Visions of Deception

Chapter Eighteen:

"Lily, how do you feel?" Severus asked her. She looked at him and began to cry.

"He's coming," she sobbed. "Peter's coming and he's going to hurt you," she said looking at Severus. "He's going to hurt you because you are protecting me," she sobbed uncontrollably and her head throbbed. She squeezed her eyes shut in agony and Severus realized that she was frightened as well as in pain. He opened the drawer to her bedside table and found the small bottle of potion.

"Drink this," he said. She shook her head violently.

"He's coming tonight! I can't be knocked out when he...owww," she said squeezing her eyes shut again.

"Take the potion, it won't keep you out for long," he said soothingly and she reluctantly took the potion. He laid her back and she looked at him her eyes wide with fear.

"He's here now." She said frantically. "He's here. The blond slytherin boy," she said. "The blond slytherin boy let him in. He knows where he is," she said. Severus' eyes flew to Sirius who was already on his way out the door with Remus on his heels.

"Find Draco Malfoy!" Severus ordered. "I'm not leaving her alone."

Dumbledore stood beside the bed watching Liliann fight sleep.

"Liliann go to sleep," Severus said softly. "I'm not going to go anywhere, and no one is going to hurt me,"

She looked at him and began to cry again. "He tricked you into going outside...he told you he saw someone lurking and you followed. He hurt you. He made you scream." She said desperately. "I don't want to have to see that," she sobbed. "Don't go outside tonight, please Severus. Stay here with me please," she begged.

Severus looked at her and then to Dumbledore feeling helpless. Luckily Professor Dumbledore came to his rescue.

"Rest dear child," he said placing his hand on Liliann's forehead. "Severus shall stay by your side until we know that you are both safe."

This arrangement satisfied Liliann and she closed her eyes. Severus began to cry, shaking his head.

"I don't know what to do," he said trying to stop the tears. "I need to keep her safe, and she's frantic because of me,"

Dumbledore looked down at him and smiled. "You have to remain focused and strong to help her," he told Severus. "You are doing more for her than you know. Why don't you rest awhile? I'm sure she won't mind the company,"

"I can't, I have to go look for Malfoy," he said collecting himself and rising from the floor.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, removing his glasses. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I hate to do this but I'm going to use my authority against you. I order you to stay with this woman and to get some rest,"

Severus looked at Dumbledore with surprise and smiled gratefully. He climbed into bed beside her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. She wrapped her arms weakly around him.

"Severus, I love you," she said and then she was asleep. He lay there, stunned by her words and realized that he loved her back.

"I love you too," he whispered in her ear and he settled down to sleep while she did.

Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall looked at them and smiled. Making silent vows to ensure that neither one of them got hurt. It had taken both of them a long time to find each other and if it could be helped everyone wanted them to stay the way they were. Glancing once more at the sleeping couple Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall shut the door to Liliann's bedchamber silently so as not to disturb them.

* * * * *

Chapter Nineteen:

Draco Malfoy ran as fast as he could to the Slytherin commons room. He had to get Peter Petigrew out before anyone found him. He was already in enough trouble. When he reached the wall his mind went blank.

"What's the bloody password!" he screamed aloud. "Think!" he said shaking his head. He heard footsteps behind him. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had been sent after him. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity the words came to him. "Venomous Rattle," he screeched and the wall slid open. He darted inside to find Peter Petigrew seated in an armchair. "Get up, I have to get you out of here!" Draco panicked.

Peter looked at him with an amused expression on his face. "Did you manage to give yourself away already?"

"We don't have time for this!" Draco hissed. "They will be here any minute you have to go now."

"Don't tell me you're afraid." Peter said mockingly. "If your father saw you standing here he'd be disgraced."

Draco flinched at the mention of his father. "You must go now," he said again.

"You are a disgrace to all of us," Peter sneered rising from his seat and taking a step toward Draco. "Very well, I'm going. You will be summoned when we need you," Peter said. With that he transformed into a rat and scuttled out of the commons room through a small hole near the fireplace. Draco took a deep breath and prepared for the worst. He dashed to his room and pretended to read trying to calm his breathing. A few moments later Remus Lupin and Sirius Black charged into the Slytherin Commons Room.

