Beyond the Shadows of the Night

Chapter One: Dark Revelations

The falcons were soaring across the clouded sky, carried by the chilly breeze as if they weighed nothing at all, so light and graceful they were. The air was filled with their screeching cries. He was standing on a grassy hill staring into the far distance-- infinite freedom. The child next to him nuzzled up against him affectionately and its small hand clasped his tightly while it watched the falcons' swooping flight. His child... his own blood... his descendant who would carry on the name of his family with pride and honour... his child... Eagerly the child listened to what it was told about nature and its wonders. He ruffled the child's black hair lovingly. "Severus!" a voice interrupted him in his explanation. Lily! he thought to himself, smiling, and he turned to greet his wife ...

Severus's head bumped against the wall of his bedroom. He groaned. Rubbing his forehead and blinking in the darkness, he tried to find a way back to reality. Had someone just called his name? No, that must have been in his dream... It had been such a good dream! For a few hours he had been with the child he had never had. God, how he longed to have a child of his own! A child that was entirely his. A child that was just like himself. A child he could love and cuddle and who wouldn't reject him but love him right back. As a father. They would do so much together! Hundreds of times he had pictured it. He'd teach it potion making and defence curses, he'd take it with him into nature, explaining all the plants and animals to it, collecting potion ingredients. And it would listen raptly to his every word, eager to learn. Not like those imbecilic idiots he had to teach every day, who would never understand the art of potion making, even if he hammered it into their empty heads.

"Severus!" the soft female voice called again.

He froze. That certainly hadn't been part of his dreams. The voice had come from right behind him and the speaker was in his room. Slowly, he turned over in his bed, disentangling himself from the blankets. What the---

He gasped. Floating in mid-air was the apparition of a beautiful woman in long green robes. Her dark red hair was shining and mischief sparkled in her bright green eyes. A golden shimmer seemed to radiate from her.

"Lily!" Severus exclaimed, staring at her as if petrified.

The apparition smiled at him. "Yes, Severus."

Severus was incapable of saying a word. His heart beating wildly, he just continued to stare.

Lily hadn't changed at all since the last time he'd seen her, when... she'd still been alive. She didn't seem to have aged one day. Her hair was still a flaming red and her emerald eyes gleamed as brightly as in life. Just as he remembered her. Only the slight transparency of her appearance indicated that she was no longer a living person. But her youth would last forever...

Severus fought off the choke of tears in his throat. He'd never even dared to hope to see her again since they had parted. And here she was, standing right before him, her graceful appearance floating a few inches above the floor. Seeing her before him, he realizedthat his love for her hadn't subsided the tiniest bit. If possible, it might even have grown. He was suddenly aching to pull her into his arms, to feel her one more time and nuzzle his face into her hair. But he knew it was impossible. Lily was no longer solid, he'd go right through her. She was just... a shadow...

"Why did you have to come here...?" Severus asked in a voice that was close to cracking. Seeing her after all the years made it even worse. He had spent the last fifteen years of his life trying to suppress all the misery their lost love had caused him. He had done everything in his might to rid his mind of the memory. And now it all came up again. All the emotions: grief, desperation, hopelessness, fear --- all that he had banished to the furthest corner of his mind and locked away so that they would never infest his brain with their nagging desolation, again flooded back over him and brought him near a breakdown.

"You shouldn't have come... never... you shouldn't have come...," he whispered, tears now welling up in his eyes. He made no effort to wipe them away, he just let them stream unrestrainedly down his face.

"I wouldn't if I'd had a choice. I would have spared you the pain," Lily said and in her eyes tears were glittering now too.

Severus started. "What do you mean--- you had no choice?" he asked, composing himself as much as he could, forcing his voice to remain steady. This was no time for sentimentality. How could he have lost control like that! He was being stupid. Despairing had never helped anyone. He had managed it through fifteen years, and he would manage it through another fifteen years and longer. With a swift movement he wiped the tears from his face, determined to maintain his composure. But he couldn't stop his heart from feeling like a rock...

"I have come from the land beyond to entrust a task to you," Lily began, her expression grave. "It will not be an easy one and it demands more than I would ever have dared to request from you. But you must accomplish it, do you understand? So much depends on it. " She paused, obviously searching for the right words.

"A task?" Severusasked unbelievingly. "Me?"

