The storm was a thing of terror, raging war against this battered old house. The shutters shook violently, the windows trembled in their frames, the roof moaned and sighed having not the strength to fight back anymore. Not after all these years.
Indeed, such feeling was reflected in the five individuals sitting around a dying fire in a room that once received many guests, saw much finery and use.
The Order of the Phoenix had just let out not an hour past, but there were some secrets, some pieces of the puzzle that Albus Dumbledore dare not share with any but the few who were now seated in this morose salon of dark greens and light browns.
For a moment, all was still. The fire did not dance, the people did not stir, the floor did not creak beneath invisible presence. For a moment,
Then she spoke.
"A time-turner." Her voice was soft, her eyes pensive and sad.
Albus chapped his lips together, just once, as though tasting those words. All was still. Then, the old man who never quite seemed to look his age, exhaled a breath, sloped his shoulders…and looked, ancient. "You would go?"
All was still.
Then the young woman, the granddaughter no one seemed to know Albus had until a few months ago, stood from the awkward, worn armchair and strode softly to the hearth. She stared into the flames, wondering at their unfamiliar stillness and willing them to dance. One hand reached out to grasp the cold, solid, edge of the hearth's granite sill, as though needing support.
"If I must."
Then all was still no more.
The fire crackled merrily despite the air that fed it, the people released the stale air they had, unknowingly, been holding in their chests, and eyes filled with concern that had not left them in all these past three years, shifted from place to place.
"You're sure, Lilianna?"
"Quite sure."
A feeling erupted beneath Minerva McGonagall's bosom, a maternal instinct that all women are born with but only few acknowledge, as she watched that brave young child accept yet another burden that should have been far too heavy for her to lift, let alone to carry.
And, being a woman in a room of men, she walked over to the silently sobbing figure, and held her against her breast. She murmured soothing nothings into the younger woman's hair.
Then a man, dark as night, stood in an aggressive manner, pushing himself from his seat and releasing the built up tension in his aching muscles as he did so. "I shall accompany her."
Two fading blue eyes snapped to the young man's face, narrowed in a calculating fashion, then relaxed. Albus nodded his head in assent. "Yes, of course."
And though the headmaster had already agreed, Severus Snape still felt the need to justify his actions.
"I have been found, I can no longer service you as a spy. At least I could aid Lilianna in this, she would not have known had I not placed her in such a dangerous position."
This angered Lilianna. She pulled away from Minerva's arms, striding up to Severus with fury in her eyes. "Don't you dare to presume you made my decisions for me!"
"Foolish girl!" He shouted, taking her by the upper arms in a painful grip and shaking her in all his frustration. "You know nothing! I would still be bowing in the dark lords presence, and you would still be unharmed had you not been so damned impulsive!"
"No! You would be lying dead, and myself along with you had I not followed you there!"
They stared deeply into each other's eyes, a battle of wills amidst the anger and frustration that comes in mounds during times of war. Then suddenly, realizing he still held her by the arms, he released her.
She dared not give in to the impulse and rub the tender places on her flesh where his hands had been; she dared not show such weakness. She sighed, pushing her pain away from her.
"No, Severus. It was best things played out as they did. It would not have been long before Voldemort discovered where your true loyalties lay. Having confirmed his suspicions myself, I was at least able to lend a hand in your escape."
He shrugged, a sign of indifference that Lilianna recognized simply as a wall for this man to hide behind. It only served to reignite her loathing for him.
Before any other words meant to pierce like a dagger could be thrown into the air, Albus raised a hand to command silence.
"She is right, my boy. Tom had been growing ever more suspicious of your loyalty to him. It was only a matter of time before he ascertained his facts. Then, of course, he would have killed you. It was perhaps, unwise, of Lilianna to follow you from Hogwarts last night, then trace you to the circle of death eaters when you disapparated. But do not accuse her of being impulsive; she knew just what it was she was doing. She was—"
"Making a damned fool of herself!" Growled Severus. He crossed his arms over his chest, owning a stance that just dared the old man to challenge him.
Albus did not. Instead, his eyes lit up with their familiar twinkle and a smile tightened the loose skin of his face. "That too." He agreed.
All the while, Lilianna observed the directive dialogue between the two men with a dry amusement tilting up the side of her lips. Gods, were men a mystery to her.
Mad-Eye Moody, the fifth person in the chilling room, who had of yet maintained his silence, shook his head in obvious disapproval. "The way you two carry on, you'd think we—" But he abruptly left the rest of his tirade to resound in his head, picking up where the conversation had left off. "Its settled then, Severus and Lilianna will travel to the future, supposing they don't kill each other first. They'll find the potion, bring it home, and hopefully we can end this disgusting excuse of a war!"