AN: Again, thank you all for your continued support. Your comments make my day. Special thank you to my alpha reader: LaDeeDaa and my beta reader: astrangefan who keep me on my toes and without whom this story would not be possible.

Headmaster Snape

Harry and Ron were right behind her as Hermione bound up the stairs, heart thudding in her chest. A muffled groan could be heard above, and she quickened her pace, turning on the landing and running toward the room where Theo and Draco were staying.

The first thing she saw was that Theo was obviously in pain - much more than when she'd left him only a half hour prior. But then she saw why he'd called out for her.

"Draco…" he gasped, pointed in his friend's direction.

Draco was moaning and writhing on the bed. He seemed to still be under the influence of the potion - unconscious but clearly experiencing pain. This was a first in her observation outside of the few times she touched Theo's left arm when he first arrived.

Whipping around she turned to Harry and Ron who were taking in the scene themselves, looking worriedly between Draco and Theo. Hermione had to act.

"Ron, Floo Padma immediately. Tell her it is urgent," Ron nodded and rushed down the stairs to do as she instructed.

"Harry, I need you to focus on Theo for the moment." She was already climbing into bed with Draco, rolling him over onto his back then swinging one leg over to straddle his waist. He let out a long groan of pain.

"Theo, pain level," Hermione asked, her voice tight as she brought both hands up to Draco's face and tried to hold him still. He was burning up.

"Eight," Theo gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Diagnostics, Harry," she instructed, trying to take a few calming breaths as she figured out what to do. The last thing anyone needed was for her to panic.

Harry stood there, dazed, for a moment before finally moving into action, going over to Theo's bed to run diagnostic spells. Hermione had to trust he remembered them well enough from their time on the run because her entire focus was on Draco.

At the edge of his shirt collar, she noticed the black webbing of the curse pulsating. "Check Theo's left arm," she ordered. "Don't touch it, just check it. Are the black lines coming from the mark moving, pulsating, or growing?"

Hermione pulled down Draco's shirt and watched helplessly as the vine-like tendrils inched closer to his heart. She let out a shuddering breath and pulled Draco's head into her chest, wrapping both arms around him as if just her presence could ward off the Dark Magic that was calling to him, punishing him for not doing what his Master instructed.

"They are pulsating," Harry answered from Theo's bed.

Ron's clumping footsteps echoed in his ears as she wrapped herself tighter around Draco's unconscious but trembling body. "Do either of you know how to get into contact with Neville?" she asked.

Realisation hit both Ron and Harry who immediately looked at each other. "Hogwarts," they said simultaneously.

It was only second before Padma was there, and her presence seemed to push Harry into action.

"I'm going to Floo Professor McGonagall," he said. "Ron and I will assess what is happening at Hogwarts and return."

He looked back at Hermione, still holding Draco tightly in her arms, tears streaming down her face. There was an uneasy understanding between the two for a moment. "We'll be back. Will you be okay?"

Hermione let out a shuddering breath. Would she? She nodded shakily. Harry needed to investigate the Dark Energy and she and Padma needed to stabilise Draco and Theo. As much as she wished Harry and Ron could stay - to bolster her strength - everyone had a job and their time was much better spent at Hogwarts.

Immediately Padma was at her side. "Let go, Hermione," she instructed firmly. Hermione immediately let Draco's head go and placed it back on the pillow.

She moved off him and off his bed entirely, going over to Theo as she allowed Padma to work on Draco unimpeded. Her hands were shaking.

I need to do something.

"Just give me the potion," Theo said, looking into her eyes, pleading. "Please."

She nodded dumbly. "Pads, is it okay to give Theo the Sleeping Draught? It's what I gave Draco a half hour before this started."

"It's fine," Padma answered quickly. "The potion had nothing to do with this."

Hermione nodded again and readied the potion. "I'm sorry Theo," she choked out before giving it to him and watching him slip away - much more peacefully than Draco currently was.

"Do you know what's going on?" Hermione asked Padma as she came nearer to Draco's bed.

"I'm scanning for the location of pain now," Padma replied, her brow furrowed in concentration as she did a number of intricate wand movements and muttered spells Hermione could barely make out.

