A/N: I was not expecting to continue the last chapter, I was simply just going to go onto the next day but this chapter was begging to be written and included and I simply just couldn't stop. In other news I have a new Beta! Thank you to MysteryTears97 for all of your input and hard work to help me get the past few chapters Beta'ed! I hope you'll continue to read and comment. I hope you like the re-edited ending. The boy's are introduced to the concept of Pyra and the "Burning Days." Also Remus's first transformation of the year is coming up soon shortly followed after by Rose's own transformation into Pyra! In other news my little Nephew (who's only a month old) is staying at my house for an indefinite time, as my sister and her fiance are suffering through some domestic problems. Hopefully things will recover there soon so that I can get back to a sleeping properly. Anyways enough ranting from me go read and then I'll met you at the bottom!

P.S. HAPPY (early) THANKSGIVINGS! To all of you who celebrate it.

Chapter 12 - Angel's Should Never Fall Part 2

"So what is this place?" Rose asked Severus as she moved away from the balcony to start searching for the light source of the room.

"It's Rowena Ravenclaw's secret tower," Severus replied moving away from the balcony to help Rose light up the room. He picked up a stray, unlit candle and pointed his wand at it.

"Incendio," Severus murmured, fire quickly sprouting from his wand and lighting the candle that he had it pointing at. Rose quickly caught on and started looking for the candles spread out around the room. It didn't take them long until the room was completely illuminated. Rose placed the last candle down and watched as it rose into the air to join the other's before she turned around to find Severus sitting in the middle of the room, on what appeared to be a soft black rug. Severus smirked slightly, as Rose made her way over to him, sitting down across from him her legs folded underneath her.

"This place is beautiful Severus; how did you find it?" Rose asked her forest green eyes seemed even darker to Severus in the dim candlelight. Severus couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, not for the first time that evening. Rose could see how dark Severus's eyes were and she knew that they weren't the same 'dark' colour that they usually were, not because of the dim lighting but because they had taken a deeper, darker depth that was incomprehensible to Rose.

"I had read about it in Hogwarts; a History and like the missing diadem the tower's location was unknown to any living person. So naturally I thought…" Severus replied, answering the question that he had just remembered Rose asking.

"…to go to someone who isn't really living; like a ghost right?" Rose said speaking up. Rose could see in Severus's eyes that he hadn't been expecting her to interrupt but she could also see that it didn't bother him.

"Yea, so naturally I went to find the Grey Lady - who is in fact Ravenclaw's daughter – and well after I asked her politely she told me where to find it." Severus was smirking softly by the time he had finished.

"Who else knows about it?" Rose asked softly as she gazed around the room. Severus reached out and took her hand in his, although saddened by the fact that she was still wearing her gloves he still smiled softly as he looked up into her eyes, which were now fixed on his.

"Only you and I. I was going to tell Lily about it when the time was right but the time never came before things started to fall apart." Severus replied softly. Rose could feel her lips pulling up into a sad smile and not for the first time that night she wondered when the pain would end for her friend.

"Sev," Rose murmured, feeling his pain as if it were her own. Severus looked down for a moment as he pushed away his thoughts of Lily. When Severus met Rose's eyes again she could see his determination clearly in his eyes.

"No, I'm sorry Rose. I promised myself that I wouldn't bring Lily up tonight if you agreed to hang out with me and I've already brought her up twice. I swear on my mother's grave that I won't bring up Lily again tonight." Rose looked at Severus for a moment as worry filled out in her heart, worry for Severus, for all of the things he was feeling and worry because of how much he must have been hurting. She wanted to tell him that she understood, that it was okay to bring Lily up from time to time but the words wouldn't leave her lips. Almost as if her body knew that he didn't want to hear it.

"Alright if you say so Sev; so what did you want to talk about?" Rose asked after a few moments of silence between the two. Their eyes met in the dark room and Severus's dark eyes seemed to be smoldering in the dim light.

