Before they knew it, Ramar, Remus, Sirius, Andromeda, Severus and Gilderoy were tied to very uncomfortable chairs by very uncomfortable ropes.

"Can I chew through these ones?" Gilderoy asked Severus, childlike.

"I don't think so, Gilderoy." Severus said. "But knock yourself out."

Usually, Gilderoy, thankfully, took that phrase literally. But today, he decided he was going to go figurative. He began attempting to eat the strong (and rather foul tasting) rope that was cutting off the circulation to his brain. No big loss, though.

"Now," Voldemort said, evil as ever, "I am going to KILL-... hey, you're not listening!"

Andromeda snapped out of her dreamlike state. "Oh, sorry." She said, not really sorry at all. "It's just..."

"Just what?" Voldemort asked, putting his fists on his hips.

"It grows tiring, you know?" Ramar said. "That whole 'evil' thing. It's lost its touch, Voldy."

"Don't call me 'Voldie'!" Voldemort bellowed.

"What about 'Mort'?" Sirius asked.

"NO!" said Voldemort, looking truly insulted.

"Big V?"

"NO!"

"Sweetie Pumpkin?"

"No!"

"Silly McWigglebutt?"

"AAAARGH!" Voldemort booked towards Sirius, ready to strangle him. But he slipped, and fell right on his back.

"Is he out?" Remus asked, looking thoroughly bewildered.

"Looks like it." Severus said. "Are you out, Gilderoy?"

"Yef!" Gilderoy said, through a mouthful of rope. "Beem ouf for fee mimifs!"

"Then why haven't you set US free?" Severus asked, clearly being the only one to understand this.

Gilderoy shrugged in response.

"Well, come on, then!" Severus said. Gilderoy quickly unraveled the rope from around our heroes, and they all stood, one by one, rubbing the bruises on their arms.

"What did he slip on?" Sirius asked Ramar, who was on her knees, observing the area around Voldemort's feet.

Ramar peels something of the floor and observed it. "It's a flattened gummiworm." She said.

As if on queue, the gummipeople, spears and all, came bounding into the castle. The angry gummiking stood forward.

"Who has killed the most sacred of the gummis?" he bellowed.

"You mean the worm?" Ramar asked.

All of the gummibears immediately kneeled to the ground, as if in worship.

"We do not speak its name!" The gummiking said, "It is so far above us!"

"Right..." Said Ramar, taking a step back from the gummis. "Um... he killed the wor-... the, uh, sacred gummi."

She pointed to the lump on the floor on that was Voldemort.

"Take him away!" The gummiking yelled, and the gummipeople sprang up from the kneeling position and dragged the unconscious body of Voldemort away.

"Well." Andromeda said as she watched the gummipeople walk out of site. "That was..."

"It certainly was...." Ramar replied.

"So!" Gilderoy said excitedly, "Let's go find the muffin princess!"

"Gilderoy," Andromeda said delicately, "Sit down."

Gilderoy plopped down on the floor, a stupid grin set on his face.

"Gilderoy," Remus began, "There IS no muffin princess. We just made that up so you would..."

"Get the hell out of the way." Snape said. Andromeda would have cast him an evil look, but that was a good way to put it.

"What?" Gilderoy asked, suddenly looking like a wounded puppy.

"You DO tend to be a bit..." Sirius tried to find the right word. "Silly."

"So there are no muffins?" Gilderoy whispered, tears welling in his eyes.

"No." Remus said.

"But we'll get you all the muffins you want when we get back to Hogwarts!" Andromeda added quickly, sensing a spazz attack coming.

"Ok!" Gilderoy said cheerfully, popping up from where he sat.

Andromeda let out a sigh of relief, and she shot a smile a Severus. Severus, on the other hand, didn't know how to handle this. It was only a smile, but it made him feel so...different. He couldn't help but think... maybe he still loved her.

Andromeda decided to move away from the mayhem for a while. She walked out to the castle terrace, where she watched the sun set. Off in the distance, the orange sun ran through the gummibears as they dragged Voldemort to their gummivillage.

