Title: Hotel California Chapter: Four Main character(s): Severus Snape References: 'Hotel California' by the Eagles Rating: Restricted, for use of language, theme, suggestions of consensual intercourse and adult theme. Disclaimer: Sophie & Tara Snape were created by the author, and may not be used without the authors permission. Severus Snape, James Potter, Lily Potter and other mentioned Harry Potter characters were created by JK Rowling and are protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, infringement of copyright acknowledged. No money is being made from this story.

Chapter Four

James Potter had his feet up on the table, flicking through the television stations on Lily's small black and white TV. Muggle objects fascinated him and he always liked visiting Lily's flat. He'd learnt so much about Muggle things since he started officially seeing Lily just over four years ago. He got a smug feeling whenever he thought of their wedding plans. They were planning to get married as soon as Lily graduated. She was studying Charms and was hoping to go into teaching, Lily would make an amazing teacher he thought to himself, remembering all the times she'd tutored him.

The phone rang.

"James, could you get that?" Lily called through from the kitchen.

"Sure." He turned to pick up the receiver, "hello?"

There was a silent pause, "hello?" James asked again.

"Can I speak to Lily?" He instantly recognised the voice of Severus Snape. He hated how Snape and Lily were friends, he'd told Lily hundreds of times that he didn't approve of their friendship but she only countered that she didn't approve of his friendship with Sirius... but that was different!

"It's for you," James called. Lily walked in from the kitchen wiping her hands on a tea towel, "it's Snivellous."

"Don't call him that." James grunted as he handed her the phone. "Severus?"

"I fucked up." He sounded near hysterical.

"Pardon?"

"I fucked up." Severus repeated.

"What? How... Severus I don't understand."

"Sophie's left me."

Lily was suddenly lost for words; whatever she was expecting it certainly wasn't that.

"Oh...."

"I... I met this woman in the pub, we got talking and... I had sex with her."

"Oh, Severus." He started to cry. "When did this happen?"

"Last week..."

"Last week? Why didn't you call sooner?"

"I thought I could cope.... Lily, I fucked it all up."

"Calm down, do you want me to come over?"

"NO!" James yelled outraged, Lily flagged him to be silent.

"I can manage." Severus said, obviously hearing James' objection.

"I'm coming over Severus." Lily put the phone down and turned to James.

"You are not going over there!"

"He's distraught!"

"I don't care!"

Lily was getting angry, "if it was Sirius..."

"That's different." James immediately counted.

"No, what's different James is that Severus is my friend. I don't like Sirius at all, but if he was in this situation and you wanted to go over to him, I wouldn't stop you."

"Sirius isn't stupid enough to get himself into this situation!"

"And how many girlfriends has he had?" Lily knew this was low, but she was angry.

"That's different!"

"James, Sirius can hardly hold down a girl because he's so busy lusting after someone else."

"That's uncalled for!"

"No, it wasn't." She looked at him hard in the face, "I'll be back tomorrow."

"You're going to stay the NIGHT at his place?"

"Perhaps." She shrugged, pulling on her coat.

"Lily, no!"

"I can make my own decisions." She took a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fire. She emerged in Severus' basement, which also doubled as a potions laboratory. She carefully made her way though the masses of papers and books covering the floor. She reached the living room and discovered that it was no better.

"This place is a tip." She scolded.

"I tried to get things done but...." Severus was sitting on the sofa, looking afraid and worn-out. He became to cry.

"Have you spoken to her since...?"

He took a few deep breaths to steady himself. "No...she said not to call her."

"What about the other woman?" Lily sat down.

"It was a one off! All I knew about her was that she was a final year history student at Cambridge and her name was Charlotte." She put her arm round him. "I love Sophie so much..."

"Where's Tara?"

"Upstairs in her room. She hardly comes out, and when she does she refuses to go near me. Maybe they were always right. Maybe I am just a loser."

"They were kids, not very nice kids at that." Lily knew exactly who had called him a loser. It angered her to think that James had been like that.

"When I told them I was getting married all Sirius did was laugh and say that I'd find some way to fuck it up..."

"Right you." Lily had had enough, "you are going to stop talking like that. Yes you've made a stupid mistake, but this isn't worth ruining your marriage over. I'm going to clean up, make tea, have a talk with Tara and you are going to ring Sophie."

"But she said..."

"You made the mistake, put it right." She thrust the receiver into his hand. He took it reluctantly, looked at her and then slowly dialled the number.

"Hello." The crisp Scottish voice of Mrs McKenzie, his mother in law answered after only a few rings.

Severus hesitated for a moment, "hello... can I speak to Sophie please?"

"Oh hello Severus." Mrs McKenzie's voice was harsh.

"Please?"

"She doesn't want to speak to you."

"Oh." Severus stared dejectedly at the floor. "Can you tell her..." the tears started to well up inside him; "can you tell her that I'm sorry and that I miss her, and that I'm sorry."

"I'll pass that on." Her tone clearly said that she was under no circumstances going to pass along any messages.

"Please?" He could no longer keep the tears out of his voice.

"Yes I'll pass that on." Her tone was softer, "good bye Severus." She put the phone down.

Severus listened to the dull ring of the operating tone before he too hung up.

*** "Who was that?" Sophie asked entering the living room.

"Er... no one." Her mother replied.

