A/N: Is…is this an update? Within a week? Oh my God, it's a miracle!

Well, yes & no. I'm trying to be good about this. Plus, I know a lot of you hate cliff-hangers & I left you with a pretty nasty one last time. So here you go. Within a week. Have at it.

Also – in order to get out this miraculously-quick update, it remains unbeta'd. So be kind. Especially if you want another update soon.

Chapter 35: An Answer…and More Questions

"Well then," Snape said, gaze still fixed upon her as the quiet din of the pub started to filter back into their consciousness. "Now we know where we stand."

Hermione stared at him.

"Well then, indeed, Snape," Mundungus echoed, a tone of triumph to his voice as he smirked sinisterly at the silent brunette. "I suppose I'll just be going then. After I collect what I'm owed."

Snape moved so quickly that Hermione didn't even realize what had happened until she saw him standing with his wand outstretched, the tip mere inches from Mundungus's temple.

"Obliviate!" Snape said clearly and almost immediately a look of bemusement fell on the other man's face.

A few seconds later, the petty crook simply walked away.

"I've erased his memory of our bond," Snape explained, resuming his seat once Mundungus had left the pub. "I've also made sure that he doesn't bother anyone again. He's been struck with the overwhelming desire to travel to Buenos Aires."

Hermione continued to stare at him.

Never in her life had she felt so incredibly filled with rage. Surprisingly, it wasn't the sallow man across from her for whom she held such animosity. It was for herself. Once again, she had recklessly gone against the practical voice of reason and now she was struck cold by the enormity of what she had just taken on.

Only this time, there would be no escape. There would be no treacherous clambering through a decaying passageway toward freedom. There was no bright light at the end of this tunnel. Only the thin, laughably-foolish hope that Snape would let her out of the vow without a monumental sacrifice on her part.

"I suppose you know what I intend to do," Snape said, eyes level with hers as he sat back in his chair.

"You intend to avenge Lily Potter," she said numbly.

"Well, I suppose you've gleaned the most salient part of my intentions."

"Damnit, Severus, I cannot do what you ask of me!" she hissed.

His eyes darkened.

"Can you not?" he asked quietly.

She sighed, looking down at the worn, chipped wood of the table that sat between them.

"If you should fail, you're asking me to…what? Kill Selena and Alexandra? Without a proper trial for their actions? And what if Lily is…"

She hesitated to finish her thought, but he understood her all the same.

"You believe she may still be alive? Kept prisoner, perhaps?"

She was taken aback by the soft, almost pitying tone in his voice.

"No, Hermione. If she fell victim to the Cruciatem Transictum – which, if the paintings hold true, she did – then she is most assuredly dead." He gave a deep sigh, looking up at the ceiling for a moment. "God, it feels like I've had to experience it all over again."

She watched him a moment, letting the momentary paralysis of her emotions flow through her before speaking again.

"What is it, Snape?" she asked, reverting to his surname to build an emotional wall between them. "What is this curse?"

He looked at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and leaning forward, threading his long fingers together and placing his hands on the table.

"A mortal is not merely a mortal simply because he is made of flesh and bone," he said. "A mortal is mortal because he is a delicate balance of mind, body and soul. Without one, the other two cannot function."

"But when a dementor takes a soul, the person still lives," Hermione argued, baffled as to where the direction of the conversation was going.

"Miss Granger, you of all people know the difference between living and functioning."

She said nothing and he continued.

"The Dark Lord knew that he could manipulate the soul of the willing. He had done it with himself, with his horcruxes. He proposed that he could manipulate the soul of the unwilling as well, through pain to the point of weakness.

"During the first war, he had occasion to see the great…talent…that many in the Order possessed. He, rather pragmatically, thought he could harvest it for the cause. Separate them from their talent…the combination of mind and soul…to use for himself."

"Harvest it? But you just said a mortal cannot live without one of the three."

"It's true. A mortal cannot. But at that point, the Dark Lord was more than mortal."

Hermione's brow furrowed.

"But if he found a way to do it, why did he need Selena and Alexandra?"

"Do you remember what happened to Potter in the graveyard your fourth year? When the Dark Lord returned?"

Hermione thought back, wracking her brain for the conversation she had had with Harry about that night. He had not been particularly forthcoming and she hadn't pressed him. Over the years following, the events from that night had become less significant as more urgent events occurred.

Now she wished she had pushed a bit more.

"He said…he said Voldemort had returned through some sort of spell."

Snape nodded.

"A version of the Cruciatem Transdictum, or so I'm led to believe," he clarified. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given. Flesh of the servant, willingly given. Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken. It's simpler than the Cruciatem Transdictum. He only needed a body. Death was not necessarily needed."

Hermione went cold.

"So…if he wanted Lily Potter's mind and soul, then she was…the enemy. And it was forcibly taken. And Alexandra…the one in the painting…she would be willingly giving him something. The Selena in the painting…she didn't know. Unknowingly given."

"Exactly," he said.

