CHAPTER 14: THE SORTING OF GHOSTS

INT. HOGWARTS CASTLE TO THE GREAT HALL – EVENING (SEPT. 1ST, 2018)

After seeing Cyrus leave through the door, Albus turned his attention back to getting to the Great Hall. Albus wanted to get to the Great Hall in time to see his sister Lily and cousin Hugo being sorted into their Houses and join with the rest of his friends and family at the Gryffindor table. Sorting time was always an interesting time for all Hogwarts students, as it often determined who would be friend or foe in the long run. And although the enchanted Sorting Hat was getting older year by year, he continued to do the same job that he did every year when new students came to Hogwarts, reading their minds and deciding which House each student belonged to. The Sorting Hat was an old, brown pointed hat with long brown strips of cloth that dangled on either side. He was a sentient magical object with his own personality and once belonged to the founder of Gryffindor House, Godric Gryffindor, which was also a descendant of the ancient wizard Noblias Family.

And now, like so many students before them, Lily and Hugo were now going to be sorted into their Houses. But as Albus turned a corner and entered the corridor leading to the Great Hall, he realized that he had gotten to the Great Hall to late. The doors to the Great Hall were shut and the voice of the Headmaster, Vadamus Titch, could be heard through the doors. Sorting had already started. Not wanting to get caught late outside the Great Hall by a teacher or anyone else for that matter, Albus began walking quietly up to the doors to the Great Hall, walking past lit torches which lined the corridor around him. Unbeknownst to Albus however, Willowbree was sitting curled up in a ball, watching Albus as he passed the entrance to another corridor. Just before getting off the Hogwarts Express earlier, Albus found Willowbree waiting for him in her carrying box. Willowbree had somehow found her way into the luggage compartment and climbed into her carrying box, and was found to be napping in it. This made it obvious to Albus that Willowbree wanted to be alone for a while after all the celebrating that was going on in Albus's compartment, which seemed to be to much excitement for her for some reason.

As Willowbree watched Albus, she meowed quietly and then began to move, following Albus towards the Great Hall. The torchlight began to cast Willowbree's shadow on the wall, which began to change and contort, transforming into the shadow of a woman. Quietly and cautiously, Albus placed his hand on the handle of the left side door. He was just about to open it and sneak in, until - "Well, well, Mr. Albus Severus Potter. May I ask why you are out in the hallway at this moment, other than the fact that you are late in getting to the Great Hall and ever more late in getting to the Sorting Ceremony?"

Albus froze in his tracks, for he recognized the voice of the person that was walking slowly and ominously up behind him out of nowhere. Albus turned his head and looked up to his left. Looking down at him was the face of Verena Witchazel, the same woman whose face he saw in the door in his dream only hours before. She stepped up to Albus and stood, staring down at him like a great and menacing hawk zeroing in on her prey. Her cold and dangerous voice was sending chills up Albus's spine in every direction, but knew all too well as to who she was and why she was there. Albus took at deep breath and decided to play it cool as he turned to face Verena, trying to sound polite, "Good evening, Professor. I was wondering when I would see you. You're late in getting to the Great Hall to it seems. I saw Cyrus just now."

"No doubt another new student that is late in getting to the Great Hall in time. Do you know what happens to students that are not where they are supposed to be? They get into trouble and when they get into trouble, they get punished. 5 points from Gryffindor..."

"But, Professor! I was ordered to go to the Headmaster's office by Professor Groset and Cyrus stopped me in the corridor! I have a reason to be late!" protested Albus, but Verena just glared icily at him.

"...and detention, Mr. Potter, tomorrow evening at 7:00, meet me in the back courtyard behind the castle. And don't be late...anything more to say?"

Albus closed his mouth and shook his head, narrowing his eyes at Verena, who was clearly not interested in explanations or excuses. Verena smiled wickedly as she spoke once more, "Now then, as for the rest of your teachers wondering where you are, I think I can save you from them."

