He walked towards the open door and glanced back as Alexis made a feeble attempt to follow. Realizing her leg was in such a bad state that she could hardly walk, he used the levitation spell which gently lifted her off her feet. She glided quietly behind him as he rounded a corner, and proceeded to walk straight down another long, empty corridor. At the end they reached a door which flew open as they approached it. Once inside Alexis noted they were in an office of some sort, very large and dark with a long wooden desk at the front; the doors behind them closed with a bang suddenly which startled Alexis. Snape grabbed two heavy wooden chairs and set them down on the outside of the desk. He sat down on the far right one and looking at her said “please sit,” Alexis didn’t have much choice because next thing she knew she sat in the one opposite him.

She stared at him with contempt though she was thoroughly confused as well. What could the fiend possibly want from her? Perhaps he would set her free she thought to herself, but wouldn’t the Dark Lord know? Surely he could read minds even one as powerful as Severus Snape’s? He looked at her into her eyes, then he searched her face, pausing at the places where the blood poured from.

“You are injured” he spoke, “I have something which will help alleviate your pain and heal your wounds,” and he rose from his chair and walked to the back of the office where he rummaged through a cabinet. When he returned in his hand he held a small vial of cloudy liquid. “It will help your body to heal itself many times faster then it normally would.” Alexis eyed the liquid uncertainly, not sure whether to drink it or not. Snape saw the distrust in her eyes and said to her “If I had wanted to kill you, or wanted you dead, you would be so already; I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

And with that comment she realized he was right, and so she took out the stopper and emptied the contents into her mouth. It had a very unique taste to it, very strong like a powerful herb does, but it didn’t burn and she didn’t fall over in agony. After a couple of seconds the wounds on her face started to tingle, almost a cooling sensation, and the pain in her stomach where Stan had kick her subsided completely along with the stinging on her face. Only her leg didn’t heal completely but it did stop hurting a bit.

“The damage to your leg is too severe to heal with the potion alone, I will have to use a spell which will work in conjunction with it.”

And with that he stepped forwards and knelt down on one knee beside the wary girl. She looked down at him for the first time that night and watched as he pointed his wand at her mangled leg and said an incantation of which she had never heard. A strange feeling the likes of which she had never known began in her leg, it felt like her muscles and bone where being rearranged, it hurt quite badly. She gritted her teeth and sunk her nails into the chair as Snape proceeded to use unusual wand movements, controlling the situation. She began to whimper as the pain increased and wished she hadn’t let him do this, but suddenly as quickly as it began it ended, the pain subsided and her leg ached no more.

She stood up then, uncertain, but as she walked around the large office some of her fears slipped away as she realized perhaps she would live to see tomorrow. He was helping her after all, he didn’t let her die at the Dark Lord’s hands as he so easily could have, it was frightening to think how close she had come to annihilation.

She sat down across from the potions master, her once good friend and contemplated what would happen next. She looked at him and felt such sadness, she tried to delude him into believing that there where no tears in her eyes when she looked away from his intense gaze. He spoke to her then, quietly and calmly his voice low but soft,

“I know you are surprised to see me here, and with him” he said it with disdain. “I made a mistake a very long time ago, when I was too young to realize what it meant to join his league. I thought I would have power, and acceptance, that I would be considered great and be respected. It wasn’t long before I realized my folly and what it has cost me will haunt me to my grave and forever after that.” He looked up at her and saw the tears glistening down her cheeks, how her heart pounded, how it hurt.

He continued, “It was when I found out he was to kill the woman I loved that I knew I had been such a fool. I begged and pleaded with him to spare her, to spare her family, but it was not to be, because there was a prophecy that he was so afraid of that he could not take a single chance with leaving a harmless woman alive. I went to Dumbledore then and pleaded with him to help me, to help keep her safe, and it was to him that my loyalties went and my life for he offered me his assurance and a sanctuary at the school where I could be safe, where we could conspire against the Dark Lord together and make plans to bring him down.”

He stopped then and sighed deeply, he lowered his head and looked at his hands which were clasped together. He had a tired look to him, his dark hair hung limply and his black cloak surrounded his spiritless body. Alexis had never seen him in such a state before.

“When you join alliance with the Dark Lord however,” he slowly lifted his head and looked at Alexis, “you are forever a part of it. You can never change your mind and just up and leave one day because he’d find you, and see to it you die before him.” He took a moment before continuing. “And so it has been that since that day so many years ago I have stood at the Dark Lords side, and played the role of death eater.”

Alexis watched him carefully and noticed that his hands were trembling slightly. Her hammering heart continued unrelenting and she waited for him to go on.

His dark eyes met her own and she saw the melancholy behind them. His whole life he lived as a lie, probably fearing exposure every day that went by, his whole life full of regret.

“He killed her then, on Halloween night, took her so easily from this life, another life that was never his to take. She couldn’t fight back, he killed my defenceless Lily, murdered her husband as well. It was when he attempted to kill her infant son though that he had met his true rival and perished into nothingness for 11 long years.

