a/n: Written for 2023 HMS Harmony Harmony After Dark event. Chapters are short responses to prompts and some are pretty non-traditional.

Summary: The Second Wizarding World didn't end at the Battle for Hogwarts. An event occurred that upended both sides. A lie was told that has the potential to turn the tide of the war and end it for good. The damage done may be irreparable.

Prompt: Secrets

Chapter 1: Secrets

August 2009 | Big Ben

It was hard to find a spot in muggle London that wasn't touched by the Second Wizarding War. Many buildings smoldered from recent dueling. Others were charred with old marks from battle. There were no lights generated by power. Only flames flickered in the windows as those muggles who had nowhere to go or no way out of the city had sought shelter. Severus looked over the rubble from the burned out shell of the Great Clock of Westminster. The clock parts hadn't worked in nearly a decade. It was one of the first muggle landmarks to fall when the fighting spilled over into the muggle world. Any efforts to rebuild the structure were always undone until finally no one tried. Snape noted its strategic advantage a few years prior and set up a fidelius charm. He needed a safe place to coordinate his efforts to end the war. His actions felt just as futile as the muggles' attempts to restore the clock tower. Absent other options, he tried to carry on with the task Albus Dumbledore had given him. To secretly aid Harry in his quest to find and destroy horcruxes, and when all were gone save the one inside the boy, let Harry confront Voldemort.

Eleven years had gone by of death and destruction. Eleven years and four horcruxes still remain. What was even the point of it all? Snape looked at his watch. The number two still blazed red. The signal that a meeting was requested in the secret room. Only two people knew about the enchanted room. Only two could notify him in such a way. He doubted it was Minerva who summoned him. She hadn't tried to communicate with him in recent memory. Either she didn't see the value in their cooperation or had the same sense of futility as he did.

A small pop signaled the arrival of someone by way of apparition. Snape's wand was out, ready to fight if his hidden meeting place was found out. Footsteps announced the visitor was indeed inside the north side of the palace. There were no walls or barriers to obscure an approaching person. Another reason the location was ideal for secret meetings. There would be plenty of notice of interlopers. Once it was clear the person was through the enchantments and climbing the last flight of stairs, Snape relaxed.

The platinum blond hair was the first glimpse of who summoned him. Snape relaxed further. He knew why this meeting was called. Explosive rumors like the kind that were rocking both sides couldn't be contained. It was unlikely they would be the only two huddling together to discuss the ramifications if the story was true. They were the only two who needed to fear for their safety from both Death Eaters and Resistance Fighters if details of the story came to light. "Draco. I thought you were sent to Albania on a recruitment effort," Snape finally said.

"I cut it short. I met my quota," the pale wizard explained. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days. "My mum sent word. Has it been confirmed?"

"You and I can confirm it's true. It's not a story that I would expect someone to make up after so long."

Draco pointed a finger at his old professor. Fear and anger were warring within the younger wizard. "You told me she'd never be found. You promised everyone would believe our report that she died."

"I didn't expect we'd have to keep this secret for so long. The war should have ended a decade ago. You know as well as I, that we should be grateful it took this long for her to return."

A grimace told Snape that Draco agreed with the assessment. A lie this big was always going to be exposed. How they weathered the storm depended on the decisions they would make in that room. "My mum wouldn't have risked an owl if she didn't suspect I lied to the Dark Lord."

"On the contrary, your mother understands that the Dark Lord will rightly question the events that transpired. You will simply allow him into your mind again and let him see the memory I created. There was no body left after your curse. It was reasonable to assume she was destroyed. From there, I can offer alternatives that hadn't been considered at the time. An unseen portkey perhaps. Or more simply, the witch was in desperate fear for her life and the life of her baby and her magic produced a wild, wandless spell that transported her somewhere else. It's not unheard of. You yourself disappeared briefly when you showed your first signs of magic," Snape explained. He was already ready to be the one to intervene on behalf of Draco. After all, he had asked the boy to aid him. "You should remove your memories of what actually happened. Keep them here and wait to retrieve them until we're certain the Dark Lord believes us."

It was clear Draco wasn't as certain the encounter would be so simple. "I haven't been summoned yet. It's a matter of time. Have you?"

Snape shook his head. "I don't know that anyone has the bravery to tell him until there is undeniable proof."

"Then what? She won't keep her mouth shut. It's a matter of time before she tells everyone I helped her escape and you kept her hidden."

"I wouldn't be so sure. She stayed hidden this long. She is many things. Stupid isn't one of them. She'll understand we risked our lives for her. She's too honorable to not take that into account."

Draco stepped closer to Snape, he lowered his voice. "If she's willing to come out of hiding, she's learned you lied to her too. She's not one to forgive such betrayals. If I were you, I'd be more worried about Hermione Granger finding me than the Dark Lord." With that truth leveled, Draco turned around. He busied himself at a workbench presumably to remove the memories of himself freeing Hermione from the dungeons at Malfoy Manor and delivering her to Snape in a secluded hut to be healed. When he was done, he turned back to Severus. "We should have just returned her to Potter. Maybe the war would have been over then."

It had been a questionable choice. Draco hadn't understood then, and Snape didn't expect him to understand now. If Snape had it to do over, he wasn't sure he would have made a different decision. Hermione had been in no shape to make the choice. "I thought I could—"

"—what? You thought you could what? Save a mudblood at my expense. I helped you then because I thought you knew what you were doing. I thought Potter could actually win this war and he'd spare the family who saved his witch," Draco interrupted, shocking both men. "What good will it do now? Potter's too far gone. I doubt even being reunited with her will cure him of his madness."

There was no way to explain to Draco everything. Discovering Hermione was pregnant, near death. All he could see was Lily's dead body. Sacrificed to save her child. He wanted to break the cycle. To give Hermione the life that was denied to Lily. He also knew that Hermione wasn't the sort to abandon those she loved. It had required a great deception to convince her it was in everyone's interest to believe Hermione Granger was dead. Someone found her or she finally discovered his lies. Either way, she wouldn't be thought dead for long. It was time to accept some secrets don't stay secret.