A/n: Sorry my chapters have been so short!! i'm really trying, but with the lack of reviews, my confidence is in a serious need of a boost in order to keep this story going!!REVIEW PEOPLE!! PLEASE:)

Chapter 7- Forever Yours

PREVIOUSLY in An Ever Fixed Mark...)

"The minute his eyes opened, Harry was out of bed. He grabbed his invisibility cloak and pulled on a pair of sweatpants, (he usually slept only in his boxers), and a plain white t-shirt, and hurried downstairs as fast as his tip-toes would carry him. He needed to see Severus, immediately."

But Harry never saw Severus that night. In fact, for the next three weeks, it seemed, Severus had disappeared. His password, which he had given to Harry around Easter, no longer worked; he hadn't shown up to a single meal since the night Harry had had the vision; his last few classes were canceled to give his students "more time to study for their end-of-yea exams".

Harry took to pacing his dormitory whenever he wasn't studying with Ron or Hermione. He had known Draco was up to something for a while now. And if Snape's talk with him during Slughorn's Christmas party was any indication, he had also known that Severus was trying to get out of him exactly what it was. What was frustrating was how good of an actor Snape was. For the first time, Harry found himself doubting the man. Whose side was he really on? How truthful was he with Dumbledore? And what was going on with Malfoy?!

But before Harry could confront Snape with these questions, before, in fact, he saw Snape at all, Dumbledore called him up to his office.

And by the time the pair arrived back at the castle, it was to find the Dark Mark hovering formidably over head.

Albus Dumbledore died that night, and with him, so did Harry's trust for Severus Snape.

HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS

(Harry's POV)

Three weeks. It's been three weeks since that night, and still the nightmares are as fresh as if it had been yesterday. The man is always haunting my dreams; if it's not the hate-filled gleam in his eyes as he raised his wand and pointed it at Dumbledore's chest, it's his smile when I made him laugh during a lesson, or my name on his tongue. "Harry, Harry, Harry".

Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat, and it takes me a few minutes before I realize where I am. Occasionally, I'll wake up, my dreams still playing behind my closed eyelids, willing myself not to awaken just yet; sometimes I just wish I could sleep, forever.

It's not that I am lazy; on the contrary, I'm anxious to set out on the mission that Dumbledore and I started that night. It's just that I know that the time will come when I have to face him again, and I don't know what I will do. Now that he is my enemy once more, I find myself missing the Snape I got to know, the man behind the mask, so to speak. I doubt either of us was ever so open with another human being than we were with each other this year. Then again, perhaps it was all an act on his end, a ploy to gain my trust, to take away any suspicions I may have had.

Soon I will be leaving the Dursleys, once and for all. I would have gone straight to the Burrow, or Headquarters, but it was Dumbledore's wish that I return here until I come of age, which, technically speaking is in one hour and four minutes. Once again, I'm having a rather quiet birthday party, with the guest list being a pathetic one, naming just me, myself, and I, and, as cliché as it might sound, the truth is that everything is so indecisive right now, I might as well be three different people, anyway.

I am just getting ready to call it a night, when a familiar sound starts at the window. I look up to see Hedwig, a letter tied to her beak, pecking at the glass as if requesting permission to enter. I immediately jump out of bed, suddenly alert.

"Hey, girl," I whisper, opening the window, "what's that you got there?" I untie the letter, and my heart jumps into my throat. I recognize that handwriting, but, no! It can't be! Can it? Forgetting about my rather impatient owl for a minute, I sit myself down, breathing hard, and begin to read the letter.

Harry-

I know. What. The. Hell. Right? I would try to apologize, to explain myself, to make you understand, but I know that you are probably still too consumed by your anger and hatred of me to begin to listen to reason. Besides, at this point, I cannot even tell you the truth without getting us both killed. You do not even know how hard these past few weeks have been for me. Away from you.

Even with everything that has happened, I cannot forget all that I have left behind. The confusion, the madness, the hurt, the mistrust. I need you to understand, Harry, I need you to believe, that I would never kill him of my own accord. He was like a father to me, Harry. My mentor, my teacher, my friend. How could I? But you cannot believe that until you see the evidence, until the cold hard truth stares in you in the eye and dares you to call it a lie.

Harry, I meant to tell you, before I left, exactly what you mean to me. Given the circumstances, it would be quite selfish of me to heap this on your already full plate, but I think that even I, the Bat of the Dungeons, deserve to be selfish just this once. It may not have occurred to you, when I tried to cancel our lessons, that I was undergoing some emotional stresses at the time that made me an inadequate teacher. You may not have realized how much pain it caused me, spending all that time with you, knowing that you were beginning to trust me, yet knowing what I would have to do. Knowing how much I was going to hurt you. It killed me, watching our relationship progress, when it was only a matter of time before you would want my blood.

The truth is, Harry, our relationship did more than just progress. It is hard for me to write this, to admit this, but… I am a changed man because of you. I care now. I… I care… about you. And as hard as it may be to believe, I think I am in love with you.

It's ironic, isn't it, that I tried to end my lessons with you, because a teacher-student relationship is forbidden, at with out age difference, just the thought of it was wrong, and then I go and murder the only man who ever felt anything other that hatred towards me, and I am no longer a teacher, free, as it were, to love whoever I want. At the same time though, you now want to kill me. Ah, the irony. Ha. Ha. Ha.

There isn't enough time now, to write what I want to write to you, but I had to get that out. For the next few weeks, my job is to notify Minerva McGonagall that I am still alive, and reveal to her the truth about Albus's death. You will know the truth, soon, too; be patient, Harry, I know it's hard, and I have probably just made it harder, but hang on. As soon as I can, I will tell you the truth, too.

Oh, and Happy Birthday. I would have sent you a card, but i figured this would be enough of a shock. Besides, I think I'd rather leave that job to your most adoring fans. ;)

Forever Yours,

Severus Snape

CHAPTER EIGHT COMING SOON!!!! what will Harry do now??

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