A/N: I'm so sorry! I promise I'm not dead and that I haven't given up on this story! All of your likes and follows and comments have really spurred me on. I wanted to get something out for you guys. It's been a while, I know (sorry!). Thanks for sticking with me!

Morgana took a moment, once she was out on the street, to gather her breath and her wits. Calmer now, she set off in a new direction, heading back towards the lighter side of the Magic District. Though she had never had to deal with many Purebloods socially, she knew quite a few spots where they could be found in greater numbers. The little potions shop at the mouth of Knockturn Alley, the fancy café further down Diagon Alley, and the expensive boutique across the street from Madam Malkin's to name just a few.

These meetings she had planned for today couldn't be done by owl, so in person it was to be. Owls could be intercepted, she lamented to herself in annoyance. But, she supposed, of what she was asking these people to do, the least she could do was ask them herself.

She thought she might as well begin with the hardest case to sell. With any luck, she would be able to find the woman she wanted fairly easily. And, sure enough, Morgana saw the woman through the window of the uppity little café. She made her way inside, back straight and face blank, like she belonged with the upper class.

Narcissa Malfoy sat alone at a table near the window, untouched cup of tea in front of her as she flipped through a thin book distractedly. The Pureblood looked worried, her gaze continuously tipping up to scan the street before settling back on her book.

Morgana took a fortifying breath before marching calmly right up to Narcissa's table, curtsying like a proper little Pureblood. That was sure to get the older woman's attention. There was no way for Narcissa to know if she was a Pureblood or not unless Morgana told her, and she was saving that up for later. Better to get her attention and ear first, before giving her reasons to distrust her.

Narcissa was watching her with soft amusement, though her face would still seem cool and calm to an outside observer. Morgana could see a mother's indulgence in the woman's gaze, though. She had studied the woman's mask for years and prided herself on her ability to read the Malfoy's emotions fairly consistently. It had come in handy on more than one occasion.

"I beg your pardon, Lady Malfoy, but I was wondering if I could but a moment of your time?" Morgana asked, layering her voice with as much politeness and truth as possible. Lady Malfoy may have been raised on lies and deceit, but Morgana had found over the years that the woman truly despised underhandedness.

"Of course. Why don't you take a seat? What's your name, sweetheart?" she asked, waving a hand toward the empty seat across from her for Morgana to sit.

As Morgana settled, she whispered a privacy spell beneath her breath. Narcissa noticed but simply nodded in agreement, her eyes widening ever so slightly. With the one simple spell, Narcissa had realized that the conversation was to be a very important one.

Morgana steeled herself for the older woman's reaction before she said a word. "Morgana Wilkes, ma'am." She saw the moment Narcissa pegged her as at least a half-blood or a muggleborn, and internally groaned as Narcissa's smile faltered ever so slightly. Her shrewd eyes flickered across Morgana's face quickly before she nodded. Her smiled softened again and she leaned further across the table, leaving no room for Morgana to wiggle her way free of her gaze.

"Miss Wilkes. What did you wish to speak to me about?" Her voice was calm, but the threat was hidden there beneath the surface anyhow.

Morgana smiled lightly, feeling it morph into a small grimace at what she was about to say. "I understand you have a young son," she started, and sure enough, Narcissa bristled immediately. Her grip on the book in her hand turned into a stranglehold and her back snapped ram rod straight. "Please, I know what you're thinking, but I mean no harm."

Morgana's smile was sad as she moved on. "I know what your husband is. Who he served. And I know that you aren't and have never been happy about it. I know that you love your son, and you don't want him anywhere near your husband's master."

Narcissa was shaking slightly, her face sickly pale. Her eyes looked haunted and frightened, like she was very wary about what Morgana truly wanted from her.

"I know you have no reason to trust me, but I know that you love your son, and that you would do anything to protect him." Morgana pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket and slid it across the table. "I would very much appreciate it if you would show up on this day to discuss this matter further. You're not the only person that will be there, and you may disguise yourself any way you please to keep your anonymity, until you feel more comfortable. And please, do not tell your husband about this. Not until you know all of the facts. I beg of you, think this through. If not for the Wizarding World, then for little Draco."

She knew in her bones that Narcissa would be showing up on that day with questions, but ready to commit. The woman may be dark and frightening, but she was also a mother, and she loved her son above all things. Even the Dark Lord.

