Well…sorry for the delay. Life has been… hectic. Let's just say that this chapter was supposed to be twice as long but I divided it in two because I don't want to make you wait any longer. I've been mean…I know. This is not like me at all but life is just…well… there is no point in explaining really.

The end is very near, only 3 or 4 chapters away. And anything can happen… but be positive! The ending has already been planned…

If you want to read the answers to your reviews on chapter 41, read my LJ: Florws

Chapter 42: The encounter

Flowers dancing through the wind:

"Oh, dear, how beautiful it is to be loved by you", was all Hermione Granger could think of while closing her eyes and embracing her fate.

All over her body her burned skin read that her flesh belonged to someone else. Not Severus Snape but LM- The initials of evil themselves. Her soul, however, knew differently; it could not be constrained by cruelty or spitefulness and it corresponded to her husband only and to no one else.

Not that her soul matter in this war.

She knew that even after her death, which she felt was near, goodness would surely prevail. Why should her life matter, then, in a war that had started long before her birth and which had taken the lives of many braver warriors in the history of the Magical World?

It was the same old story again: Good versus Evil. And Hermione Granger was sure- because even when death was breathing down her neck anxiously waiting for her to fall off the cliff of life, Mrs. Snape was above all things a scholar- that despite everything humanity possessed the amazing ability to surprise itself that we were surely going to win the war for her when her muscles fail to move in the not-so-distant future.

Yes, we are capable of killing each other.

Yes, we are capable of torturing and mutilating human beings to achieve our ambitions ends.

Yes, we are capable of racism, discrimination and malice beyond description.

Yes… no one will deny that, not even innocent Hermione who represented purity amongst the rotten. But she was certain that human beings were also capable of great sacrifices, of devotion beyond words, of creating logical solutions to help those in need, of giving up their own blood so that others can live… YES! Human beings give out smiles, kisses and hugs…and they get to love. That alone should make our race worthy of admiration, or at least, so did Hermione think. She hadn't given up on humanity despite suffering atrocities that can only be told in stories such as this.

When the door opened and she felt Lucius' weight quickly decrease, hope invaded her body, as If time had frozen and they were still holding hands at Hogwarts grounds with Dumbledore about to pronounce them husband and wife.

"Severus," Lucius said with a slight smile on his pale face. His cheeks were red and the spots on his black shirt were the result of Narcissa's death, make no mistake, "I see you have found us,"

Severus sighed. The heat was unbearable and so he unbuttoned his black robes in order for air to clean the perspiration away from his hairy chest.

"Indeed I have," he replied, throwing his cloak at Hermione for her to cover her naked body. He did not move his head a centimetre away from Lucius' direction; it would be very unwise of him to do so. However, it also responded to the fact that the pain of seeing Hermione at the moment would surely kill him: he had dragged her into this situation. It was his entire fault and not even killing the man who had caused her so much suffering would cure his soul.

"You do realise that this will end with a death," Lucius threatened, raising his eyebrow and slowly walking to where Severus was.

"It will not be mine," Hermione's husband stated, grabbing his wand tightly, ready for anything.

A rude laugh escaped from his opponent's lips, "You resemble an innocent creature about to be slaughter, my dear friend. Stupid, yet intuitive enough to smell his own death,"

Severus frowned and smirked at the same time as his five fingers wrapped his wand over and over again, exactly like Hermione had done on his member months before in the warmth of their bedroom. It had been long since they had last made love and cold drops of perspiration descended from his forehead at the bare thought of nudity. She was the only thing pure in that room, he thought, even after the tragedy he knew she had suffered but failed to accept.

"How dared you touch my wife?," he enquired, looking straight into Lucius' eyes.

"How dared you betray my trust?," Lucius asked this time, rage taking over his eyes.

"Your trust, you say?," The potion's master responded.

"Oh, Severus… if anything I have always regarded you as someone with intelligence. That was the reason behind my constant doubts about your fidelity: you were the only one with the capacity to frustrate my plan," he explained, then added, "in any case, it is useless to reflect about it all, don't you think, mate?,"

"The root of all evil…," Severus murmured

"That would be me," Lucius sarcastically completed Severus' sentence, inaccurately, of course.

"I was about to express," Severus said, his voice barely a whisper, "…that the root of all evil lays not inside of you, my dear friend. Since, as you very well put it, I am going to die tonight, I might as well tell you how ridiculous your attempt at conquering the wizarding world is," He stated, fearless.

"Speak up, my logical colleague. I could use some laughs," Lucius said, intrigued.

"You must be getting old, your hearing is now a problem," Hogwarts most dreadful professor said, smirking like the cynic he had once been.

"You must be getting stupid then… speaking to the New Dark Lord in such a way," Lucius added, stepping forward.

"You must be getting blind then, Lucius dear," Severus fantastically ended their trivial conversation filled with subtleties that had nothing to do with the issues they needed to solve at present.

"What do you mean exactly with "blind"?," Lucius asked; his face only inches away from Severus'.

"Indeed, what do you think I wanted to come across?," the man with black greasy hair answered, walking towards the bed trying to get away from Lucius and near Hermione.

"You will never win this so-called battle,"

"Call it what you want," Severus said, "I call what it is: the ending of a beautiful yet disturbing plan"

"You will never find the exit to this castle; a dead sentence rests upon your shoulders," Lucius calmly stated.

"Perhaps you are right," the brave man in black replied, "But I do not consider that a problem since I will take you with me,"

"You seem very sure of your words for a man without an army of men ready to hand their souls to the devil to defend his cause," Lucius stated, his heart filled with doubt.

"I am sure of my words," Severus confirmed, then added, "Because even if my death comes first, you will eventually meet your end. I meant that by you being blind, of course… there is nothing as pathetic than a man your age denying how close his death really is: do save me the pain of seeing you sink so low," he insulted, sitting on the bed and silently searching for Hermione's hand, "I cannot believe you thought me stupid enough to kill Dumbledore"

Lucius' situation was not as romantic or as noble. His soul was now filled with a kind of anger no human or beast had felt before. However, he was certain that his old friend from school had no chance of leaving that room alive; he was far too powerful now and Dumbledore- dead or alive- was nowhere near Malfoy Manor. Torturing him, he thought, humiliating him in front of that mudblood wife of his was surely going to be an educational thing for his favourite death eaters to watch… and learn.