. The girl could go from intense to aloof in mere seconds. Matters weren't helped when she was still reeling from another gruesome vision. Having been there many times before, sitting on the sidelines while the Dark Lord had his fun, he almost felt a pang of sympathy for her. Or he would have if she didn't follow Black's pattern of drowning her sorrows in alcohol.

Severus drank the last dregs of rum from his glass and went to the Floo to order a small meal.

A yeowl echoed through the room and Severus spun around, wand in hand. Potter's pets were running around the room in a fit of hyperactivity. The ageing black cat darted behind his legs as though trying to hide, but the Snallygaster continued her pursuit, stalking back and forth and searching for the cat. With a sigh, he picked up the struggling Snallygaster and placed her in Lupin's room. Maybe with her penchant for mischief, she would leave a few surprises in her wake.

Breakfast was on the table when Potter walked out minutes later, a faraway look in her eyes as she sat across from him and extended her arm. "Ready when you are."

Severus pulled the syringe from the case and removed the cap. "Hold still, Potter."

Vial after vial he took, knowing how important this discovery was not only for Potter herself but for those infected with lycanthropy. With Andromeda and Miss Lobosca's expertise as healers and his knowledge of potions, they were on the verge of creating something monumental. A cure of sorts. But first, they had to isolate the source of the disease and find out why it affected Potter so differently.

The girl didn't flinch or move until the procedure was over, something that he was used to, but still left him on edge.

"If I knew how much blood you'd be taking, I'd have reconsidered my contract," Potter winced as he pulled the last vial away, casting a spell to heal her own arm.

"You know what our goal is," Severus said, grabbing her arm when she stood and swayed. "Sit back down before you fall over. And eat something."

"Yes, sir," Potter whispered.

Severus let go of her, placing the tray on her lap and going to the bathroom to clean up. When he returned, Potter was finished with her meal and the blood samples were gone.

"Tell Aunt Andy she owes me a lolly," Potter said darkly, pulling the tray closer. "Next time you two decide to drain me dry of blood, I'll need more warning. I've got classes tomorrow."

"Go to sleep, Potter." With a begrudging sigh, he stepped into the Floo, letting it spit him out into the lab designated for their latest bout of research.

"There you are!" Andromeda greeted him, looking up from the steaming cauldron. "I was about to send Chiara after you. Come here, you must see our progress."

Severus hesitated. "What's changed? I've only now collected Potter's blood samples."

Andy turned to Chiara. "Watch over these, dear. Severus, may we use your office?"

With a nod he followed her into the next room, an odd feeling creeping in as she shut the door. "Potter was near drunk when I arrived, I had her take a sobriety potion a half hour before I took samples. What are you and Miss Lobosca working on?"

Andy met his eyes. "I took Mary's blood samples first thing this morning. She Flooed straight to Sirius after her vision. After she was settled down, I thought it best to take blood and let her have the rest of the day to recuperate. Did she not tell you?"

Severus thought back to his conversations with Potter. "She commented that we were taking more than usual."

Andy put a hand to her chest, her eyes widening. "Oh, the poor thing. Severus, we really should communicate better than this."

"Well, between your samples and my own, we should have more than enough for a trial dose," he said, reaching into his bag and frowning. "They were in there not even ten minutes ago. I'm sure of it."

Andy pulled the bag from his grasp, examining the contents and pulling everything out before turning it upside down. "Are you sure you didn't leave them with Mary?"

Seconds later they walked back out of the fireplace, Severus going straight to the living room to search for the missing vials while Andromeda checked in on Potter. Only his efforts were fruitless. The vials were gone. A scratching sound caught his attention and he opened the door to Lupin's room, letting the Snallygaster free.

The small creature clawed her way up his robes, settling on his shoulder and hissing loudly in his ear while flapping her wings.

"Hold still," Severus said heatedly, trying to free himself from the sharp claws.

"I swear, Aunt Andy, Professor Snape took the samples with him," Potter said, walking out of her room and rubbing at her eyes, but stopped at the sight of him. "All right there, sir?"

With a final tug, he pulled the creature loose. "Keep your pets contained, Potter. And if you want your cat to survive, don't let this menace chase her into a heart attack."

