Knit Me Together

by QueenOfTheDreamers87

"Darkness is not dark for you, and light shines as the day." Some are dead, and some are gone, and some are left behind, scrambling for sense in the darkness. Severus' and Hermione's stories resume amid the bleak altered realities created in "In The Shadow Of Your Wings." This is Book Two of the Psalmody series.

6. Chapter 6

"Mum!"

"Ginevra Molly Weasley! Where on Earth have you been? Do you know how many nights I've spent…" Molly Weasley trailed off in the threshold where she stood. Her brown eyes glistened suddenly as she shook her head and held out her arms. "Come here, my child."

The two women were wrapped up in a somber embrace for a very long moment, and Severus began to feel acutely uncomfortable. He felt an unexpected squeeze around his right hand, and he let Hermione pull him into the quiet parlor next door. Hermione stared out the bay window at the beach and the sea while Ginny Weasley reunited with her parents in the kitchen. At last, Hermione murmured,

"Just give them one more moment, Severus, and we'll explain everything. I'm quite certain Arthur and Molly Weasley can figure that we haven't come for tea."

Severus gave a little grunt of annoyance and glanced around the cottage. "Where has everyone else gone?" he wondered aloud. "The twins, Kingsley, Bill and Fleur, Nymphadora? We need them all. Where are they? I can't let them dally next door all -"

"Molly Weasley's son is dead, and for months she has had virtually no assurance of her daughter's safety." Hermione's voice was a tight clip as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Severus. "Please. Give them a moment, will you?"

Severus sighed rather loudly and stared out the window the way Hermione had done. Harry Potter was back at Grimmauld Place with the Lovegood girl; none of them had thought it wise for Harry to come to Shell Cottage just now. Besides, Severus had been expecting a great many more lodgers at the cottage, and it seemed best to bring the fewest visitors possible. He'd actually rather insisted that Ginevra Weasley stay at Grimmauld Place, too, until the three females had insisted that Molly must be allowed to see her daughter.

"Professor Snape?"

Severus whirled around his shoulder to see that Ginny Weasley had come into the parlor. She wiped tears from her eyes as Molly and Arthur trailed behind with nervous expressions. Severus shot up an eyebrow at the youngest Weasley in expectation, and the girl continued,

"Perhaps we all ought to fill one another in."

Severus turned his attention to the Weasley parents. He sniffed and asked stiffly, "Where is everyone?"

Arthur shifted on his feet and said, "Tonks left in the middle of the night… we couldn't stop her. She heard on the radio that her father was abducted from St. Mungo's."

"The Wizarding Wireless Network reported on Ted Tonks' abduction?" Hermione asked in disbelief from beside Severus. That fact wasn't Severus' immediate concern, but Molly jumped in,

"No, of course not. The WWN and the Daily Prophet only report what the new regime wants people to know. To help keep others up-to-date, and to increase dissent, Fred and George have teamed up with their friend Lee Jordan. They've made a new program called Potterwatch. There are passwords to listen in, and they report the truth. It's all very important. They're apparently safe, wherever they are… as safe as any of us can be just now."

Molly looked rather distressed at her own words, and Hermione gave a resolute nod. But then she prodded, "So… Tonks heard about her father and… left? Where?"

Arthur sighed. "She thinks they've got him at Malfoy Manor," he said. "Kingsley, Bill, and Fleur left this afternoon to go after her. They're scoping out Wiltshire to assess the situation."

"The Dark Lord is almost certainly still there," Severus sneered. He was unable to disguise the disgust in his voice as he continued, "Nymphadora is visibly pregnant, and she runs off on a suicide mission to rescue her father? What sort of nonsense -"

"Well, Severus, since you killed her husband in Malfoy Manor, and since our son died there, I think it's reasonable to gravely fear for any relative being held captive in those walls." Molly spoke with a harshness that Severus had never heard from her. His mouth snapped shut and he gave an apologetic incline of his head.

"How long has the search party been gone?" he asked quietly.

"Four hours," answered Arthur. "We stayed here in case… well, frankly, in case something like this happened. We didn't think we ought to leave the cottage abandoned just now."

"No, almost certainly not," Severus replied. He gestured to the rickety furniture in the old parlor, and everyone squished onto small divans and chairs.

Severus, Hermione, and Ginny launched into a detailed explanation of what had come to pass since they'd last seen Molly and Arthur. They described the way they'd destroyed Hufflepuff's cup in Gringotts - how they'd broken in, located the thing, and used the wyvern dagger to eradicate the horcrux. Severus benevolently left out the detail of what Ginny had been doing with Harry Potter the day of the Gringotts break-in. It didn't seem right to inform Arthur that his daughter had been mid-coitus with The Boy Who Lived. Instead, it was reported that Severus and Hermione were reunited with Potter at a Muggle establishment, and from there the group had been able to maintain a degree of contact.

Ginny and Hermione took over the conversation as they described learning that Luna Lovegood was being held prisoner. They discussed how they'd snuck into Hogwarts to obtain the Elder Wand and Ravenclaw's diadem and to free Luna. They talked about the destruction of the diadem and the days that had passed since then. The discovery of the 'first Golden Snitch' clue was described, as well as how Severus had back to Hogwarts himself to fetch the thing.

"Bless my soul," Arthur Weasley finally said. "You lot have been busy, haven't you?"

"And we're hardly finished," Severus said quietly. "What comes next is the worst bit, I'm afraid. It's a bit complicated, if I'm honest, by the fact that Nymphadora and the others may be at Malfoy Manor at this very moment. But we need to carefully strategize an assault that includes Harry Potter. The snake needs to be killed immediately; we are quite certain it is a horcrux, as well. Somehow… and we are admittedly not certain that this will be in a non-lethal manner… somehow the horcrux within Harry Potter must be destroyed. He will likely be killed."

Molly and Arthur looked horrified, but Arthur finally nodded and flicked his eyes to his daughter. "Ginny?" he whispered, "You've… you've talked all this over with Harry, have you?"

"Yes, Dad," Ginevra nodded. She wiped her eyes with her knuckles again, for it seemed she had begun to cry once more. Severus tried not to roll his eyes as he reached in his breast pocket and pulled out a clean handkerchief. He held it out to Ginevra Weasley the same way he'd done with sobbing female students for years. She took it and dabbed at her eyes, saying quietly, "Thank you, Professor Snape."

"Our hope is that once Harry has all three Deathly Hallows, he may somehow survive having the horcrux within him destroyed," Hermione said in an uneasy tone from beside Severus. He looked at her as she spoke and watched her twist her fingers nervously through one another. "As Severus said, we aren't certain of how that might work, or if it will work. It isn't as though we can take the wyvern dagger to Harry's horcrux, you understand. And we haven't worked out how to kill the snake, Nagini. Horcruxes don't die easily. A Killing Curse won't do it."

Molly Weasley nodded and licked her bottom lip carefully. "Well, we'll just have to come up with something," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. She straightened her spine and looked directly at Severus. "And when do you mean for this great battle to take place?"

Severus shrugged rather helplessly. "As I said, it's all rather complicated no by how Nymphadora's gone to Malfoy Manor. Whatever assault we plan may not be in Wiltshire. It may be that we have to lure the Dark Lord directly to Potter."

"Use the boy as bait?" Arthur Weasley asked, looking uncomfortable. Severus did not answer.

"Mum, aren't you worried for Bill… and, erm, for Fleur?" Ginny Weasley interjected suddenly. "You said they'd gone with Tonks and Kingsley… I'm terrified for them. That house is hell."

Molly shut her eyes and shook her head. "Your brother Bill is a smart man," she reassured Ginevra. "And whether Fleur can use baking charms or not doesn't especially matter today. She's good with her wand in tight situations. I know they'll back. I know it."

The woman's fingers tightened around her knees and her eyes wrenched more tightly shut. Arthur Weasley wrapped his arm about Molly's shoulders and whispered something gently into her ear. Severus sighed and looked to Hermione.

"Should we go there?" she whispered, and he knew what she meant. She was asking whether she and Severus ought to go to Malfoy Manor. Severus shook his head resolutely.

"The moment they see me, they'll have precisely no compunction at firing a Killing Curse or three," Severus informed Hermione. "I shudder to think what they'd do to you. It's best that you and I stay far away from Malfoy Manor, or from any Death Eaters, until the moment we absolutely must face them in battle."

"I could go," Ginny offered in a brave, foolish swell of Gryffindor spirit. Severus scowled at the girl, who continued breathlessly. "I could go there, Disillusion myself, and figure out what's going on. See if we need reinforcements, or -"

"Ginny, you're staying right here," Arthur Weasley insisted. It was the first time Severus had ever heard the man be legitimately firm with any of his children. But Arthur's face had gone red with worry and anxiety, and his hands shook as he neatly folded them in his lap. "You've been gone from your mother far too long. She's been more worried about you than about anything else in her life. You're not going to Malfoy Manor. You're staying here. Tonks left to try to save her own father; the others are capable warriors. Either they will come back with Ted Tonks or they won't. Nothing we can do from here will influence that. And you'll not chase after them."

Ginny glared at her father for a split second, until the girl seemed to realize her parents were still wracked with guilt and grief about Ron's death. Severus watched the tense exchange of glances between the three Weasleys, and he watched Ginny's brown gaze give up. Finally the girl nodded.

"Then all we can do is wait," Severus shrugged. "It is as you say, Arthur. Either they will come back or they won't. In the meantime, we need to get contact to the twins and Lee Jordan. To Minerva McGonagall, Hagrid, and Neville Longbottom."

"How do you mean to contact all these people?" Arthur demanded. "It isn't as though we've got an owlery around here."

Hermione sighed rather loudly from beside Severus, and, curiously, Ginny nodded at her as the girls locked glances. Severus furrowed his brow and watched Hermione reach into her Expanded bag.

"Accio Dumbledore's Army coin," she said clearly, and then she pulled her hand from the bag. She held out a shining Galleon toward Severus and said in a bit of a proud tone, "I enchanted coins with Protean Charms during the secret meetings of Dumbledore's Army. The others - our allies - have them. That includes Neville, and he'll know to contact Professor McGonagall and Hagrid. The way these work is that I put the date and time of the next DA meeting on them. Now, the only problem is -"

"Location." Severus nodded and took the Galleon from Hermione. He could tell at once that it was fake; it didn't have the proper heft of a legitimate Galleon. Still, the spellwork involved in enchanting so many coins to work properly together was impressive. He himself had quite a bit of experience with complicated Protean Charms, of course, having created the Oraverit devices. Severus closed his fingers around the coin and reassured Hermione, "I believe I will be able to enchant this so that you can broadcast a location to the other coins. It may take a while, and it would obviously be best if I had more than one to use…"

"Here," Ginny said firmly. She pulled something from her own jumper pocket, and then she planted her own Galleon down upon the coffee table. Severus picked it up and could not stop himself from asking,

"Who else has them?"