"But…but something happened. Voldemort disappeared that night. He was weakened."

Snape nodded again.

"The process is exceptionally difficult. Once you separate a body from its soul and mind, you need immense control to make sure it gets where it's going. The amount of magic involved makes the ground upon which you perform the magic extremely volatile. If you lose control, you run the risk of wrenching the souls, minds and bodies from the other mortals in the room – reconfiguring haphazardly until control is reached again."

"And Voldemort lost control."

"He must have done. It would explain the personality shift between Selena and Alexandra."

"So, if Alexandra was meant to be the willing party, then her mind must have gone to Selena by accident. And Selena, the unknowing, gave…what? Did her soul go into Alexandra? From what I've seen Alexandra doesn't seem to have a soul."

"You forget, as the Dark Lord did, that there was a fifth person in the room that night."

Hermione blinked, and then gasped.

"Harry?" she breathed.

Snape nodded a third time.

"A child's soul is pure. The purest of all. And in a battle of wills it will always win. My best guess…and it's just a guess…is that when the Dark Lord cast the spell, Lily's protection of her son made everything rebound off him, fragmenting everyone for a few seconds…milliseconds, even. Lily's mind, soul and body, instead of remaining whole and under the Dark Lord's control, simply…shattered. Everything that remained intact – Selena, Alexandra and Potter's mind, body and soul – absorbed the shattered parts and found the nearest host. Because Potter's soul was so pure, it could only belong to a child, so everything childlike, which I'm sure included his mind, went to the only child in the room. Somewhere in those few seconds, Selena and Alexandra's original personalities switched."

Hermione sat back in her chair, thoroughly saturated by this new information.

"And Voldemort?" she finally asked.

"He lost control. He gained nothing. Infuriated, he attacked Potter. The rest, you know."

He, too, leaned back in his chair and looked at her.

"Now, all of this is mere speculation; things I've managed to piece together from my knowledge of the Dark Lord's way of thinking and of Selena and Alexandra's personalities. I did not know them well before that night but I did know that before Lily Potter died, Selena Selwyn was a careless witch without much talent who followed Alexandra around like a puppy. Afterwards, it was the other way around until Alexandra – now with Selena's mind and soul – simply removed herself from our circle. She was kept at a close distance to make sure that she didn't defect to Dumbledore."

Hermione frowned.

"I don't understand. Why them? To my knowledge neither was in Voldemort's inner circle. What changed?"

Snape shook his head.

"I don't know."

Hermione let out a frustrated sigh.

"So many bloody questions! Every time I come close to an answer, fifteen more pop up!"

"I think," Snape said, "That this may be a good time to talk to Alexandra."

Hermione's jaw dropped.

"After what she did to me?"

"Think, Miss Granger! Who is the weak link in all of this? Who benefited the least from what happened, if it happened?"

Hermione closed her eyes.

"The real Selena Selwyn."

"Who is now…?"

"Alexandra Irons-Mulroney."

He nodded a final time and if Hermione hadn't known the man better, she would have thought he looked a little proud of her.

"Alexandra is you next logical step, Granger. And since I have said all I need or want to say on the matter, I now give you this."

He slid the parcel he had been carrying with him across the table to her. She had almost forgotten that he'd had it.

"In there are the books you'll need to understanding the magic behind the curse. There is also a file containing my last will and testament, along with the parchment which sets forth what I intend to do and what you will need to do if I should fail."

All of a sudden, the vow came back to her and she felt tension and fear grip her body.

"Severus…what do you intend to do? I need to speak with Selena…I mean, Alexandra…before you kill her."

"I'm aware of that, Miss Granger. You'll understand more once you've read the parchment. I'll leave word in twenty-four hours where you can find me, should you have need of me. Until then," He stood up and bowed his head in a manner of respect he had never treated her to before, "I leave you."

"Where are you going now?" she asked before she could help herself.

For a moment she thought he was just going to leave without saying anything. But after a moment of looking at her in quiet contemplation, he spoke:

"I must pack. I will no longer be safe once you start speaking to Alexandra. There are only a few people who know about this curse. It won't take long for the Dark Lord to know it was me. I will procure a safe house and send word to the Order once I'm situated. I also need to visit Godric's Hollow."

He didn't need to explain why.

Once he left, Hermione ordered some firewhisky. Aberforth was still nowhere to be found, but given that it was a Sunday, she was sure he had taken the day off.

Perhaps that was why Snape had suggested the location in the first place.

Sipping her drink with only the tiniest of winces, she carefully unwrapped the parcel. She bypassed the three, worn leather books and opened the file. There, sitting above the last will and testament of Severus Snape, sat the parchment that spelled out her fate.

It was surprisingly short.

There were only three things written in Snape's familiar, cramped hand:

1. - Pursue to its natural end all information regarding the nature of the Cruciatem Transdictum and the Death of Lily Potter.

2. - Find Selena Selwyn and Alexandra Irons-Mulroney.

3. - Kill them both.

Thank you for reading.

I hope you liked it.