Author's Notes:

Dearly Beloved

We are gathered here today to discuss time travel and how it must be possible because I have no idea how it has taken me this long to finish this chapter. But finished it I have and here it is for your delectation and delight (although I'll be honest, I've only quickly edited it, so please let me know if you spot any glaring errors.)

I do hope you enjoy this. Not sure if things will be clearer or muddier, but that's all part of the fun!

Usual warnings apply and I own nothing, but a headache and few tins of paint. My lovely muses belong elsewhere!

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake

Laid in his bed at Malfoy Manor, Draco awoke to the sound of Luna talking in her sleep. He smiled as she batted away some strange fantastical beast in her dream and told it to behave. He liked it when she told him to behave, too!

They didn't usually stay away from Hogwarts during the week, but Lucius, having neglected his business concerns of late, had decided he better show his face, but did not want Fleur to be left on her own overnight. Thankfully, he was returning that evening via Viktor Krum's testimonial match, and Draco was looking forward to a good night's sleep. He and Luna weren't exactly celibate at Hogwarts, but whenever they were away they rarely had more than a few hours sleep. Sleep deprivation didn't seem to bother Luna, but now that he was a fully fledged professor, he wasn't so fortunate.

He knew they had to get up and head off soon so that they could attend breakfast in the Great Hall, but in the last few moments before he had to wake his sleeping partner, he found himself pondering recent events. The revelation that his father had found his soulmate still irked him and yet having seen the two of the together, he could not bring himself to wholly disapprove of the notion. The thought of having a Weasley-sired stepsister was a little harder to overcome. But, as Luna kept reminding him, that wasn't the baby's fault. He just prayed that the child had blonde hair. At least that would be less of a reminder of her lineage.

But the baby wasn't the only issue that Fleur had brought into Draco's life. Gabrielle was ever present now and insisting on calling him 'brother'. It was an annoyance to be sure, but one which the young professor found himself not minding as much as he thought he would. Whilst once he believed her infatuated with him, Gabrielle was the person who assuaged that notion by confiding in him that she had a crush on her Hufflepuff classmate, Connie Horsforth. He'd begun to realise that the young witch's delight at seeing him was simply because she now appreciated him. Luna bolstered him as you would expect from any loving partner, but Gabrielle provided him with a feeling of worthiness without obligation. Sometimes her enthusiasm at his existence made him feel like he could take on the world. Other times it made him want to strangle her.

It was also whilst he was in this contemplative mood, that his godfather and Hermione crept into his mind. Something was different and much to his annoyance he couldn't put his finger on it. He knew she wasn't pregnant because she had been curled up on his sofa last week slagging Severus off whilst eating chocolate, downing pain potions and crying. And although their Prophecy and concerns regarding the Ministry and the school were weighing heavily upon them, something was definitely amiss. He was convinced Luna or his father would know what was going on, but if Luna did know her response was so cryptic that he was none the wiser. And as for Lucius' suggestion that Severus had obviously discovered the joys of being pegged...well, Draco couldn't work out whether he was being deliberately obtuse by providing an answer of maximum distraction or he had some kind of inside knowledge that he really had no business knowing.

And whilst Draco was pondering all of this, back at Hogwarts, Hermione was smiling as her finger slowly traced over the platinum band that now resided on Severus' ring finger. Her new husband was asleep, laid on his back and snoring his head off following yet another night of repeated shagging. They may not have been afforded the pleasure of an actual honeymoon, but they were buggered if they weren't going to have the actual pleasures of a honeymoon even if it was just in their chambers.

Her thoughts slipped back to what had occurred during the night when she realised that she could no longer feel his wedding ring. A slight panic overcame her before she was snapped back to reality. Their rings were subject to glamour charms that only deactivated when they were in their bedroom and were automatically put back in place at 6.30am when it was time for the couple to get up.

Hermione sighed deeply almost resigned to what was to follow. Knowing the headmaster as she did, she knew how difficult it was to wake the grumpy bastard at the best of times, let alone when he was literally shagged out. But she also knew that he was dreading today and he'd be more grumpy than usual. For tonight, they had to go to a Quidditch match that she knew he would rather not attend. And although it appeared that Severus no longer wanted to kill Viktor on sight, she knew that the thought of attending his testimonial where they would be thrown into the path of several masquerading Death Eaters with a grudge, was not something he was looking forward to. They had both agreed that whilst caution was advisable, running shit scared from the arseholes was not an option. That didn't stop him from worrying far more than he was letting on.

Gently, she brushed a wisp of his dark hair away from his eyes before she took a deep breath and braced herself for the ensuing litany of swearing as she tried to wake him up. He didn't disappoint her.

The atmosphere within the London International Quidditch Stadium was electric as fans from all over the world arrived to watch some of the greatest players in the game turn out to celebrate the career and imminent retirement of Bulgaria's Viktor Krum. Bulgaria were taking on a Rest of The World Seven for this testimonial match, and against the general cacophony of the crowd, noisy purveyors of all manner of snacks and memorabilia emblazoned with the face of the Bulgarian Seeker, traipsed up and down the elevated terraces selling their wares. Various national and club flags and colours were being worn, waved or draped over the stands not in rivalry, but to show how far they had come to pay Viktor their respects. Songs and chants filled the air drowning out the official stadium band as everyone kept their eyes peeled for their favourite players as they wandered out on to the pitch or warmed up on their brooms.

Security at all UK based international Quidditch matches had been increased significantly following the debacle of the last World Cup, but it was especially high tonight given that there was also a Muggle international football friendly being played at the nearby Wembley Stadium. As soon as Pius had found out that Viktor's testimonial coincided with England taking on Italy he was ecstatic. Given current events, and with stringent security already in place, he could slip in a few more layers without anyone really noticing. However, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement wasn't the only person who was concerned about safety.

"Are you sure this a good idea?" Harry grumbled, leaning forward to speak to Severus. They were sat in one of the more prominent VIP boxes, and visible to anyone with a pair of omnioculars who was interested in observing them.

"Not really," Severus drawled with a sigh, "but I suspect your question is motivated by a more specific concern as opposed to my general lack of enthusiasm for attending this event."

"Well, with everything that's going on..."

"Whilst I happen to agree with you, Harry, look to the boxes on the left, right, above and below us. All Aurors," the surly wizard advised. "Pius assured me of the robustness of the security arrangements and he will be sitting with us this evening rather than with the Minister because our company is apparently much more enjoyable."

Harry huffed. "And that makes you feel better, does it?"

"It should do," Pius chimed in as he walked in front of the younger wizard to reach his seat.

"And yet Narcissa is not with you?" her ex-husband noted from the row in front, whilst his keen gaze remained fixed on another VIP box beyond the attending Aurors.

Pius immediately understood Lucius' inference, and was quick to reassure that the reason for his fiancée's absence was little more than she was feeling tired and really didn't want to sit through a Quidditch match. However, he could not deny that when Narcissa had told him that she would rather stay at home, he had breathed a sigh of relief.