Padma's wand rested up just below Draco's left shoulder. "There. The curse is moving up, I think. Whatever was deposited in him when he took The Mark, it's inching up his arm."

"Can we do anything?" Hermione asked, her voice weaker than she wanted. The curse was moving. What happened if it reached his heart or his brain?

"For the curse, I have nothing. That's above my paygrade, Hermione," Padma said sadly. "But I can try a local numbing spell to see if it will take care of the pain."

"Please," Hermione whispered, her hand clenched together as she waited with baited breath for Padma to put Draco out of his misery.

Her friend eyed her closely for a long moment before nodding and setting to work casting the charm over Draco's left upper arm, shoulder, and slightly down his scapula.

It took several moments but, finally, Draco's unconscious form seemed to calm and a sigh escaped his lips before he returned to peaceful sleep.

"It worked!" Hermione gasped. "Oh, thank Merlin it worked. Why haven't we been doing that all along?"

Padma chuckled slightly. "It's actually a rather complicated spell. If you'd rather do this than utilise the pain potions or Sleeping Draught, I'm going to have to teach you both the pain diagnostic and the numbing spell. It's usually used for surgery, so it's only learned at higher levels of healer training."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I'd like to learn."

Padma was quiet again but continued to look at Hermione like she was working up something to say. In the end, she must have thought better of it because she sighed and plopped down in the desk chair next to Hermione.

"Do you mind if I stay a minute? I just want to be sure they are both stable. About an hour?" Padma suggested.

"Absolutely," Hermione responded immediately. "Do you want a tea? Soda?"

"You don't have anything stronger, do you?" Padma asked with a laugh. "I kid. I shouldn't drink while Healing."

"I don't have anything but cannabis and wine in the house anyway," Hermione said. "I've been so focused on this case; I haven't even ventured into my parents' old collection yet."

Hermione tried to return to her normal, composed self but it was hard. Besides the unnatural draw she felt to Draco at the moment - wanting to fuss over him and knowing she shouldn't - there was whatever Ron and Harry were facing at Hogwarts. It was all she could do not to Floo the Headmistress and demand an update.

Azkaban.

Almost immediately she realised she needed to contact the warden. "I'll be back, Pads. I have to send an urgent message."

Hermione quickly went to her room and jotted out a note to the Warden which she marked 'Urgent' and hurried back to Theo and Draco's room. "I want to be sure the Healer on call at Azkaban is aware that there could be trouble tonight."

"Sure," Padma said, inclining her head in affirmation. "So, what's going on with you and Malfoy?"

Hermione sputtered. "Nothing," she said quickly, looking at Padma as if she had no idea what she was talking about. Padma only smirked.

"Okay," she replied, unconvinced.

Hermione pursed her lips. "Obviously I care about both of them," she admitted. "Neither of them deserve to be in Azkaban."

Padma remained silent but listened. "Living here with them, you become close," Hermione continued. "I…"

She didn't know how to explain what she felt, or how it started, or why she was overcome with extreme concern about Draco in particular.

"Hermione," Padma finally said with a sigh, "if you trust the two of them, that's all I need to know. You have the keenest sense of other people of anyone I've ever met. You are not a fool; you are not easily fooled. Having an open heart doesn't make you naive. But you understand that this is going to break your heart," she said, indicating with her finger toward Draco who was sleeping peacefully in his bed.

Hermione swallowed hard, tears prickling the corner of her eyes. A weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Someone knew.

Theo didn't count, of course. Theo was Draco's friend, and he was there, all the time, watching them. But Padma knowing even just a small part of the feelings she'd started to feel for Draco Malfoy - it made it real, and it was overwhelming.

"I know it is inappropriate and it can't happen," Hermione said, her voice barely above a whisper. "He's a captive," she breathed. "I would never step over that line."

"He's not your captive, Hermione," Padma reasoned.

Hermione waved her off. "Semantics," she argued. "He can't leave - not without risking a worse fate. He knows that he's required to do whatever I tell him to. It's a position of vulnerability."

Padma pursed her lips. "Granted," she admitted. "It isn't ideal, and certainly I don't understand it. But if Draco Malfoy has wormed his way into your heart, it must be for good reason. You are hardly prone to falling for men left and right."

