Disclaimer: Except for OCs, the characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

Two days after taking the potion at the hospital, Katherine felt well enough to go to the Ministry and research Lucius's family. Severus wanted to go, but Potter and Weasley needed some last minute review before they took the N.E.W.T.s the next week. After discussion between the five of them, Severus consented to Katherine going, accompanied by Hermione. After all, they reasoned, it was unlikely that anyone would attack her at the Ministry. The trip to Hogsmeade had gone well enough.

Severus watched his wife leave his sight with feelings completely new to him. He had not discussed what he was sure the Healer had discovered. After watching her carefully the past two days, he realized it must be true. He had been prevented from realizing it because they had believed it impossible.

He didn't mention his suspicion to Katherine, yet, however. Not knowing why a Healer he knew and trusted would hide that information gave him pause. Whoever had quarreled with her had strong-armed her into first hiding the truth and then trying to erase it. He wanted to take his wife to a Healer who couldn't be compromised in that way before he got Katherine's fragile hopes up. He didn't realize how his own were racing until he watched her leave the lab with a feeling of trepidation that was foreign to him.

Katherine smiled kindly as she walked with Hermione, who twirled her hair nervously. Katherine wasn't sure how to put the girl at ease. She decided that after working together for an hour or two, things might smooth out. They stepped to a fireplace and made a Floo connection to the Ministry, where they were checked in and then sent to the archives. Once in the room, they found a table to use and started stacking books on it.

At one point, Katherine found one of the books she needed high up in the stacks and climbed a ladder to reach it. Hermione followed nervously. "Are you sure you should be up there, in your condition and all?"

Katherine laughed as she handed down the book. "I don't know why not. I've been feeling better than I have in years for the past month or so. I was a little light-headed after I got back from St. Mungo's, but now I'm perfectly fine and normal.

Hermione's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh."

Katherine's eyes narrowed, so the younger witch tossed around for a topic to distract her. "Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask anything you like, but of course I may not answer," was the laughing reply.

"How did you know you were in love with Professor Snape?"

Katherine walked over and sat down at that one. She thought for a minute, a smile playing over her face. "I don't know exactly how it happened. It was last spring, during the Easter Holidays. Without getting into too many details, I had dinner with him, thinking he was wonderful, and the next morning I looked at him at breakfast and knew that I belonged to him. It was frightening. I'd never loved a man before."

"Didn't you have a first husband?"

"Not by choice, and it was a difficult marriage."

"Did he hurt you?"

"He nearly killed me once and threatened to kill me after that."

"Sometimes I worry about Ron. He gets so jealous, and he gets so angry."

"I suspect he will learn to control his emotions better. I've only met Arthur a couple of times, but Ron reminds me of him."

"Really?"

"Yes, and he already does something I find very romantic."

She had Hermione's attention. "You're married to Professor Snape and you think Ron is romantic?"

Katherine laughed. "It's a little enough thing, but I think is shows how he really feels. I noticed at our open house that whatever room you were in, Ron tried to make sure you were the star of that room. He wants everyone to admire you."

"Why do you think he does that?"

"He wants your talents to be recognized, and he's willing to go unnoticed on his own account. He does it with Harry, too."

"They stopped talking once for weeks because Harry had the spotlight and Ron didn't."

"I guess Ron's already grown out of that sort of jealousy, then."

Hermione looked thoughtful and then started paging through one of the books full of records that they had obtained. Katherine looked through the book in front of her, as well. All was quiet for several minutes.

"It's just that—Harry and Ron, they're such boys still. I feel like I should be with a man."

"I know you don't want to hear it, but you're still young, too."

"But I feel like a woman, especially after everything that happened last year."

"All the more reason to be a girl while you still can. I wasn't eighteen yet when I was forced to get married and then I had to do grown up things. It felt like I was trapped for the rest of my life. I had a chance though, right after my first husband died, to simply enjoy being by myself and being a young woman who was unattached. I know you need to make your own choices, but I would suggest something similar."

"Did you know Professor Snape when you were at Hogwarts?"

"I had one interaction with him. He bumped into me—I found out later that it was on purpose—and stole my badger zipper pull."

"That doesn't sound like him at all."

"Not the way he is now, but he's grown and changed since those days, just as I have."

Hermione thought some more, but then noticed something in her book. "I see a Barry Malfoy-Prince, here."

Katherine looked through hers for the same name and found more information. "Yes, he could be the one. He's the same generation as Lucius's father, widowed years ago, and has no children."

They looked in a different book and found that his last known address was in Venice. They packed up their notes and left the archive room. Katherine instantly went on the alert, pulling her wand from her sleeve.

"What is it?" whispered Hermione.

"I'm not sure. It just feels like there's some magic in this hallway over and above what is used to maintain the building."

They heard footsteps and a witch came around the corner. "Oh, hello, Katherine!"

"Good afternoon, Silvia," she answered. Turning to her companion, she made the introduction.

Silvia beamed. "This is the famous Hermione Granger, then?" She seemed to want to start a discussion, but Katherine cut her off.