"Draco Malfoy?" Remus called in an authoritative manner. When they received no answer they entered the boy's dormitory. Draco was lying on his bed with a book in front of him. Sirius wasted no time. He went over to the bed and lifted Draco off of it by his robes.

"Put me down!" Draco demanded.

"No way, you're coming with us," Sirius said and he flung him over his shoulder. Draco drew his wand and prepared to strike Sirius but Remus was too quick. He snatched it out of his hand before Draco could blink.

"I'll take that," Remus said smugly. They turned and headed toward the door unaware that they were being watched by a pair of sinister red eyes in a hole near the floor. Sirius and Remus headed toward Professor Dumbledore's office with Draco kicking and punching the entire way there.

* * * * *

Draco was terrified by the time they reached the gargoyle in front of Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Apple Licorice," Sirius said and the gargoyle hopped to the left and the wall slid aside. Remus and Sirius stepped inside and Sirius placed Draco in a chair. Professor Dumbledore was seated behind his desk a stern look on his usually cheerful face.

"Draco Malfoy I have reason to believe that you are harboring someone evil in my school, is this true?"

Draco hesitated before answering. "No sir," he said looking at Dumbledore.

"Why are you shaking dear boy?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well if you were rudely snatched from your room, brought to the headmaster's office, and accused of harboring evil people, wouldn't you shake a bit?" he said gaining confidence.

"I suppose, but only," Dumbledore paused for effect, "if I were guilty."

Draco gulped loudly. The roomed seemed stuffy and hot so he pulled up his sleeves. The dark mark on his arm was noticed immediately.

"Draco Malfoy," Dumbledore said gravely, "I have no choice but to expel you from Hogwarts."

"What!" Draco screamed rising from his chair. Realizing his fatal error he turned to run only to be caught in Sirius' grasp.

"And to forbid you and your family from ever setting foot on these grounds again," Dumbledore added. "Hand over your wand."

When those words were uttered Remus stepped forward and handed the wand to Dumbledore.

"You wait until my father hears about this!" Draco uttered angrily.

"Your father will hear about it right now," Dumbledore said. He produced some parchment and a quill, scribbled a short letter to Lucius Malfoy, and sent his phoenix, Fawkes, to deliver the message.

"We can wait until your father responds," Dumbledore said sitting back in his chair. "You are not going anywhere. Sirius, will you please alert the ministry that you have caught a death eater?"

"Right away," Sirius said and he swiftly exited the office. Remus stood directly behind Draco to be sure he would not attempt another escape.

"Please Lupin, have a seat. Mr. Malfoy will not attempt to leave again,"

Draco hung his head realizing that he had been caught and his father would only be the beginning of his trouble.

* * * * *

Chapter Twenty:

Severus shifted slightly and looked at Liliann. She had been asleep for almost three hours and was waking up. He loosened his grasp on her so she could roll over onto her back.

"Severus, were you crying earlier?" she asked turning her head to look at him. He propped his head up with his hand and looked lovingly at her.

"Yes I'm afraid I was," he admitted.

"Why?" she asked. He ran his free hand along her face and pushed a stray piece of hair off of her forehead. He smiled at her trying to find the words.

"Well," he began, "I'm very worried about you." he looked at her again and could not find the words he needed to explain himself. "Grrr," he said finally.

"Grrr?" she said raising an eyebrow. "You grrr?" she smiled faintly. "I never thought I'd see the day that Severus Snape would grrr," she joked.

"I find the English language very constraining right now," He told her. "I know how I feel but I'm not sure how to put it into words,"

"It's okay," she said. "I understand what you're not saying."

He smiled at her. "Yes, I believe you do," he said gazing upon her. Remembering that she felt very warm after her vision he tenderly placed his hand on her forehead. "You look a lot better now and you don't feel so warm," he observed.

"I feel a lot better. I should have known this would happen, I didn't feel well this morning," she confessed.

"Why didn't you say something?" he asked her.