"He's…" Hermione struggled to put into words what exactly she felt or how she saw Draco. There was still so much about him that was an enigma to her, and the situation in which they'd been thrown together was intense. But it had not even been two weeks since she hadn't given the man a second thought as he rotted away in Azkaban. Now…

"His moral code is absolute," she finally said. "He's not evil. He's not a bad man. But he would do very bad things to protect the people he cares about. It scares me…"

"But if you are someone he cares about, it could be…"

"It's impossible to deny that it feels like a place of honour. It's a trust I feel both soothed and crippled by," Hermione interrupted.

"I don't know what to tell you, Hermione," Padma said after a beat. "But I know that you'd never utilise your position of power to force either of these men to do anything they didn't want to do. Let yourself off the hook for being imperfect enough to have feelings."

"Of all the things I have to deal with, this is the absolute last thing I need," Hermione sighed in frustration.

A moment later, the Floo activated and Hermione and Padma looked at each other. "Stay here," she instructed Padma. "I'll see who it is."

It was Ron. "It was just like you predicted,'"he said, his breath coming out in pants. "The Dark Energy is trying to push at the barrier as we speak."

"Oh, Merlin. I should come," Hermione said, already mentally putting together a check list of the things she'd need to bring with her.

"For now, it's a warding issue," Ron said. "Harry's on top of it - working with the castle's magic to redouble the wards. But there's another thing."

Dread settled over Hermione. "What?" she asked, barely sure if she could handle one more thing at the moment.

"The Rakov Brothers managed to get a Black Market portkey to Romania," Ron said with an exhausted sigh. "The Auror Department only just discovered it this evening. Romania is…"

Fuck.

Hermione let out a groan of frustration, "Uncooperative. I know." Romania had turned over the Marked Death Eaters who had escaped there after the fall of Voldemort in exchange for being left out of 'Britain's Mess'. It was no secret that Dark Wizards flocked to Romania from all around because of their lax laws on Dark Magic.

"Fuck," Hermione cursed aloud.

"Well," she finally said, "how is Hogwarts? Did the Energy hurt anyone?"

"No," Ron said, shaking his head. "McGonagall is sending the students home tomorrow for early Spring Holiday. She's made it abundantly clear that she wishes us to solve this problem in time for her to welcome students back in three weeks' time."

"Sure," Hermione said. "No sweat." So, not only did she have to figure out how to remove the curse from the Death Eaters' Marks, destroy the Dark Energy at Hogwarts, keep three escaped Death Eaters from whatever it was they were planning, but they had a nice, tidy little deadline.

"Let me just tell Padma I need her to watch Draco and Theo and I'll come back through with you," Hermione said.

Padma, of course, agreed to take good care of the men, and Hermione grabbed her bag full of books and joined Ron in the floo.

It was late, which was probably why Professor McGonagall intended to wait and send the children home the next day. Most of them were already in bed when the Energy began pulsating. Hermione looked at the large clock on the Headmistress' wall and saw that it was just after midnight.

Inside the office were McGonagall and a couple of assistants from the DMLE who were talking with an Auror and taking notes. "Miss Granger," McGonagall greeted, almost with a sigh of relief. Hermione watched as Ron went to speak with the Auror as well, and she followed the Headmistress to her desk.

"Would you like tea?" Minerva asked, already pouring a cup and placing it on a saucer. Hermione wasn't really in the mood for tea, but she dutifully took the cup and sipped at it before placing it back down on the large desk.

Hermione's eyes flitted up to the portraits behind her beloved professor and her eyes widened with a sudden thought.

How could I have been so remiss?

"Headmistress," she started, "Would you mind…could I speak with Professor Snape's portrait - alone?"

Professor McGonagall sputtered momentarily in surprise but finally said, "Of course." She looked back at the portraits of Dumbledore and Snape behind her and while Albus' Merlin-be-damned eyes twinkled in a way that made Hermione's stomach turn, Snape gave one, curt nod.

"Just send a patronus when you are finished," Minerva requested before ushering the members of the DMLE and the two Aurors out of her office leaving Hermione alone. She took a deep breath.

