There was much begging, much pleading, and after much cussing and spitting as I poured over scattered notes for this story, I have decided to continue it. For the time being, I plan to leave the storyline with Ron and Rupert alone, although I will eventually go back to it. It just won't be until Seeking Time and a third installment are both complete. Thank you all so much for your continued support.

Hermione longed for a proper cup of tea. There was nothing more that she loathed about being in this semi-dead state than the fact that she currently had more than enough time to actually enjoy a cup of tea, start-to-finish, but lacked the physical form to perform the act. It was quite maddening, especially as she watched her dear friend Severus hunching over his desk and casually sipping at his cup of tea whenever it struck his fancy.

"Haunting Sev again?" Lily inquired.

Those first moments of consciousness after her body had disintegrated at the gates of Hogwarts had been met with some people from her past who were very much dead - Joseph and Albus - before encountering Lily Potter. After meeting Lily, the woman she'd never known in life had stuck with her mostly, although she wasn't always alone.

"Where's James?" she countered.

Lily shrugged. "He got tired of haunting Severus after the first two or three years. I may or may not have gone into a massive rage and threatened never to speak to him again if he didn't stop. Poor Sev is haunted enough by his own making, you know?"

Hermione nodded. "I do. I'm not so much meaning to haunt him as I'm trying to see if he's made any progress on his research with Narcissa, Remus, Leland, Lucy, Filius, and Galahad."

"Don't lie," Lily said, poking her. "You mean you want to help, even though you know full well you can't."

"They're all able researchers. If there's a way to bring me back, they'll find it," she mused. "I'm just bored. How in Merlin's name have you and James stayed sane all these years, stuck like this?"

"We've had something resembling company," the ginger witch admitted with hesitation. "The Room of Requirement is decidedly useful when you have years to experiment with it."

"That almost sounds kinky," Hermione teased.

Lily coughed. "Hardly! Just that one day I asked the Room for some intelligent conversation and it gave me a room with four manifestations. They're not alive…more like portraits, but physically there. They're not ghosts either because there's no soul attached to them, and really I have no frame of reference as to the accuracy to the personalities but I'm not honestly sure it would work in Hogwarts proper, anyhow, but since you're here now I thought that maybe if it wouldn't be too much trouble…"

"Lily. You're rambling without actually giving me hardly any information," Hermione chastised. "Gods, Harry does that! If I make it back I'll have to tell him where he got it from!"

"Salazar, Rowena, Godric, and Helga," Lily stated crisply, looking mildly affronted. "Like portraits, but better. Wanna check it out?"

Hermione might have felt her heart stop if she'd felt it beat at all in the last few weeks. In this moment, however, she heard herself gasp. She and the others had discussed portraits at length and all agreed not to get them done, so the idea that something of their essence might be here, similar to a portrait, was both baffling and exhilarating. She'd been more than two years in this new life of hers - returned to her old life, technically - and with the stress of everything sometimes it felt a good deal longer. She was certainly settled here, with Minerva and their brood, and had allowed Sal and Rowena, as well as Godric and Helga, to become figures of her past. She had placed them in the box for memories and rarely let herself look back at them these days, so to be faced all of a sudden with them was more than a little startling."I...yes?"

Lily nodded for her to follow, and after casting one more longing glance at Severus and his cup of steaming tea, she moved to go after the other witch. Halfway to the Room of Requirement, they ran into James, who opted to join the two of them once his wife told him where they were headed.

Now that was an interesting thing. Wife. Hermione wasn't quite sure how she was going to explain to Harry, if she ever made it back to her adoptive son, his siblings, and to Minerva, that James and Lily Potter had opted to dissolve their marriage eight years into their so-called demise. They were amicable, certainly, because in this situation it was foolish to have real enmity between people stuck together, but anymore it was only friendship between them. Evidently, death did in fact part them, matrimony wise. Hermione did wonder how dead they actually were, though, given they existed in this halfway state right alongside her, and claimed she wasn't dead.

