Back again to regale you all with stories!

So first things first, thanks for the reviews as usual :)

In regards to the reviews, it has come to my attention that Dobby betraying his master is rather out of character for him as a terrified house elf who fears punishment. Sure he did it for Harry, but Harry was literally the 'chosen one'; to Dobby that was all the evidence he needed to fully trust Harry would succeed in fixing everything and that Dobby's actions would ultimately have favorable results for the good of wizard and magic kind.

Thea however, he just met and has no reason to believe is capable of anything. So why would he risk possibly being killed for his betrayal and give her the book when he has no real reason to think she can destroy it or protect others from it.

So I had to go another route for how the diary got there.

I kindly ask you all to go back and read the last segment of chapter 47 to see how tings really went down.

On with the show! (and thank you to my reviewers for helping me work that last chapter out.

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter Forty-Eight: Minds and Messages

Severus twirled his quill between his fingers, frowning down at the parchment on the table. Christmas was only a few days away and Severus was growing antsy to know more about the mysterious man who cursed the diadem. Severus rarely found himself stumped for so long, so as the months went on since they first found the diadem were becoming increasingly maddening.

He was Severus Snape! Practically a prodigy at school. Usually any question or quandary he had could be solved with his own intellect after a mere week of research and study. So why was this so hard a puzzle to crack?

Learning Occlumency only succeeded in distracting Severus for so long, though he was pleased to find he was making good progress with the subject. While no powerful wizards were around to test his mental defenses against, the basics of Occlumency included schooling one's features and keeping emotions under the surface instead of on the surface. This proved quite useful for Severus after the many embarrassing, fluster run ins with Lily back at school. Being in closer proximity to her at home would have been far more complicated and awkward if he hadn't learned a stronger poker face.

Lily of course expressed some concern over Occlumency, mostly because it was a 'dark' book and it seemed to hold little information in relation to their diadem research. The very fact that he had selected what she deemed questionable material for enjoyment worried Lily.

"I'm just saying," she'd tell him whenever she spied the book, "It doesn't seem like a book teaching you how to lie and hide secrets is a skill good people should want to learn."

"It's spy work, Lily," Severus would defend, "Plenty of Aurors do spy work."

"And I hear they're allowing Aurors to use unforgivables now," Lily pointed out in disapproval, "Can't say I agree with them. And spying is lying, Sev. What do you need to know how to lie better for?"

Severus sighed just thinking about it; he and Lily hashed it out many, many times and it seemed Lily was quiet stuck on the more juvenile reasoning. Lying is wrong, keeping secrets is mean, all her arguments went the same.

It didn't help that Lily already had a very poor opinion of spying and espionage thanks to the media sensations like James Bond. Lily felt the character of Bond was womanizing and underhanded. She despised the overtly sexual use of the female leads as mere props and accessories to heighten Bond's manliness and sex appeal. To her, anyone who thought lying for a living was good business, couldn't be much better than Bond.

Of course Severus wasn't really learning this stuff to dabble in spy work. It was more a matter of keeping himself shit off from prying eyes like Dumbledore. Yes Lily felt keeping secrets was exactly 'nicer' but wasn't it even worse to be the meddling old coot who spied into your very mind and invaded your privacy to uncover them?

There was the added bonus of better controlling his own emotions before he made a fool of himself and exposed his feelings for Lily. Ever since that mortifying night by the library, Severus felt as if he had a big sign on his forehead that said , "I'm in love with Lily Evans," for all the world to see. Considering he had no clue if Lily's recent behavior was because she reciprocated his feelings or was just being nice, he would rather not out himself and risk rejection.

And of course, keeping Severus emotions in check would be preferable to constantly lashing out, being far too familiar with losing his temper and putting his foot in his mouth. He wasn't too keen on repeating that day by the lake and saying something he can't take back. As warranted as his hurt and anger had been that day, he took it out on the one person he swore he would never hurt.

Severus did not want to become his father. He'd witness years of words being flung around meant to cut and wound, of his father's early years of apologies and piss poor excuses, promises that it would never happen again. Severus didn't want to be that man. He didn't want to be ruled by his temper.

Sighing again, Severus focused his attention on the parchment in front of him.

If he really wanted to find out who the caster of such a powerful curse was, Severus would unfortunately have to enlist the help of someone outside their little group. It was doubtful any current student in school would have a clue about the identity of a student from over thirty years ago.

The closest clue Severus got came from Nesme and the entire discovery was coincidental on her part.

