AFTERMATH

Two days after James and Lily's death, Severus Snape and Sirius Black came striding into the Great Hall at Hogwarts, both in a towering rage.

"How dare you, Albus?" Sirius screamed. "How dare you come barging uninvited into my home and rip my godson from my wife's arms? You are not Harry's guardian! You are not an Executor of James and Lily's Wills! You have no rights over my godson! I ought to have you up on charges of kidnapping!"

It was the middle of lunch and the entire school was assembled, all agog at the unexpected confrontation. Dumbledore was not pleased that Sirius had the audacity to criticise him in the first place, and was even angrier over the fact that it was in so public a manner.

"Now, now, Sirius," said Dumbledore placatingly, his avuncular manner to the fore. "Why don't we go to my office and discuss this in private?"

Severus was not fooled by the Headmaster. He could see that Dumbledore was quietly fuming at being questioned by Sirius. "No, I don't think we should," growled Severus. "There's been enough suppression and hiding. It's time to be open and honest."

"And what exactly is your involvement in Mr Black's histrionics, Mr Snape?" queried Dumbledore, his tone implying the two men were being completely unreasonable.

"Harry Potter is my nephew!" answered Severus sharply.

Dumbledore sighed long-sufferingly. "Why do you persist in this fantasy that you were Lily Potter's brother, Mr Snape, when you know that you were not in fact brother and sister?" the old man asked disapprovingly. Dumbledore did not like Severus Snape and did not want to have to combat any influence this mysterious young man, who was not one of his followers, may have over the Boy-Who-Lived. Dumbledore hoped that by dismissing the idea that Severus could possibly be Lily Potter's brother, it would neutralise Severus and negate his potential influence.

Severus raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'Fantasy? What fantasy? Is the man insane?' He took a deep breath and forced himself to speak calmly. "First of all, it's Master Snape. I worked very hard for my Mastery and you will respect it. Secondly, my mother signed over partial guardianship to Lily's parents when I was nine years old and I was fostered by the Evans family from then until I finished Hogwarts. It may not be a blood relationship, but in every other way that counts, I am most certainly Lily Evans Potter's foster-brother. Lily Evans Potter and I both swore magical oaths to that effect in front of witnesses, Sirius and Marsali Black among them. And now that I've explained myself, why don't you explain yourself? Why exactly did you kidnap my nephew?"

"I was merely doing what was best for young Harry. Are you saying you wouldn't want him to be raised by your other sister?" the old man asked sarcastically.

"You didn't even bother to check that there was anyone in the house! You just left Harry on a doorstep like an unwanted parcel, in the north of England in November! He was freezing by the time Petunia and Gareth came home and found him! He nearly died!"

"I didn't know Petunia wasn't home," said Albus, as though that absolved him of all responsibility.

"Did you even bother checking?" growled Minerva, who was sitting fuming. Unlike the last time, she had not bothered to spend the day watching Petunia because Severus had assured her that Petunia and Gareth both loved their nephew. Dumbledore ignored the question.

"Harry was perfectly fine. I cast warming charms over him…"

"Which had worn off by the time Petunia and Gareth came home!" Severus interrupted with a snarl.

Dumbledore carried on as though the interruption had never happened. "…and he needs to stay at his aunt's house. I myself cast special wards there to protect him. As long as he lives with his mother's blood, he will be safe."

Severus continued his rant. "How dare you let Petunia find out about her sister's death like that? From a note! You didn't even have the decency to knock on the door and speak to her in person!"

"Lily and James were killed two days ago. I assumed her sister knew of her death by now," said Dumbledore, this time not unreasonably.

"Again, you didn't ask! Petunia was pregnant! She only came home from hospital this morning after nearly losing her baby a few days ago, and we were waiting for the doctor's permission to tell her. He said she couldn't be stressed or upset. Thanks to you, the shock caused her to lose her baby. Hell, she nearly died as well! What would have happened with your precious blood wards then? They have to be tied to a home owner and Petunia's child doesn't own that home! As it is, she's back in hospital and unable to care for Harry right now. You ever go anywhere near my family again and I'll have you up on charges of reckless endangerment, unlawful kidnap, the loss of Petunia's baby and the near loss of Petunia herself."

"You have no right to interfere, Master Snape!"

"No! You have no right!" said Sirius imperiously, every inch the aristocratic Black. Severus had been right. There had indeed been attempts to send Sirius straight to Azkaban without so much as a trial and it was only thanks to Severus' precautions—insisting that James and Lily leave proof of the true Secret Keeper with impeccable sources and sending Sirius to present evidence of his innocence immediately, before any other action could be taken—that he had been freed with no charges levied. Sirius was feeling doubly betrayed because not only had Dumbledore forcibly removed Harry from his home, but the Headmaster had also tried to have the proof of Sirius' innocence dismissed, and had therefore clearly supported the move to incarcerate the Black heir unlawfully. Severus knew, and Sirius was beginning to suspect, that this was because Dumbledore wanted control over the Boy-Who-Lived, as Harry had already been dubbed.

"James and Lily's Wills were filed with the Ministry when they went into hiding and your attempt to have those Wills illegally sealed was too late, as was your equally illegal attempt to have me incarcerated in Azkaban without so much as a trial. The Wills had already been verified and entered into record and my innocence had already been proven beyond all doubt before you tried to have everything suppressed. You are not my godson's magical guardian—Severus, Alice Longbottom and I are jointly his guardians—and you will stay away from Harry. You have no grounds to overturn those Wills or to have any say in the disposition of Harry Potter. The Blacks, Longbottoms and Snapes will fight with all the power at our disposal if you try to interfere in Harry's life in any way. You will lose Albus, so don't even bother trying," said Sirius icily.

At that, Sirius and Severus turned around and stalked away to the sound of Minerva shouting at Albus Dumbledore. The old man was absolutely furious at having been raked over the coals by the two young whippersnappers but, legally, he did not have a leg to stand on and he knew it. Still, there was no need for him to worry—in ten years Harry Potter would be in Hogwarts and under his aegis at that time.

.o.O.o.

Rather than spending the day after James and Lily's deaths observing Petunia as she had done in the last timeline, Minerva had instead visited Augusta Longbottom at Severus' insistence. "Frank and Alice were targets too, weren't they? Are they still in hiding?" Minerva asked, trying to plant the seed in Augusta's mind that even now the Longbottom Dowager would need to continue to keep her son, daughter-in-law and grandson safe.

"I hope they're planning to stay safely in hiding for a little while longer, until all the Death Eaters have been rounded up. You-Know-Who's followers will probably be out for revenge and I'm sure they knew Frank and Alice were targets, which would probably put them at the top of the revenge list. I'd hate to lose more of my cubs," Minerva continued, driving the point home.

Augusta knew that Minerva cared about all of her Gryffindors and listened to her concerns. The Longbottom matriarch was well aware that Frank and Alice were very frustrated over having been cooped up in their home for so long, but she agreed with Minerva and saw no reason for her son and daughter-in-law to put themselves and their son in danger, therefore, she instructed them to remain hidden for the time being. Unfortunately, this led the three Lestranges and Barty Crouch Junior to target Augusta instead of Frank and Alice in their quest for information as to their Master's whereabouts and their zeal for revenge.

