Chapter 100: No Love Loss

{A/N: Here's Another Update...First Chapter Of 2022}

My Thanks To My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.

Unknown location, Unknown World...

The death of Sirius Black seemed to echo greatly throughout the wizarding world. Harry Potter was the most devastated by the loss of his godfather and his friends knew not how to help him in regard to this. The boy who lived had managed to finally convince the Ministry Of Magic that Voldemort had been alive once more and Hermione Granger's clever tact managed to purge Hogwarts Castle of the vile toad Umbridge but this was little in the way of a victory as now the entire wizarding world was put on notice about the up coming war and the escalation only served to increase the already present tension amongst everyone involved. Sirius Black's unfortunate end reminded everyone that they had something to lose in the ensuing fray and none were too keen on enduring what the already orphaned Harry Potter had twice over. Despite overall atmosphere of the wizarding world and Hogwarts, one man found himself overjoyed to have finally been rid of an old foe. Severus Snape crash landed in an open field after depositing his unconscious wife back at Hogwarts castle. He had no doubt in his mind that she'd been more than willing to entertain Harry Potter's grief at the lost of his godfather and due to his own issues with the now dead animagus he was of a mind to keep his distance for the time being. Sirius Black plagued Severus Snape's life ever since that fateful meeting on board the Hogwarts Express along with James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. It was strange to not have to deal with the smug bastard any more and welcoming. He'd been poisoning the boy's head for far too long encouraging his rule-breaking and mischief like it was 1970 all over again. A liability in the long run, Snape was sure of, especially when said behavior involved his wife being at the center of it all.

"Good riddance." said the Potions Master thinking back on Sirius Black's end.

Truthfully speaking, he'd known all too well that Sirius Black would have wanted it no other way and it served to infuriate him in that moment. The mangy bastard had even gotten to end his suffering before he could.

In the aftermath of what occurred at the Ministry Of Magic Offices, The Dark Lord was quite furious having failed to gain control of the prophecy and put an end to Harry Potter. So much so that he'd taken it out on his death eaters, Lucius Malfoy especially. For all his efforts in being second in command, Lucius was demoted in the eyes of the despot putting his family in a good deal of danger as well as himself in a rather curious position. He'd certainly outlived his usefulness to the despot and the punishment was relegated to leaving him for the Ministry Of Magic to deal with.

Snape was furious about the turn of events but there was little he could do with Dumbledore playing an active hand in Potter's protection and everyone being on high alert as far as death eaters known and unknown were concerned.

He had no doubt in his mind that Potter's damning testimony would seal Lucius' fate and have him carted off to Azkaban leaving both Narcissa Malfoy and his godson Draco at the dark lord's mercy, as well as in the company of a very many Lucius hating peers eager to destroy what he'd built.

While Harry Potter was once more hailed as a hero, Draco was scorned in the wake of his father being revealed as a death eater and stripped from his position as Governor of Hogwarts. The inevitable clash between the two boys was on the horizon and Snape knew first hand how Draco must have felt losing everything in the middle of this war.

"Damn it Potter!" growled Snape once more assessing the gravity of the situation.

The dark lord would stop at nothing to ruin Lucius Malfoy and possibly bring harm to his family for extra kicks.

After taking a moment to get clear of Hogwarts, Snape knew right off that the enraged despot would summon him, the burning sensation in his forearm set in almost immediately after his thought ended.

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The Infirmary, Hogwarts Castle, Wizarding World...

Hermione Granger opened her eyes to find that she'd been delivered safely into the infirmary and her minor nap had oddly left her well rested following the grueling combat she endured as well as her travels into the forbidden forest. She found after a few moments of observation that she had not been alone, Harry James Potter was out cold in a row of beds just a ways from her. She couldn't get the anguish he felt out of her mind following Sirius Black's tragic end due to the duel with Bellatrix LeStrange. There was no doubt in her mind that Harry wanted revenge, Sirius was the closest thing to a caring family member the boy had since his parents were killed.

Growing tired of lying in bed, Hermione made a move to climb out of it. Her muscles ached and she had seen better mornings but she managed. Her mind went back to the battle at the Ministry Of Magic Offices, there was something about that strange death eater that stalked her the entire time. Something oddly familiar. It had occurred to her that her husband would no doubt have been summoned to that battle and that there was a chance that he might have been battling members of the Order of Phoenix. While she didn't want to think about what it must have been like for him, she found herself terrified about what would become of him now that the despot had been ousted and defeated at least temporarily via The Order's timely rescue.

The despot had to have been furious with Lucius Malfoy after his numerous string of failures and Severus was quite attached to The Malfoy family.

Hoping for the best despite the lack of news, Hermione saw to her friends as best she could unsure of what the next term would bring or if her husband would survive the wrath of the despot at all. For the moment Harry Potter was no doubt devastated after the loss of his godfather and everyone dreaded the moment when he'd awaken with question. None had been dreading it more so than Hermione, as she knew all too well that Harry would find some way to take it out on her husband for not getting his cryptic message in front of Umbridge in time. Even worse, she knew all too well how much Severus loathed Sirius Black and the implication that he possibly reveled in his long time nemesis meeting his end would cause further friction within the already fragile coexistence between Harry James Potter and Severus Snape. Having to potentially choose between her husband and her best friend wasn't how Hermione saw this year's end. Still she couldn't deny that there was no real love loss between Snape and Sirius Black.