'Wait!' Nesme had exclaimed one morning in the library, "If this whole thing occurred between the time Dippet was headmaster and replaced by Dumbledore, do you think it falls around the time of the murder?"

Severus stared at Nesme in complete astonishment, "What murder?"

"A student died here like thirty to forty years ago," Nesme explained eagerly, "Not surprised you haven't heard of it; they tried to keep it hushed up. Wasn't much of a murder anyway; they say some dark creature a kid let into the school did it," Nesme waved her hands, dismissing her own sidetracked thoughts, "Anyway, there was this prefect who was awarded for uncovering the whole incident. Good thing too, because if they hadn't found who was responsible, they would have closed the school."

'Do you just sitting around waiting to divulge potentially useful information?' Severus asked in amazement.

Nesme grinned cheekily, "I found his name months ago and decided to do a little research on him."

Severus looked at her questioningly, 'Found his…'

'It's on one of the awards in the trophy case,' Nesme explained, 'The one by Filch's office. Tom Marvolo Riddle, Special Services to the School, 1943.' It's strange though, the clippings I found describe him as some sort of prodigy like he was destine for greatness or something, but then he just sort of dropped off the radar, so to speak."

'Nothing on him after that?' Severus inquired.

Nesme shook her head, "Not really. I even asked Dumbledore about it—figured he would know since he was teaching here at the time—but he was sort of evasive with me. At least, I think he was; he did the usual smile thing and said Tom a 'good student', but he just sort of derailed the conversation and got me wrapped up in a conversation about Pygmy Puffs. Weird, right?'

Severus tapped his chin in thought, 'What date was Tom awarded that trophy again?'

Nesme screwed up her face in thought, '1943.'

That gave Severus a date to go by, but not much else.

Tom's attendance would put him relatively in the timeframe Severus and Simone had mapped out. If he graduated shortly after that award, he would be within the right span of time to have returned to stash the diadem.

Severus felt dread pool in his stomach thinking about the possible connection; it didn't bode well that their possible candidate for cursing the diadem just happened to go to school during the time someone was killed by a dark creature.

It was plausible that Tom had a relative currently attending Hogwarts, but it wasn't like they could just ask students at random if they were related to a Tom Riddle. As it was, Severus had already search through the magical genealogy books in the library without finding a single family by the name of Riddle. However, Marvolo was surely a name of wizarding origin. That meant Tom was likely a halfblood, which made finding family of his a little more difficult.

Considering they were trying to track down the caster of a dark magic curse on a historical antique, it was probably best not to find family of his and alert them to Severus's snooping.

That left them with little choice other than to ask a teacher. Dumbledore was clearly not an option. His obvious reluctance to discuss whom Tom was set off warning bells in Severus's head. So if he knew that students were searching for information about Tom, Dumbledore may not assume it to be for so innocent a reason as just, "Hey, who's that Tom guy listed in the trophy case?"

If Dumbledore found out Severus and Simone were looking for answers, he'd definitely suspect something was up.

It still probably seemed petty of Severus to want to keep Dumbledore out of the loop, but Severus honestly questioned the trustworthiness of the headmaster. His morals were questionable at best, dubious at worst and Severus himself could attest to that. The years Dumbledore overlooked potentially and outright dangerous actions from the Marauders spoke volumes of how much he was willing to let slide even in the face of endangering other students.

Severus also was sure Dumbledore had known of Mulciber and Avery's alliance with You-Know-Who long before the trial, and yet he had not bothered to expel them to protect the rest of the student body. Who knows who else they may have harmed behind Hogwarts walls and actually managed to obliviate the memory of like they had intended to do to Lily?

Severus just couldn't trust Dumbledore to act with the best interests of the students at heart. Nor could he trust him to be infallible. Yes, Dumbledore was powerful and surely capable of destroying the diadem for them, but that very power that was the problem.

The diadem was surely something that could be misused if it fell into the wrong hands and while Dumbledore boasted noble intentions who was to say he wouldn't be tempted or corrupted by it? What if it twisted his perception the way it tried to do to them? Every man was flawed in some way and Severus frankly didn't want to risk someone as powerful as Dumbledore falling under the diadem's influence.

Therefore, Severus needed a professor who wouldn't suspect anything of his inquiry. Someone who tended not to see the hidden motives in people.

…Maybe not even a professor…

"Hagrid!" Severus exclaimed.

"What was that?" Lily asked, poking her head out of the kitchen where she was making herself a sandwich.

"We should write to Hagrid," Severus elaborated, "He's got to be close to Tom's age; they probably were in school together."

