"No need," I said as I took her hand, pulling her back to me. Taking the wand from my pocket I waved it over both of us and in the blink of an eye we were dry.
"Thank you," she said, shaking her head to smooth out her curls.
"My pleasure."
Smiling, Viviana wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down so she could rest her forehead against mine.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this charming?"
I jumped at the all too familiar voice and looked up. "My Lord!"
The Dark Lord sat in the armchair I had tripped over on my first visit. His hands were folded across his stomach as he watched me with those eerie eyes of his. In a deliberate manner he rose to his feet, his dark robes billowing out around him, and took a few steps towards us.
Instinctively I placed myself between him and Viviana.
"So this is where you keep running off to," he mused. His gaze traveled around the room, taking in every detail before returning his stare to me. "I'm fairly disappointed in you, Severus."
I swallowed hard, no response finding its way into my mind.
"Leave this place, Voldemort, and leave Severus. You have no control over him any longer."
Much to my horror Viviana moved from behind me to return the Dark Lord's glare. It was the first time I had ever witnessed such a scene. "Please, don't do this Viviana."
The Dark Lord laughed from deep in his stomach. "No control? You do realize who it is to whom you speak, girl?"
"I do, a monster," she hissed.
"You need to learn your place. Crucio!" Faster than I could follow the Dark Lord whipped out his wand and pointed it at Viviana.
Her scream still echoes in my mind.
"My Lord, please stop this!" I cried and knelt beside her where she lay convulsing on the ground.
"Come with me, Severus, and I will spare her," he stated placidly.
"Anything, just leave her be." My voice cracked as I begged for her life.
The Dark Lord lowered his wand and held his arm out, motioning for me to come with him.
"Severus, don't give him power over you," Viviana's voice was low and strained. It resembled nothing of her lightly accented, melodious tone.
"I have to or he'll kill you," I whispered. Taking her hand, I kissed her knuckles and then her cheek before scooping her up in my arms.
Viviana started to say something, but I will never know what she was trying to tell me.
"Avada Kedavra!"
I flew backwards from the force of the blow, still holding to the auburn haired woman protectively.
Not that it mattered, she was already dead.
I could feel the tears stinging the backs of my eyes as her empty blue ones stared up into nothing. Clutching her to my chest I ground my teeth in an effort to keep from sobbing. I couldn't allow the Dark Lord to see my pain.
"It was for the best, Severus. She had your mind clouded with foolishness." His voice was smooth and almost comforting as he let a hand rest on my shoulder. "She would have hurt you in the end. I am the only one who truly cares for you."
Without a word I shrugged away from his touch and carried Viviana to the couch. Laying her down gently, I closed her eyes and stared down at her, still fighting the waves of sorrow and rage.
She looked the same as she did the first time I saw her.
"Come, I have a job for you to do. Dumbledore is meeting with a prospective Divination professor. She is supposed to be a bit of a loon, but her predictions are never off. I want to know anything she tells him," the Dark Lord said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me away.
"Yes, my Lord," I muttered.
It was that night that Trelawny made the prediction about the Potter boy and it was that night that I went into Dumbledore's service.
"I want you to know now that I am a former Death Eater," I told him at a later encounter with the old wizard.
He merely nodded his sagely head and held out a bowl of jelly beans. "Bertie Botts?"
I shook my head, slightly perplexed by his nonchalance and sweets addiction. "I would like to become a teacher at Hogwarts."
These were the orders given to me by the Dark Lord and for the first time in many days I didn't mind. This could work to my advantage.
"Potions, that will be what you teach," Dumbledore replied.
"But Professor, I was hoping that-"
"If you dabble too much in the Dark Arts, Severus, they will one day consume you."
I frowned but accepted this. After all, beggars can't be choosers.
"I also want you to know that I want to help destroy the Dark Lord. I've lost something precious to him and I want revenge," I made this statement somewhat bluntly.
Dumbledore looked at me carefully through his half-moon spectacles before speaking again. "As do we all. I know you really loved her, Severus. There's no need for you to hide it from me."
I set my jaw and refused to show any emotion, "So I can assume I have the Potions Professor position?"
"Hm? Oh yes, you start next semester. Welcome back, Professor Snape." He held a wrinkled hand out for me to shake which I did.
That summer Lily Potter gave birth to a boy that she and her husband named Harry. A year later, Lily and James were killed and the boy was an orphan, but he was an orphan who became the hope of the wizarding world. He was the boy who lived.
Eleven years would pass before I personally met Harry Potter. He reminded me so much of James that it nearly made me sick.
Over the years I would vent my anger on him, make the son pay for the sins of the father, and save him from dangers such as werewolves and deranged Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. Hopefully my life debt to James will be repaid before too long.
After carrying out my orders to end Dumbledore's life though, I don't know if I will have the chance.
It pained me to kill the man who has been my mentor for so many years now, but I have full faith in what he has planned.
My only hope is that it works and that it I can finally make good my vow to destroy the Dark Lord as he has destroyed me.