Disclaimer: never did and never will own it. J.K. Rowling does.
Spoilers: Order of the Phoenix
Thank you to my beta, Nakhash Mekashefah!

Living On Borrowed Time - Your Counsel All Is Urged In Vain, To Earth And Heav'n I Will Complain!

At first, nobody dared to move or speak, until a cold voice said, "Crying won't help when Percy Weasley arrives, which should be any minute now."

Harry glared at Isadora, but Hermione looked up and wiped away, quite inefficiently, her tears.

"What is it with Percy?" she asked, trying to sit up. Neither Crookshanks's affectionate encouragements nor the worried looks of her friends could help her, and she fell back on her pillow, keeping her head up being too much of a strain.

"What did you do to her? Why is she so weak?" Harry's angry voice was almost a shout, and his animosity was directed at Severus.

"Her magic force has been leaking all over the castle for almost two weeks, and she just recuperated it fully. It must have been quite a back blow, Potter. What's more, she hasn't moved for a long time; she needs time for her muscles to work again."

"Time is what we sorely lack, Professor," interjected Lawrence.

"What is it with Percy?" repeated Hermione. "What happened while I was asleep?"

It was a four-voices answer – Severus, Ron, Harry and Lawrence – and if she had some difficulties understanding the subtleties, she quickly grasped the main problem.

"Are all Death Eaters arrested?"

"More or less."

Ron looked as if he wanted to add something, but reconsidered after a glance toward Isadora.

"Then Sev– Professor Snape can resurrect."

"So can you."

"Was I truly considered dead?"

"No, only 'missing', with all the heavy meanings Percy could put on the word," answered Ron.

"How do you plan to explain your absence?"

"We were away, trying to save a life. As Professor Snape is healthier than I am, we will say I was the patient. It's close enough to the truth."

"I'd rather say that Weasley, seeing you both alive and hale, will question you on the orange glow, saying how it could have been dangerous, etc.," intervened the lanky wizard who had remained silent until now.

Hermione squinted at him.

"Theodore Nott?" she said wonderingly.

"Himself, Granger. Remain focused on the problem, my turn will come later."

"Say it comes from Hogwarts and let Dumbledore deal with the Ministry afterwards," said Isadora with a touch of scorn.

Harry seemed tempted to approve – the Headmaster had manipulated them enough, wasn't he the Knight Commander of Walpurgis? – but then, the suggestion was coming from Isadora, and Harry distrusted her more than he did Dumbledore.

"It would give us time, but I fear that it would turn against us in the end," objected Hermione.

"And we need to stop fearing Percy," muttered Ron. "Fudge was doing whatever he wanted, after all!"

"Do you really want to be like Fudge, Ron?"

"No, but I don't plan to be bothered by people under my orders, either! Percy's just trying to find problems where there aren't any and, if necessary, create them."

"It you stop him, they'll say you intend to restrict liberties. Let him proceed; he's just discrediting himself."

Their discussion was cut short by the arrival of a breathless Eric Rackharrow.

"The Weasley git is heading right here!" he announced.

Severus had just the time to lift Hermione in his arms and sit her in an armchair, covering her legs with a blanket – and Crookshanks – before Percy entered the room as if he had known all along where to look for it. It was worth thinking over: with no glow to guide him, how had he found the place so quickly? He should only have been told the general direction – the dungeons – but no more!

The young wizard looked around with a satisfied smile.

"Good, you're all here. It will make things so much easier."

It was as if they had all been struck dumb. Hermione's fingers tightened on Crookshanks's fur, and then she said thoughtfully, "Of course, it makes sense, in a strange sort of way. You've always been Dumbledore's man, haven't you?"

Percy beamed at her at the same time Ron protested, "Hermione! You've gone barmy!"

"In my first year, you told me that Dumbledore was a genius. In fifth year, you sent an owl to Ron, giving us clues about what to expect from both the Ministry and Umbridge, a 'truly delightful woman'. Not even you at your most sycophantic could say that about her. Fudge came to Dumbledore's office with a team constituted by you, in which, curiously enough, there was Shacklebolt, an Order member. And, more and more curious, you weren't in the office when Dumbledore Stunned everyone before fleeing. Spy on the Minister?"

Percy's smile grew larger.