The wards on Longbottom Manor were very old and very strong and it took some effort for Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jr to bring them down. As soon as she had felt the wards being attacked, Augusta sent off her Patronus asking for help. The four Death Eaters had penetrated the Manor by the time help came but the wards had slowed the intruders down long enough for that help to arrive before it was too late. One of the people Augusta had contacted had been Minerva, who promptly sent her Patronus to Severus in turn, and he was immediately transported to Longbottom Manor by Serafina. Severus then sent Serafina to get Sirius, Remus and Minerva, and she brought them to the Manor only seconds after the wards fell. They were all formidable opponents, Augusta and Severus in particular, and the Death Eaters were all captured and arrested before Augusta could be tortured into insanity, as had happened to Frank and Alice in the previous timeline. The damage was sufficient that Augusta would have a long convalescence ahead of her, but she would be recover in time; the only question was how fully she would recover, as her injuries were quite severe.

.o.O.o.

When all the dust had settled, Severus decided it was time to deal with the Horcruxes—anything to stop him thinking about the deaths of James and Lily, which he had tried so hard to prevent. Severus knew that the real culprits were Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew, but this did not stop him blaming Dumbledore in part as well. 'If the old man had only allowed Lily and James to choose their own Secret Keeper instead of insisting it had to be a member of his blasted Order! Or if he had at least allowed the rat to tell me the secret, then I would have been there that night to help them.'

Ignoring the fact that if he had been in Godric's Hollow that night then he would most likely also be dead, Severus resolutely contacted Elphinstone Urquart. It was time to reveal himself to the man as the source of the information Urquart had been receiving for the last couple of years. What he needed from Urquart would best be requested in person.

"Master Snape," said Elphinstone in surprise, when the two met up in a private room at the Hog's Head. Having learned from what happened with the prophecy, Severus had erected strong silencing and privacy wards. "I didn't expect my mysterious informant to be you. I thought it would be a Death Eater—you're not…?" The sentence was left hanging.

Severus pulled up his sleeves to show bare arms. "I'm prepared to swear a magical oath if that will set your mind at rest, especially as I'm unable to tell you how I obtained my information."

Elphinstone looked both embarrassed at the need to request such an oath and relieved that Severus had offered the oath voluntarily. He nodded his head and Severus picked up his wand.

"I swear upon my magic that I am neither a follower of the Dark Lord Voldemort, nor am I sympathiser to his cause. I further swear that all information I have given to Elphinstone Urquart in the past or may give him now is, to the best of my knowledge, true." Having been a Marked Death Eater in his previous lifetime, Severus was not sure if that would impact upon his oath and so had been very careful in his wording: he neither swore that he was not a Death Eater, nor did he swear that he had not been Marked, merely that he was neither a follower nor a sympathiser of the Dark Lord. It was sophistry at its finest but it satisfied the oath. Severus cast his Patronus and Shadow erupted from his wand, prowling around the room for a minute before dissipating.

"Thank you, Master Snape," said Elphinstone gratefully. "And now that the formalities are out the way, how may I help you?"

"First of all, Mr Urquart, I'll need your oath in turn. I do not want Albus Dumbledore involved in this and I would request your oath to that effect."

Urquart looked surprised and Severus hastened to explain. "I don't trust Dumbledore. I don't believe he plotted the deaths of James and Lily Potter but I do believe his actions created circumstances which made their deaths possible. He then tried to have their Wills illegally suppressed. When that didn't work, Dumbledore kidnapped Harry Potter—my nephew—from his godfather's home and deposited Harry like an unwanted parcel on my other sister's doorstep in the middle of the night—in November!—without even checking to see if there was anyone home. I've seen the letter he left with Harry for Petunia and Dumbledore is all but forcing her to take Harry in whether she wants to or not. What if Petunia had been like the families of some other Muggleborns, who are scared of magic? If that had been the case, forcing Petunia to take Harry in, practically at wand-point, would probably have made her treat him very badly out of fear and resentment. While I have no doubt Petunia loves Harry and will do her best by him, this wasn't Dumbledore's decision to make—he's not Harry's guardian. Dumbledore also tried to have Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, incarcerated in Azkaban without even a trial, simply because 'everyone knew he was the Potters' Secret Keeper.' Except that Sirius wasn't actually their Secret Keeper! That was a ruse, and Dumbledore would have been responsible for condemning an innocent man to hell on earth. I don't know to what purpose, but Dumbledore is using people like pawns on a chessboard and I have no intention of being caught in his machinations. I don't want Dumbledore anywhere near my family, so because what I need to discuss with you does actually indirectly involve Harry, I'll need your oath. At present, the only people who know about this are Minerva and myself—and you, when I've finished explaining. I don't want that number increasing. If you feel unable to give that oath, I'll understand completely but this conversation will end here and I'll find another way of achieving what's needed."

Elphinstone looked pensive. He did not like being presented with an ultimatum but could see Severus' point. Dumbledore's influence over the members of his Order had already been noted with concern by those in authority. Additionally, Dumbledore's reticence to deal decisively with the Death Eaters—the Chief Warlock had not only forbidden members of the Order of the Phoenix from using lethal spells but had also tried to prevent the Auror Corps from doing so—had been another cause for concern. In the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, it was felt that if Dumbledore had supported decisive action earlier, instead of stalling by insisting the Wizengamot debate the issue ad infinitum, many more lives could have been saved. Although the DMLE firmly believed that Dumbledore was fighting for the Light, the Headmaster and his methods were regarded with suspicion by many.

"I'll tell you what," Elphinstone suggested. "I don't know you personally, Master Snape, but I do know Minerva. Since she's the one who suggested I take your tips seriously, we'll invite her to join us and if she supports my taking an oath not to share your information, then I'll do so. Will that good enough for you?" he asked without rancour, understanding the need for confidentiality and hoping his suggestion would be acceptable to the young man sitting opposite him.

It was indeed good enough for Severus. It was a practical compromise, Severus admitted to himself, as he sent Serafina with a note to Minerva. "Only give it to her if Dumbledore isn't around," he instructed the phoenix and she trilled in response. Minutes later, Serafina flashed back with Minerva in tow.

"When Severus first approached me, he made an oath that he was telling the truth, and he has continued to do so. If he can't answer any questions I may have, he doesn't lie to me or try to fudge the issue; he simply says straight out that he can't answer me. He wouldn't deceive us, Elphinstone. I trust Severus implicitly—more than I do Albus, with his half-truths and obfuscation," Minerva declared staunchly, after Elphinstone had expressed his concerns to her. With that, Urquart made an oath not to share this conversation with anyone else, without Severus' permission.

"You-Know-Who created a number of extremely dark objects in an effort to escape death," Severus explained sombrely. "These objects anchor his soul to this plane. He wasn't killed on Halloween night, only his body was destroyed. Thanks to these vessels, his soul is now a disembodied spirit, and can regain a body after a certain ritual has been undertaken. These soul anchors are the darkest and foulest of magic. Perpetrators of this abomination have been known to lose their sanity after creating only one anchor; He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has created several. Three are in accessible hiding places but there is one that was entrusted to Bellatrix Lestrange for safekeeping. I will need your assistance in obtaining this from the Lestrange vault. Would it be possible to have the vaults of all convicted Death Eaters scanned for dark objects and You-Know-Who's possessions? I doubt the Wizengamot will object if such a motion is placed before them."