"It's beautiful, in a very disturbing way." Andromeda said, feeling Severus's presence behind her.

"You could say that." Severus replied.

"I just did." Andromeda said, half-joking.

"There is something I've really wanted to talk to you about." Severus said, sort of waiting for an interruption, but none came. "Remember that contract we made back in school?"

"Of course, Severus." Andromeda replied, a small smile across her lips.

"Were we serious about that?" he asked.

"Well, we were children." Andromeda said, awkwardly. "Why? Do you... Do you still-..."

Severus didn't let her end her sentence. He swept her into his arms, and into a passionate kiss. Andromeda put her hands against his shoulder, as if making to push him away, but they slowly melted around his neck.

When they parted, there was complete silence. They looked into each other's eyes for a very long time.

"Severus, I-..." Andromeda began, but she found herself at loss for words. "I can't."

She pulled out of their embrace and fled from the terrace.

~*~

Remus was trying to track down Andromeda, figuring this was as good of a time as ever to propose. Hopeless romantic.

As he searched through the halls of the castle, Remus ran right into Snape.

"Have you seen Andromeda, Severus?" Remus asked.

Snape gave him a look that was almost human. He looked hurt, he looked injured. Remus didn't know what to think.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, truly concerned.

"She's down the way." Severus replied. "Be good to her."

And he swept down the hall, leaving Remus really confused.

Remus shrugged it off, and went down the hall. There was only one room at the end, where he heard Andromeda's distinct pacing echoing throughout the hall.

"May I come in?" Remus asked.

Andromeda did not look well. She was pacing around the empty room, tear stains all over her face. But the moment she saw Remus enter the room, she charmed her face back to normal.

"Of course, Remus." Andromeda said, voice wavering.

Remus walked over to her. "I was wondering..." he began. But suddenly, he couldn't do it. He had been planning this moment for months. Every word, every movement mapped out in his head. But he just stood there. "How are you?"

Andromeda looked confused, but replied, "Fine. How are you?"

"I've been better." Remus replied, resolving that he couldn't do it. Andromeda was obviously not feeling well, and neither was he. It could wait. "I'm going to go and..."

He ran out of the room.

"Great." Andromeda said aloud. "You sure can pick 'em, Annie."

~*~

The group was ready to go. Snape was convinced that Remus had proposed, and Andromeda had accepted. Remus was oblivious about Snape's love for Andromeda, and Andromeda was having some serious debates going on in her head. Gilderoy REALLY wanted those promised muffins, Sirius was fooling around with the dead gummiworm and Ramar was trying to get the dead gummiworm out of her hair.

"Let's go!" Gilderoy said, jumping up and down. "Muffins!"

"Yes, Gilderoy," Remus said, "Let's go find you some REAL muffins."

Gilderoy ran off into the distance. Sirius, Remus and Ramar followed, once again leaving Snape and Stone alone.

"About what happened earlier-..." Andromeda began.

"Nothing happened." Snape replied, coldly. "You can go off with your prince charming and live happily ever after."

Andromeda looked very hurt at these words.

"That's not the way you really feel, Severus." Andromeda replied quietly, "And maybe one day, you'll be able to be an adult and tell me. And maybe then it won't be too late."

Andromeda walked off to join the rest of the group. Severus stood alone for a moment. Had that meant what he thought it did? He ran to the others, ready for the long journey home.

As our heroes stride off into the sunset, and Gilderoy's echoes of "MUFFINS, AHOY!" sounds through the air, we can only wonder: Are the group tales finally over? Ha! Not nearly.

The End

~*~
Yay! Muffins! I cannot TELL you the cravings I got writing this... the next is already up! It's a sequel to the Severus Snape Society, and it's called Snape: The Musical. To summarize: The resurrection of the SSS, a bizarre musical, Ramar as DADA teacher, Snape's new girlfriend, Andromeda's heartbreaking decision and tons of SSS induced fun!!! PS- Has anyone read OotP? I cried and cried at the end, when he was looking at the mirror! WAAAAH! But he-who-died will still be in the fanfics! He's still alive here! *sniff* ~Jerri