Alexis caught on at that moment and sat listening in astonishment. The silence then was almost deafening, the hurt in poor Severus’ eyes anguishing.

“As for what happened to Dumbledore,” he uttered, “he asked me to do it. Dumbledore had less then a year to live, a terrible curse coursed through his body that even I didn’t have the power to stop, courtesy of the Dark Lord. There was nothing I could do, I tried everything to the best of my abilities but all I managed was slow it down slightly. On that night that he died Draco Malfoy whom I know you know, was expected to kill the Headmaster himself. If the boy failed we knew he would meet his fate at Voldemort’s hands. His father Lucious is a death eater and loyal servant to the Dark Lord which is how Draco got mixed in with this horrid business. Dumbledore and I agreed to spare the boy this wretched undertaking and that I should be the one to take the responsibility.”

After a brief halt he persevered “And so it happened that I ended the life of the only person who I ever trusted to open up my heart and soul to, the only person who would give a cursed death eater a second chance. I murdered my only friend in this world.” With that he lowered his head, his dark hair covering his eyes and was consumed in the tragedy of it all.

Alexis stood up and walked over to him, she knelt down slowly and put her arms around his neck and rested her head on his broad shoulder. She felt him put his arms around her and embrace her completely, his thick cloak enfolding her small body. He shook slightly as the tears dripped from his eyes. She held him for a long time and wondered if he’d ever had someone comfort him before.

When she finally released him she stayed where she was, kneeling on one knee before him. She took his hands and held them in her own, they felt cold to her touch. She gazed up into the dark brown eyes of her sorrowful friend. She spoke softly to him then as he looked fixedly upon her, “you are the bravest wizard I have ever known Severus, to stand up to him as you have done, your strength and cunning must be extraordinary. I am so sorry that I have doubted you, if only everyone knew of your courage and of where your heart lies,” she paused for a moment before saying breathlessly, “your pain has to be unimaginable.”

She stopped then, watching him as his sad eyes searched her own. There was something remarkable in them, something no one else knew about. His life was wrought with tragedy but despite it all he endured on, his reasons were noble, he did it all because of love.

“You were mistaken though Severus when you said you lost your only friend, you are not alone in all of this anymore.” She held his hands firmly in hers and was so bold to gently lift one to herself and lay a tender kiss upon it.

He sat gazing at her, a look of wonderment in his eyes, his expression softened completely. He slowly rose from his chair then, his hands still in hers; she ascended to her feet with him. They stood looking at each other for a moment before he whispered, “if I ever needed a reason,” he paused, his staring eyes all-consuming, “if ever I had a moment where I thought I could not continue in this life, I shall never endure that suffering again, knowing that you believed in me and that your heart is with me.”

She smiled softly at him then, blushing slightly at the intensity in his gaze. She was exultant that he was still the man she knew him to be, and so much more then she could have ever imagined.

“I pray we both escape this nightmare alive,” she said then, “that we both see the end of this darkness, for now I know the force that commands us, that keeps us going when all hope is lost,” she held him in her unwavering attention, “love Severus, love will see us through this.”

He looked upon her intently, his expression thoughtful and his eyes yielding to her own, he thought then about the situation they were in together and of what the future might hold. He concluded that the only real answer he could live with was to help her escape, it would mean some risk to him, but then that was with him everyday. The Dark Lord hadn’t pierced his mind yet; he didn’t see how it could happen now.

“If we are to get through this together, I need first to get you out of this place safely, as long as you are here your life is in danger. They expect me to act as a death eater would towards you, and so it will only be so long before they become suspicious when they notice you are completely unharmed.”

Alexis thought this through, realizing he was of course correct in his judgement. She worried though. “And what will you tell them has happened to me?” she asked, a concerned look on her face.

“I’ll tell them you fought terribly with me, and that I could not control your persistent attacks. I’ll say I tortured you mercilessly before I ended your life with the killing curse. The only one bold enough to question me is the Dark Lord, but he hasn’t seen through my lies yet, and will likely congratulate me on another successful kill.” His eyes dropped then, Alexis’ heart burned with worry and apprehension for her Potions Master.

“And what if you’re wrong Severus? What if he sees through you, what will happen then?”

His shadowy eyes bore deep into her own, “then the Dark Lord will lose his most faithful servant, and I shall be free at last from his enslavement.” He responded heavily.

How it hurt her to hear him say those words. Fresh tears appeared in her eyes and she looked at the ground, trying not to let them spill.

He lay his hand gently on her shoulder after a moment, “let us go then, I know of a safe passage that will take you far from this place. The others don’t know of it, so it should be a safe route out of here. However if we are seen walking together, you uninjured and following of your own accord, it would likely raise questions amongst the others, so I will do what I must to elude those suspicions.”

He raised his wand then and after a long hesitation in which he looked at her with what might have been something like shame in his eyes he said solemnly “incarcerous.” Thick ropes appeared in the air suddenly and flew towards Alexis. They wrapped tightly around her torso, securing her arms and her upper legs leaving her unable to run, and leaving her quite helpless.