This was what he needed Elphinstone Urquart for: access to the Lestrange vault. This, more than anything, was why, all those years ago, when Susan had told him that he could confide wholly in one person, Severus had chosen Minerva McGonagall: she was his conduit to Urquart and Severus had known that when it came to accessing and destroying the Horcrux in the Lestrange vault, he would need Elphinstone's help—Sirius did not even have access to Bellatrix's vault, since it was the Lestrange family vault and not a Black vault. Elphinstone Urquart was not the only member of the DMLE, of course, but Severus had no access to anyone else in the Department other than Sirius and this proposal would need to come from someone of Urquart's authority and esteem. Sirius had the influence of the Black family name but he was still a relatively new Auror and did not have the stature in the DMLE of Elphinstone Besides which, Sirius was too impetuous to trust with the knowledge that Severus, Harry and Hermione were reliving their lives, as they could not risk this information coming to Dumbledore's attention.

Severus deliberately avoided mentioning the Horcrux inside Harry's scar, as it was too soon to deal with that; it would have to wait until Harry regained his memories. Severus also avoided mentioning the Horcrux in Malfoy Manor, since it would not be possible to access it at this time either; in the last timeline, Malfoy Manor had been searched many times between the two Voldemort Blood Wars by the Aurors and Lucius' hidden cache of Dark objects had never been found. Severus would have to wait for Lucius to send this Horcrux to Hogwarts in Harry's second year in order to obtain the diary. If Lucius did not do that in this timeline, then the Malfoy's house elf, Dobby, had been devoted to Harry even before Harry had tricked Lucius into freeing the elf and Severus hoped that Harry would be able to persuade Dobby to help them.

"What should be done with it once it is found?" asked Urquart.

"It must be destroyed. Only basilisk venom or Fiendfyre can destroy it," Severus explained.

"Basilisk venom is expensive and Fiendfyre is Dark magic," Urquart observed neutrally.

"We probably wouldn't need much venom," replied Severus.

"Probably?"

Severus pinched his nose. "I don't know exactly how much will be needed," he admitted. "However, if a goblin made knife or sword were to be imbued with basilisk venom, it would take on the properties of the venom."

"And of course, goblin made items are so plentiful and easily obtained," said Urquart sarcastically.

Severus snorted. He liked this man; Urquart would be a good match for Minerva when the time would come. "My friend, Remus Lupin, is a dealer in rare and antiquarian books," Severus began. Elphinstone raised an eyebrow, wondering what books had to do with goblin forged blades, and Severus continued. "Remus spends much time at estate sales and antique fairs. I'm sure you know it's not unknown for wizarding items to end up in the Muggle world and I've had Remus looking out for goblin made knives. Remus will let us know if he finds one. Alternatively, I would be willing to cast the Fiendfyre. I realise it's Dark magic but these items are far Darker and infinitely more foul; they must be destroyed."

"Dumbledore might know of another way of destroying these items."

"I've been researching this subject ever since I became aware of what You-Know-Who had done and I assure you, Mr Urquart, there is no other way," said Severus firmly.

"I know you don't wish to give away your sources but I'm afraid I have to ask how you are aware of these anchors, Master Snape," Elphinstone replied.

Severus sighed. He had hoped to avoid this question but knew that it was inevitable. Elphinstone would want to make absolutely certain that Severus was not a sympathiser of the Dark Lord. Fortunately, Severus had been able to come up with a story. It was a mixture of truth and lies, with enough truth in it that Severus felt it was plausible.

"Orion and Walburga Black had three children: Sirius, Regulus and Ara. Sirius, as I'm sure you know, has rejected his family; Regulus, unfortunately, was no rebel; and Ara was nearly killed by her 'loving' family when they realised she was a Squib. Sirius got her away before that could happen and she has been in hiding ever since, as they are still out for her blood—or Bellatrix Lestrange is, anyway. Regulus was a nice lad but not very resolute. He followed the path of least resistance by adhering to the family dictates. I had a very slight friendship with him, as I was the one to tell him that his sister was safe—I never told Regulus where Ara was but Sirius writes to her regularly and frequently talks about her, so I was able to keep Regulus up-to-date regarding his sister's health and well-being. I became aware that Regulus had joined the Death Eaters. He was having second thoughts and I was trying to persuade him to go to Dumbledore for help, since the Headmaster is apparently the only person You-Know-Who is scared of, when Regulus died. Regulus let slip a certain amount of information around me, though I don't know if that was intentional or not. Regulus didn't specifically mention soul anchors, as I don't believe You-Know-Who told his followers what the objects were, but from what Regulus did manage to gather about them and then told me, I eventually managed to work it out. Unfortunately, Regulus has disappeared, presumed killed for trying to reject You-Know-Who, and we can't ask him if he was deliberately feeding me information. The final clues were the fact that You-Know-Who's body was never found and that, as a number of the Death Eaters have claimed in their trials, their Master believed he had become immortal and would return."

Elphinstone nodded. As Severus had hoped, he had been believed. Severus was a very good and convincing actor—he had managed to fool Voldemort for years in his last lifetime and had been telling half-truths and lies ever since he had regained his memories at the age of nine—and so the story had rung true.

"Why are you determined to do this alone, Master Snape?" the older man inquired.

This explanation would have less falsehood. "I was taken in by Lily Potter's parents as their son when I was nine years old. Lily was my sister in every way that counted, even if not by blood. From what I gather, Dumbledore believes that my nephew will be destined to bring down You-Know-Who upon his return. I don't accept that. My nephew is a child and we adults shouldn't be leaving it for the next generation to end this war. I intend to do everything I possibly can to protect Harry Potter and that means destroying these soul anchors. I must do it alone as I don't want Dumbledore to find out about it—he'd probably leave them for Harry to deal with as soon as he's old enough to grasp a sword. This isn't for children to do."

Elphinstone nodded again. He completely agreed with Severus' passionate declaration. "Would Mr Black or Mr Lupin not help you?" he asked.

Severus sighed. "I'm sure they would but Sirius is a member of Dumbledore's Order and I don't know what oaths of loyalty he swore to Dumbledore upon becoming a member. Remus feels indebted to the old man for letting him attend Hogwarts as a werewolf. I don't want to involve anyone who is in any way beholden to the Headmaster."

"Why do you only need my help with one of these items?" asked Elphinstone, raising an eyebrow at the thought of Dumbledore accepting a werewolf as a pupil. While Elphinstone did not have the same prejudices as many, Remus Lupin would have attended Hogwarts before Severus Snape had developed his cure for lycanthropy and Elphinstone wondered how the Headmaster had been able to guarantee the safety of the other students on full moon nights. However, with the development of the cure, it was no longer important, and Elphinstone put this out his mind, focusing again on the conversation.

"It's the only one I can't access by myself," explained Severus. "I want as few people as possible involved as not only don't I want Dumbledore to find out what I'm doing, but I also don't think this is something the general public should become aware of. The more people who know, the better chance there is of the secret leaking. We don't want the destruction of the soul anchors to come to You-Know-Who's attention, nor do we want their existence to become public knowledge lest the next Dark Lord try to emulate You-Know-Who."

Severus had come well-prepared and Urquart could not argue with Severus' reasoning. "You'll notify me when these objects have all been destroyed?" Elphinstone requested.

"I will," Severus agreed. "I'll even show you the destroyed items, provided you then leave them with me for a more permanent disposal. These are not to be taken to the Department of Mysteries for study."

