Chapter 17: In the Lake

A/N: Omg Im back! After years, I stayed up until 4 AM last night re-reading this story and falling back in love with it. I re-read all the reviews too, and I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry I dissapeared without finishing the story! It's not fair to all my loyal reviewers and for that I am sorry. You guys were/are amazing! I started this story to serve some sort of function for myself and to fill some sort of void. I was definitely at a different place in my life back then. Now I am in graduate school and I have even less time to do things I want! However, I really missed writing and can't believe I abandoned it for so long. Still, sometimes I think that in order to make something better you have to step away from it from a little while and come back (although not years, again, sorry!).

I have been noticing small mistakes here and there in previous chapters, so I have been trying to fix them. Bear with me for now. Also, sorry if the writing on this chapter isn't quite up to par. I literally wrote it in the past few hours and I wanted to post it because I'm really excited! Enjoy!

Severus Snape was beginning to grow tired of running after ungrateful teenagers who always seemed destined to run straight into the arms of danger. His head was still spinning from the information he had received in Albus's office.

She's a witch...Voldemort has a daughter, and may have even had two...

He made a quick decision and charged toward the main entrance. Anyone who had basically learned that their entire life was a lie would probably opt for some fresh air. Severus paused for a moment to examine the moon-bathed courtyard. The fresh summer night air would have felt good under normal circumstances, but Severus certainly did not take any pleasure in it.

Where would she go?

Without really thinking, his legs began to carry him past the Quidditch Pitch. After walking for a few moments, he saw what could have been the figure of a young girl standing by the Black Lake. His walked turned into a jog, and as he got closer, he could see that it was indeed Amy Beckett. Severus watched the girl for a moment as she peered into the lake, as if it held all the answers to the questions that had to have been swimming through her head.

"I'd like to be alone," said Amy, emotionlessly and without looking up from the lake as though she were in a trance.

"The Headmaster and I do not think that is a good idea, given the circumstances," Snape replied in a stern but gentle tone. This seemed to snap her out of whatever trance she had previously appeared to be in, because she spun around to face Snape with a look of anger that could rival even one of his glaring facial expressions.

"Oh, you and the Headmaster don't think it's a good idea given the circumstances?" Amy repeated. "Are we talking about the circumstances involving the fact that my entire life and everything I ever thought about myself is a lie?"

Snape opened his mouth to reply, but Amy kept going.

"Because apparently, I've been a witch for my entire life, raised by parents who aren't actually my parents, given up by my real mother, who didn't want me, and my father, who is apparently the most evil wizard who ever lived? And I had a twin sister that I didn't know about, who was just killed by that same evil wizard? And now he wants me for whatever sick plan he has in order to take over the world and destroy everything that I've ever known? Are those the circumstances you're referring to?" Breathing heavily, Amy looked at Severus as if to dare him to reply. Not being one to back down from a challenge, he did.

"I know this may be hard to digest, but you must remain rational-"

"Nothing about this is rational!" Amy screamed, her voice echoing for no one but her and Severus to hear. "In fact, the only rational explanation to all this is that I'm suffering from a psychotic break! That's it! I must be delusional! There is no way any of this is real. My brain couldn't handle the death of my stepmother combined with all of the stress from school so it created an alternate universe where I could escape from the demands of reality."

"Amy..." Severus warned tentatively, but she interrupted him at once.

"You're probably not even really here!" Amy exclaimed, throwing her hands up dramatically. "You're just a figment of my imagination!"

"Now really, that is quite enough," Severus said as he walked toward her, attempting to take her back into the castle whether she liked it or not. She stepped away from him and looked once again toward the lake.

"This lake probably isn't real either! Watch, when I jump in nothing will happen, or maybe I'll wake up from this twisted nightmare!" She looked at the lake with sort of a manic expression, the kind of look that nothing good could come of.

"Do NOT jump into that lake," Severus warned in his most threatening tone. He made his way to grab Amy's arm and drag her to the castle, but he was about a split-second too late, and she dove right in. Severus froze, unable to do anything but watch. A few seconds later, Amy came up, splashing and shaking violently.

"H-holy balls, it's c-c-cold!" she shouted, turning once again back into the Amy that Severus had grown accustomed to.

"Idiot girl," Severus muttered under his breath as he submerged himself into the piercingly cold water. In one smooth stroke, he made his way toward Amy, grabbed her by the arm, and dragged out of the lake, coughing and shaking. Once back on the surface, he put on hand under her knees and one under the back of her neck, carrying her toward the castle.

"Seeing as how you cannot be trusted not to make stupid decisions while in control of your own two legs, I am bringing you back to the castle with or without your permission," Severus stated matter-of-factly. He took out his wand and cast a drying and warming charm on both of them before setting off into a brisk walk back toward the castle. Amy said nothing, so Severus took the opportunity to lecture.

"You have no idea the kinds of creatures that live in that lake or how to deal with them. If you keep up with this foolishness, running around at all hours of the night, putting yourself in dangerous situations, pretty soon you're going to end up dead."

Amy picked her head up, and said in a barely audible voice, "Maybe it would be better off that way."

"Excuse me?" Severus came to an abrupt halt and looked at Amy dead in the face.

"You said it yourself. I would be better off dead," she continued, emotionlessly.

Severus thought back to their previous meeting with Dumbledore and his words echoed back into his brain.

At least he doesn't want her dead? Albus, she'd be better off dead than whatever he wants her for!

Severus mentally cringed as he recalled his poor choice of words.

"That's not what I meant," he started, lamely. He put Amy back on the ground temporarily and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Listen, I need you to promise me that you're not going to do anything to purposely hurt yourself. I know this is difficult for you, and I can't imagine how you must be feeling, but it is important for your own safety and the safety of others that you don't do anything stupid. Is that understood?"