"Harry, Neville, Luna, Ginny, and myself, of course. Fred and George. Hannah Abbott, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Michael Corner, Colin Creevey, Susan Bones, Lavender Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil… and others. There were quite a few. And, of course, Ron had one."

That made Severus nervous; the thought that Ronald Weasley might have had his copy of the coin on his person when he'd been killed. For all they knew, the Death Eaters had kept the coin as a trophy or a clue to the next level of power. The last thing Severus wanted to do was to broadcast sensitive information into a Protean object that had been on Ronald Weasley when he died.

"Give me a day or two to ponder this," he requested gently. "There may be a way to manipulate the Protean Charm to make it more selective… so that you only contact Longbottom's coin, you understand? Or the twins'. I'll need your help to think of a solution, Hermione."

"Of course," she nodded. Severus tucked the coins into his breast pocket, and then an uncomfortable silence fell upon the parlor. The air was heavy and thick with questions they all had but were far too tired to ask. At last, Molly Weasley said,

"Girls, will you come and help me make some tea and biscuits?"

Hermione and Ginny followed Molly into the little kitchen, and Severus was left alone with Arthur. He stared for a long moment out the window, ignoring Arthur entirely until the man said,

"She's just a child. And you will kill her if you die."

Severus shut his eyes. Arthur was referring, of course, to the fact that those bound by Magnum Verbum Honoris were completely inseparable, even unto death. Severus gulped heavily and tried to collect a solid rebuttal. But all he could say was,

"Hermione is not a child. You know that full well, Arthur."

"You have to admit, Severus, that it's… odd. It's discomforting. You were her teacher, for goodness' sake. You were meant to keep the students of the school safe, and -"

"Never once did I fall derelict of that duty, even in the face of enormous adversity," Severus insisted, opening his eyes. He pinched his lips tightly and said, "If you must know, the way Hermione and I… got to know one another… the way we fell in love? I was giving her private lessons in wandless magic. I was trying to keep her safe. Once I learned what the Death Eaters had planned for Muggle-borns, I knew that Hermione Granger alone among such students had the ability to protect herself. So I gave her wandless lessons, and I fell in love with her. I fell in love with her for a great many reasons, Arthur, but I am no pervert. I would not have been attracted to a child. The fact that her mind works so uniquely, that she has an 'old soul,' made me blind to the uniform she wore. I found I was unable to pay attention to our respective roles in the school. I was in love with her. I apologize if that is 'discomforting' to you."

Arthur's cheeks were pink, and he looked as if there were a great bit more he wanted to say. But then Molly's shrill voice called from the kitchen,

"Gentlemen! Shortbread and tea are served at the table!"

---

By the time the clock chimed midnight, Hermione was tired of sitting around and waiting. She was so nauseated with anxiety about the still-missing group that she stepped outside for air. The thought of Tonks, whose belly was heavy with Remus Lupin's child, in mortal danger made Hermione want to vomit. Then there were Kingsley, Bill, and Fleur… there hadn't been a peep about them. Hermione could only imagine the worst at this point.

Nine hours missing, and no sign of any of them. They had to be dead, Hermione thought. Bill, Fleur, Kingsley, Tonks and her baby… they were all dead now. There was no other logical explanation. And, worst of all, there was nothing at all Hermione could do from Shell Cottage.

Molly and Arthur Weasley were sitting in the parlor with Ginny. For several hours, the family members had talked about Ron, about Harry, about all manner of inconsequential things. As the hours had dragged on, their tense banter had given way to long bits of silence during which everyone contemplated the likely fate of those at Malfoy Manor.

Hermione and Severus had spent a few hours attempting to modify the complicated Protean Charm she'd placed on the DA coins. They practiced for a while with books from the house, seeing whether they could communicate messages more selectively using the modified charm. There were still issues; the new Protean Charm had to be applied to each affected object in person. That was obviously a large obstacle. But Hermione's brain had become less amenable to troubleshooting magic as the night wore on, and eventually they'd decided they would address the coins in the morning.

Severus had gone outside an hour earlier. He had clearly felt like an intruder in the intimate Weasley family discussions as hope began to dissolve. Now, as the final stroke of midnight stopped vibrating in the grandfather clock, Hermione decided to join Severus outside. The cold night air would do her good, she thought. It would help clear her mind of the stifling, overwhelming sense of dread.

But when she opened the door that led to the beach walkway, Hermione realized it was raining. Far off in the distance, toward the crashing black waves, she could see the little outline of Severus' body. He stood on the shore, his cloaks billowing and whipping about him in the wind. Hermione frowned and swirled her wand in the air, starting at her shoes and going all the way up to her hair.

"Corpus callidum," she murmured. The Body Heat Charm took hold almost immediately, sending a pleasant swell of warmth through Hermione's veins. Despite the cold rain falling, Hermione felt comfortably warm as she stepped outside. She was getting wet, of course, and there were spells to help with that, too. But Hermione found that, so long as the rain wasn't cold on her skin, she did not mind it.

She trudged across the wet sand toward the black figure near the water. She thought about lighting her wand, but realized she relished the dark just now. Somehow, Severus sensed her coming, and he turned his head to the left toward her. His hair hung down into his eyes in limp black knots. His heavy clothes appeared to be soaked through, and his face was very serious in the darkness.

"Any word?" he asked simply, and Hermione shook her head. Severus' eyes flashed briefly, and Hermione knew it was because he was thinking the same thing as her. If Tonks and the others weren't back yet, then they weren't coming back.

"Go inside," Severus scolded Hermione as she approached. "This storm's only going to get worse."

Hermione frowned. "Why are you standing so far out here?" They were at least a hundred yards from the cottage now. Severus' chest puffed out as he took a deep breath. Then he said,

"I needed to think. Alone."

"Shall I leave you be, then?" Hermione wondered whether he'd told her to go inside because he was worried about her, or because he wanted solitude. Either way, she began to think perhaps she ought to listen to him. She did say, over the howl of the wind and rain, "I have a Body Heat Charm upon myself. I'm not cold."

Severus smirked at her and took a few steps toward her to close the gap. The waves crashed up beside him and the rain smacked Hermione's cheeks viciously. The night was anything but peaceful, and peace was why she'd initially come outside. Hermione was surprised when Severus held out his hand and cupped her jaw. His palm and fingers were rough and calloused, and as he dragged his skin along hers, Hermione shuddered. She let her mouth fall open on instinct and shut her eyes, drawing herself up closer to Severus' sodden body. She put her palms flat on his chest and murmured at a button,

"Everything's about to happen, isn't it? Either he will be killed, or he won't. And Harry, and the rest of us. You and I. Our final fates are about to unleash themselves." Hermione felt her eyes burn and shook her head, still staring at Severus' chest. "I am not ready."

"You are. And, anyway, you must be ready. There is no choice," Severus drawled. He dragged Hermione's chin up until she was forced to meet his eyes. In the darkness and rain, Hermione struggled to focus on his eyes. Instead, she focused on the feel of his hands holding her face like a rare gem. She focused on the feel of his lips pressing firmly against hers, on the feel of his hard body against hers as she drew herself near to him.

She began to think that perhaps this was going to turn into an adventure - the two of them having mad sex with one another on a wet beach. But then Hermione whirled over her shoulder, for there had come an alarming series of cracks from the air behind them. Hermione struggled to see in the dim nighttime light. All she could make out were Apparated bodies halfway back toward the house.

At first, Hermione felt a flood of relief churn through her. Tonks was safely back. Kingsley and Bill and Fleur… they'd come back. They were alive. But then she felt Severus suddenly grasp her shoulders, and he hissed,

"Those are Death Eaters. The way that one's moving… that's Travers. That's Mulciber."

Hermione felt her heart sink all the way into her stomach and then fly back up to her throat. Death Eaters at Shell Cottage? How had they learned of its location?

Torture, Hermione thought with a stab of horror. On instinct, she whipped her wand from her robes and made as though she were going to run back to the cottage.

"Wait!" Severus cried from beside her, wrenching her back toward him by her waist. He shook his head gravely and pulled his own wand out. Then he Disillusioned Hermione and did the same to himself. He vanished almost entirely into the black night.

"Have you got your wand out?" he asked in a rushed murmur, and all Hermione could say back was,

"Yes. Let's go; there's no time to waste!"

She and Severus began chasing the Death Eaters back toward the house. Hermione felt her chest burning as she ran; it was much more difficult to trek quickly through sand than it was to run on pavement. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't run fast enough. The shadowy figures were approaching the cottage. They were almost in the house. Hermione and Severus wouldn't make it. They wouldn't save Ginny, and Molly, and Arthur Weasley. Those three would be killed, just like the others.

"Stupefy!" Severus' voice said from beside Hermione, as he seemed to realize that they weren't going to reach the Death Eaters in time. Hermione jabbed her wand forward and mimicked Severus.

"STUPEFY!"

Hermione watched the blue balls of light shoot forth, seemingly from thin air, and hurtle toward the Death Eaters' cloaks. Each of the men was shot up and backward a good distance, and then he each crumpled onto the beach, Stunned.

Hermione kept running, even as she felt Severus lift their Disillusionment Charms. Finally she and Severus came upon the slumped Death Eaters on the sand. Severus kept his wand carefully pointed at the black heaps, and he said in a breathless voice,

"Hermione, go into the cottage and tell the Weasleys that we have two prisoners."

---

"Rennervate… Rennervate."

Severus pointed his wand first at Mulciber's chest, then at Travers'. The two wizards blinked their eyes slowly and glanced about the room. Then, probably on instinct, they both struggled against the Invisible Ropes Hermione had used to bind them to the chairs in the parlor. It was no use; Hermione's restraints held fast. Severus sniffed lightly and tipped his chin up, watching Mulciber curl his lip with disgust.

"Well, Severus, did you ever think we'd find ourselves here?"

Severus glanced around. "In a beach cottage in Cornwall? No, Mulciber. I did not suspect you and I would ever find ourselves together in a beach cottage in Cornwall."

It was a snide response, for of course that hadn't been what Mulciber meant. Mulciber had been a friend of Severus' during their school years (a fact that had greatly upset Lily Evans due to Mulciber's cruel and sadistic sense of humor). Severus had gotten a sour taste for Mulciber after he rejoiced in Lily's death, and relations between the two of them had been less than amicable ever since.

"You're so big a traitor, Snape, that I don't think even you know what side you're on." Travers spat hard onto the floor at Severus' feet. Severus eyed the wad of saliva and took a half step back before aiming his wand at the disgusting puddle.

"Tergeo," he mumbled, and the insult was gone. He raised his eyes to Travers and Mulciber. There was no use with pretense now. It had probably been long obvious in Death Eater circles that Severus Snape was a traitor, a coward, and marked for execution. Severus lowered his wand and said in a very firm voice, "One chance, the both of you. Tell us where Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Bill and Fleur Weasley are."

