A Life Altered

TWO: Dangerous Truths


Severus stood, watching Draco stalk off. For a moment, he considered following him and trying to calm the younger wizard down before thinking better of it. It would be smarter to let him have his space. He would calm down. He just needed time.

Turning, he found himself staring at the witch who had no idea of who she was. His heart tightened as he considered the past she had no recollection of.

She stood at the bar, smiling at the barkeep and drinking a sparkling glass of white wine. She reminded him of a willow in her grace. Her beautiful hair fell in ringlets to her waist. It was the most beautiful color of auburn brown with lighter strands of blonde streaking through it.

Suddenly, he was overcome with the desire to approach her, but hesitated, looking down at his attire with a moment of concern. He was an older man. He had taken special care to make himself look presentable in the best Muggle fashions, but he still felt somewhat ridiculous, even so.

Glancing down at himself, he took in the black slacks, and black silk shirt, complete with silver lined gray and black vest. His hair was loose and fell just slightly past his shoulders as he had begun to let it grow when he stopped teaching potions.

Sighing, he shrugged and turned his attention back to the bar. Hermione . . . Or Helena . . . as she believed her name was, had sat down on a barstool and was talking animatedly with one of the barmaids. They smiled and giggled at some inside joke and Severus found himself longing to be privy to it.

Before he could gather his nerve to approach the beautiful young woman, a deep voice drew his attention away from her. “Do you really want to remind her of all the pain she suffered in her youth?”

The American accent was soft and elegant, but held a note of concern. Severus stopped and turned. The man standing before him made his blood run cold and he instinctively reached for the concealed wand he had up his sleeve.

The other man anticipated his move and held his hands out in a gesture of surrender. “I am not who you believe me to be. I promise.”

Severus growled, but stood still, addressing the other man with a snarky smirk. “Then, I am sure you will enlighten me as to exactly who you are and why you bear such a resemblance to the very man who caused her a great deal of the pain for which you speak.”

Inclining his head, the American gestured to the balcony. “I have a place where we can be more comfortable and I will explain,” he glanced around, “without the chance of being overheard.”

Severus assessed the man, searching for any sign of dishonesty. Then he nodded. “Lead the way.” When the other man turned and led the way up the stairs, he added, “this had better be good.”

The man glanced back at him with the barest hint of a grin. “Oh, I assure you, you won’t be disappointed.”

Severus could not help the smirk that grew on his face. “We shall see.”

The stranger led him to a corner office and held the door open for him to enter. “Please, make yourself comfortable.”

As he walked through the door, he knew it was possible he was walking into a trap. He looked around the room, expecting an ambush of Death Eaters waiting to Avada Kedavra him.

Instead, he found a comfortable, modern day office, complete with a large flatscreen television in the corner, a private bar along one wall, a large desk in the opposite corner.

There was a sofa along one wall, with a coffee table before it, and two easy chairs on either side. All in all, it was very Muggle in appearance. As he took in his surroundings, his eyes lit on one object.

In the middle of the coffee table, with a silver dragon claw supporting it, was a crystal ball that was probably three times the size of Trelawney’s. It was beautiful and seemed to have what appeared to be a cloud swirling momentarily in its middle, but when Severus focused on it, the cloud disappeared as if the crystal ball had a mind all its own.

The door closed behind them, and the two men faced each other. For several seconds, there was nothing said between them. They only stood, each one assessing the other.

Finally, Severus found his voice. “Who are you? Why do you look like the Tom?”

The other man drew a deep breath, “My name is Aleryn Riddle. Tom, although we never met, was my brother.” He paused, drawing a deep breath. “My twin.”

Severus drew back so fast, one might have thought that Aleryn had struck him. “How is that possible?” He knew the story of Riddle’s birth, just as Potter did. Dumbledore had shared it with him when he had first become a spy for the Order.

The other man regarded him with a slight smirk. “I was sent to an orphanage in the States. I knew nothing of my heritage. All I knew was that ever since I could remember, I had nightmares where a tyrant who had my face did unspeakable acts.”

He sighed and turned his eyes to the crystal ball. It seemed to glow faintly in response. He muttered, “From an early age, I was privy to every little thing Tom did.”

Turning and moving to sit in a chair, Aleryn stared up at Severus, who was standing beside the other chair, with a somewhat perplexed expression on his face. “I watched as he tortured small animals,” He lowered his eyes to the floor, “had nightmares about it, actually.

“I was not as gifted as he, you see. I had only a small talent for most magic. Barely any true magic ran through me at all.” It was then that a smile lit his eyes. “Except, my power for Divination. Now, that. . . that talent was all mine.”

Leaning forward, he continued to speak and Severus could not help but find himself drawn so deeply into the story that he moved to take the seat without even noticing his actions.

