A/N So, between all the distractions and all the kids the last two weeks have raced away from me. Seriously, how is it already almost Christmas?? My sweet little baby is already 6 weeks old and I've got stocking stuffers still to buy. So, here is another chapter at last, my apologies for the tardiness. I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Chapter 16

A few days into July and a week past the end of the Hogwarts term, an unfamiliar owl with another coded message from Severus arrived. Rather than show up at his home at Spinner's End as they'd planned, he asked to meet them in London—and three days sooner.

Obviously concerned, the three Prewetts and Hermione apparated near the pub the erstwhile devoted Death Eater had suggested, all four of them prepared for attack. Opting to serve as lookout, Fabian sat on a bench just outside, a shield charm in place around himself just in case.

The pub on the East End was small and nondescript. An older gentleman behind the bar, dimly lit with the buzz from a small telly in the corner showing a football match. Not unlike any other small pub in any other part of the city.

It took them a moment to see Severus. Her eyes adjusting from the bright sun outside, Hermione squinted around looking for black robes. Not seeing his signature look, she could have kicked herself when her eyes finally landed on a very different looking Severus Snape.

His hair was the same, though held out of his face by a pair of wire rimmed sunglasses perched on the top of his head. The t-shirt he wore beneath an ill fitted denim jacket was black but that was the only thing that seemed at all 'Snape-like'. From where she stood, she could make out a rather dingy looking pair of high waisted jeans, unfortunately typical for the decade and worn black leather boots. He looked exactly like the poor, working class muggle he might have been in another life.

Swallowing thickly and scanning the room once more now her eyes had adjusted, Hermione led George and Gideon over to the selected booth. She would have preferred to be the ones sitting facing the only exit, but she slid into the seat across from Severus anyway. As she did so, she noticed the feel of magic slide over her. The sound of the telly faded to a dull hum in the background. A muffliato, and likely some kind of anti muggle charm as well.

"Severus."

He nodded once, looking past her towards the door briefly before eyeing them all more critically. "Managed to all look passingly muggle."

Smirking despite the tightness of his shoulders, Gideon couldn't help but remark. "Not all purebloods are so isolated. My brother and I have been known to frequent muggle London. Even managed the underground recently, eh George?"

Severus arched a skeptical brow, turning his questioning gaze to Hermione. "Did they really?"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione scoffed softly. "Apparently, but that's not why we're here, Severus. Why did you move up the meeting and change location?"

He glanced at Gideon one last time with an expression that made her think he was reevaluating his initial impression of the older wizard before turning back to her, much more serious. "I've recently had a surprise visit at home from some of my… associates. Of course they knew where I lived, but they hadn't ever shown up unannounced. It made me think it might not be in our best interest to meet there lest they pop round like that again."

Some of the tension left her at his explanation. It made more sense anyway to meet at a random muggle pub than the home of their spy when the other Death Eaters could show up at any time. "And the date? Why today?"

Twisting his half empty glass around on the stained table, Severus almost glared at her. "Well, there were two reasons for that. I wanted to get rid of the horcrux before my next meeting with the Dark Lord but mostly… because of the reason for my unwelcome guests yesterday. You…" He jabbed a finger at Gideon. "And your equally flamboyant brother have painted targets on your backs the size of a quidditch pitch with your admittedly brilliant product line."

George shifted beside her, resting his crossed arms along the edge of the table. "We knew that was a possibility before we started but it's worth the risk. We've taken precautions and honestly, I'd like to see anyone other than Dumbledore or maybe your Dark Lord himself try to get past Fabian's warding."

Severus sneered. "So arrogant." He paused. "Although if the arithmancy in those hats is any indication of his skill you might be right." Reluctantly, the sneer faded as his academic interest came to the fore. "You know, the Dark Lord has Dolohov working on trying to counter them? He was one of the ones at my place. He knows I use arithmancy the same way in potions and needed a second set of eyes. Truthfully, with the way you've anchored the charms with runes as you put the hats together, I don't see how it can be done. The Dark Lord is furious."

Biting her lip to hold back the completely inappropriate pleased smirk, Hermione sat a bit straighter and briefly caught George's eye. He was pleased as well. "That's good to hear. We did work quite hard to ensure they couldn't be countered."

