Deny Thy Father And Refuse Thy Name Chapter 17: The Secrets Of The Family Tree, a harry potter fanfic

~~Deny Thy Father And Refuse Thy Name....~~

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~~Chapter Seventeen: The Secrets Of The Family Tree~~

It was a subdued group that arrived at Hagrid's small hut on what was to be a day decidedly full of surprises. No one expected to find what they did inside the tiny hut, to say the least all of the people that crowded round the room gasped as they saw what Hagrid had found. Dumbledore quickly put up silencing and shielding spells so they would neither be seen nor heard even if one was to stand right in front of the windows, which really wasn't possible since the windows were well over a normal man's height, but should anyone peer inside they'd have seen nothing. Rather if they had gotten through the spells what they would have seen was a roomful of shocked faces at best.

Harry was the first to move, not unsurprisingly given the situation in front of them. 'DAD!! Dad...what have you done?' he cried out as he quickly moved over to the bed in which Severus was lying prone. Tears coursed down his face as he hesitantly approached his father and he tentatively held his hand out towards him. 'Is he...is he...' he stammered, afraid to even say more.

Hagrid nodded his head sadly and turned away as Dumbledore slowly approached the bed that Severus was on. He examined Severus for a moment then he turned to face Harry, a strange look in his eyes. 'I'm truly sorry, Harry,' he said quietly. 'There's nothing more we can for him.

'NO!' Sirius screamed and made his way over to the bed. Looking down at the ashen, prone figure that was his lover he said with a sob, 'No...oh no, Severus. You bastard, don't you dare die on me. Not now, do you hear me, Severus? Not now! Not when we had plans for the future...not when we've finally figured each other out...you can't leave me...leave us...do you hear me, you bastard? Don't you dare leave Remus and me!' he said as the tears spilled down his cheeks.

'Siri- ' Narcissa began but was cut off quickly.

'Don't you dare. Don't you dare placate me, Narcissa. I'm not a kid anymore with a skinned knee where a kind word and one of your hugs can make it all better. This isn't like falling out of a tree in the backyard, or when I used to fall off my broom when I was younger, Narcy. This is my lover here, my lifemate. This is one-third of my soul lying here dead. A wave of a wand and a smile isn't going to fix things this time,' Sirius spat out heavily whilst glaring at Narcissa.

'He's probably in a better place, Sirius, believe me,' Peter said.

'YOU! You don't even the right to speak!' Sirius said as he turned to Peter with a dark, menacing look in his black eyes. 'What do you know of anything you bastard of a traitor? Are you happy now? You've killed Severus, you killed James and Lily, you killed my mo- '

'He did not!' Narcissa said firmly and glared right back at Sirius.

'Shut up, Narcy, I know what I saw,' Sirius snarled.

'Hey, don't talk to my mother that way!' Draco said cutting in.

'Stay out of this, kid,' Sirius said threateningly.

'Look, Sirius, maybe you should calm- ' Harry began but was cut off.

'Stay out of this, Harry. This doesn't concern you,' Sirius said bitterly.

'Draco, Harry, Sirius is right, stay out of this,' Peter said sharply.

'Don't tell me what to do Death Eater!' Draco said warningly.

'I am telling you what to do, Draco, and I say that both of you stay out of this!' Narcissa said. 'Now both of you go over there- ' she then pointed to a spot out of the way, 'and stay put. It's time we settled things once and for all here.'

'Mother...I don't think - '

'Don't think, just do as your mother says!' Sirius said irritably.

Draco was about to reply but was quickly pulled aside by Harry. 'Ah, Draco? Perhaps we should umm...do as your mum said and stay out of this. Much as I hate to say it, whatever is going on doesn't involve us and I don't know 'bout you here, but I don't want to be on the wrong end of anyone's wand...just in case,' he said quietly.

'But, Harry...' Draco began, then saw the looks of anger, resentment and even sadness in his mother's eyes and he sighed and nodded. 'All right, but if they go to blows you can be damn sure I'm stepping in,' he said firmly.

Harry grinned and nodded. 'Count me in there too, don't worry. Besides, whilst there off having their row...I've got something in mind...' he said conspiratorially.

'Oh really? Now what do you have in mind my dear Harry Potter?' Draco said with a sly grin.