INT. HOGWARTS CASTLE, THE GREAT HALL - EVENING (SEPT. 1ST, 2018)

The left door to the Great Hall flung open and Verena stepped in, holding Albus by the back of his neck, dragging him through the door and pushing him forwards towards the staff table at the end of the Great Hall. Verena and Albus walked down a narrow and rug covered walkway with four long oak tables and seating that were two on either side. Above them, thousands of candled hovered in midair, set against the enchanted ceiling, which seemed to show the night sky beyond it. Having been burned up in the fire that destroyed much of the original castle, the Great Hall was re-built, becoming twice as long and twice as wide than it was before. Following the design of the Great Hall as it was during Severus Snape's time at Hogwarts, The Great Hall now included a marble balcony which sat 15 feet above the floor below and wrapped almost all the way around the Great Hall, with marble columns underneath. The balcony was accessed by way of a marble corner staircase which sat in either back corner of the Great Hall.

Underneath the balcony was another narrow and rug covered walkway and in the wall next to it, were several large stone fireplaces and blank spaces of wall on either side of them where the enchanted portraits of long dead Headmasters hung, including Dumbledore's portrait, which was closest to the staff table on the wall to the left. Curtains hung between the columns, which were often drawn shut while the Great Hall was not in use. Above the staff table, which lied horizontally across the end of the Great Hall on a raised portion of the floor, a large arched cathedral-type window made of crystalline glass could be seen, the light from the lit torches that were mounted on the columns flicking off of it. Long metal rods were stretched across the open space above the tables below, which hung upon them the flags and colors of each of the four Houses of Hogwarts.

A low garble of voices rose up from the student tables and hung in the air as the students watched Albus being pushed down the central walkway by Verena, who continued to hold him by the back of his robes. Vadamus Titch, who was sitting in a throne-like chair in the center of the staff table, stood up and watched with other teachers at the staff table as Verena dragged Albus towards him, causing the group of new students who were waiting to be sorted to part, allowing Verena and Albus to walk through. Verena stepped up onto the raised portion of the floor with Albus and stopped, letting go of Albus and shoving him towards the staff table as she spoke, "Forgive me for the disturbance, Headmaster, but I was busy bringing this boy to you. He claims that he has an excuse for being late."

"Headmaster, forgive me, but I have a reason for being late. I was..." said Albus in protest.

But Vadamus raised a hand in reassurance and spoke, "It's alright, young Albus, it's perfectly alright." - Titch brought his hand down and looked to Verena and continued - "Mr. Potter does indeed have a reason for being late and he need not be punished for his tardiness, Professor Witchazel, at least not this time." - Verena narrowed her eyes and looked at Albus dangerously as Titch looked back at Albus and smiled at him, speaking to him once more - "...You may sit down at your table, Albus, off you go now." - Titch then sat back down.

The garble of voices from the other students soon faded as Albus smiled at Titch and turned, walking towards the Gryffindor table. As Albus walked towards the Gryffindor table, he got a glimpse of Verena staring at him, which was not at all a pleasant or pleasing stare. This made it clear to Albus that Verena intended to make his first day back at Hogwarts a nightmarish one.

"And what is your reason for being late, Professor Witchazel?" said Titch to Verena, who looked over at Albus briefly, then looked back at Titch.

"Oh, please do forgive me, Headmaster, but I was detained by Professor Moody. I was busy helping him try to find the group of students he was supposed to have escorted to the castle. I would have gotten here sooner, but I ran into Mr. Potter."

"Is this true, Professor Moody?" said Titch, looking down at Morphos Moody sitting at the left opposite end of the staff table.

Morphos Moody was the grandson of the late Alastor Moody and son of Alastor's son, Manus Moody. Like his grandfather, Morphos was an Auror and like his grandfather, had a few hidden scares, with exception to the one on the side of his head, from his younger days fighting dark creatures and dark magic. But Morphos was nowhere near as mangled as his grandfather was, since all of Morphos's body parts were present and accounted for. Morphos was a tall, slender built and attractive man, but was quiet, reserved and sometimes short tempered, rarely ever speaking unless he wanted to or had to. Morphos had three claw marks on the left side of his face, which started from the left side of his forehead and ran all the way down the side of his face and the left side of his neck, tapering off and ending on his left shoulder.

"I'm afraid so, Headmaster," said Morphos softly, his arms crossed and looking on in disagreement, "Though I would much rather find out who is responsible for kidnapping my group of students from the train station and give them a piece of my mind!"

