May 1995

Saturday

The Third Task

Florence arrived at the site of the third task and was impressed by the size of the maze that Hagrid had grown.

She had missed the four Champions entering the gigantic maze for she had had to breastfeed Sophie and wait for Eileen to get to her house before she could leave for Hogwarts.

All her kids had gone home that weekend to celebrate her birthday, so leaving the house proved to be a challenge as each kid asked for something as she was on her way out.

But she'd finally arrived at the school and sat beside her husband in the staff's stands.

"Hey, Severus, what have I missed?" Florence asked.

"Hi. Well, your cousin has left the maze."

"Why?"

"She called for help and was in a strange state of shock when she was found. She told the jury that Krum attacked her."

She scoffed, "That's pretty low, to attack the only female Champion."

Severus cast a Muffliato around them before speaking again:

"Why did it take you so long to get here?" he asked, worried.

"How do you want me to start?"

"By birth order," he said almost smiling.

"Well, James and Nick left earlier without telling me where they were going – again. So I was going to leave Chris and Sophie with Liz. I mean, Chris is eight already, and Sophie will probably sleep for the next two hours. But Elizabeth screamed and shouted and cried and... well, in the end I called you mother and I had to wait for her to get to the house so I could come."

"Why didn't you let Tiffany or Mel take care of the kids?"

"They're both overworked already, Sev. All the kids are at home, and there are four of them asking things from the elves during the entire day on top of their usual housechores. I know they like to please but, at the end of the day, Mel and Tiff are beat."

"Maybe we should invite Winky to work for us," he said, truly considering that possibility.

"Winky? The elf who got clothes from Crouch?"

"Yes. Dobby told me she's been drinking her sorrows in the kitchens, she is heartbroken-" he stopped talking when more red sparks were shot out of the maze and two aurors ran inside, soon walking out carrying a fainted Viktor Krum between them.

"Hogwarts is the Champion!" the students began shouting from the benches. Some screamed: "Potter! Potter!" while others shouted: "Diggory! Diggory!"

"Now we just have to wait and see who'll get to the Cup first," Florence said.


Thirty minutes later

Severus suddenly grabbed his left arm, cursing: "Shit!"

And Florence looked at him, her eyes moving from his face down to his arm, widening.

"No. Nonono," she murmured, froze by terror, "What are you feeling?"

"It's like-" he spoke between gritted teeth, "like I'm being summoned," he avoided looking at her; they both knew what that meant, "We must find Dumbledore," he added.

Florence forced her body to move despite the paralyzing fear running through her veins.

She followed Severus down the stands, spotting the headmaster near the entrance of the maze and going to him.

She could sense how painful the summoning was and shared in Severus' pain through their bond, not letting him suffer alone – which granted her a scowl from him.

"Stop it, Florence!" he growled low, "I can handle it. I've dealt with this before."

"This is not like before, Severus!" she replied, as angry as he, "I won't let you suffer through it by yourself. If that's what you want, what's even the point of me being by your side?"

He rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else, for they had reached Dumbledore.

"Headmaster," Severus said.

"What's wrong, my son?" the old man glanced from the seemingly calm man to Florence beside him, not failing to see the fear and the anger in her green eyes.

"I'm being summoned," Severus said as if he wasn't in great pain, "And it's strong."

"So go, Severus," Dumbledore simply said.

"No! He can't just go!" Florence snapped, her heart racing.

"I have to go, Florence," Severus touched her arm, "Remember our plan."

"What if the plan doesn't work?" she whispered, looking into her husband's eyes pleadingly, "The plan never survives an encounter with the enemy," she recited a common muggle army saying.

"Trust me, Flor," Severus replied, touching her face, hating to see the desperation in her green eyes.

"No. No," Florence murmured, a tear rolling down her left cheek. Please. Don't go.

I have to go, love.

All of a sudden, a loud apparition 'pop!' was heard, both Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory appeared near the entrance of the maze, the Triwizard Cup on the floor beside them.

The stands exploded in applauses and shouts, the band began to play a happy victory song. But as they all cheered, Fleur Delacour screamed in terror, making them all stop.

Dumbledore ran towards the two boys, Florence and Severus right behind him.

