A/N: Hrm… I suppose since today is not the 15th, I can be "nice". If I'm even capable of such things.

Summary: AU, R/S/HG, SSLE, SSHG. His choices brought him to this place, and those choices had been dead wrong.

Beta Love: Dragon and the Return of the Snowbelt, Dutchgirl01 the Meetings Meetings Meetings Girl, Commander Shepard the Missing in Action

Warning: Blood, violence, gore—you know, Corvus. I am my own disclaimer, people. If you don't know me by now—well, I dunno what to tell you folks, other than—now you know. XD

Choices We Make

(aka And Everyone Dies)

"Your life is a result of the choices you have made. If you don't like your life, start making better choices." — Zig Ziglar

"You are not going to like this, my friend," Lucius warned, his long fingers tapping on the crystal wine glass.

"I pretty much knew that," Severus said sourly, "but do tell me what you've learned."

"She has three accounts," Lucius explained. "One in the Muggle district under her mother's maiden name, one under her name Lily Evans, and her Gringotts account," Lucius said. "But I found a fourth. A shared account under a pub called the Stag and Doe. A rather lacklustre place in Gloucester—but that isn't what got my attention."

"I could die of anticipation," Severus intoned.

"It's a front for the brewing facility for the Potter line of products. Sleekeazy's and the like—but the original company Fleamont Potter sold to China for a not-so-small fortune, so the actual permission to brew and sell it was limited solely to the Potter family for personal use. One of my agents did some poking around, and the facility puts out quite a bit of questionably sourced products that are disturbingly like other popular products already out there on the market. The colour may be different. But sometimes they don't even alter it, probably because doing so would mess up the product, so they simply repackage it under a different name."

"And how do they get away with this?" Severus demanded.

"They package it up to look just like the real thing—or they package it up as something else entirely. Basically, they make really good forgeries by copying the recipe and selling it like they got a really good deal."

"But—" Lucius trailed off.

"I do not like the sound of 'but', Lucius," Severus said, eyes narrowing.

"They are using some sort of scourging magic," Lucius said. "Stripping it of a magic signature. It cannot be traced. Even back to the laboratory it came from. It's a dead end for evidence, I'm afraid."

Severus' expression seemed to darken. "It's like I'm back at Hogwarts with those bastards that always knew where I was. When I was alone. Untraceable. Unprovable. Later, I couldn't even see them coming. It stopped when Lily ripped them a new one—"

"Do you have any idea of which products were stolen?"

"A jar of Lethifold secretions was stolen from my storage cabinet," Severus said stonily. "Replaced with water."

"Lethifo— are you serious? Where the hell did you get your hands on something that rare?"

"Hermione," Severus said. "She procures many rare and high quality ingredients that I cannot get otherwise without sacrificing quality. Fwooper feathers, Nundu teeth and claw sheds, Graphorn shavings, even Horned Serpent venom."

Lucius whistled. "She was always a brilliant sort. Top of her game. It always puzzled me why you didn't get on better. She was an official apprentice from her first year onward. My father said to the best healer in the Department of Mysteries. He had no ill word to say about her, which is quite—telling considering she doesn't come from a pureblood family."

"I met Master Morgan," Severus confided. "I almost soiled my pants when he walked through the door to check on her after the attack."

"What attack?" Lucius asked, frowning.

Severus grimaced. "Hermione touch-healed my hand one evening so it wouldn't fester. Lily saw her touching me and—lost her everloving mind. Hit her, throwing her into a box of potions. They mixed—it didn't go well."

"Is she okay?" Lucius asked.

Severus nodded. "Sanguini and his companion, Rada—they helped her. Pulled the potion right out of her blood.

"Sanguini is a dangerous wizard," Lucius said. "Even my father warned me not to cross him. Which was odd since he never showed much of a profile at Slughorn's parties—but the fact that he was there at all should have tipped me off."

"Believe me, they're both very dangerous," Severus said grimly. "Sanguini is courting Hermione, and I'm fairly certain so is Rada."