"I didn't want to worry you," she told him. She looked at him with wide eyes. She had heard him tell her he loved her and she wondered now if he had meant it. He noticed the look of discontent on her face.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"Nothing, just me being silly," she said turning over and looking out the window.

"It's got to be something you won't even look at me," he said. "What? Liliann talk to me," he begged. She realized that by turning away from him she had made him feel as if she didn't trust him. She rolled over again and looked at him.

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked him. He blinked somewhat confused.

"What did I say?" he asked.

"When you said you loved me, did you mean it?" her tone of voice and the look on her face made her seem somewhat desperate for an answer.

"Yes I meant it Lily. I've never once uttered those words to anyone before," he whispered, running his hands alongside her face once more. "It scares me to realize that I do in fact love you, very much," he confessed. Liliann began to sob and Severus was both surprised and frightened by this.

"What is it?" he asked sitting up and looking at her with concern. Was what he had just told her a bad thing? She sat up as well and he wrapped his arms protectively around her.

"I'm just overwhelmed," she said sniffling and wiping her eyes. "I'm overwhelmed because I can see in your eyes that you're telling me the truth."

He smiled at her and said nothing. She sat there in his arms and sighed with contentment. She had found someone who loved her for who she was and she decided that she would be damned if Peter or anyone else would take that away from her.

* * * * *

Chapter Twenty-One:

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Lucius Malfoy slamming the letter he had received onto Dumbledore's desk. He scanned the room and noticed that Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and two men he had never seen before were present.

"Have a seat Lucius," Dumbledore said calmly, motioning toward the chair beside his son. Lucius took a seat.

"What is going on here?" he demanded again his face twisted in anger.

"Lucius Malfoy your son is being expelled from this school," Dumbledore began, "It has been discovered that he is a death eater and therefore is a threat and danger to everyone around him. And furthermore we have reason to believe that he is also harboring a fugitive," with that Dumbledore stood and picking Draco's wand up from the desk, he snapped it in two.

"You have no proof of this!" Lucius spat rising from his seat.

"The mark on his arm is proof enough," one of the unnamed men said. "Your son is going to Azkaban."

Lucius began to protest but the other man moved quickly and grabbed him as the first man apprehended his son.

"Take your hands off of me!" He demanded squirming in the man's grasp. Sirius and Lupin had silently watched this turn of events and it was Sirius who went to Lucius Malfoy and raised the sleeve of his left arm.

"Like father like son," Remus remarked.

"Get these two out of my sight," Sirius instructed and the two nameless men obeyed. Both Draco and his father went with the men without resistance.

"That was almost too easy," Remus remarked. No sooner had those words been spoken than they heard a loud bang from the entrance hall.

"You are a disgrace Draco," they heard Lucius say as they ran down the hall. They watched with horror as Lucius raised his wand and murdered his son.

"I'll be back to finish with you later," he said narrowing his eyes at the group that stood too stunned to react. With those words spoken Lucius Malfoy disappeared. As if snapped out of a trance Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore raced to Draco's side knowing that it was too late.

"Someone alert Severus and Liliann of the news." Dumbledore said as he lifted Draco's lifeless body off of the ground.

"I think they already know," Remus said pointing up the hall to where the dragon stood. Severus Snape was standing in the doorway too stunned to move and Liliann had her head buried in his chest.

The two nameless men looked to Sirius.

"You can go," Sirius snapped, "you're obviously of no use to us," The two men muttered an apology for letting Lucius get away and exited.

"What else could possibly happen?" Remus muttered as they left the entrance hall before it filled with curious students.

* * * * *

Both Liliann and Severus had heard the loud noise from the hallway. Liliann screamed and jumped and Severus grabbed his wand and prepared for an attack.

"The entrance hall," Liliann whispered and Severus dashed out before she could stop him.

"Severus don't, you'll get hurt!" she said but it was too late. She sat on the bed not sure if she wanted to run after him or stay where she was. Deciding that she did not want him to be alone she grabbed her wand and ran after him. She didn't have to go very far. She found him standing numbly in the entrance to her office. The look on his face was unreadable so Liliann turned her head to find what had frightened him. The sight that met her eyes made her turn away. Draco lie dead on the stone floor and Lucius Malfoy had been the one to strike him.

