CHAPTER 15: THE STORY UNFOLDS (PART 1)

EXT. TO INT. A CATHEDRAL IN LONDON, NEAR THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC – MIDDAY (AUG. 19TH, 2001)

As the bells tolled over the courtyard of a Roman Catholic cathedral in London, Lucius Malfoy was on his way to the Ministry Of Magic for afternoon meetings with some foreign wizards and witches from the East, but not before stopping at the cathedral for a special meeting. Stopping a moment to look around before crossing over the courtyard to the entrance, Lucius was wearing a new set of black dress robes, complete with a new hat and brandishing a new dragon headed walking stick. As Lucius entered the cathedral and walked down between the rows of long wooden pews on either side, he beheld the sight of a vast cathedral type scene, with hanging lights, a sweeping arched ceiling and a large stain glass window on the far end of a vast room. The cathedral was almost virtually empty, with only a scattered few people sitting in the pews and and cupping their hands in indistinct and quiet prayer, with soft cathedral music playing in the background. Near the wooden altar on the far end and under the strain glass window, white candles in candle holders were lit, there light shinning upon the confession boxes that sat on either side of them. A pair of Catholic priests, adorned in there fine priestly robes, were busy talking to each other in the far corner.

As Lucius stood a moment near the altar, he noticed a priest walk out of a confession box. Then a moment later, another robed figure, shrouded, walked past the priest and vanished into the confession box. Lucius walked over to the confession box and went into it. Sitting down, Lucius began to speak coolly and nonchalantly as he lied down his walking stick next to him and began pulling off his black leather gloves, "I don't have to ask why you wanted to meet with me here, for it is more than obvious to me."

"I was hoping that it would be, Lucius. You're roll in this plan is just as important as mine is," said the voice of a woman from behind the screen next to Lucius. "But we should both remain on our guard, especially with those little spies hiding out and running about within the walls of the Ministry. If they ever got wind of what we were planning, Mapheria and her followers would certainly have our necks for it. What have you seen and heard so far?"

"The plan is in motion in the way just as you predicted, Madame. Several of my closest confidants have already contributed to the cause and I am soon to be meeting up with other confidants later this afternoon. But I am getting no closer to finding out what Mapheria has been planning, since I have been running about the Ministry spying for her and trying to find out where her precious Guilding Eye Stones are located. She warned me not to return until I have brought her at least one of the seven Guilding Eye Stones."

"And you would be right to stay away from her, Lucius. She is no friend of either of us, but we are forced to serve her until we are ready to fight against her. Another thing, I have heard through the grapevine that you did have possession of one Guilding Eye Stone not to long ago. Do you know what has become of it?"

"No. Neither I or my wife was at home when it was stolen from my house and when I found out that Mapheria had not stolen it, I went about trying to find out who did."

"Well?"

"I have found nothing so far. Whoever has taken it certainly had the nerve to steal it from me out of my own house. And if I do find out who has taken it, they will have to answer to me."

"Quite so. And I have no doubt that you would punish them for taking such a valuable item from you and yet you fail to realize how far Mapheria's arm can reach. If you had kept that Guilding Eye Stone, Lucius, you would not be sitting here today talking to me. The Accusers would have done everything in there power to gain possession of it, even going so low as to killing you for it. And unfortunately their views of morality and justice remain just as wrapped and twisted since last I encountered them."

"I know how to deal with Accusers, Madame. They can be persuaded easily if given the right price."

"Not so with Mapheria's Accusers, Lucius, they are to loyal to her and her twisted ways. They would kill you in a heartbeat for the Guilding Eye Stone since it would have benefited them as well as Mapheria, no matter what price you would have offered them. But Mapheria seems to keep them in line enough to where we don't have to worry so much about them. But it is a whole other story when it comes to the Accusers that are not loyal to her as they would have killed you for the Guilding Eye Stone since it would have only benefited themselves."

"True. But like I said, if the right price was given, they would have looked the other way and left me and my family alone in the end."

"Indeed, but you need not worry about them now. With the Guilding Eye Stone stolen from you, they have no interest in killing you for benefits...as for the here and now, here is another contribution to our ever growing cause." said the woman as she slid a letter in between the screen between her and Lucius. Lucius opened the letter and looked at it as she continued, "You will find that this contribution is a bit more significant than the last one I gave you."