Lucius' blond eyebrows raised. "Somewhat surprising, but—good for her. She deserves some positive attention after the slighting she endured at Hogwarts. The Headmaster purposely shoved her into Gryffindor when the hat refused to choose a house for her, and it was only her apprenticeship that saved her from that house's petty spite and grudges. If I weren't so blissfully married to my Cissy, I'd probably court her myself."

"Damn all pureblood tradition?"

Lucius smiled darkly. "There is blood and there is power. She is power. Even my father knew that." Lucius sighed. "Whyever are you so hung up on Lily Evans, old friend? You never gave Granger the time of day, and yet she was far more compatible with you than anyone else in the school. She even healed Goyle's boil. She didn't care about house or reputation as long as you left your violence and sides at the door."

Severus grimaced. "Lily was always my first and strongest crush. When she chose to pay attention to me and then agreed to date me, I thought that all my dreams and Christmases had come at once."

"Even without all this drama, you're a fool," Lucius said bluntly. "While Evans is busily draining your Gringotts vault, hovering over you like a starving vulture waiting for their next meal, planning a ridiculously ostentatious wedding that will put anything my parents arranged for myself and Narcissa to shame—the one you should have been paying attention to finally got sick of waiting for you to give her the time of day. Why is it that everyone in Slytherin seemed to know it but you? You've been so utterly obsessed with Evans for as long as I've known you, and I've started to think it was some sort of bloody infatuation charm. A jinx. A hex. Something."

"Can't I just be guilty of being a sodding idiot?"

"That and more," Lucius said with a heavy sigh. "Did you honestly never even have an inkling that there might perhaps be something more out there waiting for you?"

"She was everything I thought I wanted," Severus said glumly.

"Time to set your bar a little higher," Lucius advised.

Severus looked rather sullen.

"Want some brotherly advice?"

"Hn."

"Go talk to Healer Granger and clear up the mess with her. So she knows what really happened. I have a feeling the Nation will—very much want to put things right. Especially if there was stolen property involved. They have barristers and solicitors the likes of which cannot be equalled. Then—"

"Then?"

"If your head and heart are open to sharing and you truly find you're attracted to her, tell her along with the part about being a blind arse," Lucius said.

Severus frowned. "I have never been one to share."

"Yes, well, you see how well that went over with Evans," Lucius snorted. "I'm not saying be a man-Niffler and sow your oats with every witch in Britain. I'm saying go into a healthy relationship with communication and good boundaries but also enough affection to spare. You could use some of that. A lot of that."

"This is an awkward conversation," Severus admitted.

"Yes, well, try being me," Lucius countered. "It's like getting practice for a future son."

"She—what?" Hermione sagged into Rada's side with a squeak.

"I know it's your formula," Severus said. "I used it enough times to know. Smelled it. Felt it between my fingers. It's yours. And the Lethifold secretions are hardly a common ingredient."

"How did she get it? I mean—if she went to the rainforest and wrangled them, it's almost commendable," Hermione said, eyebrows furrowing.

"She stole it," Severus said bluntly. "From my stores."

Hermione blinked. "Oh."

"I know because I checked, and it had been replaced with tap water. It looks the same, but it doesn't feel the same on the fingers. It obviously doesn't do anything like the actual substance." Severus sighed. "I could have massively botched a batch of potions using it."

"I'm sorry, Severus," Hermione said.

"Why are you apologising?" Severus said with a gusty sigh. "I'm the idiot whose supposed fiancée stole both your formula and the reagents and—bloody kicked you out of MY store!"

"I honestly thought you were fed up with me," Hermione said quietly.

Severus made a strangled sound. "I have a confession to make."

Hermione stared, looking puzzled.

"I—the rent you were paying," he said. "I was saving it, not using it. To buy the place next to my store so you would have a suitable space to make your own."

