Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter or FFX

A/N: Hmm, sorry about the delay with this chapter, but my boss has just left the company and I'm having to take care of things till we get a new one (really hate it). So, haven't really found much to inspire myself with. I'm not happy with this chapter at all, it's a bit of a filler, but nevermind!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. The vote is still open on the kiddywinks, but I have a fair idea what they will be.

Chapter Twenty Five – Where Things Get a Bit Too Real

"The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all."

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 - 1964)

"This is where she said…."

"I can't believe it was here, all this time, and I never knew."

"She said it didn't want anyone to know. That it would only reveal itself when the time came."

"Here we are. Now, where is the motif…?"

"…"

"Ah, here we go. A snake biting its own tail…"

"Symbol of Eternity."

A sound of stones scraping slowly across each other, and then people coughing.

Someone chuckling.

"Oh laugh it up Sal! Just because you don't need to breathe. Bloody ghosts!"

Even more laughing.

"Do you think Severus was surprised to find the Sword was hiding in his dungeons, and he didn't know?"

"Hmm…I think he felt better when he knew The Great Salazar Slytherin didn't know either."

"Yep, that's gotta do something for your ego."

"…"

"Eh? Did we just render 'The Greatest of the Hogwarts Four' speechless?"

"Nah, he's cursing in Parseltongue…ouch! You kiss your Mother with that mouth?"

"…"

"Ah, here we are. Go on Harry. Only you can touch it."

"Um…"

"Go on; just grab the bloody thing so we can get out of here. I don't anyone's been down here for at least a hundred years, if not more, with all that dust."

"Come on, get on with it!"

"…"

"Hey, since we're two floors below Snape's classroom, think we can tunnel up instead of walking all the way back up there? I mean, it is right above us, yeah? Isn't that what Pansy said?"

"Uh-huh. But I don't think Hogwarts will be very happy with you just blowing holes in her mate."

"Eh! Maybe Harry can sweet-talk her into making a short cut for us. She's got a thing for him."

"OK, as soon as he stops being a chicken and grabs that blooming sword, we can…"

Pansy was suddenly thrown violently out of the vision and slammed back into consciousness.

"Ow…" She complained as the force which had delivered the premonition and then expelled her from it, had given her a blinding headache. To add insult to injury, she didn't even have any headache potions. She scrambled out of bed, and stumbled into the living room.

The pain was throbbing through her skull, and she tripped on the rug, falling into a side table. The crash as a vase fell to the floor and smashed, woke practically everyone in the suite. Doors were thrown open as sleepy faces looked out, trying to find the source of the noise.

Draco was closest and he saw the prone form of his sister on the floor where she'd landed.

"Pansy!" He yelled, rushing over to her and turning her over gently. She was mumbling, woozy as she'd struck her head on the corner of the table. "Pansy?" He said again, concern making his voice hoarse. By this time, the rest of the family had made it down the stairs and they tried to see what was happening, without crowding the pair. Severus knelt down opposite Draco and regarded his daughter worriedly.

"Pansy, can you hear me?" He asked, and paused for her to answer. But nothing came. She was still murmuring and the former spy leaned down to try and listen, hoping he might be able to understand some of it. Most of what she was saying was jumbled, but one word stood out amongst the confusion.

"...vision…" Severus sucked in a quick breath when he heard that. He hurriedly rose, and conjured a stretcher for the young girl, levitating her onto it.

"We must get her to Poppy. Now, Annabelle, I want you to go back to bed, in your condition…" But he was cut off by his determined wife.

"No, she's my daughter too Severus. I'm coming with you." She declared, crossing her arms over her ample abdomen. She was about five months along, and positively blooming. Snape had become increasingly anxious as her pregnancy progressed, though he hid it well. However, he was too scared for Pansy to try arguing with his wife right now, so he just shrugged.

"Come on then, we'd better get going. The rest of you though, really ought to go back to sleep. That includes you Draco." He said, and without waiting for them to disagree, he left the room, carefully levitating Pansy's stretcher in front of him and Belle.

Dumbledore stood in his office, gazing out of the window. His mind was wandering over the events of the school year so far.

Things had become…complex.

With the addition of that woman onto the staff, his people had not been as easy to control as he would like. Since she'd poisoned them, they'd all began trying to play games with his mind. Now she was going to pollute his world even more with her…offspring. And if that wasn't enough, the werewolf would be whelping one of his own soon. He shuddered at how disgusting it all was. Not content to bring their shameful tendencies into his school, Remus and Sirius were barefaced enough to seem pleased about it all.

The situation was insupportable, he would not stand for it.

No, he would regain control of them all, somehow. He would re-establish his position as the most powerful man in the wizarding world. With the way things were now though, he wasn't strong enough; he would need to bind Harry again, maybe a bit more than last time, yes…that would be perfect. Sure the power drain he'd set up on the boy as a baby had been useful, but it would not be enough this time, he would need more…he would…

He didn't hear the person who slipped into his office, nor did he hear them whisper a stunner, before it was too late.

