A/N: If you feel like I'm all over with this fic, you'd be right. However, that is intentional as to give a sense of the timeline being fractured in spots thanks to future Severus. :) We'll settle in soon enough and not jump around so much. I did have lots more written for this chapter, but decided it made more sense to add it to the next chapter. So we should get a fairly quick update. As always, thank you for reading and enjoy.

Ministry Betrayal

Flopping onto his other side, Severus sighed heavily. He knew he shouldn't have said what he said earlier to his mother, but sometimes she just drove him insane. Why did she always have to push like that? He wasn't four anymore. He knew how crappy the world was and how it used people and discarded them at the drop of a hat. He knew that like the back of his hand. But this was different.

His dark eyes stared up at the ceiling. He followed one of the thick paint lines to the edge of the gaudy wallpaper and sighed. This was so different from all of his other fights with her. This one actually hurt, knowing he had managed to crack her seemingly infallible armor she had worn for as long as he could remember.

He tossed and turned a few more times. He couldn't get the look in her eyes out of his mind. She had seemed so disgusted with him, ashamed even. He couldn't recall a time when he had seen that in her eyes before. Then again, he supposed he deserved those looks. He'd feel the same if he had been in her shoes and Harrison had said the same words to him.

Sighing, he finally gave up. Sleep was not going to come to him. Not after what had transpired between his mother and him earlier. He needed to fix it. That was all it came down to really. He needed to apologize for his words said out of anger. And he needed to do this preferably before his mother left for good.

So, tossing aside the covers, he slowly got up out of bed, a full hour after his fight with his mother. He winced as he pushed himself up to stand. This was going to hurt, he realized, at the first twinge of pain in his abdomen. But he had to fix it.

Eileen may have drove him up the wall most days, but she was his mother in the end. And he had already lost so much time with her already. There was no time for petty arguments. Not where family was concerned at least.

With each step he took, he felt the familiar stabbing pain in his abdomen from his wound hidden under a roll of cotton gauze dressing. When he finally reached the still-closed door, he paused for half a moment, panting and wincing. This was going to hurt more than he imagined on second thought. Slowly, he grabbed ahold of the cold doorknob and turned it.

He half-expected his mother to have been standing outside his room, her back against the wall and her eyes trained on his door. But when he only saw another gaudy wallpaper (rainbow-colored fleur-de-lis in fact) and heard no voices, he knew she had likely left already. His head hung with his shoulders sagging dejectedly. He was too late.

It was then when he heard the high-pitched voice of his son. His eyes narrowed, brows furrowing. By the sound of it, his son was carrying on a long conversation with someone. He pushed himself off the wall and headed towards his son's voice further down the short hallway. Who was the boy talking to? Eileen? Tobias? Whoever it was certainly was getting an earful by the sound of it.

Pausing at another semi-closed door, Severus felt himself hesitate briefly. What if he was interrupting a moment? The boy after all sounded happy and thrilled to be telling his story about talking pumpkins and a rainbow-colored unicorn. Not that the boy's story made much sense really.

A woman's laugh echoed from the other side of the door, causing Severus to step closer and peek inside. His dark eyes found Demetri sitting with her back to him. Judging by her amusement, she was enjoying Harrison's outrageous story immensely.

As she refilled her cup of tea with a flick of her wand, she laughed again at the picture Harrison's story planted in her mind. She was sitting in a card chair. "Did you name the unicorn?" she asked the little boy in front of her.

"Sir Burt," Harrison replied all proud of himself.

"That is a very lovely name." She handed the boy a biscuit from a plate beside her.

Harrison's grin widened even more, his hazel eyes bright with innocence. He then turned away to look at the other person in the room, who was lying in a bed. His smile faltered a bit, and he clasped his hands together while he bit his bottom lip. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Demetri followed his gaze to where the young woman was with Merlin the cat curled at her feet. The smile on her face fell a bit. She didn't want to lie to the boy, but she didn't want to scare him either. "She will be. She just needs to rest like your daddy does. It will help them both feel better."

