***
She stepped out onto the floor with Ron for a spirited reel. The young redhead had obviously practiced, and Charlotte told him without any compunction that he had done his mother proud.
"Now, go ask one of those pretty girls to dance. Enjoy yourself!" Ron blushed pink but made his way over to a knot of giggling students. Her doting mama duties thus accomplished she returned to Severus, who had taken up a position in the corner of the room and was glowering at everything. Charlotte leaned against him and surveyed the scene happily. The Great Hall was a fairyland of sparkling candles and greenery. It was what Celeste would call 'a shocking crush,' but at least some intelligent witch or wizard had the foresight to cast some kind of cooling charm to keep the temperature bearable. All the professors were in attendance, and most of them braved Severus' glare to dance with his young wife. Charlotte did her best to placate Snape but she couldn't resist the chance to play princess. At the height of the evening, the tune she had been waiting for finally began.
"It's a waltz, Severus," she said, tugging at his sleeve, "come on!" He gave a long suffering sigh but allowed himself to be dragged on to the floor. One strong hand curved around her waist and the other took her hand. She had to resist the urge to draw in close to him, but as she recalled, a decorous distance was expected to be kept when waltzing. She was close enough to smell him, to feel the heat of his body; she supposed that was enough for a dance. He was good, directing her effortlessly around the floor. Perhaps their Hogwarts library still had Magical Maneuvers on its shelves, she could get into the habit of waltzing.
On the sidelines, Celeste turned to Mr. Evans who stood beside her. "Your guardian and his wife make a wonderful couple."
Ron had been watching Charlotte and Snape move around the floor carefully. At last he turned to Celeste with a resigned expression, "Yes, I suppose they do." The girl regarded him with a polite but confused smile and moved away.
A shrill scream brought the activity of the ball to an abrupt halt. The room was suddenly twice as crowded as, if by some silent signal, an army of men began removing invisibility cloaks. Charlotte had only just noticed that some of the men carried muskets when the first shot was fired. With self-preservation reflexes honed from many years working with Voldemort, Snape grabbed Charlotte and dived behind a low sofa near the wall. The piece did not afford much protection, but it did keep them out of sight. Peering around the arm of the sofa, Charlotte saw with relief that Ron had found similar shelter. The formerly invisible army was the only ones who remained on the dance floor, everyone else having found cover or been the unfortunate recipient of a stray bullet. The firing stopped and the crowd parted to reveal a slender man in wizard's robes. He was perhaps 40 with blond hair, and patrician features.
"Good evening to you all," he began with a smile. "I do apologize for intruding upon your evening, but I am afraid it was unavoidable. You see, for far too long, Hogwarts has been a haven for the most liberal ideas about wizards and Muggles. That ends tonight, and it is only fitting that some of the most noted figures in the wizarding world bear witness to the transfer of leadership at the school. Fear not, for this is only the beginning." He surveyed the scene, enjoying the frightened silence. "The men you see before you recently perpetrated several attacks on Muggle factories. It is not widely known that a number of wizards contributed to the success of those attacks." He chuckled at the startled gasps that followed. "Yes, we chose to involve ourselves in the lives of Muggles, to draw arms against them. In turn, our compatriots have agreed to join our fight. These guns will kill wizards as easily and surely as they kill Muggles. If you cede Hogwarts to me without complaint, I should not have to rely heavily upon their use."
For a moment no one breathed. Then, in a clear voice, someone shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!" Heads whipped around to see Nathaniel Seon standing on a sofa, wand in hand. The blond wizard managed to doge the spell, and one of his Muggle compatriots fired a counter assault.
"Immobulus!" The bullets suddenly stopped and hovered inches from Seon's chest, as though they were suspended in gelatin. Charlotte stood behind her chair, looking nearly as stunned as everyone else. The bravery of the Divination Professor and the American spurred the rest of the company into action, and the battle for Hogwarts began. It appeared that many of the Muggles had been given very little information on what magic was actually like, so once they were face to face with it, they were confused and frightened making them relatively easy to overpower. In their fear they fired their guns indiscriminately, just hoping to keep the magic users away from them. Charlotte managed to stupefy one who had run out of shot. She grabbed his gun and ran to where Seon and the wizard mastermind were trading hexes. Coming from behind, she swung the butt of the gun into the blond man's head and he crumpled to the ground.
"I don't believe that is part of the accepted rules of wizard combat," Nathaniel said breathlessly, performing a full body bind on the fallen wizard. "Not that I am complaining, mind you," he amended hastily, seeing her face.
"You're welcome," she replied, moving back into the fray.
At last, the final Muggle was stunned into unconsciousness and the exhausted victors stepped back to survey the damage. Their beloved Great Hall was pocked with shot holes and burnt spots where errant spells had met their end. More than a few bodies from both sides littered the floor, in addition to the stupefied and bound Muggles at the center of it all. Madam Nostra was making the rounds to the injured and Professor Fitzhugh had summoned a team of Aurors by Floo. Charlotte, Snape and Ron stood slightly apart from the other witches and wizards. They had sustained little damage, a bloody nose for Ron and a set of bruised knuckles for Charlotte. A stricken cry from the head of the room made them all look up. From behind an overturned chair, Headmaster Torht stood up, cradling a limp figure.
