Aurors had indeed flooded the place, having been contacted by both Arthur and Lucius, swarming James to see if he was okay. The only thing he cared about, of course, was his wife who'd been woefully replaced by Pettigrew and now stood as missing.

He barked orders while Harry, a mere team lead in the pecking-order of the DMLE, worried over his husband who had still yet to wake.

Hermione was silent as she waited with him, unwilling to say a thing as Severus worked with everyone downstairs, both of them having already been questioned. It was just a suspicion, but the robe was exactly the same, his build about right, and who would know Harry so well as to nearly anticipate anything he would throw at them?

Why, then, would Draco choose to hurt himself over the past month? Why wouldn't he, given the opportunity, get his Harry's mind back who he grew up with and knew like the back of his hand, who loved him from the get-go? He personally would understand, frankly he doubted he would even remember any of this… so why not take back what was rightfully his?

Grabbing his hand, Harry resigned himself to asking when he woke.

"Would you be mad… if it was him?" Hermione asked him eventually, time going by at a crawl.

"If it was him from the start and he's been lying to us this whole time, yes, I reckon I would. If it's in this moment, cold and unconscious, that he's making the choice, then no. Whether what I'm feeling is past me… or current me and past me, I love him. Merlin, that's stupid, isn't it?"

"No," she said, "Although it's not just you he would be making this decision for. It's myself and Severus as well. I think… I think Severus would be angry with him."

Harry glanced forlornly in Hermione's direction.

"What makes you reckon that?"

"Oh, come on, Harry, he just spent the last two weeks explaining things to me I should already know, mourning the death of his child and practically his wife. You mean to tell me he wouldn't trade that for the love he won originally. If he wanted it, and it was within my power to grant it to him, I'd slice open my own heart to fulfill such a wish, to not cause him any pain."

Harry went to comfort her, when a groan came from their ward, painful whimpers emanating from him as he roused from unconsciousness.

"Hare," he said with a wince, prying his blue-gray eyes open. They looked especially vibrant for some reason, maybe an effect of the spell he'd suffered.

"Draco," Harry replied gently, sitting back down at his side and taking his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shite." There was a long pause as his eyes came into focus, a frown sticking. "Merlin, I- I'm sorry."

"For what?"

It was a pure bid, maybe for getting captured and causing them to lose their grip on Peter again, or whatever else he hoped Draco was apologizing for.

"I'm so selfish."

"Draco-"

"You have to know, I just… I was there, I attacked you in your world, just now. I thought it was just my imagination, that I was there to just watch it happen, but you kept talking to Hermione, nothing was happening at all, and I thought about… I could have had my Harry back," there was a wistful look in the man's eyes, but it didn't last long, "and I realized I didn't want him back, not after all you and I have been through together. You've done so much for me, Hare, and you're still him, you talk the same, act the same, if not a little more reserved and depressed. What you did for my father and I… my Harry never even thought to just talk to him about it-"

He mostly felt bad for Hermione who thought Severus might choose her old self instead of this one, even after the past month and all they'd been through. He gave her a sorrowful glance, which Draco seemed to notice.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you either, but you know how time works. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't-"

"It's okay," she interrupted, her voice quiet, tears streaming down her face. "You should really be apologizing to Severus, I mean, I'm happy to have him, but I think… I'm not sure at all that he would've done the same."

"No?"

Of course, he was still Severus Snape, and everyone whipped around to find him lingering in the doorway, stoic as the accusation was put before him.

Hermione only sniffled.

"I'm sorry, Severus," Draco said. "I had a choice, and I made the one I felt was right."

"How'd you do it?"

Looking flabbergasted, his godson floundered to answer the question. "I think… I sort of just willed it. I'd heard Harry's story as we all did tonight, fresh and new, and so I knocked them out, throwing every intention I had into the book. I didn't doubt myself because I knew it worked, had lived as proof."

Severus nodded, seeming to find the story satisfactory.

"I came up here to inform you all most of the aurors have left besides your new detail, Mr. Potter. You will not be attending your mother's case, nor will your father, or any of us for that matter, on Minister and Head of DMLE's orders. Madame Snape, you will be coming home with me, if you so choose. It seems we have some unfinished business, my dear, that I would be happy to provide you clarification on. And Harry, your father wants to see you before he goes."

Hermione understood that Minister's orders meant more than she was willing to disobey and stood to go home.

"Ready?" He offered her an arm.

"Yes, of course."

He kissed her gently, smiling.

"For the record, I would have been faster."

Severus apparated them away in the blink of an eye, leaving Harry alone with the man who'd also chosen him, laying in bed looking so very regretful nonetheless.

"I quite liked the scar, you know?"

"Arse," Harry said, feeling slightly overwhelmed, "Bugger off."

"You don't think I'm a bad person, do you?" Draco asked suddenly.

"No," Harry kissed his hand and hummed, the body that wasn't his own arguing, yes, you should want the man you married back. "No, I'm always going to be me, and I'm always going to love you."

"Good. I would hate to regret a decision I already made."

"I'm glad too, that Hermione seems to not have dug herself another hole," Harry quipped, "Though I'm not entirely pleased with being benched on my mum's case."

