Serena entered the Gryffindor common room and wasn't surprised to see that Dierna, Kamen, and Nick were waiting for her.

"How bad was it?" Dierna asked, she had bit off three of her fingernails while waiting for her sister to come back.

"I'm suspended from the quidditch team."

"What?!" Her three companions were shocked.

"He can't do that!" Kamen growled.

"I'm going to talk to Lupin about it, maybe he can do something," Nick was livid.

"Would both of you shut up!" Dierna snapped at the two boys. She turned back to her twin, "How long are you off the team?"

"Till after our next game," Serena replied bitterly.

"Bloody hell... we're going to have to use a beater from the reserve team," Nick grumbled, "We're lucky our next game is against Hufflepuff, otherwise we would be thoroughly screwed."

"I'm not even allowed to attend practices," Serena whined, "what am I supposed to do? I'm going to be worthless to you Nick by the time I'm allowed to play again."

"You'll never be worthless to me. Don't worry, I would never give away your spot on the team," Nick put an arm around Serena's shoulders.

"I just feel so useless now," Serena sniffed despondently.

"I made her take some dreamless sleep potion, she's been out for close to an hour," Morgan answered in response to her husband's question about the whereabouts of their youngest child.

"Good, she needs her rest."

"Severus, what is happening here? Why does our child have to suffer like this?"

"I..." but Severus was cut off before he could answer.

"It's not right! And how could she keep this from us? I understand that the visions scared her but at least she wouldn't have been suffering alone. I can't stand the thought of her going through that alone. This is horrible! She looks so pale and exhausted."

Severus let his wife talk. She didn't really want him to respond, she just needed to vent for awhile. He poured himself a glass of brandy from a cut glass bottle and sank into a chair. He watched his wife as she furiously paced the room.

"I just don't know what to do for her Sev. She's still scared and I don't know what to do to make it better. I feel like I'm failing in my role as a mother." Morgan sighed and buried her face in her hands.

Severus jumped in when his wife finally stopped talking, "do not degrade yourself darling, there is nothing else for us to do right now. Remus went to try and contact this priestess of his; we just have to wait till he returns."

"But I feel so useless right now Sev. Our daughter is upset and scared and I can't do anything for her," Morgan dissolved into tears.

"It's alright darling, you're here for her and that's all that matters," Severus stood up and quickly crossed the room so that he could gather his wife in his arms. He held her against him as she cried.

"Sev, what's happening?" Morgan choked out through her tears.

"I don't have an answer for that, all we can do right now is wait," he kissed the top of his wife's head as he held her close. He laughed softly, but it was a mirthless sound, "I've certainly had to deal with more than my fair share of emotional women today."

"I'm sorry Sev, I didn't mean to break down on you," Morgan sounded hurt.

"I wasn't reproaching you darling, just making an observation," Severus pulled his wife down into his lap as sat down on the couch and kissed away her tears. "Feeling any better yet?"

"A little," Morgan replied as she allowed her husband to cuddle her, "let me up a minute Sev."

"Why?"

"A letter came for you earlier, from Paris."

"Where are we going?" Sophia asked.

"To a school in the north," Kalliope answered from where she stood by the open window.

"Why?"

"Because of some incidents that have happened in the area, I am needed there and Rheia wants you to go with me."

"Is this just to get me away from Scamander?" Sophia sounded indignant.

"Partly, but you are also in my care I can't just leave you behind. Besides, this trip will be a good learning experience for you."

"Do you love him?"

"What?" Kalliope looked at her ward in surprise.

"Do you love the wizard? You keep looking at him and stuff." Sophia played with rope belt that she wore as she looked at the older priestess.

"That is a ridiculous question; he is an old friend that I haven't seen in a long time."

"Well I think you love him."

"And I think that unless you start packing and stop asking me questions you're going to find yourself in trouble," Kalliope tweaked the girl's nose.

"Don't do that," Sophia narrowed her eyes, "can I bring my snake?"

"Yes, now start packing no more stalling."

"But what about..."

"Pack!" Kalliope commanded, "Only your warmest robes and both of your cloaks, you won't need anything lightweight where we're going."

"It's going to be cold there?!" Sophia's eyes widened.

Kalliope laughed as she walked out of the room, "compared to here its going to feel very cold."

Stefan tried to stay as far away from Voldemort as possible. It didn't matter that the dark wizard's eyes were glazed over and that he was seemingly harmless now. Even after the dementor's kiss he looked terrifying. His red eyes and pale skin were definitely creepy.

He observed the proceedings from a quiet corner. There were a lot of death eaters here. He tried to stay out of there way, he wanted to remain as anonymous as possible. This was getting incredibly dangerous.

"How long will the process take?" Macnair asked Draco.

"How should I know?!" Draco snarled, "I've never done this before. All I know is that the preparations will take at least a month."

Stefan desperately wanted to know what preparations they were referring to, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself by asking. The last thing he needed right now was to arouse any suspicions.

As soon as he could he slipped through the crowd and out of the manor house. He walked down the path a ways until he was out of sight, and then gripped the portkey in his pocket.

Stefan stumbled as he arrived back in his room. After weeks, and now months, of traveling like this he still was thrown off his feet every time.

"You alright?" Viviane asked as she gave him a hand up.

"Except for my knees I am," Stefan winced as he got up and rubbed his knees, he had taken that fall a little harder than he normally did.

"Do they have him? Do they have Voldemort?"

"Yes."

"And..." Viviane prompted.

"And... they have something planned for him, but I don't know what."

"What can they do with someone who has been issued the dementor's kiss?" Viviane asked.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look good."

Kalliope carefully folded her few robes and cloaks and placed them in a basket. As a priestess she had very few possessions. She added a necklace of amber to the basket; it was the one piece of jewelry she owned. It had been a gift from Cadmus when she took her vows as a priestess.