A similar sigh of relief had been breathed by Lucius when Fleur had informed him that she was far too tired to attend the event. However, when she told him that she was going to invite Melina, Viktor's Muggle fiancée over for dinner, he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. He may have reformed his opinions on Muggles since getting to know Hermione's parents better, but he felt connected to them. Hermione was family and her parents were part of the package. They were welcome in his home at any time. But to have an unconnected Muggle acquaintance coming to dinner at Malfoy Manor less than a year after Voldemort had resided there was an entirely different scenario. He understood that he should and would be more inclusive, but over forty years of inculcation is a hard thing to erase quickly.

"Probably just as well," Lucius muttered, narrowing his eyes as Poliakov and Harkinsson took their seats amongst the delegation from Durmstrang. "I see our former colleagues have finally decided to grace us with their presence," he announced, noting how anxiously the disguised Dolohov and Crabbe Snr were looking over at a third VIP box which was rapidly filling with officials from Shacklebolt's office and The Department of International Magical Cooperation.

"Well," Piused mused, "they couldn't really avoid the event given that this is a testimonial for one of Durmstrang's most famous sons. But," he said, his gaze diverted to the Ministry box, "once again I see that our illustrious leader has yet to arrive."

Lucius simply huffed, but Severus had already noticed that Yaxley was once again noticeable by his absence. He was beginning to wonder whether Shacklebolt was still alive and if Yaxley was having to rely on a more standard form of Polyjuice, when Harry again interrupted his train of thought.

"Do you think they'll come and speak to us afterwards?" the Boy Who Lived asked, jerking his head towards the Durmstrang contingent.

A slight smirk twitched at the corner of the headmaster's mouth. "As I have invited them to our box for a glass of wine or two after this infernal match is over, I'm sure they will."

"You've done what?!" rang out with a collective tone of surprise.

"I find myself wishing to confuse them," Severus informed them with a nonchalant shrug. "I want them to leave my presence in the sure and safe knowledge that they have absolutely no idea whether we are aware of their actions or not. Unfortunately, the Minister declined my invitation so I don't know if that means he's attending tonight or not, but at least we can give those two a subtle grilling..."

"...just be careful, my friend," Pius warned. "A spy and a Legilimens you may be, but we are still dealing with so many unknown quantities here. Until you are married, you are not..."

Severus was about to interject, when Hermione and Ginny arrived with their Auror escort.

They had gone to The Burrow that afternoon for Hermione's weekly lesson with Molly. Ron had travelled to the match with them, but he had gone to find his Wimbourne teammates via one of the many pie sellers. Wanting to enjoy the match and to avoid being cross examined by Yaxley and his minions afterwards, Ron had decided to sit with his team rather with than the Hogwarts delegation. But sitting with his teammates had one downside: they had to follow a strict training diet, and Ron's willpower was never that strong when there was so much tasty, but unhealthy temptation around him.

"What are you lot going on about?" Hermione asked cheerily before she sat down and enquired of Lucius where Fleur was.

Over the last few weeks, she and Fleur had become quite close and had been seen taking tea and shopping for baby clothes and other paraphernalia. And whilst Hermione was quite disappointed that her new-found friend was not present, as Ginny sat down next to Harry, she had to admit that she was quite relieved.

The young redhead had never had a comfortable relationship with her soon to be ex sister-in-law. Something had always irked her about Bill and Fleur as a couple, but no matter how much she disapproved of Bill's behaviour, it could not be denied that Fleur had been seeing Lucius behind her brother's back and her niece would be brought up as a Malfoy. And now it would appear that 'Phlegm' was muscling in on her best friend, too. That would be enough to cause anyone to dislike being in someone's company, but there was another reason that she just could not shake. Because no matter how happy she was to be back together with Harry, there was a nagging thought at the back of her mind: Lucius had ended their dalliance because of Fleur. She often wondered, especially late at night when she was alone, what would have happened if he had not.

Severus had been about to answer Hermione when Pius declared, "Well fuck me! He's finally arrived. Will miracles never cease?"

"Sorry I'm late," Draco announced nonchalantly as he entered the box believing that the remark was aimed at him.

He looked a little deflated though when he noticed all eyes turning towards the Ministry box to observe Kingsley Shacklebolt sitting on the front row surrounded by his usual sycophantic staff. However, Severus' brow furrowed as he looked more carefully at the man occupying Shacklebolt's place and a sense of dread washed over him. The man did not look well at all. In his study of Luciferan Polyjuice, Severus realised that much of the anecdotal evidence had centred around the subject being in good health. However, Luciferan himself had pondered whether a subject's illness would affect the appearance of the disguised person and the stability of the potion, but he never conducted that experiment and so it was merely conjecture. And yet if that conjecture were true and Kingsley was indeed seriously ill, there was a possibility that this would cause Yaxley to accelerate any plans that he had for Severus and Hermione.

Severus didn't realise he was squeezing Hermione's hand until she slapped him.

"Excellent wine, Headmaster," the man posing as Poliakov enthused after taking the smallest of sips from the glass proffered to him by the stadium's hospitality staff.

Whilst Severus' face was as unreadable as ever, his eyes screamed 'Kill me now.' If there were such things as heaven and hell...and Severus was sure he'd be heading for the latter...this was his idea of hell: having to make small talk with idiots who thought themselves to be clever in one way or another. And the purported Durmstrang delegation ticked all of those boxes.

Lucius couldn't hide his amusement as he saw his friend's discomfort, and turning away so that he wouldn't be hexed for smirking, he muttered to Hermione, "It tastes like horse piss."

The young witch snorted at both his comment and Severus' incessant grumbling in her mind. "And you would know that how?"

Lucius rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up! Now, let's go and investigate the nibbles and let Severus deal with these idiots."

Whilst Hermione approved of this idea wholeheartedly, she could sense that Lucius' patience was not just being tested by having to be civil to those he'd rather see being tortured in a number of ingenious, very painful and fatal ways. "But you'd rather go home to Fleur than stay here eating nibbles, wouldn't you?"

"What makes you say that?" Lucius asked dismissively before popping a very dubious looking canape into his mouth.

"You're grumpy."

Lucius swallowed whatever it was he was eating quickly. "How rude!" he choked out.

"How true!" Hermione bit back frankly before adding, "But, you're lucky though. At least you can go home. I've got to stay here to the bitter end with Severus."

"You don't have...oh, but I suppose you do. The burden of being the Headmaster's soon-to-be wife," the blond teased with a wink knowing that neither casual nor intent observer would take anything more from his words than a statement of fact.

As Lucius and Hermione chatted away, it became apparent to them that Severus was becoming even more irritated by all the irrelevant chattering.

"Yes, it was a good match," the headmaster offered with all the cordiality he could muster after sitting through a three hour Quidditch match and having had to extol the virtues of the finest vintage horse piss money could buy.

Taking another sip of wine, the Durmstrang Highmaster simply shrugged as they were joined by his deputy, Harkinsson. "But, alas, it signifies a great loss to my school. I am not sure that we are ready to let Viktor go! At least he will be seeing out the school year with us, but I was just saying to Anders that it would have been nice to keep him for a few more years."

"And yet all good things must inevitably come to an end," Severus mused before adding, "Unfortunately, our plans often have to change. It doesn't matter the reason...someone moving away, getting married, becoming ill or even dying, people are quite adept at selfishly ruining our best laid plans."

Poliakov looked a little perturbed, his eyes flicking to his peculiarly quiet right hand man, but regained his composure quickly enough to prevent a noticeable faltering of the conversation. "This is indeed true, and speaking of getting married, how are your plans coming along? July isn't it?" he enquired casually.

