Author's Note : To those of you who did not notice, Cansville came up previously in Sirius's dialogue. (Hint, hint)

This time, you'll see a strange kind of similarity between CWSL and The Matrix.

Also, a hundred and one thanks to all of you who reviewed the first chapter; Lightstream, cosmopolitan, rubudu, fireangel06, Hermione-G-wanna-be, lilalex13, FloatingBubbles, and gafg.

Cloud With Silver Lining

A Story by J. Romant

Chapter 2 : Sheriff Severus Snape of Cansville

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"This is madness!" Mr. Evans roared. His face was flushed, veins pulsing through his forehead. "How dare you and your cronies wuss in here and order us about?"

"I have every right to, Mr. Evans." Sheriff Severus Snape drawled. He was dressed impeccably in buckskin leather boots and a shiny black hat. He's even got a single red feather stuck on top, James noticed with a scowl.

Two other men stood behind the Sheriff, ready to move at his beck and call.

"I have a signed order from his Highness, the Crown Prince of England. His Grace is offering you three thousand Galleons for your evacuation of the place." The Sheriff continued, shoving a large paper into Mr. Evan's face. For a moment Mr. Evan's face went rigid, as the words registered in his head.

"But- but we've lived in Cansville for our entire life!" Mr. Evans sputtered. "My wife is buried in the apple orchard, and all our relatives and friends live here. Wherever should we go?"

"Your woes are of no concern to me, Mr. Evans. They are not my problem." Sheriff Snape picked at a speck of flint between his nails. "A new castle is to be built. And your house – if it can be called it that-" Snape sneered, looking around the small farm with disdain, "happens to be smack dab in the middle of the construction site."

"You are no Sheriff! You're no better than a crook!" James shouted angrily. He had been with the Evans for a little over a week now, and it had become his home.

Sheriff Snape's nostrils flared with anger. His snaky eyes moved up and down James's body, as if he were considering what it would take to bring him down. "So this is the lost mongrel you've taken under your wing, Evans."

Snape took a step closer to James and hissed in his ear. "You'd better be careful, mongrel. I have the power to pulverize this pigsty of a house. And I will do that if I see you put half a foot out of line. Do you understand?"

James saw red, but kept his temper in check with an enormous effort. "I understand." He spoke through clenched teeth.

Snape smiled. It was a wide catlike grin, like a one you would see on a snake after it had the most excruciating meal.

"I'll give you three weeks, Mr. Evans." Snape laughed, heading toward the doorway. He snapped his fingers, and his two cronies instantly followed.

"Oh dear." Mr. Evans sighed. "Whatever must we do?"

To that James could not find an answer.

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"Listen- I've never got the chance to thank you for the apple you gave me." James said. He picked up a large bale of hay, ready to change the pig's beds.

"Don't flatter yourself, farm boy." Lily said evasively, tucking a stray curl behind her neck with a muddy palm. "I did it because Petunia dragged me into it. Wasn't my idea."

"Okay." James said. A long silence followed, in which James refilled the horses' water trough. The silence was becoming to unbearable, so James tried small talk.

"Fine weather we're having." James said. The words fell flat. He felt dumb even before the words were fully out of his mouth.

"Yeah." Lily replied, not even looking at him as she checked the harnesses. Another silence. This time though, it was longer than ever.

"So, Lillian. What are you doing tonight?" James made a final effort. He wondered if it was okay to call her that. He said it while lightly tapping her on the arm to get her attention.

It sure did. Lily jumped back as if she were electrocuted. She wiped her hands on the front of her overalls, then pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Hey, farmboy. I don't know what your playing at, okay?" She started, her emerald eyes on fire. "I don't know where you're from, or what you did. But I do know that you're not from around here. Chances are that once you've recovered your memory – hopefully soon – we'll never meet again. So don't act like we're friends or anything. We'll never be."

With a final toss of the head, Lily stormed out of the barnyard, her hands on her hips.

"Sheesh." James said to no one in particular, dazed. "What did I do wrong?"

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As soon as Lily was sure she was out of sight, she crumpled to the ground. She could only keep the tears in this long. Her chest heaved as round tears began rolling down her lightly freckled cheeks.

She wiped her tears frantically, not caring that her hands were leaving telltale streaks of mud on her face.

