A/N: Sniff... I can see the end from here. I think that has made it hard for me to write these last few chapters. Suffice it to say, things will go out with a bang. Not a whimper. As there will be Weasleys involved.
The pair spent a lovely two days in a safe house that finally met with Minerva's approval.
Severus had acted very put out about it, but in truth he was just as glad to put the dingy little cabin behind him... if only so he could relax. Because one could not relax when Minerva McGonagall was glaring at you.
There were Floo passwords that Severus had memorized, but he did not know where they would lead him. And, in fact, the passwords would then rotate if they waited too long. So, he stood, walked to the fireplace and made a grand gesture telling her that she should join him.
"Cat's Cradle," he announced as he dashed the Floo powder.
"Promising name," she said smiling at him as she walked from the large brick fireplace at their destination.
She moved quickly knowing that her husband's patience was, at this point, no longer than a three-year-old's. She would need to tell him her verdict quickly. They were in a lodge, the type of dwelling that would be a family's summer vacation home. Pine panelling again, but this time she could actually smell the wood rather than the dirt, mold, and smoke.
She walked through the large living room, passing a finger over the furniture to surreptitiously gauge its cleanliness. And then she made for the closest door. There was a small kitchen that she found was actually fairly well stocked with basics. Positively humming now, she headed back out and down the hall to where she hoped there would be bedrooms and a bath. The master bedroom did not disappoint. The large bed was covered in a handsome quilt and the pillows were piled high. There were fresh linens in a cupboard even. She looked out the window and called to her husband. "Do you have any idea where we are?"
"There is a framed map of the Lakes District by the door and entirely too many pictures of Herdwick ewes," he called back.
"That fits," she said.
Once she saw the adjacent bath with large tub and jars of bath salts, she grinned slyly. She knew they were staying the night.
Rhoda acted a tad peeved when she finally found them. She stepped from the fireplace brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet. Minerva looked as happy as a sated cat curled up on the couch. Severus occupied a chair near her and was reading something he had found on the ample bookshelves.
"Do you two have any interest in going home?" she said accusingly.
At first, Minerva merely widened her smile. "Alright, Rhoda," she finally said. "Make us an offer."
"The Minister of Magic has declared you two exempt from prosecution on any past charges," Rhoda told them snapping the paper open to display the headline. MINERVA MCGONAGALL FREE FROM PROSECUTION!!
Severus closed his book with a ringing thud, thereby declaring an end to their impromptu holiday.
###
They returned to the Clinic to find Filius Flitwick bouncing with excitement, a welcome that made Severus cock an eyebrow and retain his distance from the wee man.
"I've done it. Well, WE'VE done it. Severus, I managed a Placement Charm that targets the nervous system. Used in conjunction with the potion you designed, Asha and Niall have managed to restore partial nerve function in two of the patients!"
Seeing Severus was too stunned by the news to move, Minerva swept forward and hugged her old friend. "That's great news, Filius," she said softly.
"I'm so glad you are back, Minerva. The whole trial was so..." and the man sniffed and then tapered off, feeling the emotion get the better of him.
"Well done," Severus finally managed and shook the elder wizard's hand heartily.
Minerva spared the familiar room a look, and thought, Well and truly home... and then smiling at Filius, she decided the small man was a mostly-welcomed addition to the house and well... the family. .
###
Minerva wasted no time in preparing the children for an adoption ceremony. The summer was nearly ended and a new term would be starting at Hogwarts. And for the first time there would be housing on the grounds for orphans. She allowed herself a self-satisfied smile at the thought of Filius and her mother visiting the cottages where the children would live.
The most important part of the planning was getting her friend Gil to preside.
A mere week later, 50 people found themselves tightly packed into the clinic's library for the children's leave taking.
"Sometimes in life we find ourselves alone," Gil began. His white vestments added an air of formality and solemnity to the affair, and he spread his arms in a familiar welcoming gesture. "And alone, for many many of us, is not how we want to be. There is so more to two or three, it seems, than there is to one. So much more we can do and feel and be..."
He smiled broadly then and stepped closer to where the children were sitting.
"The young people here would like to take their places now with the new lives and the new people that they have found. They leave a very good place. A place that held them secure and granted them love until their true place was revealed. Today, our birds go on to new nests."
Someone is channeling Albus-bleeding-Dumbledore, Severus thought with a pained look.
"Amanda? Jeremy? Where will you go?" And Jeremy turned his eyes to Filius and Helen and then to the house parents who were sitting next to them. Jeremy still would not speak, but as Amanda proudly announced "Hogwarts" and squeezed his hand, he managed a confident nod of his smiling features.
"I think I'm going to cry," Minerva confided to her husband quietly.
"You feel you need to tell me this?" he complained weakly.
No tears came. She just slid out her lower lip. Her pout pronounced, she set her jaw and tried not to weep.
"Oh, please, just go ahead," Severus then conceded after a look at those gathered in the library. "You are 10 minutes behind most of the room anyway."
When it was time for the Weasleys to take Mary, there were no fewer than 5 of the clan there to grab up, mob, and baptize the child with tears.
Zoe then stepped forward. The last child assigned, she was feeling alone and exposed. She sidled up to the Reverend Gilchrist. Without preamble, he slid his hand into hers and squeezed it reassuringly. "Zoe," he said, his eyes locked to hers, shutting out the room. "What say you? Where will you go?"
"I am here for Severus and Minerva," she said as strongly as she could manage.
"Our cue," Minerva said and stood. The tears, in full force now, were running down her cheeks. She pulled the stunned, pale wizard along with her through the force of her will. Together they walked to the girl and Severus, ram rod straight and the picture of his former self, slowly lowered his head to his chest so that his eyes were held by Zoe's. He bestowed on her a half smile and let her twine her fingers in his.
"You are her comfort, Min. She is your anchor, Severus," the wise Reverend said. "Congratulations," he told the three of them as he patted Minerva's back affectionately. Then he turned to all of those gathered and he announced with exuberance, "Congratulations to you all!"
At the short reception that followed, Poppy threaded her way through the attendees until she was along side Minerva. Her grin was wide and wicked, spelling trouble, Minerva knew.
"There is just one thing we need to make this summer complete, Minerva," the matron near sang.
"What?" Minerva asked with apprehension.
"That wedding reception you owe us!" And before Minerva could object, Poppy slid away to plot with Filius and Helen.
Minerva had an immediate vision of a snowball rolling down hill, picking up speed and mass....
Colliding with a small and unsuspecting cabin...
and reducing it to splinters.