The sweet, little boy snorted as he turned back to her. "Daddy's not sleeping. He's right there, 'Metri." Harrison's small finger was pointed at him. "See?"

Demetri's head whipped towards the doorway before she stood up from her chair. Pulling the door open fully, she raised a brow at the eavesdropper. "You should be in bed, Severus."

Severus, however, was looking past her, able to see the woman on the bed more clearly now. "What happened?"

Demetri shrugged. " I don't know. She was found unconscious, and Nevins brought her here."

He then turned towards Demetri to interrogate her some more before he suddenly blinked in surprise, as if he had just noticed something. "Is that . . . are you wearing my shirt?"

Demetri looked down at the clothes she had on and snorted. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and black button-up shirt that she had tied in a knot at her navel, revealing a small dragon tattoo. "I'm wearing your jeans as well." Her smile grew when she saw his horrified look. "Thank God you're skinny or else I'd be walking around here naked."

He frowned deeply. "And the reason you couldn't just do a simple transfiguration spell and transfigure your own clothes is . . . why?" He then shook his head and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Never mind. I don't care."

"What can I say? I was jealous of your glorious fashion sense," Demetri teased.

His eyes darted back to Aurora, though. Seriousness took over again. "Where was she found?"

"Near the ministry. With the rogue Unspeakables out for you, Nevins thought it wasn't safe to have her found by a Ministry employee."

"The Ministry?" His eyes widened. What the hell was she doing at the Ministry? He stepped past Demetri, stopping when Harrison tugged on his pant leg. His eyes darted down to him, noticing Harrison was staring up at him expectantly. Bending down, he glanced at the young boy. "What is it?"

"Shh, Daddy. She's sleeping." The sweet boy pressed a finger against his lips.

Demetri laughed at the boy's reprimanding of his father and ruffled Harrison's hair. "Daddy should be sleeping too."

Harrison glanced at her with his best 'duh' look before he looked back at Severus. "Daddy?"

Severus sighed. "Yes, brat?" He hated being ganged up, but there was something about Harrison that made it almost adorable, tolerable in other words.

"Can I s'eep wid you? I won't say nothin' about Sir Burt and his meetin' the fuzzy lady. Romise."

Demetri grinned at the question. There was no way Severus would say no to Harrison's request. Well, unless he was going for a record today of his gitness.

"The fuzzy lady?" Wincing, Severus sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. Where in the world did this boy get his imagination from?

"The fuzzy lady and Sir Burt are best friends, Severus," Demetri stated, grinning at Harrison.

In turn, the little boy nodded excitedly at her answer. It was as if he had just been told he could do magic or something.

"Of course they are," Severus replied with another sigh. "Fine. You can sleep beside me, but after we find your grandmother."

Demetri cut in once more. "I haven't seen Eileen since this morning when Nevins dropped by."

Harrison sighed exaggeratedly soon afterwards, clearly having all the air sucked out of him by the answer. "Daddy, come on," he whined, tugging on Severus again. "You can tell Gamma later. It's bedtime."

"If I don't apologize to her now," Severus began "she'll make our lives a living hell, Harrison. I have to." Wait. Why was he arguing with his two-year-old son again? The old him would have just spelled the boy asleep. He paused and stared at the little boy in front of him. Maybe he was growing up and settling in to this whole parent thing after all.

"So?" Harrison said, elongating the word as long as he could. "Gamma's not gonna be happy if you get hurt more." He then glanced towards Aurora and Demetri. "Or 'Metri or her."

"The boy does have a point, Severus," Demetri said with a shrug.

Severus glared at her instantly. "You're not helping, Le Fay." He then crossed his arms and turned back to his son. "Daddy said some really mean things and upset her. Now, Daddy can go to bed with you, but that's only going to give your grandmother more time to figure out which curse to use on Daddy. So, please, brat, let Daddy find her first, apologize, and then we can sleep."

