Chapter 7

Turning the liquid over in his hands he sat in the dark for a long while, thinking. How had she gotten her hands on this? She must have gone into the dark forest, which meant she broke the rules, but she came back unharmed. And what was with the look on her face and sudden urge to tell him everything? But more importantly, why did she seem so familiar?

Standing he left the hospital wing, wandering through the corridors. He mulled it over, thinking about how familiar she looked. Her eyes, her attitude, and even her voice. Heading to the library he pushed the doors open. The library was closed to students at this time, and he was the only one in there, so it was a perfect time to do a little research. Walking over to the old year book section –year books dating back to when Albus Dumbledore himself was attending Hogwarts were kept here- he began looking through it. Stopping he pulled one off the shelf and sat at the nearest table. He opened it and searched through the moving portraits of the students, his fellow classmates. He stopped on the Slytherin second years, his eyes gliding through the kids, his eyes stopping on one. "Severus Snape." He frowned staring at his own reflection. He shook his head and was about to turn the page when his eye caught someone familiar.

His eyebrows furrowed as he turned back and skimmed the page again, having lost them. Then there, second row from the bottom, just below his picture was a woman. She had short bobbed hair, a long face with pale skin. Her eyes were a beautiful blue, and she had a brilliant smile. Keeping his finger just below her picture he skimmed over to the list of names. Third group of names, third one in. "Emilie Lestrange." He whispered. Flipping to the back of the book he looked through the pictures. More particular, the potions class. He found quite a few pictures with him in them, but there that same girl was. Her bobbed hair, standing next to him, smiling, pointing to the camera, and trying to get him to look. He never smiled in any picture that didn't have him standing next to Lily.

Closing the book he stood up and walked back over to the sorting orb and touched it. "Emilie Lestrange." The orb sent out a bright blue light, it splitting off into at least 10 other orbs. Walking over her began picking the books off of the shelf and soon put the stack on the table. Sitting he opened a book of Student Achievements. He skimmed the achievements by names and flipped to the page when he saw her name.

Emilie Lestrange

Achievements and Awards

Top Prefect for Slytherin for showing courage, patience and understanding while handling not only her houses First years but tolerance for the other houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw).

Top Potions student for creating quality potions, perfect conduct, showing up to class on time and advising fellow student. Tying in first with her partner Severus Snape, both are awarded Potions Medal.

Top Mandrake Breeder for Herbology for breeding the healthiest, happiest Mandragora's, lending a helping hand and doing consistent work.

The Iron Shield is awarded to Severus Snape and Emilie Lestrange for showing bravery, understanding in complex spells and perfect dueling etiquette in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Stopping he closed the book and opened another. So far he had gathered that she was in the same year as him, and they were both top achievers in their classes. Apparently he'd had her as a partner in Potions class as well. He didn't remember her. He couldn't remember her for the life of him. Grabbing a large white book he opened it and scrolled through the names. The book was a recollection of all the memorable moments in Hogwarts, separated into female and Male books. He'd grabbed the female book. Skimming through the names he stopped, seeing Lily's. He hesitated, knowing that he wasn't there to look at Lily, but he couldn't help it.

Keeping his finger in the index he flipped to the beginning of her section and began to flip through them. Of course, they went in alphabetical order, so she had to flip through pictures of her and Sirius Black and Remus Lupin and Wormtail and whatever. Not to mention that disgusting Potter. He stopped getting to his section. The first picture was a picture of them sitting beneath a tree, reading a book, he was pointing out certain answers to problems and she would laugh and write them down. He smiled looking at her. Flipping the page he stopped on a picture of them having a picnic. She seemed like she was enjoying herself as she brushed her hair out of the way, pointing off in the distance.

He felt a tear come to his eyes. He remembered when all of these had happened. How happy he'd been to be with her, even for a short time. Flipping the page he looked at a picture where she handed him a bubbling potion. Carefully he put it to his lips and took a huge swig of it. The moment it went down his throat he coughed, it coming back up through his nose. She laughed and patted him on the back, handing him a tissue. Shaking his head he laughed lightly, the tear that had filled his eyes falling down his cheeks.

