Sighing Amelia sat down on the rock beside the river. She withdrew the leather cord that had been tied around her neck since the end of the battle. Untying the cloth at the end of it she let the small black stone rest upon her hand as she stared at it. She hadn't used it since that night when she saw her parents, Remus and Sirius. Now though she needed to talk to someone, someone who she wished she had gotten more time with, someone who she quite frankly had fallen for and she wished that she would have had the courage to tell him before he had died.

Closing her eyes she turned the stone over in her hand three times while picturing him and wishing to talk to him. She could tell when it worked because the air around her changed.

"Amelia." His soft voice washed over her and she drew in a breath before letting it out and opening her eyes.

Severus Snape stood there looking younger than she remembered dressed in his black teaching robes and small smile he only ever showed her on his face.

"I was wondering when you would use that stone to call me. How long as it been Amelia since the night of the battle?" He questioned as he squatted down in front of her.

"It's been almost a year Severus."

"I see...and what have you been up to? You camping again?" He questioned as he looked around at the forest.

"I am but... we aren't in England anymore." Amelia replied as she bit her lip.

"Oh? So where exactly are we?"

Amelia fidgeted and looked down at her hand before looking back up and giving him a sheepish smile. "We are currently five hundred years in the past in feudal Japan."

"Oh really? Pray tell how you ended up five hundred years in the past?" He smirked at the young woman that sat before him.

"I went back to Aunt Petunia's about Seven months after the war ended...I needed someplace to go you know that wasn't Grimwauld and well I found out that I have another aunt which I'm sure you knew didn't you?"

"I did. Hitomi although back when we were kids that wasn't her name. I never lost touch with her after your mother died... how is she doing?" He questioned as he sat crossed legged on the ground.

"She's doing great. Anyways well I arrived in Japan shortly after I found out and spent about three weeks with her and Sota my youngest cousin." She tilted her head as a smirk appeared. "Did you know they live on a shrine?"

"I did. As I said I never lost touch with her." Severus replied.

"They have a well house and the well is magical. I'm assuming it's powered by the Shikon Jewel. Can you believe it actually exists?"

"Ah I see where this is going now. Let me guess Kagome is actually a miko and she travels back and forth through the well so you decided to join her on her adventure's didn't you?" He raised an eyebrow and smirked at Amelia as she sat there and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You knew about that and never told me?!"

"I wasn't allowed to Amelia. Dumbledore made me take an unbreakable vow not to tell you anything of your other aunt and cousin's." Severus replied scowling. "He made me promise a lot of things."

Amelia Scoffed. "Oh he did more than that. I don't have time to go into all of it right now but let me tell you, he wasn't as good as he pretended to be."

"I see. Well you know you can call me anytime."

"I know I just..." She trailed off before sighing and looking into the black eyes of the man she had grown to love and respect over the years. "I wanted to talk to you, I never got to say goodbye you know..." She looked down as his hand clenched into a fist. "You promised me you'd come back and you didn't, you died before I could tell you how I felt about you..." She trailed off as tears appeared in her eyes.

Silence descended between the two. Severus knew exactly how she felt but he also knew there was nothing that he could do. "I am sorry Amelia. I meant to keep my word to you. I had anti-venom brewed but I didn't take it in time, I never meant to leave you behind I hope you know that."

Amelia nodded as she wiped her eyes. "I know it's just hard, for so long my life was dictated by other's and all so I could face Tom and I had hoped that after the war I would have had time to do what I wanted, time to adjust to not having a psychotic-mass murdering bastard after me but I wasn't able to. I took my Newts and then hid out in Grimwauld just to get the public to leave me alone."

"Is that why you went back to Petunia?" His voice was soft but soothing.

Nodding she wrapped her arms around herself as she bent forward and stared at the ground. "I needed someplace that didn't remind me of Sirius and you and those backstabbing jerks and the only place I had was Auntie's. She accepted me back without complaint. Vernon died a month after they returned from hiding and they apologized, our relationship is what is should have been."

"So she changed then for the better that's good."

"Yeah I just...I just wish the things didn't have to happen the way they did with you and mum and dad and Sirius...It's been hard" She wiped her eyes as tears built up again. "Look at me crying like a baby, I never did before so why am I now?"