Harrison stuck his bottom lip out in response and crossed his little arms in front of his chest.

"Fine," he huffed, stomping his little foot down.

"You know, if you want, I could watch Harrison while the two of you talk or are you going to need him, you know, as a way to keep your mother from hexing you?" Demetri asked, a smirk crossing her ruby lips.

"He'll come with me. You're already busy tending to her after all."

"Uh huh." She placed her hands on her hips. "Like I said, she can't hex you with Harrison in tow, can she?"

He sighed, ignoring her jest while gently picking Harrison up. He bit back a groan instantly. Maybe on second thought he shouldn't have done that, but he wasn't going to let the tyke run off again.

Demetri snorted. "You open that wound, Severus, I'll make sure to stitch it back the Muggle way without painkillers."

He glanced at her but said nothing to her. What he did or didn't do wasn't any of her concern. "Come on, Harrison. Let's go find Grandmum," he said aloud, his eyes falling on Aurora one last time before he left. He'd talk with her later when she was awake. They had time after all.

It took a bit of searching, but he finally found Eileen after the sixth room. She had her back to him and was looking out a grimy window. Sighing quietly, he glanced at Harrison who was looking back at him. Sometimes it was so uncanny how the boy just knew without words needing to be said. He bent down and set the boy back on his own two feet before he approached her. He could feel the boy's hazel eyes watching his every move.

"Mum?" Severus's voice was barely above a whisper for fear that she would hex him still. When her shoulders hunched up, he knew she had heard him. "I'm an idiot. No. Actually, I'm worse than that."

Eileen slowly turned towards him, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Her eyes were hard as steel as she waited.

"I should never have said that to you. Any of it. You're only trying to guide me, and instead of listening, I snapped at you. I'm sorry, Mum," he said softly.

"And that makes it all better now, doesn't it, Severus? You apologize, and I'm expected to forgive you. As if all that you said—"

"I was wrong!" he cut in, taking a step towards her. "I was wrong, Mum," he repeated softer.

"Yes, you were," she stated sharply before she added a soft "brat."

His brows knit together briefly in confusion.

"You were wrong. Grossly wrong. But, I suppose, I can accept your apology."

"You do?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Of course I can, Severus. It's not your fault that you were born an idiot. It's your father's." She smirked before she picked Harrison up. "Well, my first grandchild, what do you say to drawing on all the walls and making this place even prettier?" Harrison giggled in response and nodded excitedly. "All right. Do you want puke green or dildo pink first?"

Severus's mouth dropped. "What?"

She glanced sideways at him. "You can choose later, Severus. Harrison comes first now." She smiled at him. "Now, go talk to the harlot trying to destroy our family. Will you?"

"Aurora's not a—"

Eileen, however, pointed towards the door with a stern look. She clearly wasn't in the mood for his arguments.

Frowning, Severus glanced towards Harrison one last time before he sighed and headed back towards the room Aurora was in. He passed the various moving portraits, not stopping to notice the grizzly scenes that were being depicted. He kept his head held up and hands at his side.

Why did his mother dislike Aurora so much? It couldn't solely be because of last spring. That was one meeting. That hardly was enough time to formulate an opinion about anyone. And yet for some reason, his mother already didn't like her.

As he walked back in to the room, he noticed instantly that Demetri was no longer there. He paused and glanced around, looking for her. However, it seemed as if she had left not long after he had. But that didn't make sense. Demetri wouldn't have just left her alone like that. Would she?

His eyes searched for any signs of where Demetri might have gone, but he found nothing. In fact, it actually looked like she had just gotten up and left. Running a hand through his hair, he frowned. Of course, it could just be that she had to use the bathroom or something, but he didn't know how to explain it other than something just felt off about the whole situation.

He slowly approached Aurora, noticing that she was still lying flat on her back in the bed with her eyes closed. He could see her chest rising and falling normally, so he knew she seemed to be all right. At least she was breathing that was. His eyes then passed over her, finally taking stock of her visible injuries.