"What are your parents like?" Severus asked, the question falling rather reluctantly from his lips. Rose let out a bark of laughter; she honestly hadn't expected him to ask that question out of all the things he could have asked her.

"You're asking me about my parents?" Rose asked after a moment, smiling softly at Severus who was now blushing deeply.

"Yea I guess I am," he replied looking up again to meet her eyes. Rose held his gaze for a moment before she looked out towards the night sky as she pulled her knees up to her chin.

"My mum was and always will be a bitch but my father was a good man. He didn't deserve the lot that my mother gave him; He didn't deserve to die so that my mother could gain favour in you-know-who's eyes. I have my father's eyes you know, I look in the mirror and in my eyes I see my father, I see his courage and strength, I see his humanity but I know that I'm not looking in his eyes. Sometimes I wonder if my father could see me now if he would be proud of me, of my choices but I'll never know, I'll never see him again and it just hurts to think back on him. I miss him Sev" The last four words were but a whisper on Rose's tongue. Severus watched broken-heartedly as a single tear rolled down Rose's snow white skin. He wanted to reach out and comfort the girl but he didn't know if his touch would be welcomed, and it hurt to watch her suffer; almost as if her pain were his own.

"What are your parents like Sev?" Rose asked quietly, still weeping on the inside for her father but her eyes found Severus's again after she wiped the tear away. She saw the uncertainty in his eyes and misunderstood its meaning. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No; it's okay. I… I want to tell you." Severus said quickly stopping Rose before she could say that she "understood" again. "My mother was the witch in our family and my father the muggle but that's where our family 'similarities' end. My father was an abusive drunk, he'd come home every night and he'd abuse my mother, physically, sexually. I could hear her screaming every night, I hated him. He took my mother's wand away, snapped it in half and then whenever she was brave enough to buy another one he would snap it as soon as he found it before punishing her more than he usually did. He hated me even more when he found out that I was a wizard, he tried to kill me a few times. He always said that he was doing a favour for the 'greater good.' There was hardly any hope for me except for Hogwarts; and Lily." Severus's voice broke on Lily's name it was painful for him to speak about her and Rose could hear his pain clearly in his voice. His own thoughts screamed the pain that he suffered as a child.

"May I see Sev?" Rose asked as she started to take off her left glove. Severus gave her a short nod of his head and continued to watch as she pulled off her black gloves revealing the snow white skin of her hands. Rose reached out for Severus's hands, there was a look of doubt in his eyes for a moment before he reached out half way and held her smaller hands in his.

"I trust that you won't go telling people what you're about to see Rose." Severus said softly knowing that she would hear none the less in the silent room before he opened up his mind to her; letting the memories of his father pour out.

Large male hands shaped into fists flew in all directions as the memories poured out. Pained screams filled the air, screams of a child in pain. There was a small raven haired boy sitting in the corner, tears streaking down his cheeks as he looked at his father, the older Snape's hands curled into fists, pounding into the bruised and bleeding flesh of the women (Whom Rose assumed was Severus's mother). Rose reached out to comfort the little boy but before she could touch him, the memory swarmed and another took its place.

Severus was older now, his features were even more angular now than they had been in the previous memory but he was still young, still a child suffering from his father's abusive nature, a child still too young to escape the Snape home and flee for Hogwarts.

"Mum! Mum!" Severus yelled as he ran into the house, when he found her in the kitchen slaving over the oven as usual he pulled to a stop. The large smile was evident on the boy's face and Rose couldn't help but smile as well. "Mum! I did magic! I finally did magic!" Severus yelped, the excitement rolling off of him in waves and burning deeply within his eyes. When his mother didn't say anything he asked softly "Aren't you proud of me?"

"Oh she probably is very proud of you, boy!" Mister Snape sneered as he entered into the room. "But I've made it impossible for her to say otherwise, haven't I dear?" He continued to sneer as he approached his wife turning her around – roughly - to face her son. Her lips were sown shut, the black string standing out strikingly against her pale skin.