"Indeed, Madame, a significantly larger amount than last time. With a contribution of this magnitude we can extend our search just that more wider and gather even more followers to the cause. Hopefully by the time we are ready, we will have gained enough money and followers to keep Mapheria and her followers busy for years." said Lucius as he placed the letter in his pocket and began gathering up his walking stick and gloves. "But for now, I must get to my afternoon meetings at the Ministry. I have not doubt that they are there waiting for me."

"And no doubt the little spies hiding within the walls of the Ministry will be watching your every move for their masters. Remember, Lucius, you work for me, not for Mapheria. Pretend that you work for her if you must, but don't be turned over by her deadly and morbid charms and persuasions. She will only end up killing you in the end just like she had killed her own family long ago."

"I work for no one, Madame, not anymore. But I will keep that in mind the next time I see Mapheria. Until then, good afternoon." said Lucius coolly, and with that, Lucius could see the outline of the woman through the screen bowing her head at him, then Lucius got up and casually walked out of the confession box, walking past the progression of priests slowly walking between the pews and then out the entrance from which he came in through.

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

The Great Hall was alive with indistinct conversation as Professor Titch tapped on a glass of wine gently with a sliver spoon as he stood up from his chair, catching the attention of everyone in the Great Hall. The voices soon died down and became silent as Titch spoke, "Now that everyone is sorted and seated, I have a couple announcements to make. First of all, I want you all to welcome Professor Amphoria Beeblewing, the new temporary Herbology teacher until such time that our own Herbology teacher, Professor Neville Longbottom, has recovered from his long battle with a rare strain of Dragon-Pox. Amphoria, will you stand up and present yourself please?"

Titch turned to his left and clapped with the other teachers as the students began to clap and cheer. Amphoria stood up, bowing her head at the students appreciatively and grinning. Albus and his friends whistled and clapped as Amphoria once again sat down, grinning and laughing with a teacher next to her with glee. Amphoria was wearing long and elegant sea green robes and a large sea green colored pointed hat. She was a tall, fair-skinned, beautiful and elegant woman who appeared to be in her early mid 30s, with green eyes, while her hair was a dark brown color, long and having an appearance and style resembling that of a cobra's hood. Though Amphoria was of Slytherin House, she was it seemed one of the few of Slytherin House that was actually nice to everyone.

Professor Titch continued, turning to his right as the cheering and clapping died down, "Thank-you, well done, I hope that we will all get along well and welcome her with open arms. Now, will all the students please welcome Professor Verena Witchazel, who is now replacing Professor Reginald Dresdale as Head of Ravenclaw House and as the new Potions teacher here at Hogwarts, while Professor Dresdale heads off to Romania to join up with Teddy Lupin, Teddy's new wife Victorie and Charles Weasley to embark on a 3-year venture to find and study new and rare species of fire salamanders and dragons. Professor Witchazel has also taken up the post as Magical Archery teacher here at Hogwarts until such time when another Magical Archery teacher can be found. Professor Witchazel, welcome."

And with that, Titch and the other teachers began to clap. The students began to clap and cheer as Verena stood up and, looking on coolly, gave one nod of approval and then sat back down. The students at the Ravenclaw table was especially boisterous, clapping loudly and cheering on Verena's name. Albus on the other hand, wasn't clapping or cheering as he looked at Verena, and instead looked at her coolly. Severus was also clapping, but looking away coolly towards Albus. Cyrus and Evangeline were also clapping, sitting at the Slytherin table next to one another.

The clapping and cheering died down once more as Titch turned back and looked straight ahead again as he continued further. But as Titch continued to talk to the students about upcoming events at Hogwarts, Albus's brother James, who was sitting further down the Gryffindor table, suddenly stood up and moved down to sit between Fred II and Albus. He had politely moved down to sit next to Albus so that another Gryffindor student could sit closer to her friend.

James slid in between Fred II and Albus and spoke, "I'm telling you, Albus, this Gryffindor table gets longer every year."

"Yeah. And frankly so does the Slytherin table, though they obviously have no idea who they've got sitting at it for the moment." said Albus without looking at James, since his eyes were intensely focused on Cyrus and Evangeline sitting at the far end of the Slytherin table. James soon noticed Albus looking at them and continued, "What is up with you, Albus? First you make up a story about Severus Snape being alive and now you're staring at a couple Slytherin students."

"I'm telling you the truth, James. Professor Snape may be in a portrait but he is still alive, though frankly I don't know how he can be. Perhaps our new Potions and Magical Archery teacher might know."