"I won't say anything at all in the presence of your little Mudblood slut, Snape," Travers sneered. Severus felt an odd stab of concern that amplified when Travers continued, "Oh, yes. Dolores Umbridge looked further into all those documents your little whore provided to back up her claims of being half-blood. But it's all for shit, isn't it, Snape? She's a Mudblood, and you knew it all along. But you just couldn't keep it in your trousers, eh? You're as dirty as she is."

"Crucio!" Severus jabbed his wand toward Travers' chest before he could calibrate his actions. A red jet of light burst onto Travers and exploded in a fiery web. Then the man began to convulse and shriek where he sat tied to his chair. Behind Severus, Ginny Weasley gasped in horror as her mother tried to convince her to leave the room. Severus could do nothing but glare at Travers while his Cruciatus Curse wracked the man. Finally he felt Hermione's hand on his right forearm, pushing his wand downward as she murmured,

"Enough, Severus."

When the curse dissipated, Travers glared at Severus and spat at his feet again. This time it was blood that came from his mouth instead of saliva, and Severus left it on the floorboards. He shrugged and looked to Mulciber.

"And you?" he droned. "Will you tell us where they are?"

"Severus," Mulciber said, his mouth twisting into an ugly grimace, "How many times have I stood up for you when Bellatrix insisted you were a traitor? Many times. Many times have I defended your loyalty to the Dark Lord. But I was wrong. Will we tell you where your little friends are? Fuck yourself, Severus."

"Legilimens," Severus replied smoothly. Mulciber was anything but an Occlumens, and his mind cracked wide open for Severus. He was forced to sort through all manner of unseemly personal memories as he thought hard about Nymphadora Tonks. At last, a memory came hurtling to the fore, and Severus let the images wash over him.

'Listen… you've already killed my father. Don't do any more damage over something silly." Nymphadora Tonks hugged her swollen belly as she winced in pain. The dining room in Malfoy Manor was a mess - torn curtains, a still-smoldering velvet chair, and spatters of blood left over from Ted Tonks.

'You and your little bastard will pay the price for your silence,' Yaxley was saying to Tonks. 'Tell us where Potter is.'

'As I've said a dozen times over… I have no idea,' Tonks insisted. She clutched her belly more tightly and shifted her knees on the carpet. 'Even if I knew, I probably wouldn't tell you, but I don't know. Honestly. I don't know.'

'That's it.' Mulciber raised his wand and began to incant, 'Cruci-'

'Put your wand down, Mulciber.'

Mulciber whirled over his shoulder to see Lord Voldemort striding confidently into the dining room. Mulciber lowered his wand at once and bowed to the Dark Lord, just as Yaxley and Travers did beside him.

'My Lord,' Mulciber murmured quietly. Voldemort did not acknowledge him, instead saying sharply,

'There is a certain… finesse… to gaining information, Mulciber. Torture this woman any further and it will all be for nothing. Step aside.'

Mulciber did as he was ordered. He pulled himself over to the fireplace and leaned one arm upon the mantle. He watched with rapt attention as Voldemort took a few more steps toward the prisoner. Tonks' normally stoic expression gave way for a moment to a look of abject terror. She averted her wide eyes, finally settling her gaze on the carpet as she mumbled,

'I don't know anything. Let me go. For the sake of my child, if you've any humanity -'

'For the sake of your child,' Voldemort repeated coldly. 'Hmm. Yes. There is that, isn't there? You are aware, Nymphadora, that it is very, very possible to take your child away from you and still get the information I desire?'

Tonks' back began to heave with quiet sobs as she begged, 'Please. Please, I don't know anything.'

'Legilimens.'

It was very odd for Severus to watch Mulciber's memory like this, to be fully engrossed in a Legilimency session and to watch a memory of the Dark Lord doing the same. But Severus pressed on, watching in Mulciber's mind as Voldemort searched Tonks' memories.

Finally, Voldemort pulled out of Tonks' head, leaving the witch gasping for air and looking nauseated.

'She does not know where Harry Potter is,' Voldemort declared smoothly. He lowered his wand and dragged his spindly finger tips over his bare, grey head. He turned to Mulciber and said, 'She was last at Shell Cottage. It's protected by the Fidelius Charm, and she is not the Secret-Keeper. But I can see clearly enough that's where she's been. It's a desolate little place that belongs to the Blood Traitor Weasley family. Shell Cottage, just outside Tinworth in Cornwall. Go there now with Travers; there will be some members of the Order of the Phoenix there, no doubt.'

'My Lord,' said Travers, 'What shall we do about the ones we find there?'

'Anyone but Potter, go ahead and kill,' Voldemort said, as if it were nothing. 'If you find Potter, bring him to me. Do your best before killing the others to find out where Potter is. Yaxley, take Nymphadora and her little bastard down to the dungeons with the others. Oh, and bring me a few of Bill Weasley's fingers; I should like to send them with Mulciber and Travers.'

Yaxley frowned deeply and blinked. 'A few of his fingers, My Lord?'

'Are you unable to cast a severing charm?' Voldemort raised his eyebrows, making his grey paper-thin skin crinkle in an ugly fashion. 'There is no better motivation for uncooperative parents than a direct threat to their children. Molly and Arthur Weasley are still mourning the death of poor Ronald, I'm sure. Take them a few of young William's fingers, and I should think they'll tell you exactly where Potter is if they know. Go now, all of you.'

---

Severus yanked himself from Mulciber's mind and felt sick. He realized the irony of how what he did so neatly mirrored the scene in the memory he'd pulled. He was torturing and using Legilimency upon Mulciber the same way that the Death Eaters and Voldemort had done with Tonks. But, he assured himself, at the very least his intentions were good.

He thought for a moment about trying to find Bill Weasley's fingers on Mulciber, but he decided against it. Instead, he cast his wand in a careful slice across the front of Mulciber and then Travers, and whispered, 'Petrificus Totalus. Petrificus Totalus.'

The two were immediately frozen, paralyzed except for their eyes. Severus sighed and turned to Hermione, Molly and Arthur, and Ginevra.

"Nymphadora and the others are at Malfoy Manor. As far as I can tell, they are alive." He brought his gaze to Hermione and nodded firmly. "Go outside and make a Muggle car."

"Make a Muggle car?" Hermione repeated, sounding baffled. She threw up her hands and demanded, "How on Earth am I meant to do that?"

"Transfiguration and Conjuring should do the trick," Severus said tightly. "I know you are capable of this, Hermione, and I need you to do it now. Take Arthur with you; he knows all about Muggle cars and can tell you the parts you need. Go. Hurry."

Hermione's mouth fell open, but she nodded quickly and turned to go out the front door of the cottage. Arthur Weasley followed her, muttering something about a drive shaft.

"Miss Weasley," Severus said, turning to Ginny, "I think you ought to go back to Grimmauld Place. This cottage will not be safe now that the Dark Lord knows of its location. Please inform Mr. Potter and Miss Lovegood of what we've learnt here today. Stay there with them; a few solid Protego Totalum wards about the place wouldn't hurt, either."

"Right." Ginny nodded, looking to her mother for a fleeting moment before she said, "You and Dad will be along soon, won't you?"

"Of course, dear." Molly Weasley's lips were white, but she nodded vigorously and petted Ginevra's hair. Severus could not conceptualize the horror that must be coursing through Molly Weasley just now. Her son Ronald had been killed at Malfoy Manor, and Ginny very nearly. Now her son Bill was being held prisoner there. It was too much for one mother, Severus thought. As Molly and Ginny headed toward the door, Severus hurried to look in Mulciber's pockets.

He tried not to vomit when he felt the chilled, soft squish of gore inside Mulciber's right jacket pocket. He sighed and pulled out three human fingers, the ones Voldemort had ordered Mulciber to bring from Bill Weasley. Severus swallowed a throat full of bile and pointed his wand at the fingers.

"Evanesco," he murmured, and then he wiped his blood-stained fingers on Mulciber's dark jacket. Severus pointed his wand at Travers and stared at the man's infuriated eyes. "Don't worry, Travers. Soon enough you'll have no idea you ever hated me." He gripped his wand more tightly and twisted it to the right. "Obliviate."

There was a little vibration as Severus wiped a significant part of Travers' memory. He could feel the most relevant memories, as well as others associated with the wizard's identity, fading away into nothingness. Severus did the same to Mulciber. Neither wizard stirred; they were still paralyzed. But their blinking eyes went utterly blank. Severus quickly cast a memory replacement charm upon each of them, filling in blanks with new information. It drained a substantial amount of energy from Severus to do so, and he felt a stab of pain in his abdomen as the new memories drifted into the wizards.

"Finite Incantatem. Relashio," he said, and Travers and Mulciber were suddenly freed from their bindings.

Severus quickly tucked his wand away, before either Travers or Mulciber could realize what was going on. Behind him, he could hear Molly Weasley's quiet footsteps coming back into the room. The woman said nothing, which was probably for the best.

"So, we'll be back next week to check the plumbing work for you, Mr. Snape," Mulciber said, holding out his hand for Severus to shake. It felt odd to do so, since wizard culture did not partake regularly in hand-shaking. It was one way that Severus knew the Obliviation and memory replacement had worked. He shook Mulciber's hand, and then Travers.

"Please don't hesitate to call us if you need us back out before then," Travers said to Molly. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Snape."

"Oh. Yes. Of course." Molly Weasley nodded fervently and glanced out the window. "Your car's outside," she whispered, sounding frightened.

"Right, then. Good evening." Mulciber inclined his head politely as he and Travers headed out the front door. Severus looked out the window to see that Hermione and Arthur had either hid or Disillusioned themselves. In any case, they weren't anywhere in sight.

Travers and Mulciber opened the door of what appeared to be a beige Morris Marina. Severus felt queasy with anticipation as he waited to see how well Hermione's handiwork functioned. He breathed a large sigh of relief when the car turned over, the headlights clicked on, and the two former wizards drove off the beach.

"I had my doubts about the transmission," Hermione's voice said, and Severus whirled to see her beside him, looking out the window. "And I confess I knew very little about making velveteen upholstery."

"It was masterfully done," Severus said honestly.

"As, it would seem, was your wiping of their memories. Who did they think they were?" Hermione asked.

"Muggle plumbers," Severus answered. He looked beyond Hermione to see Arthur Weasley cradling his wife's head upon his shoulder. Severus sighed and tried not to sound harsh as he said, "We need to leave. It isn't safe here anymore. We should go at once."

---

"There. That should do it." Severus held out Hermione's fake Galleon, and she took it with shaking fingers. She turned the gold coin over in her hand and demanded,

"How do you know?"

Severus pinched his lips and huffed, "Hermione, the modified Protean Charm has worked beautifully now on ten different pairs of items. I promise you, this will work."

Hermione nodded. She and Severus had both been awake for about forty-eight hours now, aided by liberal doses of Wiggenweld Potion as they worked on the DA coin conundrum. It seemed they had finally found a solution, and Hermione asked,

"What date, then? What should I inscribe?"