“I made friends in America, you see. I was a student at a Magic school there, although, I understand that Salem’s School of Magic isn’t readily accepted in the European circles.” He smirked then, “too bad, that. There are many a good Wizard and Witch there. They could have helped.”

Severus, although fascinated by what the other man spoke of, clicked his tongue and reminded himself that this was not his main point of interest. “Skip to the part where you tell of what this has to do with Miss Granger.”

Aleryn sat back in his chair and huffed an exhausted sigh. “Oh, don’t you dare try to pretend you aren’t interested. Not to me, Severus Snape. I know your Vampyre blood is pounding through your stoic heart at a high rate of speed at this very moment.”

His eyes seemed to glow for a moment before he continued, “You actually are quite curious as to my life. I feel your interest quite keenly, as a matter of fact.”

He raised his hand when Severus would have interrupted. “It is of no matter. Your Hermione actually became known to me quite by accident. She has had a very unhappy life. Poor child; constantly trying to prove herself in a world that always looked down on her because of her blood.

“Blood that I might add, was no different in color than anyone else in the world. My heart went out to her. When the final battle was done, I saw my chance to take away the pain that she endured.”

Severus crossed his arms and simply stared at the man who looked as Voldemort once had, when he had still looked human. “So, you whisked her away and rid her of all of her memories, which included her memories of her true family, and her friends? All because you wanted to make her happy.”

He could not help but growl as he asked, “Isn’t she a little young for you?”

Aleryn’s gaze became cruel as his glowing eyes held Snape’s stare. When he spoke, his voice was filled with rage. “If I had wished her as anything besides a daughter, I would have placed different memories within her head.”

“Mr. Snape,” he continued in a softer voice. “I had a daughter. Her name was Helena.” He looked away when tears glistened in his eyes. “When my brother found out about us, he killed both her, as well as my wife, Allison. He left me for dead as well.”

Severus opened his mouth to inquire, but stopped on a gasp as the images of Riddle killing a beautiful woman and a little girl filled his head. As he watched, he saw the two brothers facing off, and the truth of Aleryn’s lesser magic.

It brought tears to his own eyes as he saw the man grieving over his wife and child. Both dead while he lived. Then, he had gathered their memories from them, and sealed them away to be safe.

The memory continued, shifting and changing as Severus saw Aleryn’s visions of the Golden Trio, and the striking resemblance between Hermione and the daughter the other man had lost. He could feel the emotion and the reservation the man had felt as he had watched her own suffering.

When the memory stopped, the two men sat facing each other. Aleryn spoke softly, “I never did anything to harm Hermione, or her memories. They are safely locked away. I placed my precious Helena’s memories into her head. The only thing I changed was the memory of her death.”

He drew a shaky breath. “As far as she knows, her mother died in a terrible car accident that she and I survived. And I brought her back here, because I believe she should have a chance to be happy with the two men I have seen to be her destiny.”

Severus’ attention snapped to him at that. “Two men? What are you talking about?”

Aleryn smiled sadly. “As much as I wish this were not so, there are things that are about to happen in our world. The things that she will have to be apart of. I have seen her destiny. I have seen what it will take not only for her to be truly happy. But also what will become of our worlds if this union does not take place.”

With an angry curse, Severus rose to his feet. “What are you talking about? What will become of our world? You’ve being very cryptic.”

Aleryn chuckled. “I am sorry. If I was able to be less so, I would. Unfortunately, I only know that you and your young friend that was here earlier, along with one other, hold the key to my beloved Helena’s happiness.”

He stood, and gestured for Severus to follow. At the door, he turned and added, “when the time comes, I will relinguish Hermione’s memories to you. Unfortunately, Helena’s memories will still be there. As there is no other place for them to go, they will stay embedded in her mind.”

When Aleryn opened the door, Severus walked through it. He had wanted to speak to the young Helena, but suddenly, felt himself ill prepared. Moving deeply into the shadows, he instead Apparated away. Meeting the beautiful Helena/Hermione would have to wait. He had too much to digest just yet.

The most unsettling news was not the idea that Draco may have been competition. No, what bothered him now was that he would have to share her. And not just with Draco, but with another as well? Just who the bloody hell else would he have to share her with? And why?

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A/N: OKAY... Now, BEFORE you flame me.... The MAIN relationship here is between HG/DM... However, there is more to this story that will reveal itself in time. If I could have placed this into SS/HG, and LM/HG ships here too, I would have, because all three men are going to be very important to her...

Please no hatred on me. This story has been at me to write for some time now... I just wasn't sure exactly where to place it on this site. Reviews please??? Just don't scream too loud... My ears are fragile.