Thirty-Five

Trial by Fire

It didn't take long for Jennifer to push back all of her problems as she and Severus stepped into the budding grove. In fact, the potion had been so complete that she didn't think of her plight at all, and was too intent on making things right again with Severus to remember the dream or the threat that Lucius Malfoy had given the night before.

"Your father was extremely angry with me when he found out what happened and how I handled it," Severus said in a low voice as they paused near the spot Keki's horn had been buried, leaning against the Lia Fal as if it had no significance. "But so too was I angry with you, for daring to think that I would do such a thing."

"And yet you admit that had I knocked, you still wouldn't have told me about what she was doing there."

"Well, no, actually, I knew how you were going to feel about this," Severus said. "To be perfectly honest, I was the one who advised them to go ahead and get married."

"What?" Jennifer stared at him.

"I knew you would never accept it, and it'd have been futile to ask your blessing."

"I still would have liked to have known about it!"

"You would have tried to stop it."

"Of course I would have!" Jennifer said, walking around restlessly. "She's thirty-five, Severus! She's part-Veela! She could have had any man that she wanted!"

"Nearly," Severus interrupted in a low voice, Jennifer sighing at him in exasperation.

"My point was why on earth would a woman like that, as beautiful as she is, as so irritatingly, disgustingly, nice as she is, want anything to do with a self-proclaimed murderer, except for the fact that he now happens to be filthy rich and probably headed back to prison for the rest of his life?"

"Because he slammed a door in her face," Severus explained.

"Just what is that supposed to mean?" Jennifer asked, staring at him.

"I don't suppose it has occurred to you that they might have gotten married because they might care for each other?" Severus suggested.

"No," Jennifer said. Severus sighed. "Severus, you saw how he was treating her! No woman would put up with that!"

"Not even your mother?" Severus asked in a low voice.

"That was different!" Jennifer snapped angrily. "He was different! Before he joined…before he…"

A deep depression suddenly enveloped her, her thoughts going over everything from Lucius' memory to the flight over the ocean; her early years at the mansion to her later years growing up in America; the memory of her father kissing her mother before going off to his business meetings to the day he was reported dead…and then to the day her mother disappeared. Severus quickly pulled her close as she burst into tears, unable to hold them back any longer.

"When does it stop? Voldemort has been dead seventeen years, why are we still being tortured by his presence, haunted by what he's done to us, and his old loyalists do everything they can to keep the terror alive? I'm so sick of the nightmares, I'm so sick of the heartache any time I think of how many were tortured and killed in his name. Isn't there any way we can ever move on, or is he going to succeed in torturing all of us for the rest of our lives? It's like I finally find a day where I can go an instant without thinking of Voldemort and then something always happens and it all comes crashing in again. I would do anything to find a way to put it all behind us forever!"

Severus closed his eyes, lost in his own thoughts for a moment as he held her tight, almost completely oblivious to the students who double backed around them, not wishing to disturb whatever it was that was plaguing the two professors.

"You know who you sounded like just a moment ago?" Severus said quietly after Jennifer had time to cry herself out. Jennifer shook her head slowly, still buried in his shoulder. "Your father." Jennifer looked up and stared at him with a frown. "No, I'm serious. I've had a similar conversation with him not too long ago. There wasn't any crying though. A bit of yelling…"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," Jennifer said, instantly embarrassed and trying to step away, but Severus wouldn't let her go, shaking his head.

"Would you believe that this relationship with Fleur has in some ways hit him even harder than it's hitting you and for the exact same reasons?" Severus murmured. "He's looking for those answers as well, Jennifer. And it's not our place to decide how he goes about finding those answers, or to whom."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it," Jennifer muttered.

"True," Severus said. "Although I wouldn't be too quick to disown him if I were you."

"I'm not ready to accept this, Severus," Jennifer said with a frown.

"Obviously," Severus agreed, gently brushing a finger against the outline of her face. "But in acknowledging that, perhaps you are ready for the two of us to come to terms?"

"More than ready," Jennifer said, kissing him gently. "Can you ever forgive me for believing you were interested in Fleur even for a moment?"

"Can you ever forgive me for kissing her?" Severus murmured back.

"No," Jennifer admitted with a weak grin.

