Dear Lily *COMPLETE*

Disclaimer: Not mine, but Jo's.

Lisa: I agree, age is just a number, my first kiss was from a forty one year old, and I was eighteen! Since then I have preferred the older man.

Dear Lily

I knew someone would penetrate my disguise, part of me was hoping for it actually, whilst I loved being Ebonium it was rather inconvenient if you needed to talk to someone, although I must say being fussed by Miss Weasley was pleasant, it was a good thing there was a cat lover in the crowd. She had a pleasant flowery smell about her, which made my cat senses go wild. I decided it wouldn't be right to remain Ebonium at night. Malfoy and I could apparate to a bed and breakfast I suppose.

After the note had been delivered and deciphered I decided to leave the room and breathe a huge sigh of relief. At least they believed it and now were talking about a rescue mission, sometimes Potter can be so cautious I swear that he should be in Slytherin... er, no not really I suppose that would have been confusing, okay I'm rambling now or perhaps my thoughts are straying. I thought of my feelings if the boy did indeed end up in my house. Of course, I’d have to play favourites, and it would have been a far better revenge for Potter Sr and S.B. To find out their precious boy was under MY care… but then my thoughts wandered over to you Lily. No, it would not have been good for your son to be a Slytherin… you don’t deserve that Lily.

I was pit patting my way back up the stairs that were being cleaned of the house elf heads and then I was almost to my room when a spell whacked me full on my chest, I screeched and jumped and spun in the air and landed on the floor a human and not a cat. Remus stepped out from the shadows. He tucked his wand back inside his trouser pocket and smiled a rather knowing smile.

"So, Severus, you couldn't stay away for long could you!"

He watched disinterestedly as I was scrambling back up from the dusty floor, the trouble with black is it does show dust up more, as I was dusting myself down I could feel Remus inspecting me.

"What!" I snapped.

"Why did you bother to tell us about Hermione?"

"Because you lot care about her, and if I have to admit it, so do I." I said gruffly. "She's an annoying interfering know-it-all, but she's also got a heart. And if truth be told in some ways she reminds me of me a little bit, like she's my rebellious daughter, not that I have a daughter."

Remus lips curved and twitched, his eyes weren't judging me, he wasn't even going to harm me.

"This is a great risk you're taking Severus," he said calmly. "I doubt Lord Voldemort will ever like you if he found this out!"

"You-Know-Who is actually hunting me down to kill me anyway. And so what's one more time!" Then a thought occurred to me. "How did you know my name?"

"We went to school together, Severus, and we worked together for a year it's not that I had my ears closed, Severus," he answered. He could almost be as enigmatic as Dumbledore when it came to answering questions.

"Not my birth name stupid, my other name!" Did you tell him Lily? Did you betray me to them?

Remus flinched a little when I replied in that harsh way.

"I knew you were there in the rooms that I taught James, Sirius and Peter, slinking in the shadows and sometimes I even spotted you following us. One day, I happened to overhear you in the Library talking to Lily, and she decided to give you that name."

"Did they know?" I asked. Lily, I am sorry for that little edge of doubt, but as you know trust is something I've never managed to gain the art of.

"No," Remus said and there was no blinking or flinching, he wasn't lying.

"All right."

"Look," Remus sighed, "it's obvious you've been through something, so why don't you relax a little? I will go downstairs and tell them what you told me, then come back down in about ten minutes."

"Actually Draco is here as well, let me go and get him, I have to be in that room, I am the only one that knows where the Lestrange’s live, Rodolphus and I were friends at one time, or as close to a friend as I ever had."

"Obviously Mr Malfoy would to," Remus said in the know-all voice he had when we were children, I gritted my teeth then went to the room that I stashed him in.

Only to find him not there!

"Why that stubborn cursed little bastard!" I exclaimed almost swearing.

"What?" Remus said. I was looking for him all over the place, I flung the beds upside down, I opened every single wardrobe door hoping against hope, that he had done the cool headed sensible thing and concealed himself somewhere within the room.

Phineus opened one lazy eye as he was wont to do and let me search, Remus helped me too which was a kind thing to do considering he didn't like the slug much.

"Looking for the blonde wonder," Phineus said carefully.

"What do you think?" I snapped.

"Temper, temper, Severus."

"Well then tell me where he went?"

"He mentioned something about getting the hell out of it here," Phineus yawned. "You have made the same mistake as Dumbledore, Severus, you care too much about the students. They don't appreciate it you know. They just run off and do as they please without so much as a thank you for your trouble." He yawned again. "Take that Potter for instance, when my great grandson was murdered he was breaking Dumbledore's precious possessions not caring whether Dumbledore cared about them, and even he, Dumbledore, admitted that caring for him, Potter, too much was a mistake. Something that I had been trying to get through to him. Do you know even as a portrait he's difficult to convince!"

"Oh shut up," I grunted, sitting down on my bed with my head in my hands shaking it dismally.

Remus came and sat down next to me and surprisingly put a comforting arm around my shoulder I tried to shrug it off, I was not going to cry!

"Look Severus we'll do you a deal all right, you help us find Hermione and rescue her and we'll help you find Malfoy all right."

"No, Remus, it's no use they'll both be dead by now, and then it'll be me, Malfoy or Hermione will tell them where to find me and I'll be next!"

"Not if the Order have anything to do with it," Remus said proudly. "We'll rescue them both and they will both be alive when we get there."

"No, no, no Remus you don't understand. You-Know-Who will kill him and Hermione well I don't think I could see it happen again!"

All Remus could do for me was rub my back and try soothing me with comforting words.

Severus

A/N I am sorry for the short length of this chapter... they do get longer and better! So, what do you think, review, please?