Morgana didn't overstay her welcome, standing and taking her leave before Narcissa could properly respond. The younger witch wandered out of the shop and started across the street to the bookstore. She watched a group of small children running throughout with fond eyes; this had been one of her favorite places to visit when she had been a child herself. It still sent a swooping feeling of nostalgia through her when she saw it now; it had been destroyed the year the had gone on the run, along with most of Diagon Alley.

Through the window, she saw the woman she had been looking for and felt a smile tug at her lips. The bell over the door rang as she walked through, and she relished in the nearly-forgotten sound for a moment. She decided she wouldn't head straight for her favorite teacher; she would instead wander over aimlessly, almost naturally. Like she had simply run across her instead of actively sought her out. After a few moments of mindless browsing, Morgana made her way towards the transfiguration section, where Minerva McGonagall was glaring hard at the various textbooks.

Was it odd that Morgana had missed her glare?

"Transfiguration always was my favorite subject in school," Morgana said quietly, scanning the titles with a lazy glance. She turned just enough to see McGonagall's expression, which was one of slight confusion and just the slightest bit of interest. Morgana supposed most people didn't strike up conversations with her in the middle of the bookstore about her favorite subject very often.

"Yes, mine as well. I teach it at Hogwarts, and I was just looking to see if there were any new resources I could use for my classes. Seems like there's nothing new, though. You don't look familiar; did you study abroad?"

Morgana smirked and ducked her head, running a finger across her cloak to soothe her nerves; she had forgotten how penetrating McGonagall's gaze could be. She had never needed magic to make her students tell her exactly what she wanted to know.

"I studied at Beaubatons," she lied, naturally. "I graduated a few years ago, now. I'm actually here to talk to you, though, Professor McGonagall." And that had the woman's full attention immediately. Her shrewd eyes brightened and her gaze pierced right through Morgana's façade as easily as a knife through butter.

"You're the girl Albus is so worried about, aren't you?" She kept her voice quiet and pleasant, like they were still touting the wonderful attributes of transfiguration. She also sounded just this side of exhausted, like she just couldn't believe that this was her life now.

"Probably," Morgana shrugged, totally unaffected. She tilted her head to smirk in exasperation at her old professor. "He's not very happy with me right now. But, then again, I'm not very happy with him either."

"Who are you? Really?"

Morgana felt the smile slide off of her face, pain etching its way onto her face as she thought of the circumstances of her arrival in this time. It must have shown on her face, because McGonagall didn't look like she was ready to attack at any moment now; now, she just looked tired. "Doesn't really matter right now. But I do need your help, Professor." She reached into her pocket and handed the woman a folded up piece of paper. "There is an address, date, and time on that paper. I would greatly appreciate it if you came and heard us out. And please don't tell the Headmaster. He's really out for my head. Wanted to erase my memories and got all titchy when I fought my way out of his office. You'd think he would want to use every advantage in this war against the Dark Lord as he could."

McGonagall's eyes were wide and surprised as she stared down at the tiny, innocuous paper in her outstretched palm. "Albus would do something like that!" she whispered, scandalized.

Morgana raised her head and met McGonagall's eyes, her own sad and exhausted and so very, very tired. "Wouldn't he, though?"

With that, Morgana gave her one last fleeting sad excuse for a smile before backing up and slipping through the crowds of children and back out the front door.

Well. Two down, three to go.

Her next option was harder to find. In her timeline, Remus hadn't returned to Britain until their third year of school. As far as she knew, he had been travelling in all the years between Harry's parents' deaths and their third year. She wasn't quite sure where he could be at the moment, but that wasn't anything a little locating spell couldn't fix.

Luckily, Severus had had all the necessary ingredients sitting in his lab. She took out her supplies as she wandered into a deserted alleyway. The map spread out in front of her, she pulled her wand out and muttered a spell, watching as the map glowed for a long moment. A red line appeared moments later, flowing down the coast and winding its way through the country before it ended in London. Huh. Remus had been in London the year before he had started teaching? Maybe he was just there to pick something up.

Either way, she now had an address to find him at. She set off in the right direction, towards a small boardinghouse on the other end of the alley, near the mouth of Knockturn. She picked up an apple from a street vendor before wandering across the street to her target. She eyed the building speculatively. It certainly kept up with Remus's bedraggled appearance on the train during third year. It was rundown and dark, looking like magic might be the only thing actually keeping it upright anymore.

She stepped closer and leaned against the storefront beside the boardinghouse, taking a big bit from her apple to pass the time. Plus, she was starving. Might as well multi-task. She sighed as she checked her watch. She could wait for Remus to show up, she supposed. Besides, the wait gave her time to think over what she might say to him. It stood to reason that if she could get Remus on their side, Sirius would be quick to follow. You know, once they finally got around to breaking him out of Azkaban. Preferably after he wasn't stupidly blinded by revenge any more, either.

