"Finite," she whispered.

Severus hurled himself out of the chair with all of his force and agility, flying towards her in rage his death-like grip grasped her shoulders and slammed her hard into the bedroom door, pinning her there, helpless in the face of his fury.

She didn't have time to panic, she didn't have a second to let her body constrict in fear as old memories resurfaced, Severus was screaming at her in rage and it took her a moment to realise that he was inside her mind, filling her brain with thoughts of betrayal and treachery and infidelity. She pushed him away both physically and mentally, and although he pulled out of her thoughts his looming grip remained as his black eyes focussed on her face now, and she watched in fear as they glittered with fury.

"How dare you," he hissed, spittle flying across the small space between them and landing on her lips. "What were you thinking! What are you trying to achieve here! Do you want me to curse you? Is that it? Do you want me to hurt you?"

"You are hurting me!" she shouted in his face. "Can't you see that! You are hurting me! When I bonded my soul to yours you swore to protect me from harm! And all you're doing it causing me pain!"

His hands squeezed her skin even tighter but he didn't seem to notice. "Protect you? And have you ever stopped to consider that maybe I am doing just that!"

"Of course that's what you think you're doing!" she yelled, trying to push him off her with a shove to his chest. "But you're causing more damage than good!"

"You don't know anything!"

"Then tell me!" she begged him, her hands gripping the front of his robes and pulling him closer instead of pushing him away now. "Severus, please," she said, hot emotions burning in the back of her throat now, "please-"

"You don't understand!" he shouted, his voice straining in his throat. "You don't! This is the only way!"

"I'm telling you it's not!" she cried, shaking him, "it's not! You're giving up on me! You're pushing us apart! You're ending our marriage by choice!"

Whack.

Serena jumped in fright as Severus' fist flew past mere millimetres to the side of her, grazing her ear and smashing into the plasterboard wall next to her.

She froze, swallowing hard, as Severus' dark eyes widened and filled with horror.

He stumbled back from her shakily and she dropped her grip on his robes immediately.

"Serena…" his voice was hoarse and broken and his eyes were filled with fear. "I'm- I'm sorry, I- I don't know what I… it's… too much, it's… I lost control… I… I could have hit you. I wanted to, I…" he paused and looked up into her eyes and what she saw in his face brought tears to her own. "I can't do it," he said in a quaking voice. "I can't. I've tried, but I can't."

"Then don't."

Severus' hands reached up and pulled at his hair, tugging at the roots as though he was demented. His eyes were filled with pain and horror and he looked totally, utterly lost. He stumbled back a few paces and then surged towards her, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her towards the door like a mad-man.

She could feel the pain and anger pulsing through their connection, as well as his fear of losing her. She pressed her other hand to the door instinctively and it swung open, allowing Severus to storm through it, dragging her along behind him. She followed unquestioningly, wondering where he was taking her, who he was taking her to, as they all but ran down the stairs. He pulled her down to the kitchen and straight over to the fire.

"What's going on?" Remus asked, standing up from the table where he had been feeding Vinnie.

Severus didn't even look at the other man and Serena merely waited as he grabbed a handful of floo powder from the mantle and threw it into the fire, not even stepping back as there was a burst of green flame that nearly caught the hem of his robe.

"Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts," he growled, before pulling her into the fire with him and forcing them into the uncomfortable spin.

She coughed the ash out of her lungs as she stumbled onto the purple rug in Albus' office. She hadn't even straightened up properly before Severus had dragged her forward, all but shoving her towards Albus' desk.

The older wizard had been writing a letter at his desk. He wasn't wearing his outer cloak and Serena noticed randomly how thin he was. At the commotion he got hastily to his feet and held up his hands in shock.

"Severus, what in Merlin's name are you doing?"

"ME?" Severus roared, making Serena jump as his anger once again shot to the surface. "You are doing this! You and your plans and your promises! You are doing this to us! Look at her!" he boomed, grasping Serena's shoulders and dragging her across so that she leant on the desk in front of Albus, the wooden edge biting painfully into her thighs.

"Severus!" Albus protested, his wide eyes passing between Serena and Severus who was standing behind her, pressing her forward. "You're hurting her-"

"Yes!" he shouted, spit flying across the desk. "And I just nearly- I nearly- You're doing this to me!" he finally managed, his voice strained and broken.

"But Severus, what are you-"

"No!" Severus barked. "No! That's enough! I can't take anymore! Now tell her! Tell her what you're making me do! Tell her your fucking plan!"

Serena finally seemed to gather her wits and stood up straight, pushing Severus firmly away behind her. She took a deep breath and looked straight into Albus' eyes.

"You heard him," she said quietly in a voice she hoped was firm and cold.

Albus looked across to Severus, but she felt her husband shake his head behind her back. "No. No more messages and mind games."

Albus looked back at Serena and sighed, before sitting back down into his chair and gesturing to the chairs opposite. "Please, sit down."

Severus didn't move.

"No thank you." Serena said curtly, her heart beating hard in her chest.

Albus seemed to be wrestling with several different emotions before he managed to control himself. He folded his arms and looked at Serena with a polite expression on his face, and when he spoke his voice was light and unconcerned.

"I am dying."

Serena frowned. "You mean your hand? But we isolated that curse-"

"No, we didn't," Severus said quietly, and she turned around, finally looking at him properly, searching his face for the truth, but his emotions were finally open to her. He was exhausted, and scared, and telling her the truth. "We managed to push the curse back and contain it, using Fawkes was genius but it cannot be linked to his life cycle. The curse will gain control of Albus' body."