Harry chuckled. 'First off let's get one thing straight. I'm not Harry 'Potter' anymore, just Harry, at least for now. Second of all...' he said dragging Draco away from the screaming adults to a bucket with a pile of ashes in it. 'Do you know what's in this bucket?'

Draco peered into the bucket but all he saw were said ashes and he shook his head puzzled. 'It's nothing but ashes, Harry.'

Harry reached in and grabbed a handful of the ashes. 'Wrong, Draco, take a look at this,' he said and sifted some of the 'ashes' into Draco's hand.

Draco examined the ashes for a moment then gasped in shock. 'These are bone fragments!' he said in surprise.

Harry nodded. 'Yup, and I'll give you three guess whose bone fragments they are, the first two guess don't count,' he said keeping his voice as low as possible.

'Harry, you're not suggesting...no...is it possible?' Draco said shaking his head in wonder.

Harry nodded and tapped his forehead. 'The moment we walked into the hut I knew actually. My scar nearly made me cry from the backlash of energy still flowing through those pieces of bone. I may not have a clue who I am at the moment, but I still know what I'm feeling. Evening touching the ashes of that bastard hurts,' he said with a shudder and held up his hands.

'Oh Salazar, Harry, your hands!' Draco said in a panic. Harry's hands just from touching the 'ashes' as he had for those few moments had turned fiery red and had become blistered and bloody, just as they had long ago during his confrontation with Quirrell in the dungeons after touching Quirrell's skin whilst Voldemort was still 'attached' to him.

'It's all right, Draco, I'll live. What's important now is what happened and how did they get here?' Harry mused.

'I can answer that, Harry, but you have to go outside where we won't be overheard,' a voice whispered into Harry's ear causing him to jump.

'Who's there?' he said looking round, puzzled when he saw no one but Draco and the screaming adults, well three screaming adults along with Hagrid and Dumbledore who were remaining watchful but neutral.

'Go outside with the bucket, Harry,' the now all too familiar voice whispered again.

'Harry? What is it?' Draco asked quietly, concerned as Harry's face turned pale.

'We need to go outside, Draco, now,' Harry said in a strange voice.

'What? Why?'

'We just do, all right? Come on...' Harry then said, and grabbing up his invisibility cloak and the bucket of 'ashes' he and Draco somehow managed to slip out the door.

They weren't as unseen as they thought however, someone had seen them leave, but a slight nod from the person to another unseen person was all the indication needed. As the door slowly and silently closed behind the two boys, Albus Dumbledore once again turned his attentions back to the adults in the room.

'This bastard rat killed her, Narcy! How can you still claim to love this traitor?' Sirius spat.

'Because you of all people know full well you can't help who you fall in love with, Sirius Malfoy Black! I never loved Lucius, only Peter, with every fibre of my being I loved Peter!' Narcissa shot back. 'You were the one who was so dead set against us, drove us apart...and now who's calling who the turncoat here, Sirius? Hmm? Could you help falling in love with Severus...you're worst enemy? Could you?'

'That's different! We're adults, we know what we're doing!' Sirius said angrily.

'I may have been sixteen when I fell in love with Peter, but I damn well knew what I was doing as well, Sirius. I knew enough that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, and I didn't care that he didn't have any money or wasn't as influential as Lucius Malfoy or anyone else. I LOVED HIM!' Narcissa yelled.

'Past tense, Narcissa?' Peter said quietly and looked at her speculatively. 'Does that mean you no longer love me?'

Narcissa looked at Peter with a sadness that was unmistakable. With a heavy sigh she sat down in one of Hagrid overlarge chairs and shook her head. 'I never stopped loving you, Peter, how could I? You held my heart in your hands then, you still do. I know what you've done, I know you're a killer, a traitor, a betrayer...but I can't help it, yes I still love you with all my heart. Or what's left of it. These last eighteen years Lucius has drained every ounce of hope, trust and love from me. I've been nothing but a walking shell without you, and I let myself become that way because of you, because I couldn't be with you. My own personal way of punishing myself for what I put you through. For what I made you do back then...and now,' she said softly.

Peter closed his eyes and sighed heavily for a moment, then opened them and walked over to Narcissa. 'I wanted to kill him you know, to hurt him as I knew he was hurting you. I was so blinded by my anger, my fears, by your rejection of me that when I went to join Voldemort...I wasn't even myself anymore. I was lost, heartbroken, in pain, Narcy...all I could think about was that it was his arms round you at night, it was his bed you were in not mine, his lips on yours. I wanted to destroy him...and you for going to him. I wanted to destroy the entire Malfoy clan...especially you, Sirius,' he said turning to Sirius.