"At last, someone understands me and my plight!" he said rather theatrically. "Perfect analysis, Miss Granger. I've never left the good side, as they say, and I'm not telling now just because the war is over."

"Well, good guy or not, spy or not," exclaimed Ron, "you're still a pompous git!"

"And Professor Snape is a right bastard, when you think of it," retorted Percy, "but it didn't prevent him from working undercover for more than twenty years. Being a spy and a good guy is no guarantee of a sunny disposition. No offence meant, Professor. Now, where is Dumbledore?"

He looked around again and his smug smile faltered when he saw Isadora watching him with a predatory look in her eyes. Surprisingly enough, Ron turned his head away just at that moment, and Isadora considered it a good omen.

"Nobody knows where Dumbledore is, Weasley," snapped Severus. "Not even Minerva."

"Oh well, the door is open, it should summon him soon," replied Percy, tearing his gaze from Isadora with difficulty. "Maybe a… smaller committee should wait for him?"

"We are all actors in this story, Weasley, except that Minerva is missing. Maybe Mr Rackharrow would be kind enough to fetch her, now that the students have probably dispersed?"

Eric threw a wounded glance toward Severus, but obeyed. Percy sat, neatly arranging his robes around him.

"Why did you track Snape like a criminal and bother us?" asked Harry with hostility.

"I've made enough of a nuisance of myself in previous years that it wouldn't shock anybody. Furthermore, nobody would care about coming after you if I were already on the job: they knew me well enough to know I'd go further than necessary. It ensured a relative security."

"You were a nightmare!"

"But I was a nightmare who wouldn't have revealed anything if I'd found a clue," he replied softly.

"So you're not half the idiot we thought you were," murmured Isadora dreamily. "What wonderful news…"

Theodore frowned. Percy started and a gleam of panic entered his eyes when he noticed that Isadora's tone was contradicted by her speculative smile.

"How are you feeling, Hermione?" he asked nervously.

"Drained," she admitted, her voice tired. "It's far worse than with the Time-Turner."

"Should we call for Madam Pomfrey?"

"It's quite normal, Weasley," sighed Severus. "Miss Granger designed her sleeping spell to be open for tapping into her magic force. When I was doing so, due to the link she created between us, it was weakening her more than if she had been using it herself, since my organism was a stranger. Even though, as time passed, we became more attuned to each other until there was no difference between us, she was tiring more than usually, since her life force was sustaining the two of us. Even if her organism was asleep, I was in full activity, trying to find a cure that would not prove deadly to either of us."

"Especially you, you egoistical bastard," Harry accused him.

"Miss Granger put her life in jeopardy so I would live on, Potter. Considering that, it was only common courtesy to respect her wishes."

Albus, Minerva and Eric entered the room together. Severus wondered a brief moment if he hadn't seen disappointment in Albus's eyes upon seeing Hermione awake. The Headmaster took matters into his hands briskly.

"Everybody's here? Good."

A wave of his wand and the door closed. Nobody doubted for a moment that it was magically sealed against intruders – and maybe against the people who were inside already, so they could not get out.

"You should have waited for me, Severus. It would have avoided you pounding needlessly on Hermione's door," Albus said, glaring at Severus.

"We couldn't wait," replied the younger wizard calmly, a light emphasis on the 'we'.

"She had waited already several weeks, she could have waited a bit longer."

"No, I couldn't have," disagreed Hermione, "not when I knew that Sev– Professor Snape was just behind the door. You all seem to think that I didn't know anything of what was happening around me. I could hear and feel any presence next to me and the isolation was driving me crazy. Without Crookshanks, I would have become crazy. I don't know how he managed to pass your wards, Headmaster, nor how he found me, but his presence was indeed welcome."

"Never underestimate the loyalty of a Kneazle," murmured Caradoc softly, placing his hand on Hermione's shoulder.

Albus turned toward him.

"And you! Are you out of your mind? After all the trouble we went through to keep you unharmed, you come here of all places!"

"Nobody wants me dead anymore, Albus. I therefore have no reason to remain in hiding. That, and I wanted to share Severus's success," he added thoughtfully. "It's a real breakthrough, Albus! Well, of course, the cases for the application are nonexistent and we only had one test subject, which isn't enough, but–"

"Arsenius, maybe we could talk of all this later? And maybe we could send the students back to their House?"