He walked up to her when it was done, and slowly lifted his hand with which he used to lightly touch her cheek, “you’ll be free of this soon,” he promised. “You’ll be free of this nightmare.”

She choked on her words, “I know Severus, I trust you, and soon, we will be free of this.”

He nodded his agreement never taking his eyes off hers the whole time. He raised his wand again and spoke in his deep, and almost tranquil voice, “wingardium leviosa,” she was lifted off the ground as easily as if weighed nothing more then a feather. He looked sadly at her for a moment before turning around and walking to the door. She trailed closely behind him, the spell causing her to follow his every direction. When they were passed the door, they made their way back through the corridor and into the elevator once again. As the doors shut and it began to descend to the lower floors he pulled up the sleeve of his cloak, the scratch marks still dark and angry in his skin. “Aren’t you going to heal that?” Alexis asked looking at her handiwork.

“No,” he replied, “it can be a reminder to me that I am not really what the dark mark implies I am. That it was something in my past, that no longer is.” He gave her a short thoughtful grin. She returned it.

When at last the elevator stopped they were on the bottom floor of the building. There were no lights or candles anywhere, darkness immersed everything around them. “Lumos,” he said suddenly. Light appeared from the tip of his wand, bright and illuminating, Alexis could see maybe five feet in front of her now and judging by what she saw she guessed that this area was probably only used for maintenance of the water lines and plumbing of the building. Long, wide pipes hung from the concrete ceiling and walls running off into the darkness, she could hear water dripping somewhere off behind her. It was quite eerie here on the bottom floor of this building that Voldemort inhabited, there was something almost sinister and ominous about it, Alexis shuddered.

Severus turned to her, “the binds will come off shortly now,” she nodded.

He walked ahead, into the blinding darkness, slowly and carefully he strode while she glided silently behind him. His footsteps made loud clapping noises that seemed to echo a long way down the passages. They travelled on making an occasional turn that led them further on into the darkness and she wondered how he remembered where the location of the exit was. So dark it was, it seemed like it would be all too easy to lose ones way in the endless underground tunnels.

After rounding several more turns, they at last came to a halt in the middle of one of the corridors. Alexis looked around quickly, worried they had stopped for a reason other then the secret exit, but was relieved when her feet suddenly touched ground and the binds disappeared.

Severus looked down upon her, his towering figure illuminated by the strange bluish light from his wand and spoke, “the passage will take you far from this place, past the hills that surround this town, and out into an uninhabited barren land. Walk north for half a day and you will find yourself at the muggle town of Port Moody, from there it is up to you to decide where the path continues.”

“We will meet again Severus,” she said, tears brimming in her sad eyes, “when darkness fails I will return.”

“But never before then,” he responded. “They must never apprehend you again.”

“They will never know I continue to breathe dear Potions Master, they will never know.”

He nodded his approval to her, and turned to the wall in which they stood beside. He tapped his wand several times on the concrete in what looked like a repeating pattern of some sort and muttered an incantation that she didn’t recognize. All of a sudden a portion of the wall disappeared where he had been directing his wand and Alexis realized it was in the shape of a large door. She put her hand through it, and felt a light draft; it was completely dark in there.

He pulled from his pocket then a small jar and pointing his wand at it voiced, “incendio,” a small fire erupted inside it pushing back the darkness a bit further. He handed it to her which she took and examined with relief.

“Thanks,” she said truthfully, looking back up into his eyes, “for everything Severus, you risk so much for me.” She was starting to get teary again. “You don’t deserve to be stuck here, with that monster. You deserve to be free, why don’t we leave together?” She asked with hope in her voice.

“I wish I could,” he said glumly, “but he would track me down all too quickly, the Dark Lord has a way of finding runaway death eaters with minimal effort.”

This was too upsetting to bare, she took hold of his hand then and spoke purposefully to him, “then promise me you’ll be careful, that you’ll never let your guard down for even a second, not while he lives. Never let him see your thoughts Severus, he must never know of the heroic man that you truly are.”

“Never,” he choked out quietly.

Next thing she knew Severus had wrapped Alexis in his strong arms, his cloak engulfing her entirely and held her tight to him. She yielded completely, putting one arm around his waist, the other resting on his chest. She laid her head above his heart and closed her eyes, feeling it beating beneath her. Tears dripped down her cheeks and she lost herself in that moment in his warmth and his closeness.

They held each other for a good long while, but the time to depart had come. Slowly and regretfully he released her and wiped from her face her tears which glistened in the flickering light. She looked deeply into his beautiful brown eyes and saw that tears spilled down from his as well.

“Good-bye my dear Severus, until we meet again,” she said full of sorrow.

“Until then.” He whispered so quietly.

She took one long last look into his extraordinary brown eyes as she stepped through the doorway and prayed it would not be the last time she looked into them.