"He has a picture of my mother doing what?"
"They're not dirty," Hermione huffed. "If they were I'd have destroyed them."
"You'd really have done it?" Ron poked his head back out. He snorted. "I'd have been right angry if you'd done that to me!"
"It doesn't matter!" Hermione said in an annoyed tone. "If anyone found out he had dirty pictures of sixteen-year-old girls his life at Hogwarts would be over, regardless of who it is and when they were taken."
"Well, he does have a teenage wife," Ron pointed out.
"That's not the point!" Hermione threw her hands up. "Do you want them or not?"
"Did he say it was OK?" Harry asked her suspiciously. He leaned back onto his desk and dropped his head as a giant pile of letters behind him slumphed to the floor.
Hermione fidgeted. "He agreed."
Harry shook his head before looking back to Hermione. "He's not in any of them, is he?"
"There's one where he's laughing with her," Hermione admitted.
"Well, that's not bad." Harry mulled things over. "You know, I think I would like to see them."
Ron made a rude noise. "I wouldn't want to see any cheeky pictures of my mum."
"Well, you grew up with her, didn't you?" Hermione scowled. "Harry never had a chance to know his mum. Every little bit counts."
He shrugged, but kept his head in the stacks.
"Can you visit?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"I think I can squeeze it in." Harry grinned, his serpentine face looking ghoulish. "You're connected to a direct Floo from Hogwarts, aren't you?"
0
Asta quirked a corner of her mouth at Ginny. "You are distracted."
Ginny shook her head and her cheeks pinked as she chopped her herbs finer. "Harry's supposed to come today."
"Ah," Asta said knowingly. Nyssa rolled her eyes behind her charge. "When I'm expecting a letter from Mikhail I tend to get clumsy as well."
"And this is why there are no males in the tower." Nyssa said firmly. "We would never get anything done and there would be children underfoot everywhere."
Hermione mulled this over as she dropped some beetles into her cauldron. She had been considering this as well. If they had a child, perhaps one of the house-elves would take extra pay to watch the child when she worked.
"Isn't there a Floo in your quarters?" Ginny asked, frowning.
"Severus said he'd let him in." Hermione reassured her friend.
"I don't think the problem will be letting him in," Luna said as a delicate pink smoke rose from her cauldron. "I think the problem will be with Professor Snape showing up to let him in."
"Especially since you're giving away his nudie pictures," Ginny chimed in with a giggle.
"Enough!" Nyssa scowled. "More potions, less men! Look how far Luna has gotten compared to you!"
Hermione had to admit the older witch was right.
Hermione heard the door to the basements creak open and Anastasia and Harry's voices resonating through the cavernous areas.
"He's here!" Ginny squeaked, almost knocking over a vial of dragonfly wings.
"Fine!" Nyssa said grumpily. "Go! You're a liability! Blow us all up for some young pup—"
Nyssa's face froze as Harry popped his head through the door. Ginny ran to him and hugged him.
"I was just going to tell you Mrs. Snape has lunch laid out for us," Harry said cheerfully. "But if you're not done…"
"We're almost done, Harry," Luna said, looking at him thoughtfully.
"We can teach you," Asta offered, but Harry shook his head firmly. "I've had quite enough of potions for a lifetime, thank you."
"Tell Anastasia we're very grateful and we will be up in a few moments." Nyssa said, as warm as she could muster.
"Will do!" Harry grinned at them again before whisking Ginny out of the potions' lab, their feet stomping through the basements and their giggles leading them to above ground.
Nyssa fixed Luna with a look. "You didn't tell us."
The blond girl shrugged as she bottled her potion. "He's been in the papers. Alexandra and Sophia both saw him."
"What do they know!" Nyssa scoffed. "A librarian and an archer." She snorted loudly.
"Is there something I should know?" Hermione asked nervously.
Nyssa regarded her coolly. "No. Not now. Perhaps later."
Hermione looked at Luna, but she was looking into her satchel.
"We'd have to do some tests," Asta shrugged.
"What kinds of tests?" Hermione asked nervously.
Nyssa sighed. "We will talk of it to Dumbledore. Perhaps he has already done them. They said he was fine when they sent him home?"
"Yes." Hermione nodded as her potion let up small puffs of black smoke.
"He would know best." Nyssa said soothingly. "I'm sure your friend is fine."
"But if he wasn't, what would be wrong with him?" Hermione asked nervously.
"He'd be cursed."
0
Severus came through the fireplace of the Russian Estate in a foul mood. He stomped by the door to the dining room to make himself known, then Apparated upstairs.
"What was all that about?" Harry asked.