"Yes, Severus. The Guardians have instructed me to inform you of your duty. I would never have been allowed to leave the Gates if it hadn't been for that. Listen, Severus. Dark times are coming---" Her eyes grew sad. "Very dark times. Evil forces are accumulating around Voldemort from everywhere. They are getting stronger and stronger. If they aren't stopped, they will eventually destroy the world. There is only one person who can stop them, the saviour of our world, and your task is to help and protect him in his fight against evil. Only with support he can succeed. Swear that you will stand by this saviour and support him with any help and advice you can give him." Lily's eyes were pleading so desperately that Severuswouldn't have been able to turn down anything she requested from him, even if she had required that he burn in hell till the end of days. There was nothing he could have denied the pleading eyes of the woman he still loved so much.

"I swear it," Severusreplied breathlessly, blindly submitting to his fate. "But who is it?"

"Harry, my son," Lily said, and she avoided his eyes.

It was as if he had just been stabbed by a knife. Harry! Severus's insides churned and he tasted bitter gall in his mouth. He should have known! Who else could it be but the famous child prodigy! The unpleasant memory of that day´s Potions lesson came to his mind again and then another picture appeared before his inner eye--- a gloating James. Pure anger and hatred surged up inside him. How could he have accepted so easily! Utterly blind and dazed he had agreed, without thinking. But even if he had refused, it probably wouldn´t have been very wise. You couldn´t oppose fate. Severus smiled wryly. He would have gladly done anything for Lily if it just hadn't involved James or his offspring in any way. He, Severus Snape, supposed to help and advise the son of his only true love and his archenemy. How ironic!

"I don't have another choice, do I?" he said with a slight bitterness in his voice. "If the heavenly creatures say so..."

"So you will do it? With all the devotion it demands?"

"With as much devotion as I can muster."

Lily's face lit up in a smile and Severus' mood lightened a bit. Alone for the sake of seeing her smile again, Severus would have appointed Harry Minister of Magic and would have worshipped him for the rest of his life if she'd asked him to.

"Thank you," she whispered, her eyes shining.

"It's all right." Severusforced a crooked smile.

He suddenly felt an urgent need to have some Calming Potion. A little dazed, he got up from his bed and went over to the shelves on the wall to search for the potion.

"Just tell me one thing: why me of all people? I'm sure there are dozens of people who would scramble for the honour of helping him," Severus said with just a tinge of sarcasm.

"Only a true Slytherin can help him."

"Only a true Slytherin?" He raised an eyebrow as he picked up the potion from one of the shelves. "That still doesn't explain why it excludes anyone else apart from me. I am not the only Slytherin in the world."

"Severus... There´s something I need to tell you. I never intended to do so, but I think it is time now that you know..."

Severus, who had just been about to take a swig from the Calming Potion, stopped in his tracks, balancing the vial half-way to his mouth. Something in Lily's voice had made him sit up. A mixture of apprehension and suspicion overcame him.

"What is it?" he asked, more sharply than he had intended.

Lily hesitated. Apparently it was very hard for her to tell him. She looked at him anxiously.

"Harry--" she began, then averted her eyes. "He's not James's son..."

Severus was completely baffled. "Not?" He smothered a laugh at the thought that James's wife should have been unfaithful to him-- the fool!

"Well, who is the father?" he asked almost cheerfully. Any defeat of James had always rendered him content.

"Harry´s father is... you, Severus."

CLATTER!

The vial Severus had been holding was scattered across the floor in smithereens. He gaped.

"ME?!"

Lily nodded mutely.

This couldn't be. This just wasn't possible! It had to be a very bad joke. Lily was mocking him. Or could he possibly-- NO! Impossible!

"Is this possibly a joke at my expense?" Severus asked, the sarcasm hiding his consternation.

"No, Severus. It is the truth. Do you still remember the night in our seventh year?"

Oh, yes, he remembered. As if he'd ever forget that! They had been so happy and careless... It had possibly-- no, definitely-- been the happiest time in his whole life. The memory still made his heart sting with the shattering force of something dear that was irretrievably lost. That night-- was it possible that--

"Of course I do. But assuming that I really am his father-- Why would Harry look like--"

He broke off abruptly. A horrible thought had suddenly occurred to him. If that meant that...

"Lily!" he said breathlessly. "Are you telling me that--"

He realised that tears were rolling down Lily's cheeks.

"Yes." Her voice was choked with sobs.

