A baby's cry split through the night. A man with roughly cut, black
hair swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I'm coming Andy," the man
muttered disgruntled. He picked up the wailing infant and cradled him in
his arms. "Shh, shh, Daddy's here, Daddy's here. Be quiet before you wake
Mummy. You know how cranky she gets when she get woken up before it's
morning." The child seemed to quiet. The man looked at him adoringly. He
looked so much like his mother that it almost hurt. "Shh, Daddy's here."
It was a blustery day. The wedding was small, smaller than the bride would have wished. Of course the groom was quite happy with the outcome. IT had not, however, been because of the groom that the party was small. It was blasted Voldemort. The "great' Lord seemed to be ruining every gathering that year. Come to think of it, he was ruining pretty much everything there was to ruin.
There were a few Hogwarts professors (Severus's new colleges). Dumbledore was there of course. He had a bemused smile fixed on his lips through the whole of the ceremony. According to him, he had orchestrated the entire thing and was quite happy with himself. Marina secretly agreed with him but didn't say a word.
Marina was dressed in a pair of snow white dress robes. Her dark hair was fixed in tight ringlets that framed her face beautifully. Her eyes were shining with tears and her lips were bright and red. Severus was wearing his best green dress robes with is hair cut short for the occasion. Tears were falling freely down his face and he didn't even try to bat them away.
"Do you, Marina Arella Ferilli Take Severus Edward Snape as your husband to have and hold for as long as you both shall live?" the Ministry officiator asked.
"I do," she caught Severus's eye and grinned softly. Severus noticed how beautifully the topaz heart pendant hit her heart, shaking slightly with each heartbeat.
"And do you Severus Edward Snape take Marina Arella Ferilli as your wife, to have and hold from this day forth, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Marina noticed the tears dripping silently down his face. She noticed how perfect his eyes were, shining under the tears. The rest of the ceremony went quickly enough and by the end Severus was using all that was in him not to kiss her perfect lips.
At the reception Dumbledore rose to make a speech. He rose from his chair and looked over to Marina and Severus. "I have seen both of these young people change and become happy in each other's company. Nothing could possibly make me happier then to see these two come together today. With all this suffering, an old man needs a little joy. Let us raise our glasses for Mr. and Mrs. Snape-Ferilli. Everyone raised their glasses and Marina and Severus were toast.
Later that night Severus was sitting on the bed. He had been waiting for this night his entire life. Now he was finally going to get it, procreation, Punnet's Square, you name it! Marina came into the room, her thin night dress falling ever so dangerously past her shoulder. "Come on Mr. Ferilli."
"Come on Mrs. Snape," he countered. They were just about to commence when a face, a face most unwelcome, appeared in the fire. Severus looked up, ready to curse whoever it was. It was Lily Evans, she looked worried.
"Marina, Severus, there's something wrong."
"What is it Lily?" Marina asked, all semblance of the raunchy fiancé gone.
"It's James," Severus gave an inward groan. Even when the prat wasn't there he ruined everything. "He, Severus, Remus, and Peter went out earlier this evening. He was supposed to come back two hours ago. I don't know what's going on. James always calls!"
"Lily, calm down. We'll take care of it okay? We'll be over there in a second."
"Oh, I'm so sorry Marina and Severus. I know I'm ruining your wedding night."
"No, don't be sorry. We've got our whole lives to play footsy!" Marina said this more for Severus's mental well-being then Lily's.
"Thanks." Lily's face disappeared from the fire and Marina immediately got up. She threw on a pair of old jeans and a sweater.
"Come one Sev. You know we have to go! How would you feel if anything happened to James!" she took one look at his face and answered for him. "You'd be devastated. Now come along." Reluctantly, Severus got off the bed and pulled on similar attire to Marina. They both donned coats and quickly aparated to Lily's apartment. They saw the worried red head nervously pacing the room. "Has anything changed Lily?"
"No, nothing."
"I'm going to fire Ministry Headquarters right away," Severus said, taking on the control mode. He ran over to the fire and quickly flooed Arthur Weasley."
"Hello Severus, what do you need?" the man asked cheerfully. His smile faded quickly upon seeing the look on Severus's face.
"James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew have gone missing."
"Oh my goodness. Do you know any details?"
"Lily told me that they went out together and were supposed to be back a couple of hours ago."
"Where'd they go?"
"I don't know, I'll ask." he turned to the place Lily and Marina were sitting. "Lily, where did they go?"
"They went to some muggle pub, Babylon I think it was." Severus quickly relayed the information to Arthur.