She looked at Snape for a long moment. This was the portrait he'd had commissioned the summer before he'd been Headmaster. It was 'new' - or as new as it could have been. Which meant it was a snapshot of Snape when he knew everything.

Hermione knew that portraits had different levels of 'awareness' and that the more time a witch or wizard spent with his own portrait the more of themselves was imbued into the portrait. That was why Dumbeldore and Phineas Nigellus Black's portraits in the Headmasters' office were so lifelike and able to hold long conversations while their chocolate frog pictures flitted wordlessly in and out of frame.

Snape had only had a year with this particular portrait. It would have to do.

She looked up at Snape who looked back at her, his thin mouth fixed in a line, his eyes giving away nothing.

"Professor," she started, "I'm not sure how much you know about the work we are doing."

"I'm aware that it involves The Dark Lord's magical signature on Hogwarts' grounds," he said. "I know very little of the details."

Hermione looked around the room. The dozen or so other Headmasters who were still in their portraits were clearly interested in the conversation.

"Can I assume the same confidence you give the Headmistress can be applied to this conversation?" she asked them.

Several affronted, 'of courses' sounded around the room.

It will have to do.

She didn't like divulging confidential information in this way, but she felt certain that Professor Snape would have some insight that might help her. He was one of Voldemort's most trusted confidants, and he'd been a Death Eater for nearly two decades.

"There is," she confirmed, "a Dark Energy at the edge of the forbidden forest that bears the magical signature of Voldemort. We've been keeping an eye on it for some time. Recently, another case I'm working on as an Unspeakable happened to link with this one. All the Marked Death Eaters are experiencing some form of corruption and illness emanating from their Marks. The pain of this seems to be directly linked to the Energy here at Hogwarts."

She watched as Snape's eyes flitted down to his unseen forearm and back up to hers. The rest of his face remained impassive.

"The newer Death Eaters - those commissioned after the rise of Voldemort in the Spring of 1994 - are the worst affected. The Rakov Brothers have escaped MACUSA prison in Salem and are currently in Romania, all assumptions are that they are headed here."

There was a gasp around the room, but Hermione was focused on Snape's reaction. Ever the spy, there was only a slight flicker of surprise before he schooled his features and said, "And how am I to assist, Miss Granger."

"I am first trying to end the curse of the Mark," Hermione said. "I've been through the memories of Draco Malfoy, Theo Nott Jr., and Lucius Malfoy. I have a theory."

'Of course you do," Snape said, but it wasn't as rude as it would have been when she was his 'know it all' student ages ago. He seemed more amused and possibly even interested in whatever it was she'd hypothesised.

She took a breath and continued on. "It was actually Ron that suggested the possibility, but I think there is merit to it. You've received the Mark, you might know…"

"Just come out with it, Miss Granger," Snape instructed.

"I believe The Mark was given with a blood oath, but that the blood oath was of the kind where the bloodletting breaks the curse," Hermione continued.

Snape's eyes widened for a moment. He looked surprised that she'd reached that conclusion so quickly. "Yes," he finally croaked.

"You know how he constructed the curse?" she felt her heart race and the blood rush to her ears. This whole time, Professor Snape could have been the key.

"Weasley put this together?" he asked sceptically.

"Severus," Dumbledore tutted, speaking for the first time.

"It's true," Snape finally said, his drawling voice taking on the tone of Professor. "The Dark Lord wanted the staying power of a blood oath but he was unwilling to give his own. He searched for years for a way before he Marked the first Death Eater. Finally, after working a year with a rogue Unspeakable from Bulgaria he constructed the spell. It was binding. The only way to remove the Mark - and the curse that binds us to The Dark Lord - a Muggleborn witch or wizard would have to willingly sacrifice their own blood to break it."

Bingo.

"Do you know the counter spell?" Hermione asked immediately. She felt her throat closing with excitement.

"Obviously," Snape replied. "Before coming to Dumbledore to save Lily, I'd attempted to remove the Mark myself. In those days, The Dark Lord was much more free with the information he provided us. We all knew the price, and that it was very unlikely any of us would be able to convince a Muggleborn to rid us of the Mark. I believe Lucius Malfoy tried to pay one after The Dark Lord was vanquished the first time, but it didn't work because it was coercive and not entirely voluntary."