"I agree," said Elphinstone. "I'll do my best to get that ruling passed in the Wizengamot."

"You might want to suggest fining the vaults of the convicted Death Eaters at the same time," suggested Minerva, who had been quiet up until this point. "That may entice the Wizengamot into agreeing."

Severus and Elphinstone snorted in unison. The Wizengamot would never argue against fines being levied, and more gold being added to the Ministry coffers.

.o.O.o.

"So what's the plan?" Minerva asked Severus the following day. They were once again in the Muggle world, safely away from Dumbledore's watchful eye.

"Regarding what?" he replied.

"Don't give me that, my lad. You know exactly what I'm asking about. What are you going to do about the Horcruxes?"

Severus sighed. He really did not want to involve anyone else with the Horcruxes—he much preferred to work alone—but he also knew that the war would have been over before it even began in the previous timeline if Albus had only been willing to share this information and allow others to help him. If Severus was not to repeat Albus' mistakes, then he had to stop holding all his cards close to his chest, and if he could trust anyone, it was Minerva.

"There are currently six Horcruxes in existence," Severus began reluctantly.

"Six? You told Elphinstone there were four," Minerva interrupted sternly.

"There are four that are accessible at this time—or will be in the next few years: one is hidden in the Dark Lord's mother's childhood home, another is stored in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, one was hidden in a seaside cave but was moved by Regulus Black and the fourth is in Hogwarts." Severus held up a hand as Minerva started to interrupt again and she subsided.

"You-Know-Who had an obsession with Hogwarts and the Founders. Not surprisingly, really. He grew up in an orphanage and regarded Hogwarts as his home. Additionally, some time during his years in Hogwarts, he discovered he is a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin. The Horcrux stored in the Lestrange vault is Helga Hufflepuff's cup; it came down through the family line to Hepzibah Smith. You-Know-Who murdered Smith to make the Horcrux and stole the cup, framing her house elf for the crime. The one in Hogwarts is in the Room of Hidden Things aspect of the Room of Requirement. Did you know that the Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw ghost, is Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter?"

Minerva shook her head mutely and Severus continued. "Helena Ravenclaw stole her mother's diadem and hid it in a forest in Albania. You-Know-Who tricked the Grey Lady into telling him where it was. He retrieved it and turned it into a Horcrux, hiding it in Hogwarts when he came for a job interview as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor."

"You-Know-Who wanted to be a teacher?" Minerva gasped in shock.

"I doubt it. I'm sure he knew Albus would never offer him that position. I imagine it was merely a ruse to get into the school so that he could hide the Horcrux there," Severus explained. "The Horcrux stolen by Regulus Black is Slytherin's locket. That's currently in the possession of the Black house elf, Regulus having instructed Kreacher to destroy it and not tell any of his family about it. Unfortunately, Kreacher doesn't know how to destroy it. The problem will be talking to Kreacher without involving Sirius or Walburga Black—although, she passes on in… 1985, if I remember correctly, and Sirius will inherit everything. He hates that house and isn't going to want to live in it; nor will he want anything from it. When that time comes, I can always ask Sirius if I may look through the library and, while I'm there, ask Kreacher about the locket, if I haven't managed to obtain it before then."

Minerva nodded. It would not be ideal to wait to deal with the locket but if Sirius and Walburga were not to be involved then this may be their best option.

"The final of those four Horcruxes is hidden in a shack which was You-Know-Who's mother's childhood home. The Gaunts inherited two priceless artefacts: Salazar Slytherin's locket and the Peverell ring. Merope Gaunt, You-Know-Who's mother, sold the locket to Borgin & Burkes when she was pregnant, alone and desperate. She was cheated, of course; they didn't pay her a fraction of what it was worth. It was bought by Hepzibah Smith and stolen back by You-Know-Who at the same time as he stole Hufflepuff's cup. The ring was brought into the Gaunt line, not the Slytherin line, by an heiress of the Peverells and is actually the Resurrection Stone."

"What? That's just a myth!" cried Minerva in disbelief.

"I assure you it's no myth. The story of the Three Brothers is, of course, fictional but it has its origins in reality. There were three Peverell brothers. The youngest brother, Ignotus, made the invisibility cloak and that descended through his family line to the Potters; they still have it today and it hasn't lost any of its properties despite being centuries old. The middle brother, Cadmus, made the Resurrection Stone, which descended through his family line to the Gaunts. And, finally, there was the oldest brother, Antioch, who made the Elder Wand. That became a sought-after prize and so did not descend through the family line. It's currently in the hands of Albus Dumbledore." Severus sat back and waited for Minerva's reaction. He was not disappointed.

Minerva's mouth opened and closed several times but nothing came out. Eventually she managed to speak. "Albus Dumbledore owns one of the Hallows? And You-Know-Who owns another? And turned it into a Horcrux?" the witch asked incredulously.

"I don't believe You-Know-Who knows what that ring really is; he more likely regards it as simply another Slytherin artefact. As you know, most people believe the Deathly Hallows to be a myth but in his youth, Albus and his then lover, Gellert Grindelwald, were obsessed by the Hallows."

"Dumbledore and Grindelwald were lovers¹?" asked Minerva, utterly flabbergasted. Despite the serious nature of the conversation, Severus was secretly amused that he seemed to have rendered the formidable witch almost speechless.

"They had a fight with wands drawn and Dumbledore's little sister, Ariana, got caught in the cross-fire. She died but no one knows who shot the curse that killed her. That was the end of Albus' relationship with Grindelwald. When Albus defeated Grindelwald in 1945, he became the Master of the Elder Wand, since it had previously been in Grindelwald's possession. Much as I dislike Albus, the Elder Wand is probably safer with him than with anyone else. However, having Mastery over all three items is something else entirely. If certain things haven't changed, then Dumbledore borrowed the invisibility cloak from James and will only give it to Harry when he starts first year—unless Sirius and I manage to persuade him to hand it over now, that is."

"Albus has no right to keep a Potter family heirloom," Minerva observed neutrally.

"True, but that still doesn't mean he'll hand it over willingly. We'll probably have to fight to get it back."

"He'll say a little boy has no need of it."

"And a little boy won't have it; it will be safely stored in his vault until he turns eleven," said Severus resolutely. "Once he starts Hogwarts, Harry will be safer with the cloak than without it. Anyway, I don't know if the ring has compulsion charms on it but I do know You-Know-Who has put some rather nasty curses on it. When Albus found the ring last time and realised it was the Resurrection Stone, he couldn't resist putting it on. The curses were irreversible and cost Albus his life. I managed to delay his death for several months but it was going to kill him anyway. That's when Albus hatched the plot to have me kill him to help me rise in You-Know-Who's ranks. This is the main reason I don't want Albus to find out about the Horcruxes until after they've been safely destroyed. It's too dangerous to let him anywhere near that ring."

"All right, but what about the two Horcruxes you didn't tell Elphinstone about?" Minerva asked disapprovingly.