His confused frown lasted less than a moment before he huffed a barely amused breath. "So they're yours then? Something from the future?"

Allowing the involuntary tugging at the corner of her mouth to become a contained smile, Hermione let George explain. "Well, my brother and I sold them during the war in our time, but it's her arithmancy we added this go round that keeps the Imperio out."

"That's the main reason you've become such high priority targets, or your cousins I suppose since no one knows who the pair of you are. The Ministry has ordered them for nearly everyone—which I'm sure you're aware—and anyone refusing is suspected of either being a Death Eater or of being under the Imperious. Crouch is apparently having any dissenters tested." He smirked wickedly. "Any actual Death Eaters were smart enough to go along, but they discovered a fair few imperioused puppets before whomever controlled them caught on. Unfortunately, whatever spells you've added for that particular curse interfere with an established Imperio enough as to make it hardly worth the effort."

George sat back in his seat, a proud smile brightening his face. "Well that's unexpected. Guess ole Snake Face is losing ground at the Ministry then."

Severus shuttered imperceptibly. "I almost wish I hadn't seen your memories of him. The Dark Lord is vain, sometimes I wonder how it would affect his plans if he knew how he'd turn out."

Scoffing, Hermione rapped her nails along the edge of the table. "It might change some things, but he'd still be an evil monster bent on domination."

"Well…" Severus sighed and pulled a small, rune covered wooden box from an extended pocket inside his jacket. "It might be hard to be anything else with so much of his soul outside his body. Not that having the whole thing did a whole lot for him."

Watching as he slid the box across the table to her, the hair on the back of Hermione's neck prickled and she nearly stopped breathing. For a long, awkward pause she simply stared at it, her earlier amusement forgotten. Clearing his throat, George gave her a concerned look before reaching for the box himself and sliding it into her beaded bag that sat on the seat between them.

"Sorry…" She shook herself. "Um… so one down. Which one do you think you'll be able to get next?"

Severus adjusted his jacket, his boots scraping along the dirty floor as he sat up. "I was thinking the diary, that is assuming you're right about it being somewhere at the Malfoy estate. I've a standing invitation for dinner there, but I'll be leaving to start my mastery in a few months. That doesn't leave us long to get it and then figure out where the cup might be. As I said before, if I don't start right away, it will be suspicious. Both Lucius and the Dark Lord know how eager I am to begin."

She nodded, wishing very much she could get her hands on another hair from Bellatrix. She still had her wand stashed at the bottom of her beaded bag. If only they knew where it was… "We will have to wait until sometime next year anyway for the last two. Have you been keeping a close watch on Regulus?"

"You know, just because we're in the same house doesn't automatically make us friends… especially in Slytherin." When she only arched a brow at him, he sneered. "Well it's true. Luckily enough, Regulus and I happen to have always got on well, probably due to a mutual disdain for his brother. He'll be at the meeting this weekend." He paused. "Next year? I thought you said this summer?"

"I forgot he still had another year left at school."

Severus sighed heavily. "That's irritating. Though, I suppose it's still preferable to your original timeline."

Biting the inside of her cheek, Hermione nodded in agreement and tried to piece together everything she knew about the younger Black brother. "I think… from the little I ever got from Sirius and a random conversation with Kreacher after the war, I have the feeling Regulus joined more out of a sense of familial duty than any real fervor over the Dark Lord or his ideals. Would it be strange for you to see one another this summer before you leave?"

Severus looked skeptical. "While I'd tend to agree that though a Black he may be, a dark wizard he isn't, Regulus definitely favors blood purity. But no… not necessarily. We could both be invited to dinner at Malfoy manor, and if he feels like escaping his harpy of a mother he might find himself at Spinner's End as well as anywhere else."

She nodded. "Good. Just keep in touch with him once you leave. I'd prefer to know when he decides to go against the Dark Lord ahead of time. He doesn't have to die."

"I don't know how likely he is to confide in me. But if he mentions anything I'll let you know. We might need a better way to communicate than coded owls."

George snapped his fingers and gestured to her bag. "Have you still got any of those coins from the DA in there? That'd work, yeah?"