Hermione's eyes widened. "You—"

"I was selling the excess potions from the orders for a lot of galleons and I put it in a separate account just for that purpose. Even Lily didn't know about it. It was never about you leaving. It was about finding a way to always keep you around. You were the only real friend I had, and—"

Severus grimaced. "I'm starting to think you were the only one who ever looked out for me. I couldn't even manage to do that for myself."

"And if we should seek legal proceedings against your fiancée ?" Hermione said carefully.

Severus' lip twitched. "The locks have already been changed. The wards have been purged and redone."

"Undo them," Rada said with a grim smile.

"Pardon?" Severus said.

Rada took out an expensive crystal phial and unstoppered it, he bit his wrist and let the blood drip down into it. He then stoppered it and sealed it with magic. He held it out with a dark smile. "The rarest ingredient she will ever see. The Elixir of Life."

Severus stared at the phial. The crimson fluid within seemed to shimmer with magic. It was clearly so much more than just—blood.

"But a drop will have her spilling her guts to everyone. You see, the blood is life, but it must be given willingly—or very bad things will happen," Rada said. "Now, if you were to put it in your little cabinet. Cupboard. Whatever—and simply leave it there. Say nothing. It is your cupboard, after all. You have no reason to think someone so close to you would ever steal from you—let alone use it."

"Pandora's phial?" Severus asked.

"Whatever you wish to call it," Rada said. "Take it or do not. I care not. But if you wish to know for sure—this WILL tell you. And if someone else is the one taking your things. It will tell you that, too."

"But there is one thing you should know," Rada said.

Severus looked up.

"If you are not content with the relationship you are in," Rada said. "It should not take a major betrayal to tell you thus. If there is a good reason for it, there should be trust enough that she would have told you."

Rada's expression became grave. "And if there is not enough trust between you for that, then there are clearly other issues that are smouldering in the absence."

Rada's lips pursed slightly as Severus experienced a surge of anger at being judged by a stranger.

"And before you decide to call me out for knowing nothing about you or having no right to judge—I have been around an exceedingly long. Time," Rada said with a slow blink. "You are not the first nor the last to be manipulated by someone or to find one's expectations in a relationship are rather less than what they dreamed. I do not need to judge you or even have an opinion about you to know the situation you appear to be in."

Hermione mumbled something sleepily and nodded off right in front of them, her body slumping against Rada with an indistinct murmur.

Severus, alarmed, struggled not to protest as Rada gently tucked her against him.

"Turning her slowly is taking a lot of energy from her," Rada said as he gently rubbed her shoulder. "It is not an emergency Turn, so her body has time to slowly adjust. A luxury from bygone times when Turnings could be—violent. Abrupt. The closer she is with us, the smoother it will be. Fortunately, there are two of us to ensure that she is not left alone during this most delicate time."

Rada smiled slightly, but it was warm and gentle. "Sanguini is off tending to certain official matters, much to his displeasure. Your Wizarding Britain has some manner of powermonger stirring up the young and foolish of the Sang, trying to convince them to join a Dark crusade that is not to our best interest—or anyone else's, for that matter. It is not our way to interfere in mortal wars, however, unless they are threatening us, and they do seem to be."

Severus, defused from his instinctive anger, promptly deflated. "Lucius told me as much," he said. "There is a stirring amongst the purebloods to join the banner of a wizard who supposedly means to bring back the Old Ways."

Rada's lip twitched. "I doubt that."

Severus jolted, surprised.

"People seem to believe that the Old Ways will bring back the glory of some bygone time, but I will tell you first that having lived through those times, the older ways were not always better. Those that remain stuck in some delusion that the past is worth revisiting to the extent that they foster war are doomed to perish as time rewards those who choose to adapt rather than stagnate."

"Which is why, young Severus, the older a vampire becomes, the more likely they are to flex with the wind rather than attempt to withstand a barrage," Rada said. "Both Sanguini and I have shared our lives for many generations of mortals, but it took all of them for us to find her, and she is worth so much more than what most realise. Not just in her many talents but also her ability to accept and grasp so much more than just the typical perspectives of the current society. And not in some dangerous way that had people breeding basilisks thinking nothing could possibly go wrong. She accepted the mutating breath of Manfred Morgan knowing that in becoming a healer like him, she would have to sacrifice a lot of what made her physically human, but here is the secret. She is far more humane than most of those humans out there. She brings his gift to the Sang, a temper to our more cynical outlooks, and that is why we can so easily share. She has so much to give. More than one could possibly soak up. So, to answer your other unspoken question—yes. We know."