"One is a diary in the possession of Lucius Malfoy. In the last timeline, Malfoy Manor was searched for Dark objects many times between the two Blood Wars and nothing was ever found. I have no idea where Lucius has hidden that diary. What I do know is that Lucius doesn't know exactly what it is and he's going to plant it on the youngest Weasley in her first year at Hogwarts. We can get the diary then. I can have my elf retrieve it as soon as Ginevra arrives in Hogwarts. The other is Harry's scar. The Dark Lord went to Godric's Hollow on Halloween fully intending to create a Horcrux from Harry's death. Instead, when his curse rebounded on himself, his soul was already so fragile that a piece broke off and attached itself to the only magical, living thing in the room. The Horcrux will affect Harry somewhat but won't possess him, I think because it's attached to him rather than within him. Dumbledore's solution in the last timeline was for Harry to be killed, as he didn't know how else to remove it from Harry and thought it was worth gambling that if Harry was subjected to the Killing Curse, it would kill the Horcrux but not Harry."

"Dumbledore thought what?" said Minerva in horror.

Severus nodded. "I have an idea how we might be able to remove the Horcrux without killing Harry but we have to wait for him to get his memories back. It'll be very dangerous and he has a right to have a say in the matter."

"You're his guardian. You have the right to make the decision on his behalf," said Minerva, her green eyes looking sternly at him.

"I know I have the right to make decisions for him, but not this one. If Harry wasn't going to gain his memories back, then perhaps it would be different. As he will regain his memories, however, I'm going to wait and consult with him. It only really affects him when You-Know-Who is nearby and that won't happen until Harry goes to Hogwarts, so we can afford to wait. In the meantime, I might manage to find another, less risky, method of dealing with it. Besides, one effect of housing the Horcrux is that Harry will have the ability to speak Parseltongue and we're going to need that ability further down the line. You can't tell anyone about this, Minerva," said Severus urgently. "Any of it. There are those who would happily kill the boy now to destroy that Horcrux, even more so when they discover he's a Parselmouth. Others would want to use him to bring the Dark Lord back. It isn't safe for anyone to know."

"Might I remind you that I'm oath-bound not to say anything without your permission?" Minerva retorted acerbically. Seeing Severus looking sheepish, she softened. "I wouldn't anyway. I know you're only trying to protect Harry. Do you promise me you have a plan to deal with that thing in Harry?" she asked sternly.

"Yes, I promise I do," Severus said earnestly.

"Then we'll leave it at that," she said and changed the subject, much to Severus' relief.

Three weeks later, Severus made his way to the castle to visit his mother. He had deliberately waited until Dumbledore would be away from Hogwarts, seeing to his duties at the International Confederation of Wizards. On his way out, after a congenial evening spent with Eileen, Minerva, Pomona and Filius Flitwick—'Quite like old times,' he mused—Severus detoured to the Room of Requirement and summoned Fluxy. Severus had had an idea that would perhaps gain him access to the locket now and he was keen to try it, rather than waiting for Walburga Black to die.

"Hello, Fluxy," Severus smiled at the little elf. "How are you today?"

"Fluxy is good, Master Snape," the elf squeaked.

"I'm glad to hear that. Fluxy, I need your assistance, please."

"Of course, Master Snape." Fluxy looked cross that Severus would feel a need to ask.

"Fluxy, I need to talk to a house elf who isn't bonded to me. I have no reason to enter his home and he has no reason to come if I try to call for him. Would you know how I may speak to him? It's vitally important that his Mistress be unaware that I've spoken to this elf."

Fluxy considered the matter. "Elves can visits each other," he said finally, reluctantly. For a house elf to sneak unseen into a home where the Master or Mistress of that home would disapprove of said house elf's presence was a major breach of house elf etiquette, and doing it for the purpose of making the other elf deceive its Master or Mistress was even worse. Nevertheless, Fluxy would do this if Master Snape requested it of him.

Severus nodded. "Fluxy, I'm sorry to ask this of you when I know you would prefer not to, but I'm afraid I need you to go to the home of Walburga Black in London and speak to her house elf, Kreacher. Tell him that your Master would like to help him fulfil Master Regulus' last command. If Kreacher would like my assistance, then he should come to me after his Mistress goes to sleep tonight, as I wouldn't want him to get into trouble by leaving the house while she is awake in case she might need him. I'll wait here for him. Oh, and Fluxy—I don't want you punishing yourself for doing as I've requested."

"Yes, Master Snape," the elf said quietly, before popping quietly away.

An hour later, Kreacher appeared. "Yous will help Kreacher with Master Regulus' last command?" he asked. The query was surly but Severus could see the glimmer of hope in Kreacher's eyes.

"Yes, Kreacher. I will," said Severus firmly.

Severus mentally asked the room to provide a kiln which would withstand Fiendfyre and contain it so that it could not spread. When the kiln appeared, Severus cast the curse and the flames lit up in the kiln. "Kreacher, this is very dangerous fire. It will destroy the locket but you must be very careful putting it inside the kiln so that you won't get hurt," Severus explained.

Kreacher nodded and stepped forward resolutely. With a snap of his fingers, the locket had been levitated into the flames. A moment later there was an unearthly scream as a black cloud rose out of the locket and dissipated into nothing. Severus then levitated the diadem, which he had collected while he had been waiting for Kreacher, into the kiln and the same thing happened. Severus extinguished the flames and two broken and blackened items lay on the floor of the kiln.

"It's been sufficiently destroyed for Master Regulus' purposes, Kreacher. I promise you the remnants will be disposed of permanently, but first I need to show them to someone else to prove that the locket has been destroyed. Will you trust me to make sure that the remnants are taken care of?" Severus asked Kreacher solemnly.

Kreacher paused. He did not like Half-blood wizards—his Mistress did not approve of them—but this wizard had helped him do what his beloved Master Regulus had wanted him to do, despite Master Snape's inferior blood. Kreacher would trust this wizard with this.

"Kreacher must go now. Master Snape can dispose of the remnants," the elf said curtly and popped away.

Severus breathed a sigh of relief. He would arrange to show the destroyed Horcruxes to Elphinstone Urquart and then he would have to work out what to do with the remnants; perhaps try to dissolve them in Muggle corrosive chemicals? Or melt them in an industrial blast furnace? Of course, he did not actually have access to an industrial blast furnace, but Severus supposed that if worse came to worst, he could always try throwing the remnants into a volcano or down the Door to Hell in Turkmenistan instead! Severus would prefer the first option, however, as he did not want to risk any eruptions or explosions. During the next school vacation, he and Minerva would go after the ring; Severus was waiting until she could accompany him as he did not know what, if any, compulsion charms were on the ring and it would be better to have Minerva with him so that she could stop him if he tried to put the ring on.

.o.O.o.

Once all the dust had settled from the deaths of Lily and James and things had calmed down somewhat, the family met after their funerals to discuss Harry.

"Much as it pains me to admit it, Dumbledore is right about one thing: the blood wards afforded by Harry living with a maternal blood relative are the best protection he could have—and the best protection those he's living with could have. You can't get better wards than those. He has to live with either Tuney or Aunt Iris and Uncle Alex," said Severus.

"We'd take happily take him but we're not as young as we used to be. He'd be better off with Tuney. He'd have a sister in Holly, too," Iris admitted.

Sirius sat saying nothing but huffing quite audibly. Severus eventually got fed up of this and snapped. "What exactly is your problem, Padfoot?" he growled.

"I wanted to be involved in Harry's life," Sirius griped.

Severus stared at his friend incredulously. "So? Are you a wizard or what? You can apparate there in seconds!"

Sirius continued to grumble under his breath.

"What? What is it, Sirius?" Severus asked in annoyance.