"They may not have been in the same social circles, Sev," Lily pointed out, "He might know very little about the guy."

"Still, if there's a chance he knew Tom, we need to ask. He's naïve enough to not look for deeper meaning behind our asking. He will honestly believe we were just curious."

"He and I did always get along," Lily mused, "Maybe I should write him. He might question why you are writing him; you haven't come to tea in years."

Severus cringed, he'd stopped coming to Hagrid's invites to tea for Lily and him when he and Lily began to drift apart. Things were starting to become tense between them at school, with more arguments than peaceful conversation, so it irked Severus to watch Lily be so at ease and happy around other people. Seeing her be so carefree with Hagrid or her friends while all she ever had for Severus was criticism on his choices had become too much to stand. So eventually, Severus stopped tagging along when she spent time with others. That included Hagrid's tea invites.

"We don't want to just spring the question on him," Severus warned, "It would be weird to contact him out of the blue solely for that reason."

"Then how about I write him and invite him to meet us for tea somewhere?" Lily suggested, "The letter can be the icebreaker and then during tea we could ask him about what things were like when he was a student. We can slip the question about Riddle in during that."

Severus nodded, "Sounds good. Knowing Hagrid, he might let something important slip."

"Scooch over," Lily ordered, sliding into the chair next to Severus. She plucked the quill from his hand and slid the parchment over to herself.

Lily grimaced at the quill, "Why would you use these finicky things when we have perfectly good pens lying around?"

Severus shrugged, "I find them fancier than muggle stationery. More formal."

Lily rolled her eyes but chose not to comment. She penned a quick letter to Hagrid; nothing too long, a few questions about his health and holiday, well wishes to his pets, and the suggestion that they all meet up in Diagon Alley for a bite to eat sometime soon. Lily would invite him to her house, but without a proper wand, Lily wondered how Hagrid would travel about a muggle neighborhood without drawing attention to himself.

"There," Lily announced, signing her name with a flourish, "We can send it with the post when we're with our letters to our friends."

"Speaking of post," Severus gestured to the letters stacked on the edge of the kitchen counter, "Did you get a chance to read all yours? You were sleeping in when the mail came."

"Some of us enjoy late mornings," Lily said, sticking out her tongue. She regarded the pile with distaste, "And yes, I've read them all. Most were from Mary and the other's—Marlene's included a dirty limerick which I will not consent to read aloud—but the others…"

Severus quirked a brow, "What's wrong with the other letters?"

Lily sighed, "They're from Jess and Meldonna. Apparently the two see the need to make me 'see reason' about letting you stay with me." Lily looked guilty to have mentioned anything.

Severus waved off her concerns, "It's no secret those two don't like me."

"Yeah, but they don't even know you enough to not like you," Lily said in exasperation, "They only see what House you're in and it isn't right."

"Prejudice is rarely fair," Severus pointed out.

"But why waste their time and energy on something so petty?" Lily asked, taking the letters back and looking at them in dismay.

"I'm sure Potter has been whispering in their ears," Severus stated, "It's probably eating away at him that I'm in your house right now."

"But he has Jess now," Lily said, "And they seem to have so much more in common. Why would he still care that you and I spend time together?"

"Because he'd be a fool to be over you," Severus said. Eyes widening, he snapped his mouth shut, horrified he'd let that statement slip.

'So much for Occlumency keeping me from making a fool of myself,' he thought bitterly.

Lily stared at Severus with wide eyes, but her friend refused to meet her eyes, staring silently at the adjacent wall.

"Anyway…" Lily began slowly, still a little stunned, "James and Jess are a good match; surely he's seen it by now. I don't think he'd honestly lead her on just to get to me."

"You give him more credit than I do," Severus muttered.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

Severus shook his head, "It's nothing. The point is Potter has always had it out for me. Whether or not he has feelings for you, he'd never want to see me happy and I imagine he's had all he can take of watching me enjoy a decent school year for once. I wouldn't put it past him to try and ruin things for me. Don't be surprised if he starts trying to sway others against me too."

"Still seems like a lot of effort to waste on an old grudge. James doesn't strike me as having the patience to carrying something out like this; it's too much work. Why wouldn't he have just written to me himself? He's had no problem in the past trying to badmouth you in my presence."

"Do not ask me to understand the mind of an imbecile," Severus drawled, "Regardless of who sent them, they're complete and utter bullocks. Of course you can trust me."

"I know that," Lily said, staring down at the letters worriedly, "I just can't get over the idea that someone would go to all this trouble just to come between us."