"I'll do what I can," he said before taking his head from the fire.
"Now I'll owl Dumbledore." Severus quickly did so.
An hour later a very fast owl zoomed through the window. Severus quickly caught the bird and relieved it of it's package. The owl sat expectantly whilst Severus tore open the letter.
Severus,
I think that this is Voldemort's doing. You and Marina take Lily somewhere safe, she's not fit to fight this battle. Then the two of you go to that pub and search around. I've enclosed a tracker charm so if you find anything of any of there's that they had in their had less then 4 hours previously it should work well.
Albus Dumbledore
Severus quickly read over the charm and pocketed it. HE walked over to his wife and Lily, hurriedly relaying his findings. Lily tried half- heartedly to deny her placement but conceded in a fit of sobs. Severus told Marina he'd go on ahead of her and she nodded. Severus aparated to a wizarding establishment near Babylon. He walked two steps at a time, looking around desperately for any clue.
His quick strides brought him to the place where the pub should have been. It, however, was simply a pile of broken wood, glass, and other general debris. He ran his hand through his hair. How was he supposed to find anything in this rubbish, especially under muggle eyes. He bit his lip, there was no time to waste! James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were lost somewhere and if he didn't find them then Lily would have his head on a platter. Anyway, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he didn't entirely detest the 4-some. Well, actually he unreservedly detested Pettigrew, but the others had softened in their old age.
James, being the fiancé of Lily had become tolerably friendly, especially after finding out that Severus was not, nor ever was, a Death Eater. Sirius was a loyal friend and pretty much followed James's example. Remus had never been really mean to him so that was no stretch. His mind began to work quickly. With one slight wave of his wand he cast a memory charm around the perimeter, hoping that Marina would guess and use the proper protection. All the muggles who came within a couple feet of the damage would remember that they had urgent business to attend to. He then cast a magic tracker. It was used to attract all magical artifacts. He just hoped that not many wizards or witches chose to make Babylon a local haunt.
A precious few things zoomed into his possession. "Oh this is rubbish" he said at first, clutching a very dated package of Every Flavor Beans. Then his eyes caught sight of a wand. He did a prior incantato spell on it and discovered that expelliarmus was the last spell uttered. "Must not have been very effective," Severus muttered to himself. He pulled out the slip of paper in his pocket and muttered the spell. The wand started emitting something that looked like smoke. It then began to swirl, forming the words "Sirius Black is," it paused for a couple of minutes. "Currently at the house at 1961 Periwinkle Boulevard, Devonshire, England." The smoke cleared away just as Severus was finishing writing down the address.
"Well that was helpful." Marina aparated at his elbow and he turned.
"Do you know where they are?"
"Yeah, just finished the tracker charm. 1961 Periwinkle Boulevard in Devonshire," Severus said, consulting the slip of paper.
"Good, should we get backup?"
"Yeah but I think we should leave immediately. There's no time to loose; we all know what Voldemort is capable of." Marina nodded and quickly conjured a fire, tossing some floo powder in.
"Ministry Headquarters, Auror Department." The face of Julius Frinlight appeared.
"Hello Snape, any word on Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew?"
"Yes, they're at 1961 Periwinkle Boulevard in Devonshire. Severus and I are going to go on ahead but I want backup."
"Can do. Be off with you now." Julius's face disappeared and Marina turned to Severus. Let's go. Apparate a little outside the street so we don't cause a muss. They both did and appeared in Devonshire moments later. They looked down the street. All seemed well, cozy street, but they kept their eyes open. They walked down till they reached 1958.
"It's that house right there, the one with the curtains drawn. What do you suggest?" Severus asked.
"I think we should try getting up on the roof and sneaking in through the attic window in the back," Marina murmured. Severus nodded resolutely and they moved stealthily to the back of the house. "Let's hope that it's just some Death Eaters and not Voldemort himself." Marina climbed nimbly up the rose ladder and helped her husband up as well. They snuck along the roof as quiet as they could possibly be. With a thought, Severus quickly cast a silencing charm on himself and Marina.
They made it to the window in no time and both climbed through. "I don't think Voldemort is here because there's not even an alarm." Severus mouthed.
"How do you know?" Marina replied, her lips only moving.
"Just did an alarm sensory spell," Severus mouthed back. They made it down the attic stairs and into the upper hallway. They heard voices and crept to the banister. They looked down and saw hooded Death Eaters all around. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were in the very middle.
"Not so brave now are we boys?" a voice that Severus recognized sneered.
