Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nope, not me.

A/N: Yay for reviews!

Well, Hermione is Psyche Lupin… and I know it seems as though I have departed from canon on some plot points ie. Hermione's birthday. I haven't. Be patient, my friends, and all will be explained. Remember, I'm always writing about five or six chapters ahead of where you're reading, so I know exactly where I'm going…

I've always been struck with the similarity of Hermione to Remus - not just in looks but in personality. She has the whole logical cool-minded thing going on… but she also a very reckless streak that Remus doesn't have. And who do we know that is Mr. Reckless? Why, Sirius Black. Therein, Hermione daughter-of-Sirius-and-Regina-and niece-of-Remus was born… I knew I was always going to get mixed feelings with that one, no matter how well I wrote it, but… ah well, you win some, you lose some!

We are now progressing towards the end of The Space Between The Stars… but don't worry, there's still quite a bit more to come!

Oh, and I had some comments on the relationship between Harry and Ginny… no, they're not going out, but I think Order of the Phoenix made is quite clear that Harry is beginning to change the way he looks at Ginny… which is why he seems to be flirting with her when they appear in The Space Between The Stars. And no, they're not really getting married. Harry was just being cheeky.

A note on the name Hermione - Remus says Arethusa gives Psyche the name of 'the first abandoned daughter in history.' Hermione was the daughter of Helen of Troy by Menelaus, whom Helen abandoned when she ran off with Paris…

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The silver ladle clattered to the floor as pain shot through his arm.

Severus moaned convulsively. He is angry tonight, he thought, or very, very happy.

Still clutching his forearm, he staggered to the fireplace and took down his urn of Floo powder. "The Shrieking Shack!" he choked as he threw the powder into the flames and stepped through.

At least I wasn't in the middle of a class, he thought. I know that will happen one day… and I will have to bear the pain, because I will not abandon my duty.

In the Shrieking Shack, he took a moment to put up his shields. It was never a good idea to go before the Dark Lord with an open mind.

There is no room for opinion amongst Death Eaters, Severus thought, and then Disapparated.

"Ah, Severus. How nice of you to join us."

*

Severus met the man's eye and practically growled. "Get out of it, Pettigrew," he snarled, elbowing his way past the smaller man. Pettigrew fell back.

For an instant, Severus was glad that it was Pettigrew that Voldemort had given the silver hand to. A hand like that, he thought, in the hands of Lucius Malfoy or Bellatrix Lestrange would be disastrous.

But then he remembered Remus.

Pettigrew was undeniably marked out for Remus Lupin now. The showdown would come… between the werewolf and the man with the silver hand. And who would win on that day… Severus could not say.

He fell to his knees. "My Lord."

*

Voldemort was lounging in an armchair upholstered with green velvet. Bellatrix Lestrange sat at his knee on a footstool. Her dark hair fell in shining waves over her shoulders and her body language spoke confidence, but Severus could see fear in her eyes. For an instant, he saw the Bellatrix of his schooldays, his classmate, his confidante, his friend. But then it was gone, and only Bellatrix Lestrange, Death Eater, remained.

"Severus," Voldemort said, and Severus saw pleasure in his red eyes, "do take a seat. The entertainment is about to begin."

Bemused but not showing it, Severus sat on one of the lowslung chairs that were scattered about the room. Several Death Eaters were already seated, and Severus detected, with the use of subtle Legilimency, waves of anticipation coming off them.

Voldemort snapped his fingers. "Bring her in!"

And Severus realised, with a sickened feeling in his stomach, exactly what the entertainment was.

Sweet mother of Merlin, he thought. Aralinda.

*

The priestess was still dressed in robes of grey, but they were torn and ragged. Her hair, once as golden as Helena's, was matted and tangled with filth. But her eyes, green as new spring, were still bright, and the second she laid eyes on Severus she began to shriek.

"You!"

Play the Death Eater, Severus told himself.

"Me?" he drawled. "Why, dear, you don't know me at all."

"I know it's you behind that mask, Severus Snape," Aralinda hissed. "I do not need my eyes to recognise you. I know your presence."

"A friend of yours, Severus?" Voldemort asked in what seemed like an amiable tone, but Severus detected the suspicion underneath.

"Merely an acquaintance," he replied smoothly. "I was sent to Telae Domus by Dumbledore in July, as I know you are aware. This priestess and I… became acquainted."

"So you know each other," Voldemort said. He was musing.

"Not in the Biblical sense, I assure you," Severus answered silkily. Behind his shields of Occlumency, he was mentally apologising over and over. I'm sorry, Aralinda, I'm so sorry.

"Did you meet any of these other… priestesses?" Voldemort asked him. Severus could see a calculating in his eyes.

"Indeed I did," Severus replied.

"Let me phrase my question more clearly," Voldemort said. "Did you meet the High Priestess? I believe her name is Helena Seraphim."

Severus felt a hand of ice clench around his heart. "I did." He forced his voice not to waver. To waver was discovery, and discovery was death.

"And she is at Hogwarts, as Dumbledore -" Voldemort spat the name, "- decreed?"

There was no way he could lie. "Yes."

Voldemort leaned back in his chair. "Good," he said. "You will go to this Helena, Severus, and you will offer her a trade. The life of this priestess for the eldritch secrets I know she knows. The secrets of life and death."

Severus had never felt worse in his life.

"And now," Voldemort said, waving a hand at the Death Eater who had brought Aralinda in, "take her away. Do what you will with her, just keep her alive. We have," Voldemort's eyes scanned the room, "other business to attend to."

*

"As you all well aware," Voldemort began, once Aralinda had been taken from the room, "a new Minister for Magic was elected today. Remus Lupin, to be precise. A werewolf."

Severus heard several muttered expressions of disgust from around the room. He hoped it hadn't got out yet that he had vouched for Remus. He hadn't had time to concoct an explanation.

Voldemort eyeballed his Death Eaters. "Life under Minister Lupin will be much harder for us than life under Minister Fudge," he announced. "He is, I am given to understand, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and a prominent one at that. This means that the Order now has the Ministry's resources at their beck and call. It also means that it will be much harder for my spies to sway the Ministry. Lupin, unlike Fudge, is well versed in defensive arts. Had he not been a lycanthrope, he would have, most likely, become an Auror.

"But this is not the only blow we have suffered in the last few days. The one good thing that came out of the botched raid on the Department of Mysteries last year - the death of Sirius Black - has been undone. Black has returned from beyond the veil, and the story that is being told is that he was sent back from the afterlife by none other than Lily Potter." Voldemort allowed himself a humourless smile. "We may well have underestimated little Mrs. Potter. Not only did she so charm as her son as to send me to oblivion for thirteen years, but she seems - even from beyond the grave - to be capable of raising the dead as well. And Sirius Black is not the only person who has returned. Regina Lupin has been brought back. And herein lies our new mission."

Voldemort cast his eyes around his Death Eaters, and his eyes lingered uncomfortably on Severus. "Two people now remain alive that know the secrets the Arachniae held. Helena Seraphim and Regina Lupin. These are the two women who know the secrets of raising the dead, and of immortality. But these secrets are recorded elsewhere also - apart from, of course, in the minds of wights, seelie and unseelie both."

"But the Libri of Life and Death were destroyed, Master!" a Death Eater Severus did not recognise spoke up.

Voldemort gave the Death Eater a piercing look. "Once again, Lily Potter comes into the equation," he said slowly. "She and her husband, an Unspeakable, left papers. Comprehensive accounts of the secrets of life and death. And these papers rest in Gringotts."

He smiled. "It is time to pay a visit to the goblins."

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