"Hm. Yes, well, neither can I forgive myself, come to think of it," Severus mused, and Jennifer hugged him warmly, the two of them then slowly wandering back towards town.


Alicia didn't complain in the slightest when Andrew went back for a second sandwich, the others all filling their cups again as they lazily enjoyed watching all the other students pass by going to different stores or glaring at them for taking up so much table space.

"We do really need to get going if we're going to get much more shopping today, though," Alex said a few minutes later.

"I suppose we should at least hit Honeydukes if nowhere else," Zoë agreed. "I'm just so tired today."

"Well, perhaps if the four of you hadn't decided to sneak out and raid the kitchen last night, you wouldn't be so tired," Aurelius said critically. The Gryffindors at the table smiled guiltily at him. "And then talking about sensitive material on top of it."

"What sort of sensitive material?" Alex asked.

"Family stuff," Aurelius said cryptically, conscientious to where they were and with whom. "And what's more, someone was listening… someone we couldn't find."

"Someone you couldn't find?" Stock repeated. "You mean there might be someone else in the school, you know, like Andrew?"

"We checked that," Zack said. Stock squinted at him, and Zack glanced at Aurelius.

"Dumbledore has a device that can see things like that, and the twins have a way of getting in his office," Aurelius explained in a low voice. "I had them check, but there was no one around." Then he sighed. "I was so sure that all the spying going on in the school was directly related to Mum somehow. Now I don't know what to think."

"Rel, I don't think you're wrong about…about something going on with Mum and all that. Maybe what happened last night was a different source," Andrew said. "A passing House Elf, or something."

"I don't know," Aurelius shrugged after a moment, pushing his drink and leaning back in his chair. "But what I do know is when the twinge came, the one that goes through me any time someone in the Pact is being indiscreet, I felt something malicious… a feeling like…" he paused and suddenly sat up straight, looking around.

"Like what?" Alex asked anxiously as he stood up.

"Like one of the secrets I am protecting is about to come crashing down over my head," Aurelius said. "The same sensation I'm getting right now. Come on, Stock!"

"Where are we going?"

"The Brooms," Aurelius said impatiently, already beginning to briskly walk across the street.

"Wait up! Count us in!" Andrew said, the rest of the group getting up in response.

But before Aurelius even got inside, he knew something was wrong. A very large group of patrons were outside talking excitedly while several Enforcers from the Ministry were keeping them from going inside. Sighing at the crowd, Aurelius made eye contact with Andrew, who nodded. An instant later Andrew had vanished. Halbert had quickly stepped up to take his spot, acting as if he had standing been there the entire time.

"Goodness, Thurspire! I don't know what you're going to think up next!" Rosmerta declared, standing with her hands on her hips and rolling her eyes at him. Dumbledore stood beside her quietly, seemingly just observing. "Do you really think that I of all people would allow my pub to be used to house a criminal?"

"Do you think Thomas Craw is a criminal?" Thurspire asked.

"You tell me! You're the Minister of Law Enforcement," Rosmerta challenged him. "Supposedly," she added as an afterthought.

"Thomas Craw is in direct violation of his parole, Rosmerta, he's not allowed to stay here…"

"You don't know that he is staying here, Minister, you are only speculating!" Rosmerta reminded him.

"And even if he wasn't, the Council of Wizards has requested that he be brought in for questioning concerning the recent rise of Death Eaters and the activities of the Ivory Skull…"

"Thomas Craw working with Death Eaters? After spending a dozen years in Azkaban after trying to exterminate them?" Rosmerta said dubiously.

"By the way, how is your search for Lucius Malfoy going, Ederick?" Dumbledore inquired. His eyes wandered towards the doorway for a moment, but after adjusting his glasses slightly he turned back to look at the wiry Minister of Law Enforcement.

"The Aurors are handling that, Dumbledore, as you well know," Thurspire said tersely, "which is why they're not here tonight."

"Ah, I see. I was under the impression that they weren't here because of the incident in the Council Meeting a few nights ago," Dumbledore said, Ederick's lips growing thin.

"Incident? What incident?" Rosmerta asked with interest.

"When the Council decided, despite my protest of course, to go ahead and plan to put Thomas on trial for this new crime spree, all of the Aurors present stood up and told the Council that if they wanted Thomas caught they would have to do it themselves and walked out of the room. It was quite touching actually, you would have been proud of them."

