Author's Note:

I am so sorry to have left the story hanging for so long. I have truly been unable to be inspired to write anything in the last couple of years. However, after been struck by a renewed desire to complete this and write more, I have picked up the proverbial pen and taken to To Save the Saviour once more. This is the second set of vignettes as described in the last chapter. These are from Order of the Phoenix to the end of Half-Blood Prince. Enjoy! And I only have one more chapter to write and then can publish the rest of the already written chapters so this story is back on track and on its way out.

DaenerysTargary3n

Intermission (Part the Second):

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 38: The Second War Begins

"Severus," Hermione wheezed, "stop it."

"Stop what?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Glaring at me like that."

Severus scoffed at his wife. "I'm entitled to glare. With everything you and Potter and those stupid cretins who call themselves Dumbledore's Army put me through the past week."

"Stop shouting and sit down. I haven't got the energy to have this out with you, love, and I want to go down and see 'Ana this afternoon."

With his robes billowing around him, as if demonstrating the Potions Master's anger and discombobulation to his wife, Severus deposited himself into the chair in Hermione's private room in the hospital wing. Now at face height with his wife who was prone on the bed, Snape truly took in her appearance.

Hermione had only seven days ago descended on the Department of Mysteries with Potter to embark on a tomfool quest to rescue Sirius Black. She knew it was entirely plausible that the visions were meant to entrap Harry and was hopeful when Severus off to check on Black's whereabouts. When she tried to halt the incursion, she had been steamrolled by Potter's blind devotion to his godfather and his inability to think strategically as his enemy – a trait shared with his deceased parents. She had no choice but to go with the ragtag band of students and fend off the Death Eaters who lay in wait. She had done admirably concealing their whereabouts for a time in the Ministry by silencing Dolohov and Severus had been proud of her from Grimmauld Place where the Order was rapidly mustering to pull the children out. The shock to him when he had felt the searing pain of the bastard's curse as it tore through her flesh and incapacitated her was unimaginable. The breathed 'Oh' that had accompanied it before silence prevailed was deafening.

Severus battled with his good sense to protect his cover as a double-agent with his heart that longed for confirmation that its other half still beat inside the breast of his wife. He was held in check by Lupin's good sense and his certainty that if Hermione was truly gone from his world, he would feel it in the cracking of the earth beneath his feet.

"And I'm grateful he did not let you come." Hermione whimpered, hearing Severus sort through his thoughts and the deeds and disasters of the past days.

Hermione, for her part, had dispensed with Dolores Umbridge and thought she would have the opportunity to change Harry's mind before he gathered his pals about him, all of whom were ready and willing to follow The Chosen One into an ill-conceived battle. Once they were at the Ministry of Magic, all hell broke loose, and it was all she could do to keep the attackers at bay. Dolohov's last deed before he lost consciousness had been devastating. She felt no pain at the large, burning wounds cleaved through her chest, just the sensation of lightness and rest come upon her. Within seconds, she was out cold and bleeding freely. That was her last recollection before she awoke two days ago in the hospital wing to the news that Sirius was dead and Harry inconsolable. And Severus inconsolable.

"I am not inconsolable. I resent the idea."

Hermione smiled slightly, "Your wife is in hospital, almost cursed to death and the first time you visit her while she's awake, all you can do is shout and glare. If that's not inconsolable, I don't know what is."

"Five days, Hermione," Severus murmured brokenly, head clasped in his hands, "five days of ten potions. You needed ten potions a day to survive. When you were brought here, I wanted so badly to come to you. I was dying to see you, but you needed such emergent specialist care, Poppy brought a Healer from St. Mungo's. It wasn't until the bleeding had stopped that I was even permitted near you. It was like being back three years ago with the Basilisk. I couldn't hear you, Hermione. Do you have any idea how terrifying it is when you go silent like that when I know you are hurt? Do you understand it makes me powerless and I loathe it?"

Hermione reached over with her arm, though Merlin knew it was agony to move even a muscle, and caressed Severus' cheek over his white-knuckled hand. "I know. Believe me, my love, I know. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ended up on the losing end of this. I would hate it too if I couldn't hear you or know you were safe. Thank you for the potions and for taking care of our daughter. It'll be summer break soon and I can't wait until we can be a family together again. I don't think we'll be safe for much longer, Severus, the war is started in earnest and out in the open now. Everything's going to change."

Turning his face to place a light kiss on his wife's palm, Severus replied dourly, "It already has. The Ministry is in uproar and the Death Eaters still at-large are in full commitment to the cause. Both sides are drawing the lines in the sand ready for the next engagement. You and Morgana will need to stay in hiding here this summer. I will stay as well but there can be no going back to Spinner's End for the two of you until this is all over for good."

"If you think that's best."

Severus tilted his head at Hermione's succinct acquiescence. "Are you feeling alright? You look drawn and pale."