Severus startled. It was such a vague answer, yet, someone the elder vampire seemed to think he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Once this threat of war is over and Hermione is fully Turned, Sanguini and I will allow you to be our guest here, where you may determine if what you want is compatible with what you can have."

Severus imagined that this was like talking to the old guru on the mountaintop whose answers were all more the puzzle than the question that was asked.

Rada chuckled as he handed him a weathered, leather-bound book. "Some light reading for you on Sang culture and customs. You'll need to know it to understand much of what you'll see. But should you find yourself seriously wishing to court our mate, I highly recommend studying the chapter on Lethifolds."

Severus blinked, stunned and utterly unable to grasp just how easily he'd been read. He was used to keeping his mind closed and his face inscrutable.

Rada's shoulders quaked in amusement. "Oh, child. You'll need a thousand years or so to have any hope of concealing anything from the likes of me."

"S-she's okay with having her mind read so easily?" Severus asked, boggling.

"She believes it comforting—to know that she won't have to say anything, and I'll know how she's feeling even if she's unsure herself," Rada explained. "Eventually, our minds will be able to part somewhat, shielded so as to avoid interfering when we must do our jobs, but there is always that comfort of feeling your beloved close in your mind. It is not a full mind read as your imagination is churning. I cannot hear every thought and see it in my mind's eye in crystalline detail. That would be maddening. It is a greater connection of empathy that allows us to tune in to each other's needs. So, you needn't worry that some social crime of yours caused her to run into the arms of two ancient vampires, Severus. If anything, we ran to her warmth like the glorious beacon it is. If you truly wish to explore if this life is something you can take part in, you will need time and the safety in which to do so. Not during a time of great stress and turmoil. You do not have the advantage of your Lethifold sneaking out behind your back and finding your mate for you, so you will have to go about it the more traditional, harder way."

"Somehow, I don't see Lethifold wrangling as being less hard," Severus said.

Rada smiled darkly. "They do tend to eat the unworthy, yes."

Severus reached out and took the crimson-filled phial. "To the future, whatever it might reveal."

James came home from a long night of brewing to find his parents already up and moving about the house.

"Mum, dad, why are you up! You need to rest!"

"Don't be silly," Euphemia Potter said. "We feel better than we have in years. The healers fixed us up as right as rain."

"The—but we haven't paid for the treatments!"

"Don't be silly," his mother said. "They said we owe them nothing."

"They—but the treatment is made with the rarest and most expensive ingredients in the world!" James protested, his face twisted in confusion. "I haven't even gotten them all yet!"

"Well, all they asked for was for us to confirm whether this sample was our formula," Euphemia said. "Easy, really. I could tell that stuff in my sleep after having brewed it for so many years. Can you believe that some berk is out there stealing our formula? They asked if we'd been brewing anything lately, and I told them we hadn't stepped foot in a laboratory in ages, isn't that right, dear?"

"That's right, love," Fleamont Potter said fondly, then his aged face hardened. "I told them to find the thieves and make them pay. Wholeheartedly."

James' eyes widened as he spotted the Asian gentlewizard who was sitting having tea with his father and he paled significantly.

"Who is that?" James blurted.

"Oh, son, this is Mr Li," Fleamont said. "He came over with that very nice healer who took such good care of us. "Mr Li, this is our son, James."

"Hello, pleased to meet you," Mr Li said.

"But, yes, Mr Li," Fleamont said, "We are so glad you brought this to our attention. I can assure you that Euphemia and I haven't touched brewing in some time, and I have a lot less hair than I used to." Fleamont chuckled and pointed to his balding spot.