Severus couldn't help grumbling in his wife's mind that the question posed was as subtle as a brick.

"If you are to believe the gossip columns, very well," he drawled matter-of -factly. "However, I am reliably informed that they are suitably uninformed and the only person who actually knows what is going on is Hermione. My role in the whole affair is to turn up where and when I am told, and quite possibly wearing what I am told."

Poliakov gave a simpering smile as if realising that Severus was not about to divulge any further information and, much to the headmaster's dismay, began wittering on about the Quidditch match again as Harkinsson moved away to focus his attention elsewhere.

"I hear you have caused quite a stir with your choice of witch," Harkinsson stated almost sneeringly as he shook Lucius' hand.

Not appreciating the inference in Harkinsson's tone, Lucius went to withdraw his hand from the imposter's clasp hastily, but what should have been an impressive display of his displeasure was cut short as his cufflink became caught in something. This time it was Harkinsson's turn to withdraw his hand quickly to disengage the cufflink from the silver bracelet that he was wearing. Being no stranger to wearing the occasional accessory himself, Lucius was well aware of the potential entanglements that can occur. Looking down, he initially saw nothing but a plain silver band. And had Harkinsson been quicker to disentangle them, Lucius may not have noticed the ornate B embellishment on the clasp. But he had noticed it and he found something about it was very disconcerting.

The corridors at Hogwarts were buzzing with excitement as the students made their way to the inaugural session of the Duelling Club. Harry Potter, now the fully fledged Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, stood upon the duelling platform that he had prepared in the centre of an empty Great Hall, and had to wonder if this really was a good idea. He had no doubt that the Duelling Club itself was, but he was about to demonstrate the fine art of duelling with Severus Snape.

Although their animosity toward each other had subsided, Severus was still an immensely talented opponent, and Harry had the utmost respect for his skills. Because whilst he had defeated one of the most formidable wizards of all time, Harry had always felt that his victories happened more by luck than judgement. And no matter how much anyone tried to reassure him that no one can be that lucky all the time, he knew that he was probably about to have his arse handed to him by the headmaster. After all, Severus may have agreed to keep everything above board, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have a trick or two up his sleeve.

"Going to charm a snake again?" Draco called out as he strolled nonchalantly up to Harry from the staff door.

The bespectacled wizard smirked as he recalled the day he and Draco duelled in their second year. "Nah, can't talk to them anymore. Could be hissing at it to bite you in the bollocks now for all I know."

Draco laughed before adding, "Please don't. I have enough trouble wearing tight trousers as it is without them being any bigger!"

Harry smirked and was about to respond when the huge doors swung open and the students began streaming in.

Suitably impressed by the number of students, the blond haired professor placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Good turn out," he commented encouragingly, knowing that Harry had been a little worried that his venture would fall flat.

Harry couldn't help but be amused as he watched Draco walk to the end of the platform and tell the assembling crowd to sit down as soon as possible whilst warning a few known troublemakers to behave. Remembering how the blond wizard had a penchant for thinking he was above even the staff whilst he was a student, it was funny to see the now assistant Head of Gryffindor laying down the law.

His face soon dropped as the door behind the staff table opened. Turning, he was relieved to see that it was Professors McGonagall and Sprout, but he knew that which each opening of the door the chances of it being his opponent increased.

"Well this is all very jolly, Harry, I must say," Minerva teased before wishing him good luck.

"And how much have you got on me ending up in the hospital wing?" Harry asked matter of factly.

Minerva feigned shock at the idea that she would place a bet on anyone's misfortune, but with a cheeky smirk she suggested that if Harry could see fit to knock Severus flying on his fifth spell, she would be most grateful. And then she added that not letting Hermione know where her money lay would also earn her appreciation.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts professor began to chew the inside of his cheek as more staff and students took their places around the platform. He tried to look confident as he joked with Neville and tried to ignore the worried look on Ginny's face, but then the door at the front of the Great Hall was flung open and the excited chattering ceased abruptly. Harry knew that Severus Snape had arrived.

As always the headmaster was accompanied by Hermione who mouthed, "Good luck!" to him before she took a seat next to Draco and Lord Malfoy, who had suddenly appeared at his side.

Summoning as much bravado as he could, Harry began his introductory speech to the attending students and staff where he explained the purpose, format and rules of this new Duelling Club. He thought he did rather well, too, considering that Severus was waiting at the foot of the steps leading up to the platform, arms folded and looking as intimidating as ever.

It was an exhilarated student body that started to head back to the various common rooms after witnessing an exceptional wizarding duel that was perfect in both etiquette and form and had produced a result that threatened to be entered in the next edition of Hogwarts: A History.

"I thought you'd left," Severus grouched, approaching his smirking best friend. He was unconsciously rubbing his chest where Harry's final spell had hit him whilst he was inwardly using some of the foulest language he could think of to berate himself for overbalancing on the last hex he cast, and consequently ending up flat on his back.

Lucius tried to look sympathetic, but failed miserably. "Well, I couldn't miss this, could I?" he teased.

"Oh, I think you could."

Scrunching up his nose, Lucius shook his head. "No, not really and stop being a sore loser," he scolded jovially.

Severus simply huffed. "I will concede that I am sore, but I think we can call that a draw, don't you?"

Again, Lucius had to chastise the headmaster for his lack of grace in losing. "They're paying out on Mr Potter so...no!"

"Only because I let him win," Severus muttered before he looked at his friend quizzically. Lucius may have appeared to be his usual ebullient self, but being his oldest friend afforded the dark-haired wizard a certain level of intuition where Lucius concerned and he could tell that he was slightly more on edge than usual. "But apart from visiting Draco, you didn't come here just to add to your wank bank of gloating, did you?"

The blond wizard took a deep breath, a little annoyed by his transparency. "Indeed not. I am sure it is nothing, but something has been troubling me since Viktor's testimonial."

Severus exhaled forcefully. "I can understand that. The catering was fucking appalling. Do you need a potion?"

"I have to agree," Lucius conceded, "but it's nothing like that. Did you notice that Harkinsson had a bracelet on?"

"And that's a splendid watch chain you've got there," Severus stated obtusely before adding with a hint of incredulity, "and since when have accessories become a topic of conversation?"

Lucius shrugged. "Since something about his bracelet has been troubling me."

Severus was about to take his usual 'come on then, let's hear it,' stance, but winced as he attempted to fold his arms. "Care to enlighten?" he choked out.

Stifling the urge to snigger, Lucius managed to continue. "It had a B engraved into it."

The headmaster considered this with as much seriousness as he possibly could. "A letter B? Troubling indeed!"

"Alright smart arse! I know it is probably of little consequence, but it put me in mind of seeing a B monogram virtually everywhere when I first started courting Narcissa. Her sister used to try and claim everything by scribbling her bloody initial on it."

"Just be grateful she didn't end up branding you! Look, she was always a childish bint," Severus chuckled, "but we've all been guilty of doing something similarly pretentious. Obviously, I can understand the unpleasant association..."

"...it's more than that," Lucius interjected, "and I can't explain it. I just wish I knew why it bothered me so. Perhaps it is simply because with everything that is going on and the fact that the baby is arriving soon I am more jittery, but..."