"Malfoy," he hissed silently.
"So Potter, how you going to get out of this one? No one's going to know where you are, they're just going to think that you died in the fire at the pub! Isn't it ironic how things work out?" James looked pissed off as did Remus and Sirius, though Peter looked, well, smug almost.
"Let's go," Severus mouthed. Marina nodded and they crept down the stairs, keeping to the shadows. They made their way to the back of the room and watched, forming a plan. They communicated with their eyes and Severus decided to make the first move. He had never been one for subtlety so he jumped out of the shadows having taken off his silencing charm.
"Stop right there Malfoy!" he yelled triumphantly. All eyes turned to him.
"Snape, it's a pleasure you could join us," Malfoy replied, trying to keep his composure.
"Give it a rest Malfoy. You're going to Azkaban this time and you won't be coming back."
"Oh, I'm scared. How is one measly excuse for a wizard going to fend off 20 Death Eaters."
"That's big of you Malfoy, seeing as you didn't even put a fucking entrance ward on the house. Anyway, I'm not the only one here." Marina came out of the shadows.
"Yeah, two wizards, I'm shivering. Get 'em boys." Death Eaters began to advance and Marina and Severus raised their wands. With a fluid movement, Severus severed the invisible bonds on the prisoners. He tossed Sirius his wand and then they were three. James and Remus took on two Death Eaters by hand and took their wands, using their own wands against them, then they were five. Peter slunk to the back, unable to decide on which side to fight. This did not escape Severus's eye.
They had gotten rid of 10 Death Eaters but the good one's were left. Severus hoped the Ministry would get here soon. They were always slow on the uptake. Just when things were looking really bad, Ministry Wizards burst through the door. The Death Eaters turned in surprise as 8 aurors came swiftly into the room. With the added troops, the remaining Death Eaters and the unconscious ones were apprehended. "Have fun in Azkaban Malfoy," Severus hissed as the man left.
"Thanks Severus," James said, putting out his hand. "You saved our necks."
"It's no problem," Severus smiled slightly. After getting past the immature, cruel, 16-year-old, James Potter, you were left with a pretty nice guy. "You should go and see Lily, she's worried sick. Now, if you'll please excuse myself and Marina, we're going to go finish up with our wedding night." Severus gave the group a roughish smile before leading his wife out of the room.
Back in the bedroom after finishing the Punnet's Square, Marina turned to Severus with adoring eyes.
"You were great tonight Sev."
"All in a day's work, all in a day's work."
It was a blustery day. The wedding was small, smaller than the bride would have wished. Of course the groom was quite happy with the outcome. IT had not, however, been because of the groom that the party was small. It was blasted Voldemort. The "great' Lord seemed to be ruining every gathering that year. Come to think of it, he was ruining pretty much everything there was to ruin.
There were a few Hogwarts professors (Severus's new colleges). Dumbledore was there of course. He had a bemused smile fixed on his lips through the whole of the ceremony. According to him, he had orchestrated the entire thing and was quite happy with himself. Marina secretly agreed with him but didn't say a word.
Marina was dressed in a pair of snow white dress robes. Her dark hair was fixed in tight ringlets that framed her face beautifully. Her eyes were shining with tears and her lips were bright and red. Severus was wearing his best green dress robes with is hair cut short for the occasion. Tears were falling freely down his face and he didn't even try to bat them away.
"Do you, Marina Arella Ferilli Take Severus Edward Snape as your husband to have and hold for as long as you both shall live?" the Ministry officiator asked.
"I do," she caught Severus's eye and grinned softly. Severus noticed how beautifully the topaz heart pendant hit her heart, shaking slightly with each heartbeat.
"And do you Severus Edward Snape take Marina Arella Ferilli as your wife, to have and hold from this day forth, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Marina noticed the tears dripping silently down his face. She noticed how perfect his eyes were, shining under the tears. The rest of the ceremony went quickly enough and by the end Severus was using all that was in him not to kiss her perfect lips.
At the reception Dumbledore rose to make a speech. He rose from his chair and looked over to Marina and Severus. "I have seen both of these young people change and become happy in each other's company. Nothing could possibly make me happier then to see these two come together today. With all this suffering, an old man needs a little joy. Let us raise our glasses for Mr. and Mrs. Snape-Ferilli. Everyone raised their glasses and Marina and Severus were toast.
Later that night Severus was sitting on the bed. He had been waiting for this night his entire life. Now he was finally going to get it, procreation, Punnet's Square, you name it! Marina came into the room, her thin night dress falling ever so dangerously past her shoulder. "Come on Mr. Ferilli."
