Charlie couldn't help grinning as Alberto and Zach followed him through the front door, he knew that Meg would be surprised.

"Where is she weasel?" Alberto growled.

Charlie laughed, "I'll find her, just give me a minute..." but he was cut off when six-year-old Diana ran into the room and threw herself into his arms.

"Daddy!" she squealed in delight when Charlie picked her up and spun her around.

"I have someone here who wants to see you," Charlie grinned down into his daughter's shining face.

"'Berto!" Diana launched herself out of her father's arms and into Alberto's.

"How's my favorite goddaughter?" Alberto asked as he knelt down to be at Diana's level.

Diana giggled as he tickled her, "I'm your only goddaughter!"

Charlie looked from his daughter and Alberto to find his wife standing in the doorway, "oh Meg..." whatever he was going to say left his mind the moment his wife stepped into his embrace and found his lips with hers.

"Is it constageous?" Diana asked Alberto, struggling a bit with the large word.

"Is what contagious?"

"Gold."

"Tell me Miss Diana, why do you think that gold is contagious?" Alberto looked seriously into the large brown eyes of, in his opinion, the most adorable six-year-old ever.

"Because yours is spreading."

"It's spreading?" Alberto couldn't imagine what she was talking about.

"It is!" Diana exclaimed, "Mama says that you have a heart of gold, and I think its spread to your teeth," she said as she pointed at his gold teeth.

Alberto's laughter filled the room as he swung Diana up in his arms, "Zach, I hope you're ready for this evening, I hold in my arms the most entertaining child in all of Britain."

Meg had a hard time hiding her laughter over her daughter's insistence that gold was contagious. Her blue eyes shinning with love, she looked up into her husband's face, "so, why did you bring the boys home with you... I was rather hoping for a romantic evening."

"And you shall have that romantic evening Mrs. Weasley, I'm taking you out, Zach and Alberto are here to baby sit."

"As in, we're actually going somewhere without children, where we can have an adult conversation?" Meg grinned.

"That's the plan, although if I have my way we'll have a bit more than just conversation..."

Morgan lay on her and Severus' bed, on the verge of sleep. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this exhausted. "Oh Sev," she murmured as she hugged her husband's pillow to her chest, "finish up this nasty business with Eric and come home to me..."

She drifted off to sleep, still clutching Severus' pillow. Her dreams were torture, images of Severus walking away from her, which faded into a graveyard at the edge of Hogsmead. In the dream she walked through the graveyard, pausing by the graved of her parents. But she didn't stay there long, she kept walking towards the far corner, she could just make out the name on a small granite stone, she felt her heart constrict with unspeakable sorrow...

And then she was jolted awake. Morgan sat up blinking her eyes against the sudden glare of light, "Misty?" she asked in a groggy voice as she stared at the small house elf perched on the end of the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oh Mistress Snape, it is not Misty's fault ma'am, I was not there. My master, my dear Master Snape he is... he is... dead!"

"Bad luck mate, I guess it's just not going to happen, I think you just set your sites a bit too high this time. We both knew that Celeste would never go for someone like you," William hoped that this would be the end of Kamen's scheme to get with the head girl.

"Oh, this is far from over, I can be very patient," Kamen fiddled with the label on the bottle of Firewhiskey he had someone managed to procure. "Celeste just doesn't know she wants me yet, she'll be my biggest triumph yet."

"What's the matter brother dear," Dierna used an overly false sympathetic tone as she flopped down on the couch next to him, the Snape siblings along with William and Nick were the only ones left in the Gryffindor common room at this late hour, "are you upset because you finally realized that not all girls think you're a god? We've known that for years, you're just a slimy, ugly..." she was cut off when Kamen attempted to smoother her with a pillow.

"Cut it out you guys!" Serena snapped.

"What's her problem?" Kamen asked as he abandoned his attempt to smoother Dierna.

"Oh come on, don't you pay attention to anything Kamen?" Dierna asked in exasperation, "We have our quidditch match against Hufflepuff this weekend, the one that she's not allowed to play in, she's been like this for days now."

"Hey isn't it past your bedtime?" Kamen asked as he threw a pillow at Nimue, who was curled up in a chair reading.

"Don't tell me what to do Kamen," she responded as she threw the pillow back at him.

"You little..."

However, the ensuing argument was cut off when the portrait hole opened and Morgan stepped through it, followed by a small, filthy house elf. "I was hoping you would all still be up," Morgan addressed her children, "we need to talk."

"I'm gonna head up," William said, trying to give the family some privacy, he had noticed the strained look on Mrs. Snape's face, "you coming Nick?"

As soon as the two boys had headed up to their dormitories Morgan took a seat on a sofa opposite the one Kamen, Serena, and Dierna were on and wrapped her arms around Nimue who had sat down next to her.

Morgan began without preamble, "children, I want you to know that your grandfather died tonight, his house elf Misty, brought me the news just a short while ago."