"You're mental, that's what you are. And even if you are telling the truth, it's not like you can prove it," scoffed James, looking back at Titch, who finished his speech and sat back down once more.

Albus then paused and looked over at Verena, who was now eating and talking to Professor Gregus Groset sitting next to her.

"You want to make a bet on that, James?" said Albus finally. James opened his mouth and glared at Albus in disbelief. Clearly Albus knew better than to make a bet with James, as James would almost always win a bet. But Albus said it, thus James accepted.

INT. THE GREAT HALL, HOGWARTS CASTLE - MORNING (FEB. 27TH, 1974)

Inside the Great Hall, the students were busy eating breakfast and getting ready for another day at Hogwarts. Having found out that Verena was now out of the Hospital Wing, Severus went in search for her. Walking to and then standing just outside the doors to the Great Hall, Severus looked in and then entered, noticing Verena reading a book and paying no attention to those sitting with her at the Ravenclaw table.

Severus strutted up behind her and spoke, "Do you mind if we talk, Verena...alone?" said Severus in his usual cold and nonchalant manner. Verena stopped chewing on her piece of bacon and looked up silently from her book at Severus. She could tell from the tone in Severus's voice that this was something serious. The three Tavarti sisters, noticing Severus while sitting on the opposite side of Verena at the Ravenclaw table, looked up from there plates and scowled at Severus, saying nothing to him. Severus narrowed his eyes and scowled at them in return as Verena stood up from the table and walked towards the entrance to the Great Hall. The Tavarti Sisters than looked down at there plates again as Severus left with Verena.

Standing outside the Great Hall with Severus in a spot where they could not be seen or heard by those in the Great Hall, Verena soon spoke, "I gather that you have something important to discuss with me about...Hey!"

In an instant, Severus grabbed onto Verena's right arm and began pulling up her right robe sleeve, hissing at her angrily, "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to keep any secrets from one another. You're a Death Eater, like I am."

Severus soon revealed Verena's Dark Mark on her right forearm, proving that she herself was a Death Eater and a follower of Lord Voldemort. Verena pulled her arm away from Severus and narrowed her eyes disagreeably at him as she spoke, "I thought that became obvious to you in the Hospital Wing earlier. Yes, I am one of our Master's followers, I have been since my 4th year here," - Verena pulled her right robe sleeve back down, hiding her Dark Mark.

"So you failed to tell me, even before we forged a vow between us? Why didn't you tell me, Verena? I would have wanted to know."

"Silence, Severus! Do you want the whole school to know that we are Death Eaters?" snapped Verena quietly, "And if you remember, the walls still have ears...or have you forgotten about those who hide within the walls here?"

Suddenly, a sinister child's voice resonated outwards from the wall next to them, "Indeed, young wizards, you should be more careful about what you say within these walls, especially when they are listening to every word you're saying. Oh, but it is to late to hide your secret from me young wizards, for I could hear you as clear as a flowing stream. You two are Death Eaters are you? Most fascinating indeed."

Severus and Verena jumped a few feet away from the wall and looked at it as the sounds of children's voices laughing and giggling resonated through the wall next to them. Suddenly, a small ghostly, transparent and spindly looking blue figure jumped out of the wall and landed at Severus and Verena's feet. Severus and Verena quickly pulled out there wands and pointed them straight at the creature, unsure of what to make of it. Through the figure appeared to be looking up at them, its face was like a blank parchment, with no features of any kind, not even eyes to see or a mouth to speak from, but its whole body glowed a brilliant blue hue. It had on small glowing blue robes and had long, boney limbs, standing on all fours with its long, skinny tail stretched out behind it and waving slowly back and forth.

"Do you not want to ask me what I am, young Death Eaters? Or would you rather not know?"

"We already know what you are! You're a Child of The Bitter Wood, offspring of the Accusers. Does your kind delight in sneaking around and ease dropping like this? Or do your parents make you ease drop and spy for them?"

The figure hissed at Severus and Verena before it began sounding like a child again, laughing and giggling, "You Death Eaters know nothing! My brothers and sisters do this to save our kind, so close to being destroyed. And yet your kind continue to deny us the right to live on, while we struggle to survive. Oh, my parents will be pleased when I bring them two Death Eaters to play with."