"Mum?" Severus asked softly, horrified at what his father did he turned on the older man and screamed "You monster! You did this to her! You're a fucking monster." Rose watched in horror as Mister Snape back-handed his son, who – from the force of the hit – spun on the spot as he tumbled to the ground. The crunch of bone breaking was the only evidence of how hard the slap had been as Severus refused to show any signs of weakness in front of his father.

Mister Snape grabbed roughly at the hairs on the back of Severus's head and pulled tightly until the boy was a meter off of the floor, bending backwards at the back. Rose could see that the bones that had been broken were in his nose as the crooked angle did not look natural and she watched horrified and helpless as the blood ran from the end of his nose down into his mouth. "I did that to her because she wouldn't speak to me with the respect that I expect from her. If you can't learn to shut your trap boy it will be your turn next." Mister Snape sneered and then roughly shoved away his son.

The memory shifted again and Severus was standing before her, he wasn't a little boy anymore in fact he looked exactly like she knew him to look. He was in a heated argument with Mister Snape and Severus's lip was curled up into a snarl.

"I'm not going to be returning at the end of the year, father" Severus sneered his eyes flashing dangerously as his father stood up. Mister Snape's fists went flying towards Severus's stomach again and Severus doubled over in pain. His father's fists continued to hit Severus over and over again until Severus couldn't stand on his own two feet. It was as if by now that this was a sick and twisted game to Mister Snape.

"We'll see if that's the case when you realize you have nowhere else to go boy," Mister Snape sneered giving his son one more kick in the ribs for good measure. The memory ended with Severus glaring at his father's back as the older Snape walked away.

When Rose was back in her own body she leaped at Severus tugging up his shirt. She knew that that last memory had only happened the night before Severus was to catch the Hogwarts express. Severus tried to stop her but Rose was too quick and with the angry red markings that covered the flesh around her eyes showing strikingly against her pale skin Severus didn't have the will to stop her.

Rose was furious when she found the black and blue bruises that covered Severus's pale chest. When she pulled back Severus could still see the angry red marks around her eyes and was for a moment slightly scared of the girl sitting before him.

Rose quickly got up and walked away from Severus. She couldn't help herself from slamming her fists onto the top of the balcony when she reached it, hoping that the pain would clear her head slightly. There was no point for her to lose control over herself when there was nothing that she could do about that sick twisted monster that was 'Mister Snape'. It was cruel that Severus had to suffer through all of that, that his mother had suffered through all of it. It was stupid that Severus didn't seek out help but there was nothing that she could do to help him, nothing at all.

"Rose, are you okay?" Severus asked once he had fixed up his clothing. Rose smiled grimly at the very idea that Severus was asking if she was 'okay' and not the other way around.

"I'm fine Sev, just fine. It's strange to think that if your mother and my father had fallen for each other instead of our other parents that we would have been brothers and sisters." Rose said softly after a moment, the night-time air already working it's magic on her nerves.

"I'm kind of glad that that isn't the case." Severus replied softly as he made his way over to her. His hands gently squeezed her shoulders when he had reached her, slowly kneading out the knots he found in her shoulders.

"Why is that Sev?" Rose asked before a small feminine groan escaped her blood red lips.

"Because if it wasn't already for the fact that I am in love with someone else; I could easily see myself falling for you." Severus whispered softly in her ear before he continued with his ministrations.

It seemed as if an eternity had passed between them, Severus working out his ministrations on her shoulders as Rose watched the night sky, before Rose asked "Sev?"

"Hmm?" Severus replied

"What are you going to tell Lucius when he asks you about tonight?" Rose asked softly turning around to face the young man she had spent her evening with. She realized how close they were when she had turned around and it caused her to blush slightly.