"May I do it?" Severus asked, more warmly than Hermione would have expected of him given his sheer exhaustion. She nodded and handed the coin back over to him. Severus pointed his wand at the coin and then held it up to his lips. "First of March, at eight o'clock. Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire."

He shut his eyes and muttered a long incantation, and Hermione watched as the coin glowed for a brief moment in his hand. She gulped and asked,

"So… Neville will get that message? And the others?"

"The ones on the list you gave me," Severus assured her.

Hermione stared into the fire burning in their bedroom at Grimmauld Place. She chewed her lip and thought about what was happening. The first of March was still nearly a week away, but they had no choice but to wait. They had to give Neville and the other Hogwarts students the chance to actually get to Malfoy Manor. They would need to sneak beyond the Anti-Apparition wards, and this was no easy task under Carrow leadership at the school.

Hermione and Severus had a back-up plan for notification. The portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black in Grimmauld Place had agreed to use his location at Hogwarts to get word to Professor McGonagall. Hermione could only hope that on the first of March, there would be a sizeable force representing the Order of the Phoenix and Harry's allies.

"Harry is going to die next week," she said suddenly, as the full force of that knowledge socked her belly. She turned to Severus, and he said honestly,

"There is no avoiding this, Hermione. This is what it's come to."

"Yes. I know." Hermione was very grateful now that Severus had given her a long-lasting and powerful contraceptive potion back at Hogwarts. She could not imagine being in Tonks' situation - pregnant, with her own life and the life of her child threatened. She knew there was a very good chance that she and Severus would die. But sending the message to the others through the coins felt heavy on her heart; there was something profoundly ugly about bringing others into the fray.

"Hermione," Severus said quietly, and she turned to him with expectation. He looked more tired than she'd ever seen him. His stringy black hair had gone dull, and there were more grey hairs in there than Hermione remembered. His face was lined with bags and wrinkles brought on by fatigue, and he frowned. "I never got a chance to tell you… that car you made at Shell Cottage. It was truly astounding. It was a ridiculous thing to ask you to make; a witch of your age couldn't be expected to… but you must understand, Hermione, that I asked you to do it because in that moment it was very important that Mulciber and Travers have a way of leaving the cottage that wasn't Magical. And I knew you could do it. A witch of your age couldn't be expected to make a Muggle car, but you can be expected to do that. Because you are not normal."

Hermione scoffed and flicked her eyes down to the fire. Severus raised her chin and pressed his lips against hers, and he whispered again,

"You aren't normal, Hermione Granger. You're extraordinary. I love you."

Hermione tried to swallow the lump in her throat so she could answer him. It didn't work. She let him kiss her again, feeling overwhelmed by fatigue as the Wiggenweld Potion began to wear off.

"We need to sleep," she said firmly. "We've been up for two days. We need to sleep."

"I badly need to be clean," Severus insisted. "I can use Magic to clean myself, or I can go and take a shower. And you can join me. Then we'll go to sleep."

"Severus…" Hermione shook her head and smiled demurely. "This house is full of people who have no interest in us showering together over their heads."

"I don't care about any of them." Severus ensnared his fingers in Hermione's hair and kissed her again, more firmly this time. "Come and stand under the warm water with me and let me rub soap into your shoulders."

That did sound delightful. Hermione stifled a yawn and nodded. She followed Severus from their bedroom into the white-tiled bathroom down the corridor. Molly, Arthur, and Ginny Weasley were downstairs with Harry and Luna. As far as Hermione knew, they were reading or playing Gobstones or just sitting and talking in anxious murmurs. For the past several days, Hermione's only interaction with the rest of the group had been when Ginny and Luna had brought up food while she and Severus worked on the coins.

Hermione knew that Luna, Harry, and Ginny would get the message on their own DA coins, so they would know that Hermione and Severus had been successful. Just now, Hermione did not feel like joining the rest downstairs or talking with anyone but Severus. She was tired, and worried, and she suddenly thought a two-person shower seemed just about right for the circumstances.

Severus flicked his wand at the shower, which began to pour hot water from the spout. There was an old-fashioned claw foot tub beneath the shower spigot, and a white curtain surrounded the thing. Hermione dimmed the sconces on the wall a bit and shut the door, locking it manually.

"Severus," she said quietly, unsure of whether he could hear her over the shower's stream. He turned to face her, his hands moving quickly down his front as he unbuttoned his tunic. Hermione pushed away the tingling coil of arousal in her belly at the sight of that. She sighed and said, "We shouldn't do this. We should… I don't know. Go to sleep for a few hours, and then wake up and prepare for -"

"Yes. We'll sleep and then prepare," Severus said, continuing to unbutton his tunic. "But I should like to be clean during all of that. You and I have been up for days now working. I need a shower. Stay here with me."

Hermione shut her eyes and dug her teeth into her bottom lip. He was right, of course. There was nearly a week until the planned assault on Malfoy Manor. There was very little more Hermione could do until then. And, for better or worse, they both needed to bathe. And they were married, and probably going to die, and -

"Kiss me," Hermione whispered frantically. She rushed forward toward Severus and pushed his tunic from his chest. Severus took Hermione's face in his hands and did as she asked. He tasted warm and savory, and Hermione squealed gently against his mouth.

His hands were all over her, briskly unfastening the buttons of her blouse and wrenching her bra open behind her back with one hand. He was yanking down her denims, which she kicked away, and he kept kissing her with an urgency she'd never quite sensed from him before.

"We're going to die," Hermione whispered against his lips. "We're going to die. All of us."

"No." Severus said the word sharply, almost cruelly, and he crushed Hermione's lips with his for a moment as he set his wand down by the sink. "We are not going to die. You will not leave me, and I will not leave you. We will triumph, and after the Dark Lord is gone forever, you and I will grow old and happy. You will be a mother. You will be on a Chocolate Frog card for the wondrous things you accomplish. You will be happy. Do you understand me?"

Hermione nodded, but she felt weak and dizzy as the bathroom filled with warm steam. She let Severus pull her into the shower, and she felt disconnected from herself for a long while. He washed her hair, dragging his fingertips around her scalp in lazy circles, and then told her to rinse herself off. She did the same for him, massaging his head and watching the white foam stream down his skin when he moved under the water.

He washed her body then, pulling a bar of soap around her body and using his hands to scrub her. His large palms and calloused fingers felt good on Hermione's slick skin. After a while, she began to find herself again, and her whole body started to come alive. She pressed her back against Severus and felt the prod of his hardening manhood on the small of her back. She covered his hands with hers as he washed her. Severus groaned quietly behind her, and the hardness at her back grew more stiff by the moment.

"Shhh, Severus," Hermione murmured, squeezing his hands. "People will hear."

"I cast a Muffliato on the door five minutes ago," Severus informed her. "No one will hear."

As if to prove his point, he drifted his hands to more strategic locations on Hermione's body. His left hand went to her chest, where he cupped and fondled her breast. His right hand went lower, between her thighs, and he used the pad of his forefinger to tease her entrance a bit. Hermione gasped and reached desperately for the single pipe that led up to the shower head. There were no walls in this shower, she thought with regret. She would have liked for Severus to take her against a wall.

But she settled for him touching her from behind, for it felt absolutely marvelous. He used his left hand to push the heavy veil of her hair around her shoulder. Then she felt the hot warmth of his mouth latch onto her neck, and he used his tongue to lathe her skin. Hermione moaned aloud, unable to stop herself, and hoped that Severus had told the truth about muting the room.

"You brilliant, beautiful woman," Severus hissed into Hermione's ear, sending a shiver down her spine. His hand danced more fervently against her nub, and Hermione bucked her hips against his touch. He snaked his left arm around her torso and yanked her closer to him, his fingers quickening between her legs. Hermione moaned again and whispered his name, and he said into her ear, "Come for me, sweet girl. Come on… fall apart for me."

Hermione very nearly did just that, for the feel of his hands on her wet skin and the warm buzz of his voice were almost too much. She reached desperately around behind her and tried to hold his hips, but he seized her wrists in his left hand and whirled her around to face him. She stared up at his face for a moment, panting a bit as she studied the way the water streamed over his skin. His black eyes shone with want, and then he shocked her by lowering himself onto his knees.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Hermione asked impulsively. Severus did not answer; he arranged himself awkwardly in front of her in the tub and urged her to part her legs a bit. Hermione gasped loudly and clutched at his wet hair when she felt his tongue on her clit. He dragged his tongue upon her in long, heavy strokes, and then suckled at her entrance. He moaned against her womanhood, his hands clutching at her hips. Hermione tightened the grip of her fingers in his hair when she felt herself nearing the edge of her bliss. It was a struggle now just to stand up, she thought. She was going to slip and fall. She was going to pass out. She was going to -

"I'm going to come, Severus," she declared, feeling her cheeks go hot with embarrassment after she said it. But she didn't have time to be embarrassed, for she was suddenly hurtled headlong into a powerful climax. She could feel her body shaking and clenching as her ears rang and her brain went foggy. She knew she was repeating Severus' name as she gasped and moaned. The pleasure seemed almost too strong, and it went on for what felt like an abnormally long while. By the time Hermione came to again, she was being cradled against Severus' chest as he murmured with a chuckle,

"Good girl. Sorry about that; I admit I cast a Gaudens Maximus upon you. You aren't the only one who knows naughty spells, Miss Granger."

"Severus!" she scolded, digging her fingernails into his chest and looking up at his smirking face. He wasn't sorry, she could see. Well, neither was she, if she was honest. She wrapped her hand around the slick length of his erection, stroking him as the warm water fell upon them. Severus bucked his hips hard against Hermione's hand, and she knew that he wouldn't last a moment inside of her. He was too worked up. His mouth hung open, and his breath came rickety and fast through his parted lips. His hands trembled upon Hermione's hips. She could feel the way he throbbed and twitched in her hand, how very close he was to finishing.

"What was that spell?" she teased. "Oh, aren't you glad now that you taught me wandless magic?" She watched a flash of amusement and hesitation come over Severus' face, and she chuckled. She shut her eyes for a moment and whipped her magic up into a frenzy. It burned her throat where the magic coalesced into a white-hot, energetic ball. She pushed the magic out through the palm of her right hand and said firmly, "Gaudens Maximus."

"Fucking hell, Hermione," Severus gasped. He very rarely swore, so Hermione's eyebrows flew up in alarm. His cock grew almost unnaturally hard in her her hand, and she glanced down to see the purplish, swollen tip against her belly. Then his seed came, a copious amount in insistent volleys. Hermione was more aroused by the sight of him coming against her skin than she'd been by just about anything else. Severus thrust his hips hard against her, grinding himself onto her skin as he came and came. His hands squeezed her hips so tightly that she knew there would be bruises. At long last, Severus' member began to soften in Hermione's palm, and his raspy breathing quieted. He pulled her against his body and let the water rinse them both.

