Author's Note: This is an alternative narrative to the Harry Potter series, which obviously (said in Snape's voice) means that some facts, storylines and even characters will be changed. This story is meant only for entertainment purposes. I do not own any of the original characters created by J.K. Rowling, only my own character, Rose Avery.

Chapter Seven

March 9, 2003

It's been exactly two months to the day that Lily re-entered my life. We have spent every day together and it reminds me of old times with the real Lily. My craving for all things Rose has been quenched…..mostly. Over the last couple of weeks, she has really opened up to me. I know all about her university, her childhood, her hobbies, her parents, and her older sister, who is her best friend. Most importantly, I learned that she is single and only had one serious boyfriend when she was 19 but broke up with him a little over a year ago because he was "moving too fast." The age difference between us does bother me. The real Lily and me were only a few weeks apart. This Lily is 21 years younger than me. If Lily was reincarnated and brought back as Rose in order to mend our broken relationship and start over, did the age difference really matter?

Traveling with Rose had caused some challenges. She's afraid of heights, so she is adamant that she will never get on my broom, although I keep promising her that I would never let her fall and I don't trust her to use the Floo Network. She's gotten better with apparition, only occasionally getting sick. I've taken her around to various places that I visited over the years, including special locations in New Zealand that are particular favorites of mine.

Now, I lie on the couch, listening to her play the piano, or at least trying to play the piano.

"Shit! Why can't I remember the next section?" Rose asks out loud to herself, obviously frustrated.

"Has it been a long time since you've played this piece?" I ask her.

"Yeah. I haven't played it since I entered in this stupid talent contest at secondary school."

"Did you win the talent show?"

"Ha! Not a chance. This girl with really big boobs won."

"Her talent was her boobs? Did she perform tricks with them?"

Rose let out a very Lily laugh. "No, but they might as well have been her talent. There's this yearly newsletter that goes out in the post to keep everyone informed of what the graduates are up to nowadays. Right after Busty Babe graduated, she married this super rich bloke whose father owns some kind of clothing line. They met when she was modeling swimsuits for them. Big surprise."

After a few moments of silence, I notice Rose has given up on the piano. I look over at her and she seems sad. Since she's been staying with me, I rarely enter her thoughts. They are private and I don't want to destroy any kind of trust that we've built, but I can't help but look now. Images of Rose's sister, playing with her hair and giving her make up tips race through her mind.

I ask, "Are you okay?"

I can tell she's debating on how to respond. I know she's going to be truthful, but how truthful is unknown.

Finally, she says, "I am okay, but not okay."

"That's a puzzling statement." I sit up and look at her, letting her know I'm aware this is a serious conversation we're about to have.

"It's just, you've been really nice to me, and I don't want to mess that up by hurting your feelings."

Great, I think to myself, she wants to go home.

She continues, "I want to go home."

Fuck! I knew it.

Trying to keep my composure, I say evenly, "Rose, you know that's not possible."

"And why is that exactly?"

"We've been through this. We need to understand why you've been reincarnated as Lily."

Rose scoffs, "Really? Because it seems to me like you've just been enjoying spending time with me and haven't worked on figuring this mystery out."

She got me there. Admittedly, I have not done one damned thing to figure out why Lily was back. To be frank, I don't care. When I first met Rose, I couldn't get the "why" out of my mind. There had to be a reason why Lily had returned. Now that I've been spending time with Rose, I have been enjoying myself. This is the happiest I've been since I was ten years old. I do not want it to end and learning the reason why Lily was back may very well end everything. Once we find out, would Rose leave me?

I lie and say, "That's not true."

Rose gives me an incredulous look.

I roll my eyes. "Alright, alright. I haven't done my due diligence, but that doesn't mean I haven't been pondering it."

"Pondering it and doing something about it are two completely different things. I want to go home, Severus."

Before the words form on her lips, I know exactly what she's going to say next, and I don't need legilimency to be right. "If you really love me like you say, you'll let me go home. It's not right keeping me locked up."

Damn her! Of course, she would use my love against me.

"It's not that simple…."

Before I can finish, Rose cuts me off, "Yes, it is! Wipe my memory and drop me off somewhere in Muggle civilization, like a hospital. I'll get picked up and when I'm questioned, I'll have no memory where I've been the past couple of months. Doctors and authorities will just chalk it up to some kind of trauma amnesia or something."

She really has been thinking this through. Perhaps I should start minding her thoughts and to hell with her privacy. Her thinking was dangerous.

I ask, "Don't you want to see where this goes? Why you've been brought back?"

"Yes! I care very much about why this has all happened to me, but you obviously don't. You haven't done anything to help me solve this. If you won't help me, then I'm done. I want to go home!"

