"The Tear is not here my Lord." The Dark Prince's voice was steady and dangerous. He was kneeling before the fire. He had his black cloak flowing from his shoulders and his hood drawn around his face allowing only he mask to be visible. His mask was the same pale ivory as his brothers but his had a trio of pale gold lines running down his left side. "Please Master, forgive my folly in not finding it."

The voice of Voldemort hissed back at him from the fireplace. "Fool! I told you to not report failure to me! I want that jewel now!"

"Master, I have search everywhere for this artifact. I would have found it by now. It does not exist."

"Do not presume to tell me what is real and what is not. You will pay dearly for your mistake."

The gold lines on his mask began to glow. A low hiss began to come from his mask as the lines began to burn. He clenched his teeth and swore to himself he wouldn't make a sound. His body beginning to shake and Voldemort laughed.

"Ah, my Prince...you will never give me the pleasure of seeing you scream in pain. A shame, really." He sighed. "Alright. The Tear is dead. Kill them all but take your time."

"Thank you my Lord..." He murmured. He stood and walked into the other room.

Severus Snape stared at the woman before him. Sara Crosse was beautiful, he had always thought so but she was innocent and that had always caused a rift between them. They had been good friends though. Sara was cradling her dead baby, her husband laid where he had fallen.

"Hush little baby don't say word, mama's going to buy you a mockingbird and if that mockingbird don't sing. Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring..." Sara was singing slowly. "Such a good girl Gabrielle, Daddy is proud of you too."

Snape shook his head. He kneeled down and kissed her, brushing his hand down her face as he stood. She screamed.

A fellow Death Eater stepped forward to kill her but the Prince brushed him away. "Leave her." He said. "We've already done worst to her then kill her."

Sara was looking at Snape. "The Tear?"

The Prince dismissed the Death Eaters. Snape kneeled down. "It's gone." She began to sob again, pleading with them to kill her. Snape laughed but it was hollow and that uncertainty was not lost on the Death Eater Jeremiah Smith.

Jeremiah Smith had lots to be regretful for but he didn't have time for penance. There was too much work for him to do. Most of the time, if he could busy himself with worthless subjects he could forget about what he did. He was a just kid when he joined Voldemort. He had killed because it made him feel powerful. When he was caught, he sang like a bird. Because of that and because at the time of his capture he was still a Hogwarts student, he was free from punishment. But not from his conscience. He often wondered if any others of Voldemort's followers were haunted by the same ghosts he was. He knew at least one did. There was a knock on the door and without thinking Jeremiah told the visitor to come in.

As he walked to into the main foyer, he came face to face with Alexander Rouge. He shuttered. "Prince." Jeremiah said.

Alex smiled thinly. "That's right...it is time to pay the piper Jerry. You betrayed Voldemort to the Tribunal and worst, you named me to them." The Dark Prince shook his head. "You don't do that."

"My...Prince...please."

"Jeremiah, where is the Tear?"

Jeremiah frowned. "You took it that night."

Alex looked confused then he nodded slowly. "I took it? Ah...of course. Clever Severus, clever. Well, there will be time for that later. What was the name of the Auror you betrayed me to?"

"My Lord, please!"

"Tell me and I might forget to kill you."

"Gid...Gideon Mallory."

He nodded and began to walk away then he stopped, "Oh yes, I almost forgot..."

"He was found a hour ago." Gideon said as he walked with Remus, Severus and Kaiya. "I only called you Severus because you will know him and maybe you could help me see a connection between Sara and him."

Severus nodded. "Am I to assume they are related?"

"At first I didn't think so. This guy wasn't well liked by your kind- I mean by the Death Eaters, but then I saw something...just come and see."

The body was laying on its right side and as soon as Snape saw the profile, he sneered. "Of course...Jeremiah."

"You don't seem to happy to see him."

"On the contrary, I'm thrilled to see him in his current state. Its because of him, I was in Azkaban for two years."

Remus turned towards Gideon. "Huh?"

"He was the Auror's main source of names when You-Know-Who first fell. He also not only named them but he placed them at the scenes of the crime. He got off clean because of it."

"So usually I would say a Death Eater finally got his revenge but look." Gideon leaned down and turned the body over. Three freshly made cuts ran down his face's left side. "That's the Prince's calling card."

"Jeremiah was part of the group who searched for the Tear. He was a errand boy for us, and because he was a kid, he was able to run around without question." Severus smiled ruefully. "He somewhat hero worshiped me. I remember his father's classes." He smirked at Gideon. "Do you remember Professor Malachi Smith?"

Gideon laughed. "Malachi was the hardest teacher at the Auror Academy."

Kaiya looked at Severus. "You were an Auror?"

Severus grew grim again. "A very long time ago. Jeremiah always called me by the Alias we had to use."

"It's the first lesson we're trained. We have to take aliases to learn how to blend into both the Muggle world and the Wizard world at anytime." Gideon smiled. "I kept my last name, Mallory. I was Colin Mallory."

Severus shook his head and rose. "Come on, Kaiya...lets go home. Would you two like dinner?"

"I have to finish the paperwork on Sara and him." Gideon said.

Remus nodded. "Sure, lets go."

The Tribunal stared at Jeremiah hatefully. They would have been just as happy to kill him then to hear him out. But his father was a teacher at a top school and so they bit their tongue. Jeremiah Smith looked lean, frightened and tired. He had been answering their questions all day.

"Natalie Lestrange and her husband killed the Hampton family without a second thought. But it was Severus Snape that did the thing I want to tell you about!"

"Severus Snape, eh?" The red haired wizard said from her perch. She shifted through her papers and asked why hadn't he mentioned Snape before.

"Snape was different. He did something I need to tell you about..."

"We don't need details Jeremiah. You're free to go."

The Wizard with the graying beard told the Dementors to find Severus Snape. They seemed to content to that. Jeremiah was trying to explain himself but no one cared. He pulled at his hair. "You don't what he is..."