Now he was horrified, not to mention absolutely confused. "It is strictly forbidden to use it! You had to have known that! How did you ever come by it? And why, why did you do it?" he almost screamed at her, feeling an urge to shake her.

"James--" she sobbed. "He was so strange suddenly, so horrible... when he found out... I would never have done it if it hadn't been for him... but he insisted..."

The bastard!

Severus's hate for James increased to the infinite. For the moment, the fact that Harry was Severus's son took second place. James had mutilated his-- Severus's -- child! ... by using the illegal Cambius Potion...

"Tell me! Everything!" Severus'svoice was harsh.

"I am so sorry, Severus..." Lily whispered, her face awash with tears that looked like precious pearls. She drew a deep breath and began.

"After you and I... had parted, James kept looking after me. I was feeling so low and lonely and he seemed so worried about me. He was always trying to cheer me up with his jokes, taking me to Quidditch practice and letting me in on his plans with his friends. James was a real support to me during that hard time. I don't know what I would have done without him. After some time I realized how much I actually liked James. He seemed so understanding, so heroic and faithful to me and he appeared to anticipate my every wish..." Severusmade an impatient noise. "But you probably don't want to hear that," she added quickly. "Anyway, we married right after graduation, as you know. Everything seemed just wonderful-- until my son was born-- our son. It wasn't hard to tell that it couldn't be James' child and I had to tell him the truth. First he seemed only shocked and disappointed and then he... went mad." Her tears fell again. "He seemed beside himself that Harry wasn't his child. From one day to the next he had changed so drastically you wouldn't have believed he was the same man. I just couldn't understand it. It was so horrible. He threatened to kill me if I didn't agree to use the Cambius Potion on Harry. I had never even heard of it before. It was supposed to be illegal. How he came by the recipe is a mystery to me. I tried to talk him out of it, I really tried. But it was all in vain... He didn't care, just insisted on doing it and threatened me again. I didn't recognize him anymore, I was petrified by then... Anyway, we carried it out. I didn't have another choice. Even if I most desperately didn't want Harry to become anything like James, especially not after those incidents. After Harry had imbibed the potion, he looked exactly like James and some of James' qualities had probably been communicated too..."

Severus had listened to this speech with growing horror. He was stunned. So this was James' true nature! To the whole world he had always shown a smiling face, but when it had come to showing real Gryffindor chivalry-- That hypocrite! He had concealed it damn well anyway.

"I know," Severusmanaged to mumble rather awkwardly. He didn't quite know what to say to Lily, and he didn't want to upset her even more. "PolyjuicePotion mixed with the Imperius Curse and a Sealing Charm... extremely powerful and irreversible... Dark magic of the highest order..."

He buried his head in his hands. How could they, how could they have done it?!

There was a long silence as both just stared at the floor, immersed in their thoughts.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Severus suddenly asked. "God knows, I wanted to have a child, always..."

"I never knew that..." she said with astonishment. "I just couldn't tell you about our child. We had already parted and I... didn't think you'd still love me..." The tears were still flowing mutely down her face.

"Lily, I have always loved you-- I still do. I know that I have been incredibly stupid and petty. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have let Sirius destroy our love."

Lily shook her head. "Don't blame yourself, Severus. It was just unlucky circumstances... it had to come the way it came. It is too late now."

"Yes..." he choked.

Another silence followed.

All of a sudden there was a faint sound of unearthly music, just upon the edge of hearing. Lily's eyes grew wide.

"I am being called back! The time is over! Listen to me, Severus -- I haven't told you everything about your task yet. You must find the one Ayrin that is left. It is the only means of destroying Voldemort."

Lily's appearance grew fainter and more translucent. She was slowly vanishing.

"Never forget-- find the Ayrin!" she called hurriedly, her voice growing fainter too and echoing eerily. "And follow the indications on the--"

She was gone.

Severus sank down heavily on his bed again. For a few minutes, he just continued to sit there motionlessly. His mind was reeling. It had all been a bit too much for him. First the shock of Lily's apparition -- which had, at once, been so blissful and sad to see; then the disconcerting news about Harry being his son and about James's criminal machinations; and finally, this ominous task. All his thoughts were in wild disorder. What he needed now was an ice-cold shower. It was the only sensible thing he could think of doing at that moment.

Slowly, he got up and went over to the wall that hid the secret entrance to his bath. He tapped a sequence of complicated rhythmical patterns with his wand against it, and the wall parted to let him through, revealing a long passageway that wound through the darkness. That was what he liked most about his dungeon private rooms: they were all connected by a maze of secret passageways, which gave to them a dark and mysterious sort of atmosphere.