She had deep bruise, fully purple and black now, on her right temple from where something must have hit her hard. A little bit below that, she had a laceration that cut across her cheek from her ear to her nostril. On her left side, she had a split lip and another blue-and-black blotch on her cheek. She clearly had been attacked.

His eyes softened as he paused at her bedside. She looked so peaceful as she slept. When he saw one of her black, bouncy curls moving in tune with her breathing as it had fallen free, he leaned forward and gently brushed it back from her lips. When she inhaled sharply and pulled back with a start, he froze and stared at her. He hadn't meant to scare her.

"Easy. It's just me," he stated, raising his arms up defensively. "I don't mean you any harm."

Warm brown eyes blinked back at him in confusion for a brief moment before the rich chocolate orbs narrowed on him.

"Severus?" Her voice was rough from disuse.

"Yes," he said softly, lowering his hands when he was certain she wasn't going to curse him. When she sat up suddenly a second later in a flurry of panic, he leaned towards her and gently pressed a hand against her shoulder to keep from standing up. "Easy," he warned. There was no telling how badly she was injured internally. He'd be damned if she hurt herself even further.

She grabbed his arm, though, her fingers tightening around his wrist. "We have to leave, Severus. Now! Before—" Her eyes then widened in horror at something behind him before she tightened her hold on him. Her nails dug into his skin. She seemed genuinely scared of something.

"Ah, good. You're awake," Nevins stated happily behind Severus as he walked into the room.

Severus sighed inwardly. Of course Nevins was still there. Though, he supposed he did owe the man something. He had rescued Aurora after all according to Demetri, not that the Auror had mentioned that earlier during their discussion.

"I was beginning to think you were going to sleep the whole day away." Nevins chuckled quietly, his hands hidden underneath the folds of his robes.

Aurora's eyes remained trained on Severus's. He couldn't understand the reason for her panic. It was only Nevins, not the Dark Lord himself. What was going on?

"Now, Aurora, is that any way to treat a friend?" Nevins drawled with a dark laugh. "A friend who brought you here to your Prince Charming?"

Severus then realized why she was acting the way she was. It was the laugh that gave Nevins away. There was just something off about it. He turned his wrist outward so his wand would drop into his hand from his holster. However, the moment he felt the strong wood in his fingers, Aurora snatched his wand from him and yanked him back protectively. Having not expected that, he stumbled, nearly falling as a result but catching himself on the side of her bed. His eyes widened as he watched her slash his wand violently, cutting the air with a loud swish from the wood.

"Sectumsempra!" she snarled, her eyes dark and cold now.

He gasped, stumbling to turn around to see his trademark curse fly from his wand to the other man. The brilliant white jet of light struck Nevins soon after. Almost immediately, Severus saw the deep crimson slashes appear on the other man who was now screaming in agony as the invisible sword cut through him like butter. When Nevins crumpled to the floor a moment later in a bloody, lifeless heap, Severus inhaled sharply and turned back to her stunned and unable to move.

With her shoulder slumping slightly and her seemingly starting to relax, she held out his wand back to him, holding his shocked gaze.

He continued to stare at her, though, completely at a loss for words, not bothering to even reach for his wand back. How did she know his curse? He had never taught anyone how to cast it, not even Evans. And how could his wand just allow her to cast his curse with her magic? It was a betrayal of the worst kind.

"You murdered a Ministry official!" he declared, the words reverberating around the room.

"That's not Nevins, Severus," she stated through weighted breaths.

"You don't know that. You couldn't possibly know that." Nor could he know that she was right and that it wasn't Nevins either, but he was going to ignore that thought for now.

What the hell just happened? So many questions flew through his mind. He couldn't keep his thoughts straight anymore. She just murdered a Ministry official for no reason other than the other man came off a bit odd. Murdered him with Severus's own wand nonetheless! His own curse! A curse he never taught to anyone!

"He was going to hurt you!" she argued, her eyes imploring him to believe her.