"Miss Granger, you aren't considering…" Dumbledore cut in.

"Why not?" she snapped, her tone harsh. "I am a Muggleborn, and I am willing."

"It's my understanding that these counter spells are quite taxing and often lead to the exsanguination of the volunteer," Dumbledore explained.

"I will come up with a solution," Hermione said confidently.

"If you'll take a piece of parchment," Snape said, "I'll tell you the ritual and counter spell."

Dumbledore tried to protest again, but Hermione ignored him, her eyes set on Snape's.

"Thank you," Hermione breathed, tears welling in her eyes as the gravity of the conversation finally washed over her. She was going to free them.

Hermione was anxious to get back to her parents' house immediately. She left The Energy in Harry and Ron's capable hands through the night as she rushed back home to do the research required to perform the counter-spell. She also wanted to talk to Padma about magical blood transfusion and replenishing options should the ritual require more of her blood than she could comfortably give.

"Still sleeping," Padma assured her. "But I've checked their Marks, and the spread is probably permanent. They will start feeling pain more acutely in their upper arms from now on."

Hermione pursed her lips but nodded. She needed to find out how to remove The Mark's curse fast. She didn't want it to spread any farther.

"Do you mind staying the night, or rather, the rest of the morning?" Hermione asked. "I've got to do some research and I'd rather someone was here with them."

"Of course," Padma said, "but you need to sleep. It's already near dawn."

Hermione waved her off. "I'm fine. I'll take a Pepper Up."

Padma pursed her lips, clearly not happy with that solution. "One potion, and if you fall asleep you stay asleep. No more."

"Yes, mother," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. Padma smirked at her and shooed her from the room.

Once in her own room she sat heavily at the desk and pulled out the notebook she'd written Snape's instructions in.

Separatium Sanguinius

Severed by blood

The ritual had two parts. First the Muggleborn witch or wizard had to swear an oath that their sacrifice was willing. Then, he or she had to perform the countercurse which required bloodletting. She sighed. The ritual would be incredibly painful for Draco and Theo. She could barely move near their left arms - this would require her to make a deep cut down the midline of The Mark.

What she really wanted to know - what Snape could not tell her because he did not know - was just how much blood would be required. She was familiar with blood rituals from her studies and a few cases she'd worked on early on in her career, but they were all different and, unfortunately, most of them required a great deal of blood.

She pulled out one of the most comprehensive tomes on the subject from her bookcase and heaved it onto the desk. She flipped to the index and located the back-end blood rituals. She'd never had to deal with them before and she knew annoyingly little about them.

Not for long.

Hermione's hand tingled as she jolted awake, drool rolling down her bottom lip where it rested on the book she'd been taking notes from before she must have dozed off. She shook her hand back and forth to try to will life back into it.

"Tempus," she whispered. It was already nine in the morning.

She sat up straighter and cracked her neck. She hadn't slept hunched over a desk in ages. She was getting too old for it.

She heard muffled voices down the hall and realised that Draco and Theo must have awoken.

Thank Merlin.

Feeling the need to see them with her own eyes, she padded down the hall to just outside the door where she could hear Draco's voice.

"No, not the beetle's eyes. It's filler, really."

"What would you suggest?" Padma asked, seemingly very interested.

Hermione walked into the room and three sets of eyes met her.

"Good nap?" Padma asked with her characteristic smirk. "Malfoy's helping me structure that cannabis potion you've been wanting to start but can't because you have about four hundred irons in the fire at the moment."

Hermione huffed but smiled at her friend. It was true. She had entirely too much on her plate and some things were slipping through.

"Well, carry on," she said, making her way over to Theo to run some diagnostics and check over his arm. It was much the same as the night before. "One to ten" she asked quietly.

"Four," he replied with a small smile.

Thank Merlin again.

"One to ten, Draco?" she asked running her wand over him as well.

"Four," he answered.

"So, if not the beetle's eyes, what would you use as a base?" Padma asked, taking notes.