At the end of the passageway he stopped at another door, unlocked it with yet another tapping sequence, and entered the bath.

Severus's bath was rather gloomy. A single torch next to the entrance illuminated the bleak grey walls. There were no windows as it was underground, and water dripped from the ceiling. The room contained nothing but a large tub and a brass tap on the wall that procured water from the lake.

After having undressed, Severusstepped into the tub and turned on the tap. As the icy jet of water began streaming over him, his mind cleared and the clouds of thought in his head vanished. He suddenly felt much lighter. A drastic remedy like an ice-cold shower had never yet failed its effect. He often needed it in the morning to wake his spirits after a night of magically induced sleep. Nothing else counteracted the strong Sleeping Potion better.

Having dried and dressed in his usual black, Severus walked back to his bedroom, deliberating where to start. He probably ought to go straight to the headmaster and inform him of everything that had happened. Dumbledore had to know -- especially about the task-- as soon as possible even if it was still the dead of night. Severus still hadn't a clue what this task was actually about, let alone what an Ayrin was. But that didn't bother him at the moment. He would go to Dumbledore before breakfast. That would be early enough. What he needed now was some time to think.

He pushed the task aside and let his mind be occupied with Harry and the Cambius Potion alone. Even though he still couldn't quite believe what he had just learned, the first shock had worn off and had made place for some clear thoughts. What should he do about Harry? How should he treat him in the next Potions lesson? For a split second the thought of telling him everything wormed its way into Severus'shead, only to be mentally ripped up and stamped upon. Impossible! Harry wouldn't believe a word and Severus would make a laughing stock of himself. It had to be kept quiet. He would just carry on the way he had always done. But what about co-operating with Harry? Harry was his son and he was still everything like James, damn it! Wasn't there anything he could do about it? Anything at all to give Harry his original self back?

He recalled the properties of the CambiusPotion, pacing the room. He knew them all too well. Several times he had made the potion himself. That had been during his time as a Death Eater. Voldemort had used it quite a few times to... Something struck him as odd. Very odd. He rushed to the bookshelves on the wall and let his gaze wander over the spines. Finally he pulled out a heavy volume with gold lettering. He leafed through it, stopping at a page with the title Cambius Potion. He knew everything about it by heart, but he had to read the description again, just to make sure. He read:

The Cambius Potion is a highly complex and intricate potion belonging to the genre of Dark Magic. The use of it is strictly forbidden by wizarding law due to the use of one of the Unforgivable Curses, the manipulation of a person at will, and various dangerous side effects.

The potion consists of three major parts: PolyjuicePotion, the Imperius Curse, and a Sealing Charm. In the past it was used to change a person's appearance and qualities to those of another person, living or dead. For that purpose, a PolyjuicePotion containing a part of the person to be transformed into had to be brewed. The peculiarity was that the potion was produced in a way that regarded the age difference between drinker and giver. After the PolyjuicePotion was finished, the first of the Unforgivable Curses, namely the Imperius Curse, was cast over it. The curse was responsible for characteristic changes in the drinker of the potion, who then took those of the giver. Finally, a Sealing Charm prevented any wearing off of the effects. Thus the effects of the Cambius Potion were usually irreversible. A backward transformation was highly complicated and dangerous, with only a five percent chance of success. Furthermore, the Cambius Potion could have unpleasant side effects on the giver. Provided that he was still alive after the transformation, the force of the communication could drain him of all magical power and thus made him equal to a Muggleor Squib. The Potion had no effects upon a dead giver.

The Cambius Potion has been prohibited since the second International Conference of Warlocks in 1687.

Severus closed the book. He had been right then. Provided that he was still alive after the transformation the force of the communication could drain him of all magical power and thus made him equal to a Muggle or Squib. Severus's head was full of questions. Why would James have done it? He had changed Harry into a copy of himself, and in so doing had risked losing his magical powers. It made no sense. Severushad always assessed James to be a bit dim. But even James wouldn't be so stupid as to disregard a warning like that. Had Harry been so important to James? Certainly not! He hadn't even been his own son. And where had James gotten the recipe for a dark potion from? You didn't come by anything concerning dark magic easily. Was it possible that whoever had told him how to brew it hadn't mentioned the side effects? This theory sounded most plausible to Severus. But still-- he would never have believed James Potter to associate with anyone connected with the Dark Arts.