"Oh Lily, I miss you so much." He whispered. Carefully, lifting the book up, he pressed her to his lips. His heart hurt seeing these pictures of her, but it was a happy kind of hurt. A kind of hurt he would be more than happy to feel every day for the rest of his life. Holding the book there for a second he pulled it away and placed it back on the table. "What I would give for you to be alive again." He whispered. "The boy, I'm sure you know, misses you too, but I promise, I'm protecting him to the best of my ability." He swallowed, holding back more tears but failing. They came out slowly, silently. Wiping at his face he flipped back to the index, feeling slightly foolish for taking so much time to talk to a picture.

Finding Emilie's name he flipped to the beginning of her section and slowly flipped through the pictures. It was shocking really, even though she was a Slytherin she had quite a few memories with James Potter and his group and even some students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Of course, she did receive awards for being tolerant to the other houses, so it really shouldn't have been a shock to him, but any friend of the Marauder's, a friend of his? No, it wasn't possible. But yet, as he flipped through the pages, he stopped seeing a section dedicated to just him and her. It was even longer than his and Lily's section.

The first picture was of both of them in Potions class, working together on a combusting potion. His sleeve caught aflame and he panicked, flailing his arm around. Quickly grabbing his arm she used Aguamenti to put it out. They both stared at his burned robes shocked for a second before she laughed, resting her head on his shoulder. He barely smiled, laughing slightly, but he didn't seem as happy with her as he was with Lily.

In the next picture was a picture of him studying. It looked to be in their sixth year or so, she had pulled his robes off and hiked the sleeve of his shirt up. With a short rounded stick she wrote on his upper arm SSEL For Ever! In which she also sported the same sign on her upper left arm. Finishing she stopped and smiled up and winked, giving a thumbs up and flexing her arm, flashing off that they had matching arm graffiti. He ignored her for the most part.

A lot of the pictures were like that. She was expressing her enjoyment of the situation and he would ignore her, or react very little, but they seemed to do almost everything together. But why hadn't he remembered it? Closing the book he put them all back in their original places and headed back for his potion's room. He would have to look back through his memories.

Walking at a brisk pace, he headed for Dumbledore's office. He had extracted many of his memories of when he was a student at Hogwarts, feeling that most of them were a bother and that they weren't necessarily needed. Stopping outside the door he knocked, and waited. A few seconds went by without a response. Curious as to why Dumbledore wouldn't be opening his door, he raised his hand to knock again, but just as his knuckles wrapped on the wood the door slowly swung open, and on the other side of the door was a confused, smiling old man.

"Severus." He smiled, looking at the potions teacher through his half-moon glasses, his eyebrows raised.

"Albus. I request the use of your Pensieve, if you don't mind." He bowed his head a bit.

"Oh no, not at all, come on in." Albus stepped away and turned, heading back to his desk. "What is it you're looking for, Severus?" He questioned, sitting in his high backed chair.

"Any information on a girl." He replied, heading over to the organized filing cabinet of memories, looking for the ones that involved him at school.

"Ah, Lily?" Albus guessed, sipping pumpkin juice from a mug.

"Not this time I'm afraid." He pulled out a vial and turned, heading for the Pensieve.

"Oh?" He placed his mug back on the table and linked his fingers, looking at the dark clad man curiously.

"Emilie Lestrange." Severus replied, looking back at him.

"Ah, Emilie." Albus smiled. Standing he walked over and grabbed the vial from Severus. The potions master looked at him curious as Albus put the memory back and headed over to a small cupboard. Opening it he pulled out a rack of vials and sat them on a table near the pensieve. "Try, this one." He smiled, handing it to him. Taking the vial, he looked at it hesitantly for a second, then popped the top off of it, pouring it into the Pensieve. He waited, watching as the liquid inside spun, beginning to glow. Leaning forward he carefully placed his face in the water. A bright light blinded him for a second, then hazily the picture came into focus. He was standing in a corridor alone. He didn't know when or where he was. Down the hall a familiar voice reached his ears. A snotty, cocky laugh and taunt, then there was another voice, a female voice that was smooth, and musical but tomboyish sounding.

"So are there any new reports from Slytherin?" The voice asked. Turning Severus spotted two people heading down the hallway. One was Gryffindor's favorite student, James Potter.

"Disgusting." Severus muttered, staring at him. "Your stupid son looks just like you, I hope you're proud of that." His insults landed on deaf ears. Next to him was a girl. A girl with bobbed hair and pale skin.