Potter's eyes narrowed, taking hold of the Snallygaster and listening as it hissed at her. Though he'd witnessed it many times before, the sound of Potter speaking Parseltongue still set his nerves on edge, taking him back to a time when the Dark Lord would summon snakes as company during their revelries.

"Care to share, Potter?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"She keeps saying that Rosie isn't a cat, sir." Potter frowned. "Well, she has another word for cat that I don't think you'd appreciate."

A sharp scream rent the air and was silenced at once. Potter spun around, standing in front of him, a wand in each hand as he made to move around her.

A black blur shot across the floor and around the corner.

Potter's spell missed by a fraction of an inch, barely grazing the cat and making the pot of Floo powder explode into a cloud of dust. All at once, the cat was no more. In its place was a tall woman with shockingly white hair.

"Don't move," Potter growled out.

"For the Greater Good," the woman said, shooting a spell that he quickly blocked.

Potter's blasting curse was well-aimed but too late. Green light washed through the room and the woman was gone, leaving nothing in her wake but smoke and rubble as the fireplace exploded. Potter's shield held strong, keeping them safe from the blast, but left the room in shambles.

"Oh no," Potter whispered, kneeling on the floor. "Saphira?"

There was no time to think, he sprinted into action, running into Potter's room to find Andromeda kneeling on the floor holding her head. "What were you hit with?"

Andromeda flinched. "Concussion hex. A strong one."

Gritting his teeth, he ran his wand over her skull in repetitive motions, hoping to stop the hex from accelerating. "Can you walk or shall I levitate you?"

"I can walk," Andy said, accepting his hand and letting him help her to her feet. "Where's Mary? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," he replied quietly. "Her pet was injured."

"The poor thing," Andy said, letting go of him and sitting heavily on the sofa and placing a hand on Potter's shoulder. "Are you okay, dear?"

Potter trembled, the room around them echoing her fury.

Severus knelt next to her, pulling the Snallygaster from her arms and examining the damaged wing. "It's a flesh wound, Potter. Calm yourself."

Potter nodded, standing up. "Are you okay, Aunt Andy?"

"A headache for the ages, but I will survive," Andromeda replied, a worried look in her eyes. "Deep breaths, dear. Try to clear your mind."

Potter clenched her hands into fists, turning to him. "Do you need me to get Madam Pomfrey?"

"I will summon her and the Headmaster," Severus said at once. "Sit down, Potter. You look ready to fall over. Contact your godfather but warn him of the issues with the Floo."

Saphira buried her head in the crook of his arm, letting out a soft hiss as he continued the spellwork to patch up her injured wing. The slow methodical work gave him time to put his thoughts in order. He should have given chase to the mysterious woman. Should have done more to protect Potter and Andromeda but once again, he'd failed. Would there never be safety in the one place he thought of as home?

He listened carefully as Potter spoke to Black, her words clipped and her tone biting. At least the room stopped shaking, he thought, wondering when Potter would finally snap.

"Mary!" Black barged into the room, hugging her quickly. "Were you hurt?"

Potter shook her head. "The ricochet hit Saphira."

"She will heal quickly," he said, handing the creature back to Potter. "Do keep her from picking at the wound."

The door opened again and Lupin and Tonks walked in followed by Albus, Poppy, and Macdonald. Lupin was the second person to accost Potter, but she kept her distance, eyes focused on Macdonald.

"You brought her here!" Potter accused, taking a step toward Macdonald. "What are you playing at?"

Macdonald held her ground. "I can promise you that I didn't know, Mary. Rosie has been with Finn and I for years. There was never a question of her being anything other than a housecat."

"And Wormtail was never a rat!" Potter scoffed. "How can I trust you with anything if you can't even do your job right?"

"Mary!" Sirius barked out. "That's enough. This wasn't Mac's fault."

Albus stepped forward. "We should all take a minute to calm down and think with clearer heads. Severus, were you injured?"

"No, Albus, I'm unharmed," he replied quickly.

"You okay, mum?" Tonks asked, kneeling next to her.

"We'll see about that soon enough." Poppy stepped forward, glancing up at him. "Your work, Severus."

He nodded sharply in reply. "I was averse to giving her potions until you could examine her."