"Something has upset him and he went to the pond to fish. When he returns he'll tell you what is wrong." Anastasia began to pour herself a cup of tea.
Hermione slowly sat down again and Harry offered her a strawberry. "You can't worry about him all the time. You'll drive yourself mad."
0
The three girls were all sleeping when the shadowy figure made its way toward them. It slipped by the guards without so much as a glance and entered the room without trouble.
A wand in the dark. Silencing spells falling over the beds. The curtains were pulled tight. No one would know a thing.
0
Ginny yawned and opened her bed curtains. She could hear a radio and Luna doing her morning routine.
"Good morning," Luna said as she swept by with wet hair.
"Got a proper soak?" Ginny remarked as she rubbed her eyes.
"Well, neither of you were up yet and I figured if I had time to kill…"
"Say no more." Ginny blinked blearily. "Thanks for the silencing spell."
"It wasn't me," Luna said with a curious look at Hermione's bed, the curtains still pulled tight.
"She was probably up late reading." Ginny wrinkled her nose. "She might already be up."
"I'll just take a peep," Luna said, creeping towards Hermione's bed as if she might wake it up. She gently took a corner between her fingers and slowly pulled a sliver open.
A deafening noise assaulted her, and Luna was so startled she fell backwards.
Ginny burst out laughing.
"It's a flock of Russian pixies!" Luna squealed, scrabbling for her wand.
"I don't think so." Ginny said firmly as she pulled out her own wand and waved it at Hermione's bed.
The curtains were flung open and Severus Snape groaned and rolled over as Hermione buried her head further under the covers.
Ginny snorted and closed the curtains. "Gross."
"How does she sleep with that noise?" Luna asked in wonderment.
"There's a charm. Mum has to use it from time to time; I have no idea what it is." Ginny admitted.
"Brilliant."
Suddenly a small white creature began scratching at the window. Ginny looked at it, her jaw dropped, as Luna went to the window to let it in.
"How do you know it's safe?" Ginny squeaked.
"Are you safe?" Luna asked the furry dragon as it came in and settled on the carpet.
"I would hope so!" It croaked out in a snooty tone. "Where's the Holder of the Shard?"
"Sleeping. Would you like me to wake her?" Luna asked politely.
"Is her mate nearby?" It peered around the room.
"He's with her," Ginny said, arching an eyebrow.
It made a snorting noise. "Mates lead to laziness."
"You've been in that tower too long," Ginny rolled her eyes and went to find her toothbrush.
"What's will all the animosity towards having a mate?" Luna asked.
"Asta's courtship is proving to be most troublesome. Owls back and forth at all hours. Then there's the matter of the mechanical mice." It said grumpily.
"I'm nearly afraid to ask," Hermione said as she slipped through the curtains to her bed.
"He thought he would endear himself to her sisters and sent along a fleet of mechanical mice to sway their favor." Ginny started giggling as the little snow dragon made a face. "Now they're overrunning the libraries, popping out to do 'entertaining' things."
"They're not as entertaining as he had planned?" Hermione said in mock surprise. "How unexpected!"
"They're always underfoot and constantly jumping out of the shelves to whistle a tune or dance." He thought. "They are delicious, though."
Hermione shook her head and decided not to ask anymore. "Did you just come to have breakfast, K'pluur?"
"Already had mine." He let out a burp that sounded oddly mechanical. "This is from Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore?" Hermione asked. He motioned to the brown satchel he carried close to his chest and she pulled a scroll out. She tried to unroll it but it refused. She frowned.
"Your husband must be present, and you must have privacy," K'pluur explained.
The scroll seemed to become heavier in Hermione's hands. She had the feeling that something was horribly wrong.
0
"Do you have him somewhere safe?" Hermione demanded.
"He's been confined to an unused portion of the dungeons. Azkaban seemed unwise and there are too many dark items stashed around Grimmauld place." Dumbledore walked beside her as they travelled down a corridor. "This was the only place left besides Nurmengard."
She swallowed back a lump in her throat. "I thought you said he was fine!"
"We don't have any way to measure this, I'm afraid." Dumbledore admitted. "This particular curse hasn't been used for over a thousand years, to our knowledge."
Severus strode beside her, her feet trying to catch up to him and Dumbledore. They made a sudden turn and walked through a long, thin corridor with a door only at the end. Hermione felt herself shaking and she shivered as Dumbledore pulled a key ring out of his robes and began unlocking the assortment of devices on the door. He finally pointed his wand at the door and there was a loud 'SNAP' and a red spark in the center of the door. He opened the heavy door and Hermione was surprised to see the other side of the door had been lined with metal.
"Was this a fairy prison?" Hermione asked, her face aghast.