"Indeed. Whoever or whatever has stirred up all this ruckus certainly has a great deal to answer for. But you need not worry, Professor Moody. We will find out soon enough as too who or what was the cause of all this chaos." - Titch than looked back at Verena - "You may be seated, Professor Witchazel."

In response, Verena bowed her head respectfully at Titch and proceeded to the opposite end of the staff table and sat down. Titch than looked back at Margarine, the younger sister of Minerva McGonagall and Head of Gryffindor House, who was in charge of sorting all the new students into their Houses, much like her older sister once did. Margarine had short black hair tinged with gray and was an elegant, sophisticated and respected Englishwoman, tall and slender, wearing elegant aquamarine robes and an a tall, aquamarine pointed hat. Margarine soon stepped over to a stool which sat in the front center of the raised floor and in front of the staff table. With a long piece of parchment in her hand that featured the names of all the new students that had yet to be sorted, Margarine picked up the Sorting Hat that sat on the stool next to her and spoke, "Will all the new students who have yet to be sorted step up closer to the stool please?"

The group of new students began to reform a group again near the base of the raised portion of the floor as she continued, "Each of you are here today to be sorted into one of the four Founding Houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. When I call your name, you will step up to the stool and sit down. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will then be sorted into your House. Let us continue."

As Albus watched the Sorting Ceremony from the Gryffindor table, Albus suddenly felt a tug on his left robe sleeve. Albus looked behind him and saw that it was Fred Weasley II, son of George Weasley and Angelina Johnson. Sitting next to the left of Fred II was Fred II's younger sister Roxanne, who had come to Hogwarts for her first year and had just been sorted into Gryffindor.

Fred II soon spoke, "Where have you been, cousin? We were looking all over for you earlier."

"Sorry, I was a bit detained while I was coming here," said Albus without looking, since he had much of his attention focused on Verena, who was glancing over and looking at him icily now and again, keeping one eye on the group of students being sorted and one eye on Albus.

Fred II continued, "Roxanne and I wanted to tell you. We got a letter from Victorie yesterday. She says that she and Teddy are enjoying their honeymoon with Uncle Charles in Romania."

"I gathered they would be, Teddy and Charles do share a common interest in dragons," said Albus as he suddenly noticed Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, sons of Luna Lovegood and Rolf Scamander, waving at him from the Ravenclaw table. Molly Weasley II and Lucy Weasley, daughters of cousins Percy Weasley and Audrey Weasley, were sitting to the right of Rose and Hugo on the opposite side of the Gryffindor table, sharing and looking at yet another book that Rose had brought from home. Just like Hugo and Albus's sister Lily, Lucy Weasley had come to Hogwarts for her first year and had just been sorted into Gryffindor.

One by one, Albus watched as Margarine called out the names of each student on her list and watched as the Sorting Hat called out the name of the House they were sorted into. Soon, Albus noticed that Verena was staring over at the left wall of the Great Hall with a subtle, but noticeable glimmer of affection in her eyes. Albus looked towards the direction where she was looking and soon realized who and what she was looking at. She was looking at one of the enchanted portraits that were being displayed on the left wall and within it, sitting in a black leather armchair, right leg crossed over the other, was Severus Snape. Snape had his arms resting on the arms of the armchair and was looking out dangerously into the Great Hall, holding a glass of really dark red wine in his right hand and looking at it. He wore the same stark black robes and black leather shoes and wore the same cold and dangerous expression upon his face that Albus remembered seeing upon his face earlier.

"Cyrus Van Hartigan?" called out Professor Margarine, which caused Verena to quickly focus her attention back on the students being sorted, expressing a subtle, wide eyed glare of excitement and concern. Severus then suddenly looked up from his glass of wine as if reacting to the calling of the name and gave a subtle glare of interest and concern, looking out through the front of his portrait as if he was suddenly interested in what Margarine was saying. Albus, noticing the reaction, turned his attention back on the students that were being sorted and soon realized who Verena and Severus were focusing on.