"Bravo! Was Harry Potter there?" Rosmerta asked with interest.

"Yes, as was Alastor Moody and…"

"Do you mind?" Thurspire snapped irritably. "Rosmerta, I really need you to show me upstairs."

"Oh, very well!" Rosmerta said with a sigh. "If that is what it will take to get you out of here and my customers back in."

"Mind if I come along?" Dumbledore said, but it was evident he was going to anyhow, waiting until Rosmerta, Thurspire, and his current aid (a rather bored looking wizard named DeMille) had headed up the stairs before he himself followed, muttering a "sorry," in a rather absent-minded manner despite the fact that no one was around him.

"All right, here we are! Which one first?" Rosmerta sighed.

"All of them, of course," Thurspire said.

"Well, I happen to be presently renting out one of the suites up here, and I'm not about to barge in on her privacy without a twenty-four hour notice. It's the law anyhow, you know," Rosmerta said, opening up the rest of the rooms.

"And just who is it that you're renting rooms out to?"

"That's no secret. Professor Delacour's been renting a room here since the beginning of the school year," Rosmerta said, peering suspiciously at Thurspire's aid as he wandered through the rooms.

"Professor Delacour?" Thurspire repeated in disbelief, staring at Rosmerta. "But I thought she despised Craw!"

"I don't know what you're babbling on about," Rosmerta said, glancing at Dumbledore. "Do you know what he's babbling on about, Albus?" Dumbledore shrugged noncommittally.

"I just received a tip not half an hour ago that Thomas Craw has been hiding out up here in the Three Broomsticks with a woman," Thurspire said.

"Up here?" Rosmerta laughed incredulously. "It sounds like someone has been having fun with you, Thurspire!"

"I must check every possibility, Rosmerta! The Council wants him found."

"Well, that's all well and good, but you can't go in there without a writ and until I give Fleur her notice!" Rosmerta said firmly.

"And where, may I ask, is Professor Delacour now?" Thurspire asked. "She was down in the pub just before I arrived, wasn't she? Talking to one of her other love interests?"

"Honestly! Don't tell me you're listening to that silly gossip in the paper," Rosmerta tsked.

"On the contrary, I happened to listen to some of the patrons of this very establishment just before I cleared the place," Thurspire said evenly. "And I know for a fact that Professor Craw Snape had words with Professor Delacour and Snape just before leaving. Apparently, she isn't too fond of how much time they've been spending together."

"That is more than I know, Ederick," Dumbledore said. "And might I point out as a man here representing the law you may want to hold off judging a situation based on hearsay."

"I only meant that I have a number of witnesses that can attest that Delacour was just here!" Thurspire snapped. "Any thoughts to where she is now?"

"Did someone mention me?" Everyone looked up to see Fleur standing their gazing at the group standing by her door puzzled, a large paper covered gown draped over her arm. "Bonjour, Rosmerta! Taking in new boarders?"

"Professor Delacour, perhaps you recognize me," Thurspire said, turning to bow to her.

"Ah, why of course, Minister Thurspire, correct? Has there been some trouble? Oh, but, I do not want to be rude, please come in!" Fleur said graciously, pardoning herself with a charming smile as she opened the door for them and let them in. "I hope you weren't kept waiting. I had to pick my new dress from Madame McGonagall's. She is so talented; I'm so envious! Would you like to see it?" Fleur asked DeMille who was standing beside her. DeMille nodded with a strange grin but Thurspire suddenly cleared his throat, glaring at him.

"We're here to take a look around, Professor Delacour," Thurspire said.

"Be my guest, although I hope you do not judge people by their housekeeping! Would anyone care for some tea or something?" Fleur asked unconcernedly as Thurspire skulked around the room. "Cream? Sugar?"

"Not while I'm working, thank you," Thurspire said, but as she was attempting to set up a small table he spotted something and went over, snatching up a glass in his hand before she could move it and gazed into it, smelling it. "Hm. Dark Whiskey."

"An acquired taste of mine," Fleur said, flashing him a smile.

"Really? The drink, or the drink's owner?" Thurspire challenged.