"You don't know that!" Nor did he for that matter.

A flurry of footfalls then followed as the other occupants of the cottage finally ran into the room. Severus noticed his dad's raised eyebrow at Nevins's dead body, and Eileen's cold gaze directed at Aurora as she shielded Harrison's eyes. He then frowned as he saw Demetri still wasn't there. He turned back to the curly-haired witch who had so much to answer before the night was done.

"Where's Demetri?" His voice lowered into a growl. "Did you murder her as well?"

"What?" She seemed genuinely shocked by his accusation.

"She was sitting right there when I last left," he snarled, pointing to the empty chair beside him.

"Severus, I didn't—"

His nostrils flared angrily. How could he be so stupid to think that she was the one for him? No. His future self had to have been mistaken. There was no way he could have married her. Or if he had, his future self didn't know her true self. The self he now knew.

"Do not lie to me," he whispered, glaring at her.

"I'm not!" she yelled back. "I haven't seen Demetri since the Firecall!"

He snatched a hold of her arms and yanked her up out of the bed. She was lying! She had to be! He noticed her eyes widen in fear and felt a sliver of regret deep within him. He held her so close to him that he could feel her warm, shaky breath against his breath.

"Severus—"

"Legilimens!" he snarled, cutting her off. He'd get his answers if it were the last thing he did. He was thrown into her mind a moment later, quickly moving past the nonessential layers. When he found her recent memories a moment later, he grabbed onto it and watched.

"And remember . . . this is just for a bit until I've finished. Once it's all good, then—"

A bright light then overtook the memory before Severus heard a sudden roar from behind them. He glanced from Aurora where she had been crouching back to the closed door. Something had happened. He followed her as she walked to the door, noticing that she now had her wand in hand.

"Kingsley?" she called out hesitantly.

There was a loud thump from the other side of the closed door.

Severus's eyes narrowed as he watched her slowly reach for the door. What was she doing? When the door flew open before she could reach it, he watched her jump and raise her wand defensively. At the sight of Nevins, though, he inhaled sharply.

"Nevins? What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped, lowering her wand a bit.

"You have to go! Now!" The Auror grabbed her upper arm and pulled her back from the door, closing it behind him.

"Where's Kingsley?" Nevins said nothing and only continued to pull her towards the fireplace. "Nevins, what's going on?"

"You have to go, Sinistra!" He released her and grabbed a handful of powder. "Get to the Ministry! To the Department of Mysteries!"

"Why? Nevins, what's going on?"

The man grabbed her face, though, and stared deep into her eyes. "Do you want to save Severus or not?" He didn't wait for her reply. "I have a file on the Ashmores in my desk. Bottom drawer." He handed her a key. "Go! Before they find you!"

"Find me? Nevins, I don't understand." He, however, shoved her towards the fireplace.

"Go, Sinistra!" he ordered.

Severus seemed as confused as she did. What was he going on about? Before who found her? And save Severus from what? He watched Aurora's mouth open, but whirled away from her when he heard the door explode.

"They're coming!" Shacklebolt yelled as he rushed in. "What's she still doing here? Aurora, go! Now! We'll hold them off!" He turned back just as a curse struck him in the shoulder.

"Kingsley!" she screamed before Nevins shoved her roughly towards the fireplace again.

"Go! Before you die here with us!" Nevins then was hit with a curse as well.

She threw herself through the emerald flames a moment later, tumbling out into the main atrium of the Ministry of Magic. She didn't waste any time before she rushed towards the nearest lift. Severus followed close behind, noticing her nervousness.

"Aurora?"

She turned towards the voice and smiled faintly, her eyes darting about. "Arthur."

"It's time?" he asked quietly so only she heard.

"I don't know. Nevins and Kingsley . . . they . . ." She sighed, closing her eyes and running a hand through her dark curls. "I don't know, Arthur."

The Weasley patriarch sighed softly before he gently rested a hand on her arm. "I'll escort you."