"Well, we wanted to confirm," Mr Li said. "If there was some extenuating circumstance, we could have worked with you. Being as sick as you were and needing treatment. I am glad that we could find a healer that could help you. Hopefully, we can find who is selling these counterfeits and keep both our names in the clear."

"Well, I'm glad James doesn't have to worry so much about us any—" Euphemia frowned as she trailed off. "Where did James go?"

Fleamont shrugs. "You know our James. He's always got something going."

"We need to shut this place down," James said anxiously. "Right now!"

"What, but we just started to really get things going!" Sirius said, frowning.

"That Chinese company my dad sold the rights to Sleekeazy's to," James said. "They're here in Britain. They were at our house, talking to my parents."

"Talking—how—you said they were on their deathbed sick, mate!" Sirius objected.

"They WERE!" James yelled. "But they brought in some healers, the Chinese people—my parents are better, but they gave them permission to prosecute anyone they find making knockoffs of their stuff!"

"WHAT?!" Sirius exclaimed.

"We need to get rid of all this stuff and make it like it was never here!"

"What about the stuff Lil took from Granger? That's not Sleekeazy's," Sirius said.

"You really think Snivellus is going to read about the hunt for counterfeiters and NOT check his own stock? Lily took that stuff right from his own storage cabinet. He's going to check, and he's going to put it all together, idiot!"

Sirius grimaced. "Lil should never have taken it from him. He'll know it's her, and her business will be toast!"

"And where else were we supposed to get Lethifold secretions, huh? On a trip to some rainforest jungle?" James argued.

"PETER!" James yelled. "Make all of this shite go away!"

"W-whut?" Peter simpered from the corner, looking baffled.

"REMUS!"

Remus staggered in from the adjoining room. "What, I was busy making labels!"

"All of this needs to be vanished immediately. Every bit of it!"

"WHAT?!"

"Just DO it!" James yelled. "The Chinese company my dad sold the rights to is doing an investigation, they know somebody's been violating the patent they bought from my dad. All of this needs to be gone!"

"What about your parents?" Remus asked.

"They were cured by some bloody healers the Chinese representative brought with him. Get moving, now!"

Remus gawped at him like a goldfish and then slumped as he started making things vanish.

None of them noticed Peter surreptitiously lift the shimmering crimson phial from the cabinet as he vanished all the rest.

Lily wasn't sure what to do.

How to even explain what she did in a way Sev would believe it?

It wasn't that she didn't care about him—

She did.

But James' parents were dying!

And James didn't want to be beholden to Sev.

He didn't tell her the whole story, she figured, but James and Sev hadn't gotten on in all the time they were at Hogwarts. And something had happened in their fifth year. Something that made Sev angry and unable to talk about it.

Sev could afford to spend a little on charity, especially since he was letting that harlot mooch off his good graces and run her clinic in his store.

A part of her nagged in the back of her mind that it hadn't exactly been a grand space he had given her. She'd had to enchant it to even have room for herself, but that just made her even angrier.

Everyone knew that Granger was sleeping around. Groomed into some relationship in secret weekend visits under the cover of an "apprenticeship." The healer thing was just a stupid cover. A sham.

Snake oil and potions.

Granger just had to lift her little pinky and life would give her attention while Lily had to work damned hard to get attention. She had to prove to the world that she was special, and she was bloody well going to with the biggest, best wedding in ages—

But somehow Granger got a hold of some choice reagents, obviously some sort of blackmarket shady Knockturn Alley deals, and Lily took them—at first to bring them to James to see if they were legit.

Turned out they were.

The perfect thing to sell to ensure that James got the rare ingredients he needed to cure his parents.

But why didn't they just purchase them? They had the money—

Unless the rumours James had dismissed weren't actually just rumours.

What if the rumours that the Dark Lord had cursed the Potter family for defying him were true?

That would explain why they couldn't just simply go to a healer and get it taken care of straightaway—

Or, maybe they did.

Maybe that was why there were so many murders.

Murders you thought were just people getting angry at quacks—fakes.