"I'm going to tell him that we talked about it for a while and even though you were tempted to join us, the Gryffindor in you won out and refused to do so." Severus replied; his eyes darkening as he realized how close they were. For a moment they leaned in towards each other, their lips were centimetres apart, their noses barely brushing against each other when Rose realized what was about to happen and for a moment she considered letting it happen before she pulled away.

"I'm sorry Severus but I think I should get back to my dorm. Will you walk with me?" Rose asked softly as she pulled away from him. Severus blinked a few times as if he was trying to wake up from a daydream and then his cheeks reddened furiously at his own embarrassment.

"Sure," Severus managed to get out and he was elated that his voice didn't choke.

The walk back to Gryffindor tower was a quiet one. Neither Severus nor Rose said anything but when Severus's thoughts started becoming louder Rose pulled up her mental walls again, it wasn't long until they found themselves outside of Gryffindor tower.

"Goodnight Sev," Rose said softly smiling up at Severus. He leaned over and gently brushed his lips against her cheek.

"Goodnight Rose," He replied before walking away. Rose reached up and touched her right cheek – where he had kissed her – as she told the Fat Lady the password.

Remus, James, Sirius and Lily were the only ones in the common room when Rose entered into the room and they pounced on her as soon as they saw her. Gathering her in a tight group hug, clinging onto the girl as if she would disappear again the moment they released her.

"Where were you?" Sirius and James demanded when they had finally released her.

"I was out with a friend. I told you that James." Rose replied stiffly. Is it really their business to know whom you were with? A voice asked in the back of her mind. Rose pushed it away knowing that shewas not due for another few days.

"Yes but we looked for you on the map and we couldn't find you; so we got worried." James replied, his concern evident in his eyes. Rose let out a sigh, she really didn't want to discuss this right now but they have the right to know, don't they? It's none of their business, just go up to your room and ignore their demeaning questions. The voice whispered again and Rose pushed it away once more; it would do no good to listen to her.

"You were with Snape, weren't you?" Lily said from her place against the couch. Lily leaned against the back of said couch, with an air of nonchalance, her arms crossed against her chest and her fiery red hair curling around her face like an angry red halo but the look in her eyes spoke volumes that Rose wasn't completely ignorant of.

"Yes I was with Severus. He's not as horrible as you all make him out to be. He made a mistake Lily, one single mistake and now he's burning in his own inferno paying the price of that mistake because you can't find it in your heart to forgive him. I'm proud of my father Lily and he was a muggle! If you can't accept who you are then you're going to get dragged down every time someone calls you a "mudblood" rather than having the power to be a better person by ignoring their words. He told me of his father Lily! His muggle father, who should be condemned by the black and blue marks on his son! Right now he needs a friend and because you can't find it in your heart to forgive him, I'm stepping in and I'm not going to stop being his friend no matter what people say, and no matter what comes out of hismouth." Rose sneered, her blood bubbled and boiled in her veins and she could feel her other-half rejoicing in her rage, she could feel her screaming and trying to escape, and Rose knew instantly that the angry red marks - that were a sure sign of her other-half gaining control - were on display for her friends to see.

Rose breathed in and out repeatedly until her blood cooled down. She turned from a shocked Lily then to Sirius, James and Remus.

"Okay first of all Sirius, stopping insulting him in front of me, whether it's in your head or coming out of your mouth I can still hear it. And yes I would tell anyone - whomever they might be not to insult my friends. Secondly Remus, Snape's a good guy and so are you and no nothing happened, he's devoted to someone else. And thirdly James, I know you have the need to show off your dominance, you had that particular need when we were younger and you still do but please, please try and be civil towards him for me or at least don't go out of your way to attack him. You're the closest thing I have to a brother, I don't want to be torn between you and Severus; I don't want to have to choose sides, so please for my sake at least try." Rose said turning to each of the boys in turn. A loud crack echoed around the room and Rose held her hand to her cheek in surprise as pain bloomed into her face. She looked up into Sirius's face and there was a scowl twisting his lips as he shook his hand furiously.

