Second Chances



Chapter 06: I can't tell you much.



"Ria and the others are doing their best, but we may have to leave soon." Raising an eyebrow at him, she continued: "It seems you are highly sought after."

"Indeed?" he replied neutrally. "What makes you think that? And who is Ria?" Letting his gaze drift around the cave, he added: "Where are we anyway?"

Looking at him with a measuring expression, she asked back: "How much of the recent events do you remember?"

A bit hurt by her hesitation to trust him, he reminded himself that apparently she was not Lily and he seemed to be a stranger to her. And that it was a wise thing to be careful whom to trust, as he had proved so badly on that fateful evening. Sighing silently, he closed his eyes and examined his memories of the last few days.

"I remember stumbling through the wood... coming to the brook... then the werewolf attack... and.. you. After that only darkness and weird dreams."

Opening his eyes again, he watched her intently. His gaze was almost immediately locked by her intense green one.

"And why were you 'stumbling through the wood' in the first place? The DarkWood is not exactly a forest for a little afternoon stroll, you know?" she inquired further.

Severus tried to look away but found he couldn't. He had dreaded this question. Bad enough he would now have to tell Albus what had happened, but explaining all this to her implied admitting he had failed them once again. After briefly contemplating lying to her -as the spy in him told him to- he decided against it. Whoever she was, she had saved his life and just being in his presence could endanger hers. He would have to tell her something.
'But perhaps I can find a way to keep her out of this.'

"I can't tell you much. The more you know, the greater the danger for your life will be. It's already bad enough with you staying here in the same place as me. I don't want you to get hurt."

Her eyes darkened, bright emerald becoming deep forest green, and started glittering dangerously.

"And why ", she asked softly, but with steel in her voice, "should I believe you? Why should I believe a Death Eater who turns up half-dead in the DarkWood in the middle of the night?"

'Damn, she knows! She must have seen the Dark Mark!' He tried to keep his face indifferent and the stab of pain he felt at her words out of his voice.

"Why did you save me if you believe I'm just an evil servant of the Dark Lord?"

"Are you?" So tense.

"What?"

"Are you one of his followers?"

Hope woke in him, but he dared not show it. "You saw the Mark."

"Blast the Mark. I also saw half a dozen white-masked Blackrobes, entering a place few dared to tread upon for the past fifty years, looking for someone they call 'the Traitor'." She paused and her eyes softened a bit.

"Who are you, Severus Snape? Why have you come here of all places? Why does Voldemort want to see you dead?"

Severus freed his gaze from hers and snorted as he looked down on the cup in his hands. 'So much for trying to keep her out of this. Whom did I think I could fool?' he thought in resignation.

"He doesn't, that's part of my problem. He wants to use my hair for Polyjuice Potion, so that he can get into the inner circle of his enemies unnoticed. I was once a Death Eater, but I became a spy for the light side later on. He knew it when he returned and played with me for a while."

At that point he lifted his eyes to hers. "He gave me the choice: Serving him willingly or being forced to. Either way I would have lost."
Dropping his gaze again, he continued: "I came here because I hoped the creatures of the forest would kill me before the Death Eaters caught me."

He noticed her irises were returning to their dazzling emerald, starting to twinkle softly somewhere in the depths. "Well, they very nearly did."

"You still haven't answered any of my questions yet." he remarked, feeling more than a bit uneasy about what he had just told her.

"True. I had to make sure which side you are on before." She smiled at him benignly.

"Now, I already told you about the Blackrobes that are looking for you. To your second question, Ria is a good friend of mine. She's one of those who made it their duty to keep strangers from roaming the wood. In fact, you just met her three days ago. She's the werewolf that attacked you, thinking you were a Death Eater. I came just in time to prevent her from ripping your throat out."

Severus' eyes widened. "She's the werewolf? You are friends with a werewolf? And you stopped her from killing me? How can you? She could have killed you, too, without a second thought!" He shook his head in horror.

"Ria would never hurt me. We developed a potion that allows her to keep her human mind during the transformation." The green was darkening a shade again.

"You did? Really? But..."

Before he could say anything further, Lily leaped up in one fluid motion. Fire flashed on steel, as she whirled towards the entrance of the cave, bringing down a sword on a figure that had definitely not been there a moment ago.



***************

A/N: Sorry, but I just love those cliffies. I guess that's the little devil in me... But I am no complete sadist, so the next chapter is already online.
Who is the stranger? Did the Death Eaters find them? And Lily is wielding a sword? Read on to find out...



Thanks to all reviewers. *happy smile*

I fear I can't tell you more about Lily right now. It would spill the whole excitement. But you'll learn some of her secrets later in the story.

To The Elfin Child: Hope you enjoy Canada!

To LyssaQuill: Thanks for your mail! I really liked it.



Greetings,

Scheckie