Severus put the ancient tome down and rubbed his face with his hands. He had finally found the answer to the problem that had been haunting him for months, but the answer- it was not good. Sighing deeply he rose from his seat and made his way to the headmaster's office, knowing that Dumbledore was not going to be pleased with the information he relayed. "Every flavor bean" Snape muttered and pushed open the door.

Albus Dumbledore was seated at his grand mahogany desk, his face weary and showing every bit of his one hundred and fifteen years. Barely looking up, he asked "What have you found for me Severus?"

"I have found the answer but it is not good Albus. The volume that you were able to obtain for me in Bavaria contains old and mostly forgotten magics. The ritual, which will produce the cure we seek, combines both blood magic and earth magic and is not for the faint of heart. In fact, I am not sure we would even be able to find the main components."

"And what are the main components?"

"A young, female witch who has not yet known a man intimately yet is willing to have intercourse with a wizard powerful enough to perform the ritual. There is also..."

"Yes it would be difficult to find willing individuals but not impossible" the headmaster interupted.

"I wasn't finished Albus" Severus snapped. "The woman would also need to be willing to become pregnant and be joined with the wizard in marriage. How can we ask this of any young woman and what wizard would we find that would be willing and able to perform the blood magic?"

Dumbledore sighed deeply and replied after a long pause. "Perhaps the time has come to let the Order know of my foolishness in putting on the ring. I am old and tired and I would willingly go into the next world if it were not Harry having need of me in the upcoming years to defeat Voldemort." As he spoke, Albus looked regretfully at his right hand, wondering in head for the millionth time, whatever had possessed him to slide Marvolo Gaunt's accursed ring onto his finger. His Potion Master's draughts had kept the desiccation from spreading as quickly as it was intended to but they could not hold death off forever. "I will call a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix within the next week and we shall see what can be done."

With a quiet "As you wish Headmaster" Snape stood and left the room.

A week later, Severus found himself standing in the living room at Grimmauld Place. He was leaning back against the bookshelf, slowly nursing a tumbler of fire whiskey and wanting to be anywhere but where he currently was, listening to the Order members prattle on. First, of course, there had been the shock and disbelief over Dumbledore's condition followed by the ridiculous discussion over who could possibly fit requirements of the ritual that would save the Headmaster's life. It was giving him a headache. Molly Weasley went on and on about how her Ginny would be perfect for the ritual but Molly would never allow her daughter to be touched by someone who could perform the dark magic. Snape smirked to himself, thinking if only Molly knew about her daughter's late night "walks" with Harry under his invisibility cloak. There was no way that Ginny would still fit the bill. At the same time, Minerva tut-tutted her disapproval at the very idea and Remus declared that "there must be another way!"

"Harry would you please quit fidgeting, and Ron, for Merlin's sake, stop breathing so loud! Do the two of you want to get us caught?" Hermione whispered sternly from her awkward perch on the stairs of Grimmauld Place. As junior members, Harry, Ron and Hermione had not been invited to this particular Order meeting and they thoroughly resented it. So now the trio was disallusioned and crowded in the stairwell closest to the living room, trying their best to absorb the new information. Hermione had thought that she'd seen Professor Snape glance their way a couple of times, but since he had not called them out, she assumed he did not actually know they were there. As she saw that the meeting was drawing to a close, she tapped the boys on their shoulders and motioned hurriedly for them to come away, praying they wouldn't sound like elephants trooping back up stairs.

Once safely ensconced in Harry and Ron's room, Hermione was, of course, the one to break the silence. "What are we going to do? We cannot lose Dumbledore! If only I could access the Hogwarts library instead of being holed up here, then I could..."

"Herms, don't you think that if Snape has been the one doing the research for a cure that it's certainly been done thoroughly?" Harry interrupted.

"He's a right greasy git but Harry does have a point there" Ron added needlessly.

"Don't call him that! Although I suppose you're right Harry, I can't help but think that there must be another way. I'll at least have a look in the library here to see if there was something the Professor migh possibly have missed" she said, all the while knowing she was grasping at straws. With that, Hermione gathered up some parchment along with her quill and ink and headed for the Black family library.

Later that evening, Hermione lay in bed, sleep eluding her completely. Harry had proved to be correct for once and she had not found anything that would be of use to Dumbledore in the dusty books of Grimmauld Place. Another thought was nagging at her mind, but she kept pushing it back because really, she didn't even want to think of the possibility. But even after a trip to the kitchen for hot cocoa and reading a few chapters from her favorite muggle novel, the thought persisted. In an attempt to work it out in her mind, Hermione made her lists of pro and cons, making sure to charm the ink to reveal the contents of this list only to herself- Merlin forbid if Ron and Harry got an eyeful of it. By the time the sky had started to take on the hue of early morning, she had a decision and finally fell into bed for a couple hours of sleep.

At 9 in the morning, Hermione forced herself to get out of bed and head downstairs. Molly was in the kitchen, bustling about cleaning up after breakfast. "I saved you a plate dear" Molly said as she was directing the dishes to dry themselves. "It's over on cupboard there with warming charm on it and pumpkin juice is in the icebox." Hermione got her breakfast and juice and sat down at the table. She found she was not quite hungry though and was pushing her food around her plate when she heard Molly bark her name. "Hermione! Are you okay dear, you're awfully far away this morning and having a lie in is not like you at all"

"I'm fine Molly. Honestly. I just have a bit of a headache is all and haven't taken a pain potion yet" Hermione replied. "You don't happen to know when the Headmaster is going to be here at Grimmauld Place again do you? I just have a couple of things I need to ask him."

"I believe Albus said he'd be here tomorrow to meet with Severus but I am not sure of what time."

"Thank you Molly. I think I'll head back upstairs and take a pain potion for my head, then maybe try to catch a bit more sleep till I feel better."

"Feel better dear. And let me know if there is anything I can get you to help you feel better."