He hummed as he rested his head on his hand as he looked at her. "You never got the chance to before now, even going back to Petunia's you didn't because you spent time rebuilding your relationship with them. Now that you aren't surrounded by everything that you knew, it's all catching up to you."

"I'm so weak!" She buried her head in her hands as her shoulders shook. Severus sent her a look of wistful longing. How he wished he could envelope her in his arms and hold her as she cried. Sighing softly he stood and moved to sit on the rock beside her and waited until she was calm enough to continue talking to her.

After a few minutes she calmed down to sniffles and wiped her eyes with her hand and shot him a sheepish look which only caused him to smile in understanding. Silence descended between them for awhile, both content in the other's presence though she knew he would have to go soon otherwise the urge to keep him there would be to strong otherwise. Sighing she looked from the river to him to see him staring at her with intense black eyes causing her to shiver slightly. She had always loved the way his black eyes could bore into you like he was reading your soul.

"I have to go soon." It was a statement. She nodded.

"I know, I wish there wasn't such a risk using the stone though."

"Yes well it's best to let the dead stay dead Amelia. I will always come if you absolutely need me. I do have a message though for you." She sat up straighter with a brow lifted in question.

"Your parent's, Sirius and Remus wanted me to pass along that they are so proud of you. They wanted me to tell you that you are absolutely not allowed to come where we are until you are old and have children and grandchildren."

She smiled slightly. Of course they would say that. "So you guys all get along now?"

He nodded. "Sirius and Remus and James all apologized after I woke up there. It took me awhile to accept but now...well let's just say they are regretting now getting me to join their little group in school." He smirked as a smug air overcame him causing her to laugh.

"I see, pulling pranks on them are you?"

"Me and your mother against them actually." He smiled as he tilted his head for a moment as if he was listening to something. "Your mother says that you shouldn't feel guilty if to let go of the love you have for me and I quite agree." She blushed as she stared down at the ground.

"It's not that easy..." She bit her lip as she shuffled her feet.

"I know but you need to. I don't want you to become like I was. If I would have let go of the bitterness and anger I felt towards James and the love I had for your mother sooner...I could have been more of a help to you. As it was I was only able to let all those feelings go during your fifth year. It was then I realized what a bastard I had been." He shook his head as he stared at the river. "It was towards the end of your sixth that I had realized that I had fallen for you. I loved you Amelia and a part of me will always hate that I couldn't explore that with you but I know that it was my time to go."

She nodded as tears welled up in her eyes again. "Live for me Mia, promise me you won't let my death suffocate you, you will get passed the grief and you will heal. I know when the time comes you will let go of the love you feel and allow yourself to love again."

"How can I?" She re-wrapped her arms around herself as she stared at the ground through her tears.

"You can because I know you Amelia. Your a strong kind and vicious woman that has a will of steel, you won't let yourself go on like this much longer...in that aspect you are like your mother you know, she was the same." He smiled softly before tilting his head to the side.

"Is it time?" She questioned looking at him out the side of her eye.

"It is. Don't use the stone to much Amelia. Take care of yourself and your cousin..." He trailed off and then smirked. "Your mother says to tell the youkai hiding in the trees it's not very nice spying on people."

She turned as her eyes narrowed and swept through the trees that surrounded the clearing. "It's probably that damn dog's elder brother."

Smirking he chuckled. "In any case I must go Amelia. Be safe."

"I will Severus. Tell everyone hi." She looked at him and he smiled softly. She returned the smile before wrapping the stone back in the cloth and tying it back up in the leather cord around her neck. She held it in her hand for a few minutes before tucking it back into her shirt. She leaned back and stared up at the clear sky, the suffocating pain that had been in her chest earlier was lighter after talking to him but she wasn't ready to fully let go of the past, of her feelings for him.

Her red hair splayed out over the rock as she got lost in the many stars. The full moon shown brightly down upon her and she closed her eyes as she let the nightly sounds sooth her. The bubbling of the river, the small rustle of the leaves as animals traversed through the foliage, a sense of calm came over her that had not been present for the past however many years and she let it soothe her wounded heart.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there before she decided that it was probably time to address the youkai lord that had been watching her. Opening her eyes she sighed. "You can come out you know, it's not really all that polite to watch someone." She spoke softly knowing there was no point raising her voice when she knew he could hear her.