"Phillida!" he cried, and Madam Nostra ran to his side. She examined the figure briefly and shook her head sadly.
"Oh no," breathed Charlotte, stepping towards them, "oh no!" The lifeless form in the Headmaster's arms was Celeste. She had been shot through the chest, and blood had seeped through her rose pink robes. Charlotte felt ill, her knees buckled. Two pairs of strong hands steadied her and kept her from falling over. Without a word, Ron and Severus led her from the Hall.
***
They had gone to her rooms. She stood with her face buried in Snape's chest, one of his hands stroking her hair. She knew Ron was nearby, but she didn't care.
"I'll just make some tea, shall I?" the boy said quietly, sounding very much like his mother. Charlotte stared woodenly into Severus's shoulder. Her grief manifested itself in physical pain, but tears would not come. She let herself be held, unable to close her eyes for fear of seeing her friend's broken body again. To have met the inspiration for her Celeste, gotten to know her and then see her die such a stupid death, it was almost unbearable. Severus suddenly hissed in pain, startling Charlotte from her mournful reverie. His left arm had stiffened in its place around her waist. She placed one trembling hand on his forearm and could feel the heat of the awakened Dark Mark through his sleeve. Their eyes met and she swallowed hard.
"Ron," she began, never taking her eyes from Severus, "I need you to go to the classroom and collect all the things we brought with us and dispose of any potions materials up there. Then go to your room and Professor Snape's room and collect any remaining items. Meet us back here as quickly as possible." Confused, Ron put down the steaming kettle and did as she asked.
"We haven't much time," she said briskly, disengaging herself from Severus. "I'll tell the Headmaster."
"Charlotte-" his mouth was a thin line.
She shook her head, "we have to take this chance, Severus. You can't ignore his summons and we can't create the potion to go home without you. Can you transfigure some appropriate robes from what you have here?" He nodded and she turned to go.
"The invisibility cloaks from the Hall should provide cover for you and Mr. Weasley."
"I'll get them." There was something else, and she waited at the door.
"I love you Charlotte."
She gave him a lopsided smile, "I love you Severus."
Charlotte found the Headmaster in his office, his head cradled in his hands. "I'm sorry to disturb you sir," she began, "but we have found a way of returning to our own time that must be taken advantage of immediately." Torht nodded slowly, not really hearing her. "I wanted to thank you for the hospitality you've shown us, I'm sorry we must part under such circumstances." She hesitated a moment and then added, "I hope you will have Celeste's portrait finished, I think it's what she would have wanted." She gave him a sad smile, a curtsey and then left.
The Great Hall was dark when she returned. The bodies had all been removed but the room was still in disarray. Thankfully the invisibility cloaks that the Muggles had used had only been folded and set on a table. Charlotte picked up two and was preparing to leave when a sharp voice said,
"What are you doing?" She turned around slowly to see Professor Seon with his wand leveled.
"I need – I just need them," she finished lamely. Furrowing her brow, she asked, "Why are you pointing that thing at me? I saved your life twice tonight!"
Nathaniel slowly lowered his wand. "The Sight told me there was something different about you three, but I cannot figure it out." He paused, "What use have you for those cloaks?"
"It's kind of complicated. We're going home."
"Where is home?"
Charlotte sighed. "It's not a question of where, it's when. We are from the Hogwarts of the future." At his incredulous look she held out her hand. "You know it's true, that's why we're different." He took her hand and studied her face closely. Whatever he found there seemed to satisfy him. "There isn't really time to explain more, we've got to leave."
"Before you go, can you tell me what the future is like?"
"I can't tell you anything specific, but there's a war coming and it isn't going to be pretty. With a little bit of luck the world will be a better place when it's done." She shrugged. "It was a pleasure meeting you Professor."
Back again to her room, where Ron was shrinking down all their things. Snape took the cloaks from Charlotte and examined them. "These will suffice. Mr. Weasley, I believe you have made use of an invisibility cloak before?" Ron flushed at the professors' sneer and merely nodded. "We must hurry." Snape led them at speed through the castle and the grounds, stopping abruptly once they had reached the end of the wards that protected the school. "Make sure your hands are covered by the cloak when you take hold of me," Snape said, drawing up the hood on his robe so that his face was obscured.
"Where are we going?" asked Ron, "I don't understand!"
"Ron, Professor Snape is a spy for Dumbledore, a double agent working against Voldemort. Somehow the Death Eater summons has traveled through time and space to find him. You and I are going to hitch a ride in hopes of returning to our own time. We have to stay very still during the meeting and not attract any attention. Once the other Death Eaters have left we will continue back to Hogwarts. I know it sounds dangerous, but it's a shot we have to take. You understand, right?" Ron eyed Severus warily, but nodded. The younger two cloaked themselves and took positions on either side of Snape.
Charlotte took the potions master's left hand and yelped. "Severus! Your ring!" The platinum band still adorned his finger. He hastily removed it and handed it to her.
"I trust you will keep this some place safe." She nodded, suddenly shaking with the thought of the Dark Lord's reaction if the ring had been seen. "Prepare yourselves," he said, taking their hands. The three each unconsciously held their breath, and then they were gone.