Chapter 27
Most of the Order members were waiting for the meeting to begin when Severus entered Grimmauld Place. All save for Remus and Nymphadora who arrived about five minutes after he did.
The couple did get a few looks from some of the older members when they walked into the living room together. Though Severus noticed that Alastor Moody's attention was focused solely on him. The old Auror was looking at him with a positively murderous stare.
Severus suppressed the urge to smirk at him.
Yes, yes Alastor. So I see that you still want to do me bodily harm. Think you might be a little less obvious about it, old man?
Remus and Nymphadora took their customary seats on the couch in front of where Severus was standing.
"Now that all of us are present," Minerva announced, "let us begin this meeting. Severus, you may take the floor."
"I'm here to tell you that Narcissa Malfoy is in Sydney, Australia," Severus said, looking at Minerva.
"And you're certain of this, Severus?"
"Quite. She's living without magic and has sent Bellatrix an aeroplane ticket to come visit her. What's more, she told her sister that she has found a way to raise herself up within the ranks of the Death Eaters and by assisting her, Bellatrix would forever ensure her place amongst Voldemort's most trusted."
"What could Narcissa be hiding?" Minerva asked.
"That would be what we need to find out," Severus told her, perhaps a little more curtly than was necessary.
"Of course," she responded, darting a gaze at Alastor. "What is the date of Bellatrix's departure?"
"Tuesday."
"Then we need to send a team of Aurors to Australia straightaway."
Minerva turned her gaze from Severus. It now fell on Nymphadora.
Nymphadora, in an almost imperceptible movement, shrank back from Minerva's stare.
"Nymphadora, I'd like you to accompany Alastor as Kingsley can't be spared at the moment long enough to make a trip to Sydney. You and he need to select three others that will complete the team..."
Nymphadora let out a very small, very strangled squeak.
"I can't go," she said, inaudibly at first, for her throat had closed and appeared unable to issue sound.
"I'm sorry, what did you say? Speak up child, my ears aren't as young as they used to be."
"I said I can't go," her voice now just above a whisper.
"I'm afraid you'll have to reschedule whatever personal activities you may have had planned."
"That's not it,"
For a fleeting moment, Minerva looked very puzzled.
"Nymphadora, quit being so very vague. If you have something to say, say it."
Nymphadora visibly tensed. Remus covered her hand with his.
There was absolute silence in the room as everyone waited for her to respond.
Nymphadora took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly before continuing.
"I'm with child, Minerva. I'm to be the mother of twins," Nymphadora said clearly.
Whatever Minerva had been expecting Nymphadora to say, admitting to being pregnant was definitely not something that she had thought would happen.
Nymphadora looked around the room and saw that everyone had expressions of varying degrees of surprise, with the exception of Severus.
Without really knowing why, Nymphadora turned her head to look at him.
The look in his eyes was one of true respect. It almost made her smile.
The silence stretched on for several more very long seconds.
It was Molly who spoke first.
"I would have thought that the two of you would have exercised better discretion. An unplanned pregnancy is not something that happens to couples who possess a fair degree of good judgement."
Nymphadora's eyes narrowed in indignation.
"How dare you," Nymphadora said to her. "I can't believe you're insinuating that this happened because we were irresponsible."
She looked at Remus and saw that his green eyes were also bright with anger.
"That's enough, Molly," he said tersely.
Molly held his gaze with aplomb.
"And I thought you had more honor, Remus. I never thought you were the type to shag first and ask questions later."
"Mum," George said in a pointed undertone.
"Tell me truly, Molly, did you and Arthur really wait until your wedding night to consummate your relationship?" Remus asked coldly.
No one spoke for three agonizingly long seconds.
"You go too far, Remus." Arthur told him dangerously.
Remus actually had the audacity to let out a snort.
"Do I?"
Fred and George looked like they wanted nothing more than for the floor to open up into a great dark chasm and swallow them whole, not that anyone in the room was paying them any attention.
"Stop it, both of you!" Minerva said sternly. "I have a meeting to run and I'll not have you engaging in a verbal fight in the middle of it. Now I'm sure Alastor can find another Auror to take with him to fill in for Nymphadora."
"Well she was one of the only ones whom I could actually trust on a mission. I'll have to test the candidates for the job myself."
"Then do that, Alastor," Minerva told him.
"Minerva," Alastor began in a conversational tone. "Might I ask you what concrete proof you have to show that Severus really isn't lying to us because his loyalty to us isn't true?"
This again? I'm sure the rest of the Order is getting tired of this Alastor. You paranoid bastard, Severus thought with a cool glare in Mad-Eye's direction.
"No proof that I could ever come up with would be enough for you. I don't understand why you won't accept Severus's loyalty and be done with it. Since Albus died, you seem to have become dead set on exposing Severus as a turncoat."
"Not quite. To say that he's a turncoat would imply that at one time or another he was actually on our side," Alastor told her as he eyed Severus with open malice. "You know, I've told you time and time again that he's a danger to us all. And here, the werewolf and his whore let him have Hermione Granger."
Remus shot to his feet in rage, his eyes gleaming with hatred.
Startled, Minerva flung out a hand as if that might be enough to keep Remus back so he wouldn't advance on the Auror and rip him to shreds with his bare hands.
"Apologise to Nymphadora, Alastor. Now." Remus said in a dangerous tone.
"Why should I when it's partially her fault that Hermione's imprisoned in Severus's private chambers? I wonder how many times he's raped the poor girl."
"REMUS, SEVERUS, DON'T YOU DARE MOVE!" Minerva shouted in a tone that succeeded in making the men obey her, if only for a few more seconds.
"Get the bastard out of here, Minerva. Or else I'll beat him within an inch of his life. If he's lucky." Remus growled.