You know that James would have gone to absolutely everyone in an attempt to find a cure—

And now, all those everyones are dead.

Lily grimaced.

Maybe this was about something much bigger than just a random affliction his parents came down with.

Maybe it was really about paying someone off.

And since you were all too eager to jump right into the thick of it, you can't go running to the Aurors to report it without ruining your own name. Ruining your wedding—ruining your whole life, even.

But how had this Dark Lord even found out about who James was consulting with?

Her eyes widened as the realisation came that they'd all been had. Manipulated. Turned all their faults against each other.

James' pride.

Sirius' arrogance.

Remus' inability to make a move without their express approval.

And her desperate wish for a perfect, glorious wedding to leave her girl from Cokeworth insignificance behind.

And all the while—Peter had been there, silently simpering but encouraging them all to do exactly what they wanted to do.

It was Peter.

Suddenly, a wand tip was pressed into her throat. "Ah, too clever under all that fluffy selfishness, I see," Peter's voice said into her ear. Only it wasn't simpering this time. It was strong. The tip pressed into her neck deeper. Painfully.

"You're coming with me, Lil."

"So, this is the healer who removed that gift I gave the Potters?" a sharp-faced man asked.

"Yes, my Lord," Peter said, bowing.

"And this is the Mudblood bitch bride of Britain I've heard so much about in Diagon Alley?"

"Yes, my Lord," Peter answered.

The man held the crystalline phial in his hand. The swirling, shimmering crimson liquid seemed almost to be alive as if it would escape the phial should the stopper be loosened.

He curled his lip in a cruel expression. He looked down on Hermione who was tightly bound in magical ropes. Her body was bruised from multiple expressions of "care."

"And this foolish little healer—going around healing my most generous—gifts to my errant knights," he said with his voice dripping in scorn. "You were such a pain to acquire. "But your little rule to heal anyone regardless of their affiliation left just enough of an opening to get our little rodent in to disable you. And now that you're here—well, I don't plan on letting you go. Unless of course—this Elixir of Life is actually poison. Then I will let you die to your own deceit. If it isn't, however, then so many more possibilities will exist."

He unstoppered the phial and used his magic to bring a large drop out and squeezed her mouth open. "Open wide, Mudblood. Show me your elixir works. If it does, I will have a very long time in which to continue our tortures, as befits one who attempts to undermine my power."

He backhanded her hard across the face. "Swallow."

Hermione swallowed.

For a moment there was nothing, but then all of her wounds and bruises healed right there in front of his eyes. To test his growing suspicions further, he took a cursed blade from Bellatrix and slashed her cheek open with it.

Bellatrix giggled in sadistic glee, but her face twisted into a frown when the wound healed just an instant later.

"Bella, do show our new guest what happens to those who dare to defy me," the wizard commanded.

"Yes, my lord!" Bellatrix crowed joyfully and she immediately began to Crucio Hermione and hit her with various nasty hexes and curses.

"There, now," he said casually as he stared down at a white-faced Lily. "Now that the proper ambience is set. I really have to thank you for giving us access to so many exclusive formulae. Everything you stole is now ours to do with as we please, and we will gladly let you take the blame for it. You did it, after all, as a quick path to getting your own shop. I had my knights research your various attempts to secure a loan. Rather than ask your fiancé for assistance, you instead stole from him and his pocket healer. It would be almost admirable if you did it all just to use and discard him, but somehow, despite our high hopes for you, you actually cared. How very pathetic. I have a little secret to tell you, though. No one likes a brazen thief for a fiancée."

Lily's look of pained realisation was suddenly interrupted by a terrible scream—

Voldemort spun to see a newly transformed greater dragonbat that barely fit in the other half of the room, Her head hit the ceiling, and her tail was squashed against the far wall. Blood streamed down her enormous body with wounds in various states of healing—clear evidence of Bellatrix' tender mercies.

Bellatrix's corpse dangled like a broken marionette, crushed between the dragonbat's powerful jaws. She dropped it as the Death Eaters rushed forward, casting a volley of deadly curses.