"Oh god," she gasped. She wrapped her arms around Severus' waist and buried her head in his chest. "Oh god he killed him," she whispered.

Severus didn't know how to react. He had just watched one of his students die in front of him because he didn't live up to his father's expectations. He was shocked. Part of him wanted to run to the lifeless boy but the other part wanted to turn around and hide in Liliann's office. He couldn't believe that this was happening. He began to tremble and Liliann noticed immediately.

"Come on," she said guiding him back into her office. "Come on, you need to sit down," she said trying to take control of the situation. He needed her to be strong and help him the way he had helped her. She sat him down in one of the chairs in her office and she sat on the edge of her desk.

"I don't know what to do," he said in barely a whisper. "I feel like I should cry but I can't,"

She looked at him lovingly and knelt beside him. She took both of his hands in hers and said, "Cry if you feel you need to. If you can't now, you will when you are ready,"

"His own father killed him," he said. She realized that he was in shock.

"Severus," she said, "Severus look at me. This is not your fault," she began slowly and quietly. "You could not save him, he was damned from the moment he was born," she said. Severus looked at her with a mix of understanding and confusion.

"I suppose so, he did what his father expected him to do," Severus commented unaware of the tears falling from his eyes. He made no motion to wipe them off so Liliann did. She stood up and hugged him tightly waiting patiently for his sobs to subside. When they did he wiped his eyes and looked at her.

"Come with me to my quarters," he requested. "I have something I want to give you," she nodded in agreement and they proceeded to walk to Severus' quarters.

* * * * *

Liliann and Severus walked silently toward the dungeons. She wondered what was going through his mind but realized that he would tell her when he was ready. When they reached the stairs that lead down to the dungeons Severus suddenly spun around to face Liliann. His sudden movement startled her and she jumped back and looked at him.

"Did you hear something?" she asked.

He shook his head no and before she could protest he swept her off of her feat and began to carry her down the stairs.

"I can walk," she commented.

"I am well aware of that fact," he said, "but I chose to not let you walk."

She giggled and clasped her hands around his neck winding his long hair around her fingers. When they reached his quarters Severus sat Liliann down on his bed. He walked over to the cupboard where he stored his potions and produced a black velvet box. Walking back over to the bed, he handed it to Liliann.

"I was going to wait until Christmas to give this to you," he said. "But I think now would be a good time,"

She looked at him and then at the unopened box on her lap. She fumbled with the box for a moment, her hands shaking and finally managed to open it. She gasped at the sight that greeted her. It was a silver dragon pendant. The dragon had emeralds for eyes and was holding a small glass lily in his claws. The center of the lily held a very small diamond.

"Oh, it's...its...wow," she said unable to speak.

"It was my mother's," he said. "She gave it to me and made me promise to give it to someone I loved,"

She began to cry, realizing what this meant. He kissed her on the cheek and hugged her tightly.

"Will you put it on for me?" she requested. Her hands were shaking terribly and she did not want to risk dropping it. He nodded and moved her hair to place the dragon around her neck.

"First," he said, "We need to take this one off," Severus said as he removed the white gold necklace with the compass from her neck. He placed the compass into the box that once held the dragon and placed the dragon around her neck.

Once the necklace was around her neck she held the small dragon in her hand and looked at it in awe.

"Do you like it?" he asked hesitantly.

"It's beautiful," she said. "It's...I can't even begin to tell you how much this means." She said. He took the box containing Liliann's necklace and placed it on the bedside table.

"You don't have to say a word," he said sitting beside her. He kissed her gently and found himself not wanting the kiss to end.

* * * * *

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione all sat together in the Gryffindor Commons room. It was unusually empty but none of them seemed to notice or care. They were all shocked by what had happened in Divinations and wondered if Professor Nightshade had awakened yet.

"Wonder if we can find Professor Dumbledore," Harry quipped after a long silence.