'Is that why you gave them to Voldemort, Peter?' Sirius said in a strange voice.

Peter sighed again and nodded. 'I couldn't hurt you directly like I wanted to, it would have been too obvious, so I in my half conscious state of mind I did the next best thing. I hurt you by taking away the people that mattered to you...just as you had taken Narcissa from me. Just as your family had taken her from me. Because I wasn't 'good enough'. I wasn't rich enough. I wasn't a 'Malfoy'. He was your fucking enemy, Sirius! How could you do that to her? How could you give her to that bastard, you own damn cousin, just because he was more pure-blooded than I was? HOW COULD YOU!' he screamed out in agony now and fell to his knees with choked sobs. 'I loved her, Sirius, I loved her and still love her more than you could ever possibly know...'

'Peter...oh, Petey...' Narcissa said falling to the ground next to him and wrapping her arms round him. 'I still love you too, Petey...I will never stop loving you. Tell me what to do...I'll do anything...just tell me what I can do for you!'

'For you, Narcy? What about for me? For my mother? For James and Lily? For Harry? What about all the people who've died because of him? WHAT ABOUT FOR SEVERUS?' Sirius yelled.

'I can't bring them back, Sirius! I wish to the Gods I could, but I can't!' Peter said sadly. 'Only Voldemort has that power, not me...'

'What's Voldemort up to, Peter? What did he really send you here for? Just to hold us hostage? Or to kill us all?' Sirius said thickly.

'Sirius this isn't the time for this,' Narcissa argued.

'This is exactly the time for this, Narcy,' Sirius said. 'What is it he wants you do to here, Peter? Tell me!' he said going over and pulling up Peter by his robe collar and shaking him.

'It's H-Harry...h-he w-wants Harry...' Peter stammered.

Sirius blinked, confused by those words, then let Peter go roughly. 'What do you mean he wants Harry? How could he know - '

'Of course he would know you idiot. Just as Peter has a bond with Harry, so does Voldemort in case you've forgotten,' Narcissa said wearily as she helped Peter get back off the floor.

Sirius paled and stepped back a few paces, muttering a few oaths under his breath. 'His scar, of course. Why didn't I see it before? He's known all along this was nothing but a ruse. That Harry's been alive this whole time,' Sirius said weakly.

Peter nodded. 'Yeah, Sirius, he did. He's know from the start...just as he knows now that Severus was Harry's real father.'

'What?' Sirius said in shock now. 'How the hell could he know that? Unless...you! You told you him...didn't you!'

'NO! I can assure you I did no such thing, Sirius,' Peter said firmly, though he stepped back a few paces from Sirius. 'He saw it in a direct dream link with Harry a few days ago, which is why he attacked the school. He saw Harry here...with Draco and Viridian, he saw Harry hugging Severus, and talking to him. He heard Harry call Severus 'dad', and he knew. He was outraged that Severus kept it from him all these years. Outraged that Severus was indeed a spy after Severus swore his re-allegiance to him. He wanted them both dead, and was ready to tear apart the school to find them both.'

'Well he's gotten his wish as far as Severus goes, didn't he,' Sirius said with a pained sob and looked back at his lover. 'Severus is dead now, and Harry -' he said glancing round the room. 'Harry?' he said now in a panicked voice. 'Harry, Draco, come out this instant! Where are you?'

'What? They're gone?' Narcissa asked, worried herself now. 'Draco? Draco my love, where are you?' she called out.

'The hut's not that big you realize,' Peter muttered. 'It's obvious they're not here.'

'Thank you for your unasked for assessment, Peter,' Sirius snorted. 'I can see they're not here. So where the bloody hell are they then?'

'You don't need to worry about our young Harry and Draco. I can assure you they're perfectly safe where they have gone off to,' Dumbledore said stepping into the conversation now, a twinkle in his blue eyes.

'Albus? Where are they? What are you saying?' Narcissa demanded.

'I'm saying that they are safe. That's all you need to know at the moment,' Dumbledore said firmly.

'They better be, Dumbledore. If not, someone's going to answer to me,' Sirius said darkly.