"Harry and Leo… Prongs and I used to joke they were like brothers. I don't want them to live so far apart. I want them to grow up like brothers," Sirius finally explained in a small voice.

"Gryffindors!" said Marsali with a smirk. "I know thinking isn't your House's strong point but you do know there's an easy solution to that, don't you?"

Sirius looked at his wife blankly and Marsali rolled her eyes. "Siri, we've already said we want to buy a new house with more space, a larger garden… what's to stop us moving near Petunia and Gareth? If we connect it to the floo network, we can easily apparate or floo to work from home."

With a loud whoop, Sirius planted a smacking great kiss on his wife, and Marsali rolled her eyes in fake exasperation at her husband's exuberant antics. In reality, she was thrilled to see the re-emergence of the irrepressible man she had married; Sirius had been very subdued since James and Lily's deaths and this was the first sign of the life returning to him.

With that, it was decided: Petunia and Gareth would take Harry in permanently; Sirius, as one of his magical guardians and the Executor of his parents' Wills would allocate them an allowance from the Potter vault to help in raising Harry. This was something that had not happened in the last lifetime, because Albus did not have any authority over the Potter holdings, and the added expense had angered Vernon Dursley—not that the Dursleys had ever spent more than the absolute minimum on Harry.

In addition, Sirius and Marsali, who had begun house hunting even before Halloween, would now concentrate their efforts in County Durham. Petunia had mentioned a property close to her home that sounded promising. It was a large house, situated a little bit outside the small market town of Wolsingham where Petunia and Gareth lived, so Sirius and Marsali would be able to place defensive wards on the house, including Notice-Me-Not and Anti-Muggle charms so that their neighbours would not notice the boys flying about the garden when they were older; the Tonks and Evans families would, of course, be keyed into the wards so they would not be affected by the charms.

"What about you, Sev?" Marsali asked. "Are you going to stay in Hogsmeade or move closer to Harry?"

Severus shook his head. "I'm going to stay where I am for a while longer. I'm not ready to move just yet. I'll still see plenty of Harry and Holly, just as I do now."

"You need to find yourself a nice witch and settle down, mate," said Sirius jovially.

"Who says I haven't?" asked Severus. His private life was something his friends had often speculated on, since they had never known him to date.

"You've met someone? But… but why haven't you said anything?" stuttered Sirius as the assembled family all gaped at Severus in shock.

"Because there isn't anything to say yet. She's younger than I am—still in school—and nothing's going to happen until she finishes school," Severus replied firmly.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "So you're just mooning after her from afar? Is she even aware of your existence?"

Severus threw a cushion at his friend. "Yes, she's aware of my existence, thank you very much! We've been writing to each other. I'm just not asking her on a date yet." In truth, the correspondence between Severus and Cara through their mated journals was flourishing. They had progressed from quick, superficial notes to long, deep and emotional conversations. Severus was madly in love with Cara and was praying to every deity out there that she felt the same way about him. He intended to go on a short holiday to Brazil in the summer for a couple of weeks to see Cara again; she would be turning seventeen at that time and would then be an adult in the wizarding world, even if she would not yet be an adult in the Muggle world. Severus did not want to tell Sirius just who it was that he was in love with until after he saw Cara in the summer and had a chance to clarify their relationship; he did not need Sirius to become the over-protective older brother and wreck the relationship before it could even begin.

.o.O.o.

With the advent of the Christmas holidays, it was time for Severus and Minerva to go Horcrux hunting. Early one morning, they apparated into Little Hangleton and Severus led the way to the Gaunt shack. Pulling out their wands, they cast spells to find and identify the wards that they expected to be present. An hour later, they had finally brought down the wards and cautiously approached the shack. It took them another two hours to bring down the wards on this and when the exhausted duo finally entered the Gaunt home, they did so with extreme caution, fully expecting there to be more wards and booby-traps. It did not all go smoothly but, fortunately, Severus was very familiar with the type of wards the Dark Lord typically used and the two conspirators managed to avoid serious injury. Working in concert, they finally managed to disable the remaining and most vicious wards protecting the Horcrux itself, which was stored in a box beneath the floor boards. Using magic so that they would not need to touch it, they opened the box to be sure that the Horcrux was in fact inside. Reassured of that, they closed the box, again with magic, and levitated it into a dragon-hide pouch they had brought with them for this purpose. Job done, and somewhat battered and bruised from their efforts, they restored the wards before returning to Hogwarts, to destroy the Horcrux.

"Should we have put the wards back?" asked Minerva with a frown as they walked up from the gate to the castle. "What if some unsuspecting Muggle walks into them?"

"They haven't so far," Severus shrugged. "When he returns to Britain, he'll take possession of his Muggle father's estate, which is close to the Gaunt shack. It's the one Horcrux he might check on. He won't have the magical strength to go through the wards himself until he regains a body—and Peter Pettigrew certainly doesn't have the magical ability to do so—but he might choose just to check that the wards are still in place. This way we won't risk warning him. He can still do some magic while in spirit form. It's best not to take any chances. We're only going to have one opportunity to do this, so we need to get it right."

"I thought we're trying to stop him before he regains a body," Minerva said severely.

Severus sighed. "Even if we destroy all the Horcruxes, he can't be completely killed while he's still in spirit form. He can only die once he has a body. Even if he were to possess someone else, that wouldn't be sufficient—he needs to be in a body of his own."

Minerva sighed. "All right," she conceded. "I've trusted you this far, I've no reason to stop trusting you now."

"Thanks," Severus replied in relief. "Don't stop questioning me. Minerva. I'm not infallible and I need you to play Devil's advocate for me, but this was one of the things that I was told by Susan Sto-Helit, Death's representative, and given who she is, I have to believe she knows what she's talking about with regard to life and death."

Minerva snorted. "Yes, I imagine so," she blandly, with a twinkle of amusement in her green eyes.

By mutual, unspoken agreement, they changed the subject as they entered the castle. Just in time, as Dumbledore came to meet them in the entrance hall. Severus was thankful they had taken the time to tidy themselves up and glamour their bruises and scrapes.

"Minerva, I hope you had a pleasant day?" he jovially, smiling at his Deputy. Minerva merely nodded noncommitally. Dumbledore's smile faded as he turned towards Severus.

"And to what do we owe the pleasure, Mr Snape?" the Headmaster asked frostily.

"That's Master Snape," Severus replied long-sufferingly. "And I'm here to visit my Mother, Headmaster."

"I see. Well, I'll leave you to it then." With a swirl of his robes, Dumbledore swept away. Severus smirked at the sight of the old man's robes billowing behind him. 'Not as impressive as I was!' he snarked to himself.

Severus did in fact stop in briefly to see Eileen, to maintain his cover should Dumbledore mention Severus' visit to the Slytherin Head of House. After that he met Minerva at the Room of Requirement and they levitated the Horcrux out of the box and into the kiln of Fiendfyre, which the room had again provided. Before removing the blackened and cracked ring from the kiln, Severus ran a diagnostic and was relieved to see that the destruction of the ring had also eradicated the curse on it, which had killed Dumbledore in the last timeline, so there should be no danger from the ring. Returning the remnants of the ring and the Resurrection Stone to the pouch, Severus turned to Minerva.

"Will you contact Mr Urquart and arrange a meeting? I know how hard it is for you to get out from under Dumbledore's nose so I'm happy to meet whenever suits you best."