"If it can hold a fairy, it can hold nearly anything." Harry was sitting on the edge of a bed in a roomy cell. The bed was plain, but there was enough room for a fluffy chair and a stack of books.
"You don't even get a table?" Hermione frowned.
"I don't think you're very familiar with the way wizarding prisons operate," Severus said in a bristling tone.
"This really is luxurious, Hermione," Harry said softly. "I'm grateful for it… and hey, at least it isn't another cupboard under the stairs." He gave her a weak smile.
She took a deep breath. "What happened, Harry?"
"I… I don't even know how to explain it," Harry said, looking both embarrassed and angry.
"We're not sure it was a properly cast curse, Harry," Dumbledore said sadly. "We will be doing our best."
"What do the Amazons say?" Hermione asked.
Dumbledore glanced at Severus. "They have a theory, but it hasn't been proven yet."
Harry shook his head and lay down. "Even if it is, I wouldn't ask it."
"If you were found guilty, you'd be confined to the sanitarium at St. Mungo's," Dumbledore said in a reminding tone.
"It's not Azkaban." Harry said firmly.
"What are you talking about?" Hermione scowled.
"When Tom's magic exploded, I got hit with shrapnel," Harry said with a snort.
"That's an excellent way of explaining it, Harry," Dumbledore said encouragingly. "The more you can tell us the better."
Harry snorted.
"You killed people, Harry," Hermione said unbelievingly. "How did this even happen?"
"Ask Ginny," Harry said as he rolled over, his back to them.
Dumbledore motioned for them to leave the room and Hermione followed numbly. The door closed with a solid 'thump' and there was a clockwork sound as all the locks slid back into place.
"Is Ginny OK?" Hermione asked, afraid to ask.
"She's gone home," Dumbledore said sadly. "Molly felt it was best if she was with family."
"Is she being charged with anything?" Hermione looked worried.
"No," Dumbledore said shaking his head. "Since he's cooperating with us, they legally can't charge Ginny."
Severus stiffened. "Did you know anything about this?" he barked at Hermione.
"Know what?" Hermione asked defensively.
"That Miss Weasley has been Mrs. Potter for some time now."
0
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from asking the question everyone wanted to know: what happened to Harry? In fact, it had been this morning's headline for the Daily Prophet.
Rumors were circulating and some of them were true. Small groups of wizards were beginning to argue if it weren't for the Muggles none of this would have happened. Three people were arrested in Death Eater robes and masks. There was talk of a serpent-influenced cult, although Harry seemed genuinely baffled when asked about it. They had used Veritaserum during the questioning as per Harry's request, but there were mutterings over whether he had the ability to overpower the potion.
Thankfully, there had been no mention of an elopement or Ginny in general in the news. Molly thought they had just gotten lucky, but Hermione knew the new editor of the Prophet wanted to get on the good side of the new Minister and the last way to do that was to demonize his youngest child.
"The Amazons still have to question him," Ginny said glumly. "Nyssa came around to tell me she would be doing the interrogation and testing. I think she wanted to do the same to me and was irritated she couldn't."
"Well, let her be," Hermione said firmly.
"But I'm supposed to be a representative of—"
"Oh, Severus can stuff it!" Hermione said angrily. "The pact with the Amazons had to do with the destruction of Voldemort and to oversee a treaty signing. The agreement was completed the day the Ministry blew up. The Shard is the only thing being researched cooperatively right now and that has nothing to do with Hogwarts."
"Then why were they still teaching us if they weren't involved with the school?" Ginny asked.
"I—I don't know," Hermione said, surprised she had never wondered this herself. "Maybe to keep up good relations?" She knew as soon as she said this how silly it sounded.
"Maybe to keep their eyes on that pretty piece of jewelry you've got," Molly huffed as she brought a tray of tea and biscuits into the parlor.
"Or so Dumbledore will keep having excuses to contact the Amazons," Ginny giggled.
Hermione snickered as she reached for her teacup. "Wouldn't surprise me."
"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley began, dipping her biscuit into her tea. Hermione saw her friend wince. "Since you are married now you have responsibilities to take care of."
"What?" Ginny screwed up her face.
"If Harry does go away, even for a short while, it wouldn't help to have all his paperwork in order. "Do you know anything about his accounts? Where the title to Grimmauld Place is?" Molly said gently.
"She's right," Hermione said before Ginny could say anything. "I know it's not about money, but if he does go away, you'll still need to keep up the house and pay bills. You have to get this all sorted out while you still have access to him."
Ginny looked defeated, but still threw a face at her mother.
"That's my girl," Molly said, patting her daughter on the knee. "There's a long road to travel, but it's not over yet."