Only this time, they pinged harmlessly off her now, nigh impervious hide.

SCREEEEEEE!

Hermione's sonic blast tore into them, shattering their bones from the inside, bursting organs.

They all crumpled and fell dead onto the floor, blood pouring from every orifice.

The walls around them—shattered and began to crumble. Solid stone turning to useless rubble.

The wounds on her flesh were already healing, and her black, furred lips pulled back from blood-stained teeth.

A horrified Lily saw the dragonbat's eyes flick from Voldemort to her and there was no fear in them this time. There was pure hate.

No compassion.

No pity.

Not even pain.

Just hate.

Seething, powerful hate.

Hermione let out an earth-shattering roar that, perhaps in the back of Lily's panicked mind, made her think of Godzilla, and a number of Dark shapes pulled up out of the stone, ground, and shadows. Hoarfrost rolled across the ground as the temperature dropped to freezing in a manner of seconds.

Dementors arrived, and they fed eagerly upon the souls of the fallen, taking in the blue light of their souls as their lives passed beyond the Veil.

Lethifolds swarmed into the room, descending upon the fallen bodies with loud crunching and grinding sounds of mastication—

Everyone was dead.

Everyone but a trembling Lily and Lord Voldemort himself.

Voldemort took one look at the enraged dragonbat massacre, tipped the potion back and hastily gulped it down, throwing Lily out in front of him to give himself extra time.

In the midst of the heaps of rubble, hostages and prisoners that had been held in the next room cowered in fear, screaming, crying—and standing with them was the tall, blond Lucius Malfoy, his face torn and body bleeding from all-too-familiar curses known to be favoured by Bellatrix Lestrange.

Hermione's lips slowly pulled back from her teeth as she wing-walked closer.

"No, love!" Lily's head jolted up in shock as she heard Sev's familiar voice ring out.

The pale wizard stepped between them. He sliced his own hand with a spell, wincing as the blood dripped. "Remember yourself. This isn't you, Hermione. They deserved to die, but these others are innocents. These are victims—the ones you were trying to save. The reason you allowed yourself to be captured! Remember!"

Hermione's hate-filled eyes shimmered with crimson magic, venom dripping from her teeth.

Two Lethifolds appeared, dropping down a pint-sized Nundu cub, a baby Graphorn, and a Chimaera cub before her. They all bolted toward her at once, rubbing up against her legs.

Hermione's lips loosened slightly, and Severus took more steps forward, reaching out his hand to her. As he approached closer, her huge head dwarfing him in size, her tongue slowly extended to lap at his self-made wound. The blood stained her tongue red as her saliva healed the wound closed.

Severus placed a hand and arm over the bridge of her muzzle and hugged her huge head, pressing his face to her head.

Lucius limped in, followed by a bloodied and bleeding James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin as they entered the room with a number of other badly injured hostages.

"You should invite us in," a deep voice rumbled from outside the rubble.

Lily saw two tall, dark-haired figures standing just outside the building as if the non-existent walls were still there.

"I invite you in, of course, master," Voldemort said, bowing low.

Lily's head snapped around to see the Dark Lord bowing to the figures outside.

"All of us," Rada added, his voice like distant thunder.

"All of you may enter, of course," Voldemort simpered.

And that was when Lily saw a vast horde of pale-faced vampires swarming in with a crowd of Unspeakables and Aurors right beside them.

Sanguini was clutching a terrified Peter by the throat, then he bit his hand and forced it to his mouth, jerking his body up sharply to shock him into taking the blood.

Peter's eyes whirled wildly as he kicked and struggled—until suddenly, he went still.

"Tell them everything you know and did," Sanguini growled, thrusting him out to a lady in red robes.

"Thank you, Lord Sanguini," Amelia said politely as she took Peter into custody.

The intimidating woman scowled as she looked around. "I want everything recorded, exactly as you see it, no assumptions. Get these hostages out and safe, get them some warm clothing, tea, and food, and then interview them all."