"I hurt all over, Severus," she confessed, her eyes misting gently with tears that she could not let fall, "but it's to be expected, I suppose. I'll be fine and I don't want you to worry. As soon as I've seen Harry back to King's Cross, you can bring me back here and we can start our summer together. I'll be alright. I'm just thankful I won't have scars where I bled. Was that one of your many concoctions' work or is it a natural by-product of the curse?"

"The latter." Severus answered curtly, placing her hand back under the coverlet. "Dolohov's mind always tends to the perverse and it's a very good thing he's sequestered away at Azkaban. He likes to inflict pain, especially on the fairer sex, but he cannot abide mutilation."

"He gets off on it?"

Severus' eyebrow quirked in the affirmative, "Astute. Yes, witch, I believe his predilections do tend that way. He is a vile specimen of humanity to be sure. He is part of the inner circle, and the Dark Lord does enjoy watching him 'play' with his victims. Now, I don't want to dwell on that. I can feel your fatigue, wife, and I cannot linger here longer – breakfast will have just finished, and I suspect your friends will wish to pay you a visit before they return to Gryffindor Tower. Now, rest for a while, my love, and I will see if I cannot bring you a special visitor who is desperate to see you for herself when I return tonight."

Placing a kiss on her head and pausing to collect a tray of discarded vials from Hermione's potions regime, Severus quit the room and returned to the dungeon. If any student had come upon their stern Potions professor, they might have caught him in a serene smile as he traversed the many staircases as his wife's dreams as she slumbered floors above tingled at the edge of his mind's eye.

Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 24: Sectumsempra

Snape stormed into the dungeons in a rage that could have heated the whole castle. He bellowed as he entered his living quarters, slamming the door in his wake, "Morgana, I am going to call your mother down. I do not want us to be disturbed. We have an important matter to discuss. You will have your visit with her later."

Hearing his daughter acquiesce to his request, Severus shut his eyes and thought irately, "Hermione, come down to the dungeons. Now!"

"I can't, Severus," she thought back through their bond, "I'm in the common room with Harry and Ron. I will come as soon as I can."

"Not soon enough. Make an excuse. Womanly affliction, whatever you like. Get here. I am waiting."

"What's happened? Is it Morgana?"

Severus sighed, "Our daughter is perfectly well in my care, witch. I need to urgently speak to you regarding the incident Potter is no doubt reporting to you as we speak!"

"Very well. Try to calm down, Severus, while I make my excuses. Also, I resent the implication that 'womanly affliction' would be my first choice!"

Severus felt the bond lapse as Hermione returned her attention to her charges. He removed his frock coat and released his top buttons to free his throat. He acknowledged that his wife was right – he ought to calm down before she reached him – it would do neither of them any good for him to take his ire and fear out on her. He moved to retrieve two glasses and pour a healthy (according to some) glug of firewhisky in both. He drank his down in one swallow before refilling it to leave for Hermione's arrival.

It was not too long before he heard her cross the threshold and look in on Morgana en route to their bedroom door. Severus met her hazel eyes as soon as she came through and let her know his temper had waned since their earlier exchange. He was still seething at the events that had unfolded but his anger would not threaten her.

"Are you sitting comfortably?" Hermione asked, tongue in cheek. "Good. Let's begin."

Severus harrumphed, "No need for that, wife. I am in control of my temper. I have some…questions of you regarding the incident of this afternoon."

"Very well. Ask them." Hermione responded, picking up her glass and elegantly planting herself in an armchair.

"First: Is Potter showing any signs that he wishes to repeat his earlier violence on Mr. Malfoy?"

"You mean does Harry intend to pursue him around Hogwarts and curse him some more?" Hermione waited for her husband's nod. "No, he won't. He is still suspicious of him and he knows Draco is up to something but he won't engage further."

"Well, thank Merlin for small mercies!" Severus grumbled, though satisfied with the news. "Secondly then, I have issued Mr. Potter with a significant number of detentions. These will place him in my care for two hours twice a week for the next two months. He will therefore not require your supervision. Would you be happy to spend those detention hours with Morgana?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you. I'm sorry you'll have to spend so much time with Harry, though."

"Yes, it is not my preference, but it has its positives. Morgana will be pleased. She does miss you so."

"I know. What is your next question? The sooner you finish 'interrogating' me," she said with a wink, "the sooner I can see her."

"My final – and most important – question to you is this. Potter typically favours spells of a less lasting effect. Yet, this afternoon he chose a spell that he cannot know. A spell of interesting origin and dark intent. Both are beyond The Boy Wonder. So, I have deduced that Potter must have acquired a specific copy of a book that has long been lost. I have also spoken to Horace Slughorn as this book, if in Potter's keeping, will have dramatically increased his aptitude for Potions. Horace acknowledges that Potter has been exhibiting a keen talent – a talent that far outshines your own – so I know that he has the book and if he has been outdoing you at Potions, you know he has it. I would ask you, wife, does Potter have an old copy of Advanced Potion-Making and are you able to separate it from him and give it to me?"