Severus thought back to his own days as a Death Eater. As he had been the most skilled, he had always been the one who brewed the potions and he had brewed the Cambius Potion a fair few times. The Dark Lord had mainly used it to replace Death Eaters who had been killed. When a Death Eater was killed in an assault-- which had happened frequently once more and more Aurors had been brought in to fight against Voldemort-- some hairs were taken from him to add to the CambiusPotion. The Dark Lord had then taken a random victim and had forced it to drink the potion. In a few seconds, the victim had changed into a copy of the dead Death Eater--yet as they were at the age of the victim. It had been a very easy way to create new slaves and a far more effective one than a simple Imperius Curse which wore off and had to be renewed regularly. The Cambius Potion was dead sure. The only drawback for Voldemort had been that he couldn't increase the number of his followers that way. He could only replace the dead. Had he used his living servants, they would have lost all their magical power, and wouldn't have been of any use. But this fact had given Voldemort another weapon: the Cambius Potion had been his worst punishment for those who had been unfaithful. He had given the potion containing a hair of an unfaithful Death Eater to a victim, and with the transformation the Death Eater had gradually been drained of all magical powers, forced to live as a Muggle for the rest of his life. The transformed victim had usually been killed afterwards, for the Dark Lord had no use for anyone with a tendency to betray him. For that reason, each Death Eater had been at great pains not to leave anything lying around -- no hair, nothing. A lost hair had represented a great danger for several reasons. Someone might find it and use it in experiments, for instance. It was a popular sport in the time of Voldemort's reign, and most worrisome when a single hair could become your doom.

All these facts were still hardly known in the wizarding world. Very few people knew that there was something called the Cambius Potion, save Potions experts or dark wizards. Even stranger was that James, of all people, should have known. How had he come to know of it? Severus had the feeling that this question wouldn't be answered quickly.

Suddenly having reached a decision, he put the book he was still holding back into its shelve. He would go straight to Dumbledore and tell him everything. Dumbledore would know a way to handle the situation.

~*~

The headmaster's calm voice invited him to come in the very moment he knocked. Apparently he had already been awake too. There had never been a time when Dumbledore hadn't been there when he was needed, and Severus was grateful for that. He entered the circular office with its many pictures of previous headmasters, all looking at him curiously.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, and there was no mistaking the concern in his voice. "What is it?"

"I need to speak with you."

"Did something happen, Severus?" Dumbledore fixed Severus with his blue gaze.

"Yes, indeed," Severussaid with a somewhat bitter smile. "It is all so absurd, so ludicrous... I don't even know where to start."

"Sit down. And then tell me everything, one thing after the other." Dumbledore waved his wand and a glass filled with some brownish liquid appeared on his desk. "Here, Severus. Drink that. It'll do you good."

Severus seated himself in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk and took a swig from the brown liquid. It was very strong brandy that burned his throat. But soon a pleasant warmth spread over him, loosening the tight knot of doubts and insoluble questions in his stomach.

"So what's worrying you?" Dumbledore asked from behind his desk, eyeing Severus sternly. Severus suddenly felt like the little schoolboy who had been summoned before the headmaster because he had done something wrong.

"I was in my bed, sleeping, when suddenly a voice woke me. As I turned around I saw Lily standing in my room-- or rather floating. It was her ghost. She told me about a task I had to fulfil: she said she had been instructed to tell me. In this task I am supposed to help Harry Potter fight the Dark Lord. She said that only a true Slytherin could help Harry in this. And we are supposed to find -- what was it called? -- an Ayrin. I have no idea what this is, I have never heard of it. Apparently it is the only means to destroy the Dark Lord. She wanted to tell me more about it, mentioned some "indications", but the time was over. She was called back. Before she could finish the sentence, she was gone..."

Severus broke up. It still hurt to talk about Lily.

Dumbledore, who had so far listened attentively without interruption, spoke. "Lily told you about the Ayrin..." he mused. "Interesting. So the legend does seem to be true."

"You know about the Ayrin?"

"Well, I have heard of them. So far no one has known whether they really existed or not. There is a legend about them. Alas, I can't remember it entirely. Time flies by and one doesn't get younger. However, I can tell you something about them. The Ayrin are said to be two emeralds of exceptional power. Salazar Slytherin created them in his days at Hogwarts. Allegedly, he left them somewhere within the school, safely hidden. Another gift for his heir to use in taking over the world, I suppose. As far as I can remember, one of the stones was lost over the centuries... leaving one stone at Hogwarts, then. But I suggest you search for the legend in the library. I'm sure a book can tell you more about it than I."