Stepping out of the group of students and walking up to the stool in front of them, was Cyrus, looking and acting more and ever more like a younger version of Severus. But as Cyrus sat down on the stool and was about to have the Sorting Hat placed on his head, no one seemed to be reacting to the obvious similarities that he had to Severus and Verena. It was as if their perception of the similarities were consorted or altered in some way, which was something that Albus felt was rather strange and peculiar. It was as though Cyrus was like a ghost, being there but also not there, as if the students were seeing Cyrus differently then how Albus was seeing him, as if Cyrus was someone completely different. But at the moment the Sorting Hat was placed upon Cyrus's head, the Sorting Hat cried "Arrgh!" - than began speaking with a hint of surprise in his voice, as if suddenly noticing something that most others in the room seemed to be failing to notice, "My my, young wizard, this is indeed a most strange and interesting situation we have here! A boy who is an experienced Occlumens, taught magic by his parents at a young age within the walls of Hogwarts itself without anyone knowing. But how is that possible? And his father! I say, his father is someone very special indeed!" said the Sorting Hat, as he bent over and looked underneath his rim at Cyrus, whose lips were curling and whose narrowed eyes were meeting up with those of the Sorting Hat's.

It was clear to Albus that the Sorting Hat knew who Cyrus's father was and it was almost as though the Sorting Hat was about to tell everyone, until the Sorting Hat straightened himself up on top of Cyrus's head again and continued, as Cyrus once again looked straight ahead again, "This boy has exceptional magical abilities indeed...

INT. HOGWARTS CASTLE, THE GREAT HALL - EVENING (SEPT. 1ST, 1971)

"...He's quite cunning and intelligent, not a bad mind either, there's confidence, self-assurance and courage I see and a driving need to be the best and to protect his own self as well as those he is loyal and devoted to. It's all right here, inside his head. And it is telling me just the place to put you...Slytherin!" cried the Sorting Hat over the Great Hall. The students at the Slytherin table clapped and cheered as Severus jumped off the stool and gave the Sorting Hat back to Professor McGonagall. He then noticed Lily, who nodded her head and smiled softly and sadly at him from the Gryffindor table as he walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down.

EXT. HOGWARTS CASTLE, SCHOOL GROUNDS - AFTERNOON (APR. 5TH, 1976)

Sitting and studying underneath a tree together on school grounds, Lily sat next to Severus, hissing at him, "I wish you wouldn't study that book while you are with me, Severus. You know I don't like the Dark Arts."

"But I love the Dark Arts, Lily. I've loved the Dark Arts for as long as I can remember. There's nothing wrong with the Dark Arts, Lily. And besides, what would the Light be without the Dark?" said Severus confidently, his book on the Dark Arts open and sitting on his lap, "Light can't exist without Dark, just as good can't exist without evil. They balance one another. And frankly, knowing about the Dark Arts can be beneficial when fighting against it."

"I still don't like it, Severus. Meddling in the Dark Arts can only lead to trouble. And as one of my closest friends, you should understand why I feel that way. I don't want anything bad to happen to you," said Lily, sounding concerned and sincere with her feelings on the matter.

"But the Dark Arts are fun, Lily. I even joined a new Slytherin group that were impressed by my mastery over the Dark Arts. Look! they even gave me their mark of approval!" said Severus as he pulled up his left robe sleeve and showed the mark upon his left forearm, revealing his new black Dark Mark in all its sinister and macabre glory, featuring an evil looking skull with a writhing serpent coming out of its mouth, "I had to show off some of my magical skills and do a little ceremony with a Vanishing Cabinet with others in the group looking on though. I had to prove my worth and loyalty, which I did, and they gave me this mark a couple days ago."

"Severus!" cried Lily, stunned by what she had heard, "Do you not realize who you've joined up with? How dare you! Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to! I wanted to be a part of something great and powerful...and now I am!" said Severus mischievously, but was somewhat unsure as to why Lily reacted the way she did just now.

"You've become a Death Eater, Severus! Loyal to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"

"You mean Voldemort? I met him to. He's powerful, cunning, intelligent and strong...just the wizard to follow and swear loyalty to. Under his guidance and following, I will surely become the best in potions for sure."

Lily could hear no more of what Severus was saying. She simply scoffed disagreeably and stood up before walking off with study books in hand. Lily was clearly not happy or pleased about what Severus had done, but Severus simply shook his head and went back to looking at his Dark Arts book, figuring that Lily might come around to his side eventually. But Lily never would come around to his side and not long after, their friendship was ended, much to the dismay and horror of Severus. And though Severus would beg and plead for Lily's forgiveness, it was to little and to late, never to be the same again.