"How dare you talk to Lily like that! And honestly I don't give a fuck if Snape has daddy issues. He can go a take a swim with the giant squid for all I care." Sirius's scowl grew and as Rose backed away from him she bumped into Lily who had come to stand behind her. Rose quickly turned around to face the girl behind her and was caught – yet again – by surprise as Lily's hand connected with her other cheek. Lily's quick intake of breath followed by a yelp of pain startled Rose from her boiling blood to the fiery red head in front of her. Even her other-half's evil cackling was drowned out as Rose focused on Lily's broken hand, which was being cradled to her chest.

"Lily what happened?" James ask as he moved away from the three boys to the woman he loved, watching her cradle her hand to her chest, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"I think I broke my hand when I slapped her," Lily replied her voice breaking on a sob. James took Lily's hands into his own and as he looked down onto her small hand he realized that it wasn't broken but that it had angry red blisters covering her palm.

"We ought to take you to Madam Pompfry Lil's. Rose wait here I want to have a chat with you when we get back. Sirius, Remus can you come with us." James asked politely, the two other Marauders nodded their head and followed James out of the Gryffindor common room.

She could feel the cracks in her cheeks and around her eyes slowly fade away as they healed as Rose made her way over to the couch to wait for her friends. After what felt like an eternity of silence in the empty common room she could hear not only footsteps approaching but James's very familiar 'inner voice' as his thoughts streamed in towards her.

"Do you think she's dangerous? I mean you are the expert on dangerous Remus" Rose heard the conversation playing back to hear from James mind.

"Very funny James but honestly I don't know, I mean she's like your sister right? You'd know her better than anyone. However I think she has the power to do harm but she won't, she's not heartless like her mother or worse you-know-who. She's one of us, a Marauder James, she won't harm anyone." Remus replied. Rose could kiss him right then; he was standing up in her defence, even against her doubting non biological brother.

"If she's not dangerous than what happened tonight? How did she burn Lily and Sirius?" James asked concern still deep in his voice, from his emotions though Rose could tell that it wasn't just concern for Lily and Sirius but for herself as well.

"Honestly I think it was a lack of control. She seemed a bit off when she entered the room. I have a feeling that it has something to do with her "curse", like with myself the madness within constantly haunts me it simply only comes out once a month." Remus replied softly as not to be heard. He told the Fat Lady the password as they approached the door and James chuckled softly to himself.

"Yea I guess you're the expert on the madness within." James replied once his chuckling had settled down. Rose's head was still in her hands when the two boys entered into the room. For a moment she thought that they had not noticed her until she could hear their footsteps approaching her.

"Rose, we need to talk." James said softly as he sat down on Rose's left. Remus took the seat to her right and turned towards his friends.

"James I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened. One minute I'm trying to control Pyra from lashing out at Sirius and Lily the next minute I'm getting slapped in the face. She's part of the curse James, I can barely control her when it's not the burning days and when it is she takes over completely." Rose said softly trying to explain away her rampant emotions as she held her head in her hands. "Are they okay?" Rose asked, her tears falling freely now. She leaned her head against James' chest as he pulled her closer towards him.

"They are fine, Madam Pompfry was surprised when we explained to her what happened but she was able to cure them." James replied releasing Rose once her crying had slowed down. Remus gave her hand a squeeze but didn't release her hand.

"Whatever this is Rose, whatever you're going through we're here for you. Please just remember that." Remus said softly, Rose nodded her head slowly in understanding. He was offering help and it would feel so good to take it but none of them could help her, not unless if she wanted them to burn along with her. This was simply something that she had to do alone.

A/N: For those of you who want a more indepth explination of Pyra please send me a review or PM with your questions and I'll happily answer them for you. Last weeks and this weeks title is inspired from the lyrics "Because an Angel should never touch ground". If you can tell me what the artist and song is called then you get an extra long preview (500 words max) and if not a shorter preview (250 words max). Can't wait to hear what you all think!