"In your dreams, you parasite!" snapped Severus as he sent a curse towards the figure with his wand, followed by another curse from Verena's wand. The figure shrieked then jumped out of the way of the curse before jumping back into the wall again, vanishing out of sight. Suddenly, Severus and Verena could hear more child's laughter and giggling coming from the walls all around them, surrounding them. Severus and Verena soon went back to back, there wands pointed out in front of them.

"I don't like this, Severus. They certainly mean to do us harm," said Verena, looking on concernedly.

"No, Verena. They mean to take us to their parents," said Severus with an intense look in his eyes.

"That's even worse!" said Verena and Severus together, looking at one another over each other's shoulder.

"My brothers and sisters! They shot curses at me! They need to be taught a lesson. Let's take them to our parents!" said a mischievous child's voice in the wall.

"Yeah, let's take them to our parents! They would want to play with them!" said yet another mischievous child's voice in the wall.

"No one attacks our brother and gets away with it! Let's take them to our parents!" said yet another still.

Suddenly, more small ghostly figures jumped out of the walls from all directions and began to slowly and menacingly surround Severus and Verena. But just as they are about to attack Severus and Verena, they heard a man cry out, "Lumos Solem!" causing a bright beam of light to break through the surrounding group of ghostly figures that surrounded Severus and Verena. The figures hissed in disagreement and scurried away quickly back into the walls from which they came. After the light died down, Severus and Verena soon saw that it was Professor Slughorn who had sent the spell and stopped them from being taken by the figures. Professor Slughorn quickly hid his wand away and walked up to them. Severus and Verena soon did the same, hiding their wands back in their robes and turning to face Slughorn.

Verena soon spoke, "Thank-you, Professor, you saved us just in time. For a moment there, we thought that we were done for."

But the look on Horace's face told Verena and Severus that he had been watching and listening to them the whole time and had heard every word they had said to one another, a look that was both of worry and suspicion. Verena and Severus looked at one another, then looked back at Slughorn as Verena continued, speaking softly, "We're sorry, Professor, you weren't supposed to hear all that. Please don't tell the other teachers, we'll get into trouble."

Slughorn stepped up to them and spoke softly in return, "My dear, I think I've known for quite some time as to where you and Severus's loyalties lie. But they were all just suspicions up until now. But you need not worry about me telling the other teachers, my dear. I'll just, run along and pretend that I didn't hear or see anything."

"But what if...?" said Severus suddenly, but Verena stopped him by grabbing onto his arm and speaking towards him, "You heard the Professor, Severus. He said he saw and heard nothing. And we need to get back into the Great Hall and finish our breakfast before we're missed. Good day to you, Professor Slughorn."

And with that, Horace gave a worried nod as Severus and Verena turned and walked towards the Great Hall, but Slughorn suddenly spoke once more, "You two..." - Severus and Verena looked back at Horace as he continued, "If you don't want the eyes in the walls to attack or bother you anymore, I suggest that you leave out some sweets around your beds tonight. Some fresh fruit and some candy. Maybe some cake if you can manage it. At least for tonight anyway."

Severus and Verena nodded, then turned back around again, walking into the Great Hall. Severus than spoke as he walked next to Verena, "Did Professor Slughorn just tell us to buy off the creatures in the walls with sweets?"

"Not another word, Severus."

EXT. HOGWARTS SCHOOL GROUNDS, BEHIND HOGWARTS - AFTERNOON (MAY 13TH, 1976)

"Expelliarmus!" cried Verena as she sent a bolt of blue light from her wand towards Lily, who was hiding behind a large boulder nearby. Lily soon countered with "Immobulus!" sending a bolt of white light in return from her wand, but Verena blocked the spell with her wand.

"You're a coward, Lily! Quite unworthy of Severus's affections!" hissed Verena angrily, sounding less like an Occlumens than ever, "You're always stealing him away from me! He will be mine and no one else's! And you continue to grab his attention every time me and him are together, every time we walk to our classes. Sometimes I can't stand listening to him talk, cause all he seems to want to talk about is you!"

"Why are you doing this, Verena? I already told you, me and Severus are no longer friends. And what do you mean I'm stealing him away from you? I never wanted him, I just liked him as a friend!" cried Lily from behind the boulder.

"Really?" said Verena as she sent another spell towards the boulder, keeping Lily behind it. "Than why did I see you kiss him a few days ago. It was like you had forgiven him for calling you a Mudblood. Did you go somewhere to kiss him some more, Lily? I bet that would have been a sight for your friend James."