EXT. THE CRYING RUINS, HOGWARTS SCHOOL GROUNDS - AFTERNOON (FEB. 23RD, 1974)

"Arrgh! Severus, help! Severus!" cried Verena as she ran towards the Crying Ruins, seemingly in a state of dread and panic. Mapheria was once again taking on the form of a hydra and was now chasing after Verena, shrieking and hissing loudly, flying over the grassy, sodden ground bellow. Only minutes earlier, Verena had lost her wand somewhere in the Dark Forest while she was fighting with Mapheria and was now defenseless and unable to protect herself. Verena quickly ran into the Crying Ruins and hid behind a large boulder, which was weeping streams of water and was sobbing quietly. The Mapheria then landed next to the Crying Ruins, folding up her wings as she began flanking the Crying Ruins, looking around for Verena. Mapheria soon let out a snort and a soft hiss as she waved her long tail around and walked into the Crying Ruins. But Mapheria couldn't seem to see nor hear Verena through all the crying and retching which resonated from the mossy, lichen blotched boulders and ivy draped rubble that was the Crying Ruins.

Mapheria soon walked past the boulder that Verena was hiding behind and began sniffing the air. Verena, panting and looking on with intense eyes, looked around the edge of the boulder at Mapheria, who continued to sniff the air before hissing briefly and turning around, walking out of Verena's sight. Verena then looked away and lied her back against the boulder, letting out a long sigh of relief. But as she looked over to her left, the face of the hydra Mapheria, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shrieked loudly at Verena, seemingly startling her and causing her to jump out quickly from behind the boulder. Verena was looking as though she was stunned and wide-eyed with horror, her back against the ground. Verena began crawling backwards on her hands and arms, seemingly in a state of terror as she looked up at Mapheria, who was now looming over her menacingly and looking at her with sinister intent. Suddenly, Verena began narrowing her eyes at Mapheria and looked up at her mischievously as Mapheria shrieked and hissed at her.

Mapheria then noticed the boulders around her were coming alight with clouds and wisps of glowing blue light. Unbeknownst to her, she had walked into the center of the Crying Ruins, with a ring of boulders which sat at its heart in a large circle. Verena had been pretending to be scared all this time, luring Mapheria into a ghostly trap.

"You fail to remember the stories and legends of this place, Mapheria! The spirits in these rocks don't take to kindly to foul, hideous creatures like yourself, especially when the creature is tormenting innocent and defenseless wizards and witches like me! These spirits would call it penance for their past mistakes," said Mapheria as clouds of glowing spectral blue mist began streaming out from the boulders and rose up from them. The sobbing, crying and retching had grown louder, with the clouds of mist transforming into the forms of transparent blue humanoid specters, with long, boney limbs and warped ghostly faces, wearing tattered and torn robes. The specters began to moan and groan loudly as they started to attack Mapheria, hovering and circling all around her. Mapheria began to shriek and screech loudly in disagreement, batting her claws and tail at them.

Seeing her chance to escape Mapheria, Verena stood up and started running out of the Crying Ruins and towards the castle. Elsewhere, Severus and Scabior were standing under a tree, laughing and showing off their magical talents at one another. They then heard a loud cry near the back entrance of the castle. To Verena's shock and surprise, Mapheria had managed to escape the attack from the spirits and now had her jaws clamped firmly down on Verena's body.

Verena cried out in pain and began crying out for help. Upon seeing Verena within the jaws of Mapheria, Severus yelled at Scabior to get help and then charged towards Mapheria and Verena, wand drawn. Stopping in front of Mapheria, Severus began sending spells towards Mapheria, trying to free Verena from her jaws. Mapheria was holding Verena high above the ground and appeared as though she was about to shallow Verena. But then Severus, leaping off from a tall boulder next to Mapheria, jumped onto Mapheria's back and started attacking Mapheria with a enchanted dagger that Scabior had given him moments before and began stabbing at Mapheria's head with it.