"A wise choice," Albus said. "Poppy, I will leave Andromeda in your care. Severus, Mary, can either of you identify the perpetrator?"

"White hair, green eyes," Potter said.

Severus met his eyes. "Before she took the Floo she said; 'For the Greater Good', Albus."

Albus' eyes narrowed slightly, and he turned to Macdonald. "Could it be her?"

"No," Macdonald said, her eyes widening. "I would know. There's no possible way."

"What am I missing here?" Potter looked between the two. "Who is she and why would she want my blood?"

"Vinda Rosier," Macdonald said quietly. "Grindelwald's most trusted lieutenant. I've spent the past fifteen years tracking her."

"Well fuck," Potter said, snorting slightly. "That's what we bloody well need right now."

"There's no reason to assume it's her," Albus said, standing straighter. "Mary, Severus, I would like for the both of you to meet me in my office and share your memories of this morning's events. I'll contact Nurmengard and inform the warden to raise the guard."

An odd feeling settled in his gut at the statement and he choked down the urge to repeat Potter's aptly muttered curse. Instead, he watched as the girl carefully handed her pet over to Black, asking that he watch over her until her return.

Potter walked on his left, stiff as a board while they followed Albus up the winding steps to his office. They'd barely made it through the door before Fawkes flew over to Potter's shoulder, picking at her hair and making short chirping sounds.

"I'm fine," Potter said, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath. "Thank you, Fawkes."

Albus smiled slightly, moving around to the pensieve. "Mary, would you care to go first?"

"I'm familiar with the spell, sir," Potter said, lifting her wand but pausing and staring down into the basin. "What is this?"

"That's a discussion for another day," Albus said, reaching for a vial.

"No." Potter clenched her fist. "I'd like to know why you have a memory of me before Hogwarts. You never visited. Right, sir?"

"Just the once," Albus replied.

Before she could be stopped, Potter entered the memory.

"Is there an issue, Headmaster?" Severus asked.

Albus tapped at his chin. "We shall see how she reacts."

It didn't take long before Potter pulled herself free of the memory, taking a step back and looking up with a heartbroken expression. "You Obliviated me."

The whispered words crawled up his spine and he shot his gaze to Albus, waiting for an explanation or reasonable defence.

"I thought it was for the best, Mary," Albus replied. "As I said, that is a conversation for another day. Please, we must work fast."

Potter put her wand to her temple, her hand shaking slightly. "There is no 'we'. Not anymore."

With a savage flick, her memories floated into the basin. Severus copied the action with more grace, feeling as though he was a referee to a sparring match between the two.

Albus viewed the memories, his expression darkening as he went over to the Floo and held a short conversation with the warden of Nurmengard.

"All seems to be well," Albus said carefully. "Though I'm afraid it was indeed Vinda Rosier who attacked you."

"And she took my blood," Potter said, clenching her fists. "Why would she take my blood, sir?"

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that as of yet, Mary," Albus said calmly.

"There seems to be a lot of that going around these days, sir," Potter said, glaring at Albus. "How do we find or stop this Vinda woman?"

"She's been hiding for fifty years, Mary. If she doesn't want to be found, she won't be," Albus said, taking a seat behind his desk. "The more worrying issue is her theft. Severus, how is your progress coming along?"

"Slowly, Headmaster," Severus replied, clasping his hands behind his back. "I'm hoping that we have a trial batch ready to go before Saturday."

"Already?" Potter whispered. "It's barely been two months."

"I've been researching a cure for Lycanthropy for twenty years, Potter," Severus said coolly. "All I lacked was the ingredients necessary to further my endeavours. Most of which now coexist within your blood."

"I hope it works," Potter said, lifting her gaze to meet Albus'. "Are there any more memory charms I should know about, sir? Any more dark witches or wizards that might come after me?"

"No, Mary." Albus met her eyes. "Would you prefer that I remove the memory charm?"

"I wish you had never used it in the first place!" Potter exploded, taking a step toward him. "If you were looking into similarities between Tom and myself, you could have just asked me. The only question I have for you is; why? Is there something else you've been hiding from me, professor?"

"Not at this moment in time, Mary." Albus looked away.