"That's because you're too optimistic," Severus intoned with a smirk, "You want to find the good in everyone. But some people don't have good in them; just look at Filch."

Lily huffed, "Don't start with that. He's just a tired, old man. I bet it gets exhausting having to clean up after students' messes all the time."

Severus stared at Lily blankly, "Next you're going to tell me dementors are just misunderstood, aren't you?"

"They could be!" at Severus's snickering, Lily slapped his arm, "Hush, you. Why don't you go read your mail? I think I see an envelope of two that you missed."

"It's from Thea," Severus explained, "I figured I'd save it for last in case Simone had snuck any surprises into it. Those two are normally attached at the hip, so it wouldn't surprise me if Simone got a hold of it before it was sent here."

"Well you can't put it off any longer," Lily said, pointing to the owls perched in the kitchen window over the sink, "They're almost rested up and ready to set out again. You might want to get to work on your replies before they leave. I'm going to finish up my sandwich and then write mine all at once…I don't think Jess or Mel will be receiving any replies from me…" she wandered back into the kitchen.

While Lily busied herself in the kitchen, Severus broke the wax seal on Thea's letter and started reading.

'Severus,

First, how are you? I sincerely hope your holiday is going well.

It must be nice to have a break from our House at school and all this divide in politics, right?

…I truly do wish I could say the same.

My parents and I were invited to the Malfoy's for dinner recently. You can imagine how uncomfortable a meal it was for me. I'll spare you the less important details of all that was said—it's of little consequence to you why my parents wanted to meet them—but I fear I must impart a warning to you on behalf of Abraxas's son, Lucius.

He cornered me before I left to 'ask' that I relay a message to you.

He wanted you to know that his 'Master' is very displeased about Avery and Mulciber being incarcerated—I doubt he's thrilled that they have most likely been given away information during interrogations since the trial.

Anyway, Lucius wanted you to know his Master is angry with YOU specifically, that if you do not rejoin them, the consequences will be dire. Very dire.

I fear they are targeting you, Severus. Lucius mentioned Lily as an incentive for you to join, so whatever they are threatening to do cannot be good. I implore you to proceed with caution from here on out. Try not to go off alone, keep Lily close.

Severus, whatever you may or may not be thinking, know this: nothing promised by the wicked is ever honored. When Lucius spoke to me, I could see the intent in his eyes; there is little chance he meant any word of that offer. If you return to them, surely you will be made an example of for leaving in the first place.

I know the temptation to protect Lily and her family is strong, but do not make any rash decisions. You would be better off contacting the Aurors to put wards on the home than joining You-Know-Who on the flimsy promise that your loved ones will be spared.

Please heed my warning and my advice.

Forever your friend,

Theadosia

P.S.

Iamapparentlyengagedtobemarriedokaybye

Severus screwed up his face, squinting to try to read the mushed, cramped writing at the bottom of the letter. Being in cursive calligraphy, scrunched and slanted—clearly written in a hurry—it was far more difficult to read than he expected.

"She wrote it so small, too," Severus mumbled, peering at the paper.

"What was that, Sev?" Lily asked, returning to the table with a sandwich and some crisps.

"Nothing really," Severus answered, tucking Thea's letter in among his other ones, "Thea was just wishing me happy holidays. Surprisingly, Simone didn't sneak anything into this one; it's just Thea."

"You must be relieved," Lily guessed with a smile, "You really hate it when she jinxes your mail."

"Trust me, I have been checking my letters thoroughly ever since that last one," Severus assured.

Lily pulled out a napkin and placed half of her sandwich and crisps on it, sliding the portion to Severus.

"Eat up and let's get working on our replies," she said merrily.

Severus tried to ignore the hollow feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach as he and Lily ate. He didn't like hiding things from her, but telling her Thea's warning would only cause her undue stress.

Severus cast a glance at Lily, the girl bent over a piece of parchment, scribbling away between bites of her sandwich. She'd probably be furious if she knew he was keeping something so serious from her, but it was for the best.

The last thing she needed after all she had been through was the worry of threats upon her and her family. It wasn't like she herself could do anything about them—they would need an Auror's help—so telling Lily something he could handle discreetly seemed pointless, an unneeded concern on her list of worries.

Severus also wished to avoid any unnecessary arguments from her. Severus knew Lily was trying her best to be open minded about all forms of magic, but there was clearly some hesitance left in her. The fact that Severus had and always will be fascinated by dark magic surely bothered her at least to a small degree.

He grabbed his quill and set about writing some responses to his friends. Trying to push the nagging, guilty feeling aside, he glanced at Lily again.