"It was an accident, Verena! I didn't mean to kiss him, he was trying to help me pick up the books that I had dropped, I tripped and fell towards him and we just...Nevermind! Why do you care, Verena? You've never kissed him nor have I seen you two hug! But what do you know about love, Verena? You're nothing but a jealous, cold and deceitful woman that needs to be put in her place." - Lily than jumped out from behind the boulder and cried, "Expelliarmus!" - sending a bolt of white light from her wand once more towards Verena, than turned and ran towards the back entrance to Hogwarts Castle.

Verena once again blocked the spell with her wand and countered with "Stupify!" - sending a red bolt of light from her wand towards Lily. But Lily turned quickly and blocked it with her wand, than twisted back around and continued running.

"There are no accidents when it comes to you and Severus, Lily! I don't believe you!" hissed Verena, as she followed Lily soon after. Nearby, Scabior was busy studying under a tree with a friend. They looked up and soon realized what was going on. Scabior and his friend continued to watch on, amused and with mischievous smiles upon their faces as Lily and Verena continued to play cat and mouse with one another on the school grounds. Than Scabior spoke nonchalantly and mischievously, leaning towards his friend, "Oh dear, Angelo. Severus won't be pleased when he finds out about this." - Scabior than laughed quietly and grinned.

"I second that one, Scabior. I most surely do," said Angelo nonchalantly and mischievously in return.

INT. A CORRIDOR TO AN EMPTY ROOM IN HOGWARTS, HOGWARTS CASTLE - MORNING (MAY 14TH, 1976)

The next morning, all the students were flooding through the doors of the Great Hall as they did every morning for breakfast. But Severus was angrily walking down the corridor through the crowds of students looking for one particular student, namely Verena Witchazel. Having been informed by Scabior about the fight Verena had with Lily yesterday, Severus was in no mood to wait until after breakfast to confront Verena about it. Severus looked through the crowds of students passing by and soon caught sight of Verena, standing proudly with her hands behind her back and watching the other students enter through the doors to the Great Hall.

Severus walked angrily up to Verena and forcefully grabbed her by the arm, wearing a scowl so large that it would have told anyone that he was furious.

Verena began to protest, "Severus! Wha...What are you doing? Let go of me this instant!"

"You're coming with me right now!" snapped Severus as he ruthlessly dragged Verena away from the other students and towards an empty room nearby.

Severus opened the door to the empty room and pulled Verena into it, than slammed it shut behind him. Scabior, who was standing with other students who were Death Eaters, noticed Severus had dragged Verena over to the empty room. Scabior and those with him soon ran over to the door to the empty room and stood, listening in, but also making sure that no one went into the room until Severus and Verena left it. Inside, all those who were standing outside could hear everything that was going on inside the empty room. Severus and Verena were arguing at one another about Lily and the fight that Verena had with her.

"What's the matter with you, Verena? Why did you have a fight with Lily?" snapped Severus angrily.

"She started it first when I saw her kissing you!" hissed Verena, "She should never have done that! Stealing you away from me when she is in love with another, I won't hear of it, Severus! And besides, I won the fight fair and square, it's over and done with! She's gone forever and good riddance to her!" hissed Verena in return.

"You should never have done that, Verena! Don't you realize what you've done? You've ruined any and all chance of me ever being forgiven by her!"

"She was never going to forgive you, Severus! And if you've forgotten, Lily is in love with James...not you! It's the painful truth, Severus! Accept it! I was ensuring that you wouldn't be bothered by her again! And after the fight we had, she won't. Why are you getting all worked up over a small, petty wand duel?"

"Small?" hissed Severus, glaring angrily at Verena, "You're a jealous, under-handed, poor excuse for a witch, Verena! You're acting like a small, spoiled child fighting over a favorite toy that was never yours to begin with!"

"What are you talking about, Severus?"

"I was never yours, Verena! Have you forgotten how much I love Lily? I wouldn't have never allowed this fight to happen if I knew that it was going on! I would have stopped you!"

"But, Severus, you don't understand! I did it for you! I wanted us to be together!" said Verena, walking up to Severus and trying to hug him. But she is quickly shunned and pushed away by Severus as she continued, "I didn't want anyone else standing in the way distracting you! I want you to be with me! I've always wanted you to be with me, from the moment I saw you!"

"Do you know who you sound like, Verena? You sound like Mapheria! She thinks just the same way as you do and ended up killing my whole family because of it, simply because she couldn't possess my father and have him all to herself! I was never your possession, Verena, and I never will be! I love Lily and I will always love Lily, never you!"

