Disclaimer, this chapter contains lots of JK's dialogue which I'm sure you'll recognise. Not mine, never will be. Enjoy!

"Yes, of course," Tonks said tiredly, rubbing her hair which had turned back to its usual, vibrant state of hot pink. "I do honestly believe, though, that we can trust the Ministry's protection for the time being. Harry isn't leaving the house, he's not going anywhere. He barely leaves his bedroom from what we can tell."

Serena grimaced. The Order had been tailing the Ministry protection that had been given to Harry Potter for almost a week now. It wasn't that they didn't trust the Ministry to protect the boy, but… well, no, she argued with herself, they didn't trust the Ministry at all. Not after the fiasco with Umbridge.

They had been taking it in turns, then, hidden under Mad-Eye's invisibility cloak, to patrol the house, unseen by the aurors who were already protecting the boy.

Serena had guarded one morning so far, and had been sad to spot Harry sitting by the window and staring unseeingly out into the empty street. He hadn't moved from his room that whole day, apparently. He wasn't eating much, and she barely saw him go downstairs.

She grimaced. Sirius' loss was having a heavy impact on all of them.

"And you're sure Albus said he would fetch him himself?" Remus asked, quietly. Since Severus had sorted out the threat to Lavinia at the Ministry, he seemed stronger and more alert to the goings on of the Order.

"Sure," Mad-Eye said sharply. "He wants the boy for something, then he said he would deliver him to The Burrow."

"Molly and I will be happy to have him," Arthur said, nodding. "He'll be safe with us, and a lot happier too."

"And Albus insisted that Harry didn't need a guard for the transfer?" Serena asked. "I mean, isn't it worth the precaution, I know he's with Albus, but still…"

"He won't be attacked with Albus there," Moody said in a gruff voice.

"But what if they're counting on that?" Serena argued.

"They're not," Moody said shortly, his magical eye fixing on her from across the table. "They won't touch him with Albus near, Death Eaters just don't take the risk-"

"Well some of them attack whether Albus is near or not," she hissed quietly, and this time both of Moody's eyes pierced her. What remained of his nose twitched, and she knew they were both thinking of the same moment. She sometimes found it difficult to deflect her negative feelings away from Moody. He reminded her of so much that she wanted to forget, and even though he had been the innocent party in the whole thing, she still couldn't help the bursts of anger or fear that occasionally paralysed her in his presence. It was irrational, she knew, and she was aware that Moody was suffering too. Serena wasn't the only one that had been traumatised by what had happened and being locked in a trunk for six months had scarred him for life. He was jumpier than ever, and once when she had brushed his arm she had felt an irrational guilt.

She had tried to talk with him, reassure him that he had no role in what had happened to her, but the pain both had suffered was still too fresh.

"Either way," Remus said calmly. "Albus has the final word. If he says no guard, then it will be no guard. We have to trust him."

There was a low murmur of agreement, and Moody nodded. "Right, second point on the list is security questions. If we meet up outside of Headquarters, we need to have certain questions in place to ensure that an imposter is not in place. Polyjuice potion isn't that difficult to brew, and Snape told us the Dark Lord has asked for several batches."

"There should be a different question for each person," Tonks said, popping a handful of crisps into her mouth. "That's wha' we're doin' at Ministry," she crunched around a mouth full.

Moody scowled at her but Samuel chuckled. "Yes, Scrimgeour recommended it to everyone this week. They're also printing leaflets for the whole magical community to make people aware."

Serena summoned a jug of water and several glasses and set it to pour itself. Her and Remus had cooked a fish pie which was heating in the oven. Molly was no longer cooking meals for them, so the Order members that stayed there were taking it in turns. She was just putting her wand back in her pocket when the fire turned green behind her and they all turned around to see who was using the floo.

Severus' head appeared in the flames and she didn't have a split second to open her mouth before he had coughed a hacking cough and wild eyes had sought out the group. "Attack," he spat wheezily, "Attack, Madam Bones' house. You need to go now! NOW!" he shouted as no one moved.

Suddenly, the whole room jumped into action. Moody barked orders at the group and within twenty seconds, Serena, Samuel, Tonks and Moody were sprinting towards the front door.

