Don't own anything recognisable from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.

Chapter 18

Snapelets???

She sat in the stuffy room and wished, but not for the first time, that she wasn't there, that she was in her cool classroom in Hogwarts. She clasped her hands in her lap to prevent herself from running a finger around the collar of her crisp white blouse. The grey tailored suit she wore was stifling, but a necessary evil as she faced down the ten stern looking people sat opposite her.

Her now long black hair sat in a bun, and she wore her glasses to give an impression of studiousness and control.

She had been sat on the solitary chair in the middle of the room for a good two hours now, facing down the questions and blank stares from the judges in front of her. They were to judge whether she was to be guilty or innocent of Death Eater crimes.

The woman at the head of the table narrowed her eyes and said haughtily. "You were in the middle of the forest and had just confronted your father. What exactly happened next?"

She breathed in deeply and said, in calm tones. "I disarmed him using the Accio spell, and motioned for Hermione to get behind me….."

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

Flustered Hermione raced behind Katrina to Albus, Minerva and Severus who had followed her when they too had realised the danger she was in.

Katrina kept a steady gaze of hatred on her father, and kept a tight hold on his wand in case he tried anything.

He stared at her in disbelief and disgust. "Hogwarts?? You teach at that MUDBLOOD School? I am ashamed of you Fay."

She narrowed her eyes in anger. "I just told you my name is Katrina."

He smirked. "You can change your name as much as you like. You are still a loyal servant to our lord, and always will be."

Katrina jutted her jaw. Images of how she could get her retribution went through her head. "I wonder. Will you enjoy the torture spells you yourself have used?"

She stiffened as Severus came over to her. "You may not want to hear this, but listen anyway. I don't care what happens to him. Kill him, torture him it makes no difference to me." He paused and put a hand on her shoulder. "But it will make you change. You will become exactly what he wanted you to become. A person who revels in the thought of revenge and torture is exactly what a loyal Death Eater is…"

She turned to him, and her eyes filled with hate and sadness. "Don't take this from me Severus."

"Ask yourself this. Would Katrina Phaon do this? Would she be considering murder if she had never met Exaristus Devlin? All I ask you to do is think about the future."

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"You were considering murder?" The older woman asked sharply, interfering in her thoughts.

She bit her lip. "Yes, yes I was." She saw the panel look at each other, shuffle slightly and watched as the young man, the scribe, at the end of the table write this down. "You must understand, he mistreated me for my entire childhood. He physically and mentally abused me in the process of creating the perfect daughter according to him." She shook her head in despair. "At some point in your life you must have experienced some sort of desire for revenge. Someone hurt you, or neglected you and you think "If I could get my hands on them for one moment… If I could just make them experience what they did or are doing to me, then that would make everything better." Surely you can appreciate that?"

An older man nodded slowly. "Please continue…"

"Where was I? Okay… Severus said….

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"All I ask you to do is think about the future."

She looked at him desperately. "The future?"

"Yes, the future. Your future, My future…." He paused and scowled at Harry, Hermione, Ron and Remus who had appeared. "Our future." He finished reluctantly.

A glint of hope appeared in Katrina's eyes. "Our future?" She asked hesitantly.

She looked long and hard at Evaristus, raised her chin in defiance. "I have said this before and I will say it one more time. I am no longer your daughter. You mean nothing to me. As far as I'm concerned my past is dead – long dead." Turning, she smiled at Severus. "And my future has nothing to do with you."

"You bitch! I will not go to Azkaban because you are too weak to finish me off!" Evaristus flicked his wrist and his wand flew from Katrina's hand to his. "Avada…"

"Petrificus Totalus!" Ron screamed, and watched in amazement as Evaristus stiffened and fell to the floor like a board. "It worked?" He asked in amazement, staring at his wand. "It worked!" He said jubilantly.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"…And that's when the Aurors arrived. Albus had contacted them in the hopes that they would be able to take some of the Death Eaters into custody. Unfortunately one of the Death Eaters a man called Avery had vanished by the time they arrived, but Evaristus Devlin and a couple of others were detained." She hesitated. "That is all that happened."

The older woman looked at a few pieces of paper in front of her, the man sat next to her leaned over and whispered. "It is almost exactly what the other witnesses said."

She shot him a dark look and turned to the other jurors. "Are there any other questions?"

At the dissenting murmur she raised her gavel. "We shall…"

"How did they find you?" The scribe behind the desk asked, and was met with an angry glare from the woman.

"It is a fair question." The woman conceded stiffly. "Continue."

"I wasn't sure at the time." She said ruefully. "I asked afterwards, and apparently Volde…" She stopped at the look of horror in the young man's eyes. "…He-who-must-not-be-named…" She concluded apologetically. "...Used to live there as a child. Professor Dumbledore recognised a sign, it said "Little Hangleton"."

The young man nodded. "Yes of course." He scribbled on a piece of paper furiously for a moment, and bit the end of the pen in concentration.

She again revelled in the fact that the ministry of Magic could hire such a young-looking person.