"I think so…" Hermione opened her bag and fished around for a while, wondering why she hadn't thought of it sooner. To be fair, the last time they'd seen Snape she had been minutes from completely falling apart. And the owls had served until then. But with Severus going into the den as it were, owls would be too obvious. When he left for his mastery they'd be inefficient. "Ah, here."

She drew out two charmed coins, sliding one across the table to Severus. "You're familiar with the Protean Charm? These were originally used to set up meeting times for a group we had in school. This one," she held up the coin that had been Harry's, "was the master and would send the message to all the others along the edge in the serial number… see? But I've messed about with these two, in case Harry or I were separated. Um… I'm not sure how much of our time searching for these things the first time you saw. Anyways, they're two way now. Short messages of course but well, it's faster and more secure than an owl. It'll warm up when there's a message. Just keep it on you."

Taking the coin from the table and examining it closely, Severus nodded once and slipped it into his inner jacket pocket. "Alright. If there's nothing else?" When she shook her head he tossed a few muggle coins on the table for his drink and began sliding out of the booth. "I can't imagine we'll need to see one another again until I've found it. Watch your backs, as I've said." He nodded towards Hermione and George. "You two might not be well known yet, but I'd be careful being seen out with your cousins if you want to keep it that way."

As he stood and turned away from the table, canceling the charms, Hermione leaned forward and called after him. "Be careful, Severus." He turned back to her, looking vaguely discomfited, nodding once and leaving the pub without looking back.

"I'd say that went well." Gideon looked around the room, rapping his knuckles on the table. "Not an ambush after all. But… we should probably go all the same."

Three days later Hermione woke to a burning on her hip. Since giving Severus the charmed galleon, she had taken to keeping it on her all the time in case he needed them for any reason. Hers burned through the pocket of her shorts, causing her to jerk about as she was abruptly pulled from sleep. Finally managing to free the damn thing from her pocket, waking George and sending Jasper fleeing under the bed in the process, Hermione snatched her wand from the bedside table and cast a lumos.

Come to SE floo open now

"What's wrong?"

Beside her, George was squinting against her lumos and reaching for his own wand. Rubbing her thumb along the edge of the coin, she held it out to him.

"It's Severus. He wants us to come to Spinner's End, now apparently."

Yawning, he cast a quick tempus.

3:00 am 6 July 1978

"Bloody well better be important." He tapped his wand on the coin.

Safe?

George had barely stood from the bed and grabbed his jeans and a shirt from the chair in the corner when the coin burned in her hand again.

Yes - for now

"He says it's safe, for now." Getting out of bed herself, she snatched her blouse from the day before off the floor. "That doesn't sound ominous at all."

Jeans yanked on and hanging unfastened over his pants and t-shirt stuck around his neck, George looked around for his shoes with a lumos of his own. Not once in the three months that they'd been sharing a room had they changed in front of one another. After nearly a year in a tent with Ron and Harry, seeing George half naked in the dim wandlight shouldn't have been something to make her stare.

But she hadn't been secretly in love with Harry or Ron. Nor had emaciation and terror been conducive to sexual tension even had she had the urge. This was definitely not the time, but for longer than she should have, she watched him struggle, one armed into the t-shirt, still waving his wand about looking for his shoes. She knew he'd been fit from all the years playing quidditch in school, but the three years off hadn't seemed to do him any harm. Slender but undoubtedly strong.

"Bloody hell." Suddenly he was reaching under the bed and Hermione realized what she'd just been doing. Thankful for the dark to hide her no-doubt flaming face, she spun around on her heel and hurriedly finished dressing herself.

"Heh Erminee."

She peeked around in time to see him, wand in his mouth and one hand holding up his jeans, as he tossed her shoes across the bed. Castigating herself mentally for getting so distracted, she sat down and pulled them on. Maybe they should have split the bed that first night. Asking to do it now just felt silly.

"Are you ready? Do you think we should wake my uncles?"

"Hmm what?" Stepping into her second boot clumsily as she looked back over her shoulder at him, she had to think half a second about what he'd asked. She was definitely blaming her sudden fog on the abrupt wake up. "Oh… I don't think so. I'm sure we'll be fine, he said it was safe."