Verena glared at Severus angrily a moment, than looked away and laughed sarcastically before looking back at him, narrowing her eyes and hissing at him further, "You should know perfectly well by now that I am nothing like Mapheria! And I should know how you feel about me! It's long since been obvious to me! And yet you deny your feelings for me, simply because you can't let go of your feelings for Lily! Lily loves James, Severus, not you! But I am here, Severus, and I will always be here! I can make you just as happy as Lily would have, if not more so! Forget about Lily, Severus, she is a lost cause. Just come with me and stay with me! Be with me, Severus! I only want you to be happy and make you happy, just as you are."

"Happy, with you, Verena? How dare you say that to me!" hissed Severus, "I don't want to here another word out of you, Verena! From now on, you stay away from me! I don't want to ever see or speak to you again! Now get out of my sight this instant before I do something unspeakably horrible to you with my wand that I will regret! You get out of here right now!"

Verena narrowed her eyes at Severus and scowled angrily at him. Then, with tears welling up in her eyes, she ran from the empty room, sobbing and running past Scabior and his friends in the process. Severus soon noticed the looks on Scabior's face and on the faces of those who were standing with him, which were not pleasant looks to say the least.

"Overreact much, Severus?" said Scabior calmly and nonchalantly. "I knew that you were going to be angry, but I had no idea that you would be so furious about it. Do you realize what you just did? Verena was one of our master's most loyal followers and now..."

"And you have no room to talk, Scabior! You're the one who told me about the fight in the first place!" hissed Severus angrily as he barged out of the room and past Scabior and his friends. And with that, Severus and Verena's friendship had ended. Soon after, Severus once again tried to ask for Lily's forgiveness and talk to her about the fight she had with Verena, but as was the case of Severus and Lily's friendship, it was to little, to late. Severus was left to spend the rest of his time studying and learning alone until his graduation in 1978, watching Lily and James from afar.

EXT. A SMALL CHURCH IN GODRIC'S HALLOW, WEDDING RECEPTION - AFTERNOON (MAY 5TH, 1980)

It was a warm, spring day in 1980, when bells over the church courtyard rang out in celebration of James and Lily's wedding and their new life together. At the wedding reception, though many of those attending the wedding and the reception were of the Evans family, a few of them were from James's side of the family were also present for a short time after, including his Aunt Adelaide and her three children. Though Adelaide had long since left the reception before Severus appeared, having witnessed the wedding from afar. Severus, dressed in hid finest black robes and with his hair tied back in a pony tail, walked into the reception area and began looking around for the now Mrs. Lily Potter.

He had been invited to witness the wedding and join the reception after, though with reluctance from James, who didn't want Severus standing in the way of his big moment with Lily. Even now, James continued to be a rival of Severus and still resented his presence. But even though Lily had still not forgiven Severus for calling her a Mudblood long ago, she still cared enough to invite him to her wedding. Unbeknownst to Severus however, Verena had also been invited to the wedding and to the reception after, even though Lily had not forgiven her for the fight they had which had ended their friendship. It was clear that Lily had a far more forgiving nature than either James or Severus had, which made her the better person in many respects. But Lily, unbeknownst to James, had discovered from Adelaide that Severus was James's cousin and would at least tolerate the presence of Severus, for the sake of the friendship she once had with him and for the fact that he was James's cousin, or in another word, family.

Severus looked around the large circle of people that were standing about and talking to one another, drinking and eating snacks off trays that were being passed around the courtyard. Then Severus caught sight of Lily, who was looking more beautiful and radiant than ever before, dressed in a purple-red and white wedding down with a long, transparent purple-red veil attached to a sliver tiara and with purple-red lace frills running down the back. The sleeves and shoulders of her wedding gown were made of white lace, with a long white train stretched out behind her and held a large bouquet of red, purple and white lily flowers in her hand, posing with James for their wedding picture.

Afterwards, Lily asked James to go get her a drink from the dining table. As James left to get Lily a drink, he soon caught sight of Severus coming through the gates of the church courtyard, who then stood and looked over at Lily.

"What are you doing here, Snivellus?" hissed James as he was walking towards the dinning table, standing in front of Severus and stopping him in his tracks. "This is my wedding and you weren't invited, you shouldn't even be here!"

"I did not come to fight with you James, I came to see Lily as an old friend," hissed Severus in return.