Hermione struggled to absorb all her husband was saying to her. She, of course, was well aware of Harry's possession of the book. The fact that Severus was aware that the book contained that awful curse scribbled in the margins meant that he knew of the Half-Blood Prince, whom she had been searching for with no success. It had not occurred to her that her husband had the answer to this riddle. He was asking her to remove the book from Harry and hand it to Severus. That would be a hard task. Harry had worryingly become dependent on that volume and her stealing it away could have severe consequences.

"Ok. He does have the book. He wasn't signed on for Potions, so he needed one of the spare second-hand ones. That was where he got it. As for the rest, it has been vexing me how it has improved his skill at Potions – it's cheating, but whatever he knows can only help I suppose. It reminded me of Riddle's diary, so I've tested it for dark magic and possession. I've since ruled those out and have been trying to identify the original owner – this Half-Blood Prince. I haven't been successful. But it sounds as though you know exactly who he is. I've never heard of him, I've not found a trace in each book, periodical and newspaper I've looked in! Tell me."

Severus smiled knowingly at his wife. She was quite the petulant brat, even in her true form, when a piece of knowledge eluded her. "You won't have, my dear, because the Half-Blood Prince has always kept his identity a secret. He was – at the time of writing the notes in the textbook – a master spellcaster and potioneer, a pioneer ahead of his time and above all someone who never wanted a slither of fame for his creations outside the lab."

"Fuck me." Hermione whispered, eyes growing wider in realisation.

"Yes love, you've got it. I am the Half-Blood Prince." Severus revealed, smirking at his wife's uncharacteristic profanity.

"You?! You made that ghastly spell?! All the research time I've put in and reading and I was searching for my own blasted husband!"

"It would appear so." Severus grimaced. "I am, naturally, a half-blood. My father was a Muggle and my mother descended from one of the noble and most ancient pureblood lines – the Prince family. Put two and two together and there you have it. I was quite proud of Sectumsempra's conception then. I came up with it in my sixth year when my hatred for Potter's father and his little gang of sycophants was at its height and my friendship with Lucius was devolving into darkness. If it makes you feel better, I myself have never cast it on anyone. I am sorry your search has been so…futile."

"I'm sure you are. I don't know if I can retrieve the book though. He's so attached to it. I also think he needs to keep it. It's teaching him, Severus, and it's no bad thing for him to be better at potions for what may come."

Severus sighed. This was not the news he wanted to hear.

"I know, my love, but I have already laid into him about using any unknown spells in it. I just think it'll come in handy more on my end than yours."

"I will cede to you in this then. But heed me, Hermione. Watch his use of that book and know that I would like it back at some point – just for sentimental reasons."

"Very well. I will be vigilant. Now, I want to go next door and spend some time as a family." Hermione announced with a nod.

"Lead on, Madam Snape."

Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 29: The Phoenix Lament

"Oh, my heart…" Hermione moaned as she flew through the door of her sometimes bedroom in the dungeon.

Before her was the despairing, prostrate form of her husband kneeling beside their bed as he gushed his rage, his sorrow, and his trauma into the sheets. Hermione had not once seen Severus in such a state since she arrived at the Potter house in Godric's Hollow. He was her pillar, her constant and her knight in shining (if black) armour. Now, a mere hour since Albus had fallen over the ledge of the Astronomy Tower quite dead, Severus was toppling from his pinnacle, but Hermione would catch him.

She knew his hand had stolen the life from Dumbledore and she had felt the unrelenting grief pound from him since the deed. She had witnessed his duel with Harry and his outrage at being labelled a coward by the boy who had inadvertently been the cause of his loneliness, his pain, his worry, and his virtually single-parenting young Morgana, who was sleeping quite contentedly next door unaware that her Hammer was no more, and that life would be taking yet another sharp turn.

As she fell to his side and pressed her length against his, Severus' reaction was instant and visceral. Curling into her neck and breathing in her comforting, familiar scent hard, as if he required it to carry on drawing breath himself.

"I had to. I had no choice."

Hermione sighed, pulling his hand into hers, "I know, my love. I know. It had to be done – Albus knew his time had come to an end. You did what was right…for the greater good, he would have said."

"For all the good it's done."

"We have to have faith in his plan, Severus, we have to, or we'll be undone. We don't know the good. At the moment, all we have is the bad."

Severus turned to look at his wife. "You're right. It was foolish of me to despair. Potter's words evidently took a greater toll than I thought. Affected the mind."

Hermione laid a chaste kiss on his temple, "I know. He was hurting, Severus. To his mind, you just killed his greatest protector and his teacher. He does not know that you are the least cowardly man alive and how hard you work to teach and protect him. I only wish you hadn't – inadvertently – taught him that bloody spell."