"Why the hell should we care?" Kamen spat out angrily, "that old git didn't give a damn about any of us, we never even met him."

"Nevertheless, I thought you should know. I haven't been able to reach your father to tell him yet, and I need to tell you that I'm not sure how he's going to take the news; this is his father we are talking about. Now you know that your father and grandfather have never gotten along..."

"I think Dad used the phrase, 'I'll reconcile with that bloody bastard when the Ministry is run completely by house elves." Kamen inserted.

"Alright, so they hated each other," Morgan admitted, "and I'll agree that the one time I met Tiberius, I found him to be completely disagreeable and an utter... well, the point is I want you to be considerate of your father's feelings on this matter."

"Whatever, I think Dad will be happy that the git finally kicked the bucket," Kamen lazily replied.

"Kamen! Now this is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about," Morgan frowned at her son.

"Mum, does this mean that we have a house elf now?" Nimue asked as she indicated Misty, who was standing off to the side, fingering the filthy shredded remains of the tea towel she had wrapped around herself like a toga.

"Yes it does, Misty is here because she will continue to serve the Snape family, however.."

"Excellent, does that mean we don't have to clean our own rooms anymore?" Dierna interrupted her mother.

"However," Morgan continued, "you are not to abuse the change in situation. That means that you still have to clean your own rooms," she ended with a slight smile.

"The sky is beautiful tonight," Meg said as she leaned against Charlie. Their dinner together had been wonderful, and Meg was delighted that they had been able to spend the evening together, free from interruption.

"Meg, there is a more serious reason to why I came home tonight," Charlie said slowly.

"What is it?" Meg clutched her husband's calloused hand.

Charlie gently ran his other hand over the soft contours of his wife's face, "here, sit down." He took her to a bench and waited till they were seated, his arm around her shoulders, before continuing, "There was another attack today."

"Oh Charlie! Who was it this time?"

"A small group of muggles, and..."

"And..." Meg gently prompted him.

"And John McIan."

"But he was the head of your father's staff at the Ministry."

"I know, things are starting to hit a little closer to home now, I don't like it," Charlie pulled Meg closer to him.

"What is the Ministry going to do?"

"Nothing, for now."

"Nothing?! How can they just stand by and..."

"Meg darling, calm down. There is nothing to be done right now, not until we have the names of the spies who have infiltrated the Ministry. And once dad has those names he's still not free to act. If the spies are dismissed they'll simply go to whoever is leading this new uprising, and if they're sent to Azkaban... well... if they could get Voldemort out, then no prisoners are secure there anymore."

"So we can't count on the Ministry for help..." Meg leaned against Charlie's chest.

"Not for now at least."

"Then what are we going to do about it?"

"Meg, I don't want you..."

"Dammit Charlie, I'm thinking about our family!" Meg cut him off fiercely, "I will not let our children be harmed, not matter what it takes! I will not sit idly by when I could be doing something, I was a member of the Order and I'm prepared to fight again!"

"No Meg, there are other ways. Now don't interrupt me for a moment," Charlie gently hushed his wife, "First off, you are to do nothing to put yourself in harms way. Besides," Charlie hurriedly continued when he saw that his wife was ready to jump down his throat again, "Minerva is already on top of the situation."

"What does Minerva have to do with this?" Meg asked quietly.

"Right now the attacks that have occurred have been sporadic and ill- planned. We have a general consensus that these dark forces are still very disorganized. But, there is no doubt that once they get some more followers and become a bit more organized they will start focusing their attacks. Meg darling, we know from... our sources... that those that they consider traitors or those who were or are members of the Order will be their first targets.
"If things get to the point where we have to worry about systemized attacks, then Minerva is going to have the families of all faculty moved to Hogwarts, along with several key members of the Order, as a safety precaution."

Silence reigned for several long moments. Neither husband nor wife spoke, or needed to, they simply held each other.

"Charlie," Meg finally began tentatively, "this isn't just going to be random attacks on muggles. People are going to die, good witches and wizards. I just have this feeling... it's going to be like last time, we're going to lose friends and family, and no matter how hard we fight, there's nothing we can do about it."

Connor stood in the dark dungeon corridor just outside the Slytherins common room. He leaned against the dank wall, gazing intently at the small vial in his hand. The deep crimson liquid reminded him of blood. A slow smile spread across his face as he gripped the vial tighter. His father had given him explicit instructions, but now it was up to him to do the rest.

He narrowed his eyes as he heard a sound further down the hallway, but it was only that Prefect Mark, whom Connor despised, and his new shadow Brandon Potter. Connor glared at them as they passed him and went into the common room. How he would love to take care of them, but that would have to wait. He had other orders.

Connor directed his attention back to the vial in his hand, "it's a shame," he muttered to himself, "not the target I would have chosen, but I suppose it will have to do. But then again, it is rather fitting..."

He tucked the vial into his pocket, "after all, poison is queen."