"He's back!" Harry shouted, crying profusely, "Voldemort's back! Cedric asked me to bring his body back... I couldn't leave him, not there!" and he began sobbing.

"You're all right now, Harry," said Dumbledore, trying to calm the boy down, "You're safe now."

"What's happening?" demanded the Minister coming closer to them.

"A boy has just been murdered," said McGonagall, crying.

Florence and Severus moved away from that scene, but not before looking at the dead boy on the floor and then at the Diggory couple. The boy's father knelt on the grass, howling like a wounded animal, his pain as he looked at his only son lying dead on the ground filled Florence with dread and she couldn't stop the overwhelming sense of despair that took over her body.

"Florence," Severus called her; noticing her eyes glued on the Diggorys as they sobbed over the body of their son. Love, look at me. He called in her mind, touching her arm.

Then she seemed to snap out of the whirlwind of terror she had gotten swept into and looked at him. Severus motioned the stands and she turned to see what he was trying to show her.

"Why is Moody dragging Harry away?" she asked in a whisper, finding that very strange, "Has Dumbledore asked him to take the boy to the castle?"

"I'm afraid not," whispered Severus getting closer to her, "You go after them, and I..."

"You'll answer the summon," she looked into his dark eyes, the old nightmare of her father killing him coming forth strongly in her mind after so many years buried.

"You know I have to go," he sighed.

"I know," Florence nodded and more tears fell down her face.

Severus looked at her and he knew he couldn't go without kissing her once more – maybe for the last time.

"Don't think such things," she shook her head.

He held her hand and pulled her under the stands, where no one could see them, and cast a silencing spell before pulling her into his arms.

Florence fisted both hands in his hair and kissed him desperately, begging in his mind: Don't die! Please! Don't die!

Severus had a hand in her curls and an arm around her waist, holding her close as they violently snogged.

He hissed as the pain of the summoning intensified, stopping the kiss, "Flor," he said breathlessly, the hand from her hair slipping to the side of her face, "Love, if this is the last time I see you-"

"No! Don't say that!" she shouted, holding onto his robes with white knuckles, "Don't you dare say that!"

"Listen to me, Florence!" he barked, holding her face with both his hands, looking into the green eyes he loved, "I love you and our family. The last fifteen years have been perfect – you gave me a lot more than I've ever deserved- you're a lot more than I've ever deserved. You're everything to me."

"No nonono," she whimpered, crying, "Stop talking, please. You won't die!" she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, rubbing her face on his chest, "Please don't go!"

"I'll try my best to come home, my love," he tilted her face up and kissed her once more before prying her hands away from his waist.

"Please-" her voice broke as she stared at him through teary-eyes.

Keeping his eyes on her, Severus took a step back, touched his wand to his Dark Mark and disapparated.

Florence let out a chocked painful sob, "No!" her knees giving out from under her and she fell onto the soft ground, "Oh, gods, no, please. Please! He can't die. No. No! Please..." her heart clenching as her desperation made it hard for her to breathe.

Minutes went by, and her pain slowly turned into fury, her veela starting to take over her mind, pushing aside the paralysing thoughts of what she'd do if Severus died.

Protect family now. Fight. The veela whispered.

Florence took a few deep breaths and forced herself to focus: she had to get up and follow their plan if she wanted to see her father gone forever.

Go after Moody. That was what Severus had told her to do next.

So she stood up slowly, wiping her face, and walked out from under the stands, seeing it had to have been a while since the boys had emerged from the maze, for the stands were all empty and the body of Cedric Diggory had already been removed.

Her emotional breakdown had cost her time; who knew where Moody might have taken Harry?

Fuck.

She held her wand and an idea took form:

I could disapparate.

She had never tried apparating inside Hogwarts grounds before, but in that moment, with pain and determination running through her veins, she decided to try it – after all, she was Salazar Slytherin's descendant, maybe that granted her the ability to apparate there.

She thought about Dumbledore's office, flicked her wand, and the familiar feeling of apparition took over her body.

It worked!

She opened her eyes, expecting to be face-to-face with a very surprised Dumbledore, but his office was empty.

The infirmary. Harry most certainly was taken there, hurt as he was.

But as she walked from behind the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office, she heard screams coming from the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

What the hell? She thought, running towards the sound.