Amy looked away sheepishly. "But if it's good for the safety of others, maybe I should just turn myself in to him. After all, if I am his-his daughter, and he doesn't want me dead, then what's the harm? Look at what he's done to you and other people because he's mad that he can't find me! If he finds me, won't all of it stop?"

Severus put his hand on his head and sighed. "No, it will not stop. In fact, it would only get worse. Whatever he wants you for, you can guarantee that it will not be good. And you can also be sure that you would only be another pawn in his game, as countless others before you have become. The fact that you are his daughter means nothing to him. It does not mean that he will not hurt and manipulate you to get exactly what he wants from you. The Dark Lord, Miss Beckett, is a psychopath. As a psychology student, surely you know what this means?" Severus looked into her eyes, hoping to engage her.

"It means that he doesn't have the capacity to feel empathy or other human emotions," she recited, as if from a textbook.

"Precisely," Snape encouraged, going a bit into teacher mode. "The Dark Lord would kill his own mother of she stood in his way and not spare a second thought about it or feel a drop of remorse. All he cares about is power, and he will do anything to attain it. I watched him kill that other girl without a blink of the eye. There is no reason he would not do the same to you. And even if he didn't, surely you wouldn't want to become his instrument of evil, helping to bring about the end of the muggle and wizarding worlds as we know it?" He said this last part with a smirk, hoping to break Amy out of the shock and depression she seemed to be in.

"Not really," Amy replied, the corners of her mouth perking up ever so slightly.

"I thought as much," Snape said smoothly. "Now can we please get back into the castle some time before the students get out of bed and start polluting the corridors?"

Amy chuckled slightly and nodded. The pair headed back to the dungeons without speaking a word to each other. This gave Snape time to think. Random bits of information swam around in his head, begging to be put together in a logical fashion.

'You, girl! Are your parents not Alphard and Migena Black?' echoed the Serpentine voice of the Dark Lord in his head.

'My brain couldn't handle the death of my stepmother combined with all of the stress from school so it created an alternate universe where I could escape from the demands of reality,' entered the shrill, panicked voice of Amy Beckett from just minutes before.

'We moved in with my dad and my step mom, but she passed away a couple of months ago. It's a shame really, I didn't even know her for that long and I considered her more of a mother to me than my real mother ever was.'

'Have no fear, Severus, the house is under magical protection. It has been ever since…well…ever since I deemed it necessary,' came the much more cheerful voice of Albus Dumbledore.

"That's it," thought Snape, trying to put all the pieces together but failing miserably. "Dumbledore's been hiding things since day one, and it's about time the old man tells me everything that he knows whether he likes it or not. I don't care if I have to drag him out of bed myself, this definitely cannot wait until morning."

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he and Amy stopped in front of the doors to their rooms. Severus motioned for Amy to follow her into his rooms. She sat down on his bed as he headed for the kitchen. Amy watched him, puzzled.

As if to answer her inquisitive look, Severus explained, "I am making tea and you are going to drink the entire cup. There is a reason people do not use the Black Lack for recreational swimming purposes. You're lucky you didn't catch your death in there. I also figured that, after a night like tonight, you wouldn't want to be alone. You've already quite made yourself at home here, anyhow." Severus delivered the last line with an air of playfulness. He fully intended to leave her alone while he sought answers from Dumbledore, but she didn't need to know that. What she needed was rest so that she could wake up with a clear head in the morning. Or afternoon, as was her pattern. Amy smirked, and picked up the book that she had been reading during her previous stay in Severus's quarters. This is why she did not notice as he ever so swiftly and gracefully uncorked a vial of Dreamless Sleep potion and slipped it into her tea. He poured himself a cup, potionless of course, and made his way over to the bed with both cups. Amy raised the cup to her lips without question. After a few seconds, she jumped, looking at Severus alarmed. Severus tried not to visibly panic as he thought she may have figured out what he had done.

"Severus, do you think that, well since my real father is so evil, that eventually I'll be evil too? Like I have this evil thing living inside me, waiting for the perfect chance to come out?"

Severus almost laughed at her drowsy line of thinking. Still, he understood her concern.

With his back to her, he replied, "just because your biological father is quite possibly the most evil creature to ever grace the wizarding world does NOT mean that you are destined to follow in his footsteps. You are a successful, ambitious young woman, so the parents that raised you obviously did something right. You have a good heart, and if anybody ever tried to convince me that you were evil, I would have them sent to St. Mungo's in a heartbeat." Severus realized after he spoke that Amy may not have understood the reference, so he turned to look at her. He did not have to worry, however, because she was fast asleep. Severus breathed a deep sigh of relief. He quickly put the covers over her, and paused as he was about to leave. She looked so peaceful, more peaceful than he had perhaps ever seen her. He bent down to move a strand of stay hair from her face, and immediately mentally berated himself.

What the hell is wrong with you? You're getting too soft. She's just a teenage brat, anyhow, not unlike the ones you struggle to teach every miserable day of your existence. There is nothing special about her. Anyway, you have more important things to worry about. Albus has got some explaining to do.

And with that line of thought, Snape set his wards to alert him if anyone tried to get in or out of his quarters, and set out to find the answers to the questions that had slowly been giving him a migraine for the past few hours.

A/N edit: Please review! If you guys haven't seen a certain character and you would like to or something, let me know and I'll try to accomodate you if it fits into the story! I have so many hits and ZERO reviews since I've updated. It's a little discouraging =/

A/N: The title, In the Lake, refers to a song by Emilie Autumn that popped into my head as I was trying to think of what to name this chapter.