Dark Magic

Memorial

"So, she just ran?"

"Hm."

"Was Severus there?"

"I don't know. But if he was, it didn't make much of a difference. Remus, listen; I had to turn into my Animagus form to prove it was me. She doesn't trust anyone, at the moment. What on earth happened to her?"

"I died." My voice spoke simply, my presence unknown as I stepped into the living room, where Remus and Sirius were talking. They both turned to face my, relief consuming my Godfather as he began to walk towards me with open arms. I held my hands up, taking a few steps away, "No, I-...I need to know it's you."

Remus paused, but his eyes were soft and understanding, "Very well. The first Christmas present you gave me was a bracelet made from moonstone. You put a protection enchantment on it."

My breath hitched, succumbing to the relief as I fell into his arms, allowing my tears to fall. After a while of him holding me, Sirius brought me some water, along with a tissue, and we sat down on the sofa to talk.

"When you're ready...please tell us what happened."

Remus' voice was comforting, the reassurance I could do this in my own time. But my nerves did not stop me tugging at my sleeve, suddenly feeling much smaller in the armchair as their concerned eyes watched me.

"I suppose I should start the day of the second trial. Professor Moody-" I suddenly halted, wondering if they knew who Moody really was. Remus leaned forth in his chair, "It's alright. We know he was Crouch's son." How they knew this, I didn't know. But I decided to continue, nonetheless. "Crouch tried to drown be in the Black Lake. But, I think my mum saved me. When I was under the water, a patronus in the form of a dove, the same as mine, came towards me and carried me to the surface."

Sirius appeared perplexed, shaking his head in disagreement, "It couldn't have been Lily's. Her patronus was always a doe and James' was a stag." Remus sent him a side-ways glance, taking a deep breath as his eyes met my own, "Patronus' often take the same form as another person when said person loves the other. Are you sure it wasn't your own?"

I nodded, utterly convinced; I hadn't been able to produce a patronus since before the Yule Ball. The realisation suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks, my chest caving at the thought of those pair of arms to take me from the water and hold me in their arms, reassuring me that they would never let me die...

"Emerald?" His voice was like velvet, but broken and filled with a sadness that made my heart break. Behind me, in the doorway, stood Severus Snape; the uncertainty of his presence evident in his eyes that watched me and waited for me to react. I suddenly felt my entire body tense, my eyes meeting his dark ones. "Let me see your wand."

The man's brows furrowed, yet he did as I wished and presented his wand; ebony, carved exactly as it always had been. Relief began to set in, but I did not take a step closer to him, merely scanning him from head to toe. He truly did look terrible. "What did you do, Severus?" I asked, exasperated. The obsidian eyes averted to the floor, his hands lacing together as he took a deep breath, "I...Split some of your soul and hid it in your mother's wand in the case something might happen to you."

The sudden urge to vomit regurgitated in my stomach, the meaning of his words weighing my shoulders down as I fought to shake away the feeling; and the knowing deep-down, I had not been whole for a while. "You what?" Sirius' voice sounded muffled, as though I had been submerged beneath water and the world around me was slowly fading. "When did you do it?" I asked, my voice trembling as tears began to sting my eyes.

Ashamed and guilt-ridden, Severus finally looked up to face me, but our eyes never met. "I started the process the boxing day following your accident on the Black Lake. I did not successfully complete it until the night you and your brother came to stay at the Leaky Cauldron."