"Must have been someone."

"It was Severus."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I thought..."

"Mum, you don't have to make every decision for me!" There was an awkward pause, "what did he say?"

"He said he's sorry and that he misses you."

"How did he sound?"

Mrs McKenzie paused thinking back to how distraught Severus had been on the phone.

"Mum?"

"He sounded distraught, and like he hadn't slept in awhile."

"Poor Severus...."

"No." Her mum said briskly, "There is no poor Severus here." Sophie sat down on the arm of the chair. "I've been too hard on him, haven't I mum?"

"No, you did exactly what you should have done! Severus might be a nice boy, but if he can't remember his marriage vows then he doesn't deserve to be married."

"I can't divorce him...What about Tara?"

"You turned out alright." When Sophie had been ten her mother and father had gone through a bitter and lengthy divorce over a similar issue; except, her father hadn't just had one, one night stand, he had had several all with the same woman.

"I don't want to Tara to go through all that!"

"But it won't be your fault, love. It's Severus' fault."

"I'm going back to him." She stood.

"No, no you're not."

"I have to mum."

"You're in no fit state to drive!" Which was perfectly true, they both knew. Not only had Sophie been drinking most of the evening, but she was also extremely upset.

"But I need to get back to him, oh god I can't believe I walked out on him."

"Sophie!"

"Mum, I need to go back to him, I miss him so much and I love him and he's suffered enough." Sophie could hardly see through her tears.

"Please." Mrs McKenzie pleaded to her daughter as she charged out of the house and to the car. "Sophie, think about it. If you must go back to him do it in the morning."

"I need to go."

She got in the car and pulled out of the driveway.

* * * Lily made her way up the staircase in Severus' home. She liked his home, the way the stairs were so easy to walk up, the way it was designed to be a family home. The attic had been converted into a separate sitting room, study area where Sophie had her study. There was the master bedroom, Tara's room and the spare bedroom. It all flowed nicely.

She knocked on Tara's pink decorated bedroom door. "Go way!"

"It's me, Aunty Lily." Whenever Sophie had needed a babysitter a short notice she had asked Lily. Lily was never quite sure if Sophie liked her, but she knew that her and Severus went way back together.

"Auntie Lily!" Tara flung open the door and ran at Lily.

"Hello there, love." She picked up Tara and gave her a cuddle. "Are you going to come down and talk to your daddy?"

"No!" Tara wiggled free from her hold, "he made mummy go away."

"But mummy will be coming back soon."

"He's a bad daddy." Lily followed Tara back into her bedroom.

"Yes, he is a bad daddy but he's very sorry that he's hurt you and mummy."

"He doesn't love me."

"Oh, he loves you very very much."

Downstairs the doorbell rang. Severus pulled himself up from the sofa to answer the door. Two police officers stood on his doorstep. "Mr Severus Snape?" They asked.

"Yes?"

"Can we come it?"

Severus had a moment of dread, "what for?"

"It's about your wife..."

"Oh no."

"We're very sorry sir."

"Oh god..." Severus sank to the floor not quite able to take in what he had just heard. He heard the stairs creek.

"What's going on?" Lily asked, Tara peeking out from behind her legs. She saw the police officers and instantly understood. "Tara, go back into your room for a moment."

Tara did as she was told. "You'd better come in." Lily told the police officers as she led Severus to a chair.

* ** "She was involved in a car accident; she died at the scene." The police officer finished.

"Oh god." Severus said for the thousandth time that evening.

"We're treating it as suspicious."

"Suspicious, why?"

"Initial examination of the car revealed that her breaks..."

"Oh god..." Realisation dawned on him, "I told her that the car need a service..." It had seemed irrelevant at the time.

"Your wife's blood alcohol level was over the legal limit and she appeared to have been driving at some speed. Could you account for this?"

"We...we had an...argument...she went to her mothers..." The whole scene began to replay in his head, meeting Charlotte... the conversation...the kiss...going to her car...

"When was this sir?"

"Last week."

"And what was this argument concerning?"

Lily re-entered the room carrying cups of hot tea. "Why do you need to know this?" She asked.

"All details need to be taken into account during an investigation." The officer explained.

"You don't think Severus..."

"At this moment in the time we have yet to eliminated all possibilities."

"I slept with another woman." Severus said suddenly, causing them all to look at him.

"Really?" The officer asked writing this down.

"She didn't know I was married...It was a one night stand."

"And this woman's name?"

"Charlotte...I don't know her surname."

"Can anyone collaborate this?"

"What are you saying?" Snape snapped, "I made up a story about going to the pub, meeting this woman and then fucking her in the back seat of her car, just so that I could get rid of my wife?!"

"We need to..."

"Bullshit! You just want to...oh god." He started to cry, "oh my god..."

Lily went and sat next to him, putting her arms round his shoulders. "Can't you see he's in no fit state for this?"

"And you are?" The police officer asked for the firs time.

"Lily Evans. I went to school with Severus and Sophie, we've been friends for a number of years.

"I see."

"No!" Lily was shocked, "it's nothing like that! Severus called my home tonight and I came round. Ask my fiancé, James Potter..."

"That won't be necessary m'am, we'll be in touch. Good night." They went to the door and showed themselves out.