"If you're sure. He hasn't given us any reason not to trust him." Shrugging on his shield robes all the same, George handed her hers as she walked around to meet him and they slipped silently through the house to the floo.

Spinners End was exactly as it was twenty years in the future when she'd come here with Harry, unkempt but for the piles and piles of books. It had been obvious to them then that Severus had had no love for the place, only living there out of necessity when he wasn't at Hogwarts. Now, knowing him as a young man, it was somehow even sadder than when he'd been dead.

Severus was lying awkwardly on a weathered sofa in front of the fireplace and it only took Hermione a moment to realize he was injured. Not severely, but there were empty potion vials beside him on the floor and he jerked slightly as if in a great deal of pain. She recognized the after effects of the cruciatus and immediately moved to his side.

"How long?"

Grunting softly as he tried to sit up, the tremors hindering him slightly, he waved her away when she tried to help. "Not long. He was… mostly angry with Antonin." A stronger tremor passed through him but once it passed he summoned another potion from somewhere in the house and downed it as well. "I didn't call you here because I needed a mediwitch. They know…" He gritted his teeth and dug his thumbs into his eyes. "About you two."

Something cold and unpleasant that felt very like dread wound its way down her back and into her gut as she rocked back onto her heels. "What do they know, exactly? Where we're from?"

He shook his head, glancing up at them from between his lank hair. "No, of course not. But you were at the Ministry with his cousins when they put on their little show. And before that when the alley was attacked." He gestured weakly at George. "You killed Rookwood and someone else I didn't know. But when you were both at the atrium too, you were recognized. This is all old news by now… they've been looking for you ever since. I only found out tonight, I've not been to any meetings since Easter holiday."

George swore softly behind her. "Do they know we're staying with Gideon and Fabian? Do they know where their house is?"

"I don't think so. They know about the Order and just assume you're members so they won't necessarily be looking for you together. And everyone in the Prewett family has strong warding, like you said." He shrugged. "It sounded like they've been keeping an eye out at the Ministry and in Diagon. If there's more detailed plans, I'm not privy to them."

Letting out a tense breath, Hermione tried to think if they'd ever gone from the alley to her parents office or home. She didn't think so, but as the nagging fear she'd not managed to completely banish by sending them to Australia clouded her thoughts, she couldn't remember.

"Hermione." George's hand on her shoulder brought her back to the moment and she looked up into his somehow calm face. "We've not been to Diagon since the attack. Every time we've visited your parents we've just apparated nearby. And you set up wards around their flat and their office, I'm sure they're alright."

How had he… "You're sure?" A rush of affection for him flooded her but she forced it away, accepting his nod of assurance and briefly covering his hand with her own before turning back to Severus. "We'll avoid those places. We usually apparate directly to muggle London if we go anywhere."

"I'd stay inside trusted wards for a while. All four of you. Since you're connected to the Prewetts you're just as wanted. It sounded like they'd prefer you alive."

A chill passed through her when she met his dark eyes, knowing exactly what fate awaited them if they were captured.

"Alright. Thanks for the warning, Severus. Do you… do you need anything else before we leave?"

Shaking his head again, he waved them on towards his floo. "Go. Like I said the other day, I've no idea when someone might show up. You've been here long enough."

Back home, they sat shoulder to shoulder on the foot of their bed staring at the wall. "It's not unexpected and it's not like we haven't been undesirables before. I don't know why I'm suddenly feeling so anxious."

George shrugged as he reached over and took her hand. "Before, well we sort of knew what to expect. I don't think we ever knew a time when we weren't on the wrong side of the Death Eaters. But it's different now, sort of. Different Death Eaters, they're younger and a bit less mad. And You Know Who's different too. It feels more dangerous somehow this time, knowing they're looking for us especially."

Trying to focus on the feel of his thumb tracing along her knuckles, Hermione suddenly realized what was bothering her so much. "It's the future, George. Can you imagine what would happen if we were captured… if they broke into our minds? We know so much, have too much to protect. Even more than last time. I knew we were in danger just like anyone else but for some reason hearing from Severus how badly they want to find us…"

"Well, we'll just have to make sure they don't."