"We were just here for a little research, but now we need to get back. Severus will be waiting."

"Honestly, Katherine, your devotion to that wizard is awe-inspiring or awful. I'm not sure which."

"There was a time when both words meant the same thing," answered Katherine, absently. She was grateful that they had reached the lift at this point and that they could get right on and cut off the conversation.

"Not your best friend?" asked Hermione, watching Katherine heave a sigh of relief.

"Not even close. I've worked with her and she's a great Auror. Yet, there's something about her I can't warm up to, even aside from the fact that she once tried to marry Severus."

Katherine told her husband all about her afternoon. They lingered over dinner as she explained that she needed to take a trip on the continent. Severus corrected her pronoun to include himself and smiled as she laughed and agreed. He fingered his coffee cup as he listened to her. She told him that they would need to go to Venice to find Lucius's relative. Then he smiled.

"That suits my desires admirably," he said. "Why don't we take the Orient Express and make an event of it? Then we can perhaps do a couple of things I would like to do as well."

Katherine smiled. "You, all to myself on a train for two days? However will I manage? Can we leave soon?"

"We can leave the morning the N.E.W.T.s start, and that is Monday."

He got up and moved to her side of the table to assist her from her chair. Together they walked to his study. Since he had found a way to warm the balcony, they often sat on it during the evenings, enjoying the view. Severus was particularly solicitous of Katherine on this evening, and she couldn't help asking about it.

"Severus, what condition do I have?"

He had been dreading this and decided to prevaricate. "You have no conditions."

"But I must. Severus, what do I have that Hermione Granger would ask if I should be climbing ladders? She didn't believe me when I said I was perfectly fine. You weren't very specific with me at the hospital, so it sticks in my mind."

"I can't imagine what Miss Granger thinks she knows."

"I know there must be something, Severus. Ever since the day I was there, you've acted differently. There was some reason you wanted me to be asleep for two hours, as well. Something happened and you started acting like a spy. I need to know what was going on."

He looked out into the night and then back at her, resignation in his face. "I haven't wanted to discuss it because I still believe someone is trying to kill you—"

"Not that again!"

"—and now I think I have proof." He went into his study and got a potions book. He opened it and handed it to her, along with the parchment containing the recipe of the potion Geoff gave him.

"What is this?"

"Geoff gave me a sample of the potion intended for you. My students identified these components and it matches the recipe you see there in the book."

"But this is a recipe for—" The entire situation dawned upon her in all its horror and glory. She didn't know what to think about first. "You... you're my miracle."

"Pardon?"

"The Muggle doctors said it would take a miracle, and you did it, back after my trip to Paris."

He smiled. "I'm not positive, but that's what I believe."

She looked at the book again and started to panic. "But I took the potion! That must mean..."

He handed her another parchment. "You took this potion. It was supposed to mimic the side effects of the other one."

She looked at it and closed her eyes in relief. "So everything... is fine?"

"As near as I can tell."

"How did you manage it?"

"The Healer was so cheerful right before she went into the hallway and then was obviously acting when she came back. Then Geoff gave me a look right as he came in and he slipped me a vial of the potion when we shook hands. I determined then and there that you would not get that potion."

"So you put me to sleep for a couple of hours to play for time."

"Exactly. The golden trio proved their worth by calculating that potion and brewing a dummy one as well as an antidote in case someone at St. Mungo's got around your uncle."

"They did all that in two hours?"

"I'm going to speak with the N.E.W.T board about giving them all Outstanding on their Potions practical without taking it. Given the time constraint and the need for absolute precision and accuracy, the real-life test was a far greater indicator of what they can do than whatever happens during the exam."

She sat on the chaise lounge and looked out at the darkened park, not really seeing anything. After a few minutes, he could see that she was crying. He sat next to her and held her as she poured out her shock, worry, distress, and joy. "Could it really be true?" she asked. "After all this time, is it real?"

"I'm as sure as I can be," he said quietly. "When we're in Venice, we can find a Healer there who hasn't been convinced to kill, you and have it confirmed."

"You're sure someone wants to kill me?"

"I'm as sure as I can be of that, too. Your uncle is coming to dinner tomorrow. I thought we could discuss everything with him."

She gasped as she imagined talking to Uncle Sonny about it. "He'll be overjoyed."

They sat quietly. Katherine was tired, but more than anything, she felt as though she couldn't get close enough to her husband. If he was right, it changed everything.

"Severus?"

"Hmm?"

"If the Healer lied about needing the potion, is it possible she lied about the other things, too?"

"Such as?"

"Do we really need to wait until she says?"

He slid a hand along her neck and combed his fingers through her hair. "You know, I don't think we need to wait after all."

He whispered a variation to the charm that warmed the balcony so that it became warmer yet. He gently leaned her down on the chair. As the kisses and caresses began between them, Katherine spent some time pondering the miracle of their love and its effects. She decided that she was more in love with her husband than ever. Then came a moment when she couldn't think at all.

A/N: Thank you to Mark Darcy for beta reading!