"What a very rude thing to say!" Fleur declared, frowning at him.

"Ederick, you have no call to treat my employee like this," Dumbledore said disapprovingly.

"There's no lipstick on the rim of the glass, Professor Dumbledore, although I note that Professor Delacour has always had on a liberal amount of it whenever I've seen her," Thurspire pointed out. Fleur pursed her lips conscientiously.

"Well, I don't have it on when I get up in the morning," she said.

"Do you always drink first thing in the morning?" Thurspire asked.

"It is really none of your business when I drink!" Fleur said hotly.

"Might I also note, then, that there doesn't seem to be bottle anywhere about and that the glass is obviously one from downstairs and not one of your own?" Thurspire said with a slight flicker in his eyes. "Which means that to get this drink you would have had to have gone down and get it, and therefore you probably would have made yourself presentable before going into a public place?"

"Oh, what utter rubbish! Thurspire, had it ever occurred to you that I might have brought it up?" Rosmerta snapped angrily.

"Calm down, Rosmerta, it's all right," Dumbledore told her gently. "I hardly think that Ederick would attempt to build a case on one empty glass because he didn't find any distinguishable marks on it."

"He'd better not, or I'll be in the Minister of Magic's office in less than a hour to give him a piece of my mind," Rosmerta swore, glaring at Thurspire. "Are you quite done?"

"Not quite. I've yet to check the bedroom," Thurspire said, walking to the other room.

"I hope I remembered to tidy up," Fleur mused, but Thurspire ignored her, stepping in and looking around a moment before beginning to open up drawers. "Am I not entitled to some privacy? I do not think you are going to find Thomas Craw in my lingerie!"

"Honestly, Thurspire, I think it's time that you left!" Rosmerta insisted as he got up from looking under the bed and went over to the closet. "It should be quite obvious to you now that in no way, shape, or form is Thomas Craw in this building!"

"Perhaps not now," Thurspire said enigmatically as he caught the sight of a strange robe hidden behind an unusually voluminous dress and pulled it out, pulling out a string looped around the hanger and tucked within the hooded robe itself as he stepped back out into the room. The string proved to be no more than the tie of the mask of a skeleton face. "But can you doubt now that he was here?"

Fleur's jaw dropped and her eyes widened with genuine surprise, immediately looking over at Dumbledore near the doorway before staring at the robe again.

"Where did that come from? I have never seen it before!" Fleur stammered as Thurspire noticed a small piece of paper attached to the mask and took it off, reading it.

"'My Darling Fleur; If I am not back before you have returned, I have gone to take care of some unfinished business down the street. Pray forgive me for my deeds as you have done in the past, for what I do is for the good of us all. Fear not when the White Mark reappears, for it means only that one more corrupted being has entered oblivion, clearing the way to our future together. Please do not fret over Jennifer's anger at you; I have sadly come to the conclusion that she will not stand with us, and will deal with her when the time comes, your husband, Thomas.' Did he say husband?" Thurspire repeated, staring at it and then at Fleur who had walked over and pulled the letter down so she could see it. His eyes flicked to the large scrollwork ring of pure gold upon her finger.

"This is mad! Thomas would not say such things! I do not think it is even his own handwriting!" Fleur said. "I can't believe this! What does it mean?"

"It means that apparently someone else got here before we did," Dumbledore said.

"You married Thomas Craw?" Thurspire repeated again.

"That is not my husband's handwriting!" Fleur said angrily, tapping at it. "He would never ever do anything to hurt Jennifer, no matter how upset she is with us! Someone is trying to set him up again! And there could be little doubt who!"

"Why would anyone like you be even interested in someone like…"

"Oh, give me that!" Fleur said, snatching the note out of his hand. DeMille, Rosmerta and Dumbledore peered at it as she read it over. "What is this about the White Mark?"

"They are going to strike again, if they haven't already," Dumbledore said. "And somewhere in town."

"Oh no! But the students!" Fleur exclaimed. Rosmerta was already heading towards the door.

"Quick! We've got to find out who it is they're after before it's too late!" Rosmerta said in a panic running down the stairs.