As they navigated the maze that was the Ministry of Magic, Severus found his curiosity increase. He didn't understand what was going on. Nor did she for that matter or Arthur Weasley. When the two finally found their way to Nevins's desk in the Department of Mysteries, she unlocked the bottom drawer and pulled out the blue file Nevins had locked inside.

"Is that it?"

She shrugged. "I guess. I don't understand any of this, Arthur." She turned towards him.

"Nor do we, but you know how Albus is." Arthur gave her a bit of a sad smile. "We should get you out of here before—"

"Before someone finds two Blood Traitors consorting with one another?" a low voice chuckled. "Tsk, tsk. There's no need for wands." A man then stepped forward before he plucked the file from Aurora's hands. He had three more companions who stepped out of the darkness with their wands pointed at Arthur and Aurora. "Now, what's this file doing in your hands? Hmm?" The man's dark eyes glistened in the candlelight.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur demanded, glaring at the unknown man.

"You don't honestly believe we'd not be watching the Ministry after all your little, shall we say, endeavors, do you?" The man smirked before he grabbed Aurora's face and wrenched her head upwards. "Aren't you a pretty little thing?" He chuckled darkly and snapped his fingers and pointed at Arthur. "Get him out of here. Aurora and I need to talk privately. Don't we, beautiful?" When the others drug Arthur out of the room, the man holding her sighed softly. "I'm told that Severus has become quite enamored with you for some reason. Now, that just can't do. Do you know why that is?" He ran a hand down the side of her face.

"Go to hell!"

The man chuckled loudly and shook his head. "Severus Snape needs to stay on the path set out before him. I don't care if Albus Dumbledore now has a conscience and is doing his very best to undo our work, the work he agreed to long ago. His constant sending of pawns like you to do his dirty work won't work. Now, we'll overlook the brat and Severus's parents of course. But you, oh you beautiful, we can't. You'll mess everything up. We need him to stay focused. Do you understand? And if he's fucking you all the time, being oh-so-happy with his lovely Aurora, then he won't complete his destiny."

"The Dark Lord is dead."

"Riddle was the brat's destiny, not our dear Severus's, beautiful. Severus's is much more."

"You won't win."

"Win? Oh, sweetheart, it's not about winning. We need Severus to embrace his darkness fully, to give in and be the man he was destined to be. And, frankly, he just can't do that with you around."

"Why do you need him dark? What difference does that make?"

"Oh, well, I suppose it won't hurt to tell you. After all, the moment you see him, I'll have killed you in front of him." The man shrugged. "As you know, the Prince family was full of dark witches and wizards. Several of them were in Azkaban actually. His father's side, though . . ."

"The Ashmores."

"Yes." The man chuckled, letting his hand slid lower down her body. "Beautiful and smart, my, I can see why he'd like you." His eyes glistened darkly. "Your mother was the one who actually discovered the truth about Ismeralda and the actual story of how she came to be. You see, that stupid story that everyone makes so romantic about the Ashmores, it's a lie. They didn't adopt a child from an orphanage, her adoptive father taking her to Hogwarts and learning that she was a Squib but loving her all the same. No. That didn't happen. That isn't even remotely close to what happened." His grin widened. "Lady Ashmore rejected her husband's advances. You see, she wanted love, to be happy, and she wasn't with him. She hated him and the idea of carrying any of his heirs. Well, Lord Ashmore was not happy with this, as I'm sure you can imagine. So, he and his friend, a member of the Selwyn family, came up with the perfect way to get her in line. To ruin her for good and force her to bear his child one way or another."

Severus felt the color in his face drain away and pulled out of Aurora's head. He didn't need to hear the rest. He had a pretty good idea what had happened. His eyes narrowed briefly as he noticed the crimson liquid streaming down her nose and the blank stare. Oh, no! She was losing consciousness in his arms, going limp as he held her. He gently lowered her back down to the bed and kicked himself mentally. Stupid. So stupid!

"What did you do, Severus?"