If there was hope to push her back into the land of the living, could Lily and James be brought back too? Could she bring Harry's parents back to him? What would that mean for her relationship with her adoptive son? How would that impact Harry's relationship with Severus - a man he'd only recently begun to call dad, with regularity?

"James?" she posed, opting to voice the next question in her mind. "Does it bother you that Severus has become a father figure to Harry?"

The near clone of her son ran his hands through his dark, messy hair. "It might have, once, but a boy needs a father, and I'm not there. I'd have hoped Sirius would have filled that role for him without me there, but I know it isn't fair to have that expectation on him after everything he's been through...y'know."

"Azkaban?" Hermione clarified.

James cringed. "Yeah, that rot."

"Even without Azkaban, I'm not certain Sirius was ever going to be father material," Lily said. "He told you that when you named him godfather, James. If I recall correctly he said 'well you better not die because I'd do a shite job raising a kid on my own' or something like that."

Hermione snorted. "That sounds like Sirius. He just got remarried. Did I tell you that?"

"Remarried?" James balked. "You didn't tell us he'd been married in the first place!"

"How in Merlin's name do you suppose I got custody of Harry if not for marrying his godfather?" Hermione asked, amused.

"Now wait just a minute! Padfoot landed you?"

"As if!" she quickly corrected. "I suggested we get married, in name only, thanks, to get Harry away from the Dursleys. He agreed. That's all. When he found someone else he wished to marry, I granted him a divorce so he could get on with that."

"Fucking Petunia…" Lily hissed sourly.

"Don't speak ill of the dead," Hermione chastised. "Remember I'm raising her son, who is a brother to your son, and they love each other very much. She may not have done right by Harry, but she did regret it in the end, and did what she could to ensure her son would never make the mistakes she did."

"Alright, alright," Lily grudgingly gave. "I guess if I could forgive Sev I can forgive Tuney."

"So who'd Pads land for wife number two?" James wanted to know.

"Amelia Bones."

"That lucky fucking tosser," the dark haired man said dreamily. "That woman is sex on a stick."

Lily rolled her eyes as the three of them came up to the wall leading to the Room of Requirement. "We're here," she stated.

Hermione wasn't sure she was ready to go into that room. She wasn't sure if she was ready to face them, even if they were only figments or fragments or facsimiles or what-the-hell-ever they were. She loved Minerva in a way she had never loved Sal and Rowena, and a part of her felt guilty for it. She was also furious with Rowena for not telling her about Helena, and with Sal for pushing Rowena away. Then there was Godric, who Sirius so reminded her of. She kept Sirius at the distance she did because of how much he reminded her of Godric, and she knew that wasn't fair. It would be good to see Helga, at least, she mused with a wry grin. It had been said that every Slytherin needed a good Hufflepuff, even if she was only a Slytherin in name. She did wonder sometimes how she'd have sorted if she hadn't been born to muggle parents. It wasn't as if she lacked cunning, that was for sure, and as for ambition, well… her current ambition was to chew a couple of so-called legends new arseholes.

Minerva McGonagall knew she needed to pick herself off the floor. Hermione had been dead for almost two weeks now, and Harry's birthday was just a few days away. Emma, bless her, had been taking care of little Vala with a bit of help from her siblings and their significant others, which when Minerva actually took a second to notice, was a larger group of people than it was the last time she'd checked. She'd known that young Draco fancied Helena, but was that official now? When had Dudley and Luna started snogging publicly? Ron was notably absent from Harry's side, but that didn't seem to make her living room short on bodies, as she noticed Lucy sitting on the sofa with Remus Lupin's hand clasped tightly in her own. When the hell had that developed?

"Mother!" Dudley exclaimed, noticing her first. "Are you going to join us for supper tonight?"

"Elves are sending up roast beef and some side dishes in about half an hour," Lucy informed her. "Even if you're not hungry, it would be good of you to join us."