"Fleur, go find Severus and Jennifer while I organize the rest of the staff! Rosmerta, get who you can off the streets and into some sort of order in here! Andrew, go get your siblings! I want them in this pub and within my sight at once! Ederick… never mind…Grant! Call the Ministry for backup, you may need it!" Dumbledore ordered. DeMille immediately popped out of sight at the command, while Andrew appeared from nowhere, sliding down the banister to get past the others before dashing out the doors.

"Rel!" Andrew gasped as he ran over to them, while Rosmerta was busy trying to get her customers back inside. "Rel! We got to go inside, Dumbledore says! There was a note and the White Mark is coming! And Professor Delacour… oh, you're not gonna believe this…"

"White Mark? What White Mark!" Aurelius demanded.

"That one, I'd imagine," said Halbert, and they all looked down the street as a large explosion one of the shops at the very edge of the street, the Mark blazing overhead. A blood-curdling scream rang out from close beside them so poignant that everyone jumped and took out their wands. The Snape children realized an instant too late that it had come from their youngest sibling, for the Mark was over the studio of Francis Pyther.

Before anyone could stop her, Alicia grabbed her broom and took off like a shot, breaking through the window of the fiery building despite the horrified cries of her siblings behind her. Waves of heat and flames were everywhere, fueled by the paintings who let up screams of their own and smoke billowed out from the chemicals in the paint. Still at her desk sat the receptionist, her dead expression staring out in horror at her murderer, no doubt a victim of the Killing Curse.

But Alicia had not given up hope for her mentor, for she knew the powerful spells that protected his slumber during the daylight hours. Covering her head with her hood, Alicia pushed through to the back room, where the magic flames had just begun to work through the doorway. On the far side of the room, the door to the basement stood still locked and as yet untouched.

Had it been anyone else but Alicia at that moment, they would have likely been consumed by the flames, taken over by the fumes in minutes and burned into ashes by the powerful force of the spell. But Alicia jumped into a frame, hopping precariously between some that were burning and those the flames had not yet reached until at last she fell through the lone picture of Francis' mother and father that he kept with him in his chamber. A fine oak coffin-handled bed sat in the center of the room where the vampire painter slept with his covers completely over his head as if a little afraid of what might lay beyond it. In fact, as Alicia reached out and shook him, Francis sat up in pure fright, fumbling for his wand.

"No, it's me, we've got to get out! The studio is on fire!" Alicia said.

"The studio! My paintings!"

"No, you can't! We've got to get out of here! Come on, there's no time to lose!" Alicia insisted, pulling Pyther to his feet. Pyther then pulled a robe over his satin black pj's.

"Time? What time is it?" Pyther asked, starting again when he heard the crash of a falling support over their heads.

"Too early!" Alicia said impatiently, then with a forceful tug she pulled the disoriented painter into the painting.

By the time Fleur had found Jennifer and Severus, thick smoke was already pouring out of the building, distorting the white mark into an even more ominous looking blackened skull. Outside, a large group of wizards from the Ministry as well as local fire volunteers were working to put the blaze out, while Dumbledore stood farther back with an arm around Alex, Aurelius and Andrew. Zoe, Zack and the rest of their friends stood near them, looking incredibly worried.

"Pyther!" Jennifer said in horror when she saw the building, not realizing that things were even worse than she feared.

"Severus!" Dumbledore called out, and he three of them turned to look at him. "Severus, look for Alicia, quickly!"

Severus took out his watch, anxiously looking at it as they ran over.

"Myrkinbrek!" he answered back. Aurelius, Alex, and Andrew breathed a sigh of pure relief while Dumbledore's shoulders relaxed a bit as well. "Please don't tell me she did what I think she did!"

"And perhaps successfully, if she chose Myrkinbrek as a destination," Dumbledore said with a faint smile. "We've been so very worried. I had a terrible time keeping these three out of there."

"Where's Madame Priscilla?" Jennifer asked. "Did Pyther's receptionist get out?"

"It doesn't look good, Jennifer," Dumbledore said glumly. "In fact, if I hadn't known Alicia's ability for getting out of trouble and your a watch, I would not have thought they would have made it either."

"The watch!" Jennifer said in realization that Lucius might know her destination as well, Severus looking at her questioningly. "I'm going to go fetch Alicia," she explained quickly and Disapparated without another word.