"I hope she's alright," Hermione said.

"I'm sure Snape is taking good care of her," Ron commented.

"I think Professor Snape is in love with her," Neville said quietly. "The way he looked at her..." Neville's voice trailed off.

"Do you think it's possible?" Hermione asked.

"What?" Ron questioned.

"For Snape to be in love?" she asked.

"Well I supposed anything is possible," Harry said. "Neville's right, the way he looked at her, he definitely cares for her."

"I think it's a good thing," Neville said. "Everyone deserves to be happy," again he got quiet thinking of his mother and father. The room was unusually quiet and the entire group jumped when a loud bang sounded from the entrance hall.

"That can not be a good thing," Ron said stating the obvious.

"Should we go and see what it was?" Harry asked. Looking at the frightened looks on his friends' faces he decided that maybe they should stay in the safety of the commons room until dinner.

"What a weekend this will be," Ron said shaking his head.

The silence that filled the room was like a dense fog but none of them knew what to say. They were too stunned to move or try to do anything so they all just sat, happy that they were not alone, wondering what news they would receive at dinner.

* * * * *

Upon entering the Great Hall later that evening Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville realized that something was not right. The entire Slytherin table was talking in excited but hushed whispers and Draco Malfoy was not in his usual seat. To top it all off, both Professor Nightshade and Professor Snape were nowhere to be found.

"Wonder where Malfoy is," Ron commented. The rest of the group shrugged.

"Who knows," Neville said.

"Professor Nightshade's not here," Hermione noted.

"Neither is Snape," Ron said.

"I guess she's still unconscious," Harry commented. They reached the Gryffindor table and hesitated before sitting down. Harry noticed that Sirius and Remus were there as was McGonagall and Dumbledore and they all looked exhausted.

"I think we should ask McGonagall," Neville said sprinting toward the front of the room. The rest of the group joined him in front of the staff table. They all hesitated and Hermione appointed herself spokesperson.

"Professor McGonagall," Hermione began after taking a deep breath, "We were wondering, is Professor Nightshade alright?"

McGonagall nodded. "She's just fine," she guaranteed them. "The poor girl suffers from terrible headaches. She'll make a full recovery over the weekend,"

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Ron offered.

"No thank you, I think that she's being taken care of," McGonagall said. "Now go take your seats," The group obeyed and as soon as they sat down Dumbledore stood up.

"Attention please," he began and the entire room was silent. "Due to recent events there will be no trip to Hogsmeade this week," he announced. The entire room groaned. "And furthermore, no student is permitted to leave the castle unless you alert a Professor or your Prefect as to where you are going and when you will return. You will also not venture anywhere alone."

The room filled with murmurs of surprise, anger, and fear. Dumbledore sat down and scanned the room for Harry and the rest of the students that had been present early that morning.

Dinner was finished in silence. Everyone was curious about the new rules and what events could have possibly brought about such restrictions.

* * * * *

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Severus lay in his bed with a sleeping Liliann in his arms. She shivered and he pulled the blankets up to cover her arms placing his arms around her waist once more. He knew that he should wake her for dinner but decided against it. He let his mind run over the events of the past twenty-four hours. In that short span of time he had realized which students could be trusted, Lily had a vision, he admitted he was in love, and he watched a student die. It almost seemed like a dream rather than his life.

"What are you thinking about?" Liliann asked him.

"I thought you were asleep," he commented. "How do you know I was thinking about something?"

"Well," she began with a small grin, "when you think you tend to run your hands down my side," she giggled, "and I'm ticklish."

"Oh I see," he said a mischievous grin spreading across his face. He began to tickle her and she howled with laughter.

"Stop, stop," she giggled, gasping for breath. She tried to squirm out of his grasp but she became tangled in the sheets and could not move at all. She lay there laughing and he continued to tickle her. "Stop...can't...breath," she gasped, tears running down her face from laughing, and he finally stopped tickling her.

"My, my, my, you are ticklish aren't you?" he laughed.

"No," she lied, "Not at all," she started to lie back down but hesitated. "No more tickling?" she asked innocently.