"...more than likely. I can only imagine how over protective I will become should we ever have children." Severus didn't want to appear to be dismissive given Lucius' palpable concern, but he did think that there was likely to be a perfectly logical explanation. At least he hoped there was.

A wry smile graced Lucius' lips. "I can certainly imagine Hermione's rants about your attempts to wrap her up in cotton wool. I'm sure they will be very similar to Fleur's!"

Severus shuddered, much to his friend's amusement.

But that wasn't the last time that the headmaster found himself shuddering that day. Later, in the comfort of their chambers and whilst the white fur-ball menace was merrily claiming Severus' lap for his own by turning round in circles and gently stabbing him in the thigh, he began regaling Hermione about Lucius' concern with a certain degree of mirth. The degree of mirth was added as much to detract Severus' own nagging concerns as it was to take the piss out of his friend.

However, his brow soon furrowed as his wife informed him that not only did she recall Poliakov wearing a similar style bracelet at the Yule Ball, but that Harold Sexton had a been wearing a bracelet with a B on it when they were at Beauxbatons. When she'd commented upon it, the Ministry official had told her that it had been given to him by his wife, Barbara. However, Hermione had thought this was strange at the time because surely if it had been a monogrammed gift it would have had the recipient's initial and not the giver's.

Whilst they could not dismiss that this was possibly a maker's mark, Severus had to agree with Hermione when she asserted that the chances of all three men having the same taste in jewellery and using the same jeweller were remote. He also felt an uneasiness in his stomach. But the number of questions that these bracelets raised had the couple debating long into the evening before they both decided that they were going round in circles and that perhaps they should contact Viktor and Ron and inform Pius of this potential development.

However, just as Severus was about to place a Floo call to the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, the grate sprang to life and the familiar voice of Arthur Weasley rang through.

"Sorry to disturb. I know it's late, but Molly has been nagging me all night and I got a little distracted in the shed trying to avoid her! But now she's gone to bed, just a couple of things: if you're not too busy on Saturday night, we'd love you to come over for dinner. Oh and Ron is being useless as ever. Is it tomorrow evening that you're expecting to see him to discuss the new school brooms for the first year flying lessons?"

Severus caught on quickly to the true intent of Arthur's words. They had agreed during one of their pub rendezvous that they should not speak openly about Ron and his role as double agent over the Floo network. Whilst Hogwarts' was undoubtedly secure, Arthur could never be completely certain that The Burrow's was. "Oh, yes, and more particularly I'm interested in hearing about where these new brooms have come from."

Arthur chuckled cordially, although the keen observer might have noted it was a little forced. "I'm sure it is an interesting tale. Ron obviously has his contacts."

"Obviously," Severus agreed before being reminded via the medium of Hermione digging him in the ribs to thank Arthur for the dinner invitation and inform him that they would be delighted to attend.

Once Arthur had bid them goodnight, Hermione flopped down onto the sofa and started chewing her lip as she always did when she was worried.

"Stop it!" Severus chastised her playfully. "Ronald obviously has some news and it will give me chance to discuss the bracelet situation with him."

"I gathered that," Hermione quipped, "but what news?"

Severus sat down beside her and wrapping his arm around her, pulled her in close to plant a kiss atop her mass of curls. "Well, we'll find out tomorrow. But for now, let's go to bed and if you're a good girl, I'm sure I can find a way to put this out of your mind."

Hermione smiled and looked up at him wickedly. "It doesn't really matter if I'm a good girl or a bad girl, you'll do it anyway."

The dark-haired wizard found that he couldn't disagree with her on that point.

The next day, Blaise Zabini was feeling uncomfortable.

He was laid on his bed staring at the stone vaulted ceiling, but that wasn't why he was feeling uncomfortable. Recent events had left him unsettled especially as he had been ordered to keep his mouth shut and ask no questions regarding Pansy's new role as a double agent.

His respect for his former Head of House still prevailed and it had angered him somewhat that Pansy had not shown him the same level of respect. Whilst he appreciated that the threat to her parents had left Pansy in an invidious position, he couldn't quite believe that she had initially agreed to work against the headmaster. And whilst he knew that matters had escalated beyond her control, and that she was now working for the right side again, he wasn't overly comfortable with that either.

She was in a dangerous enough position before, but now that she was spying for Snape, should she be found out he didn't really want to think what would become of her. And whilst he could try and put the matter to the back of his mind, today had brought it crashing to the fore again.

He had just arrived back from his final lesson of the day, and found an owl tapping at the bedroom window. Tied to its leg was a small parcel wrapped in brown paper which was addressed to Pansy. There was no return address, but he knew exactly who the package was from. He paid the bird through gritted teeth, and threw what felt like a box onto Pansy's bedside table. And from that moment, he had laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

He heard the door to their quarters open and shut before Pansy stuck her head around the door.

"Something's arrived for you," Blaise grumbled, indicating where it was.

"For me?" Pansy asked with a tone of confusion before she saw the small brown package and realised where it must have come from.

She swallowed hard before walking round to her side of the bed and stared nervously at the parcel.

"I don't think I want to open it," she told him dejectedly, recognising the writing and knowing exactly who it was from.

Blaise huffed, a slightly annoyed tone lacing his voice."Well, I'm sure they'll know if you don't."

Reluctantly, Pansy conceded that he was right and adjusting her pillows to give her more support, sat up next to her boyfriend on the bed before picking up the wrapped box. Slowly she broke the black wax seal and peeled the paper away from a plain black box. There appeared to be no note, but as she cautiously opened the box to reveal a wide, flat silver bangle, a slip of paper fell onto the bed.

"Don't touch it," she snapped at Blaise just as he was about to pick it up. "Remember what happened to little Emile."

The both remembered how ill the young Muggleborn Slytherin had been when he picked up a piece of parchment impregnated with a tailored poison, and a look of recognition passed between them. Blaise withdrew his hand so that his girlfriend could pick it the piece of paper.

Put it on

Pansy looked at Blaise seeking his reassurance, but all he did was shrug. As much as he wanted to interfere and hurl the bracelet into the depths of the Black Lake, he knew he could not. All he could do was watch her take another step even further into the mire.

As Pansy pushed the bangle over her wrist, her finger lightly traced over its only embellishment: a letter B.

"I've been given this," Ron informed those assembled in the headmaster's office as he placed the silver band on the large desk before him. "I think she will have one, too. All I know is that I was told to put it on and when I did a message appeared that told me to, 'look for messages.'"

Severus leaned forward to observe the bangle more closely. It certainly looked similar to the bracelets that Poliakov, Harkinssen and Sexton had been observed wearing. He praised the younger wizard for his foresight in contacting the resident Charms professor earlier in the day and asking him to be present at this meeting. It wasn't something that he felt comfortable doing, but despite previous appearances, the headmaster was a firm believer in the phrase, 'credit where credit is due.'

Quirking an eyebrow, he used his quill to push the bangle towards Filius Flitwick. "Protean Charm?"

The diminutive professor, having now been informed that this meeting actually had nothing to do with brooms, examined the bracelet carefully. "Obviously I can only provide an initial assessment, but I would say that it is indeed a derivative. This is certainly quite an unusual piece of jewellery."

"Be that as it may," the headmaster grumbled, "can it be replicated?"