"We'd best get the rest of the students back," Dumbledore said, and Severus sighed in resignation, glancing one last time at the watch before snapping it shut.


Alicia peered out of the painting before stepping out into the empty wandmaker's shop, pulling Pyther along with her.

"Here we are!" Alicia said, coughing loudly and suddenly feeling dizzy.

"Oh, goodness! You don't look well!" Pyther said, grabbing a stool and drawing it over to her, getting her to sit down. He was so busy fussing over her that he didn't notice the cabinet open or the wand that came out and sniffed around him before it hurried back into the back room.

"What? I didn't hear the bell, you foolish wand!" Grendelbane said, trying to wave it out of his workroom.

"Excuse me, sir! Excuse me, do you have an emergency kit?" Francis said, the goblin looking at them with surprise.

"What does this look like, a wizard hospital? Try St. Mungo's!"

"We can't, Grendelbane! It's daytime and he's a vampire!" Alicia protested. Grendelbane squinted his beady black eyes at her.

"And you're a Snape," he grunted, disappearing behind the counter for a moment until he pulled out the kit and put it on top.

"Thank you," Francis said, fishing out the burn salve.

"Why are you running about in a bath robe?" Grendelbane asked. "No, never mind. I probably don't want to know," he said, but made no move to going back to the workroom, trying to find something to do up front instead. The bell jingled insistently as the door was thrust open and Jennifer appeared, looking extremely relieved to see them.

"Thank goodness you're all right! But we really shouldn't stay here, it's not safe!"

"I beg your pardon," Grendelbane huffed.

"No offense meant, Grendelbane, thank you for playing host," Jennifer said. "Pyther, is there an aeration potion in there?"

"Um… yes, a small one," Francis said.

"I need to get her to Doctor Sagittari as soon as possible," Jennifer said, taking the phial and handing it to Alicia. "It was a very foolish thing to do, running in there like that!" Jennifer said.

"Nobody else would have been able to get to him, Mum, not during the day! The basement is sealed until sundown," Alicia protested, drinking down the smoky white potion and coughing slightly.

"She's right, Jennifer, no one else would have been able to reach me," Francis said softly, "She saved my life."

"Well, who else would I get to teach me?" Alicia said, coughing again.

"Drink the rest of it," Jennifer scolded her.

"Did my receptionist get out?" Francis asked worriedly. Jennifer frowned.

"I don't know…" she began, but then caught the change in her daughter's expression. Alicia shook her head.

"Already gone," Alicia said quietly. "Killing Curse." Everything was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Pyther," Jennifer said at last.

"At least… at least she didn't suffer from the fire," Pyther said, his voice wavering. "You'd best get Alicia back."

"And just leave you here? Where are you going to go? I'm not leaving you here!" Alicia said firmly.

"Mr. Pyther is over six hundred years old, I daresay he knows how to lay low for a couple of hours, and then I'm sure he'll make his way to Hogwarts," Jennifer said, glancing at Pyther, who nodded. "You need medical attention."

Suddenly, the Beard Wand got altogether excited, shaking as if it was furious before going over to look out the door, ready for battle. A sudden burst of wind snapped the door back so fast it went off its hinges, while just beyond with only the Wand between them and the door stood thirteen black robed men.

"Alicia…" Jennifer whispered, trying to calm herself as she slowly took out her wand. "Alicia, go to Harry's. Now." But Alicia shook her head, taking out her own wand.

"Oh no! I think I dropped mine," Pyther said softly, gulping. "I don't suppose they'd believe a paintbrush?"

"Here," Grendelbane said, and Pyther found an ebony wand forced into his hand, while Grendelbane brought one for himself.

"Do you know how to use that?" Pyther asked the goblin nervously.

"I would guess that we're about to find out," Grendelbane answered grimly.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? I could have sworn you were in Hogsmeade a moment ago," said her father's voice, but the tone was quite different. "You have a walking corpse in your possession, Jennifer, I'd like him back."

"I don't think so, Lucius," Jennifer said firmly.

"Me? How dare you, I'd think you'd recognize your own father," he said.

"The Beard Wand only reacts that way to one person, Lucius," Jennifer said firmly. "And if you move one step against any of us, I swear I'm going to kill you."