The oak desk burst into dark blue flames and Severus resisted the urge to move forward. To stop her before she did something regrettable, but given the look of guilt on Albus' face, he hesitated, needing to know more.

Potter took another step closer, placing her hands on the blue flames and leaning toward him. "Are you sure, sir? Not one explanation for my visions. This fucked up connection I have with Tom. There's nothing at all that you can tell me?"

Albus waved his hand and the flames disappeared. "It was my hope to find the ways you were different than Tom, not the ways you were similar."

Potter turned around to leave, an odd move given she was turning her back on the most powerful wizard of the age.

"Mary, wait," Albus said quickly, standing up before she could reach the door.

Potter spun on her heel, eyes blazing. "We both know how different Tom and I are, sir. I think you just wanted an excuse. A way to not feel bad about what's to come."

"I'm afraid you have me confused, Mary," Albus said softly.

Potter took two steps closer and Severus slowly reached for his wand. "You know that I'm going to die in the end, don't you sir?"

"Mary, I-"

"You've known from the start of all this, possibly when I was just a baby, that at some point, I would die."

Severus felt his heart stop, mouth gaping open as he looked to Albus for a swift denial. But all he found on the man's face was resignation and shock in the depths of those blue eyes.

"I'd hoped-"

"That I'd assist you on your mission?" Potter hissed, stabbing at her forehead with her finger. "That I'd jump through hoops to prove to you that I wasn't going dark. That I would calmly walk to my death. That I wouldn't chicken out at the last second. YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME!"

Potter's enraged shout echoed through the room, accompanied by a cold blast of air. "I loved you! I trusted you! You were supposed to be my mentor and guide through all of this. Instead, you kept your secrets and I kept mine."

"You can always come to me, Mary," Dumbledore said, but the hint of fear in his eyes contradicted that statement. "At any time. There's no need for secrets."

"I only have one more question, sir." The girl stood there, shoulders shaking. "At any point over the past five years, have you ever considered my life - me as a person - my dreams and goals for the future? Have you ever once thought that I was more important than the Greater Good?"

Dumbledore flinched as though he'd been struck. Potter stood there like a statue, watching, waiting for an answer.

A soft sound escaped her and she wiped furiously at her face. "That's what I thought, sir."

Fawkes squawked and flew over to Potter's shoulder, chirping quietly while she ran a hand down his feathers and set him down on the edge of the Headmaster's desk. Hand outstretched, it looked as though she wished to comfort the old man. After her brief hesitation, she turned and fled the room.

Dumbledore put his head in his hands. "Follow her, Severus. I fear the worst for her."

"No," Severus said, stepping forward. "I deserve an answer. Was Potter telling the truth? Do you believe she will die?"

"She has to," Dumbledore said in a near whisper.

Severus felt his stomach drop in shock, the oddest sensation of pain travelling through him. "Why?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "That night so many years ago in Godric's Hollow, a part of Tom's soul broke free and latched on to the only living thing in the room, tying his life to hers. For Tom to be mortal once again, yes, Mary must die."

"How long have you known?" Severus asked, his temper rising.

"I suspected it for quite some time," Dumbledore answered. "Though how Mary came to find this information is truly worrisome."

"So you tasked me with protecting the girl so that she may die at the right time?"

"I'm sorry, Severus, I know you've come to care for her."

"I will take her and run if I have to, Headmaster," Severus promised. "I won't watch her die."

Dumbledore looked up, his eyes wide. "You would leave and allow Tom free reign and infinite immortality?"

"If it keeps Mary safe, yes," Severus answered.

"She is not Lily, Severus," Dumbledore said.

Anger flooded him at the accusation. "If things had not gone so terribly, I'd like to think that in some other world, Mary might have been my child. Even in spite of everything, and her being Potter's spawn, I've come to care for her as though she's my own."

"Then I am truly sorry."

There was nothing left to say.

Not to Albus.

Though he had a few choice words lined up for Minerva and Potter herself. If his theory was right, and Potter's journals were indeed the source of her precognitive insight - as Minerva claimed them to be - then both women had a lot to answer for.

But first, he needed to settle in for a little light reading.

A/N:

Much love goes to my beta; Nauze. My two lovely friends CleverBrainer and Patriceavril, and all of my wonderful readers.