"Was ist das?"

Zach looked up from the net he was preparing, "a net we use for the dragons."

"Warum?"

He smiled, it was becoming easier and easier to follow some of the German phrases that were constantly being thrown at him. "You see the pieces of metal tied on all over?"

Clara nodded.

"They reflect light, and distract the dragon. We only use these on small ones, but it makes them easier to stun and move if we need to."

"Can we go down and see the dragons?"

Zach rolled his eyes heavenward, "absolutely not," he'd had more than his fair share of chasing curious students away from the dragons already. There was no way he was going to willingly bring an eight year old down to them.

"Why not? Du spielst mit ihm."

"Clara! 'du?' try 'Sie' when you're speaking to Zach, and he does not 'play' with the dragons, he's keeping them in control so that they're not tempted to eat little girls."

Clara stuck her tongue out at her aunt, "I was being polite, really!"

"Umm-hmmm... well try a little harder next time," Eva said as she tweaked her niece's nose. "Has she been bothering you?" she asked turning to Zach.

"Not at all. Has Alberto been bothering you?" he asked with a smile.

Eva rolled her eyes, "I swear, some days it's like I'm dating ein kind. Er ist so..."

"Spontaneous? Immature? Too smooth for his own good?" &

Eva nodded.

"Don't worry Zach, I don't think Eva will marry him, she hasn't even told him her real name yet!" Clara said, grinning wickedly, before bolting from the room.

"So... what's your real name?" Zach asked, "I take it it's not Eva."

Eva buried her face in her hands as she blushed, "nein, es ist nicht Eva. She removed her hands, but was well aware of how bright her face still was, "it's not something I share with a lot of people, because it is... I've been teased about it before since I grew up in a monastic community. My name is Benedicta."

"...a blessing."

"And that's the end of the prophecy?"

"Yes, that is all we have."

Cadmus paced, "and why are you asking for my help?"

Rheia frowned, "because I don't have much choice."

"A priestess who serves Her, and a priestess who serves the consort... can it be any two priestesses?"

Rheia shook her head, "no, it has been tried before. I believe the girl is one of the priestesses we need, but she must be trained first."

"You have Kalliope's message. The girl's family does not wish for her to come here."

"Then we must do something about that. Get her here, I don't care how. I will not allow our ways to die out!"

"You have your orders, now get back to school before you're missed," Macnair thrust his son's bag at him and held the door open.

"Wait, I have one request," Connor stopped halfway through the door.

"You're in no position to be making requests," his father hissed.

"Wait," Draco gestured for silence, "I want to hear what he wants."

Connor shifted his school bag to his shoulder, "Snape's daughter, she wants nothing to do with me. I was wondering if I could use some of the information you've given me to convince her otherwise."

Draco looked amused, "I've never been one to stand in the way of young love. As long as you do not betray our mission do as you like to get the little bitch into bed."

"Ummm... Serena, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure Kandi, what's up?"

Kandi shifted a bit nervously from foot to foot as her roommate looked at her questioningly, "Mark asked me out, but I wanted to make sure its ok with you, 'cause I'd rather have you as a friend than Mark as a boyfriend if you're not comfortable with it."

Serena felt a small pang of jealousy, but brushed it aside. She thought carefully for a minute. Yes she had cared about Mark, but she had moved on and was more than happy with Nick, "Go ahead, I don't mind."

"You're sure? There won't be any hard feelings?"

"It's not a problem. He's a great guy."

"I heard Sirius was here."

"He was."

"I also know why he was here."

Ginny shrugged, "so?"

"You don't feel like you can talk to me."

Ginny recognized that it wasn't a question, "Harry, I..." she was cut off when her husband's mouth forcefully covered hers.

"This is the way things are going to work," Harry said as he broke away, covering his wife's mouth with his hand so she couldn't interrupt, "I know I've screwed up, and I'm sorry for that. But we are going to talk, no matter how difficult it is, not matter how long it takes. We are going to get to know each other again. We are going to make this work, no matter how hard it is, no matter how much work it takes."

Ginny pried Harry's hand away, "what if that's not what I want?"

"Then I'll kiss you senseless until you do agree."

As the middle of March approached things had become eerily calm on the impending war front. There had been no recent attacks, no recent uprisings. Nothing. Just an increasing amount of tension for those who waited.

Minerva paced the confines of her office, waiting for Albus to return. She glanced up at his empty portrait frame yet again and sighed as it was still empty.

"Pacing won't help."

She glanced over at Severus who was leafing though a book from his seat in front of her desk, "I don't know how you can be this calm."

He shrugged, "I've had plenty of chances to learn patience in my lifetime. Worrying will not make things better."

"He's right you know. Worrying does nothing but make the time drag by slower than you would imagine possible," the portrait of Albus Dumbledore agreed as he returned to his frame in the Headmistress's office.

"What has happened Albus?" Minerva clutched the back of the chair next to her so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"It is done; they are now one step closer."