"Ma'am!" the Aurors said, going about their duties.

"Unspeakables," the woman said sharply. "Do your thing."

"Ma'am," they said, fanning out to inspect the entire area for any hidden Dark magic surprises, artefacts, or any shady lingering magic.

"Ms Evans," Amelia said sternly as she brushed a bit of rubble off her robes. "We need to speak to you about your numerous thefts of intellectual property."

Lily turned as white as her namesake and cast a frantic glance at Severus.

Severus, who was standing next to the two vampire elders that had caught Hermione as she reverted from her shift, turned and gave her a stone-faced glare.

He very deliberately took the ring off his finger and cast it into the fire (in the surprisingly still functioning fireplace.)

"I do not even know you, and I will never marry you," Severus said coldly.

Life as she had known it had at last come to an end, and she had no one to blame but herself.

Everyone Dies at Tick Tock Tavern! Aurors and Unspeakables Swarm Secret Death Eater Hideout! Dark Lord Voldemort Confesses to Everything!

Lily Evans Convicted of Multiple Counts of Theft of Intellectual Property by Wizengamot!

Evans Sentenced to Ten Years of Public Service with the Goblin Nation

Also Ordered to Pay Restitution to Current Holder of the Patent for Sleekeazy's (Chinese Wizarding Apothecary, The Golden Kirin), Healer Granger and Potions Master Severus Snape for Thefts of Rare Reagents and Formulae

James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin

All Three Wizards Ordered to Pay Ten Thousand Galleon Fine

Will Be Serving Community Service At the Chinese Ministry for Magic Until the Time They Serve Equals the Profits Lost Due to Their Theft

Severus entered the lush gardens of Hermione's new clinic-home and took in the scent of both subtle flowers and ocean air. An ornate wooden sign swung lightly in the breeze reminiscent of a tavern sign: The Dragon and the Bats Clinic and Apothecary.

He'd sold his place in Diagon Alley and quickly accepted their munificent offer to partner with Hermione at her new home and workplace.

"I don't think I like men," he confessed awkwardly. "At least not that way. But, if you are willing to give me a chance, I would like to take you up on the offer to see if this is where I want to be and if you are willing to tolerate my—foibles."

Hermione smiled warmly at him. "I'd like that. And you can leave Rada and Mihail to me. I'm pretty sure I can keep those two busy."

Both elder vampires tched at that, but they had a smile on their faces as they gave her a quick kiss on the temple.

Time Passes…

Lords Rada and Sanguini and a surprised-looking Hermione stared as one Severus Snape (covered in scratches, bruises, and many a Lethifold mauling) opened a box. Three feisty young Lethifolds shot out and promptly attached themselves to their new people, with Hermione's duo of Lethifolds seemingly begrudging about sharing Hermione's back with the new addition.

Rada, Sanguini, and Hermione all bit their wrists and let their blood flow into a goblet and handed it to Severus.

Hermione's heated gaze tore into him, and he bared his neck to her. The overwhelming ecstasy of her bite caused him to almost drop the goblet.

As Severus took the goblet and drank it down, he felt their presence surge into the areas he hadn't ever realised were empty.

Hermione smiled at him as she shook her Lethifolds gently, and a small babyfold emerged. It looked about timidly and then slithered up his body and attached to his back.

"Welcome to the family."

Peace had finally come, at long last.

And everyone died. (Ahem).

Well, almost.

And they lived blissfully occupied ever after.

SCREEEE!

A/N: Okay, okay. I got enough begging to warrant an epilogue. Gosh, such needy people. LOL

Thank Dragon and the Rose for smashing her keyboard repeatedly during the course of this story; however, don't thank her cat (the famous Nyx) for sabotaging her beta-ing efforts. Evil felines.

A/N 2: Voldemort-clown is now available for rent for occasions such as children's birthday parties, barbecues, family gatherings, divorce celebrations, etc. Owl Corvusdraconis for details. XD

A/N 3: WTH Dragon?!