Minerva smirked. "Albus won't be suspicious if I tell him I'm meeting Elphinstone. The Headmaster likes to play matchmaker."

"Interfering old coot!" Severus commented.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Minerva replied dryly and Severus snorted in appreciation.

To Severus' surprise, Hogwarts still regarded him as a former Headmaster, even though he had chosen not to return to teaching. The Potions Master had a sneaking suspicion that the castle was merely biding its time and would expect him to return upon Eileen's retirement, whenever that would happen, although he did not know who would become the Slytherin Head of House at that point, since he was not able to fill that role this time round. However, he was grateful for the Headmaster privileges that Hogwarts still afforded him. In this instance, as he was about to leave the Room of Requirement, he received a warning. Severus stopped in his tracks and swore.

"What's wrong?" asked Minerva in alarm.

"Apparently, the Headmaster is lying in wait for me in the vicinity of the entrance hall. I've no idea what he wants to speak to me about but if I've received a warning, then it can't be good."

"How do you know?"

"Hogwarts still recognises me as Headmaster and is willing to aid me."

"Even though it was in a previous lifetime?" Minerva asked incredulously.

"Even though it was in a previous lifetime," Severus confirmed. An evil grin spread across his face. "And one of the privileges afforded to the Headmaster, is the ability to apparate within Hogwarts. I could apparate to one of the secret passages that I know Albus is unaware of and exit through that. I'll be able to avoid him then."

"Why don't you just apparate out of the school altogether? Why mess around with a secret passage?"

"Albus will be able to feel if I apparate through the wards. It's different to the feel of someone merely walking through them. Anyone can do the latter, while only the Head can do the former. I'd really rather he not start wondering who else can apparate through Hogwarts' wards."

"Why don't you just call Serafina?"

"Because this way, if Albus should happen to ask, you don't know exactly how or when I left," said Severus, allowing his Slytherin side to show through.

Minerva smirked. "In that case, I'll bid you farewell and leave you to make your way out of the castle once I'm safely back in my rooms. Goodnight, Severus."

Checking against his copy of the Marauders' Map, Severus followed Minerva's progress to her rooms. Knowing that Dumbledore had left Harry completely isolated from the wizarding world in the previous timeline, Severus had a feeling that the Headmaster wanted to speak to him to order him to stay away from his nephew. Plus, there was also the issue of the invisibility cloak, the return of which Sirius and Severus had already demanded. Severus had no intention of discussing either issue with Dumbledore; he and Sirius had agreed to leave it strictly in the hands of their lawyer. Andromeda Tonks was qualified to practise in both the wizarding and the Muggle worlds and was happy to represent her cousin and Severus in all matters pertaining to Harry Potter.

Once Minerva was back in her chambers, Severus apparated to the statue of the One-Eyed Witch on the third floor. "Dissendium," he murmured and the passageway opened up. Slipping inside, Severus waited to be sure the entrance had closed before heading down the tunnel, his wand lit to show the way. As soon as he felt himself cross the edge of the wards, Severus apparated from within the passageway to his flat above the apothecary shop.

Two days later, Severus and Minerva were again sitting with Elphinstone Urquart in a warded and silenced room in the Hogs Head Inn.

"These are the destroyed anchors," said Severus, showing them to Elphinstone.

The older wizard ran his wand over them a few times and nodded, satisfied that there was no lingering magic, Dark or otherwise, in the items. "What will you do with the pieces?" Elphinstone asked.

"I'm not sure," Severus admitted. "There's a couple of things I'm going to try. If all else fails, I'll throw them down a volcano. One thing I guarantee you, no matter what I do with them, I'll make absolutely certain they can't ever be retrieved."

"That's good enough for me," said Elphinstone with relief.

"What's happening with the Death Eaters' vaults?" Severus inquired.

"We have an agreement to my proposal in principle. I just have to work out how to remove the cup without it being known," Elphinstone explained.

"Be very careful! I've heard the Lestranges have some nasty curses on their vaults," Severus warned and Elphinstone nodded in acknowledgement.

With that, the meeting broke up. As Elphinstone went to settle up with Aberforth for use of the room, Severus whispered in Minerva's ear. "He's a good man, Minerva. I approve," and was delighted to see his companion blush.

"Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," said Severus, channelling James and Sirius, as he and Minerva rejoined Elphinstone in the main bar. "Good night," he said and ran out, chuckling to himself, before Minerva could hex him.

By the time Severus left for his holiday to Brazil, having been invited to Cara's seventeenth birthday party, Helga Hufflepuff's cup had been retrieved from the Lestrange vault and subjected to Fiendfyre, as with the other Horcruxes. Severus had tried dissolving the remnants of the Horcruxes with corrosives but this had not been successful. He then asked Iris Evans' brother, the builder who had once arranged for Tobias Snape to receive an apprenticeship as an auto mechanic, if he knew anyone who operated a blast furnace but George Evans did not. Severus was sitting in his flat one evening with a bottle of Firewhisky, glumly contemplating the probable need to visit the nearest active volcano when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"There is an easier option, you know."

"Susan!" Severus gasped. Sure enough, when he looked around, it was to see Susan Sto-Helit in front of him, an expression of amusement on her face. "What do you mean? What easier option?"

"The Veil in the Chamber of Death, of course," she replied.

Severus gaped at her in surprise. This had honestly not occurred to him. "But… but, how will I get into the Chamber of Death without being seen or having to give any awkward explanations?" he stuttered when he finally regained his voice.

"With my help, of course," she replied blandly.

"How did you know to come now?" Severus asked in bewilderment.

Susan frowned. She was an eminently sensible person, who preferred to focus on the aspects of herself that were human; she rarely spoke about the special abilities that went hand-in-hand with being Death's granddaughter. She liked to ignore the supernatural and the occult, deeming it highly illogical, however, over time she had gradually come to terms—more or less—with who she was. It helped that her special abilities were extremely useful, even if she did worry that each she time used them, she would become less human and more anthropomorphic personification, until there was no human left.

"I have a perfect memory," she said curtly. "To the extent that I can remember the future. Well, glimpses of it, anyway."

That smacked of Divination to Severus, but as Susan was clearly uncomfortable discussing the subject, he decided not to debate it with her. "There's just one problem," he drawled, bringing the subject back to the Veil. "I doubt I'll be able to enter the Chamber of Death without it being noticed."

"That's where I come in," Susan replied in resignation. Closing her eyes, she spread her arms out in front of her, slowly lowering them until she felt time stop. "Come on," Susan said impatiently, as she walked through the wall. "And don't forget to bring the destroyed Horcruxes with you."

Severus raised an eyebrow and waited. On the other side of the wall, he could hear Susan quietly cursing. "If I'm not careful, I'm going to become like Granddad and forget what doorknobs are for—not that he ever actually knew," she muttered to herself, not for the first time². Sticking her head back through the wall, she said to Severus, "Are you planning to join me?"

Amused, Severus followed Susan—leaving through the door! Outside was a magnificent white horse. It has long been said by horse breeders that there is no such a thing as a white horse; it is pale or grey, but never white. Yet this was truly a white horse, glowing in its whiteness; white not as snow but as milk, because milk has more life than snow³. This was the steed of Death. Death had tried riding a skeletal horse, but kept having to stop and wire bits back on⁴. Death had also tried riding a fiery steed, but it kept setting things on fire. All-in-all, Death had concluded that a live, air-breathing horse was a less embarrassing ride.