"The Wiggenweld Potion's long worn off," Hermione noted, "and finishing like that would make me sleepy in the best of times. Now I don't think I shall be able to stay awake another five minutes."

Severus took the cue and shut off the shower. He reached out into the bathroom for a few towels, holding one out to Hermione.

"We are not going to die," he told her four minutes later, as they lay curled up together beneath the heavy blankets. Hermione looked at his face in the darkness, at the way he stared at the ceiling.

"How can you possibly promise me something like that?" she asked, and Severus pinched his lips tightly.

"I will not let you die, Hermione Granger," he vowed. "I will kill whomever I must. I will do anything - anything - to ensure that you grow old and happy. Next week, we go to battle filled with angry resolve, but no fear. Do you understand? I will not let you die."

"I won't let you die, either, Severus Snape," Hermione assured him. He did not laugh or mock her. He just fell asleep, and Hermione did the same.

---

"Potter."

Severus watched as Harry Potter turned over his shoulder with an impatient expression. Behind him, Hermione and Luna were ensuring that Hermione's Expanded bag contained sufficient medical supplies. Ginny Weasley and her parents were reviewing the most useful defense spells, as well as establishing a meeting place at Malfoy Manor. Harry Potter did not look like he had time to bother with Severus, but nonetheless Severus held out his hand. In his palm gleamed the Golden Snitch that Albus Dumbledore had insisted they have today. Severus cocked an eyebrow.

"You'll be wanting this, I think."

Potter took the Snitch and nodded firmly. "Thank you, Professor." He tucked it away in his robes, and Severus said sharply,

"If you die tonight, Potter… and there's something beyond all this… give your mother my best, will you?"

Harry looked enormously confused and opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by Ginny Weasley grasping his elbow.

"It's ten to eight," she said gently. "We need to go."

"Right," Severus said. "I shall go ahead first, taking the pendant Oraverit with me. If you have heard nothing from me within the next ten minutes, follow me using side-along Apparition. Hermione has the pocket-watch."

He nodded crisply to Molly and Arthur, then to Ginny, Luna Lovegood, and Harry Potter. Finally he let his eyes rest on Hermione, taking in the way her pretty brown eyes gleamed. Suddenly Severus did not care how much a fool he looked in front of Potter, or Arthur Weasley. He put his lips into a line and said to Hermione in a firm voice,

"By tomorrow night, you and I shall be in my house in Spinner's End, Hermione. Safe. Together. That's how this is going to end. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Severus," she whispered, her voice cracking a bit. "I understand."

Severus gave them all one last fleeting glance and then charged out the back door toward the cramped garden. He whirled hard to his right, concentrating on Malfoy Manor. The pinching blackness surrounded him for a sickening moment, and then he landed elegantly upon the grounds of the manor. There was no crack, no hard crash onto the ground. It was a smooth and delicate transition, and Severus glanced around as though he knew the place intimately. He did, after all; he'd been here more times than he wished to recount.

He'd landed outside the garden gate at Malfoy Manor, and there was a quiet buzz around the place being emitted by the protective wards. If Severus or anyone else had tried to simply walk through the gate, there would be chaos. He knew the Death Eaters had placed Caterwauling Charms, flesh-burning alarms, and catchment hexes on the place. But there was no one more accomplished than Severus Snape at undoing wards; he'd come up with many of the anti-ward spells himself. He raised his wand and cast it about in a great sweeping arc.

"Perderobice," he said in a firm tone. "Perderobice Totalum… Diluo Maledicta. Diluo Portam. Purgando Semitam… Diluo Maledicta Totalum."

One by one, the wards gave way, crackling and dissolving into the air until the whole area was still and quiet. Severus coughed gently, feeling rather spent for a moment at how much magic he'd thrust from his body. He shut his eyes and let his magic restore itself within his abdomen.

"Severus?"

"Careful, Minerva. Yeh don't know what he's capable of doin'."

Severus rolled his eyes and turned around to see a cluster of figures coming out of the woods. There was Minerva McGonagall, and the great heaving figure of Hagrid. There was little Filius Flitwick, who looked smaller than ever beside Hagrid, and there was wild-eyed Sybill Trelawney. Behind the teachers came a small parade of students that Severus recognized at once: Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, Padma and Parvati Patil, Seamus Finnigan, Michael Corner, Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, and many others. There was a gaggle of House-Elves, too, with the group spearheaded by the obnoxious one Severus knew to be called Dobby. Severus felt a stab of anxiety at the number of underaged witches and wizards who had come. He glared at Minerva for a long moment, seeing the fear in her pale eyes, and he hissed,

"They're too young. Why have you brought them all?"

"Once word got out through the right channels, Severus, I couldn't stop them coming for all the world," Minerva declared. Before Severus could argue back to her, another figure came padding out from the trees. It was Neville Longbottom, looking much taller than Severus remembered. In his hands he clutched the ruby-embedded hilt of a weapon Severus recognized at once as the Sword of Gryffindor.

"Longbottom, why do you have a priceless artifact in a place like this?" Severus droned, and Neville Longbottom flinched.

"Well, sir…" He shifted on his feet and clutched the sword more tightly, "I was informed by the portrait of Heliotrope Wilkins, the one in the fourth-floor corridor, that the portrait of Dumbledore wanted to speak with me. I was told how to get into the office, Professor, and when I did, Professor Dumbledore… or, rather, his portrait… well, I was told to bring this here tonight. I was told it was very important."

Severus pinched his lips tightly and eyed the boy up and down. He had all the awkwardness that his father had possessed, but there was something deeply determined in the boy, too. Severus gave Neville a single nod and turned his attention toward the series of quiet pops to his left.

Out of thin air, there appeared yet another cluster of reinforcements. Fred and George Weasley and their old friend Lee Jordan had Apparated onto the grounds. Severus wondered vaguely how it was that the boys had learned of tonight's happenings, but then he thought Molly Weasley probably had ensured some way of staying in touch with her twin sons. George Weasley eyed Severus with great suspicion, and Severus tried to ignore the place on the boy's head where his ear was missing. That had been Severus' doing, however unintentionally.

Then there were a few more crackles, and Severus turned to see Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Arthur, Molly, and Harry Potter beside him. They'd all linked arms, and Hermione clutched the pocket-watch Oraverit tightly in her hand. Once they landed, the group separated, and Harry Potter's face broke into a wide grin.

"Brilliant," he breathed, nodding around at the group assembled. Severus flicked his eyes about and realized it was rather an impressive showing. There were twenty-six of them standing outside the gate now, and if they managed to free the prisoners in the dungeons, there would be thirty on their side. There were a dozen or so House-Elves, too, and Severus had long ago learned not to underestimate the magical powers of Elves. He raised his eyes up to the looming house and thought perhaps they had a fighting chance, after all.

"There will be a few dozen in the manor," Severus informed the group matter-of-factly. "We aim to accomplish several things. One goal, obviously, is to free the prisoners in the dungeons. The other is to get Potter access to the Dark Lord - but only after the snake has been killed. That must be accomplished quickly."

"Well, that's why I've got this," Neville Longbottom said in a shaking voice, holding up the sword he'd brought. "Professor Dumbledore, or at least his portrait, told me I should use this on the snake. I don't really know anything about killing snakes, but I promise I'll do my best."

Severus did not have very much confidence in Longbottom's ability to go charging toward the snake and successfully kill it. He narrowed his eyes and said,

"Best you give that sword to someone else, Longbottom."

"With all respect, Professor Snape, I was told by Professor Dumbledore's portrait that it's important I use the sword on the snake. Not sure why, sir. I'm just doing as I've been told." His hands tightened protectively on the hilt of the sword, and Severus frowned.

"Everyone turn to the person beside you and Disillusion them," he said in a crisp voice. "Head to toe, concentrate hard on the blending. It's important that they can't get a solid take on who's coming at them. Potter… you'll want your cloak on, too."

He watched as everyone began to Disillusion one another. One by one, the allied combatants disappeared into the air. Hermione touched the buttons on Severus' chest, and he glanced down at her tense face. She nodded and raised her wand, swirling it about Severus carefully. He watched his arms and hands disappear. He raised his own wand and Disillusioned Hermione, feeling a pang of anxiety when she vanished from him.

"Tomorrow night, we'll be in Spinner's End," he whispered, just as he'd done at Grimmauld Place. The only response he got was a swirling mixture of fear and determination coming strongly through their bond.

"Let's go. There's no time to waste. I've already taken down the wards. Once we get inside, move quickly. Do not hesitate to use whatever force is necessary. Tonight is the end of all this madness." Severus' voice was firm, though he appeared to be speaking to empty space. He turned over his shoulder and flicked his wand, and the gates swung open.

---

"Crucio!"

"Narcissa, go that way! Go find Draco!"

"Lavender? Wake up, Lavender!"

Hermione's head vibrated and rattled with the confused shouts and shrieked curses around her. The foyer of Malfoy Manor was alight with magic. Some flew in red and green jets of light. Other stray bits of magic crackled through the air, and Hermione felt as though she were on fire.

She watched as Neville Longbottom appeared out of thin air. Someone had located his running footsteps and had taken off his Disillusionment Charm. Neville paid no attention to how his disguise had vanished. He hurtled through the moonlight chamber, his hands clenching the hilt of Gryffindor's sword.

"Hermione! Look out!"

Hermione recognized Ginny's voice behind her. She turned around just in time to see Bellatrix Lestrange jabbing her wand in the air.

"Ava-"

"STUPEFY!"

The blue jet of light flew from Hermione's wand so forcefully that she slid backward at least a meter on the marble floor. The Stunning Spell hit Bellatrix Lestrange square in her chest, and she flew up and backward and smacked into the wall behind her. Her body went limp and crumpled down to the ground with a sickening crunch, and Hermione wondered for a fleeting instant whether she'd killed Bellatrix with the powerful spell. But she didn't have time to think too much more about it, for there was a piercing, powerful cry from the other side of the room.

Hermione's eyes went wide with terror when she saw Lord Voldemort, his robes a whirl of grey around his pale, thin form. His arms were raised and his mouth had fallen open in a cry of rage as Neville Longbottom hacked his sword through the snake Nagini. In one clean swing of the blade, the snake's head went flying off. Blood sprayed everywhere. Then the entire snake, in all its heft, began to dissolve into the air as if it had never existed. Voldemort's fury seemed to increase exponentially, and before he could murder her old friend, Hermione screamed,

"Get out of here, Neville!"

Suddenly Neville disappeared, turning hard to his right and Disapparating with a loud crack. Hermione felt a flush of satisfaction, especially when she saw the way Voldemort's face twisted into an anguished grimace. She glanced about to see spurts of light fired by the Disillusioned Order members, and occasionally a frenzied Death Eater would crumple to the ground. Hermione wondered briefly where Severus was, then realized she did not have time to worry about such a thing.

She remembered where the dungeons were, according to Severus. She made her way quickly through around the large staircase, back into the sweeping, wood-paneled corridor. She dashed down the carpet runner, until she heard a voice behind her say firmly,

"Impedimenta."