"Come on Mrs. Snape," he countered. They were just about to commence when a face, a face most unwelcome, appeared in the fire. Severus looked up, ready to curse whoever it was. It was Lily Evans, she looked worried.
"Marina, Severus, there's something wrong."
"What is it Lily?" Marina asked, all semblance of the raunchy fiancé gone.
"It's James," Severus gave an inward groan. Even when the prat wasn't there he ruined everything. "He, Severus, Remus, and Peter went out earlier this evening. He was supposed to come back two hours ago. I don't know what's going on. James always calls!"
"Lily, calm down. We'll take care of it okay? We'll be over there in a second."
"Oh, I'm so sorry Marina and Severus. I know I'm ruining your wedding night."
"No, don't be sorry. We've got our whole lives to play footsy!" Marina said this more for Severus's mental well-being then Lily's.
"Thanks." Lily's face disappeared from the fire and Marina immediately got up. She threw on a pair of old jeans and a sweater.
"Come one Sev. You know we have to go! How would you feel if anything happened to James!" she took one look at his face and answered for him. "You'd be devastated. Now come along." Reluctantly, Severus got off the bed and pulled on similar attire to Marina. They both donned coats and quickly aparated to Lily's apartment. They saw the worried red head nervously pacing the room. "Has anything changed Lily?"
"No, nothing."
"I'm going to fire Ministry Headquarters right away," Severus said, taking on the control mode. He ran over to the fire and quickly flooed Arthur Weasley."
"Hello Severus, what do you need?" the man asked cheerfully. His smile faded quickly upon seeing the look on Severus's face.
"James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew have gone missing."
"Oh my goodness. Do you know any details?"
"Lily told me that they went out together and were supposed to be back a couple of hours ago."
"Where'd they go?"
"I don't know, I'll ask." he turned to the place Lily and Marina were sitting. "Lily, where did they go?"
"They went to some muggle pub, Babylon I think it was." Severus quickly relayed the information to Arthur.
"I'll do what I can," he said before taking his head from the fire.
"Now I'll owl Dumbledore." Severus quickly did so.
An hour later a very fast owl zoomed through the window. Severus quickly caught the bird and relieved it of it's package. The owl sat expectantly whilst Severus tore open the letter.
Severus,
I think that this is Voldemort's doing. You and Marina take Lily somewhere safe, she's not fit to fight this battle. Then the two of you go to that pub and search around. I've enclosed a tracker charm so if you find anything of any of there's that they had in their had less then 4 hours previously it should work well.
Albus Dumbledore
Severus quickly read over the charm and pocketed it. HE walked over to his wife and Lily, hurriedly relaying his findings. Lily tried half- heartedly to deny her placement but conceded in a fit of sobs. Severus told Marina he'd go on ahead of her and she nodded. Severus aparated to a wizarding establishment near Babylon. He walked two steps at a time, looking around desperately for any clue.
His quick strides brought him to the place where the pub should have been. It, however, was simply a pile of broken wood, glass, and other general debris. He ran his hand through his hair. How was he supposed to find anything in this rubbish, especially under muggle eyes. He bit his lip, there was no time to waste! James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were lost somewhere and if he didn't find them then Lily would have his head on a platter. Anyway, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he didn't entirely detest the 4-some. Well, actually he unreservedly detested Pettigrew, but the others had softened in their old age.
James, being the fiancé of Lily had become tolerably friendly, especially after finding out that Severus was not, nor ever was, a Death Eater. Sirius was a loyal friend and pretty much followed James's example. Remus had never been really mean to him so that was no stretch. His mind began to work quickly. With one slight wave of his wand he cast a memory charm around the perimeter, hoping that Marina would guess and use the proper protection. All the muggles who came within a couple feet of the damage would remember that they had urgent business to attend to. He then cast a magic tracker. It was used to attract all magical artifacts. He just hoped that not many wizards or witches chose to make Babylon a local haunt.
A precious few things zoomed into his possession. "Oh this is rubbish" he said at first, clutching a very dated package of Every Flavor Beans. Then his eyes caught sight of a wand. He did a prior incantato spell on it and discovered that expelliarmus was the last spell uttered. "Must not have been very effective," Severus muttered to himself. He pulled out the slip of paper in his pocket and muttered the spell. The wand started emitting something that looked like smoke. It then began to swirl, forming the words "Sirius Black is," it paused for a couple of minutes. "Currently at the house at 1961 Periwinkle Boulevard, Devonshire, England." The smoke cleared away just as Severus was finishing writing down the address.