'Oh stop playing the 'I'm-so-fucking-tough' ploy for a moment, Sirius. You know, all through school I envied you because of your 'tough' attitude. Because everything came so easy to you, because you took everything in stride and feared nothing. But you do fear things, Sirius, and you're not so tough as you think,' Peter said.

'I'm tough enough still, Peter, don't you forget it. I can still wipe the floor with you, wand or not,' Sirius grumbled.

'Try it, Sirius, and see how far you get,' Peter said pulling his good arm across his chest protectively. 'I've picked up a few things whilst you were sitting in Azkaban, in case you've forgotten,' he smirked and patted his wand pocket.

Sirius glared at him but decided against testing his luck. 'Fine, Peter, but don't think this is over yet. You're still going to pay for killing my mother, James and Lily...and especially for Severus's death.'

'For the last time, Sirius, I did not kill your mother! I didn't kill Severus either for that matter, I was here the whole time, I honestly don't know how he died,' Peter said angrily. 'However, I swear to you on whatever you want that I did not kill your mother!'

'Bullshit, Peter, I saw you come to the house that day but I decided not to say anything. By the time I got back from my errands only an hour later, she was dead, and you were gone without a trace. You were the only one that could have done it!' Sirius argued.

'He didn't do it, Sirius, on that I will swear to you,' Narcissa said quietly and stepped in front of Peter.

'How would you know that, Narcy? You weren't even at the house that day! You were off with Lucius on a date, so how could you know?' Sirius asked.

'Because I was there...and I know exactly what happened,' Narcissa said with a deep sigh. 'It was me, Siri...I killed your mum...not Peter...' she sobbed.

'W-What? What are you talking about, Narcy? Don't cover up for this bastard...' Sirius said.

'She's not covering for me, Sirius, it's the truth,' Peter said dully, then went over and put a comforting arm round Narcissa's waist.

'I don't understand...why...how...? What happened? Narcy?' Sirius said in a pained voice.

'Oh, Siri, I've wanted to tell you for years and years, but I couldn't. Besides, you were in Azkaban for so long...I didn't think it would matter any more,' Narcissa said quietly.

'What happened, Narcissa. Tell me everything,' Sirius half pleaded, half demanded.

'Some of it's a bit fuzzy, even back then it was. I remember I had just come home from my date with Lucius, and he saw Peter at the house. You know your mum always had a soft spot for Peter, she felt bad actually for what had to be done, but Father...well you know what he was like, Sirius,' Narcissa said wrinkling her nose.

Sirius snorted. 'Don't remind me, Narcy. I've spent years trying to rid myself of that bastard's memory.'

'You're not the only one,' Peter muttered, only to receive a glare from Sirius. Coughing slightly he then said, 'Go on, Narcy, tell him what happened.'

Narcissa sniffed back a few tears then continued. 'Anyway, Father was away that day if you recall, in London on business. Lucius usually didn't get out of the carriage when he would take me back home, mainly because he didn't want to risk running into you, Sirius. He thought it was demeaning that you should have gone to Gryffindor when you were a Malfoy-Black, a pure-blood of highest regard. He never did understand why I took my real mother's surname name when I went to Hogwarts, but I wanted it that way.'

'I know that part, Narcy, I was there the day you told my mum and that bastard your decision to use your real mum's name remember?' Sirius said.

'Oh right, well anyway, Lucius hated you because you were a Gryffindor as you know, so he never came to the house. That day however something changed and he walked me to the door of the manor. We went round back to the gardens and to my surprise, and Lucius disgust, Peter was sitting there talking to your mum. Well when Peter saw Lucius words were said, rather flung heavily between them, and before anyone could stop him...Lucius had his wand out,' Narcissa said, shivering slightly from the memory.

'I thought you said you had nothing to do with this, Peter?' Sirius said glaring at him.

'Will you just listen, Sirius, before jumping to conclusions?' Peter muttered. 'Go on, Narcy, continue.'

Narcissa nodded. 'Well anyway, I don't know what was said exactly between them, they'd moved away from your mum and me into the gardens. The next thing I knew a hex flew over our heads, and it was clearly from Lucius's wand since Peter was facing the other direction from us. I took my wand out preparing to intervene, but just as I was casting a stupefy spell on Lucius because I knew Peter...well...he wasn't the best dueller...' Narcissa said glancing hesitantly at Peter.

Peter shrugged. 'I wasn't, simply put. Sirius was the one always better at duelling then I was,' he said with a nervous chuckle and a quick glance at Sirius.