From the door of the dark DADA classroom, Florence could see into the professor's office and in there a man was being held down on a chair by Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks.

Is that-? No, it can't be. She frowned, beginning to recognise the man as she ran up the short flight of stairs in the front of the classroom.

But it was.

"Crouch Jr?" she exclaimed, stopping in shock at the door, "What's going on here?"

Dumbledore handed her a brown flask she remembered seeing Moody taking sips from during the whole year.

She opened it, recognising the smell: "Polyjuice Potion," and remembering that Severus said someone had been stealing from his personal stores.

"I'm afraid Moody has never been Moody," Dumbledore said.

Now that makes sense! She thought; that was why he didn't remember her involvement with Severus, and the reason he looked at her in a funny way – the mad Death Eater certainly saw similarities between her and her father but couldn't say anything about it.

"Where's the real Alastor Moody?" she asked.

"In that chest," answered Dumbledore, pointing at a large wooden chest with intricate locks, "I'll be sending him to the infirmary as soon as the Ministry comes to pick Crouch Jr," he paused, looking at her with concern, "How are you, dear?"

She glared at him, muttering: "Fine," as if she would talk about her feelings in front of two people she barely knew, a convicted murderer and her shell-shocked godson.

Harry!

She finally noticed his presence in the room; the boy stood in the corner, looking miserable. Her eyes fell on his dirty, wounded and tear-stained face, and he became her main concern.

"Come with me, Harry," she said, touching his arm, "I'll take you to the hospital wing to clean up those wounds and rest."

Dumbledore silently looked at her and she narrowed her eyes, daring him to stop her – which he didn't.

Florence helped Harry down the stairs outside the office, and as they walked through the classroom, she noticed he was limping.

"Wait, Harry," she quickly conjured up a stretcher, "Lie down."

The way the boy promptly accepted her offer told her how hurt he was.

His eyes, so much like his mother's, looked troubled – she'd never seen Lily's eyes that way before, then she felt tears running down her face again as she walked towards the first floor with the stretcher floating behind her.

"Why are you crying?" Harry softly asked.

"I'm crying for you. For my family. For the Diggory's. For the future," she wiped her face, "Why are you crying?"

"I'm tired, Madam Delacour," his voice sounded as tired as he claimed to be, "Every year something horrible happens to me. And now... after what I saw tonight... I know it'll only get worse," he turned to his left side and cried harder, trying to hide his tears on the stretcher's pillow.

"It's alright, Harry. You can cry in front of me. I can only imagine what you saw tonight... and I know about all the horrible things you've been through."

They walked into the hospital wing and Florence helped him into a bed, walking to Pomfrey's medicine cabinet and retrieving two vials, some bandages and an ointment.

She stopped by Harry's bed again, her mind focused on treating her patient; after a flick of her wand, he felt his body become clean.

"What's that spell?" he asked, surprised, "It's handy!"

"Thinking about skipping bath time, Harry?" she said, trying to make him smile as she applied the ointment on his bruises and bandaged his cuts.

It worked, he smiled weakly at her and she heard herself saying: "You have your father's smile."

That caught his attention, "You... knew my dad?"

"And your mum," she decided to tell him that, it couldn't do any harm, "We were good friends. Some might say you're only here today because Severus and I played cupid then."

He seemed to want to ask her something, but hesitated.

"What is it, Harry?" she finished bandaging his head.

"You and Prof. Snape. You are... a thing."

Her bottom lip trembled but she forced herself to smile, "Yes, we are a thing."

"That's why you're crying. He was a Death Eater – he must have been summoned."

She just nodded, not wanting to think about what could be happening to her husband as they spoke; she picked up the two vials she had selected.

"These are the Dreamless Sleep Draught and the No Pain Potion. So you'll sleep, have no dreams and feel no pain until tomorrow."

"That sounds amazing. Can I have some of those to go?" he asked, with a smile, "I could use them most nights lately."

He had tried to sound as if he was joking, but Florence could tell that there was, sadly, some truth to his request.

"Unfortunately, no, for they are highly addictive. But you can enjoy them for tonight," she gave him both vials and he drank them before lying down under the covers.

"Good night, Harry," she had to stop herself from kissing his forehead – something she always did with her kids.

Before he could reply, the potions started to take effect, and he fell into a deep sleep.