"James, please. Play nicely with Severus," said Lily as she walked up and stood next to James, grabbing onto his arm. "And I already told you, I invited Severus to our wedding for the sake of the friendship that we once had. Let us at least try to keep the peace for now and try to enjoy ourselves." - Lily than spoke to Severus, who was standing quietly and listening - "Hello, Severus. You're looking well today. I've never seen your hair tied back in a pony tail before. It looks good."

"You look absolutely radiant, Lily. It's a shame that we didn't patch up things while we were in school, I missed studying together with you in those last four years there. If only you would have forgiven me for what I said to you." said Severus, who was keeping an eye on James as he spoke. Severus than noticed the front of Lily's gown and soon realized that she was at least 7 or 8 months pregnant. Severus then gave a brief cool glance over at James, then glanced back over at Lily, giving no hint or indication that he had noticed.

Lily continued, "You know how I feel about that, Severus. But this is neither the time or the place to open up old wounds. This is meant to be a happy occasion. I didn't invite you to this wedding so that you can turn it into your own personal battle ground to fight out your own past mistakes. Now, I want you and James to behave yourselves while you are here and that includes your friend Verena. I don't want any of you to start a war here and cause trouble. I want us all to set aside the past for now and just enjoy the festivities."

"Verena is here, at the reception? Why on Earth did you invite her?"

"She is an old friend, Severus. Estranged, I know, but still an old friend. Why don't you go look for her? I'm sure that she'd want to see you."

"But I don't want to see her, Lily, she hurt you in that fight she had with you. I wish she had never fought with you like that."

"Severus, please. This is a happy occasion for me and James. At least for the moment, I want you to be nice to Verena and just be here and enjoy this time with me as an old friend. Will you do that for me?"

Severus gave a quiet sigh and said softly, "I'd do anything for you, Lily."

"Thank-you, Severus...Oh, there she is now." said Lily, noticing Verena standing near the edge of the courtyard, looking on at everyone.

Severus looked coolly over at Verena, than sighed once more before reluctantly walking towards her.

James continued, whispering to Lily as they watched Severus leave and walk towards Verena, "I still don't like him being here, Lily. Just the mere sight of him makes me want to take out my wand and curse him. He and Verena are just looking for trouble that's all I can say."

"James, please. Leave it alone for now." said Lily as she pulled James away by the arm and walked with him towards the dinning table.

Severus got within five feet of Verena and then stopped as Verena looked over and noticed him. Severus then looked away and walked off towards the courtyard garden and the walls of green hedges surrounding it. Verena began to follow him soon after.

EXT. A COURTYARD GARDEN, WEDDING RECEPTION - AFTERNOON (MAY 5TH, 1980)

After a couple minutes, Verena found Severus, looking around the edge of a garden hedge at Lily and James, who were standing together in the center of the courtyard, laughing and talking to friends and family. Verena than saw a look on Severus's face, a look that she had only seen on his face once before, when he had found out that his family had been killed. Verena than noticed that Severus was crying, with tears running down his face. It looked as though he was about to break out into a full blown sob, but as an Occlumens, he was trying his hardest to restrain himself to the best of his ability. But Verena knew what Severus was feeling and could tell that Severus wanted to cry out as loudly as he could.

Verena slowly walked towards Severus and stopped, standing five feet behind him. Verena was about to say something to Severus, but instead, she paused a moment and stopped herself, listening to Severus cry and retch softly. Severus was secretly crying his heart out for Lily, feeling sad and heartbroken from having lost the chance to be with her. It was a sight that was unbeknownst to everyone but Verena. It was at that moment, as Verena watched Severus slowly slide down the side of the hedge and sit on the ground in a pool of tears, that she realized the full extent of how Severus felt about Lily and how much he really loved her. And even though Verena wanted to comfort Severus and tell him how she felt about him, she suddenly couldn't seem to bring herself to do so. Then Severus noticed her standing and looking down at him.

"Verena? How long had you been standing there?" said Severus disagreeably, looking up at her with red and teary eyes.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Verena forced herself to speak to Severus through her tears, her voice cracking as she spoke, "Forgive for what I've done to you, Severus...Oh, please forgive me!"

And with that, Verena than brought her hands up to her mouth, than turned and ran away down the garden path quickly. Severus stood up and began to follow Verena, but stopped himself as she vanished into the hedge. Severus would not see Verena again until Harry Potter's first day in Potions class, in 1991.

CONTINUED...CHAPTER 16...