She smiled as she laid the necklace on top of her few possessions. She genuinely liked Cadmus. But she had never fawned over him the way most of the other priestesses did. She saw him as a friend or an older brother. She had lost her heart to someone else long ago.

She sighed as she looked around her room. The only things remaining were a couple of summer shifts that were lying in another basket under the bed. It amazed her, her entire life fit into two baskets. She had so little to record the passage of the years and all that had happened to her.

She had never traveled farther than a day's journey on foot from the temple before, this trip made her a bit nervous. She moved to the window and let the soft sea breeze wash over her, it carried on it the voices of the priestesses as the praised the goddess in song.

"Sing, O Muse, to the goddess Who brings sweet gifts to mortals, and whose lovely face Ever smiles radiant with lambent beauty on it. Hail goddess and mistress of all! Defender of cities and protector of armies Hail, O goddess, and grant us good fortune and happiness Delight in my song and I shall remember you again."

Kalliope raised her arms to the sky and entreated her deity, "Goddess, mother of all, I have offered you many libations and I have dedicated my life to you. You know me well; watch over me and Sophia as we travel far from our homeland. We travel with the man who owns my heart, please don't let him break it. Watch over us, and I shall remember you again."

Morgan slipped out of her husband's grasp and went to retrieve the letter which was on a table across the room. She handed the letter to Severus and didn't protest when he pulled her back down into his lap. She buried her face in his shoulder, "what does he have to say?"

"Give me a minute to read it impatient one and I will tell you." Severus held his wife in one arm and scanned the letter, frowning.

"Well?"

"I'm still not done."

"You read too slow."

"Morgan..."

"I'm sorry, I'll be quiet now."

Severus smiled down at his wife then turned his attention back to the letter, "well, Eric claims to know exactly who has infiltrated the British Ministry of Magic and he says that he knows what they're planning to do with Voldemort."

"He already knew that they got Voldemort out of Azkaban?"

"Apparently, he claims to know all of their plans," Severus scanned the letter again. "That damnable fool..."

"What?"

Severus sighed, "He says if we want the information I have to come to Paris to get it from him personally."

Morgan shifted in his arms so that she could look at her husband, "are you going to go?"

"I don't really have a choice; we need the information that he has."

"Then I'll go with you," Morgan pronounced.

"You most certainly will not."

"Why not Sev? You keep saying that you'll take me to Paris but we never go. It could be a chance to combine work and pleasure," she ran her hand across his chest.

"I don't want you anywhere near Eric, it is out of the question," Severus tried to look stern.

"Please Sev," Morgan pouted.

Severus smiled, "at least I know where our daughters learned that pouting trick, however it doesn't work."

"Damn," Morgan frowned, "I want to go to Paris with you, it would be romantic..."

"Morgan, you're not going with me this time. But, circumstances allowing, I will take you during Christmas break for a short vacation, just the two of us."

"Thank you Sev," Morgan brushed his lips with her own, "that makes me very happy."

"I'm glad it pleases you, all I want is for you to be happy," Severus ran a hand through her soft hair. It felt like silk as it ran through his fingers.

"You know what else would make me happy?"

"What?" Severus raised a questioning eyebrow at her, he was glad that she was distracted, if only for a little while. They would both have more than enough to worry about later.

Morgan rested both her hands on her husband's chest and raised herself up so that she could kiss him more fully, "you make me happy," she whispered as she ended the kiss.

"Well then Mrs. Snape," Severus said as he stood up with her in his arms, "you are going to be an incredibly happy woman by the time I get done with you."

Dierna, Serena, Kamen, William, and Nick were the only ones left in the Gryffindor common room, everyone else had gone up to bed. The Halloween feast had been somewhat subdued that night due to the events that had occurred earlier in the day. By the time all the students had returned to the school everyone knew that Voldemort was out of Azkaban.

The group of five was now involved in a game of Twister that they had borrowed from one of Dierna and Serena's roommates who was muggle born. William was currently in charge of the spinner and was having a great time watching the other four get tied in knots.

"Right foot red," he called.

"Bloody hell," Dierna mumbled as she tried to twist herself around. She only succeeded in getting herself tangled with Kamen sending them both to the ground. "Get off me Kamen!" She tried to push him off of her.

"Damn Dierna! Why did you have to take me out too?" Kamen picked himself up and gave his sister a hand.

"Not like it was intentional," she retorted as she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Would you two stop arguing?! And William, please keep going," Serena pleaded; she was stuck in a really awkward position.

William laughed at how hard Nick and Serena were struggling to stay up, "fine, left foot green!"

"Oh no," Serena groaned as she tried to twist herself around. Nick wasn't doing any better. They finally ended up face to face while they were straining to maintain their balance.

Nick finally collapsed, "I give up!"

"Woo-hoo!!!" Serena let herself topple over now that she had won.

"Hey guys, I'm hungry, does someone want to make a kitchen run?" Kamen asked.

"Sure, I'll go with you," Dierna replied.

"With me? I was looking for someone to go for me."

Dierna rolled her eyes, "I'll go with you Kamen, but I'm not going for you."

"Fine," Kamen stuck his tongue out at his little sister, "don't you need something from your room before we leave?" Kamen raised an eyebrow at his sister.

"Yeah, I'll be right back," Dierna turned and ran up the stairs to the girls' dormitory and slipped into the room she shared with her twin and three other girls: Kandi, Becky, and Dinah. Kandi was a pure blooded witch, like the twins. Becky was muggle born and Dinah was half and half. The five girls got along great.

Dierna quietly rummaged through her trunk, trying not to disturb the other girls. Finally she found what she was looking for, an old, slightly banged up, piece of parchment.