Somehow, Hermione managed to whirl around and slash her wand through the air at the first syllable of the spell. She blocked the curse, and it dissipated into the air with a bang. She looked up to see Draco Malfoy striding confidently down the corridor. He sneered at her, though his eyes did not look as convinced as his twisted mouth.

"Granger," he said, raising his wand again. "I'm warning you."

"Imperio." Hermione jabbed her wand toward Draco, and a puff of green smoke shot through the air and spread over his form. His pale eyes went dull for a long moment, and his spine straightened into perfect posture. Behind him, Hermione could hear the chaos in the foyer continuing. She tried to steady her hand and her mind, and she said firmly to Draco, "Take me to the dungeons where the prisoners are."

"Yes. Of course." Draco walked beyond Hermione with smooth steps, gesturing for her to follow him.

"Wait." Hermione said, and Draco turned to her with raised white eyebrows. "Give me your wand," Hermione ordered him, and Draco handed his wand over without question. Hermione tucked the hawthorn wand into her robes and nodded, following Draco down the corridor until they reached a doorway at the end. Draco pushed the handle, and the door gave way. There was blackness beyond the threshold, and Hermione frowned.

"Since I haven't got my wand, perhaps you'd prefer to illuminate the space, Madam Granger," said Draco in a conciliatory tone. Hermione was glad her Imperius Curse had worked so well, given how quickly she'd been forced to cast it. She nodded and muttered,

"Lumos." The tip of her wand glowed white, and she followed Draco down a winding, slippery set of stone stairs that seemed to go on forever. Finally, they came to a dank, open space with a few lit sconces on the wall. "Nox," Hermione whispered, and her wand went dark. She glanced around the dungeons and saw a few figures huddled against the stone walls.

There was a warded gate in the entry to the dungeons, and Hermione tried hard to remember the counter-ward spells Severus had taught her. She aimed her wand at the portcullis and said,

"Diluo Portam. Diluo Maledicta. Purgando Semitam…"

Suddenly the portcullis made a few loud wrenching and clicking sounds, as though invisible locks had sprung open. The heavy iron gate began to rise up from the floor, and it disappeared into the ceiling.

"Tonks?" Hermione called out, and there was a small gasp from the far side of the room.

In the dim light, Hermione saw several figures emerge from the shadows. Fleur Weasley had never looked so ragged in all the time Hermione had known her; her lovely blonde hair was filthy and had been shorn with an obvious hacking motion of a wand. Hermione figured that had to have been Bellatrix Lestrange's work. Fleur's face was bruised and scabbed, too. But her injuries were nothing compared with Bill Weasley's. Hermione was shocked to see the red-haired man cradling his right hand, and she felt queasy when she saw that it was bandaged and that several fingers were missing.

Tonks waddled forward from the darkness, her right eye socket blackened as though she'd been punched or kicked. She carefully cradled her swollen belly, and she said to Hermione in a grave voice,

"What's going on up there?"

"We've come to save you all," Hermione informed her, "and to kill Voldemort. Where is Kingsley?"

"I am here."

Kingsley's voice was strangely weak, and Hermione gasped when she saw him lying on his side upon the floor. Hermione quickly pulled her Expanded bag open and rifled about in it until she pulled out a small vial of Invigoration Draught. She dashed over to where Kingsley lay huddled, and she cracked open his lips and poured the whole vial into his mouth.

Kingsley sputtered and coughed a bit, but within a few moments he'd managed to push himself up onto his hands. Hermione helped him off the ground, and she said to Draco Malfoy in a firm voice,

"Draco, you stay here."

"Of course," Draco nodded. Hermione sighed and pulled Draco's wand from her robes. She handed it over to Tonks and said in an apologetic tone to the others,

"It's the only one I've got, I'm afraid. The rest of you will have to run."

"Or, we can take wands from ze other Death Eaters who haff fallen," Fleur said defiantly. She crossed her arms over her thin chest and nodded. Hermione flicked her eyes up.

"Right. When you get upstairs, Tonks, go out the back and go back to Grimmauld Place. This is no place for your baby. I know you want to help, but -"

"Hermione," Tonks said quietly, "Remus died in this house. I don't need to remind you of the circumstances. I am not interested in running away this time."

Hermione looked Tonks in the eyes for a very long moment, and then she nodded. Finally she whispered, "Good luck, then." She led the pack of prisoners back up the stairs from the dungeons, leaving Draco Malfoy behind.

---

Severus yanked himself under the enormous stairwell. He had to catch his breath. He'd duelled with Thorfinn Rowle, Gibbon, Avery, and Antonin Dolohov. One by one, the Death Eaters had fallen to Severus' wand. He hadn't intended on taking so many lives tonight, but he'd truly been left with no choice. Severus wondered absently whether his soul would be utterly destroyed by so much killing. He didn't have time to contemplate that just now, though. There were still curses flying about, and from the far side of the foyer, the Dark Lord's voice rang out.

"Harry Potter! Come to me and meet your fate!"

Severus peered around the stairwell and saw Potter's figure appear out of nowhere. He must have thrown off his father's cloak, Severus thought.

"Harry, don't do it!"

Severus was shocked to hear Hermione's voice cry out, and he was utterly horrified to see her appear just a few feet away from him. Before he could wrench her under the stairwell, he saw Bellatrix Lestrange making a dash toward Hermione. The elder witch had come to from being Stunned, and now she jabbed her wand toward Hermione and said,

"Be silent, Mudblood filth."

Hermione whirled to her right and had her wand halfway up and pointed toward Bellatrix. But Severus could already see the Killing Curse forming on Bellatrix's lips.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The green light burst forth far more forcefully than any of the other times Severus had cast the spell tonight. The curse hit Bellatrix in the stomach and she froze for a brief moment. Then she slumped to the ground, dead. Hermione turned round toward Severus, looking horrified. He snatched her arm and yanked her under the stairwell, and he hastily Disillusioned them both.

"We have to stop Harry," Hermione whispered breathlessly, but Severus squeezed her arm so tightly he knew she'd be bruised. That was the least of their concerns just now. He swished his wand about the two of them and muttered, "Protego Totalum. Do not move, Hermione."

Beside him, she whimpered quietly, and Severus could see why.

"The Boy Who Lived… come to die," Voldemort was saying. He was pacing a few meters from Harry Potter, a taunting smile painted across his grey face.

"There's nothing left, Tom," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. His fist was clenched around something - the Snitch, Severus figured. Voldemort scowled at Harry's words and hissed,

"Do you know, Potter, the night I took your parents' lives, they crumbled so easily in death. They were young and foolish. I wonder if you will look more like your father or your mother when you die. You've got your father's black mess of hair, to be certain… but you've got your mother's eyes. Will they light up like hers did as you fall?"

Harry Potter did not answer Voldemort. He pulled his hand up to his mouth, for some reason, and he murmured something unintelligible.

"Enough pretense," Voldemort sneered. "Bow like a gentleman and duel me one final time, Harry."

Potter just stood there, the Elder Wand down at his side.

"Why isn't he fighting?" Hermione demanded. Severus was silent, but he knew the answer. Harry Potter had resigned himself to death, and so he would die. Voldemort raised his own wand and said snidely,

"Goodbye, Harry. Avada Kedavra."

The green light smacked Harry Potter so roughly that he was hurled backward. His body was limp and motionless as he fell to the ground. Severus watched as something small and golden rolled away from Potter's body across the marble floor. It was the Snitch, he knew. It appeared to be cracked open, and even in death Potter's hand clutched something. The Resurrection Stone.

Severus touched the tip of his wand to Hermione's shoulder and thought, Muffliato.

It was just in time. She shrieked in agony that only Severus could feel. Her cries were silenced, though, by his spell, and the two of them remained hidden.

"Stay here," Severus hissed into her ear. "Stay here. Do not move."

Hermione, still Disillusioned, shook and heaved silently in Severus' arms. He finally let her go and stepped out from under the stairwell. Voldemort was laughing rather maniacally down at Potter's limp body.

"Potter is dead! The rest of you… lay down your wands. The Dark Lord will show you mercy," he said. Severus looked around to see Molly and Arthur Weasley, along with Ginevra, Fred, George, and Bill. They were clustered together, half of them holding Ginny back as she bent over with sobs. Around the Weasleys' feet was a pile of Death Eater casualties. Some, Severus could tell, were dead.

Minerva McGonagall was on the stairwell above him, her wand pressed to Rodolphus Lestrange's throat. Hagrid loomed up at the top of the stairs, and he appeared to have Yaxley held against the wall. Other members and allies of the Order were scattered about, their duels interrupted by Voldemort's interaction with Harry Potter. Voldemort chuckled quietly and said,

"So much death. For nothing! All of you, lay down your wands and be spared. Your false prophet, your boy savior, is dead. Come to me, all of you, and pledge your loyalty… and you will live."

Severus flicked the Elder Wand at himself and released his own Disillusionment. He strode confidently forward as he appeared in the air, his wand held out toward Voldemort.

"Ah… Severus. I had not yet seen you tonight. I had wondered if you'd decided to come. And have you brought your lovely wife with you?" Voldemort gave a wicked grin toward Severus, but the younger man concentrated on churning his power into a tight ball in his abdomen. He whipped the magic from his hand, through his wand, and out into the most powerful spell he'd ever cast.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

For the briefest moment, there was a look of horror in Voldemort's scarlet eyes. His face froze in shock, his red eyes went wide, and his wand clattered to the ground. Then the man who had once been Tom Riddle crumpled downward, his robes falling about him awkwardly. Half his spindly legs were bared by the way he lay motionless upon the ground.

Severus swallowed the bile in his throat as he stared at the corpse of Tom Marvolo Riddle. In the end, he was only a man, Severus thought. He was only a pitiful man.

---

"Finite Incantatem!" Hermione released her own Disillusionment and muting spells and rushed out from under the stairs. She ran as fast as her feet could take her toward Harry's body. She got there at the same time as Ginny, and the both of them grasped at Harry to try to wake him. She saw Neville Longbottom standing behind Ginny, panting as he set the bloody Sword of Gryffindor upon the ground. A back part of Hermione's mind wondered when Neville had come back to the foyer. Somehow, Hermione ignored the fact that Voldemort's (very mortal) form lay dead and slumped just a few meters away. She ignored the way Severus hovered above her, the way that the room had burst back into action as the elder members of the Order and the Aurors began to quickly take control of the Death Eater prisoners.