"Oh god… Why does it still hurt so much?" Lily leaned on a tree to keep her from falling to the ground altogether.

The memory was etched inside Lily's mind, playing again and again like a broken projector. It tormented her, day and night.

'Lillian, what are you doing tonight?' Giles Wellman asked, his blue eyes looking at his fiancée.

Giles had always called her Lilian. My Lilian, he used to say. 'I love you so much, Lillian darling.' He'd used to coo, making her feel warm, safe – and loved. Giles had made her forget that she was nothing but a poor farm girl. He had made her feel special.

But that day, there was something wrong. She could feel it – she knew it from the way he opened his eyes too large, from the way he had said the words a little forcefully than usual.

But she had played along.

'You were going to take me to the annual ball at Lord Remus's, remember?' Lily giggled. 'I bought the green cashmere dress you said you liked – the one you said matched my eyes.'

'I'm sorry, Lillian, but I can't take you.. I- Something's come up, and I have to leave town for a while.' Giles said earnestly. 'Something really urgent.'

Lily faltered for a moment, but after a moment she was okay. 'That's okay, Giles. We can always go next year. If you have to go, I don't want to be the one holding you back.' She said understandingly.

She had no idea.

'Okay, Lillian. But – ' Giles hesitated for a moment. 'I want you to take this back.' Giles pulled off a ring from his finger. It was the ring, the ring she'd given him as an engagement present.

'I don't understand.' Lily said puzzled. She knew what Giles had been trying to tell her, but her mind rejected the obvious truth. 'Why are you giving me this? Aren't you coming back?'

'Be safe, Lillian.' Giles said, leaving the question unanswered. He turned and walked out of her life.

Two days later Lily found out he had run off with Priscilla Crawford, a prettier, richer girl in town. Priscilla had been three months pregnant when she ran off.

There was no one to take Lily to the ball that night.

She spent it in tears.

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Lily had finished crying. She looked herself in a cracked mirror, and removed any traces of tears that could be seen. Clean water was pretty scarce (the nearest well was a quarter of a mile away, so she did the best she could in the pond.

Lily knew she had to apologize to James. She knew it, but it was difficult to do the actual thing. Knowing something, and doing something about it – were two very different things.

She took a deep breath and walked up to James, who had finished cleaning the barn by now.

"Farm boy." Lily called out indifferently, although her stomach was slightly queasy- for some reason she did not comprehend.

"Huh?" James turned. He stiffened a little, as if Lily was going to punch him or something similarly vicious.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It's just that something you said – brought back some unpleasant memories of somebody else. I went overboard. I'm sorry."

"Oh." James said, not expecting an apology. "Oh." He said again.

"Yeah, so what do you want me to do?" Lily said impatiently. "To make up for my words earlier, I'll do something for you. That's the way this system works." Lily rolled her eyes as if she had better things to do.

"Err… Did Petunia put you up to this too?" James asked.

"No. Of course not. So, what do you want me to do?" Lily repeated the question. "I don't have all day."

"No, you don't." James agreed, looking up at the brightly yellow sun. It wasn't noon yet, judging by the length of the shadows and the place of the sun. "Well, I've always wanted to go see the town."

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"The Palace is in chaos." Duke Malfoy announced to those seated across him. "With the disappearance of the Prince, the King has time for little else. His trusted subjects, like Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, are far away searching for the Prince. The Palace, as of now, is virtually unguarded."

The five that sat in the dimly lit hall looked between themselves uneasily. Treason was an act that would instantly get them hanged. Once you crossed that line, there was no turning back.

"But even unguarded, you cannot say the Palace is an easy place to storm." Karkaroff stated.

"No. That is why I am asking for your help. But do you realize that this is the chance of a lifetime? Never will you get such a chance like this. You are not as wealthy as you used to be, ladies and gentlemen-"

Dolores Umbridge opened her mouth to protest, but Duke Malfoy cut her off. "I know for a fact that your current business concerning the gold mines in Scandinavia has taken a turn for the worse, Lady Umbridge. And haven't you still some bills to repay in that gambling escapade last month?"

The Duke smiled as there was silence from both parties. He carefully- almost daintily pulled off his velvet gloves and sat them down on the Italian table next to him.