The sternness in Lucy's voice was not missed. It was an odd dynamic she had with Lucy, and the two of them were still finding their footing. On one hand, she was Perenelle Flamel without disguise, and had been a mentor of Minerva's for years and years. On the other hand, she was the daughter of Minerva's lover, and as such, a step-child. There were days when Lucy chastised her like an errant child - now for instance - and Minerva didn't even dream of thinking it undeserved, and there were other moments when she felt the need to be protective and maternal toward the other women - five minutes ago upon seeing her fingers laced with Remus', in example. It was rather dizzying.

"It would be good to spend some time with all of you," she agreed. "I'm sorry I haven't been more available. It's been difficult since…and..."

"How do you keep standing when she used to be the one holding you up?" Harry asked rhetorically, understanding in his tone.

Tears began to fall for the thousandth time in the last two weeks, and Dudley got up and pulled her into a hug. "Look, Mother," he said gently, holding her head between his hands. Gods, when had he gotten so tall? "None of us expect you to be doing anything other than hurting like hell. We know you're hurting, whether you're hurting alone or hurting with us, helping us grieve and letting us help you grieve. Don't think you have to hide anything from us. Bloody hell, let's be real, none of us are strangers to death. Whatever you're trying to protect us from by locking yourself away… that ship has damn well sailed."

"What he said," Harry concluded, and Helena nodded vigorously.

Minerva had to internally chuckle at how poor Helena was still trying to find her voice now that she was mortal. It was all well and good for her to be snarky and full of attitude when she was a ghost, but now that she was flesh and blood the young lady was downright shy.

"Emma?" Minerva asked gently, looking at the child who had taken her name. "You haven't said a thing."

Emma had the baby on her hip as she stood in the corner of the room, frown increasing with every show of sympathy and understanding, and Minerva wasn't sure what to make of it. Finally, the fourteen year old marched forward with a look of determination on her face, and handed Vala to Minerva. "I love this little girl, but I am trying to study for my OWLs, manage my responsibilities in the Orphanage Wing, and work through the muggle university prep class Mum set up for me, all in the middle of a war. You are not the only one who lost someone really important to them that day. You have school to manage, a baby to raise, and a family to support through this insanity. You're a bloody McGonagall. Suck it up."

Lucy grinned. "What she said."

"Merlin, that took balls," Remus muttered under his breath.

Minerva raised an eyebrow at the werewolf, who then flinched under her gaze, before looking back at Emma. She took a deep breath, remembering a conversation not long after losing Albus, that she'd had with her brother Robert. "Can't keep the Scots down, right?"

Emma nodded firmly. "That's right, Mother. I'll let Dad know you'll see him at breakfast, then, right?"

A groan escaped her lips, thinking about Merlin knew how far behind she was on things between Hogwarts, the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the Order, and the Confederacy, and just how much glee Severus Prince would take in giving her a list twenty kilometers long. "If I must."

Remus leaned over and pressed a kiss to Lucy's lips. "I should probably go update Cissa," he said. "She'll want to know."

Lucy nodded in understanding, waving him off. "Let Filius know as well, will you? I'll check in with Leland and Galahad later."

Minerva's curiosity was piqued. "Update Cissa on what?"

Lucy snorted. "Wouldn't you like to know? Go, Remus. She might actually get it out of you, but we Slytherins are made of sterner stuff."

Remus gave her an apologetic smile. "It's good to see you getting back into the thick of things, Minerva. Go easy on Severus tomorrow, will you?"

Clearly, he wasn't going to give her anything, and there was no chance of getting Lucy to budge. The children all looked like they had no idea what the updating Narcissa thing was about either, and true to her Animagus form, Minerva was curious. Bugger!

He'd been told to expect her for breakfast, but he could still hardly believe his eyes when Minerva strode into his office at the base of the Confederacy Tower at promptly eight in the morning. She looked freshly showered, with clean clothes, not like she'd been recently crying or would be crying shortly, and greeted him by way of asking if tea was ready. Minerva McGonagall looked the very picture of Headmistress of Hogwarts for the first time in two weeks, and Severus didn't know if he should feel reassured or terrified by the sight.