Snape smirked at his wife, "Sectumsempra…yes, that was a lesson I could have left out of his curriculum. In any case, I doubt he'll ever try it again. Potter does not favour dark magic – only second year spells."

"I know. It vexes me that and at the same time, I find I admire it." Hermione mused, wending her fingers through her husband's hair. "If more people were like Harry and did not want to maim and cause grievous bodily harm to others, we might not be in this situation. In any case, he'll need to cast more than disarming charms and stunning spells…if we're to survive what's coming. I will not allow us to fail because of a damned Expelliarmus!"

"I have every faith, wife. Now, I must go to regroup with Bellatrix and the others, and you must return to Potter. First, we need to speak about her."

Hermione's face blanched, as she pondered her only child's future. "What'll happen now on your side? What does the Dark Lord have planned now that Dumbledore has been removed?"

"Hogwarts has fallen. Most of the Muggleborn and half-blood students will not return in September if they are wise. The Dark Lord shall install a new Headmaster, one who was instrumental in the murder of his predecessor, and someone firmly ensconced in his inner circle whom he is certain he can trust."

"Who?" Hermione asked, fearful of the tenure of a Death Eater Headmaster.

"Me."

Hermione was speechless. It was a natural move on the part of Lord Voldemort – to promote an already existing member of staff and one who followed his creed of hatred – but she abhorred the idea. Severus, who despite all appearances to the contrary, sought to protect and enrich his pupils for the better, would have to succumb to his darkest impulses for appearances' sake. He would be no benevolent font of wisdom. He would be feared, despised, denounced. And he would all the while be alone caring for their daughter.

"Precisely." Severus snarled, following her thoughts. "We are for wont of a better word…fucked. Potter will not return next year and as such, neither shall you. I do not know what he intends to do. I hope he will use the time to expand his horizons and train to fight the Dark Lord to the death. Whatever his and the Order's plans are, Hermione, you must never leave his side. Now that Dumbledore is dead, Harry Potter is going to be hunted without reprieve. He has never been more vulnerable, and we have never been so close to losing this war. While I am here, it may be entirely up to you to protect him now."

"I know. But I know I can do that, my love. It's what this has all been for. How are we going to make sure Morgana is safe in a castle that at any time might be chock full of Death Eaters while you live in the headmaster's quarters?"

"Come with me." Severus bid, rising and pulling her with him. "I want to show you something."

Hermione followed her husband as he guided her through their living room and quietly through the door that led to Morgana's bedroom where she was blissfully asleep. "What are we doing? Don't let's disturb her."

"I have no intention of doing such a thing," Severus whispered, as they stood in the doorway, "I just wanted you to look at her. Really look."

His wife looked down in the glow cast from the candlelight from the living room to the bed that had upon it the form of her sixteen-year-old. Morgana had always slept like she did, Severus told her once. Legs and arms akimbo and spread out to fill the space on offer. Her black, sleek hair formed a halo around her face as she slept with a serene smile on her lips. She had no notion what had taken place in the castle that had become her home while she slept. She existed in the same world that they did but she was so far removed from it, Hermione wondered that she might be the one person the war never truly touched.

"Come away now." Severus ordered, pressing gently against Hermione's waist.

As they stood facing each other in the Snape family room, Severus looked at his wife with determined, resolute eyes and said, "I promise you, wife, on my life's blood and the love I bear you, I will not let anything happen to our daughter. I will put the dungeons on lockdown with an access only to the Headmaster's Study. No matter what or who makes designs on this castle, she will be kept safe. Everything I do will be to that end now."

Hermione flew into her husband's arms and plastered her lips onto his. The shock made Severus step back, but his wife clung to his neck, unwilling to have them parted. Now that she was sixteen, the age difference was less disturbing to the man, but they had not shared a lover's embrace in some months. As they kissed, Hermione allowed her mind to caress his own still-troubled and Severus poured his own fortitude and wisdom into hers. They were two halves of the same coin and though they would be separated now by age, distance, and mission, they shared their strength equally and without reserve.

"I trust you, Severus, and I know 'Ana will be fine in your care while I am away. Though the darkness is well upon us now, please never forget that I love you with all my soul and the thought of being back in your arms again gives me strength to get through each day."

Severus knew full well that his lovely, tireless, strong wife was saying goodbye and it was like a dagger to his own heart. "Wife, I know you will get Potter through the trials that await him. You are…quite frankly the most brilliant, indomitable witch I have ever known. You and Morgana are my reason for drawing breath each day and you, coming back to me as your true self, wrapped in my arms and with me never to be separated, is my everything."

"I will see you again, Severus, before…"

He nodded, as his wife unwillingly forsook his embrace, "Make sure that you do."