Flitwick looked up, unsure that he quite understood the dark-haired wizard's request. "The charm?"

Severus nodded before adding, "More specifically, can you create another bracelet that is linked to Mr Weasley's so that his messages can be read by someone such as at the same time that he receives them?"

"Slightly after...perhaps," the head of Ravenclaw mused, "but not contemporaneously."

"Slightly after would be acceptable."

"Would they be able to tell that another charm is linked to it?" Ron asked, rather proud of himself for contributing positively to the conversation.

"It's a shame you didn't ask such pertinent questions in class, Mr Weasley," Flitwick teased, "but no, they shouldn't. However, until I have examined it, I cannot say for certain."

"Is he aware that you are staying at Hogwarts for a few days?" the headmaster asked.

"He knows I've come to discuss new school broomsticks and that there's a Quidditch match. I don't know if he'll try and contact me here, but I guess he won't need to send owls now."

"Well, we've had intelligence to suggest that he is still using them abroad. This would certainly be better for more co-ordinated communication, and perhaps there is now a need to accelerate their plans," Severus speculated, picking up his quill and tapping it against his desk almost nervously. "It would be useful if he did so that we can see it working. Can you send messages?"

Ron shrugged. "I haven't tried, but I also haven't been told how to send them."

Severus pondered this for a moment. "It is likely that you are still not entirely trusted within the ranks, especially as others have already received them. But given the task they have set you, I am sure you will need to communicate with them at some point. However, they do seem to operate on a need to know basis."

"I'll let you know as soon as they tell me how," Ron stated before picking up the bracelet and handing it to his former Charms teacher.

"See that you do," the headmaster told him staidly.

Professor Flitwick had been listening intently to their conversation. He was a little confused, but given the frequent visits of Pius Thicknesse and the number of hushed conversations that seemed to take place, he had been aware for a while that there was some kind of underlying issue going on. He was also now aware that whoever He was, that he wasn't the only one working on a need to know basis. However, he knew that even with the little information he had that he could make a positive contribution to the proceedings.

"Headmaster, would it be useful for me to create a sister bracelet for Mr Weasley so that you can communicate with him?"

Ron went to speak, but stopped himself with a bite to his bottom lip.

"Out with it," Severus huffed.

"I'm just thinking that if they notice I'm wearing two bracelets..."

However, Flitwick had already anticipated this concern and proudly drew himself up to his full height before stating, "I'm sure I can fashion it into a more contemporary style to perhaps help detract eyes away from this bracelet. Or at least that's what you can tell any interested party."

Ron looked impressed with the suggestion, but had his doubts about whether it would cause more problems for him than it would solve.

Severus remained as impassive as ever. "Well then, Filius, let us detain you no longer. It looks like you have a couple of days to research the charm and work out how to create these new bracelets."

The Charms Professor looked rather taken aback. "I believe I will need a little longer than..."

"...and I am sure that a man of your immense talent will find a way to get the work done," Severus drawled in a manner that seemed to say, 'and close the door behind you on the way out.'

Professor Flitwick knew when he'd been dismissed and bowing his head slightly, he excused himself and scuttled off to begin his research. Ron also decided to take his leave. Aside from the fact that he still felt he was always one wrong comment away from the headmaster hexing him, he, Harry and Neville had a very important date with a number of pints at The Three Broomsticks and it wouldn't do to keep them waiting.

Severus was about to sit back down in his chair when he heard a faint noise from one of the portraits, although without looking he knew who it would be. And sure enough, he looked up to see Dumbledore shifting in his chair.

"Well, this is all very interesting," Dumbledore announced distractedly whilst brushing something off his robes.

Severus rolled his eyes. "I thought you were asleep."

"Not when there is gossip to be had or talk of accessories. As you know I am partial to both."

"I am surprised that you and Lucius don't get on better," Severus muttered under his breath, but that did not stop his predecessor from hearing him.

Dumbledore gave a wistful sigh. "I've always had a regard for Lord Malfoy. It may have taken him over forty years to realise where his loyalties should lie, but he has always had a certain charm. And from what I have heard..."

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and shaking his in disbelief, he stated flatly. "...it's not as big as he claims so stop fantasising, Albus."

The deceased headmaster always gained a certain amount of satisfaction from making the present incumbent uncomfortable.

A few days later, Missy was serving coffee to Severus, Ron and Professor Flitwick in the headmaster's office. The fireplace sprang to life and Pius Thicknesse entered the room looking at little frazzled.

"Coffee?" Severus offered and, knowing that he would not refuse, he nodded to an expectant Missy who happily poured another cup of the steaming black liquid.

"Is it too early for something stronger?" Pius grumbled whilst accepting the cup from Severus' house elf.

The headmaster shook his head nonchalantly. "Not in this office. What would you like?"

After downing the coffee with no apparent regard for the temperature, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement slumped back in his chair and sighed deeply. "I don't even think a bottle of firewhisky would help."

Taking a sip of his own coffee, Severus observed his friend closely. "I take it something is troubling you."

Pius huffed before sitting up straight and regaining his usual calm disposition. "A few somethings, but that is a conversation for a later. In the meantime, I believe we need to discuss jewellery."

"Indeed, yes," Professor Flitwick confirmed proudly whilst pulling three boxes from his robes. "Here we have the original, the one for the headmaster's use and the additional one for Mr Weasley."

The other three men moved closer to observe the bracelets contained within these boxes. Pius had not yet seen Ron's original bracelet and was examining it closely, committing every detail to memory. The headmaster's bracelet was of a similar design to Ron's original, but was embellished with the Prince insignia rather than a B, and Ron's looked more like a piece of Wimborne Wasps' merchandise with a metal panel.

"Observe if you will, gentlemen," Filius continued, "the headmaster's and Mr Weasley's bracelet communicate with each other and to send a message simply incant 'Caelo'."

Severus resisted the urge to test this by sending Ron a simply, but heartfelt message, for fear that just saying 'prick' was a little childish. Ron resisted sending a similar message to Severus for fear of a slow and painful death.

"Now, when you receive a message the bracelet will become warm. Headmaster, this will apply to both messages from Mr Weasley directly and also from any message relayed from Mr Weasley's original bracelet from...well, whoever his contact is. To receive the message just say 'Legere'. I thought it would be useful to ensure that these commands could be voiced with the faintest of whispers. I hope that the designs are acceptable, and I thought, in your case Mr Weasley, this would be acceptably inconspicuous."

Ron simply nodded whilst inwardly grimacing. Whilst the design made perfect sense, it was a little tacky even for him.

"A most elegant solution, Filius," Severus enthused, noticing the slight air of discomfort emanating from his former pupil. But what he really wanted to know was what Professor Flitwick had discovered about the charm placed on bracelet Yaxley had sent Ron. However, as always the vertically challenged Charms expert was ready to provide his insights.

"Now, there are two interesting things about this original bracelet," Filius declared authoritatively. "Firstly, as suspected, it is a Protean Charm derivative which allows for one sender to send different messages to different bracelets with the use of a Scribing charm. But that in itself is entirely unremarkable. Anyone with N.E.W.T level Charms would be capable of performing this magic. I looked for a charms that would allow Mr Weasley to be tracked and thankfully I could not find one. And as for him having to the ability to send a message, this is also not present, but as we discussed previously it could be added at a later stage.

