"Is it not enough for the Sinner to repent?" Severus asked in a soft, broken tone.

"No." She whispered, looking at the wet ground to avoid his soul-searching gaze. "No, it is not."

"What happened to our 'Forever'?" He reached out a hand to stroke the side of her face but she shuffled back to avoid the contact.

"There is no 'Forever' for us. Not anymore." The woman spun on her heel, forcing herself to walk away from the small cottage in Spinner's End. Forcing herself to resist the urge to run back in to the arms of the man she had loved since childhood.

Severus's voice cracked as he bellowed after her, "Do you love me? HAVE YOU EVER LOVED ME?"

Lily Evans turned to give him one last smile, a small sob slipping past her trembling lips. She raised her wand, closing her eyes as she concentrated. With a 'pop', she apparated away, never to appear before him, alive, again.

"Always."