Minerva let out an uneven breath. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Severus and Remus. And if one was being observant, they would have noticed that the look in Fred Weasley's eyes held a particularly wary suspicion.
"I need him here for consultation, Remus."
"That wasn't the right response."
"Please, try to calm down, both of you." she said pleadingly, looking from Remus to Severus and then back to Remus.
Kingsley cleared his throat and proceeded to speak for the first time.
"Perhaps we can carry on without Alastor. I'm pretty up to speed with everything going on at the Ministry."
Minerva nodded and looked back to Alastor.
"That settles it then. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Are you serious?" he asked her incredulously.
"Yes, very." she told him seriously.
Alastor got to his feet and fixed Minerva with a stare full of warning.
"One day you'll be sorry that you didn't listen to me about him,"
And with that Alastor Moody Disapparated.
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Hermione was still hard at work when Severus returned to his rooms. Unfortunately, for the three hours she'd been reading and making notes, she'd found next to nothing that might possibly prove useful.
"How was the meeting?" she asked, collecting the papers spread out in front of her and putting them into a neat pile.
When Severus didn't immediately respond, Hermione went over to where he was standing.
"Is everything alright?" she asked with concern.
"Minerva had to order Alastor to leave about fifteen minutes into the meeting."
"Because of you?" she asked quietly.
"Well he insulted Nymphadora while he accused me of raping you."
"Oh. Grand."
"Yes, quite. Needless to say, Remus was about ready to rip him apart."
"But he left willingly?"
"Not without telling the Order that they'd all be sorry that they didn't listen to his warnings about me,"
"Why can't he see that you're on his side?"
"Probably because he's a narrow minded son of a bitch,"
Hermione gave Severus a half smile.
"You didn't find anything of particular import while I was gone, did you?"
"No. I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that murdering a phoenix is such a significantly dark act that most books on general protection spells won't mention how to prevent your soul from being destroyed because of it."
"I suppose there's nothing I can say to make you abandon your quest to find an answer," Severus told her.
"I won't do that, Severus."
"Hermione..."
"Don't you dare try to dissuade me."
"It really shouldn't matter to you," Severus said quietly.
"Yeah, well, it does matter to me, okay? I can't let you destroy yourself."
Severus stared at her, his eyes searching hers as he tried to see why she was so adamant.
"What am I to you, Hermione? Why should you care what happens to me? If you weren't here now, I'd be doing this my way and there'd be nothing you could do to change my fate. Is it that you have some sort of protection complex? All your years at school you had to protect Potter and now since you can't do anything to protect him in your current situation you immediately jump to save the next thing that you think needs your intervention? Or might it be that you don't want me to die as a result of what I have to do because you've somehow done the very thing I told you not to do?" He asked her.
"I . . ." Hermione began, not immediately trusting herself to speak.
"Go on, tell me Hermione. Why do you want to save what wretched remnants I have left of my soul? I have a feeling it's not going to be because I was extremely good in bed," he told her with a droll look.
Hermione pursed her lips and stared at him, the truth was plain in her eyes. She took a small step forward.
"Severus,"
He tensed as she said his name, but remained silent.
"You know why," she said, her voice the softest whisper.
"So you think you've fallen in love with me? Is that it?"
"Are you going to ask me to apologise for having feelings for you?"
"No."
"You're not yelling at me yet. Or are you just getting ready to?"
"I won't yell at you, Hermione."
"But you're upset," she told him.
"I don't think upset is the right word."
"No? What would you call it then?"
Severus ignored her question.
"You do realise that Harry finds out that you're with me tomorrow. If he were to find out the truth about your feelings for me, what do you honestly think he'd do?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do."
"Please, I don't want to hear you tell me all the reasons why I can't love you."
Hermione expected Severus to leave the room then. She was more than a little surprised when he moved closer to her.
"Hermione, . . . do you believe things happen for a reason?"
"Some things, yes. Why?"
Severus was quiet for several long seconds.
"I can hardly believe I'm about to say this, but what if you were wrong to look in those books for something that would apply to my situation? What if the key is standing right in front of me?"
"Me?...You mean my love for you could ensure the protection of your soul?"
Severus did not reply. His dark eyes only looked into the deepest depths of hers as he raised a hand to her head to brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Gods, how I've wanted to deny this. I can't even begin to understand it. But it seems to be beyond my control."
"What, Severus?"
"Somehow I'm beginning to feel for you something like what I felt for Lily. . . . It's . . . Hermione, it should be impossible. The magic of the Mark is not something that can be negated. And yet . . . and yet . . . here I am before you now and I no longer have the will to fight it."
"Fight what?" Hermione asked.
"The urge to do this," he whispered before his mouth came down on hers in a slow and drugging kiss.
Hermione pressed herself against him raised her left leg to his hip. Wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, she let him lift her off the ground so that she could hook both legs around his waist.
"Severus," she murmured as he began to move towards the door of his bedroom.
"Yes?"
"You know you've just made me deliriously happy."
Severus was about to whisper a reply into her ear when suddenly the two of them felt a coldness fill the room that had nothing at all to do with the temperature.
For Hermione it was as if her anxiety from Voldemort's presence had returned tenfold, only she saw that Severus must have felt it too.
Severus set Hermione on her feet, instinctively shielding her with his body as he turned to face the door.
But somehow, Severus intuitively knew that whatever had caused the bone chilling feeling was not outside in the hall. It was down below.
In Voldemort's study.
Apparently Voldemort was very, very angry.
A/N: Sorry for not updating! Real life got in the way. And I'm also sorry about the serious cliffhanger. But I promise you won't have to wait a month to read the next chapter. Please review, but don't throw things at me for making Molly OOC. There are always certain times when even the nicest person behaves out of character.
Thanks! Dafina