Remus was contacting Albus, and Severus' head stayed, bobbing in the fireplace.

It was only three minutes later when Serena and Samuel stepped back through the door into the dark hallway of Headquarters. They paused in the corridor, as though they both needed a moment to control their emotions, and process what they had just seen before sharing the news.

Serena's hands were freezing cold. She didn't know why she noticed that, but she had to check for a second that she had her elemental powers in control. She felt glacial, and it had nothing to do with the sweltering summer's day outside. As she followed Samuel down to the kitchen, she thought about Severus and how he would take the news. This would push him just that much further into his darkness. This would make him justify his self-hatred and confirm for him his right to be punished with a miserable life. She felt a pang of guilt when her eyes fell upon his tortured face.

His head was still bobbing in the fire. Remus was sitting quietly on a chair in the empty kitchen. Both men looked at them.

Serena shook her head. "We were too late," she said quietly, trying to send Severus strength, but all she could see in his mind was a steel wall. "The Dark Mark was already above the house. Tonks and Mad-Eye are with the aurors. They think… they think it was the Dark Lord himself."

She knelt down on the stone slabs in front of the fire and looked sadly into Severus' hard eyes.

"Sev-"

He pulled back, there was a roar of green flame, and he was gone.

She dropped her head in her hands and let the waves of despair flow over her body. He had almost certainly risked so much to give them that message, and now he would punish himself because it had not been enough. And throughout it all, she couldn't be there for him, she couldn't reassure him, or hold him, or try and make him see his worth. She couldn't even go to him.

"Amelia Bones," Samuel said in his deep, slow voice behind her. "She was probably the most powerful witch in the Ministry…"

Serena cleared her throat and stood up, moving into the kitchen and pulling out a bottle of Ogden's whiskey. "That's probably why He decided to kill her himself," she said quietly.

She conjured glasses for the three of them and sat down heavily into the armchair in the corner of the room, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"To Amelia Bones," she said throatily, her eyes downcast.

"Amelia Bones," Remus and Samuel murmured in unison.

The evening was long and quiet. Several Order members came to toast Amelia Bones' death or to confirm the rumours they had heard about what had happened. Moody and Tonks didn't come back until the next day, and even then, they didn't have much to say.

Moody told them that Scrimgeour himself had been at the scene, and that Madam Bones appeared to have gone with a fight. To complicate the problem, she was found in a room that was locked from the inside, and the muggle policeman that had found her, were baffled.

Tonks' hair had once again lost its vibrance, but Serena was content to see Samuel comforting her. Once, she had stumbled across the two of them sharing an intimate hug on the second-floor-landing. Both had jumped apart suddenly, murmuring excuses and nonsense, but Serena hadn't missed the longing in Samuel's eyes. It reassured her slightly, to know that two people had found each other, whilst others were being torn apart.

The next day, Minerva appeared early at Grimmauld Place to tell them of a bridge collapse in her neighbourhood. The Death Eaters claimed that as long as Scrimgeour stayed in power, they would murder muggles.

"Have you heard from Severus?" Remus asked quietly, as he handed a warm bottle of milk to Lavinia who enjoyed feeding it to herself these days.

Serena half-shrugged. "After what happened yesterday, I wrote in our diary and checked he was ok… he said he was alive and would see me today, but then he wrote this morning that he had emergency brewing to do for St. Mungo's… what with the bridge sabotage and everything… so I don't know when I'll see him now…"

Remus grimaced, but she gave him a warm smile. She had nothing to complain about. Severus was still alive, at least.

"Which," she continued, "leaves me and you time to go shopping, you said you wanted new clothes for Vinnie, we can take a trip to muggle London. Albus is away until tomorrow apparently, no idea where, even Severus didn't know, but there won't be any important meetings until at least the day after tomorrow. Come on, we can take Vinnie and make a day of it."

The shopping did them both the world of good. Despite the slightly uneasy glances over their shoulders, or the casual notice-me-not charms they had both placed over the three of them before leaving, they did manage to relax and enjoy themselves. Serena came back with a bag full of new jeans, two t-shirts, socks and a black polo neck jumper for Severus. Her and Remus had spent hours pouring over tiny baby clothes and shoes for Vinnie, and the little lady herself had been very patient in her pushchair, seemingly very happy to leave the house and see other people bustling around her.