It took less than a minute before he showed himself. He stood beside the rock looking down at her. Green eyes met golden and she raised an eyebrow at him as a smirk appeared on her lips. "So how much of that conversation did you hear?"

He tilted his head as he contemplated if he would answer. "All of it."

"I see, so you understand english then." It wasn't a question but a statement.

"I do."

"Interesting."

"Who was he?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You could see him?"

He nodded.

"That's not supposed to be possible from what I understand." She sat up straight and tilted her as she stared into the water. "From what I understand the person that you summon only appears to you and nobody else...I wonder if it's different here."

"Stone?" He was curious that much he knew. He had seen the man as clear as he could see her but he had held no scent for him and then he had just disappeared after they had finished talking. In answer to his question she reached in and withdrew the cord again untying it from around the cloth then opening it and letting it lay in her palm. He bent down as he stared at it. "What's it do."

"This is called the resurrection stone, it is a stone that allows you to converse with someone you lost to death. There is a story actually that goes along with it, a myth but the myth is a lit." She replied as she held it out to him. "Take it, you can feel the magic coming off it."

He allowed her to place the stone in his hand where he studied it. He picked it up and twisted it to see all sides of it. "How does it work?"

"You turn it over in your hand three times while thinking about the person you wish to see and talk to. I don't recommend using it often though. My so many time's great uncle created it because he wanted to be with his fiancee' but instead of it bringing her back to life like wanted and hoped, it brought back just her spirit, he killed himself when he realized he couldn't be with her in life again."

"I see. So it's dangerous?" He held it back out to her watching as she plucked it from his hand and wrapped it back up before tying the cord around it and sliding back in her shirt. "Not exactly, it can be if you let yourself get addicted to summoning the person you wish to see. You can fall into a deep depression from it."

"So why did you use it." He stayed crouched as he stared at her. She frowned as she looked back at the river.

"You heard the conversation, why do you think I used it?" She replied a slight challenge in her tone.

He thought about it for a moment before replying. "To get closure."

"To a point yes."

"You loved him."

"I did and still do actually."

"I see. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you love him still if he is dead? What's the point if you can't be with them?" He tilted his head again as a silver eyebrow rose in question. Her first reaction was to lash out but she could tell he was just curious, as if he had never fallen in love for someone. Tilting her head back she gazed back up at the stars as she thought about how to word her response. She felt as if this moment was important, like her answer could change something for him.

"When you love someone it's not that easy to let those feelings go even if they die. No matter how long it takes you will always love that person that had become so precious to you in life. Even if it hurts, the pain of losing them won't last forever, eventually it will fade leaving you with the love you had for them when they were alive. To forget that love is you forgetting them, to erase all the meaning they held for you in life, I know apart of me will always love him just as a part of me still loves and misses my godfather and parents and honorary uncle, the friends that I lost. I will miss and love all of them but I know that eventually the pain from their deaths will fade and I will be left with the love I had for them and they had for me." She looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"I see."

"Do you have someone that you love?" She questioned as she leaned back.

"No."

"Oh really? What about Rin?" She asked.

"Rin? I protect her that is all." He replied.

"I'm sure but why do you protect her? Why allow her to follow you?"

"She tended to my wounds when I was hurt in the woods near the village she lived in."

"So it's repayment then? Or do you allow her to follow you for another reason?" She sat up straight and turned towards him before she continued. "Kagome told me how she came to apart of your group you know, she told me you saved her from the beatings she suffered at the hands of the villagers. There is more of a reason that you did that, you just have to figured that out for yourself."

She stood and grabbed her bag. "In any case. When you grow to care for someone, you will do anything to protect them if they are in danger no matter what. Trust me when I say that I know because I did the same and will continue to." She walked around the walk and headed back towards camp calling over her shoulder as she went. "In any case it's late and we need to rest before we head out in the morning, feel free to seek me out if your are still confused if you care about Rin or not."

Sesshomaru stayed crouched in the clearing as her words replayed in his head. To love someone is to care for them, to care for them is to protect them no matter huh? Yes I think it will be interesting to have this female around.

He stood and turned to head back to camp. He was extremely intrigued by her and her magical rock. He was looking forward to see what else she had to offer to keep his interest.