"We shall adjourn then." The woman fixed Katrina with a baleful stare. "Remain within these premises. Someone will be sent to find you when we come to our decision."

Katrina was ushered into a separate room, where she immediately opened a window and breathed in the cool air. She frowned when she heard a conflict outside the door, but a wide smile appeared on her face when she heard Severus saying in his most intimidating voice. "What exactly are you going to do to stop me?"

The door opened, and he frowned at her flushed appearance. "Well?"

"They are making a decision now." She sat and clasped her hands in worry.

Severus sat beside her and, in an unusual act of public display, placed his hand over hers. He leaned in and breathed in her ear. "No matter what happens, I will stand by you." He coughed, stood up and began pacing when footsteps were heard approaching the room.

The young scribe opened the door. "If you would like to come with me."

"So soon?" Katrina asked worriedly.

The man nodded. "Come with me please."

Katrina looked at Severus, who merely raised an eyebrow. "Go." He said roughly.

She went back to the room that she had just left, and nervously perched on the chair as the jurors entered.

The old woman looked directly at her and frowned.

"A verdict has been reached. I declare you a reformed Death Eater." The woman stated less than happily. "No charges will be brought against you. Documentation will be created and sent to you, and you will be able to practice witchcraft again."

She nodded and gave the panel a small swift smile, only her shaking hands revealed how relieved she was. "Thank you, thankyou so much."

They nodded, simultaneously, and turned to leave the room, but the young man stopped suddenly. "What would you like to be called on this documentation?"

"Katrina Phaon." She smiled. "However it won't be for too long."

The man looked confused. "I don't understand."

"You will do." She said, and recalled the moment when Severus asked her to be his wife.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

They sat in the dungeons of Hogwarts, after apparating from the graveyard to the school.

Katrina bit her lip and looked nervously over at Severus who was concocting a batch of painkillers (without chokecherry) with an added ingredient to soothe and heal.

"Severus?" She said hesitantly, and then shook her head in disgust at the sound of her voice. "You mentioned something about us having a future…" She stated firmly. "…And I wanted to know what you meant."

He looked over at her in disgust. "I thought you were different…" She blanched at the negative tone of his voice, but he continued. "I thought you would at least have a small amount of intelligence, but it appears you are no better that a first year Gryffindor."

She gaped at him. "Are you saying I'm stupid?" She ranted at him.

"Well if you did not know what I meant." He said sarcastically. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

She gripped her hands into fists and roared at him. "That would be nice yes!"

"Fine!" And before she knew what he was doing he had muttered a locking spell on his door, and was on his knees in front of her. "I hope you realise what an undignified position this is."

She gaped even more.

He coughed, and gritted his teeth. "Will you marry me and forget all of this nonsense. I don't want you out of my sight again."

She slid down the chair and knelt in front of him. "You're asking me to marry you?"

He looked at her as if she was stupid. "No. I enjoy kneeling on the floor."

She smiled. "Severus, do me a favour?"

He looked at her in disgust. "What now?"

"Shut up." She said and kissed him. "Of course I'll marry you."

A ghost of a smile crossed his face and a box appeared in his hand.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

A spark of realisation appeared in the young man's eyes. "Oh! So you will be..?"

"Mrs Katrina Snape." She smiled and looked down at the small silver ring, with a red ruby stone set in it. "And very happy about it to!"

The colour drained from the man's face. "Snape?"

"Yes. As in Severus."

"Severus Snape." The man collapsed in his chair, looking at Katrina in disbelief.

"Would it be easier for me to get the documents now and change them, or for you to send the altered documents by owl?" She asked oblivious to the reaction of the man, and smiling at her husband to be, who had just opened the door.

"Owl?" He stuttered.

Katrina stood up and offered him her hand. "Then I'll wish you a good day. Send them to Hogwarts, I'll get them eventually." She said breezily and opened the door.

The young man followed her, and watched as Severus carried her bag for her as they walked down the corridor.

"Mrs Severus Snape? What will happen next? Little baby Snapelets?"

A/N And thus the story ends!!!!! If you have any comments, suggestions or reviews I would love to hear them!!

*sighs* I hope you enjoyed it!!! This time next week I hope to start posting Remus and Lunar (see B&SB for details) Black's story!!! So please stay with me, the first chapter's a good'un!!!

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story. Special thanks to:

Nekohebi  I don't like people dying in my stories!! I'm a happy ending kind of a gal!!!

Iluvlegolas (me too!!)  Severus and Katrina have got it on!! I will be mentioning to them in my next story so *gets on knees, looks really pathetic and begs* please review!!!!

KR  Was this post fast enough for you?? I try and do it every week!!! Thanks for not falling off your chair!!! I really worry about you!!! Keep thinking "RICE" Rest Ice Compression Elevation and you should be fine in no time!!! I hope this chapter is not boring!!! And that you find some sort of seatbelt attachment for your chair!!!

Kelest  Thanks for staying with me, nice to see you back again!!! Hope ff.net stops playing evil tricks on you!!!!

Love to you all….

See ya next week!!!

Krusty

xxx