"So… Do you count yourselves in, or need I be more persuasive?" Duke Malfoy queried lightly, but not light enough to mask the tension below.

All four began to nod earnestly. They had no choice, actually.

"Very well!" The Duke spread out his hands, a motion that meant that it was time for the four to leave. "A pleasure to do business with such understandable people!"

As Karkaroff closed the door behind him as they left, Duke Malfoy whispered into the air, "Just three weeks till the curtains go up." He closed his eyes in ecstacy.

"Then it's showtime."

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Cansville town was just that – a town. The only thing noticeable about it was the Sheriff's Office, which was the largest building in town, as the town was too small to have a Mayor. The stone tower towered over all that surrounded it, its gloom casting ghostly shadows. Inside it, James thought, Snape would be sitting, with his shiny fedora with the feather on top.

"Farm boy, this is the Three Donkeys. I want you to stay in here while I go and buy some apple seeds for next year's crop. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

James nodded. He pushed open the creaky door and entered.

The Three Donkeys was a quiet place- or maybe it was just the time of this day. A big man, who was in fact the largest man James had seen in his life, stood behind the counter. He grunted to some country tune, using a dirty washcloth to wipe the dishes.

He said his name was Rubeus Hagrid, and that he was the one that found James lying in the valley. "Somebody up der must like you badly." Hagrid said. "It's a miracle you ain't dead."

An old man was watching him from a corner of the pub. Not just gazing at him, but he was looking very intently, as if trying to bore a hole through his chest. Hagrid noticed what James was looking at.

"That's Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore." Hagrid leaned his bulk on the counter and whispered with great reverence. "He's one of dem gypsy folks. Stops in fur a drink from time to time. He's a quiet feller though, and ain't like dose ruddy Deputies that work fur de Sheriff. Dumbledore – when he looks at you like dat, he wants you to speak to him. Go on." Hagrid gave James what meant to be a gentle push, but to James it was like a great slap. James stumbled and found his way to Dumbledore's table.

Dumbledore spoke before he could even get a work across. "Fancy seeing you here." Dumbledore took a puff on his crooked pipe.

The words resounded in James's mind, striking him with more force than Hagrid's gentle push. Suddenly James was on his feet, his eyes burning with desperation. "You know who I am?"

Dumbledore took no heed of James's excitement, but instead fixed his gaze on someplace behind James's left shoulder. He took another long puff on his pipe, patiently waiting as a donut ring disappeared into the air. "Correction. I knew who you were. But I am not so sure of who you are now, and I am most uncertain of who you will be."

"Okay, okay. Who was I? You've got to tell me – you see, I've lost my memory – and-"

Dumbledore cut him off with a silent wave of his hand. "That is not mine to answer. The Fates have placed you here for a reason – what reason, I cannot comprehend as of now. But I shall give you some advice, James."

"What advice?" James asked, then a thought blazed across his head. "Hey, wait a minute. How did you know my name?"

Dumbledore ignored him once again. "Soon you will be presented with a great decision- one that will alter not only the course of your life, but also the course of this country's history. You will have to choose," Dumbledore paused to swat away a fly. "between the person you love, and your country."

"But I don't even have someone I love. And I'm not a soldier, so what do you mean about my country?" Clearly this odd man with the half moon spectacles was out of his mind.

"Have no worries, though. Here, take a cookie." Dumbledore picked up a cookie from a plate that James could have sworn wasn't there before. He took it with both hands, befuddled.

"By the time you finish eating that cookie, I promise you'll be feeling much better."

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The moment James heaved what was left of cookie inside his mouth, he spotted Lily. Rose and Tulip joined them soon after, each carrying a small bag full of oatmeal.

"Lily, James! Did you hear, the annual ball's been announced!" Tulip skipped around the two of them, Rose following her sister's example.

"Lily, I can go to the ball this year, can't I? I'm 16 this year." Rose pleaded.

"Of course not." Lily said. "Balls are stupid things. I'd rather have you doing something else, like reading a book for instance."

Giles had asked her quite dashingly, kneeling on the ground. It had been perfectly romantic, the proposal of her dreams. The way he had pronounced those four words – it seemed like magic. The way he uttered them, his deep voice making her eyes well up in happiness –

'Will you marry me?