Serena turned, stunned, back to the old man that sat in front of her. "How long?" she asked stiffly.

"Severus predicts less than a year," he said quietly, bowing his head slightly.

Serena stood for a moment, her mind whirring as she tried to piece the puzzle together. "But…" she turned to Severus once more and looked at him carefully. "Severus, I understand how heart-breaking this news is for you, and I know you well enough to be sure that you have already tried to blame yourself, but… this doesn't explain what's been happening between us."

Severus cleared his throat and she saw his hands clench into fists. "No," he agreed through tight lips. "It doesn't."

"Severus," Albus said in a warning voice.

"No," Severus growled quickly. "You will tell her old man, you will look her in the eyes and you will tell her."

"Severus-"

"NO!" Severus shouted again, startling her. "You just can't stop your cowardice can you!" he shouted. "You can't even look at her! Well fine, I'll tell her what a loving, perfect man you are."

Serena span around to Severus, one hand reaching out to touch his chest, trying to ground him and reassure herself that he was okay, but Severus didn't even seem to notice her touch.

"I've made him a promise," he said quietly now, his eyes fixated on Albus behind her. "I will be the one to end his life. I will be the one to kill Albus Dumbledore."

"Wh-what?" Serena stuttered, not sure that she had heard correctly.

"Draco Malfoy has been ordered to kill him. The Dark Lord is punishing Lucius for the failure at the Ministry. But Draco will not kill Albus, it shall be me. I have promised him, it is the plan. It will secure my place at the Dark Lord's side." His voice was flat and emotionless but Serena saw straight through it. She could feel his heart thumping under the hand on his chest and see the panic in his eyes. "I will kill him before the year is out."

Thoughts were flying around Serena's head, moving too fast for her to comprehend what was happening. Her mind whirred with all of the possible outcomes of this promise, all of the futures that Severus could and would no longer live and when her brain realised what this would mean her body couldn't take the idea. Her knees gave way and she almost fell into the chair opposite Albus.

"Tell me this isn't true?" it came out in a whisper, but her anger was bubbling very close to the surface. "You can't, Albus, you can't have asked this of him… not this…"

"Serena," Albus said slowly, "you are not seeing the bigger picture-"

"The bigger picture?" she repeated incredulously. "Of course I see it, we're at war, but this is just unthinkable-"

"It is the only way, my child," he said softly, "Lord Voldemort has ordered the Malfoy boy to murder me. If Severus does it, then not only will his position be strengthened, but he will protect Malfoy's soul from any damage-"

"Malfoy's soul!" she yelled, suddenly finding herself on her feet again. "Malfoy's soul? And what about Severus! WHAT ABOUT HIS SOUL?" she screamed, pointing back to Severus' stiff figure. "WHAT WILL THIS DO TO HIM? HE LOVES YOU LIKE A FATHER. IT WILL DESTORY HIM!"

"Only Severus knows whether it will hurt his soul to help an old man die with dignity."

"And what about his life?" she choked in a hollow voice. "What are you expecting to happen? He kills you, the Dark Lord is all chuffed and the Order just turn a blind eye? Have you even stopped to imagine what you are asking him to give up?"

"Severus knows full well-"

"Severus swore loyalty to you and you counted on it!" she snapped, resisting the urge to pull out her wand. "Think about his life! Think about what will happen! He murders you and the whole Order will turn their back on him! Murder him and Severus will become the full-time tool of the Dark Lord! He will have no friends, no help, no, no…" she trailed off and span back around to Severus, her eyes filled with tears now. She reached up with a trembling hand and caressed his cheek with her knuckles. "But of course… this is why you pushed me away… There is no way our relationship can survive this… Either the Order will think I knew you were a traitor, and they will hunt us both down, or they will think I knew nothing, but will still treat me with suspicion, and I will probably never be able to see you again… not as long as the Dark Lord is alive, anyhow…"

Serena could feel the love and pride she had for Severus swell up inside of her. "Oh my love," she whispered. "You chose to push me away now and turn me against you… you wanted the Order to believe that I had no idea… perhaps even push me to a divorce… my love… oh my Severus…" she could feel her tears now, hot on her cheeks, but she couldn't look away from her husband's face. "You are so brave… and so stupid…" she whispered, shaking her head as though she could blow her tears away. In that moment, all she wanted to do was to pull him into her arms, but she knew it was not the time. Albus was silent behind her, and Severus was still emotionless and unspeaking.

She turned, shaking, back to Albus.

"I thought you loved him," she said, wincing as her voice broke. "I thought you wanted to protect him just as much as I did… but it seems that he's just a pawn in your game, just like the rest of us."

Behind her, Severus cleared his throat and shuffled from one foot to another.

"Serena?"

She span back around to face him.

"We should leave," he said in a quiet voice.

Serena had no intention of letting Albus off that easily, and their discussion was nowhere near finished, but she saw that Severus wanted to be alone with her, and she wasn't going to stop him. She nodded, suddenly aware of the tears that wouldn't stop dripping and her hands that were moist with sweat.

Severus put a hand on the small of her back and guided her gently back towards the fireplace. Before stepping into the flames she turned back to the old man sitting behind his desk.

"I won't let you hurt his soul," she said quietly. "For it is not just his, but mine also. And I will protect it if it costs me my life."

Severus pulled her closer, his two arms wrapping around her chest and pulling her back into his body. Then, he guided her into the grate and said, "Spinner's End, London."