Just then, the man who spoke unhooded himself, revealing the face of Thomas Craw underneath as he took out a plain greenish-grey wand and pointed it at the door.

"I don't want to kill you, Jen-girl," Lucius said. "But I will if you don't hand over the vampire now. He is quite late for his execution."

"What reason would my father have for killing a painter?" Jennifer challenged him.

"He is a vampire!" Lucius snapped.

"My father has nothing against vampires, or even painters. What about you, Lucius?"

"I…I can answer that," Pyther stammered, trying to keep his wand hand steady. "He's angry because of the Horsemen painting. It was I who made it, several hundred years ago."

"Oh yes, the Horsemen," Jennifer said with a knowing nod and smile. "Did you see them, Lucius? Is that why you slashed the painting? Is that why you killed Culwch?"

"I am your father!" Lucius snapped angrily.

"Either way, you're out of time," Jennifer said.

"We shall see who it is that is out of time," he snarled, raising his wand again. "Burn them."

Suddenly the Beard Wand darted out of the shop just as the others raised their wands against the building and a chain of lightning rippled through the air. Several of the Death Eaters screamed in pain as their own robes caught on fire. Barking out a command to Alicia, Jennifer charged out to cast a wave of the Shrieking Death. But Lucius had been ready for such a move from her, taking out a strange disk on a three-pronged handle. As the song hit it, it came blasting back at her and Jennifer found herself stumbling back from the unsuspected blow. Seeing that her mother was in trouble, Alicia canceled the Sonorous Shield and ran out with Pyther and the goblin close behind, using a spell to knock the device out of his hand. But when a burst of pure sunlight out of one of the Death Eater's wands sent Pyther screaming to the ground, Alicia turned quickly around.

"Timere Atar!" she shouted, enveloping them all in impenetrable darkness. In there, Pyther and the goblin had the advantage, their eyes quickly adjusting. Grendelbane knew only the simplest of spells, used over the years to test his own merchandise at different stages of its production. But after years of endless practice, his simple spells packed a bit of a punch, and the figure he threw the ice spell at was instantly covered in a layer of frost so thick he couldn't move. Beside him, the Beard Wand let out another crack of lightning, shocking another so badly that he toppled to the ground, still shaking.

Jennifer attempted to ignore the feeling of hundreds of creeping creatures on her skin, knowing it was the spell Alicia had cast. She forced herself back to her feet, cursing softly at the loss of eye contact and wishing she had a Catseye Potion on her, fumbling in her cloak for anything else that would work. Immediately a sphere-like object came into her hand and she pulled it out, a light blazing from the gem the moment she had it firmly in her hand. But in the darkness, Lucius had come up behind her, and the light from her hand became a vulnerability. A strike came at her back sending shockwave up her spine and causing her both her wand and the gem, which immediately went out as it left her hand.

"Mum!" Alicia cried out from somewhere in the darkness, but Jennifer was in no position to answer as the gloved hand came around her throat.

"Not even a scream? Impressive, I know how much that should have hurt, or are you so drugged now you didn't even notice?" Lucius murmured viciously in her ear. "I am getting tired of this insolence of yours. Do you really think you have a chance anymore? I should kill you now, really I should, but I think it'd be much more a more effective punishment to kill the girl."

"Don't you touch her!" Jennifer wheezed, calling her wand to her hand. Snarling angrily at the attempt to stop him, Lucius' other hand came out and grabbed for her wrist, forcing her to open her hand.

"Lumos!" he barked, the darkness melting away. Six of the Death Eaters were still standing when the light arose, and one of them had managed to get a hold of Alicia when she had screamed. But Alicia wasn't fighting…her face looked grey and she looked quite ill, the conflict making her lungs tighten dramatically as she struggled to breathe. Back to back in the center stood Pyther and Grendelbane still striking out at any who came near them, Pyther momentarily started and paled at the change in light. The Beard Wand was nowhere to be seen. "Drop your wands now, or they both die!" Lucius snarled.

"Don't…" Jennifer began, but Lucius tightened his grip around her neck. She pulled against his arm with her other hand to no avail.

"Please! Please don't hurt them!" Pyther said then, dropping the wand. "I'll go quietly, please!" Reluctantly, Grendelbane followed suit.