"Get on," Susan said, mounting the horse.

Severus noted that there was no saddle but did as Susan had bidden him and climbed on behind her. The horse took off with an impossibly smooth gait. Severus gasped with shock when he realised that the horse was actually riding through the sky.

"Don't worry," said Susan. "It's impossible to fall off Binky."

"Binky?" Severus sniggered.

"Yes," his companion sighed with resignation. "Binky."

"How is he galloping across the sky?" Severus asked.

"He creates his own ground-level," Susan explained. "It won't take long for Binky to arrive at the Ministry. When we're there, you'll see that everything around you is frozen in time. Don't touch anyone. Just follow me to the Chamber of Death, throw the Horcrux pieces through the Veil and then we can leave."

"Susan?" Severus asked after a few minutes' consideration. "Could I just have thrown the Horcruxes into the Veil without destroying them with Fiendfyre first?"

"No, that wouldn't have worked. The Veil is the barrier between the Land of the Living and the Afterlife. If the Horcruxes had been 'alive' at the time you threw them through the Veil, Voldemort would still have been connected to them even through the Veil. You would never have been able to destroy them once they had crossed into the Land of the Dead⁵. You definitely needed to destroy them first."

"Oh," said Severus in shock. "It's a good thing I didn't think about using the Veil then."

"Don't worry. I wouldn't have let you do that," said Susan chillingly and Severus shivered at her tone. He could say without any hesitation whatsoever, that Susan Sto-Helit could easily be far more frightening than Voldemort when she chose. 'Still,' he supposed, 'it's kind of comforting to know she's watching over us. Hopefully, that means that this time round we'll get it right.'

The rest of the journey passed in silence. When they arrived at the Ministry, it was very strange to see all the workers like living statues frozen in time. 'Kind of creepy,' Severus admitted to himself, trying to ignore them as he and Susan strode down stairs and through the corridors. Susan unerringly led them directly to the Chamber of Death.

"Be careful," she said. "You shouldn't get too close to the Veil."

Severus nodded and instead simply levitated the dragon-hide pouch containing the remnants through the Veil. "Well, that was an anti-climax," he quipped, turning to Susan, who ignored the joke.

"When you get the Diary, the Fiendfyre will destroy it completely. There won't be any remnants, so you won't need to worry about disposing of that Horcrux," she said briskly, as she led the way back out of the Ministry.

"Do you know how we can get the Horcrux out of Harry without killing him?" Severus asked anxiously.

Susan hesitated. Theoretically, she could deal with it. She could have severed the soul pieces from all the items using Death's scythe. This is probably the sharpest object in existence and is capable of slicing air, shadows and even time. Most importantly, it is designed to sever souls from their mortal shells. However, she had been warned not to get involved—Severus and Harry had to deal with the soul pieces without her help—and since she was already on her last chance, she had taken heed of the warning.⁶

"I could try using Death's scythe to sever Voldemort's soul piece from Harry," she said dubiously, "but I think there's too great a chance I might accidentally end up severing Harry's soul from his body at the same time. If that happened, it would definitely kill him. I think," she continued as she tried to remember what would happen, "that your plan will work."

'Well, that's better than nothing,' Severus supposed as Susan mounted Binky. At least with Susan's assurance that the plan had a chance of working, he could stop wasting time trying to come up with other solutions and instead work on refining the plan to make sure it would work.

Severus mounted Death's steed behind Susan and the pair sat in silence until they arrived back in Hogsmeade. After Severus had dismounted, Susan awkwardly spoke.

"Severus," she said hesitantly. "I'm sorry about James and Lily but it truly wasn't possible to save them. Sometimes there are people whose deaths are so significant that changing their fate is a disaster of monumental proportions. On my world, when my father was Granddad's apprentice, he saved one of those people, the Princess of Sto-Helit. Afterwards, reality couldn't accept she was still alive and her presence simply didn't register on anyone around her. The entire country was in mourning but couldn't understand why. In the end the original reality was going to reassert itself, killing her in the process, and it took Death himself interceding with the Gods to solve the problem and allow her to live⁷. James and Lily's deaths were just as significant—Voldemort was weeks away from winning and without the period of relative peace his destruction has brought about, that would have been the end of the Light. Remember that you would never have had the opportunity to access the diary and cup Horcruxes without the events of that Halloween. Unfortunately, your world works differently to the Discworld, so if you had saved James and Lily, there wouldn't have been any way for me to intercede and fix the problem. I wouldn't even have been able to get the Horcruxes for you because there's no place in your world for Death, or his representative, to take an active part in events—the most I could do was help you get to the Veil so that you could throw the remnants of the destroyed Horcruxes through. That's why reality in this world prevented you from killing Pettigrew. I really am sorry," she said regretfully, kicking her heels against Binky's flanks and galloping away into the sky, the horse's hooves leaving fiery footprints behind.

Severus stared into the sky, watching until the footprints had faded and disappeared. Someone bumped into Severus with a muffled apology, bringing him back to a sense of his surroundings. Severus quietly let himself back into the flat and, once there, he finally let himself go and cried his heart out. Until now, the young man had been so focused on what he needed to do that he had not allowed himself to grieve; he had been busy suppressing his feelings of loss and his guilt over not having killed Wormtail. Now, however, it was as if Susan's words had absolved him and had released him to grieve. With that, Severus spent the night mourning the loss of his beloved sister and her husband.

.o.O.o.

¹ I know that according to JKR, Dumbledore had unrequited feelings for Grindelwald but (a) Severus may not know the specifics of the relationship since Dumbledore kept his former friendship with Grindelwald very quiet and (b) it wasn't something I needed to go into in detail about, so I kept it simple.

² Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

³ Soul Music and Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett; also wikipedia dot org / wiki / Death_(Discworld)#Binky and wiki dot lspace dot org / mediawiki / index dot php / Binky

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

⁵ When a living person approaches the Veil, the souls of the dead, recognising a loved one nearby, attempt to communicate. Although their words are inaudible except for "faint whispering and murmuring noises" coming from the other side of the Veil, when the living person attempts communication themselves, the dead try harder and their whispering and murmuring becomes louder. This indicates that in Potterverse, when the body dies in the Land of the Living, the soul continues living in the Land of the Dead—otherwise I wouldn't have thought that the Resurrection Stone would be able to summon any semblance of those who have passed on into the Afterlife.

⁶ Susan wasn't actually supposed to be in this chapter but she insisted on appearing. I considered having her deal with the soul pieces, but even though I've made the retrieval and destruction of the Horcruxes easy (mainly because I'm pants at writing action) that would be too easy. (Heck, she could have walked right into the Lestrange vault without the goblins even being aware!) Therefore, Susan helps Severus get in and out of the Ministry with no one the wiser but that's all she does. Besides, I wanted the Horcruxes to be dealt with solely by means available to Severus and Harry, and not by means available to Susan. Since this isn't really a crossover—Susan just makes the occasional guest appearance—I'm trying to keep the Discworld elements of the story to a minimum, for the sake of those who aren't Discworld fans.

Mort by Terry Pratchett.

.o.O.o.

An enormous thanks to my beta, the wonderful StrongHermione, for all her help and support. I highly recommend having a look at her stories; they're all well worth reading.

Also, thank you to Ares Granger for the shout-out. Another author whose works I recommend.