"No more tickling," he said and when she lay back down he added, "for now,"

"Oh joy," she said with a smile, laying her head on his chest. He ran his hand through her hair and placed the other around her waist. They laid there content not to say a word, just to listen to each other breathing.

"I almost feel guilty," Liliann said suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Huh? Guilty?" Severus questioned.

"Not about you and I," she explained, "about the fact that you and I have been together all day, and I've been in bed for most of it, and everyone else is doing something. Poor Remus and Sirius...they are probably exhausted."

"We shall have to find a way to thank them when all this is over," Severus said.

She murmured an agreement and closed her eyes once more. A few moments later there was a forceful knock on the door.

* * * * *

Chapter Twenty-four:

Remus Lupin knocked forcefully on Severus' door. He and Sirius noticed that neither of them had been at dinner. Worried that something may have happened they had gone back to Liliann's quarters and discovered that they were not there. Alarmed, Remus decided to check Severus' quarters before panicking. Sirius stayed at Liliann's in case they came back.

He stood in front of the door wondering if they were there, he had heard no sound from the room. Just as he raised his hand to knock once more the door opened.

"Remus," Severus said looking at him in surprise.

"You two weren't at dinner and you weren't in Lily's room so before we ran all over looking for you I decided to try here." Remus explained. "Is everything okay? How's she feeling?"

Severus ushered Remus in and shut the door. He motioned for Remus to sit down.

"She's doing well," he said after both he and Remus had sat down.

"Well, where is she?" Remus inquired.

"She decided that she was going to be lazy and take a long, hot bath." Severus said with a smile.

"I don't consider that girl lazy," Remus said defensively of her. "After everything she's been through, her visions, she deserves a break,"

Severus smiled. "Those are her words,"

"Well, if everything is alright here, I'm going to head back to find Sirius," Remus said standing. "Oh and one more thing,"

"Yes?" Severus said.

"Dumbledore put some new rules into motion at dinner, no one is allowed to leave the castle unless one of us knows about it and no one is to wander anywhere alone, and there's no visit to Hogsmeade this week," Remus told him.

"I see," Severus said. "Thank you Remus."

With a silent nod Remus disappeared from the room leaving Severus standing alone. Wondering how Malfoy's death would be explained to the students he returned to his bedchamber. Liliann was in the bathroom, humming to herself. Thinking that everything was finally all right, at least for now, Severus retreated to his kitchen to make a cup of tea. His thoughts returned to Liliann's most recent vision. Peter Petigrew had been inside Hogwarts. He wondered what Peter had planned for Halloween and if it had been ruined by Malfoy's death. He wished that he knew when Liliann's next vision would be. Each vision brought about fear and he wondered if they would one day kill her. The one thing that scared Severus Snape was not knowing.

* * * * *

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Peter Petigrew threw his hands up in frustration as he glared at Lucius Malfoy. They were hiding deep within the forbidden forest and Peter was furious.

"Did you have to go and kill him?" Peter asked. "I'm sure that we could have used him for something. How the hell am I supposed to get back into Hogwarts now?"

Lucius just looked at him. He was speechless and disappointed. "I gave Draco what I felt he deserved," Lucius informed him, "he would have gotten us all caught,"

"Both of you are a disgrace!" Peter declared. "I should have known I would have to do this myself. How the hell did they find out that he was hiding me anyway?" Peter said in bewilderment.

"Everything you had planned is falling apart Peter," Lucius said with a smile. "If I were you, I'd back off for now."

"No." Peter said stubbornly. "Aryana deserves to die and she will on Halloween, just like I planned."

"Well there is nothing more I can do to help you, I am wanted for murder so you are on your own. I think this personal vendetta of yours could be settled differently." He turned walked over to his broom, which had been sitting just a few feet from where he was standing. He mounted the broom and circled Peter.

"Remember Petigrew," Lucius said, "There are worse things than death." With those words spoken, he flew off rendering himself invisible before exiting the forbidden forest.

"Yes," Peter said aloud to himself, "There are worse things than death," an evil grin spreading across his face.