"No, none that I feel at liberty to tell you." She replied.

"Oh come on Em, we made a deal." James whined.

"I'm also a Slytherin. The only reason I'm even your friend is because half the Slytherin's are dicks." She flat out admitted. "So, are you making any progress with…well…what's her face?" she questioned, her arms crossing.

"Lily?" James smiled. "Oh yeah, she loves me, though she's a bit shy. She doesn't want the school knowing we're dating, you know?" He grinned widly. Emilie looked at him unamused then cocked an eyebrow.

"Uh huh. She said no again didn't she." Growling James sighed

"Yes and it's all because of Snivelus! If he didn't exist it'd be just that much easier to get her to date me!" Emilie frowned, her fingers tightening around a fistful of her robes sleeve.

"You're rather harsh on him, aren't you?"

"Of course I am, he's a freaking Slytherin and disgusting." He nodded. Emilie looked at him upset at that.

"And what am I James?" She stopped him, looking into his eyes.

"You're the only decent Slytherin Em, you know that." He smiled at her.

"Why because I let you in on all of my houses dirty little secrets? Slytherin members are humans too James, I think its bout time you start treating us like we are!" She walked by him, stomping off. The scene blurred, spiraling and changing. Severus was now standing in the hallway outside of the Library. Emilie was leaning against the wall, reading a potions book. Lily came out of the doors, a smile on her face. Looking up Emilie rushed over and grabbed her arm.

"Oh, Emilie, hi." Lily smiled, looking at her.

"Are…are you really dating James?" Emilie questioned, her forehead crinkled.

"Who told you that." She smiled, brushing her hair out of her face.

"The entire damn school." Emilie replied. Lily didn't reply, instead she turned and started walking. Emilie grabbed her arm again and pulled her back, this time roughly. "How could you do that to him?" Emilie cried out, getting into Lily's face. Severus felt a well of anger for the girl as he watched, not sure if he could take a fight if it broke out, though he knew Lily had never been hit.

"Do that to whom?" Lily questioned.

"Don't play dumb you know who I'm talking about! Severus, how could you do that to him?" She hissed. "He likes you Lily Evan's, it's as plain as day on the boys face when you're around him."

"I'm sorry, I don't feel the same way for him." Lily replied coldly.

"You're too good for James Potter." She moved infront of Lily as she tried to walk away.

"And what, Severus is better for me? He called me a mudblood, Emilie. Anyone who would hurt someone when they're trying to help isn't ready for such responsibility. And I suggest you keep your damn nose out of my business!" She hissed. Whirling around she stomped away. Emilie looked after her, her bottom lip trembling. Whipping her book down the hall she whirled around and made a dash for the stairs. She needed some air.

Severus turned and followed after her, even though he wanted to follow Lily. He knew it would have been against what he was trying to figure out if he followed Lily, especially seeing how it was Emilie he was studying. Dashing down the stairs Emilie wiped at her eyes crying. A voice could be heard down the hall and around the corner. Emilie slowed down, carefully approaching the next hall.

"Hey Snivelus!" James' voice cackled, ringing throughout the hall.

"Leave me alone Potter, I don't want anything to do with you right now." He growled back defensively. "Take your lap dog back to your room with you and groom eachother for fleas or something useful like that. Aaargh!" he whirled around, hanging from his ankle in midair. James laughed.

"How about we lose the pants huh?" James teased, looking at him. Severus felt the flush of anger and humiliation all over again.

"The boxers too James," Sirius sniggered. "That way we can see if he really is a man, or just a manly woman." They both laughed. Grabbing her wand Emilie rushed down the last of the steps and barged into the room before James could drop his pants.

"Expelliarmus!" She hollered, James' wand flying from his hand. Both James and Sirius turned to face her, little Severus falling on his head roughly.

"Emilie, what the hell?" James whined.

"Leave him alone Potter before you find yourself in the great hall on your hands and knees with a pumpkin up your ass!" She growled.

"Oh, so now your defending him? That's stupid Emilie."

"It's smarter than following you." She glared at him. He stared at her for a second, then turned and grabbed his wand. Snorting he headed for the exit.

"Have fun being ignored by Snivelus, Em. Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin." He insulted as he left. Lowering her wand she snickered evilly, her upper lip curled.