"The most remarkable thing about this bracelet," the professor stated, "is that it is made from a rare Goblin silver. Not that Goblin silver is common, but as soon as I touched it I could sense something unusual."

Whilst Ron looked fascinated by this and Severus just looked his usual impassive self, Pius could sense that this rare silver was going to cause him a further headache.

"Unusual how?" he enquired, his tone laced with a sense of foreboding.

"Well," Flitwick continued, "as you may be aware I am only part Goblin so whilst I can detect Goblin made objects by touch, I can't always identify their specific properties. So I referred this to a contact at Gringotts who identified that this is Tracing Silver. This type of silver is no longer mined due to lack of demand, but it was employed by some of the richest and oldest wizarding families to keep tabs on their valuables in case of theft. But as this bracelet was recently made, someone has access to a stash of Tracing silver. "

"And did your contact at Gringotts recognise the maker?" Severus asked, knowing that only Goblins could make objects from Goblin silver.

Filius nodded. "He believed that this was made by Bortog."

"Makes sense," Pius mused. "He is well known to us at the MLE. He runs a legitimate business, but is also known as a dealer in valuables of dubious origin."

"And that would explain the B," Ron chimed in, glad to be able to add something to the conversation.

"Ah yes, Mr Weasley, that would indeed solve that mystery if only he marked his work with his initial," Professor Flitwick advised sagely. "No, no the initial relates to the family for which the silver was mined. The mark is charmed onto the raw silver before it is divided and worked with. This hallmark will automatically appear on any item made with it. And even if the original piece is smelted and made into new designs, the family initial will always reappear."

Pius twisted his mouth as he mulled this information over before exhaling forcefully. "So we're looking at connections to the Blacks, Bulstrodes, Boldens or Burkes."

"You may as well investigate every pureblood and half-blood witch and wizard in the land then," Severus groused, rolling his eyes in annoyance that the balance of questions to answers was once again in the favour of questions.

"Does it really matter where the silver came from though?" Ron asked with a dismissive shrug. "I mean, we're technically related to the Blacks, but Dad's sold all his inherited silver over the years. This Bortog probably just bought some stuff or even used some dodgy bit of silver that he'd come across. I don't see what difference it makes where it came from. Surely we're only bothered about what it's doing?"

Pius chuckled at the young wizard's almost naïve logic. "True, but there are at least six bracelets and that is a lot of silver. And for them all to have the same mark means that we may have a clue as to who is actually behind recent events. We know who is fronting them, but there may be someone else with an even bigger agenda."

"And whilst Lord Malfoy isn't sure why this mark is causing him concern, the fact that it is means that something is awry," Severus added knowingly.

"I don't suppose there is any way to find out which mark each family had?" Pius asked hesitantly, hoping that the answer was 'yes' and that he could go home, climb into bed with Narcissa and forget about this whole saga for just one night. Somehow he knew that he wasn't going to be so lucky.

Sure enough, Professor Flitwick shook his head. "The Goblin mines may hold records, but the mine owners don't really recognise Ministry authority. It isn't like at Gringotts where Pius could ask to see the deposit ledger."

"But even then, we can't search a vault unless we have just cause," Pius huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And whilst technically we do have just cause," he continued, "in this case a vault search could scupper our overall investigations and cause another change in course."

"Plus you're assuming that anything bearing that mark is at Gringotts," the headmaster added, a hint of frustration tingeing his voice. "There are a fair few private vaults."

Pius nodded, a look of resignation falling over his features. "I know it may be a long shot, Filius, but could you perhaps find a way to convince the mine owners to speak with me. Narcissa is a Black: perhaps we could use that as a reason for an introduction."

The Head of Ravenclaw nodded. "It is as good a reason as any. I will find out who we need to approach and arrange it."

Putting on his bracelet and not wishing to protract the meeting any further, Severus said emphatically, "Excellent! Well, gentleman, I think this has been a most productive meeting. If the two of you can sort this meeting at the mines between yourselves, I will be interested to hear about your findings. And Mr Weasley, I see no reason to detain you further. I will be in touch."

Whilst Ron and Professor Flitwick were so taken aback by the headmaster's sudden declaration that they found themselves heading out of his office before they even realised it, Pius remained where he was.

"Shall I open the whisky now?" Severus asked, jerking his head towards the two wing backed chairs in his office.

His friend, whose face was looking more careworn than usual, gave a wry smile and simply nodded as a bottle of 50 year old single malt and two glasses were Summoned, and extremely generous measures were poured into each.

Sitting down, Severus took a sip of his drink as he observed Pius carefully. "I take it all is not well."

Pius shook his head. "I think you're right about Kingsley being ill. It's not yet public knowledge, but Harold Sexton has been made the new Under Secretary. Yaxley hasn't exactly been prolific in his attendance at the Ministry, but he never seems to be there now. It was a miracle that he even turned up at Viktor's testimonial. But I feel that with Sexton effectively becoming his mouthpiece, we won't see Yaxley as Shacklebolt again."

Severus sighed deeply, twisting his mouth as he considered this. "I'm sure we will and I sincerely hope we do. I cannot see that they would let anything happen to Kingsley...not at this late stage anyway. The number of potential replacements that would be acceptable to the public is small, and as two of them are you and Arthur, it would be too risky to replace either of you. No, I think putting Sexton in place is a shrewd move, but it only reinforces my fear that they will move against Hermione to try and destabilise myself sooner than anticipated."

Pius agreed, but also voiced another concern about who was actually pulling Yaxley's strings. "I know it's seemingly impossible, but I know you've thought this, too, especially when you read Hartford's report on the way they found Sarah Tindell."

Severus nodded, an icy cold feeling spreading through him. "I cannot deny that my first thought was that it was reminiscent, but it could only have been achieved by a copycat. As I said to Lucius, we've witnessed some horrific events carried out by some horrific people and to have someone imitate them is in itself truly horrifying. And having seen what we have seen it is easy to see something that isn't really there. I would say paranoia is fairly natural."

"But Lucius is concerned, too."

"Yes, but I think impending fatherhood rather has him on edge. But whether Yaxley is merely a figurehead or he is trying to emulate a psycho, we need to find out what their plans are."

"But do you think it would be possible?" Pius asked earnestly, hoping that the answer would be a flat 'no.'

Severus sighed and putting his drink on the table he sat forward, his elbows resting on his legs. "As much as I would like to console myself that we are all paranoid as fuck and it is likely to be improbable, we already know that nothing is impossible."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Pius grumbled into his glass before downing its contents completely.

Severus tossed his copy of the The Daily Prophet into the fire from the sofa. The front page was once again full of factless tittle tattle and if he didn't know better he would have assumed an editorial coup led by Rita Skeeter had taken place. He wondered if the general populace had also begun to notice the paucity of news from the Ministry and how quiet the Minister of Magic had become over recent weeks. The news of Sexton's promotion was still not in the public domain, and as much as he found this surprising, he also found it disconcerting.

In fact, the lack of news on all fronts concerned him. Aside from Ron and Pansy's bracelets, all seemed quiet on the spying front, too. And Severus knew all too well that in terms of spying no news was bad news. No news was dangerous because plans were being formulated and there is no defence against an idea.