She nodded.'

And Lily, at the sweet age of sixteen, felt that she had the world. She loved her Giles dearly, she would have done anything for him.

Anything.

'Lillian, this means I'll be accompanying you to the annual ball, right?'

Lily had smiled softly through glistening tears. She said, 'Yes.'

It had seemed too good to be true. And it wasn't.

Shaking off those thoughts, she asked Rose. "When did you say the ball was, Rose?"

"In two weeks." Rose said, clearly surprised. "Why? Are you thinking of going, Lily?"

"No."

There was no question of it, really. Though she would never admit to herself that a small portion of her wanted to go badly, Lily knew that the ball was a couple's ball. Meaning, that one had to have a partner. No one she knew was about to ask her.

Except James.

No. She wasn't going to go through the whole process again. The heart wrenching nights she had cried herself to sleep after Giles left, the bitter thoughts while she considered what she had done so wrong that Giles had left her for Priscilla, were unbearable. She would not be able to go through it again.

That was why she was so frigid to the people around her, she knew. But it couldn't be helped. It was much safer this way- not going to the ball.

But you want to.

The small portion of her heart whispered to her.

You want to be beautiful, to show off once in a while in a pretty dress. You want to be like the other girls, to have fun and love life. You want to-

Shove it, Lily thought angrily, this time successfully stopping that train of thought.

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As the four of them – Lily, Rose, Tulip, and James- began the journey back to their farm in the woods, Lily spotted Severus Snape.

With a cold little nod of politeness, Lily hastened her pace to quickly pass him. She was stopped in her tracks. Sheriff Snape had grabbed her left wrist in an icy grip. His hands felt as if grease was running down them, and a most unsettling feeling crept inside Lily's stomach as she struggled to get free.

"What is it that you want, Sheriff?" Lily asked, her eyes full of annoyance.

"Let her go, Sheriff. She clearly doesn't want to be touched." James said, drawing up to his whole height.

Sheriff Snape let Lily go, but he smirked at James, letting him know that he didn't do it because he was afraid of a fight with James. "I wanted to talk to you, Miss Evans."

When Snape saw that the other trio was in no hurry to move, he added curtly, "Alone, if you people have a pinch of decency."

James hesitated, but after seeing Lily wasn't going to back down from Snape, took the girls and started home without her.

After no one was in earshot, Lily spoke, "What do you want, Sheriff? It's already getting dark. Can't this wait for another time?"

"Oh, this is much too important to wait for another time, Miss Evans."

Snape stepped closer. He placed one finger on the edge of her cheek, tracing it downwards. His fingers felt like dead leaves, she wanted to vomit and slap him but she knew she could not dare do it. The Sheriff was a powerful man. He would have her hanged –maybe even imprison her family. So she waited.

"You're a beautiful woman, Miss Evans." Snape's snakelike tongue hissed into her ear. "Too beautiful that it's almost a shame you were born into a pitiful family like yours."

Lily stiffened.

"How sad you must be, living in a household with four children! Too much, I'd say. Living like beasts! And your father- he's too cooped up in the head with his nonsense books, isn't he? Not the job of a man."

"Don't insult my father, Sheriff."

Snape smiled, enjoying the torment he was creating. "And in two week's time, all of you will be thrown back to the streets! And I will do that, Miss Evans. I have the Prince's full authorization. Pity, pity."

"What are you getting at?"

"I can offer you a way out." Snape took like a cobra, poised to strike. "I can give your family a home – maybe even for that detestable mongrel you keep, Miss Evans."

"His name is James."

"So… What's the catch?" Lily asked. She hated to admit it, but she was intrigued. It would save her father a lot of trouble. It would keep her family from starving. "There's always a catch."

"Sure there is, Miss Evans." Snape was ready for the kill, he decided.

But nothing in the world could prepare Lily for the words she heard next.

"Marry me, Miss Evans, and I'll save your family."

And the Honorable Sheriff Severus Snape of Cansville laughed.

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End of Chapter 2 : Sheriff Severus Snape of Cansville.

Author's Note : Another Chapter has gone by, and my – what a cliffhanger! I hope to get tons of reviews, dear readers. Every writer likes to be 'appreciated. Each review makes the next Episode of CWSL come out a little faster.

Review!