Author's Note: hello everyone! I'm new to Fanfiction's website - long time reader, first time writer. I edited this first chapter because I had no idea what I was doing when I first uploaded it, and it looked...crazy. Anyway, here is my first offering to the Harry Potter fanverse. I hope you enjoy!
BTW, everything but my oc and the storyline belong to JK Rowling. Love her, am not her.
Prologue
A long, long time ago, when tigers still smoked pipes, a young man found himself wandering through an unfamiliar forest on an unfamiliar mountain. How he'd arrived was lost in the mists; his purpose dimly remembered through a curtain of fog.
He was found by a white tigress – a benevolent creature – who took pity and gave him shelter, and meat to fill his belly.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I am myself. Who are you?"
"The same, I suppose."
"You are welcome to stay," she offered. "As long as you never approach the waterfall at the end of this river."
He agreed, and the young man and the tigress soon established a rapport. Every day the tigress would come guide him to a fresh kill – for humans were such frail creatures, needing to be fed every day. Every evening they would sit and talk; the tigress learned to enjoy fire, and much laughter was to be heard in the forest at such times. Every night the tigress left for two hours, returning looking much refreshed.
The young man respected the tigress' wishes for many weeks. Yet came the day when human curiosity overwhelmed him. That night, when the tigress departed, he followed. When she waded into the river where the waterfall unceasingly fell, he approached. When she shook off her fur and stepped under the waterfall on human legs, he watched.
When the woman – for she was a woman, a goddess to his eyes – began wading towards the riverbank he fled. And he averted his eyes when she returned to the cave.
"What is the matter?"
"Nothing, dear Lady. What makes you ask?"
"You are uncertain. You are afraid."
"Not afraid. Overwhelmed, perhaps. Entranced, surely."
Blue eyes – so blue they bled black and violet in the flickering light of the fire – regarded him sadly before turning away.
"Goodbye, young man."
"Wait!" he cried. "Why are you leaving? Please don't go!"
"You are no longer welcome. Please return from whence you came."
He grabbed her by the tail as she moved towards the cave entrance and was next on his back as she snarled above him.
"You have seen what you should not. You must not stay."
"I want to stay, please. I want to stay with you," he pled.
A moment of silence, of silent regard. Then the weight crushing him lifted, and the tigress sat back.
"You cannot stay, for it is a soul I am seeking. I thought to take yours, but you are too lovely to take –" the tigress continued, interrupting his immediate protest, "if you would still wish it, you may return. If you are not yet taken by another, return to me on this day in a year, and you will be mine for eternity. Be mindful, young man, for there is no changing your mind, no turning back if you return to me." She nudged him gently. "Sleep now, for tonight. Tomorrow you will leave."
And the young man did so.
The months passed and the young man remained faithful. He did not heed the demands of his parents, the Emperor and his First Wife, to wed, did not notice the women who laid themselves at his feet. He waited for the day of his return to the mountain forest. His memories did not fade of the magnificent tiger, the beautiful woman who awaited him. And all the while a young woman from his childhood watched him, a lily of the valley with jealousy and longing tearing her apart.
The lily of the valley entreated with her father, the Emperor's advisor. He was more than pleased to arrange for his daughter to be wed to the Emperor's son. And it was so.
When the young man heard of his childhood friend's treachery, he rushed to the mountain forest and hurried back towards the cave.
Though the promised day of his return had not yet arrived, the tigress was there, waiting for him. Calmly, sadly. He beseeched her, but she would not be moved.
"You belong to another. I will not take you from her."
He wept.
"No! Please, I didn't want it! My soul is yours! Forever, for eternity, it is yours. This I swear!"
A moment of silence, of woeful regard. Then a decision and a promise was made.
"As you say, your soul is now mine. I will search for you once you are free of this lifetime. Though eternity pass, I will watch for you."
He stared as the tigress rose and shifted away. As shimmering white faded slowly into the forest, a velvet voice drifted back to him on the wind.
"Goodbye for now, my young Prince."
September 1, 1994
Headmaster Dumbledore was seated in his office when Fawkes announced the arrival of a long-awaited visitor.
"Yes, Fawkes?"
"She is here. The woman I have spoken of is at the gate."
"Then we must make haste and greet her. Will you do the honors?"
A nod and a flash, and Fawkes was gone.
"Hello, kinswoman."
The tigress looked up to see a red and gold phoenix watching her from the top of the gate. She smiled.
"Ah, old friend. It is wonderful to see you again. May I enter? Is your young man in?"
"He is. He waits for you."
"Then let us make haste. It is wonderful to be back at Hogwarts, is it not?"
"Indeed. Let me bring you to him."
"The phoenix alighted on her shoulder and flashed them both to the Headmaster's office, where Albus was waiting. The tigress looked at him, then back at Fawkes.
"You have not claimed him. Does he know?"
"Not yet. He was taken, many years ago. I grew tired of waiting and formed a lesser bond."
Deep blue eyes regarded him with sympathy. "You are stronger than I. Ever have I watched from the distance, waiting. Over four thousand years, waiting.
"Not stronger," Fawkes teased. "Less likely to cause panic. Many are more willing to accept a harmless phoenix than a majestic tiger. You would have stricken fear into the heart of the humans."
"Perhaps. Though I have not taken the form of a tiger in the last century. We have been lost to the ages, my friend." The tigress regarded the Headmaster thoughtfully. He was patiently waiting, obviously aware of the silent conversation occurring without him. He spoke when he realized her attention had turned away from the phoenix.
"Welcome, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am delighted to make your acquaintance, dear lady. Fawkes has told me much about you."
"Well met, young man," the woman replied. Dumbledore raised an amused eyebrow. He didn't remember the last time he'd been called a "young" man. Especially by a young woman who looked to be not a quarter his age. He let out a soft chuckle.
"You arrive at a most exciting time, Madame. May I ask the purpose of your visit?"
She pinned him with the full force of her gaze, and he was suddenly struck by the ancient, weary look in her eyes.
"I come seeking a soul. A young man of Prince blood."
Dumbledore frowned. "Seeking a soul? Alas, there are no princes or royalty here at Hogwarts. I apologize, my lady."
She laughed, gently. "Oh? And yet I am drawn to this castle as surely as the moon is drawn to the earth. Are there no descendants of a Prince? Perhaps one accompanied by a young woman, a lily of the valley?" She looked momentarily disconsolate – had she been too late yet again?
"A descendant of a Prince, and a lily of the valley…" Dumbledore sat at his office desk. "Eileen…yes, there is one here who might match your description. He is no Prince, but his mother was one. And Lily…he had a close friend named Lily in his youth, though sadly she is no longer with us. Perhaps this is the man you seek?"
"His name?"
"Severus Snape. Though if he is the one, you may find him unavailable or unwilling to assist you. Is this man necessary for something important?"
The Lady simply nodded her head. "Yes. Very important indeed."