Severus swore under his breath as he stood up and moved to stare out the window.

"I can't believe they got away with it..." Minerva pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes, "the poor Weasleys... how did they remove him from office?"

"They invented charges, and then had the infiltrated members vote him out. I'm sure we can expect one of their own to be voted into office in the near future."

"We should be thankful that they didn't remove Arthur from office through assassination," Severus inserted.

The portrait of Albus nodded grimly as he popped a lemon drop from a painted dish into his mouth, "he will be arriving here shortly with Molly. The Order must find a safe place for them. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, one of our members is already on it."

"Where will they be going?"

Albus shrugged, "I'm not completely sure yet. But I hear that Professor Lupin's consort has a wonderful network of connections all over the world that are ready to fight on our side. Eric also has friends in all sorts of places who would take them in. As does Miss Bhaer. I think they will be able to find a safe place for Arthur and Molly among them."

"You promised," Dierna reminded her father.

Severus growled an unintelligible response, sincerely regretting the promise he had made.

Dierna gave him her best sad face, in hopes of influencing his decision.

Severus sighed in defeat, "you will watch silently and from a safe distance. If I have any cause to remember that you are in the room you will regret it. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Dierna resisted smiling in triumph. She knew how serious this was.

A short time later she was seated on a stool, set off to the side of where the final steps to the Quintessence were underway. She still wasn't sure what had happened so that Eric could safely return, but she was happy to see him back. She wasn't sure if she liked the old man because he was truly interesting, or only because it was yet another way to irritate her father.

Eva very carefully mixed together the phoenix ashes and a small quantity of sea salt, grinding them to a fine powder with mortar and pestle. "I wish the outcome was better documented..." she muttered.

"We just have to try it and see," Eric frowned in concentration. "My hands aren't steady enough for this; it will have to be one of you two."

Severus looked at Eva with a raised eyebrow.

Eva held her hands out in front of her, as though to ward off an attack, "nein, I don't trust my abilities for something like this."

"Then you stir," Severus directed as he took the jar of phoenix ashes and salt mixture from her. He took a tiny pinch between his fingers and carefully sifted it into the swirling redness of the Quintessence, which instantly changed to a brilliant blue. He continued to add the mixture a small pinch at a time. If it didn't dissolve immediately upon contact the potion would be ruined. Sweat formed on his forehead as he continued the tedious process. As he added the last bit the potion turned a violent shade of green with swirls of gold through it.

"It's done," Eric stated.

Eva breathed as sigh of relief, "now what?"

"We test it," Severus responded, he grinned slightly, "on the perfect test subject."

"Arthur, Molly, how are you doing?" Minerva greeted the couple in the front entrance hall.

"About as well as can be expected," Arthur replied. He attempted a small smile, "I'm sure everything will work out for the best."

Molly dabbed at her eyes with a lace edged handkerchief, "I'm worried about what will happen to our family."

Arthur patted her hand reassuringly, "now, now dear, we both know that I'm the only one seen as a threat by their forces. I'm sure the children and grandchildren will be fine. Besides, most of them are here at the school, the safest place to be!"

"And we need to discuss the safest place for you to be," Minerva inserted as they made their way down into the dungeons, and past the tapestry of Circe into the Order's headquarters. "The Order has decided that it is necessary for you to leave the country for awhile, go someplace safe. We got word late this afternoon that due to the amount of support still being shown for Arthur there might be an assassination attempt. We can't lose you Arthur; you're far too valuable to our cause."

"And where will we go?" Molly asked, still dabbing at her eyes.

"We have several options," Minerva said as they all sat down. "First, Eric has offered you the use of his... lair," she sniffed disdainfully, "I would not recommend that one. Krum has alerted us that there is a place on Durmstrang's grounds that you could use. And finally, there is a community of priestesses to Isis in Egypt that are willing to offer you protection. They are acquaintances of Remus'..." she cleared her throat, "of a priestess who has been aiding us, and they have worked with Bill before."

Arthur clutched his wife's hand, "I think Egypt it is. And with Bill still doing some work there we'll have a family contact. Unless we must go completely into hiding?" he looked to Minerva.

"Bill will know where you are. The Order has taken the liberty of removing some personal possessions from your home. We will move you to Egypt as soon as possible. And Arthur, all of us here still consider you to be the Minister of Magic, you have our support."
"Thank you for bringing me," Dierna said as she looked up at her father.

Severus slid an arm around her shoulders, "I suppose it was only fair." He looked up as the head of St. Mungo's came to greet their small group, "Mrs. Granger-Weasley, it's a pleasure to see you again," he said in a voice that was somewhere between a sneer and sincerity.

"Professor Snape," she nodded her head in acknowledgement, "I was under the impression that you were coming alone..." her gaze took in the group of people assembled in the lobby.

"A miscommunication, I'm sure you remember Professors Lupin and Sirius, and of course Potter," the last name came out as a snarl. Severus hadn't planned on bringing those three, but when they found out who Quintessence was going to be tested on there was no keeping them away. "And my assistants, Eric, Miss Bhaer, and my daughter."