The next morning, Pansy awoke to find herself tucked up in a bed in the Hospital Wing with her Mother snoozing on the foot of her bed, one of her hands tightly holding Pansy's. Her Father was awake and watching her, concern and relief showing in his eyes. Pansy was overwhelmed by the sight, and had feelings akin to Severus' when he awoke in a similar fashion, after his episode with the Dark Mark.

In fact, much of the family and the staff had been amazed that it had taken Voldemort so long to decide to punish his wayward follower. A report had filtered back to them, that he'd been ranting about how Severus would come back to him, and then one day he'd snapped out of his ravings and immediately summoned a Deatheater so he could use the link to kill Snape. They theorised, that the battle between man and demon had prevented him from taking any tangible action, and somehow, one of them must have won out briefly and taken decisive action. It was a worrying thought that no one knew whether it was Tom or Voldemort who decided to kill the Potions Master.

Pansy turned her attention back to the man who'd adopted her when she'd thought she would remain alone and nameless.

"Good Morning Pansy. I must say, you gave us quite a scare." Severus drawled in the voice his students were so accustomed to hearing. Then a tender smiled twitched at the corner's of his mouth for a moment. "How do you feel daughter?" He asked quietly and she smiled.

"Much better than I did last night. Father I…had a vision…" Her voice trailed off as she remembered the pain the vision caused. Severus frowned when he saw the look on her face.

"Was it bad?" He asked bluntly. She shook her head.

"No, it's just after. It was very painful." She said, and went on to explain the general gist of what she'd seen, leaving out the specifics until the others got there. She looked over to a curtained off section of the ward and turned back curiously at Professor Snape.

"Albus…" He explained.

"Ah, intervention." Pansy said, and it wasn't a question. She knew of the plan to stop the Headmaster. "You know, we could all get into an awful lot of trouble over this." She added and he actually laughed a little.

"For shame Pansy dear! You sound just like Granger! Ow! Hey!" This came from Draco, who after such a flattering comment, shouldn't have been surprised that Hermione smacked him on the arm. Pansy turned to look at him as the rest of the family arrived, all with relieved faces at seeing she was awake, but slightly confused as to what the trouble had been the night before.

"Honestly Draco! You have to think of the bigger picture sometimes. Sure, we know why we did what we did, but others may not see it that way. We'd better just hope that we can get him the help he needs before anything serious happens." Pansy scolded and Draco smiled, glad to see she was back to her old self again.

"I know, I know. So, what did you see?"

Pansy went on to recount her vision to the group and they analysed over it, trying to glean as much information as possible. They were surprised to hear the comment about Salazar's ghost; clearly he hadn't been completely honest with them. When Poppy gave Pansy the all-clear to leave, they went back to their rooms with a new found energy. They'd been in a bit of slump before when their search for the sword had turned up diddly-squat. Now, they knew where it was.

Severus, Minerva and Remus stayed behind with Hermione and Poppy, to discuss what to do about Albus. After a long examination and recitation of his symptoms, Poppy was happy to back up their relieving him of duty on medical grounds.

Her scans of his brain indicated a chemical imbalance, which seemed to have built up over time. A complex series of potions, taken over a set period, would correct the imbalance, and eliminate its cause. Severus left the infirmary in a hurry, going straight to his labs to brew the medications. The first potion would alleviate the symptoms to a point where the old man would be lucid again, and the former spy wanted to make sure that would be as soon as possible. They needed Dumbledore back, the real Dumbledore.

He asked the others to update the rest of the family on what was happening, and after a brief pause, Hermione decided to follow him to see if she could help.

While Hermione and Severus were buried under a cloud of potions fumes, Harry, Draco, Sirius and Blaise went with Salazar's ghost, to the place Pansy described, looking for Cadalbolg.

The Founder had been a mite sheepish when they rumbled him, but explained that he'd kept it a secret so that he could observe the progress of his beloved school from afar, without suspicion. He'd left under a cloud, and when he was older and wiser, he saw the error of his ways, but knew that his name would always be looked down on by 'Light' wizards. He was actually hoping that the deeds of this year's seventh year Slytherins, would help to dispel some of the stigma attached to their House.

They made their way swiftly down through the dungeons, following in the ghost's wake, stopping when the Marauder's Map indicated that they were directly below the Potions classroom. Guided by Pansy's description, they found the snake motif, and entered the hidden chamber, which wasn't marked on the map.

There, hanging in the centre of the room, seemingly unsupported by anything, was Cadalbolg. Created by the Gods to slay the creatures of the Abyss, the Celestial Weapon was beautiful in its simplicity. Harry gulped.

They'd found the sword.

"Shit." Harry muttered.