"Let go of her, Mapheria! Let go of her this instant!" cried Severus, stabbing at Mapheria's head repeatedly. Mapheria shrieked and cried out loudly in disagreement, then dropped Verena to the ground.

Severus then jumped off of Mapheria, landing near where Verena was sitting up, crying softly and bleeding from wounds on her stomach. Severus quickly gave the dagger to Verena and then turned to face Mapheria, aiming his wand straight at Mapheria. Mapheria shrieked and shook her head angrily a moment before she began looming over Severus, as if about to attack him, her drooling, gaping maw opening wide and hissing. Then, a man cried out "Stupefy!", causing a bolt of red light to hit the side of Mapheria's head, distracting her and causing her to shriek loudly and look towards her right.

Scabior had gathered up a group of both students who were Death Eaters and adult Death Eaters, who started running towards Mapheria and attacking her. Clouds and streams of black smoke streaked across the sky as Death Eaters began appearing out of them, landing and surrounding Mapheria. Mapheria, disoriented and confused, began walking in a circle, hissing and trying to gain her bearings. While the Death Eaters kept Mapheria busy, Scabior and another student helped Verena onto her feet and dragged her towards the castle. After a couple more minutes of this, Mapheria soon had enough and quickly turned and flew off into the sky, with the adult Death Eaters apparating in streaks of black smoke behind her, tailing her.

The students who were Death Eaters began to clap and cheer in celebration, jumping up and down and laughing, having defeated the creature that had done Verena harm. The spirits in the Crying Ruins quickly vanished back into the boulders, hiding away from the Death Eaters that flew over them. All was quiet and calm once again over the green fields of Hogwarts.

INT. HOGWARTS CASTLE, THE HOSPITAL WING - MORNING (FEB. 24TH, 1974)

The morning sunshine shown through the windows of the hospital wing, shinning down upon the rows of beds underneath them. In the right far corner of the hospital wing, Verena was sleeping silently, her stomach covered in wraps and bandages. Around her, some of her Slytherin friends stood and looked over her nearby, including Scabior and Severus, who were closest to Verena to the left.

"Will she be alright, Severus? Surely the hydra didn't hurt her to badly," said Scabior with a soft smile.

"Verena almost died, Scabior. One of our best friends," hissed Severus, looking up at Scabior then back at Verena, "Mapheria needs to be stopped."

"Indeed, she needs to be dealt with. Mapheria is no friend of our master and our master would certainly be pleased if we could put her in her place. I did ask some of our fellow Death Eaters to..."

"Silence, Scabior!" snapped one of the other students with him, "You mustn't say things like that in here! Their are demons within the walls of Hogwarts! They have ears! If they knew that we were Death Eaters, they would certainly tell there masters and if any of the teachers knew, we would surely get into trouble."

"Enough! Silence, the both of you! Can't you see that Verena is trying to sleep?" hissed Severus, "She needs to rest! And here you all are barking at one another about something that should never be seen or heard within these walls! We need to be on our guard, all of us!"

Suddenly, Verena began to stir and opened her eyes. Then, looking up at everyone looking down at her, Verena spoke coolly as Severus listened on silently, "Why are you all doing in here? Did our master not tell you all to watch out for the Accusers and their cronies when not studying or in class?"

"Forgive us, Verena, but we were worried about you," said one of the other students present, bowing her head respectfully at Verena, "You are one of our closest and best friends and one of our most loyal followers. We wanted to see and make certain that you were alright."

"Thank-you for your concern, Anna, but I'm fine. And you should be doing what our master asks of you then to worry about me. Our master's wants and needs comes before anyone else and you know that. But I do thank-you all for coming to my rescue never the less."

"You're indeed welcome, Verena. But like you said, our master's needs outweigh your own," said yet another student present, "We need to get going and start patrolling the school grounds again."

"Indeed, I must not detain you any longer. You may all go," said Verena, and with that, everyone who was at Verena's bedside began to leave the hospital wing and vanish out of sight, but Verena grabbed onto Severus's arm, stopping him, "Severus, stay with me a moment."

Severus turned back to Verena, who was now sitting up and looking up at him sadly, speaking to him softly, "Severus, I very nearly died yesterday. I have no doubt that Mapheria would have killed me if you had not heard me calling for you in time...you saved me."