She nibbled on her apple and she felt her gaze go unfocused, but she had enough awareness of her surroundings to notice the shift in air at the doorway a few minutes later, meaning that someone was about to walk through.

When she glanced up, she saw Remus Lupin standing there at the door, fiddling with a few keys on a ring. She took one more bite of her apple before saying quietly, "Aren't keys a little archaic? A simple unlocking spell and whoever wants in will be in." Remus glanced up, his eyes bright and shocked for a moment before he took in her entire presence.

"Good afternoon, miss." He glanced down at his keys with a goofy little smile and shook them speculatively. "I do suppose they're a little old fashioned. But I do enjoy a relic. Besides, not much for a thief to steal up there."

Morgana smiled, wide and real. Gods, but she had missed this man so much. She knew he had been happy, there towards the end, what with Tonks and little Teddy. But he was also dead in that future, and that was something she would not allow this time around.

Her head tilted to the side as she thought of how to proceed. She had only known the man for a few years, but what little she knew, was that the man appreciated the truth, even if he wouldn't like it. Living most of his life hiding secret after secret had taken a toll on his patience.

She banished her apple core with a wandless spell and watched as the werewolf's eyes widened in shock. The once over he gave her this time was much more suspicious.

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't." She wiped her sticky hand off on her cloak and held it out toward him. He took it cautiously, shaking it just a bit before he released her. "Morgana Wilkes. Pleasure to meet you, Remus Lupin."

Remus took a step back, not quite sure what to do in this situation. "And what do you want with me, Miss Wilkes?" He sounded downright exhausted, and wasn't that just the theme of the day? He was scowling down at her, like it was all her fault that he couldn't just meet a nice young woman on the street without her wanting something from him too. It hurt Morgana's heart to think about.

"I'm here with an offer, actually." She slipped another piece of paper, identical to the ones she had given to the others. Remus looked it over before tucking it into his coat pocket.

"And that offer is," he trailed off unhappily, staring down at her with hard eyes.

Her face softened. "I know you care a great deal for Harry Potter." At the mention of his name, Remus sucked in a sharp breath, staring at her with a vicious protectiveness shining through his eyes. "He's not safe, and he won't ever be safe until we take care of the Dark Lord." Remus was looking open to the idea, until he heard her title for the dark wizard.

"The only people who call him the Dark Lord are his followers," he growled out dangerously.

Morgana's smile was sad. She stared down at her feet for a long moment before she nodded, glancing back up at him through her lashes. "I'm sorry. Where I'm from, there's a taboo on his name. I've simply gotten into the habit. Apologies."

Remus looked suitably guilty at that. "I'm sorry, Miss Wilkes." His breath left him in a huge gust of air before he shoved his hands further into his pockets and huffed. "Yes, it's true; I'm very invested in Harry Potter's safety. But I don't understand what you mean by the rest. You-Know-Who is dead."

"I'm afraid he's not quite as dead as previously suspected. I have in my possession information that will help us destroy him once and for all, but I can't do it all on my own. I need help."

Remus sighed once more, studying Morgana closely for a long moment. "You're the girl Dumbledore got into such a tiff about the other day, aren't you?"

Morgana smirked lightly, rolling her eyes. "He's angry with me because I don't agree with his plans. He doesn't know what I know and I don't plan on telling him any time soon. He's burned that bridge. No, I trusted him once before and it didn't end well. I've learned well from my mistakes."

Remus mulled over his options for a moment before he rolled his shoulders and nodded decisively. "Alright. You're really given me no reason to doubt you and your intentions." He held the paper up in his fist and shook it at her with a small grin. "I'll be there, I suppose." He nodded once, giving her one last look over, before he moved past her and further down the street. Soon, he had disappeared around the bend and was out of sight.

Morgana smiled softly to herself, closing her eyes in relief as she leaned back against the building behind her. She was gaining the allies she needed. Perhaps they could all finish this, together, before it all became too horrible.

She was too exhausted for the last two meetings on her agenda, so she decided to do them at a later date and instead return home. She was anxious to see how the boys had gotten through their first Occlumency lesson.

Wandering back through the crowd to the Leaky Cauldron, Morgana le herself indulge in the thought that they could do this. That they could win before the Dark Lord even had time to begin. She was smiling when she threw the floo powder in the fireplace and she was still smiling when she stepped through onto the rug in front of Severus' fireplace, covered in soot and so very tired. The moment she arrived, she was struck by the unnatural stillness. She had gotten used to Harry flitting from one room to the next, always loud and exuberant and happy no matter what time of day or night.