"What time are we supposed to be at The Burrow, love?" he called to Hermione, who was in the bathroom drying off after her shower.

The couple were taking advantage of the fact that they had what amounted to a rare Saturday off. There was no Hogsmeade weekend, no Quidditch and no other extra curricula school activities so they decided that as they were already going to dinner with Molly and Arthur, they would make a day of it. They'd have lunch somewhere in London and take Adrian up on his tour of Kew Gardens that was part of Severus' birthday present.

Hermione came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her wet hair, but that was all that covered her. "Did you say something?"

Severus realised he'd never get used to or bored of seeing his young wife wandering around in their chambers naked, and he would never tire of teasing her. "I was just saying to Lucius that you'd be out of the bathroom in a minute and if he wanted to see you naked he best go and wait in the bedroom. Apparently, I should have told him to stay put."

"Oh ha ha! You're not complaining though I see," she told him, looking down coquettishly at the growing bulge in his pyjama bottoms.

"Why the hell would I complain?"

"True," she agreed as she walked over and knelt down between his legs. "And would you complain if I did this?" she asked, freeing his cock from his bottoms and running her tongue slowly up his shaft.

Catching his breath, Severus managed to say, "Definitely not, but before you start being rude by speaking with your mouth full, what time did you tell Molly that we'd be arriving tonight? Just so I know how long we've got to shag each other senseless and have another shower before we need to leave."

"I said eight, but if you want to save time we could always fuck in the shower," Hermione giggled, flicking her tongue against him once again.

Her husband nodded appreciatively. "There's a thought. Now, carry on."

After Apparating to Diagon Alley, the couple had a quiet lunch in a small, cosy pub in Richmond before spending a pleasant afternoon wandering around tree lined paths and speciality gardens of Kew Gardens. Adrian proved to be a most enthusiastic guide, showing them his latest research and excitedly telling them about discussions he and Neville were having about magical flora. He then surprised them both by handing over two lifetime passes because, as he put it, "Now you've been here, you won't be able to keep away. Just tell Neville when you're thinking of visiting and I'll put the kettle on." And Severus had every intention of returning especially given the number of secluded places he'd spied where he could drag his wife off for a shag.

By the time they left at five o'clock it was nearly dark, but as they were not expected for dinner at The Burrow until eight o'clock, they decided to Apparate directly to Ottery St Catchpole and go to the Knut and Sickle rather than turn up too early. Although a dinner invitation had been extended and Hermione's magical control sessions had resumed, Ginny believed that Molly was still unimpressed that the couple had known about Lucius and Fleur and said nothing. And a trip to the pub offered that time honoured service of being a bastion to those who wished to delay facing certain events and providing the alcoholic fortitude to face them.

However, all seemed to have been forgiven once they crossed the threshold at The Burrow.

"Molly, I've already put on enough weight to buy a whole new wardrobe and yet you seem determined that I will need to do so again," Severus half-heartedly grumbled as the red-haired witch put an extra ladleful of stew onto his plate.

"Well, it's a pleasure to see you looking less scrawny, young man," Molly teased, smiling at Hermione as she tried to hide her amusement. "Now, did Lucius tell you that he came to see us the other day?"

Severus nearly choked on a mouthful of potato.

"No, he didn't," Hermione told her, allowing Severus time to compose himself.

Arthur and Molly smirked at each other as they observed the bewildered expressions on the younger couple's faces.

"And what did you do to deserve that?" Severus enquired before taking a sip of water.

"He wanted to tell us that we would always be welcome at Malfoy Manor," Arthur began, "and wanted to assure us that we would have the same access to our grandchild as we would have if Bill and Fleur were still together."

"Bloody hell," Severus chuckled, "miracles do happen then!"

"He was perfectly amiable," Molly informed them matter-of-factly, "in a pompous, up his own arse kind of way."

"Sounds about right," Hermione laughed as she skewered a piece of carrot with her fork.

Dinner continued in the same relaxed, jovial manner with everyone deciding that they needed a break before dessert was served after Molly kept topping up everyone's plates. This break allowed Arthur and Severus to visit the shed for one or two small whiskies, and Molly and Hermione to gossip about everyone and everything over a few cups of tea.

Meanwhile, snow was falling hard around the small team of curse breakers who were currently examining the most intricately and heavily warded cave entrance that any of them had ever come across. They had arrived at the small mountain range deep in Albania over a month ago, but as yet the key to discovering what lay within the cavern eluded them. The strength of the area's Elemental magic and the complexity and devious nature of the wards had already led to two of the original six man team being sent home after sustaining serious injuries. And now the remaining four were facing an additional problem.

The weather had deteriorated rapidly since their arrival in the country. Daily temperatures remained below freezing and the slopes were even deeper in snow with fresh layers added every day. It was bad enough when the snow fell hard and heavy, but over the last few days the bitingly cold winds were causing blizzards. Working around the clock in teams of two, it would be difficult to work effectively on simple curses in these conditions, but with wards this problematic it was nigh on impossible.

Retreating to a more sheltered place to work from, the current shift were finding their progress to be even slower. It was a little further away from the cave than they would have liked and whilst the snow covered thickets provided some relief from the howling wind and almost blinding snowfall, the power of their work was somewhat diminished. And the slower their progress, the longer the whole team would be exposed to these inhospitable elements.

"How the fuck do Muggles cope without warming charms?" asked Bolden, the youngest of the curse breaking team. Although he was a Half Blood, he had been brought up by his staunchly Pureblood family after his parents died and was fascinated by the fact that Bill Weasley not only had a part Veela soon to be ex wife, but was also in a relationship with a Muggleborn. Bill's patience with his fascination was wearing thin.

"Quite easily. They wear warmer clothes," the red-haired grumbled as yet another ward that he had just managed to crack seemed to reset itself. They had spent weeks dismantling wards only for this to happen repeatedly.

Hanging his head, he took a deep breath and went over the sequence of charms that he'd used to see where he'd gone wrong. Complex wards often had several layers: the initial wards, mid wards and the final revealing ward. Initial wards usually made the object undetectable or impenetrable to Muggles and were overcome relatively quickly, mid wards were not necessarily intricate in their casting, but were often sequential. All of the wards used had to be identified first and then the sequence had to be worked out. And this was the time consuming part. But Bill was sure he'd cracked all the mid wards, and he was sure he'd established their order, but something still eluded him. He could not find any obvious error much to his chagrin. At least he could rectify a mistake, but concluding that none was made, he was at a total loss as to what to do next. Raking his fingers through his snow dusted hair, a flash of inspiration hit him.

He was about to raise his wand when the wind suddenly changed direction and for a moment it almost sounded like there were whispers on the wind. Noticing the puzzled look on Bolden's face, he realised that he must have heard the same thing. Another gust of wind and again Bill was sure that they were not alone on the mountain.

Signalling to his colleague to remain silent, he listened carefully and began to hear a pattern. This was definitely speech even though the wind was making it difficult to work out the language. At first, he believed it to be the Goblin language of Goobledegook, but Bill soon realised that from what he could hear this tongue was quite unfamiliar. And given his extensive knowledge of ancient language this was rather concerning. He tried to ascertain the direction from which the incantation was coming, but again the swirling winds were hampering this task.