'You got the better of me that day in the street though, didn't you, Wormtail,' Sirius said with a wry smirk.

'Sheer cleverness, Padfoot,' Peter said dryly. 'I had the means and the reasons to set the outcome. It doesn't matter now, let her finish the tale.'

Narcissa nodded and continued before anyone could intervene again. 'As I was saying, I was just casting a Stupefy on Lucius, but what I didn't know was...at the same time he was casting the Cruciatius Curse towards Peter. Somehow or another though your mum...she got in the way of both our spells. Lucius's hit her first and she went down to the ground, but I couldn't pull my spell back, and somehow when the Stupefy spell hit her on top of Lucius's Curse...well...'

'It was an instantaneous death,' Peter said quietly. 'There was nothing I could do either. She was dead before I could even get to her, Sirius.'

'If I hadn't casted the Stupefy...if she'd been hit by just the Cruciatius Curse...she'd have lived...oh, Sirius...my dear brother...I'm so sorry...I really did love your mum...she was really the only mother I ever knew. She cared for me despite the fact I was the bastard child. She didn't hate me even though Father cheated on her with my mother, and even when my real mother died giving birth to me your mum took me in and treated me like her own daughter. I loved her as if she was my own mother...and I killed her...' Narcissa said with a sob. 'You should hate me, Sirius...because I hate me for what I did, I have all these years. I've lived with the guilt...knowing I was the one who killed her...oh, Sirius...I'm so sorry!'

'Narcissa...oh, Narcy...' Sirius said sadly shaking his head, then he walked over and swept her up into his arms, hugging her tightly. 'You didn't know either the truth about mum...it's not your fault...you didn't kill her,' he said quietly.

'I did! Peter had nothing to do with it! I casted the second spell...she'd have lived if it wasn't for me!' Narcissa sobbed.

Sirius shook his head. 'No, oh, Narcy, if only I'd have known sooner,' he said softly, then turned to Peter. 'I'm sorry, Peter. Now I that I know the truth...I can't hate you for something you didn't do. I do hate you for killing James and Lily...for sending me to Azkaban...but none of it would have happened maybe if I'd only trusted you from the beginning. When I thought you killed my mother and no one would do anything...I think I lost it. I wanted to destroy you too, hurt you like you hurt me and my family. That's why I kept you away from Narcissa. That's why I told Father to - ' he said stopping short.

'What did you tell him, Sirius?' Narcissa said sniffing back more tears.

'Oh Merlin, what webs we weave,' Sirius said stepping back now and suddenly laughing. 'By the Gods, here we are...a room full of deceptive, distrusting, dark-sided arses, Narcy. And I'm right in the middle of it all, just as bad if not worse then all of you,' he said continuing to laugh.

'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?' Peter muttered and stepped away from Sirius. 'You laughed this way when they took you to Azkaban, Sirius...what have you got up your sleeve?'

Sirius shook his head, still laughing. 'D'you know...I told Father to make sure that you married Lucius? That the Pettigrews weren't worthy of us...that they were pitiful excuses of wizards because they were Ravenclaws?' he said slowing down to a strange chuckle. 'Father...for all his dark ways...he didn't even try to retaliate against Peter...I didn't understand...he knew though didn't he...that Peter didn't do it...'

Narcissa and Peter both paled, but slowly nodded. 'I told him the truth, Siri. Right after it happened I told him everything. And you want to know something? He was fucking proud of me, Sirius. Said I did him a favour, killing off a woman who had given birth to a...'

'A Gryffindor?' Sirius said in all serious now, laughter completely gone, a hard look on his face. 'He didn't have the damned guts to kill her himself...oh no. Killing a Malfoy would be unthinkable...but have your offspring do it...oh then it's all well and good. No fuss, no muss, and easy to cover up. He promised me though you'd never see Peter again, that he'd take care of it...I suppose I never realised how much like him I was becoming eh?'

'What I still don't get though, Sirius, is why you wanted me to be James and Lily's secret-keeper in the first place when you hated me so much?' Peter said curiously.

'Why? Easy, Peter. I was a Black...and a Malfoy on top...Voldemort surely would have come after me once Lucius gave me up to him. I knew that no matter how much that Slytherin git hated me, I was still blood relative to him, which meant that I was corruptible. I needed a ruse, a way to avoid that. I knew that for as much as Lucius hated me...he hated you more, Peter. He also knew I hated you, so why would anyone ever suspect that I'd have turned over such an important task like being James's keeper to you of all people? Someone who was weak and talentless...and hated...it's was perfect,' Sirius said.