Once they were safely back at Grimmauld Place, Remus unpacked Vinnie's clothes to Tonks' crooning and Minerva's warm smiles and Serena set about making tea.

She was just draining the rice for her curry when a strange fluttering sensation passed over her. She turned just in time to see a streak of silver light fly through the kitchen, curious heads turning with it, as the light transformed into a recognisable figure before her very eyes.

"Ecole, maintenant."

The voice coming from the doe's mouth sounded strained and odd, with his awkward French accent and his desperate words, but Serena didn't stop to think as her cloak flew into her outstretched hand and she had crossed the kitchen in three strides.

"Serena wait-"

"What-"

"Serena?" Remus grabbed her elbow and looked deeply into her eyes. "What did that mean? What did Severus want?"

Serena looked at him for a moment, trying to decide what to tell him, whilst very conscious that she was wasting precious time, and that Severus wouldn't have sent a patronus unless it was absolutely urgent.

"I, I don't know, but I know it's critical," she said quickly and quietly, aware Minerva, Samuel and Tonks were listening.

"I'll come with you-"

"No," she said quickly, "he would have said if he needed company. I'll patronus you if I need help. I have to go." With that she hurried past him and ran up the stairs. The moment she got to the front door she closed her eyes and focussed on Severus' message:

The school. Now.

The moment she came out of the black spin that was apparition, adrenaline kicked in.

"Get his other arm."

It took her a split second to realise that the mass of lilac robes Severus was struggling to hold up was Albus Dumbledore. She ran to him and couldn't control her gasp when she saw that half of his robes had been singed away, and that the right side that Severus was supporting had shrivelled skin burnt black as coal. "Don't touch the black," Severus ordered as they began heaving him up through the castle gates and towards the dark and uninhabited castle.

"Nooo…" Albus moaned quietly, his head drooping to his chest and saliva dribbling down his chin. "They… didn't want to… didn't want to come back…" he muttered in a wild, weak voice. "Noo…"

Serena hushed him and looked with wide eyes at Severus, but he was concentrating too deeply to notice.

Severus was muttering enchantments under his breath in languages she didn't even recognise as they struggled with Albus, despite the lightening charm she had cast, and Serena swallowed hard when she saw how worried he looked and how much he was sweating. She recognised his emergency potions bag slung over his back and realised how serious this was.

A minute later, and Albus was completely unconscious.

"Here," they lowered Albus slowly against a tree, twenty metres from the school gates, and Severus scrambled hurriedly through his potions bag.

"He's not going to make it if I don't…" he fell silent as he began mixing two potions together and Serena began casting diagnostic charms over Albus.

"This is- this is Dark magic," she said more to herself than to him. "What on earth…" she knelt down next to Albus who was slipping in and out of consciousness, the skin around his mouth falling slack and making him look older suddenly. The blackness on his side seemed to be spreading and Serena could see a patch on his neck now. Her eyes fell to his hand and she frowned. There was a large, clumsily made ring on his finger, with a black stone set in it that had been cracked down the middle. A spell revealed to Serena that this was the source of the curse.

"What if I call a houself to apparate us up to his office?" she asked quickly.

Severus paused, his hands holding the potion bottles up to the light, then he said sharply; "Elizabeth!"

Crack

"Master Se- oh my!" the elf squeaked as her huge round eyes fell on Albus' broken figure.

"Elizabeth," Serena said quickly. "I need you to apparate us all up to Albus' office, immediately, and then leave us."

The little elf looked at Severus who nodded.

"Serena, when we arrive, you need to throw out all of the silver instruments in the room. They will surely try to kill him."

Serena could only nod as she summoned her knowledge of dark magic to the forefront of her mind and remembered that pure silver could not be impregnated with darkness and fought against it like on a magnetic field.

They held out their hands, Elizabeth took hold of Albus, and in another unpleasant moment, they found themselves kneeling in the middle of Albus' office.