"I shall research it as soon as possible, of course."

"Very good. Have you told young Harry about the task yet?"

"No, I... didn't have the time to tell him yet..." The mere thought of having to tell Harry made Severusshudder. And what he had to tell Harry apart from that...

"He will have to know, of course. But I suggest we find out more about the Ayrin before we take further steps. It would be no good to worry him sooner than necessary."

"Certainly."

A silence followed in which Severusfeverishly thought about how to break the rest of the story to Dumbledore. So far he had avoided the subject of his newly revealed heir most carefully.

"Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?" Dumbledore broke the silence and opened the subject himself.

Severus looked up into those kind blue eyes.

"Yes... actually... there is quite a lot."

Dumbledore looked at him quizzically.

Severus shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Didn't you wonder why -- Lily came to me?"

"Oh, that." Dumbledore chuckled. "It didn't escape me that you and Lily had... well... something of a soft spot for each other during your school time. Is that possibly a reason for her contacting you?"

Severus was only mildly surprised. Did Dumbledore ever miss anything that was going on at Hogwarts?

Sometimes it was almost bothersome how much he knew.

"That is not everything," he said darkly, anger rising up inside him anew. "Do you know about the CambiusPotion?"

"I have an idea of it, yes, though you are probably better informed on that subject. What about it?"

"Lily told me that James used it on Harry because Harry wasn't his son but mine." The words came out harshly.

Dumbledore rose so abruptly from his chair that he knocked it backwards and it landed with a thud on the floor.

"What?!"

It was the reaction Severushad intended to give rise to. There. That's something you didn't know, isn't it? It filled him with a cruel satisfaction that for once he was ahead of Dumbledore, and to a certain extent, it made up for the pain and anger he had experienced in the last two hours.

"Yes," he said, and he got up from his chair too, his face distorted with rage. "Dear James Potter," he spat the name like it was poison, "has mutilated my son. He has made him into the same pathetic and mentally deranged fool that he was. And he threatened Lily -- to kill her if she didn't agree."

Dumbledore just stared at him for some seconds. Then he turned and looked out of the window. For a few minutes there was silence again. Severus watched the old wizard and wondered what he would make of this news. Finally, Dumbledore turned away from the window and addressed Severus. He sounded disconcerted and his face looked very grave. "Tell me exactly what Lily said about James."

And so Severus did. There wasn't really much to tell, but Severus tried to remember every little detail of what Lily had mentioned. When he had finished, Dumbledore merely nodded. Once again he said nothing, just paced his office. Then at length he spoke.

"Unless I am much mistaken, we are confronted with a series of mysterious circumstances. The James I knew-- and certainly the one you knew too-- would never have done a thing like that. Admittedly, he is dead now and can't be confronted about what he has done. But getting to the bottom of this might help us solve some great mysteries of the past and maybe bring some justice into this world."

He paused. Severus was slightly puzzled.

Then Dumbledore continued, a bit more lightly: "I perfectly understand if you want to clear up your family ties and tell Harry everything. Of course, it is your own personal matter; however, I must warn you not to overtax him." He gave Severus a stern look. "To begin with, he ought to know only those things that are absolutely necessary for him to know. I fear the whole truth at once would shatter his world. It can wait. There's a time and a place for everything."

"Of course, headmaster," Snapesaid a bit stiffly. "I didn't intend to do otherwise."

"So we are agreed on that. Fine. I ask you to first concentrate on your task, and as soon as you have found out more about it let, me know. We shall discuss then what to do next." Then he added with a smile: "And now I suggest you get some rest and a nice breakfast before you give your lessons."

The conversation was at its end. Dumbledore had a manner of making it very clear when it was time to go that never made it necessary for him to become explicit.

"Thank you, headmaster."

Severus turned and walked out the door, wondering what this was all about.

_______________________________________________________________

A/N:The credit for the idea of letting Lily appear as a ghost and making Harry Severus´schild belongs to Katherine aka Star.

The Cambius Potion as well as the Ayrin are an invention of myself, though the latter is largely influenced by Michael Ende´s Die Unendliche Geschichte (especially the name *cough*) and Cassandra Claire´s Draco Sinister.