Peter stared at Sirius, then oddly he began to chuckle and shake his head. 'And all the while Lucius had me in his back pocket, and you never knew. After that day when your mother died, Lucius and your father forced me into staying silent about the whole affair. I also became their secret lap dog, Lucius told me that if I didn't report to him what he wanted, he'd turn Narcy in to the Ministry anyway. In his eyes it was her spell that caused your mother's death, Narcy was the killer, not himself. I had no choice, Sirius, I did what I had to do to protect her. I had to learn to hate, to destroy, to become emotionless. I did it because I loved her, and I somehow I had still enough hope, a tiny spark even, that one day I would get her back.'

Sirius shook his head slowly. 'And here I came along and persuaded Father to make her go to Lucius' bed after all, though now I see it really took no efforts on my part. He already had you hogtied into doing his bidding. Unbelievable...'

'It's not your fault Siri, you couldn't have known. I don't hate you for that, for what you thought you were doing was right,' Narcissa said quietly.

'You didn't kill her though, Narcy, that I can assure you,' Sirius said quietly.

'I did, Siri, if I hadn't casted the Stupefy -' she began but was cut off by a wave of Sirius's hand.

'No, you didn't,' he said firmly, then turned to Peter. 'My mum, you saw her go down before Narcissa's spell hit her, right?' he asked.

Peter nodded. 'Yeah, I couldn't deflect Narcissa's spell in time though...what does it matter?' he asked curiously.

'Because it just confirms to me Narcy's spell didn't kill her. She was dead from the Cruciatius Curse, of that I have no doubts,' he said.

'How can you be sure though?' Peter asked.

'Because my mum had a weak heart, Peter, something no one, not even my Father knew. I only found out because one day when she thought no one was supposed to be home her private Medi-wizard came to the manor. I was curious so I hid whilst they were talking in the library. I saw him examine her and told her to take these pills, I heard him say there was something wrong with her heart that magic couldn't fix. The stress of a spell like The Cruciatius on her...I have no doubts that it stopped her heart before the Stupefy ever hit her,' he said quietly.

'Oh no, are you sure about this, Sirius?' Narcissa said weakly.

Sirius nodded. 'Positive, Narcy. I confronted mum after the Medi-wizard left. She told me everything. She was under orders not to have any stress, that it would most likely kill her. Which is why she never told Father of course, he'd have done everything in his power probably to stress her,' he said with a dark look on his face. 'As it was Father was barely home at that point in time, so mum didn't have to worry about him too much. No, Narcy, you didn't kill mum...Lucius Malfoy did, that I am sure of.'

'Siri...I'm sorry,' Narcissa said softly. 'I wish I had known all this sooner. What have we done to each other?'

'We've all lied and betrayed and hated each other for no reason?' Sirius said dryly. Turning to Peter he said, 'I will never forgive you for what you did to James and Lily, I told you that, but now I understand why you did it. Love makes the strongest of men turn into the simplest of fools...' he said glancing back at Severus's prone body with a sad grin. 'If I could fall for my enemy, do things that I thought that I could never do to protect him...then you hadn't a chance in hell against it, Peter. Besides, I'm not the one that the decision of what to do with you rests on. That's on Harry's shoulders. It's his mother and now his father that you've killed, even if it's indirectly. It's Harry who saved you three years ago, Peter, so it's him your beholden to now, more than even Voldemort. He is now your judge, jury and executioner, not me.'

'Except that currently my executioner has disappeared,' Peter said with a frown. 'Where is he, Dumbledore? Where did the boys go?'

'I told you he and Draco are perfectly safe. I think by now they also have heard the things they needed to know, so I have no doubts they will return shortly,' Albus said, then glanced at something over by the door.

Had anyone been looking they would have seen a slight shimmer near the door, one that bounced along the floor and headed towards the bed where the body of Severus Snape was. If they had been paying any attention at all, they would have seen that shimmer of light creep up and settle itself back into the body of Severus. If they had seen that, they also would have heard a slight intake of air as life was breathed back into Severus Snape's body. As it was however no one had noticed, no one that is but a blue eyed old man who smiled because he knew that somehow things had a way of working out after all.

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