"Well?" she asked crisply. "Shall we get started? Hermione may have died, but I did not, and I'm sure by now there's plenty to catch up on."

Severus flinched both at the callousness of the statement regarding his friend's demise, and at the untruth of it that he was keeping from Minerva. He still felt it was the best course of action to not tell Minerva that Hermione was still, in fact alive - that much they were now sure of - until and if ever they had some hope of bringing her back. Nothing good could come of telling Minerva that her lover still lived and was likely watching over her quite literally, if the Scottish woman could not reach out and speak to much less touch Hermione. It would be cruel, and in the case they were never able to bring Hermione back, it would absolutely prevent Minerva and the children from ever really moving on. They'd never have closure.

Merlin knew he'd never have closure if he didn't find a way to bring the woman who'd become like a sister to him back. Severus had never had a chance to tell Hermione how much she'd come to mean to him, but one thing was for damn sure, he'd be telling her first thing if they found a way to bring her home. Fuck regrets. He had enough of those as it was.

Taking a breath, he looked at the list he'd made up of issues he'd need to discuss with Minerva post haste. "In Hermione's absence, I've advanced Remus to Head of the Order," he began. "Two sugars, yes?"

Minerva nodded as he dropped two cubes of sugar into the tea he'd prepared for her, and handed the cup over the desk. "She's not gone on a bloody holiday, Severus," she replied quietly. "In any case, Remus was a fine choice. I'm sure Hermione would have agreed. The only other candidate I might have considered would have been Leland."

"Leland has been handling Hogwarts these last few weeks," Severus explained. "We had no idea how long you would remain indisposed, all due respect, and Leland was confident he could maintain your responsibilities as Headmistress under the radar so that when you were ready to come back, you'd not be coming back to an immense backlog. This task on him meant saddling him with additional responsibility - the Order Headship - was unrealistic."

"Ah. Well I owe Leland some sort of massive thank you," Minerva replied. "I had been rather worried about how far behind I was in that regard. Further, thank you for organizing it. I know you've been grieving as well."

"All of the funerals are over from those lost in the battle, including Molly and Arthur's. The children represented the family at all of them - you ought to be proud of how they conducted themselves," he went on. "In regard to Molly and Arthur's will, they altered it right after Vala was born. You'll remember from Albus' will reading that Ron and Ginny's education is covered by Hogwarts, and the two of them would, in normal circumstance, now qualify for the Ministry stipend for deceased parents, much as Emma does. With the fall of the Ministry, that was cut off, but the Goblins agree that as soon as the war is over those stipends will be a priority to reestablish in the new government, and that any orphaned child should be recorded so that they both get the stipend as well as a backlog of money they should have been receiving. As such, when all of this is over, Emma, Ron, Ginny, and Vala, will all receive a chunk of galleons from the Confederacy. Further, in Vala's case, Molly and Arthur left their remaining wealth singularly to her in a trust under you and Hermione's names. When she comes of age, she'll get that money as well, which isn't nothing, by the way, because when Albus said a sum of money, he was downplaying a bit, probably just so poor Molly didn't go into hysterics. Albus left them a quarter million galleons. Vala will be well set."

"Merlin," Minerva breathed.

"As trustee to that account, you'd be able to withdraw up to ten thousand galleons per year," he continued, "to assist with the care of Vala as she grows up. All of this, mind you, goes into effect after we have a functional bank again. I have access to figures, not actual galleons. We're in an economic freeze at the moment."

"Setting up back funds to distribute to orphans - Merlin knows there will be plenty of those - will be a solid means to get galleons flowing back into the market again, once things calm down," Minerva mused. "Some will spend frivolously, and some will invest wisely. Both types, of course, are needed economically speaking."

"Griphook agrees, thus prioritizing that program," Severus replied. "There's other programs he's got lined up too, a number of which are going to involve a good deal of networking with Helen's people. Dudley wants to work as a Liaison helping the Abnormals secure jobs in wizarding society, and magical people to secure jobs in muggle society. You should hear him going on and on about it."