Whatever this cave was harbouring was obviously of interest not just to Bill and his team, but to other unknown parties. He knew they had been sent here to assist the Albanian Ministry because they did not have curse breakers of their calibre so could only assume that was not a local official. He had heard rumour of recent intelligence which stated that the LeStrange brothers had been spotted in Albania several times and a series of disturbing thoughts struck him.

It had been said that Voldemort had hidden himself away somewhere in Albania after falling victim to his own rebounded curse. Bill's initial thought was that maybe the Dark Lord had visited this particular place and hidden something here for his followers. Living Wards may have protected whatever it was, but they were relatively weak compared to Death Wards. Triggered by a person's demise, Death Wards protected an entire area rather than just an object and were notoriously troublesome. Used extensively by the Egyptians and ancient Pureblood families, they were highly effective at making sure no one made off with any valuables upon death because unless the exact incantation was known, it could take years to crack them.

However, Bill wasn't convinced that this hypothesis fitted. Timing was an issue. The cave was in a fairly remote position and whilst it was not a typical tourist area, he found it hard to believe that no Muggle had visited these caves between last May and a month ago. That being the case, his next thought was that whilst Voldemort might have told some of his followers about this place, it was his followers who put up a set of exceptionally complex wards. The question was: why? What were they hiding? Was it a secret base of operation for a new wave of Death Eaters or was it simply a refuge for those trying to elude the authorities?

But whatever the reasons for the wards being in place, it could not be ignored that someone else was somewhere on the mountain trying to dismantle them, and from the feel of it, they were having far more success. Bill was fairly certain that whoever this was knew where they were and could tell by the look of panic in Bolden's eyes that he was about to do something stupid.

He watched in horror as his partner stood up and shouted, "Whoever you are, ident..." but his words were cut short as the green light hit Bolden and he collapsed to the ground.

Bill had no time to waste on sentimentality and leaving the body of his colleague in the snow, he began crawling on his belly, keeping an eye on the direction from which the Avada was cast. And it was then that he saw two hooded figures hunkered down to the left of the cave entrance at what seemed to be Curse Lock. Curse Locks were hidden devices used by Goblins to protect vaults and tombs and could only be uncovered if you knew exactly what it was you were looking for.

Whether it was curiosity or foolhardiness that made Bill move closer to Bolden's murderers, at least he could now hear the ward incantation more clearly. The complexity of the spell was not in doubt, but the closer he got, the clearer the language. It was Latin, but the reason he could not make it out initially was that it was spoken by two voices at a staggered interval.

It vexed Bill to admit that this was not only ingenious, but that he had also not considered that this could have been a Dual Ward attached to a Curse Lock. But whatever they had been battling against, he now recognised the voices. And knowing that the LeStrange brothers would not hesitate to kill him too, he stopped moving towards them. From this vantage point, he could see them and the cave entrance quite clearly and decided to let the two Death Eaters do the work for him.

If the brothers knew Bill was much closer to them now it did not seem to deter them from their task. All of a sudden, the ground seemed to shake slightly and the surrounding tree branches deposited their heavy burdens of snow onto the deepening blanket beneath them. The cave entrance glowed as if lanterns had been lit upon the disarming of the wards, and the two figures moved towards it. Knowing that the wards could reset at any time, Arthur and Molly's eldest son let them go just out of sight before scrabbling as fast as he could towards the cave. He managed to slip inside just before the air tingled with magic and he knew the cave was secure from the outside once again.

The cave entrance was indeed lit by flickering lanterns. It was smaller than Bill had expected due to a number of large boulders, but these provided the perfect cover for him. He moved as stealthily as possible as he surveyed his surroundings more closely. He could see the Lestrange brothers stop in what looked like an antechamber. In his experience this was commonplace in tombs, but he could not see the entrance into any other room. Lantern after lantern was lit and filled the area with bright, but warm light. This revealed a second Curse Lock and as Rodolphus knelt in front of it, his brother dropped the bag he was carrying on the floor and knelt beside him. The curse breaker listened carefully as the two brothers went to unlock it.

"Careful!" Rodolphus snapped, quickly checking the contents of the bag.

"Are you sure about this? Wouldn't it be better to let things lie?" Bill heard Rabastan ask his brother. There was a definite air of trepidation in the Death Eater's voice, but it was laced with a tinge of fraternal concern.

Rodolphus ignored the questions and began the incantation, but stopped when he realised his brother was not assisting him. "Look, we've come this far, I'm not about to back out now. We've been promised a formal reprieve and we'll have access to our money again. These last few months have been hell, but this way we can go back to..."

Rabastan sighed deeply. "...yes, but this is personal, Rod. You need to be sure..."

"...it's no more personal than it ever was," Rodolphus bit back. "This is bigger than that. Yaxley..."

"...is a fool if he thinks doing this will gain him favour with anyone, let alone..."

"...are you going to help or not?" The older of the two brothers growled.

"I don't have a choice," Rabastan retorted, "but if this whole plan backfires...which I have no doubt it will because Yaxley and the other pricks keep fucking up and coming up with half cocked ideas...we're all going to Azkaban. And not only will they be throwing away the key, we'll have bigger problems than dementors to worry about: we'll have Snape, and frankly I'd rather have my soul sucked out than deal with him."

Rodolphus pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "But Yaxley won't be in charge when..."

"...more like 'if'," his brother snapped with an air of incredulity. "Because we don't know if this will work, and if it does there are no guarantees that this will play out how you and Yaxley seem to think it will."

"I know there are no guarantees, but this is our best chance to restore the old ways."

"It is a chance certainly. I just don't think it's the best way for any of us."

But Rabastan knew that he was fighting a losing battle, and after a few more moments of arguing, he reluctantly joined his brother in the incantation to remove the second Curse Lock.

As the lock opened, Bill heard what sounded like rock cracking before another chamber entrance was revealed. He moved a little closer to try and gain a better view, careful not to disturb any of the small, loose stones that littered the floor. All he could see was that above the entrance was an ornate looking insignia was forming, possibly a monogram. He saw Rodolphus pick up the bag, and waited as the brothers entered the chamber to see if they were removing anything or if there was another Curse Lock to break.

He wasn't sure how long he waited, but by the time the two brothers emerged from the second antechamber, the insignia had fully formed. Bill recognised the words which appeared beneath the monogram and seeing Rodolphus carrying a blanket in his arms, sent a cold shiver through him. He was so taken about by what he saw that he lost concentration for a moment and took a step backwards.

Bill froze as he looked down at his feet and saw the scuff mark where he had disturbed some of the stones. He knew he had been heard and could feel that the gaze of the two dark wizards seeking out the source of the noise. He also knew that the chances of him not meeting the same fate as Bolden were slim. A sudden sense of clarity washed over him, and he knew what needed to be done.

Moments later, the head of Bill Weasley's team received his Patronus, and shell-shocked he sent word to the Ministry. But by the time he responded to his red-haired colleague, the Lestrange brothers had escaped with their quarry and Bill's lifeless body lay where he had been struck down.

At the same time, in a higgledy piggledy house in Devon where two couples were about to enjoy dessert, a freshly baked blackberry and apple crumble fell from Molly Weasley's hands.

A/N 2: First Fred then Bill...let's all hug Molly and Arthur

A/N 3: We're not too far from the end, and it's going to get quite exciting!