He felt someone shove him and moved aside. Glancing upwards, he noticed the dark hair. Demetri. His eyes darted back down to Aurora and then back to Demetri. From the back, they looked so similar. He hadn't noticed that before.

"Aurora! Open your eyes. Please open your eyes," Demetri pleaded, gently tapping the other witch's cheek.

Severus stood there, unable to move. He glanced at his parents, his eyes showing his regret and fear. What had he done?

He watched his mother pass Harrison over to Tobias before she stepped towards Aurora with a heavy sigh. Demetri glanced at her.

"Give me your wand," Eileen said quietly, holding her hand out expectantly.

Demetri stared at the outstretched hand. "I may be American, but I'm not stupid enough to hand my wand to someone who loathes Aurora."

"Then she dies," Eileen replied flatly, turning away. "You can't say I didn't try."

"Here." Severus held his wand out to her, catching his mother's eyes. "Please, Mum?"

Eileen sighed exaggeratedly and took his wand. A moment later, she was running her wand over Aurora's temples, deep in thought.

Severus could see his mother's lips moving but he heard no sound from her. He waited, his wringing his hands together nervously. How could he think the worst of Aurora? Go from caring for her to hating her back to caring even more?

She was trying to save him, though. She had always tried to save him. And for whatever reason the man dead on the floor was one of the few who didn't want that to happen. It only made him want to refuse the darkness inside even more.

Severus didn't care much for the theory that he was genetically predisposed to darkness, though. No one could be. Not unless the person had been conceived under the influence of a love potion, but even that was just a theory at best. As far as he was aware, it had never occurred yet thankfully.

When he heard a soft murmur a few seconds later, he craned his head and tried to look around his mother. What was happening? Was she regaining consciousness? Had his mother been successful? He glanced to Demetri who had a better view and noticed her posture relaxing.

"She'll live," Eileen stated, holding his wand out to him.

He tipped his head in gratitude to her before he stepped closer. He caught Demetri's glare instantly and pushed forward.

"Sinistra?" He didn't earn the right to call her by her first name after that. He waited anxiously for her reply. She was refusing to meet his eyes, which he could understand. "I apologize for my actions. I shouldn't have—"

"No you shouldn't have," Aurora replied defiantly, finally meeting his eyes again.

He closed his eyes briefly and looked down guiltily.

"We need get out of here. Before the others learn that he's dead and come after us," she declared, attempting to sit up. "Demetri, enough. If we don't leave, more of his kind will come here." She motioned towards the dead body on the floor. "And I'll be damned if they come here to succeed in their goal. Do you hear me?"

"Where are we going to go, Sin? It's not like we have a lot of options anymore."

The other witch, however, said softly, "We've got one."

"No. Absolutely not! That's insane!" Demetri snapped, shaking her head.

"That's what makes it perfect." Aurora rubbed a temple and sighed. "They'll expect you to go to all the others, the Order, the Ministry, all of their friends, but not there. They think he doesn't know, but he does, Demetri. It makes sense to go back to where it began."

"Excuse me, lasses, but go where?" Tobias interrupted.

It was Severus, however, who answered. "Ashmore manor."

"What?" Tobias said puzzled.

"Absolutely not!" Eileen barked, glaring at the two younger witches. "I am not taking my family to some haunted manor known for a familial massacre."

"It's been abandoned for more than a century, Mother," Severus explained. "And the wards will recognize Tobias. He is, after all, the heir to the estates. We could use it to our advantage." He caught his mother's look of betrayal before she frowned.

"Is this your decision then?"

He nodded slowly. "It is."

Eileen turned towards Aurora and pointed her finger at her. "You're not even with my son yet, and you've already caused some half-a-dozen arguments. I hope for your sake that you're worth it."

Aurora glanced at him confused but said nothing.

"All right. Let's go then." Demetri gently helped Aurora to her feet, as Tobias and Harrison moved closer. They Disapparated a moment later from the now-burning cottage.