"Wake up, Harry!" Ginny cried, though of course Hermione knew that was a fruitless request. Harry was dead, just the way Ron was dead, and Remus Lupin, and so many others. His face was still and quiet. His glasses had shattered when he'd fallen to the floor. Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and kissed it, and something fell from Harry's limp fist to the ground. Hermione spied the gleaming black stone that she knew must be the Resurrection Stone. It hadn't worked. Harry had possessed all the Deathly Hallows, and still he had fallen. She put her face in her hands and dug at her eyes, unable to stop crying enough to finish the fighting. Harry was dead. This was what they'd been expecting, but Hermione found herself utterly unprepared. Just as bad was the smattering of other bodies Hermione had seen. Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, Sybill Trelawney, and several House-Elves, including Dobby, had been slain. There were more, probably. It was all too much for Hermione to bear. She found that just then, she did not care that Voldemort was dead.

"Ginny…?"

Hermione thought she must have been hearing things, and she kept her hands tightly nestled against her eyes. But then she heard Harry's voice crack again,

"Ginny?"

Hermione's hands flew from her face. She looked to Harry and watched in shock as his emerald eyes fluttered open and his tongue peeked out to lick his bottom lip.

"I'm here! Harry! I'm here!" Ginny laughed through her tears, and she helped Harry sit up. Hermione was so shocked she couldn't move, until Harry looked first to Voldemort's corpse and then to Hermione and said in a croak,

"He's dead. How did he die?"

Hermione's mouth fell open. Finally she managed to say, "Severus killed him."

Harry's gaze rose upward, behind Hermione. She turned round to see Severus looming over them, his black eyes glittering in the dark foyer. Harry had surprised Hermione enough by seemingly coming back from the dead. But then he said something so odd and lovely that Hermione found herself once more dissolved into shuddering tears. Harry looked at Severus, silent for a moment, and then said,

"My mum wanted me to tell you, 'She's perfect for you, Sev.' That's all."

Severus' face twisted a bit, as though he were fighting back emotion. He shifted on his feet and flicked his eyes from Voldemort's corpse back to Harry.

"Thank you, Potter," he said at last. Then he pointed his wand toward Voldemort's body and murmured, "Evanesco."

---

"And you, Madam Snape?"

"Oh… it's… it's 'Madam Granger,' actually," Hermione corrected politely. She shifted where she sat on her chair, and Rita Skeeter giggled rather obnoxiously.

"Of course it is," she said in a bit of a sneer. Hermione could not help but scowl. Rita Skeeter had always been a problem. Just because Severus had killed Voldemort did not mean the Daily Prophet was suddenly an illustrious institution of fine journalism. Rita Skeeter had been seeking out juicy gossip involving Hermione ever since Harry had been in the Triwizard Tournament. She wasn't going to stop now.

"What about me?" Hermione prodded. Hermione and Severus had been forced to do interview after interview in the three months since Voldemort's death. The wizarding public couldn't seem to get enough of them - of the entire crew who had contributed to Voldemort's downfall.

"What do you mean to do, now that You-Know-Who is finally gone?" Rita Skeeter said, as though it were obvious. Hermione pinched her lips and sighed.

"Now that Voldemort is dead," she said pointedly, "I'm going back to Hogwarts with my husband. He's returning to his rightful post as Headmaster. The Carrows, as I'm sure you're aware, are in Azkaban along with the remaining convicted Death Eaters. Headmaster Snape means to return Hogwarts to its former glory, and I shall be right by his side."

"So your marriage to Severus Snape was not a sham set up by the Ministry?" Skeeter asked, pushing her glasses up her nose. Hermione frowned and glanced about the Three Broomsticks. Several people were ogling her, and she lowered her voice as she said,

"No. It was no such thing."

"Hmm. I see." Rita Skeeter's Quick Quotes Quill scratched merrily along upon her parchment, and Hermione hoped that at least every other word she said was making it onto the page. She chewed her bottom lip as Rita asked, "And what will you be teaching at Hogwarts?"

"Teaching?" Hermione repeated, her eyebrows flying up. She shook her head. "No… I haven't finished my NEWTs. We were forced from the school in December, as I'm sure you know, and before that our lessons were less than satisfactory from the Carrows. I'll be redoing my entire seventh year, and then taking my NEWTs in hopes of preparing for a solid career."

"Oh… so you shall be your husband's pupil once more. Charming." Rita Skeeter nodded and curled up her lip, and she giggled quietly. Hermione blinked slowly and looked away.

"Can I get you a butterbeer or anything, Ms. Skeeter?" she asked. "I'm afraid I can't stay too much longer."

"Is Harry Potter going back to school?" Rita Skeeter asked quickly, disregarding Hermione's offer for butterbeer. Hermione scowled and shrugged.

"Have you asked Harry that yourself?"

"I have," Rita nodded. "He wouldn't answer."

"Well, then," Hermione said, "I don't suppose I know. I'm sorry."

The truth was that Hermione knew exactly what Harry's plans were for the autumn. Kingsley Shacklebolt had been tapped as the new Minister for Magic, and Kingsley had invited Harry to begin Auror training without completing his NEWTs. Hermione hadn't been too terribly pleased to hear that Harry wouldn't be coming back to Hogwarts, but she was glad for him that he would get to see his Auror dream through. Ginny, of course, would be finishing her seventh year at school, as would Luna. Many other Muggle-born students who had been excluded the previous year from their educations would be coming back again, as well.

As for the teachers, there were shake-ups there, too. Professor Trelawney had been killed at Malfoy Manor, and so the centaur Firenze would be taking over full-time as Divination professor. Severus had decided to hire Percy Weasley, of all people, as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to replace the Carrows (who were now in Azkaban). Both Minerva McGonagall and Horace Slughorn had threatened retirement in the wake of all the chaos, but Severus had managed to convince them to stay on in his desperation. Hermione would be living in his quarters with him, which was just as well seeing as how all the dormitories would be over-crowded; with a regular incoming class as well as the oddity of 8th year students, this school year would be a challenge.

But now Hermione pretended she knew very little about any of it, for she thoroughly disliked and distrusted Rita Skeeter, and was disinclined to share any confidential information with the Daily Prophet. In the months since Voldemort's death, the wizarding world had seemed to awaken from a terrible nightmare, but Hermione was still wary. And she had never trusted Rita Skeeter at all.

"Hmph," Rita sighed, tucking her Quick Quotes Quill away. "Well, thanks for nothing, Madam Granger. Not sure what I'm meant to write in my story. Headmaster's Wife to return to school in the autumn. Very glad to see world returning to normal. Still not expecting child; no plans for family in the foreseeable future. Have I got it all right?"

"Don't forget the bit about all the people who were killed in the war and how I'm still mourning them," Hermione noted bitterly. "I think that's far more important. Have a wonderful afternoon, Ms. Skeeter."

"Yes, you, too, Madam Granger." Rita Skeeter sneered and rose from the table. She nodded curtly and clicked her heels tightly on the wooden floorboards as she strode from the Three Broomsticks. Hermione waited a few moments. and then she put several coins down upon the table. She made her way out into the alley outside the pub and Disapparated back to Spinner's End.

---

Severus let his quill hover on the parchment for a moment when the door downstairs creaked open. He resumed writing, half-listening to Hermione's footsteps as she moved through the lower level and then climbed the stairs. He continued the letter he was writing, his quill flying on the page.

… I understand that Albus convinced you to come back rather against your will two years ago, and that you're tired now. But please understand the predicament this puts me in, Horace, seeing as how…

"Hello, husband."

"One moment." Severus held up one finger to Hermione, who hovered behind him. He heard her let out an indignant little harumph, but he ignored her as he finished his letter to Horace Slughorn. He signed it with a flourish and rolled it up, tying it to the let of the small owl that waited for his reply. He walked over to the window and sent the owl on its way, snapping the hem of his dark tunic as he finally turned back to face Hermione. "How was your meeting with the illustrious Rita Skeeter?" he asked.

"Awful, as expected," she sighed, sinking into the armchair beside Severus' desk. She drummed her fingertips upon the chair and mumbled, "She mocked me a bit about going back to school."

Severus pursed his lips and dragged his fingers over his quill. He and Hermione had had this conversation so many times in the past three months that he'd lost count, but it seemed they were going to do it again.

"Hermione," Severus said gently, "are you quite certain you want to return to school in the autumn? Kingsley is letting Potter be an Auror; you could get any job you wanted at the Ministry. I could come here and see you at the weekends. It's silly for you to -"

"Severus, I've told you over and again that it's very important to me to finish my NEWTs," Hermione said firmly. She sat up straighter in the chair and crossed her arms petulantly over her chest. "If you find it awkward or uncomfortable to be the headmaster of the schools whilst I finish up my education… well, then I suppose that's your problem. I've no issue whatsoever with the situation. I refuse to go through life as a Hogwarts dropout."

Severus rolled his eyes. "You destroyed horcruxes. You were a major contributor to the battle the night Voldemort was killed. You're no dropout, Hermione."

"I'm finishing my NEWTs," she said again, her voice flinty. "Harry can take shortcuts if he wants to. I'm finishing school."

Severus shut his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He knew there was no convincing her otherwise. He gnawed on his bottom lip and murmured,

"Do you know what letter I just sent off, Hermione?"

"No," she admitted softly. Severus opened his eyes and stared at her for a long moment. Her hair was tied back into a neat, long braid that ran down her back. It was growing long, Severus thought. He huffed out a sharp breath and told her,

"I've just tried one last time to convince Horace Slughorn not to go back into retirement. If he does retire again, and I can't find a suitable potions master for the year, my duties shall include teaching potions lessons in addition to running the school. Now, I am perfectly capable of teaching potions and administering the campus, you understand. But it would be grossly inappropriate for me to issue you a Potions NEWT. Can't you understand what a difficult position you're putting me in, Hermione?"

Her lips blanched white, and for a brief moment she said nothing. At last she said, "M-maybe Professor Slughorn could come back just to do the NEWTs at the end of term? Or… or maybe Professor McGonagall would do it? Or -"

Severus shook his head. "Please, Hermione. Please. Go take a job with the Ministry. Live here at Spinner's End. I shall come home at the weekends."

"You don't want me with you." Hermione nodded, her face looking somber. Severus sighed.

"It is not that at all," he promised. "It is rather that I wish for your accomplishments to speak for themselves. And I wish to be respected as the headmaster of the school without having my authority doubted. We are stronger apart than together just now. At least in the public eye."

Hermione looked very hurt at that suggestion. Her eyebrows crumpled and her mouth fell open for a moment. Then she shut her lips and nodded firmly.

"Very well," she said at last. "I shall write to Kingsley and see if he can get me a position."

Severus felt queasy as he contemplated banishing Hermione from her education. But he steeled himself against his guilt, and he cleared his throat roughly. He stared at the window and said, "I shall need to select a Head Boy and Head Girl. Any suggestions?"

Hermione was silent for a long moment, as though she could not believe his gall in asking. But then her voice came quiet and matter-of-fact from the chair.

"Ginny Weasley for Head Girl. She's no-nonsense; won't take any idiocy from the younger students. She'll be a good mentor for them. She's a decent enough student and a good Quidditch player. The younger girls like her. She's popular with the elder girls, too. She's responsible. She'll take the duties on well. Harry won't be at school, so she'll focus entirely on Hogwarts. For Head Boy, I'd choose Justin Finch-Fletchley. He's a Muggle-born Hufflepuff who wasn't allowed to be at school last year. It's an entirely political choice, to be certain, but an important one to show solidarity with the students who are coming back for an eighth year."