As predicted, when they entered Albus' office, the instruments on his table began to hiss and whir, and a small object with spindly legs launched itself from his desk towards them. Serena blasted it with her wand and began vanishing the others at the same time as helping Severus lift Albus into his chair.

Severus had began setting up a tiny cauldron of what looked like pure gold on Albus' desk. He had stripped off his own cloak and cast several charms over his hair and face before he began tipping various potions and ingredients into the tiny cauldron.

Serena began carefully cutting Albus' robe away, keeping an eye on his breathing and trying to push away her erratic thoughts that kept screaming at her how wrong this all was. Her hands were trembling and when she revealed his bare chest she felt nauseous at the spread of darkness across it.

"It's okay, Albus," she murmured quietly, pushing Albus' silver hair away from his face and pocketing his half-moon glasses carefully. "We've got you; you're going to be okay."

Albus gave a small moan and his head twitched to the side. "No…" he said feebly in a voice so weak it made Serena's blood run cold. What was happening? Albus couldn't die! He couldn't! He just couldn't!

"Albus, hold on," she whispered, clutching his other hand, and trying not to dwell on the fact that she couldn't feel any of his emotions. Dark Magic could do that, she knew, it didn't mean he was dying, it didn't mean it was too late…

She knew better than to distract Severus, but she had so many questions running through her head she could barely focus.

"His blood," muttered Severus wildly, his hand stirring the cauldron in precise half-turns. "I need his blood, there should be a golden dagger in my black bag-yes- and a vial- ok, now you must use your left hand to take it!"

Serena gripped the small, intricate dagger with a sweaty hand and rushed back to Albus who had slumped further into his chair.

"Where from?" she asked shakily, her eyes trying to find part of his body that wasn't black.

"The arm that isn't cursed, the inside elbow, left hand remember- the hand of weakness!"

She took a deep breath before she took the knife and made a precise incision in Albus' arm. She filled the vial with blood and handed it to Severus.

"Can I heal his arm?"

"Yes, but not with telempathy, just a spell."

She pressed the tip of her wand gently to his cut and the skin closed over.

She watched tensely as Severus added Albus' blood one drop at a time into the cauldron.

"Here," Severus said roughly, pushing a different vial of dark green potion into her hand. "Feed him this, I can't, the Dark Mark will make it worse…"

Serena took it and gently tipped Albus' head back, trying not to think about how feeble his breath was on her hand and how the blackness had crept up to his ear now.

"Goddamit," Severus snapped from behind her, pointing his wand at Albus as soon as Serena had begun pouring the liquid gently between Albus' lips. "You idiot man!" Severus snarled now, "what were you thinking! Arreta Momelius Magicka! Priori Evillius! You fucking idiot! Priori incantantem! Revelio magie noiramu, Revelio incantate noiramu!"

Severus suddenly hissed and turned his wand on Serena, who had finished emptying the potion between Albus' slack lips and had just stepped back.

"Protection," he muttered, sending several shield spells over her, before doing the same to himself.

There was a flash of red in the corner of her eye and Fawkes the phoenix glided over and landed on the arm of Albus' chair, his eyes large and mournful and knowing.

"Severus," Serena said suddenly, an idea popping into her head at seeing Fawkes. "Chapter seven of moste olde curses, do you remember the incantation?"

Severus' brow creased as he thought hard and then looked at her, his eyes wide. "It could work, but-"

"I know," she said quickly, "it needs a sacrifice, but Fawkes can't die… I could link it to him, couldn't I?" Her thoughts were so much easier to organise now her mind palace was complete.

"It could work," Severus said slowly, his eyes falling on Fawkes. "But-"

"I know," she read the thought in his mind. "It's temporary, but your potion is only going to contain it anyway, this could help prolong the repression? Make it permanent if it's caught in Fawkes' regeneration loop? The book said that the incantation could trap dark magic inside a being by tying it to the death of another. Making living bearable by balancing it with death, so to speak."

"Try it," Severus said briskly, "quickly."

Serena clutched her wand and pointed it straight at Albus' chest. She visualised the words in her mind and then remembered one of the footnotes in that chapter.

She touched her wand to her left palm and cut it open, wincing at the sharp pain.