"I'd combine billywig sting slime and dragon liver," Draco answered. He was leaning on his right side, propped up on his elbow and his eyes were focused. Hermione watched him come alive as he discussed Potions ingredients. It reminded her of their Hogwarts days.

"It's a smart idea to use the Horklump juice, but I'd cut it by half. Otherwise, you'll have to steep the potion twice as long," he instructed.

Padma nodded and wrote down everything he said. "So," she clarified, "I think I can get all of this today but I can't brew until tomorrow," she said. "I have a few appointments today."

"Oh, don't worry," Hermione said. "I can brew it. With Draco's instruction, I'm sure I'll manage."

"Okay," Padma said, looking between Hermione and Draco for a moment. "I'll have the ingredients sent over by post."

"Thank you so much, Pads," Hermione said, coming over to her friend and wrapping her in a tight hug. "Let me walk you out."

Once they were out of earshot of the men in her old bedroom, Hermione turned to Padma and said, "I've figured out how to remove the Dark Magic in their Marks."

Padma's eyes went wide, and she smiled brightly. "Really! That's great. When?"

"Well, I need to prepare for it. I don't want anything to go sideways. It requires a blood sacrifice," Hermione answered.

"Oh," Padma said, her face falling. "I assume you are already planning to volunteer."

Hermione swallowed, "Yes."

"Gryffindors," she sighed. "Well, then we'll have to plan this exactly. I want to be on standby to administer Healing aid."

"You aren't going to talk me out of it?" Hermione asked, knowing that Ron and Harry absolutely would when she told them what she was planning.

"Would it do any good?" Padma asked.

Hermione shook her head.

"Then, I'm not going to waste my time telling you that I think it's foolish of you to sacrifice yourself, yet again, in such a selfless and potentially reckless manner. If you are going to do this, I'm going to do my best to make sure you don't get yourself killed." Padma answered.

Hermione hugged her close again. "Thank you," she whispered, happy that, for once, she didn't have to lobby for her position.

"I'll come over tomorrow morning to discuss the plan," Padma said.

When she left through the floo, Hermione went back upstairs to Draco and Theo's room.

"Want to share with that class?" Draco drawled, from his bed as he leafed through an old edition of The Daily Prophet.

"What? Oh," Hermione said, "well…"

Now that she had good news to share, she wasn't exactly sure how to share it.

"Merlin, who died?" Draco asked, clutching his sheets, preparing for terrible news.

"No one!" Hermione said, chuckling nervously. "No, it is good news."

Draco and Theo both sat up straighter.

"Harry and I went in together to look at your memories as well as Lucius'," she began. "Harry was able to translate the Parseltongue curse. Ron actually was the one to suggest it was a blood rite."

Draco's eyes widened but Theo looked confused. "But he never used blood…" he began.

"Separatium Sanguinius," Draco supplied. "The curse was designed only to be broken by the free offer of blood." He looked pale as he realised the truth.

Hermione nodded. "Right," she said. "And after the two of you had a spike in pain and the curse began to travel up your arm, I went to Hogwarts to oversee the Dark Energy there."

"And was it stronger?" Theo asked.

"Yes, but I never got the opportunity to go to the grounds because, instead, I stayed in the Headmistress' office to speak to Professor Snape's portrait," Hermione explained.

No point in building up the anticipation, she continued on. "Professor Snape, apparently, knew about the blood rite. He indicated that most of the old Death Eaters did, and that your father, Draco, even tried to remove the Mark himself by paying off someone. But the sacrifice was not considered voluntary, so it didn't work."

"How did he know who could break it?" Draco asked. "It can't be just anybody."

Hermione swallowed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before looking back into his grey eyes. "It has to be a Muggleborn witch or wizard who gives their blood entirely voluntarily. But Snape does know the counter curse. He's given it to me. Once I figure out the logistics and speak with Padma about the potential risks, I'll be able to remove the Dark Magic from your bodies and reverse the curse."

"A Muggleborn," Theo said slowly.

"Yes," Hermione responded.

"You," Theo clarified.

"It does make the most sense," she pointed out.

"No," Draco said, his eyes growing dark with intensity. "Absolutely not."