Severus knew she was entirely correct with both her suggestions. He sniffed and nodded as he stared out the window at the drizzling rain.

"You'd make a brilliant Head Girl, of course, in a different world," he told her. "Regardless of my personal feelings for you, you'd be my first choice."

"Well, I'm not even allowed to go to school," Hermione said bitterly. She rose from the armchair and smoothed her skirt over her thighs. "I'm going to make dinner. Won't be anything near as nice as what you'll get from the Hogwarts House-Elves, but I'll try to make something edible. Should be ready in about twenty minutes or so."

She turned to go from the room, and suddenly Severus felt his stomach flop and his ears ring. He whirled toward her and grabbed her elbow so harshly that she yelped and glared at him. Severus released her arm and instead put his hands upon her face. He felt his breath come hard through his nostrils as he stared down at her scowling eyes, and he gulped before he closed the distance between them. When his lips touched hers, she did not respond. She felt cold and distant for a long while, until Severus grunted quietly and urged her lips apart with his tongue. Hermione actually took a half step backward, away from him, and Severus felt a desperate twinge of anxiety ripple through him.

"Come to school," he finally mumbled. Her mouth opened for him at last as she gasped quietly, and he pushed her against the wall as he said again, "Come to school with me. We shall figure it all out. Bridges will be crossed when we arrive at them. I can't have you here at night while I'm at Hogwarts. And if you want to take NEWTs, then you shall take them, you delightfully brainy witch."

Hermione squealed a bit as Severus drove his hips hard against her abdomen and coursed his hands around her jumper. The fingers of his right hand trailed beneath her skirt and danced up and down her thighs. Hermione nodded frantically.

"I'll take all my NEWTs except Potions," she promised. "I don't need a Potions NEWT. I'm not going to be a Healer. I wanted to take NEWTs in Charms, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes. I wasn't even planning on -"

"Oh, I see. So now you aren't even interested in Potions? Is it because I might be teaching it?" Severus teased, and Hermione giggled quietly. She shook her head.

"It's because I'm awful at Potions," she reminded him. "Remember how I nearly killed poor Professor Slughorn by blowing up the expensive cauldron you bought me? Remember how I was rotten compared to Harry when he had your old textbook? I'm a poor hand with a stirring stick, Severus."

"I would hardly say that you're 'awful at Potions,'" he assured her. "Neville Longbottom is 'awful at Potions.' To be certain, it's your weakest subject area. But you're not an awful Potions student, Ms. Granger."

He kissed her neck and let his hands drift beneath her jumper, yanking the hem upward until she squirmed out of the garment and tossed it aside. She let him reach around her back and unclasp her bra, and he pulled it down her arms and let it fall to the floor. He cupped her warm, soft breast in his palm and sighed at the feel of her. She moaned quietly and whispered,

"Well, Professor Snape, regardless of who's teaching Potions this year, I confess I'm far more interested in Runes and Arithmancy and Charms and even History of Magic."

"You're more interested in a class taught by a ghost. About treaties that don't matter anymore and conferences between dead warlocks," Severus teased, his breath hot on Hermione's neck. She tried to laugh, but her breath came out as an indignant little huff. She pulled his hand more firmly onto her chest as she said in a hoarse whisper,

"Are you terribly offended? Now you do want me in your class?"

Severus growled and shut his eyes, unable to take their little game anymore. He glanced up and down Hermione's body, entranced by the sight of her in her black woolen skirt, her calf-height black boots, and nothing at all else. He took a half step back from her and swiped his wrist over his lips, growling from the back of his throat as he steadied himself. He moved to the armchair where Hermione had been sitting earlier. He sank down into it and kept his eyes locked on Hermione. Her hands were pressed to the wall and her bare chest heaved a bit as she panted and watched him.

"Come here, Hermione," Severus snarled, and Hermione's brown eyes flashed as she stalked over to him. She started to kick off her boots, but Severus shook his head firmly and muttered, "Leave them on."

Hermione quirked half her mouth up wickedly and climbed onto his lap, putting a leg on either side of him. Severus reached quickly between them and freed himself from his trousers, wrenching his throbbing length from his buttoned-up prison. Hermione's little hands closed around him and he grunted, shutting his eyes for a moment at the feel of her touch. Then he felt her shoving her knickers aside, felt her wet warmth around him as she sank onto him. It was delicious and altogether too much. He thought he would finish inside of her at once, and his fingers clenched around the arms of the chair. Hermione began to move upon him in slow, deliberate waves, and Severus had to keep his eyes wrenched shut against the beautiful sight of her.

"Look at me, Severus," she whispered, and he shook his head. He could hear the rickety sound of his breath coming through his nostrils, could feel the wondrous squeeze of her around his manhood. He tried to stave off his mounting pleasure, but his bliss built and built until his climax was inevitable. He opened his eyes and saw Hermione's brown eyes wide and searching, her mouth open and gasping. Her hands were pressed to his chest and her hips were moving in gyrating circles on him. Then, suddenly, she stopped moving altogether, and her pink lips silently mouthed his name, and her eyes clenched shut. He felt her cinch him tightly in her womanhood a few times, and Severus' hands gripped her waist in desperation.

"Oh, Hermione," he whispered, feeling his seed shoot into her as if to claim her for his own. His ears rang loud and hot, and his veins exploded with pleasure for a good long while. He felt Hermione collapse against his chest at last, and for a long while they sat panting and sticky. Severus found he had no inclination whatsoever to move. All he did was kiss her hair, and finally he whispered into her ear,

"Yes. You shall be coming back to school this year, Madam Granger. And you shall be taking whatever NEWT exams you'd like to attempt. Far be it from me to stand in your way."

---

It seemed altogether silly for Hermione to take the Hogwarts Express from London to the school. But she and Severus had determined that she would try to act as much a student as possible, even though everyone knew full well that she was married to the headmaster. And that she had helped to kill Voldemort.

It was a silly ruse, Hermione thought. But just the same, on the first of September, Hermione made her way to King's Cross Station and went through the wall to Platform 9 ¾ with everyone else. She had no trunk, for Severus had taken her belongings ahead with him a few days earlier from Spinner's End. It had been awkward enough, to say the least, when Hermione had gone shopping with Severus' money in Diagon Alley for new robes and supplies. People knew better than ever who Hermione Granger was, and they made no effort to conceal their stares as she moved from shop to shop. Hermione had difficulty caring too much, though. The war was over. That was what really mattered.

She and Severus had been awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class by Kingsley Shacklebolt in early August. Severus had insisted that the awards be conferred privately, since he wanted no spectacle made of the occasion. But the Daily Prophet had naturally covered it all, and so now the public had yet another reason to consider them 'heroes' in the narrative of the war.

Today, on Platform 9 ¾, Hermione felt like anything but a hero. Parents of the younger students eyed her with a strange mix of awe and suspicion. She was, after all, their children's fellow student, but she was also the wife of the school's headmaster. She was also a well-publicized player in the downfall of Lord Voldemort. It seemed that the adult witches and wizards had no idea what to make of Hermione Granger, so they just stared. Pink-cheeked and humiliated, she climbed onto the train and chose an empty compartment, yanking down the curtain and opening her copy of The Stars From the Trees: The Astronomical Techniques of the Centaurs.

She flipped to the chapter on nebulae and began reading, ignoring the chatter and chaos in the corridor of the train as students began filing onboard.

'Muggle astronomers did not truly differentiate between galaxies and nebulae until the early 20th century. But Icelandic centaur astronomer Buskanum Thokan discovered the density of nebulae in the mid-13th century. He found that an Earth-sized area of a nebula cloud would weigh only a few kilograms. His conclusion? While a nebula consists of star-making gases, the massive clouds are just wisps in space. How this factors into centaur astronomy is a complex relationship of area versus density in the interplay of destiny, and -'

"Hi, there, Hermione."

She glanced up from her book to see Ginny Weasley in the threshold of the compartment. Hermione shut her book and quirked up a bit of a smile, especially when she saw Luna Lovegood behind Ginny. The two girls stepped into the compartment and sat on the bench opposite Hermione, shutting the door behind them. Suddenly Hermione was transported back to the winter, when everything had been anxious and uncertain in Grimmauld Place and at Shell Cottage. Ginny and Luna had been so instrumental in helping defeat Voldemort. It was odd now, months later, to sit with them in Hogwarts uniforms on the train. Hermione laughed gently and said,

"This is bizarre, isn't it?"

Ginny nodded. She fingered the Head Girl badge on the lapel of her robe and asked, "Did you have anything to do with this?"

Hermione shrugged. "I threw your name in the ring, of course, but Severus wouldn't have chosen you as Head Girl if he didn't think you were the best one for the job, Ginny."

"Oh, I think you'll do marvelously," Luna reassured Ginny, patting her shoulder. "Everyone will look up to you. I already do! Hermione, can I interest you in a copy of the Quibbler? My father and I spent the summer on a fascinating search for Argentine Salt Spiders."

She held out a copy of her father's newspaper, and Hermione took it as she furrowed her brows. "Argentine Salt Spiders?" she repeated, for she'd never heard of them.

"Yes; they're reported to be three meters high, and they live in the salt pans of Argentina. We searched for over a month, but we ran out of time and had to come back. We did see tracks, though! We're very convinced of their existence! And we had a wonderful time in South America!"

Hermione pinched her lips, taking in the black-and-white cover photo of Xenophilius and Luna Lovegood smiling and waving with an empty expanse of salt behind them. She smiled at Luna and nodded. "I'm glad you and your father had a good summer," she said confidently, tucking the Quibbler into her tote bag.

The ride to Hogwarts felt so ordinary that Hermione nearly forgot what had happened over the last year and a half. She was a different person now, but she could remember riding this train with Harry and Ron, looking at Chocolate Frog cards and laughing. She could still hear Ron's voice, muffled by too many chocolates in his mouth. She could still see Harry jabbing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. And the sway of the train on the tracks felt so familiar and comforting that the boys' presence was almost real.

But then Hermione glanced around, and they were gone. Luna and Ginny were there, and the girls were Hermione's friends. It wasn't the same, though. Ron was dead, and Harry was in London for Auror training. The world was a different place now. Hermione was married, and her husband had killed many people to eliminate the greatest Dark wizard of all time. Her husband was the headmaster of the school because he'd killed Dumbledore.

The world was strange and confusing, and every time something felt familiar, ten things felt foreign. Hermione shut her eyes and leaned her head upon the cold glass window, drifting off to sleep until she felt a hand upon her shoulder.

"We've arrived at the station," said Luna's voice gently, and Hermione snapped her eyes open. She looked out the window and saw Hagrid on the platform, holding up a lantern. And she knew that she was home.