Florence didn't apparate home, she decided to walk from the castle to Hogsmeade, her mind focused on her bond with her husband, trying to sense anything that could tell her if he was injured, being tortured or dead.

But she couldn't feel anything.

Severus had closed off their bond completely – so the only certainty she had was that he was in her father's presence and using strong impenetrable occlumency walls to safekeep his memories.

And that wasn't reassuring.

Not being able to sense him let her mind free to come up with all kinds of possible scenarios; the most recurrent of them showed her husband being tortured and killed while her father promised to come after their children and kill them all as she watched.

Florence saw lights through her tears and was surprised to see she'd already reached the main square of her beloved village.

Looking around as she walked home, only the Three Broomsticks was open at that time of night.

She looked inside through the window as she walked by it, wondering what kind of person stayed in a pub after midnight.

"What the hell?" she suddenly exclaimed, stopping in the middle of the street.

"James?" she couldn't believe her own eyes, "And Nick?"

Her sons were in there!?

Florence stormed into the place, wand in hand, moving towards their table as fast as Fiendfyre.

Rosmerta was sitting on James' lap and Florence watched her son put his hand on the woman's thigh and saw red.

"Get off his lap, now!" she ordered, pointing her wand at Rosmerta.

"MUM!" the twins exclaimed, raising their hands and looking suddenly terrified.

"Florence," Rosmerta said, getting up slowly, with an ironic smile, "What a pleasure seeing you here."

Florence could feel the raw power of her veela taking over her, the tell-tale wind of her presence beginning to blow inside the pub as she stared at the woman who seemed to be harder to get rid of than a gnome infestation.

"You know..." Rosmerta said, unaware of the risk she was in, "Your sons look just like Severus. I didn't get to have him for myself, but maybe I can have one of them... or perhaps even both."

The twins were about to speak and deny any involvement with her, but Florence flicked her wand and in the next second Rosmerta was letting out a piercing scream and her face was bleeding.

The whole place went silent, no one daring to move or speak as they cautiously watched the two women.

Bloody hell! James sent his brother.

I guess that answers why we're not allowed in here: Rosmerta has a crush on dad. Nicholas grimaced.

Do you think he shagged her?

By mum's reaction? Absolutely.

And it was James' turn to make a disgusted face, looking at their mother and trying to talk to her, "Mum, we-"

"Not. A. Word," Florence growled, her wand unexpectedly pointing at his face, making him cower immediately, "I want you two home in five seconds. One-"

And the boys ran out of the pub.

Florence stared at Rosmerta again, watching her holding the side of her face that kept bleeding.

"You insane bitch!" Rosmerta shouted.

"I could kill you," Florence whispered, feeling her wand tremble with restrained energy, "And I'd obliviate everyone here afterwards, so no one would know..."

Rosmerta shivered, picking up her own wand, "I'll fight you!"

Florence laughed, "Is that so?" she eyed the detestable woman in front of her and rolled her shoulders, maybe a duel was exactly what she needed that night, "Come on then. Try me!"

Rosmerta silently cast something, but Florence easily sent it into the wall, destroying part of it, making the customers sitting nearby run away screaming.

The pub owner tried again, and once more Florence sent her spell into the wall, causing more destruction and terrifying the patrons.

Florence waited for her next attack but it never came, so she walked closer to the owner of the Three Broomsticks, "Is that all?"

She saw Rosmerta's lip tremble and tutted: "How disappointing," she glared at her with disgust, "You know... he never really wanted you."

Rosmerta's face contorted in fury and she attacked, but Florence deflected her spell with ease again.

"You crawled at his feet," Florence went on, "Like a whore, hoping that by letting him use you, he'd forget me."

Rosmerta shouted: "You want to talk about being a whore? You fucked him and Black for years!"

Langlock. Florence silently cast and stopped right at the other woman's face, pressing her wand in her neck.

"You'll never be anything but a gold-digging whore, Cassie," she whispered, her voice dripping with venom, staring Rosmerta in the eye.

When the woman didn't reply, Florence slowly lowered her wand and took a step back; looking around the pub, she could see debris covering half the floor and most of the customers had left in fear, the ones that remained had hid under tables and stared at her in fear.

Florence shot one last disdainful glare at Rosmerta and left the blasted place.