"You'd avada Peter on sight, and I doubt James would hesitate either."

"Still, it's my own bloody mother, I should be helping, I should be on the case. What a terrible way to end a Friday evening."

Harry looked down at Draco for a moment and realized his own husband was laying in bed from an attack by a mad-man, having been taken hostage, and he was worried more about being taken off his mum's case.

"I'm sorry, I hope you don't think I'm being selfish while you're laying here with blankets tucked up under your shoulders. Bollocks, I'm insensitive."

"No," Draco laughed, "No Harry. The way you feel is perfectly reasonable. It's your mum for Merlin's sake, I'm perfectly fine compared to her… and I'm worried, too. She and Molly were the closest things I had to mother's my entire life."

Looking off with a sullen look, Draco closed his eyes.

"Did you try to see her… in the other world?"

"No," he said solemnly, "I didn't even think- I wasn't sure if you'd want me back once you knew, and I had a feeling you'd figure it out, but I didn't have much of a choice. After the book disappeared, I felt myself almost apparate, then I woke up here."

"Well," Harry said, attempting to soothe Draco as he rubbed his hands over his, "Everything is set the way it is, and for that, I'm glad. I promise. Now, I've got to go see my dad quick."

"Right."

"I love you."

Draco gave an undeniable grin, however humble he was trying to make it, and told Harry he loved him, too.

Heading downstairs, Harry found his father dismissing a few aurors, though two were stationed by his side, and the others were stationed at his own door.

"Got the place locked down?"

"It's a necessity. I want you safe while they look for your mother, Harry. Remus and Sirius, too."

He understood, and shuffled awkwardly as his father seemed antsy to go.

"I'm sorry for doubting you, Dad. I had no reason to suspect-"

"I understand… And I would have done the same."

Another awkward pause, and with a heavy sigh, James rushed him with a hug.

"You're a great kid, this you, any you, I just know it. We'll get your mum back soon, and then we'll both tell you that we love you, okay?"

"Okay," Harry said, nearly crying as he embraced his father, the long-awaited moment feeling more like a dream. "I love you."

"I love you too, son."

After that, James side-alonged with his auror detail, and Harry prayed for both his parents to come back safely.


They were seated on the couch when Severus told Hermione that James, being the Minister and all, was not in fact benched from his wife's case, but actually leading it as they spoke. Worrying Harry had been he least of his concern in that moment when he had so much to deal with already concerning Draco and explaining their time-shift.

Hermione only recalled briefly it was her birthday when a pile of her gifts appeared on Severus' table neatly.

"Kreacher must have cleaned from the aftermath. I am positive the amount of careless aurors there infuriated him."

She nuzzled into his embrace and said quietly, "Kreacher used to hate me… being what I was."

"Elves were recalcitrant when blood purity began to fade. My generation was a mere thought for such a thing, but our parents were young and witnessed the dissection of all they knew as just. Eventually death, like for us, became a larger threat than wizards born of muggle parents to the elves."

"Nothing short of a miracle."

He only laughed.

"People were afraid, Dumbledore was powerful, and apparently still is."

"I just don't believe there aren't still people out there-"

"There may be," he interrupted her softly, "but predominantly, people of that predilection no longer have prominence."

"That's good… Did James tell you anything else about how they're going to find Lily?"

"Pettigrew used a substantial amount of magic, much of it traceable. I am only a professor however, any other details were withheld from me."

"I'm sorry your friend is missing, Severus," Hermione mentioned softly, looking up at him earnestly.

"She'll be alright."

"I can't imagine how Pettigrew got to her, I mean she's the Minister's wife for Merlin's sake."

"He was indeed friends with us all once, it is not improbable. I would gander to say he may have used the same methods he did to abduct Caelum. Sneaky bastard."

Hermione let out a half-hearted chuckle and thought only briefly how this wasn't the worst birthday she'd ever had, which said quite a lot.

"He was lazy at the Potter's… I do not think this will turn into any grand squabble, but Lily's stark resistance to being under guard will now come to an end," he said absently as he stroked her back, his body tense as she settled further into him.

"Do you think our secret is safe?"

The question hung in the air for a while, everything still. Spinner's end had become less stale since they'd reinhabited it, but in that moment Hermione had sucked all the air from it. The time infractions her and Harry would suffer, the questions on morality for their previous selves, and not to mention the status of James as Minister all hung on someone getting to Peter before he squealed.

"I have the utmost faith in a team, led by one of my oldest friends, that they will handle the matter so that none of us are further hurt by him."

"Do you think James should pull back on his more lenient muggle-relations opinions?"

Severus sighed. "By your asking I think you might if only for a little while. My father was a muggle… a retched man from whom I spawned, and while I wish only him ill-will, I do think their world is growing more powerful and thus ours should grow wary. James thinks it could be a world where we all are cohabitating. I disagree, but I would never suggest we ban relations with muggles completely. A fine line to tread, however it is one I know James is capable of walking, and as long as nothing becomes more aggressive, I think he's doing it splendidly now."

"Well said."

Hermione kissed him again, shocked they agreed in such a way. It shouldn't surprise her after over a month of knowing him like this. One day she was sure it wouldn't anymore, for now, though, she reveled in the discovery.