"The footnote said that if one could prove one was pureblood, the spell would be stronger," she explained to Severus who had opened his mouth to question her.

He nodded silently and she approached Albus, placing her bloody palm on his cheek, tainting his beard crimson, whilst pressing the tip of her wand to his chest. Fawkes was crying now, and she had to summon all of her courage to the surface. Albus will not die.

She began murmuring the Latin incantation, the words feeling awkward and foreign in her mouth, but as she repeated the two lines, the words got easier and the spell flowed, just like the white streaks of magic from the tip of her wand. After the fourth repetition, she almost stopped in relief as she saw Albus' ear regain a pale pink colour, and the darkness began to recede. She doubled her efforts, focussing on the words, watching with wide eyes as the shrivelled black skin smoothed out and the pale, silver hairs of his chest became visible. When Severus' wand hand stretched out next to hers and he copied the incantation, she felt the pulse of powerful magic in the air and the black curse faded even quicker. His chest and neck cleared slowly, and when they pushed the blackness into Albus' hand, they shared a split-seconds glance before Serena nodded and their wands pushed the blackness towards the beautiful, innocent creature that cried for the pain of its master.

Fawkes' wings spread wide, his head lifted into the air, he gave a squawk of pain, and then there was a flash of fire and he burst into a thick ball of ash which fell to the floor at Albus' feet.

The silence that rang out after the end of their spell was eery, but it was only a second until Severus jumped into action and hurried to grab the potion from the golden cauldron. Serena scooped up the pile of ashes and placed them onto Fawkes' perch, as Severus poured the white liquid between Albus' slack lips.

"Swallow," he growled, rubbing Albus' throat, "swallow you foolish man."

"He's not breathing," Serena realised suddenly, "Severus, he's not breathing-"

"Let it work," Severus breathed, his eyes not moving from Albus' face. "Give it time."

They had both stopped breathing. Then, Albus gave a jerk and began heaving in deep breaths, his chin resting on his chest. Severus murmured another spell and the large, cracked black ring levitated from Albus' finger and rested on the table before him. After a full minute, Albus began to twitch and very slowly opened his eyes, his hand which now contained the dark spell, blackened and scorched, rose shakily up to his face.

"M…my boy," he said in a hoarse voice, "you did well…"

Serena couldn't help the tears that poured down her cheeks, and her sniffle turned Albus' head as though he hadn't realised she was there.

"My child," he said weakly, looking at her with his bright blue eyes.

She let out a shaky sob and shook her head, kneeling at his feet and clutching his good hand tightly. "You stupid man," she sobbed shakily, "what were you thinking? We just lost Sirius, I can't lose you too!"

Albus nodded slowly, his hand squeezing hers so weakly that she barely felt it. "Forgive me," he said softly, bowing his head towards Serena. She lifted a shaking hand and wiped at his cheek, cleaning her blood from his face and beard.

"You scared the hell out of me," she sniffed, her feelings all over the place as relief and fear and adrenaline pounded through her veins.

"Headmaster," Severus said strongly from behind her. "The curse is contained in your hand. Serena linked the dark magic to the regenerational powers of Fawkes-"

Albus' head turned to look at the small, ugly being that was now a featherless baby Fawkes.

"Of course," he said quietly.

"-but the healing process is not quite over…"

"Indeed," Albus said quietly, and his eyes flickered from Severus to Serena and back again.

Severus gave a tiny nod that Serena would have missed had she not been looking directly at him, and she became suspicious that the two men were communicating privately between themselves.

"Serena," Severus said in a rough voice, his eyes fixed on a spot just slightly to the left of her eyes. "I must speak with Albus. You should go back to Headquarters."

"But-"

"Now," he said in a firmer voice and she stared at him incredulously. "But Severus, I-"

"Serena," Albus said softly, giving her a small smile. "I do need to speak with Severus alone…"

She swallowed the hurt she was feeling and nodded. "Of course."

"You may use the floo."

"Come and find me when you're done," she said quietly to Severus, who looked at her with flat, expressionless eyes and nodded.

Her mind full of curious questions, she threw a handful of powder into the green flames and left the two men in Albus' office.