It was for the best.

Severus didn't need Lily entertaining the idea that he might somehow be tempted back to the Death Eaters in training. There was no cause for concern on his part; he had no intention of working with the likes of Lucius or his precious master ever again, not when their brand of 'politics' bred hatred and depraved thinking like Avery's.

Severus tapped his quill on the parchment, thinking. Perhaps he should heed Thea's advice and contact someone from the ministry?

He could pen a letter to Frank Longbottom. Augusta Longbottom's address would be easy to find and if Frank no longer lived there, she'd probably pass the letter along to her son. The point was Frank was training as an Auror and legally allowed to perform magic anywhere since his graduation. Chances are he knew some handy wards to place over the Evans's home.

Eventually they managed to get all their correspondence done and over with. Lily relented to writing Jess and Meldonna, though the girls would probably be irked that Lily failed to address their concerns and only sent each girl well wishes for the holidays.

"Glad that's over with," Lily sighed, rubbing her cramping wrist, "I swear, I like receiving mail more than sending it. It's almost as much writing as one of our essays. Nesme always sends a novel of everything that pops into her head and Davis likes to drone on about the exam results and then he starts in on subjects they'll likely cover in the next batch of tests. Honestly, replying to all their questions takes forever and then I still have everyone else to reply to!"

"The trick is to have less friends," Severus said wisely, "The less social you are, the less mail you have to reply to. Why do you think I'm an introvert?"

"Honestly I thought it was because you were a sarcastic ass," Lily said smugly.

Severus looked at her deadpanned, "Har-har."

"Aaaaand there's that sarcasm!" Lily said triumphantly.

Severus said nothing, pointedly folding up his letters and tucking them into envelopes. Carefully labeling each one, he got up from the table, taking the remains of his sandwich with him.

"I'm going to tell your mum that you said ass," he said calmly.

"No don't!" Lily cried, leaping out of her chair and lunging for Severus.

Severus side-stepped Lily and sprinted into down the hall in search of Mrs. Evans.

"Get back here!" Lily demanded, "Mum, whatever he tells you, it's a lie."

Lily chased him, through the house, upstairs and down, each time outmaneuvered by surprisingly spry Sev.

"I've spent years dodging hexes from the Marauders," Severus called over his shoulder, "Do you really think I can't outrun you?"

Making the mistake to look behind him as he ran, Severus tripped on the carpet runner in the upstairs hall. He faltered slightly to balance himself and that was all Lily needed to close the gap.

"Gotcha!" she cried, jumping onto Severus's back. The unexpected weight caused Severus to fall over, crashing to the floor.

"I win!" Lily crowed.

"You do realize your mother isn't even home, right?" Severus revealed with a smirk.

Lily gaped, "You tricked me, you prat!"

Severus chuckled.

Lily thumped on Severus back, "It's not funny, you jerk. I honestly thought you were going to rat me out."

Severus tried to wriggle out of Lily's hold, "Come on, you have to admit it was a little funny."

"Yeah…it sort of was," Lily agreed with a smiling, then she went on smacking him, much to Sev's amusement.

Their mirth was cut short by an absolutely scandalized voice.

"What on earth have you done?!"

Petunia stood over them, her hands on her hips, and an utterly horrified look on her face.

"Just look at the mess you've made," she fumed, pointed to the bits of sandwich crushed into the carpet, "Crumbs! Crumbs everywhere! I would have expected this slothful behavior from you, Lily, but you," she pointed at Severus, "I thought you had some manners."

"It was an accident, Tuney," Lily said with an eye roll, "Don't get your knickers in a twist."

That only seemed to incense Petunia more, "And just who is going to clean this mess up?"

"Well normally I'd say whoever made the mess," Lily began, "But…you're so…good at it?"

Severus and Lily ran down the stair, Petunia chasing after them brandishing a dustpan.

Funny story, I initially wrote this chapter without Nesme in a flashback revealing the trophy she saw. Before that, I had Severus puzzling out what to do about the mysterious Tom Riddle...and then realized I had never included a segment in any chapter where he even heard that name mentioned. He figures out a former Prefect hid the diadem in the castle, but nothing else. So along came Nesme, finder of useless facts Extraordinaire! This is what happens when you are ten steps (and chapters) ahead of the plot in your brain but not on paper.

Considering the partner magic to Occlumency is the ability to invade someone's mind, I figure Lily would have some reservations about someone dabbling in the mind arts, despite her effort to be more open minded.

Read and review lovelies!