"Of course I did, you're one of my best friends, Belladonna. I will always be willing to protect you." said Severus.

"I love it when you call me that, Severus. And it seems so appropriate a nickname in my case it seems." said Verena, and giggled softly.

"Belladonna is what you are, Verena. Your beauty is a poison that gets in your blood that one can never be rid of...a beauty that rivals even the beauty of the plant itself."

"Oh, Severus, how thoughtful of you. And here you are, almost flirting with me, when I know perfectly well that you are still thinking about Lily."

Severus then paused and silently looked away, brooding for a moment, then looked back at Verena with a look in his eyes that told Verena that she was right. It was true that Severus was indeed still thinking about Lily and how he had upset her by calling her a Mudblood by accident out of anger. And he was certainly still trying his hardest to gain her forgiveness over the matter. But even Severus felt that it was starting to become a lost cause.

"You do know me, don't you?" said Severus finally. Verena smiled sadly at Severus a moment. She then pulled the covers off of her and got off the bed, then sat herself down on the floor next to it, tucking her legs under her.

Severus stared down at her sitting at his feet, looking on confused and concerned, "What are you doing, Verena? Your still hurt! You need to stay in bed!"

Verena glanced over at the school nurse Madame Pomfrey's desk a moment to see if Pomfrey was there, then looked up at Severus, "Sit down here in front of me, Severus, and give me your left arm," said Verena. Severus did what she had asked and sat down in front of her. Verena then called over to Scabior, who had not yet left the hospital wing and was busy talking to another student that was in bed and was also a fellow Death Eater.

Scabior walked back over to where Severus and Verena were and looked down at the scene that was unfolding. Of course, it didn't take long for Scabior to figure out what was happening, "What is this now? Isn't it a bit awkward for you to be doing this in the hospital wing, Verena? Madame Pomfrey will surely be back here at any moment."

"You will be the Bonder, Scabior, and bare witness to what me and Severus are about to do...Do you mind?" said Verena.

"I would be honored, Verena," said Scabior, pulling out his wand and sitting down next to them.

"What is this all about, Verena? What are we about to do?" asked Severus.

Verena then looked back at Severus and spoke, "You saved my life, Severus. And for that, I am now indebted and obligated to you. You came to my rescue first and protected me, like any true friend would, and now I will do the same for you."

Severus, suddenly realizing what was happening, then nodded. Moments later, Verena was gripping Severus by his left wrist, while Severus was gripping her right wrist. Scabior then placed the tip of his wand on their bounded wrists and spoke, "Adstringo Lemiscus..."

Suddenly, a long, ethereal burning ribbon appeared out of thin air and wrapped itself tightly around the bounded wrists. Scabior then spoke towards Verena as Severus looked on, listening silently, "Will you, Verena Witchazel, watch over and protect Severus Snape, even when all friendship and ties have been severed between you?"

"I will..."

"And will you, Verena Witchazel, ensure that Severus Snape will not die before he should, protect him from ever facing an early death?"

"I will..."

"And will you, Verena Witchazel, to the best of your ability, ensure that if he ever should meet with death before his time, that you will do everything in your power to save him from his death and from death itself?"

"I will..."

Scabior than looked at Severus and spoke, "Do you, Severus Snape, accept the terms and the consequences of this vow that has been willingly presented and given to you?"

"I do..."

"And do you, Severus Snape, agree to the terms of the vow that have been placed before you and have been offered to you as payment for saving the life of Verena Witchazel?"

"I do..."

"And do you, Severus Snape, promise to follow and obey the terms of the vow that have been presented to you and will to the best of your ability, return the favor to whom has given this vow to you?"

"I do..."

Scabior then spoke to both of them at once, "It should be noted that if this vow is ever broken, the person who has vowed to the other will die, but the person that has been vowed to will not, though will be forever haunted by the fact of having taken part in the death of the other...is this noted and will be remembered?"

"It has and it will..." said Severus and Verena together.

The ethereal burning ribbon then disappeared in a cloud of glowing white mist, which than vanished into thin air. Severus and Verena than let go of each other's wrist and looked on silently and coolly at one another. They were now bound together by a special Unbreakable Vow, a vow that would determine their fate and their future together.

CONTINUED...CHAPTER 15...