"Well that was helpful." Marina aparated at his elbow and he turned.
"Do you know where they are?"
"Yeah, just finished the tracker charm. 1961 Periwinkle Boulevard in Devonshire," Severus said, consulting the slip of paper.
"Good, should we get backup?"
"Yeah but I think we should leave immediately. There's no time to loose; we all know what Voldemort is capable of." Marina nodded and quickly conjured a fire, tossing some floo powder in.
"Ministry Headquarters, Auror Department." The face of Julius Frinlight appeared.
"Hello Snape, any word on Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew?"
"Yes, they're at 1961 Periwinkle Boulevard in Devonshire. Severus and I are going to go on ahead but I want backup."
"Can do. Be off with you now." Julius's face disappeared and Marina turned to Severus. Let's go. Apparate a little outside the street so we don't cause a muss. They both did and appeared in Devonshire moments later. They looked down the street. All seemed well, cozy street, but they kept their eyes open. They walked down till they reached 1958.
"It's that house right there, the one with the curtains drawn. What do you suggest?" Severus asked.
"I think we should try getting up on the roof and sneaking in through the attic window in the back," Marina murmured. Severus nodded resolutely and they moved stealthily to the back of the house. "Let's hope that it's just some Death Eaters and not Voldemort himself." Marina climbed nimbly up the rose ladder and helped her husband up as well. They snuck along the roof as quiet as they could possibly be. With a thought, Severus quickly cast a silencing charm on himself and Marina.
They made it to the window in no time and both climbed through. "I don't think Voldemort is here because there's not even an alarm." Severus mouthed.
"How do you know?" Marina replied, her lips only moving.
"Just did an alarm sensory spell," Severus mouthed back. They made it down the attic stairs and into the upper hallway. They heard voices and crept to the banister. They looked down and saw hooded Death Eaters all around. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were in the very middle.
"Not so brave now are we boys?" a voice that Severus recognized sneered.
"Malfoy," he hissed silently.
"So Potter, how you going to get out of this one? No one's going to know where you are, they're just going to think that you died in the fire at the pub! Isn't it ironic how things work out?" James looked pissed off as did Remus and Sirius, though Peter looked, well, smug almost.
"Let's go," Severus mouthed. Marina nodded and they crept down the stairs, keeping to the shadows. They made their way to the back of the room and watched, forming a plan. They communicated with their eyes and Severus decided to make the first move. He had never been one for subtlety so he jumped out of the shadows having taken off his silencing charm.
"Stop right there Malfoy!" he yelled triumphantly. All eyes turned to him.
"Snape, it's a pleasure you could join us," Malfoy replied, trying to keep his composure.
"Give it a rest Malfoy. You're going to Azkaban this time and you won't be coming back."
"Oh, I'm scared. How is one measly excuse for a wizard going to fend off 20 Death Eaters."
"That's big of you Malfoy, seeing as you didn't even put a fucking entrance ward on the house. Anyway, I'm not the only one here." Marina came out of the shadows.
"Yeah, two wizards, I'm shivering. Get 'em boys." Death Eaters began to advance and Marina and Severus raised their wands. With a fluid movement, Severus severed the invisible bonds on the prisoners. He tossed Sirius his wand and then they were three. James and Remus took on two Death Eaters by hand and took their wands, using their own wands against them, then they were five. Peter slunk to the back, unable to decide on which side to fight. This did not escape Severus's eye.
They had gotten rid of 10 Death Eaters but the good one's were left. Severus hoped the Ministry would get here soon. They were always slow on the uptake. Just when things were looking really bad, Ministry Wizards burst through the door. The Death Eaters turned in surprise as 8 aurors came swiftly into the room. With the added troops, the remaining Death Eaters and the unconscious ones were apprehended. "Have fun in Azkaban Malfoy," Severus hissed as the man left.
"Thanks Severus," James said, putting out his hand. "You saved our necks."
"It's no problem," Severus smiled slightly. After getting past the immature, cruel, 16-year-old, James Potter, you were left with a pretty nice guy. "You should go and see Lily, she's worried sick. Now, if you'll please excuse myself and Marina, we're going to go finish up with our wedding night." Severus gave the group a roughish smile before leading his wife out of the room.
Back in the bedroom after finishing the Punnet's Square, Marina turned to Severus with adoring eyes.
"You were great tonight Sev."
"All in a day's work, all in a day's work."