"I'll have to make a point to ask him about it," she promised.

"Bring a Pepper-Up Potion," he advised. "I swear to Merlin I love the boy, but I've listened to him talk about business and economy for longer than a Goblin would find tolerable. He never seems to run out of things to say about it. I think Harry hears more of it than I do because the other day Dudley was droning on about acceptable profit margins and moral obligations or some shite and Harry made a comment about not resorting to the rules of acquisition and Dudley seemed to find that really bloody funny. I have no earthly idea why."

Minerva shook her head. "Me neither. I'll ask. What else needs covered? Lucy mentioned last evening about updating Narcissa on something. What was that?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Merely a research project Cissa has roped myself and several others into. Remus and I rarely have time to invest, but Leland spends a good deal of time in your Library with Cissa, Lucy, and Filius. Not that you'd notice, as you never go down there anymore."

"Research into what?"

Severus didn't want to lie to her, but he also didn't want to tell her enough to point her in the right direction. "You're an intelligent woman, Minerva. What do myself, Remus, Narcissa, Leland, Galahad, Filius and Lucy all have in common academically which we might be researching together?"

He watched as she thought for a minute, each silently staring at the other as they sipped their tea. Finally, she replied. "Wards. Something to do with wards."

Bloody hell, she is smart, he thought. "See?" he said casually. "Nothing that exciting. Just researching wards."

"What about wards?" Minerva wanted to know.

"Oh for the love of fuck!" he finally snapped. "Can we please focus on this massive list of shite we need to go over and reschedule this grilling for another day?"

The Scottish witch smirked. "How's Tuesday at lunch?"

Severus glared, opting to ignore her and press on with his list. "In the wake of Hermione's absence, Griphook is attempting to renegotiate some of the Sacred Twenty-Eight seat terms. For example, he wants Garrett Ollivander married, and while Hermione did arrange a betrothal to Gabrielle Delacour, she's not even of age yet. Either we need to stall Griphook or find Garrett another bride. Charlie Weasley is standing for Fawley behind Algie, and that's been fine until now, but now Griphook wants Charlie betrothed, at least. The Longbottom seat has been held by Augusta, but given that Frank is walking and talking now, Griphook feels like Augusta should surrender the seat to him given he holds the name. I hesitate on that front because as much as I like Frank, he's still recovering and he's decidedly behind the times. Augusta is up to date and in the loop. Oh, and we lost Viola in the battle. We need a new dragon. The only Parselmouth I know currently available to go recruiting a new dragon would be Harry."

"No."

"Minerva…"

"The last time Harry went dicking around with dragons he nearly got burned alive!" she screeched.

Severus nodded. "I know. I was there."

"Harry has no more business being around dragons now than he did two years ago, Severus Snape!" Minerva went on.

"Technically, it's Prince now, remember?" he pointed out. "Minerva, that was an agitated, nesting mother, and we weren't allowed to help Harry in that situation. This time we'd take a full team to find a dragon, ideally not a nesting mother, who will likely already be aware of the situation at hand because Viola was keeping her fellows posted as much as she could. Harry would mostly be there as an interpreter. He'd be reasonably safe."

"Reasonably?" she seethed. "I already lost the love of my life. I am not going to lose my son!"

"He's my son too, damnit!" Severus finally snapped, tired of being reasonable. "I love that boy just as much as you do. I would never put him in any real danger. If you can offer me an alternative option as to making contact with a dragon that does not involve letting bloody Griphook make the selection for us, by all means I am happy to hear you out, but I don't see another option!"

Minerva looked mollified. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry I shouted. I'm supposed to not do that anymore. Hermione made me promise to quit shouting and quit glowering," he reciprocated, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Hermione made a lot of people make a lot of promises, and we all seem the better for it," she mused.

"That's a hell of a legacy to have," Severus said.

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