Always (SNILY): Angst, Multiple POV, Dark Romance

Chapter Five

Lily stood caddy corner to the cemetery in Godric's Hollow, her curiosity piqued.

The cemetery? Severus did always have a taste for the dramatics.

Lily often wondered what had pulled Severus to the dark side. Did he always exist there?

A stone, dropped into the depths of an abandoned lake. He'd been sinking to the bottom since she'd known him. How much further until that stone planted into its biting depths, nothing left to devour but bone and algae?

Lily sucked in a shallow breath and shook her head vigorously. Why did her thoughts have to bring her there? There was something about the autumn breeze that always kidnapped her. Distracted her.

Pulling back the rustic frays of hair from her face, Lily turned her gaze to the cemetery.

She spotted Severus instantly, sitting perched amongst the shadows, sallow and sincere. His sharp features set like the stony graves around him.

Lily could feel the dark magic flowing off him like ink, filling up the space between them. Every time she felt it, something inside her cracked.

At first, it was just anger that bled out from that crack.

Anger that her friend had become something she couldn't recognize.

Anger that he'd sacrificed parts of his soul for ... for what?

Lily felt the memory of the Severus she knew before the war fading and, in its wake, something vague and elusive. Something that called to her in a way it never had before.

Longing?

Despair?

She couldn't help but feel like he was just out of her grasp.

"Severus." She spoke at last, following the paved walkway to meet him.

"Lily."

Severus always spoke with such eloquence and determination.

It unnerved her.

After sharing a few words, Lily watched as Severus pulled out a bow and arrow from his cloak.

"We're going hunting." He'd spoke.

Lily has been a member of The Order for over a year but had never been a dueler. Her mind had been her biggest asset. She created strategy. She didn't execute it. Did the thought of hunting... excite her?

"Alright." She smirked, grabbing the bow from Severus, pulling it over her back. "I'll try not to kill you."

Severus returned the smirk as he grabbed her by the wrist and apparated them into the heart of the Forbidden Forrest.

"You had to pick this place for my first time? On a full moon, no less?" Lily looked at Severus with slight disbelief.

"Oh, but the fun is just beginning."

Severus crept over a fallen branch and motioned for Lily to follow him.

Lily was nervous. More than nervous. She was utterly terrified.

"Let me guess," she whispered to him as they continued navigating the fallen debris. "I'm bait?"

Severus slowed to a stop as he pushed apart the leafy branches shrouding the view before them. Grabbing her by the hand and guiding her closer, Severus turned his gaze to the valley below.

"Look," Severus pointed towards a small outpost of death eaters. The sound of drunken debauchery echoing off them.

Lily counted at least twelve, maybe fifteen death eaters down there? She could hear them yelling curses at each other and howling like a pack of werewolves.

Shit, werewolves.

"You've got a seriously fucked up opinion of fun," Lily nudged Severus' shoulder and shook her head.

Severus smiled- smiled- and put a lengthy finger over his mouth, motioning her to be silent.

Lily scowled and adjusted the bow that was now digging into her back.

"Now what?" She mouthed, quiet enough to heed his warning.

"Now," Severus met her gaze, his smile turning luminous, "we kill them."

Fuck. She was ready for some action, but killing fifteen death eaters?

"We can't use a killing curse. The soul leaves the body too quickly." Severus explained to Lily as they carefully tread towards the outpost. "Plus, the bow and arrow allow for an untainted death where I can capture the soul. In this."

Severus pulled out some sort of dark artifact Lily didn't recognize. She thought it looked a bit like a wooden kids puzzle except its very presence sat like a millstone on her chest.

"You're right, I am going to hate you after this," Lily looked towards Severus to catch his expression. "I don't want to kill anyone!"

Severus stopped walking and grabbed Lily's hand.

"There is something about these men you need to understand..." Severus spoke sternly but there was a hint of compassion in his voice. Of understanding. Like he knew what he was asking was.. a lot.

He must really need her help, she thought.

"They're a different breed of evil, Lily. Don't mourn them."

As if on cue, the moonlight breached the cloudy overcast and the howling of drunken debauchery turned feral as Lily watched the death eaters transform into a pack of lycanthropes before her eyes.