"Have fun being pumped from behind by your gay little lapdog Potter. You may be using Evans for cover up but I'll always know. Once a faggot always a faggot." Cussing at her they left, promising that they'd never forgive her. Turning she tucked her wand away and held her hand out for Severus's. "Hey, you ok?" Severus hesitated, rubbing his head. Looking up he nodded and took her hand.

"Yeah, it's nothing I'm not used to anyway." Smiling she hauled him to his feet.

"My name's Emilie Lestrange, I'm also in Slytherin." She shook his hand lightly.

"Severus Snape."

The scene began to change yet again, moving through the years, brief glimpses of how they spent almost every waking moment together, best of friends, when Severus wasn't around after James bullying him she'd hunt James down and beat the crap out of him, which he remembered he'd blamed on Quidditch. Then there were the charm rings Severus had wanted but couldn't afford. Emilie, having been with him when he was eyeing them had taken all of her money and gone to buy both of them. Though they were wedding rings.

She'd planned on giving him one at the New Years dance but when she asked he refused to go because Lily was going to be there with James. So instead she held onto the rings and stayed in the rooms with him, talking with him. After graduating from Hogwarts, she'd even become a Death Eater to be with Severus, but when he continued to ignore her, she got married to a man named Nicolo Fairbourne. Nicolo looked like Severus. So much in fact that James had even bullied him on occasion from behind. Nicolo was in Gryffindor, which gave James a reason not to be mean to him.

She sent Severus an invitation to her wedding, but when he didn't show up she'd lost all hope in it. She became pregnant a year later, and near the end of her pregnancy quit being a Death Eater. She went into hiding when she had her baby, but was found and murdered. The last bit of memory was Emilie clutching a sleeping baby to her chest as she ran through Diagon Alley, a dark cloaked figure behind her giving chase.

"Avadakadavra!" The figure cried out, cackling. Bellatrix. The blast hit Emilie in the back, knocking her into the snow, the baby spilling from her arms, rolling under the nearest porch. Laughing the woman skipped over; pulling the hood from her head she inhaled deeply and smiled. "Teaches you to try and betray the dark lord, hah?" She cackled, kicking her. "Now let's have at that necklace eh?" laughing she crouched down and ripped the front of her shirt open, but there was nothing around her neck. "What?" She frowned. "No, no, no! Where is it!" She started ripping through her clothes, ripping at the corpses hair. "Where is it? Where is the Spiders Charm you bitch!"

"Hurry, I think something happened." Bellatrix stopped as lights from the nearest shop turned on. Standing she turned and ran back into the darkness, vanishing. A man came out of one of the houses, dressed in his sleep ware. Stopping he gasped, spotting the body of the woman in the snow. Running out he checked the pulse to find she was dead. Just then, under one of the nearest porches, a loud babies cry echoed into the night. Gathering the baby up into his arms, he unwrapped her blanket enough to see her face, and around her neck, a blue spider pendent necklace. "My lord, darling," He turned heading back for the shop. "It seems we have ourselves a baby."

Everything spun, ending. Pulling his face free from the Pensieve, Severus panted, rubbing at his eyes.

"I can't believe I forgot her." He whispered. "She was my best friend since James and Lily became a rumored couple, and I forgot about her completely." Albus nodded slowly and looked off across the room.

"Isn't it stranger, Severus? That the ones, who love us the most, are the first to fade from our memories?" he looked at him and smiled. "She looks just like her mother, Ellenyx. But, there's another person who she resembles Severus." He crossed his hands in front of him, cupping his hands in his lap. "Emilie experienced, only the finer kind of love for you. I would keep my eye open, her daughter just might do the same." Severus cocked an eyebrow, wondering what he meant by that. Looking at the clock he raised his eyebrows. "It's late Severus, and it's definitely agreed that we both are in desperate need of sleep." He lightly laid a hand on the Potion Masters back and lead him back to the door. Nodding Severus walked through.

"Thank you Albus for letting me do my business so late at night." Smiling Albus nodded.

"It was my pleasure, Severus, now, Goodnight, this old man is in dire need of sleep." Nodding Severus turned and made his way back to his room, his mind swarming his memories of Emilie. How had he forgotten her? How had he forgotten she even existed? Simple. She wasn't Lily Evans.