Lawrence crossed his arms mulishly on his chest and stared right back at the Headmaster. Isadora seemed totally unconcerned by the pointed glare, and Eric was leaning forward, tying his shoelaces – which had been perfectly tied until now.

"Let them be, Dumbledore," sighed Minerva. "They have done their share of the work, it is only fair they see the outcome."

He ignored her.

"Severus and Hermione, I expect you in my office before dinner," he said. "Arsenius, we have so much to tell each other that I fear the whole evening won't be long enough. Percy, thank you for your help, I'll see you later. Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, you may return to your duties since everything's back to normal here. Slytherins, shouldn't you be in class right now?"

Almost automatically, Percy rose, when Ron's voice stopped him.

"No, Headmaster. You forgot a detail: I'm not Fudge. Even though you were Headmaster at Hogwarts while I was a student here, it doesn't give you the right to order me around like a puppet."

"And my name is not Arsenius," added Caradoc.

"So, Harry and I won't go back to the Ministry like good children, because we never were, as you well know. And nobody will answer your questions in your office, when nobody else can hear them. But you will answer our questions this evening, in this very room if necessary, since I believe Professor Snape warded it quite heavily."

The Headmaster looked quite stunned by this unexpected resistance.

"I am by no means compelled to answer your questions, Minister," he replied, laying a heavy sarcasm on the last word.

"I believe you'll find you're mistaken," said Ron airily. "You've overlooked one of us in your 'Slytherin' group, Headmaster. May I present Theodore Nott, from the Wizengamot? Theo, I trust you have with you what I requested?"

"Certainly, Minister. An Order of Appearance from all parties concerned by the affair before you, Auror Potter and myself, as well as several phials of Veritaserum, should they be needed."

"Perfect, Theo. Oh, please break the silent oath spell the Headmaster put on this room."

"With pleasure, Minister, except that it's embedded with the wards and it will take me some time to do so."

"Until then. Dumbledore, we'll be thrilled to have you return here this evening. You may go. Professor McGonagall, as usual, it was a pleasure to work with you. Percy, your presence is also requested tonight. Professor Snape, Master Dearborn, will you do us the honour of returning tonight to explain things? Isadora, Lawrence and Eric, until this evening, then?"

Everybody knew how to recognise a dismissal when they heard one, and they prepared to leave with various feelings.

Ron and Harry didn't move from their seats, whereas Percy almost bolted for the door. But Severus had beaten him there and, as the young wizard was passing in front of him, Severus held out his hand and caught him by the elbow.

"Be careful where you tread, Weasley," he said softly. "I don't buy this 'I was a good guy all along' business."

"You don't trust Dumbledore's word, Professor Snape?" replied the young man loftily.

"Contrary to popular belief, the Headmaster isn't omniscient and, after all, he vouched for me. I should know better than anybody else what his word is worth. Your story is a little bit too convenient and, of course, nobody knew of your role until the end."

"And too many people knew of yours. You should know yourself that nothing is what it seems, Professor."

"Maybe. I admit you chose a good role. You seem so much like the sacrificing hero: a Gryffindor, ready to put his whole family in danger for the sake of glory! Oh sorry, should I have said… for the sake of good?"

"I'll probably be more easily believed than you as to our respective roles. You were always considered a spiteful man and nothing is going to change that. The wizarding community may act as if they accept you being a spy for the Light, but deep down, they will never truly believe it."

"I may have a better advocate than you."

"Who? Hermione? Really, Professor. Did you forget that she was campaigning for house-elves' rights? How serious can she be taken if she defends you?"

"Perhaps more than you making believe that you were feigning your enthusiasm about cauldron thickness. And frankly, that Hermione Granger, best friend of Harry Potter, dared to sacrifice her life and career for me, may tell more than you think."

"But it may still not be enough, Professor. Shall we continue this conversation this evening?"

"By all means, Weasley. Your role in this story intrigues me quite a lot."

Percy shrugged and left, followed by two pairs of eyes: one black, one blue. After a quick glance toward her Head of House, Isadora fell in behind Percy, while Severus remained where he was. After all, he was a spy, and the conversation about to happen in Hermione's rooms would certainly be instructive.