"No, actually, I believe you'll go screaming in agony," Lucius said evenly, nodding to one of the others. "Burn the vampire. The girl is already half dead already..."

"No, wait! You said…"

"I said I wouldn't kill both of them," Lucius said casually to Pyther as the men bound him in place. "I never said anything about killing one of them."

"TRANSFORUM MUSCARDINUS!"

Jennifer suddenly felt the grip release on her neck as she began to shrink and she fell to the ground, a bit too stunned at first to move away as her eyes attempted to adjust in her new dormouse form. She had recognized the voice though, a strange feeling of relief and thrill going through her when she had heard it, for it was Severus Snape, and as Lucius looked up, he couldn't help but notice that the Beard Wand was in his hand.

Taking his cue from Severus, Pyther transfigured himself into a bat, fighting the helpless grab of the two Death Eaters and diving towards Alicia, lifting the dormouse away from danger. Grumbling at being stuck with his own devices, Grendelbane grabbed the wand again, but in the other was a dagger, ready for any move.

Had Lucius hesitated a moment more, Jennifer would have gotten away. But after a brief moment of recognition he had quickly gotten close enough to snag her tail and grabbed her up by the skin on her back. She was squeaking loudly in response, apparently oblivious to the fact that Lucius had a wand to her.

"One false move, Snape, and this foul little rodent dies," Lucius said viciously.

"Thomas Craw would not kill his own daughter," Severus said evenly, "nor would he call me Snape, either."

"I am not playing games! Put down that wand, or your wife is dead!"

Severus pondered it a moment, and then shrugged, dropping the Wand. But the Wand decided not to cooperate in falling. Instead it immediately threw a lightning bolt directly at him. Jennifer struggled and fought as the blast sideswiped her and finally got him to let go, a blast coming out of Lucius' wand at her as she fell deeply scoring her right forepaw.

"Take cover!" Severus barked to the goblin as he called his own wand and the Death Eaters turned to fire on him. A veil of smoke went up and Grendelbane immediately tumbled out of the way as magic beams of different colors refracted over the cloud. Jennifer scurried out of the crossfire, getting out of range just before she felt her skin started to ripple, shifting back into her own human form once more.

"Kill him, kill him!" Jennifer shouted out, getting ready to call her wand. But when she looked down at it she found herself staring at her bloody hand, a deep gash across it from the last strike. Experimentally, she wiggled her fingers, and then went ahead and called it to her hand anyhow, aiming at Lucius' head, her face growing dark as she cast the spell she had never wanted to ever cast in her lifetime.

Everything seemed to slow down in that moment as she heard herself intoning the Killing Curse and saw the green light form upon her wand. But like a nightmare, Lucius had heard the first word and immediately Disapparated, the green wave striking instead one of the Death Eaters standing just beyond.

"No!" Jennifer screamed angrily, watching helplessly as the robed figure fell.

Within seconds there was a round of popping sounds as the Ministry arrived from all around them telling everyone to stay where they were and the sounds of several more popping sounds as those Death Eaters who were able made their escape.

Severus ran to Jennifer's side, his eyes falling to her bloodied hand.

"Here, let me have a look, Jennifer…"

"No! No, don't touch me!" Jennifer said, pulling her hand back with fear. "It's not over yet!"

"What do you mean?" Severus asked sharply.

"Please, just don't touch me!" Jennifer said, turning away from her to try and hide it.

"Jennifer! Severus! Help me!" Pyther said in a panic, and Severus turned to look in the painter's direction to see Alicia lying on the ground beside him. "Something's terribly wrong!" Jennifer took a quick moment to wrap up her hand and followed by Severus, who was already kneeling at her side.

"She needs medical attention now," Severus said curtly, glancing at Jennifer. "And so do you!"

"Never mind me, just take care of Alicia!" Jennifer begged him, glancing at the Enforcers who were standing with Grendelbane, some of them gathering up the injured Death Eaters while a couple more were standing over the corpse of the other. "They will want me to stay here," she added softly.

As Severus drew out the key and placed it within his daughter's hand, Pyther gazed at Jennifer's stricken face, staring at the body without moving a muscle as the Enforcers moved over towards them. Immediately, Jennifer flipped over her wand and held it out to them without a word. There could be little doubt she still had a long night ahead of her.