Rose got up from the piano bench and starts to walk out of the room. I jump up from the couch and grab her from behind, spinning her around to look at me.

"I love you!" I say to her, a bit too forcefully.

She tries to wiggle free from my grip, but I am holding on to her too tightly.

Then, the loudest scream I've ever heard came roaring from deep within her chest. "Then help me!"

I automatically release her and step backwards as if I had been slapped by an invisible force. I can't believe I am losing Lily all over again. I sit down on the sofa, not knowing what to say or do. I feel tears springing to my eyes, but I'll be damned if I let a Muggle see me cry.

After a few awkward moments, Rose sits next to me and places an arm around my shoulders. My initial reaction is to recoil, push her away. I don't need her pitiful show of emotion or hear whatever bullshit she's going to spew from that beautiful mouth of hers. I also know that this is exactly what 20-year-old Severus Snape would do and it's precisely those types of actions that would push Lily further away, fracturing our already fractured relationship. Resigned, I simply relax into the embrace.

Rose softly says, "I'm sorry, Severus. I don't want to hurt you."

"It's fine," I mutter, scared that I may actually start crying in front of her.

"No, it's not fine. You've been nothing but kind to me, and thoughtful, and caring. Every day you are protecting me from them. You are literally saving my life. I should show you more respect."

I don't know how to respond. I don't want this girl to think she just needs to obey and respect me. I love her just as much as I love Lily because I know she is Lily. I don't want her respect just because I'm her savior. I want her to love me back.

As if she could read my mind, she says, "I can't love you under these conditions. I think you're a wonderful person. I've seen how you treat other Muggles and how you try to keep those Death Eaters in check. I don't think your heart is truly into this. I think you want it to all be over. I do too and that's why I can't allow myself to fall in love with you…..even if I am attracted to you."

I know Rose just laid down some heart pounding compliments and I should be happy about that, but I also have to be very careful about how I respond because she is essentially exposing the treachery I feel in my soul. I know I should be focusing more on shielding my true intentions, but the only thing that matters to me in this moment is the knowledge that she is attracted to me. I feel like a stupid teenager again, drunk on first love, but I can't help it. I look at her and slowly move my face towards her, hoping she will let me kiss her. Of course, as soon as she registers what I'm attempting to do, she stands up and walks across the room. I curse my foolishness.

"I consider you my friend, Severus," she says looking out the window, unable to face me. "If there is something romantic between us, I don't know, and I can't focus on that right now. I do believe that I've been brought into this world to do something about this war. After listening to you and your theories and reading up on reincarnation in the Wizarding World, and searching deep within myself, analyzing my dreams, I just know I have a purpose."

Feeling more confident in her speech, she finally turns to look at me. "So, we can either do one of two things; you can either help me figure out what it is I'm supposed to be doing or you can say 'fuck it,' and just let me go home. I refuse to stay here with you any longer unless we're working towards something. This is like a bizarre version of playing house and I don't want to play anymore."

She has me by the balls. She's outright refusing to live with me anymore. Rose knows that I can either let her go or force her to stay with me by torturing her, performing curses on her, forcing love potions down her throat, or outright tying her up to the bed. She knows I'm not going to do any of those things to her, and I know it too. I could never hurt Lily or try to manipulate her to stay with me. I didn't do that twenty years ago and I am certainly not going to do it now, especially to a Muggle who has no way of defending herself. I could have had my Lily if I wanted to do all those vile things to her, but it wouldn't have really been Lily I was with. It would have been some hollowed shell version of Lily.

I also know that option one, helping her figure things out will not only allow me more time with Rose, but it could also mean a potential future. She said she thought of me as a friend, a position that was all too familiar, but that she was also attracted to me. She likewise admitted that there may be something romantic between us, but she couldn't allow herself to fully search through those feelings given the circumstances. My only chance to keep Rose and to have any type of future with her would be to help her for real.

"Alright," I say, "I promise you that I wholeheartedly will help you figure out why you've been reincarnated. Once we figure it out, I also promise you that I will help you see it through to the end. Whatever that end may be."

Rose gives me the most dazzling smile I've ever seen. She walks over to me and yanks on my arm until I am standing in front of her. She gives me an impressive hug, the only hug we've shared since the first night I met her. She feels warm and soft in my arms. I can't help but smile and melt into her.

I look down at her and say, "I also promise to return you home once we're done."

"When this is all done, I would like to go home," she says, her green eyes inviting me to look deeper, "but I'm pretty sure I'll have room in my life for you."

I search her thoughts and to my relief, she is genuine. I settle back into the hug, allowing myself to be lost in her embrace.