Author's Note: Alright, I have a confession to make: I have lost control of this story...it was suppose to have been a face off between father and son however, my muse had different plans. The direction this story has taken is interesting to say the least and is perhaps the closest I will ever write to a Snape romance, yes you heard me right: romance. Now before you come after me with pitchforks and torches bear in mind this is going to led directly into Mordred's appreance and the birth of Kaiya's puppy. I promise you there is more then meets the eye here. Onward!
Lucius Malfoy chewed on the inside of his lip uncomfortably. Besides him, his son Draco shifted uneasily himself. Severus stared at them both with a well-concealed hate and he even favored Draco with a small, knowing grin that disappeared a moment after before turning his full attention to Harrison's father who was speaking a breaking voice about his son.
An afternoon sun was slowly beginning its descent into night at the cemetery, where Harrison was the newest addition to the elite buried there. Names adorned the grave markers like a list of the most influential and oldest families: Malfoy and Snape, Crouch and Hawke; and even hidden somewhere among the markers was the grave of one Peter Pettigrew. The Delacroix had invited a small group, mostly family friends, to the funeral but countless crowded just outside the gates like a silent vigil to the dying young. Perhaps the most poignant of the guests was Amos Diggory, the father of Cedric, he was sitting besides Harrison's mother letting the woman cry into his shoulder.
"And finally," Dylan Delacroix concluded, "I asked Professor Snape for a favor, Severus, if you please?"
He drew himself to his full height and patted Dylan's shoulder as he passed. He leaned over and whispered into his ear. Dylan nodded graciously before returning to his seat. Severus was left standing in front of the coffin alone. He began to speak but couldn't but he hid the failed attempt under a hand which rubbed against his chin and then into his pocket to retrieve the eulogy. He tried again.
It was perhaps the cruelest of all Auror traditions: a fallen comrade was summarily wiped from one's mind. They no longer existed outside of memories that were never spoken of in public. Alexander Rouge had never had a problem with that tradition until now, as he stood in the rain preparing to bury the only family he ever loved.
It was a cold and equally cruel winter and the white caskets that held his family were beginning to be muddied from the pools of rainwater forming around them.
Alexander drew his hand across his chin and spoke, "Now, um, I'm suppose to say 'My partner died like an Auror' or 'She met her fate being an Auror's wife.' I'm suppose to say 'He was an honest man, and that he chose his path and walked it gladly' but I'm not going too because if I did, I'd be lying."
Jude Remington shifted, a little, watching the begrieved friend. "Alex…"
He smiled at Jude, inhaling deeply with his bottom lip trembling. "That's right, Rem, that right" He glanced at the assembled Aurors. "Because all you know me as is Alexander Rouge, my alias…my mask. The man who died was named Matthew Moore, but we all called him Billy because that was his mask; just some name pulled out of the sky and used like a protective shield.
'It was the simplest way of not getting too close, I guess, we never know something as trivial as their real name so it's easier to forget them well this one, I'm not going to forget!" Severus nearly shouted, he bowed his head and tried to hold back his tears just long enough. "I'm not going to hide behind some mask anymore! His name was Matthew Moore, Matthew William Moore and he was my friend! Hers was Dahlia Wyvern."
Jude was already pulling Severus away from the coffins but he pushed Jude away. "And hers!" Severus shouted frantically clawing at the smallest coffin, "Her name was Pandora Snape."
"Come on Alex…" Jude whispered, pulling him back. "Lets go."
"Say her name, Jude! Say it."
"I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Say her name! Say her goddamn name, you owe her that much! You owe Billy that much."
"You're tried Alex, come on…"
"Get your hands off me you fucking bastard." Snape spat, pushing Jude away.
The Auror released him and stared into his eyes. "Lets go."
"I'm not following you anymore, Remy." He looked around at the faces of the Aurors he barely knew. "I'm not hiding behind anyone's mask anymore."