She wandered further into the mansion, checking each room but finding nothing. Then she came to the family room and round a beautiful scene unfolding in front of her. She hid behind the doorframe, watching silently.

Severus held Harry in his arms, cradled against his chest. Harry was passed out, breathing lightly against Severus' neck. His little hand was curled up behind Severus' shoulder, squeezing and releasing the fabric there spasmodically as he shoved his face closer to Severus' body. The man himself was simply staring down at him, entranced and silent as he stroked a hand up and down the boy's back slowly.

Morgana bit her lip, wondering vaguely if they could have had this the first time around, if only they had been given the chance. Severus didn't look at Harry with disgust or hatred anymore; in fact, he was now soft and kind toward the boy no matter the situation. It was like night and day between her memories and the reality. He just cared so much that it nearly brought Morgana to tears, sometimes.

This man was so different from the Severus Snape Hermione Granger had grown up learning from.

Severus sighed after a long moment, leaning down to set the exhausted child down on one of the sofas. Harry complained in his sleep, groggily reaching out for the warmth that was being denied him, but Severus just shushed him. He tugged a blanket down around Harry, tucking him in snugly, before he quieted down and twisted himself on the cushions, trying to burrow beneath the blanket. Severus smirked at the sight, rolling his eyes as he straightened up. He tugged his frock coat until it was stiff and straight once more and then turned on his heel, an indulgent little smirk still on his face even as he slipped closer to the door.

The moment he noticed Morgana standing there, smile stretched across her face and eyes glittering in amusement, he scowled and pointed her far away from the room so as not to wake Harry. Once they were safely ensconced in the kitchen, Morgana let out a quiet little cackle of amusement. She watched as Severus' cheeks flushed red for a moment before taking mercy on him and reaching out, wrapping her arms around his chest and squeezing happily.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. It was just so sweet; I didn't want to ruin the moment." She heard him snort in derision above her head, but couldn't bring herself to care very much. She squeezed him again, tighter this time, before she said quietly, "I'm glad you care for him so deeply. He needs that. He's always needed that." She tilted her head back so she could look him in the eye. "And I'm sure the feeling is mutual, you know. He cares for you just as much as you care for him."

Severus looked uncomfortable, pushing her away lightly so he could take a seat at the table instead. He cleared his throat before he finally grumbled out, "So. How did it go?" That was the most heavy-handed subject change she had ever witnessed, but she allowed it, rolling her eyes at him but carrying on as if nothing ridiculous had happened.

"It went quite well, I think. Elise is on our side. McGonagall, Narcissa Malfoy, and Remus Lupin will be in attendance at our meeting." She watched Severus' lip curl up in disgust at Lupin's name, just as she had assumed it would, and reached across the table to tap at his hand.

"Be nice. We all need to work together if we are to get anything done. We need all the allies we can get. This is just the beginning, and you know it."

Severus was gritting his teeth but he nodded his agreement. "We're going to need more than four other people. Dumbledore has his Order full of powerful witches and wizards. Though I'm loathe to say it, we're going to need more people."

"I know," she sighed, flicking her fingers against the table in thought. "We're going to have to poach members from both sides of the war for this to work. Could you speak with some former Death Eaters, perhaps? People with children are more likely to help if they don't want them to go through what they did at the hands of the Dark Lord."

Severus looked stricken, but he nodded anyway. "I can ask around, but I wouldn't hold out too much hope. They all think he's dead."

"Then we'll just have to convince them that he isn't. I don't want more people to die than absolutely have to. Especially the children." She shivered at the thought of what all those students had gone through that last year at Hogwarts, when the Dark Lord had had total power. Something of that fear must have shown on her face, because Severus nodded once more, more determined this time.

"I'll look into it, I promise."

And a promise was as good as a done deal, from Severus Snape. She sighed in exhaustion one more time, leaning her head back against her chair. She didn't have time to sit there in a tired heap, though. She had work to do. Standing, she pushed away from the table decisively, a hard glint in her eyes even as she smirked down at Severus.

"Well. I suppose I have a meeting to prepare for." With that, she stood at her full height and wandered back to the study she had commandeered for her notes on the war. She had planning and arguments and problems to think about. Her lip curled in excitement; it had been quite a while since she had been presented with such a difficult experience.

How to bring all of these diverse, powerful, headstrong and willful witches and wizards to their side?

How, indeed.