Hermione threw her arms around Harry's neck, "we don't see each other often enough."

"I know," Harry grinned, "how's Ron been treating you?"

"As touching as this is, we have work to do," Severus growled.

"As pleasant as usual I see," Hermione whispered to Harry.

"And my hearing is as good as ever," Severus said calmly.

Dierna stifled a giggle behind her hand, and quickly retreated out of her father's reach to walk beside Remus. She could tell her father was stressed out and concerned about testing the Quintessence and it was best to stay away when he was like that.

"How'd you talk him into bringing you?" Remus asked quietly.

"Easy, I have him so totally wrapped around my little finger."

Sirius snorted as he joined the conversation, "somehow I doubt that. I caught a glance at the detention chart in the staff room before we left. If you have him 'so totally wrapped' why did he give you detention for a whole week?"

Dierna scowled, "because he's a greasy git who doesn't appreciate my opinions during class."

Sirius and Remus both fought smiles as they continued up to the fourth floor and the spell damage ward. "Her father's temper and biting sarcasm and her mother's wit, it's a wonderful combination," Sirius muttered.

Remus had to fight very hard not to laugh out loud. When he composed himself he turned back to his long time friend as they entered the ward, "what kind of condition do you think Gilderoy is in?"

"Hello there, how are you? Would you like autographs? I have a whole stack of them."

"Ask him yourself," Sirius said with an ill concealed grin. "We'd like five each, Goldy, and I'm sure the oversized bat would like a whole stack."

"I'll get right on it!" Gilderoy Lockhart, still in possession of wavy gold hair and the blue eyes that had driven witches crazy for him years ago, rushed over to a table littered with snapshots of himself. "Any special requests or shall I just sign?"

Harry looked at him in disgust, "do we really have to try and bring him back? He was just about the worst DADA teacher the school ever had, and a liar and creep to boot, why not leave him this way?"

Dierna tried to hide another fit of giggles but failed miserably. But she sobered up quickly when her father cuffed her on the back of her head and hissed an order at her to behave herself. She sidled over to Harry and made sure to keep her voice low, "Mum says he was the worst DADA teacher ever, hands down."

Harry shook his head, "I think Umbridge has him beat."

"Not according to Mum. She says she doesn't care how bad you all thought she was, nothing compares with having Lockhart propose a student/teacher affair to you."

Harry's mouth dropped open, "remind me to get that whole story sometime."

Dierna grinned, "It's a great one. She gets all worked up, usually ends up throwing something. It generally takes Dad a good couple of hours to talk her down out of her rage after she gets going on that topic."

Hermione ignored the gathered group and turned her attention to her former potions master, "I've covered up this little test with a mountain of paperwork, just in case the new regime at the Ministry decides to do any digging."

"Good," Severus carefully measured out a small dose of the quintessence into a small cup. "Shall we give it a shot then?"

Hermione nodded, resisting the urge to ask about the finer details of the potion, her thirst for knowledge having never died out, "Gilderoy," she said sweetly, "come here darling, we have something to give you."

"Is it a present?" Gilderoy asked excitedly.

"Yes," Hermione smiled slightly. "Hopefully the best one you'll ever get, you're going to get your memories back."

"Too bad it doesn't benefit the rest of us..." Harry mumbled under his breath.

Hermione took the cup from Severus and handed it to Gilderoy, "here, drink this."

Gilderoy quickly drank the entire contents with the curiosity of a small child. As he swallowed the last of it he squeezed his eyes shut, and ran a hand over his face. When he opened his eyes again he looked around the room in confusion, "Hello there. Would you mind telling me where I am?" he brushed an imaginary piece of lint off of his sleeve and smoothed back his hair, smiling broadly, "I'm Gilderoy Lockhart, of course, five time winner of Witch Weekly's..."

"By god..." Eric cut him off, "it worked."

Severus nodded grimly, "this means it will work on Voldemort if they can reproduce it."
Sophia sprinted across the snow covered lawn and ducked as yet another snowball whizzed past her head. "Missed again," she shouted over her shoulder as she quickly changed direction.

"Not for long," William growled as he covered the distance between them and tackled her into the snow from behind. They rolled on the ground for several minutes, intent on pelting each other with snow until William managed to pin the young novice underneath him. "I think I win," he said breathing heavily.

"That's just because I let you," Sophia said trying to look as innocent as possible, "I am a priestess after all."

"In training, you haven't taken your vows yet," William reminded her.

"That doesn't change anything, I still could've won if I wanted to," Sophia insisted as William let her up and she brushed the snow from her clothes.

"Not likely kid," William said as he scooped up another handful of snow to toss at her.

"Not fair! I thought we had a truce!"

"What are you going to do about it?" William asked teasingly.

Sophia quickly rose up on her toes and brushed her lips across his cheek before turning and sprinting inside.