A/N: Happy Halloween!

Beta Love: The Dragon and the Rose, Dutchgirl01, Flyby Commander Shepard

In the Room Where We Met

The lone, dark figure walked the seventh floor of Hogwarts, his lank black hair framing his face. He pressed his fingers to the cold stone, and it rippled under his touch, forming a door. He walked into the formed door quickly, closing it behind him.

The darkness within was barely lit by a few candles. A lone figure lay sprawled under a duvet, a messy bunch of curls frizzing around her head.

"Severus?" she whispered, her voice soft in the dark of the room.

"I'm here," he breathed, rushing up with both a lantern and a tray of food. He knelt down beside the lone bed and placed the tray on the nearby table.

The witch smiled at him, her fingers gently wrapping around his. "I missed you."

Severus gave a tight smile, looking slightly pained. Her fingers touched his cheek, brushing his hair from his face. "Why are you so sad?"

"Lily and I had a fight again," he said. "She blames it on Avery and Mulciber, but sometimes I think she just needs a reason to keep hating me."

The bushy-haired witch ran her finger down his aquiline nose. "I wish I could tell you something positive, but I fear my choice in friends got me in this mess."

"Bloody Gryffindors," Severus said darkly.

"I'm Gryffindor," the witch said with a tired smile.

"And you see how well that worked out for you," Severus snapped, but his face was pained.

"Severus," the witch replied, her fingers touching his cheek. "I'm friends with you."

"I don't have friends, not anymore," Severus said bitterly.

"Severus," the witch said softly.

"She repudiated me!" Severus hissed. "I called her a— I didn't mean— I was so angry. I parked in front of the Fat Lady and waited for hours, facing ridicule from every passing bloody Gryffindor. Every year since that day— that mistake— I park myself in front of the Gryffindor portal hoping she will forgive me. She came out and she told she would never forgive me. As long as I counted friends in Slytherin. And now, since I do that, my 'friends' in Slytherin all think me a spineless worm."

"I have no friends!" he cried. "Everything I touch withers and dies."

"Severus," the witch whispered, wincing as some pain traveled through her.

"Hermione?" Severus whispered, shaking off his self pity in favour of trying to ease her pain.

Hermione winced, a tear trailing down her face. "Sorry, the curse isn't quite done with me yet."

He touched her hand and her cheek, his face twisted in anguish. "I'm sorry. I brought you food."

"And you think yourself unworthy of being called friend because?" Hermione scoffed. "You're so thick, Severus. You chose to help me, without knowing my name or where I came from. You didn't care I wore the colours of Gryffindor. You helped me. You're still helping me, even in your pain."

"You're in pain too," Severus said, his hair falling around his face again.

"Nothing getting a new choice in best friends won't fix," Hermione coughed, a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.

"Hermione," Severus hissed, pulling a cloth out of his robes to blot the blood. "What haven't you told me?"

"I'm sorry, Severus," Hermione whispered, her eyes closing as her breathing came in harsh gasps. "I didn't want you to blame yourself."

"Hermione!"

Blood stained the sheets and the cloth around her robes, and Severus' eyes went wide as he realised he'd missed something terribly important. "What spell did they use?"

"Severus," she wheezed.

"Please, what spell?" Severus insisted.

"The potions are helping—"

"Hermione!" Severus' eyes locked with hers. "Please!"

Hermione weakly moved her arm, whispering an incantation, and her bloody arm— the real source of the blood— appeared. Severus quickly unwrapped the arm and gasped.

"No— I did this?" Severus moaned.

Her arm, Mudblood still carved into her flesh and bleeding was criss crossed with multiple cuts from a very distinctive curse that left its mark on her slender arm.

"No," Hermione breathed. "It wasn't you. It wasn't."

"This spell is mine," Severus groaned.

"You did not cast," Hermione insisted, slumping. Her fingers curved around his hand tightly. "You didn't cast it."

Severus had his wand out, and he pressed it to her arm. "Vulnera Sanenteur," he sang shakily, waving his wand over the wound as he repeated the incantation like a song over and over. He reached into his robes and pulled out a small crystal vial, pausing only in his song to pop the cork with his teeth. His hands trembled as he poured it over the wounds and continued his song, tears streaming down his face as he did so. His voice trembled, but he continued to sing, over and over, as little by little her wound drained black stains of Dark magic residue and began to knit.

Hermione began to thrash, her arms, body, and legs convulsing wildly. She gasped, crying, and Severus crushed her against him, continuing his song, waving his wand up and down her arm as he pinned her from hurting herself.

"Se— Severus," she whispered, crying in pain.

"I'm here," he said, pausing only to comfort as he sang.

Finally, her skin began to regain a healthier, pink colour. Her breathing slowed, and she slumped against him, a soft wheeze coming out her lungs.

Severus clutched her to him, crooning her name over and over, rocking her back and forth. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. My fault. It was my spell. It was mine."

Hermione breathed his name against his ear. "It wasn't you who used the spell, Severus. It was my best friend who thought I was sleeping with his best mate."

Severus pulled her against him, wrapping his robes around her with the duvet and stroking her hair as he pressed his face into her curls. "You need better friends."

Hermione gave a dry laugh. "I have one, if he'd only stop being a prat and admit it." She touched his arm where she had dug her nails in so hard that blood had trickled down his arm to blend with her own. Magic sang between them as her fingers ever so gently touched his pale skin. She gasped in surprised amazement as a jolt of their merged magic rippled between them. "Wha— what is this?"

Severus grasped her fingers and gasped aloud as another impossibly strong jolt of power flowed between them like the thrum of a harp— clarion clear and resonate through each of their bodies.

"Impossible," Severus whispered. "It's not possible."

Before their eyes, ribbons of intricate magical runes marched up their skin, slithering under the surface and anchoring themselves under with a bright gold and silver glow. Cords of magic swirled around their arms and wove them together— tighter, tighter, tighter! The energy blasted outward in a blinding light.

Squeak!

Severus had his arms full of otter just before he fell backwards in a blur of fur and cloth.

Squeak?

A blackish-brown snout met a sienna-coloured otter muzzle.

"Oooh, you're a wolverine!" the otter said rather squeakily.

"H— Hermione?" grunted the wolverine. "How is it that I understand you?"

The otter groomed her long whiskers. "You're an Animagus. I've never spoken to another Animagus before."

"Who taught you?"

"Professor McGonagall was teaching me… before the war," Hermione said, sitting on her tail. "I didn't make the shift until I jumped off a dragon and landed in really deep water— about a year later."

"Literally or figuratively?"

"Yes," the otter replied, squeakily. She groomed the wolverine's muzzle all over causing his eyes to cross with pleasure. He growl huffed and pinned her down, giving her the same treatment.

They tumbled together, squeaking and growling, until at last they landed in a panting heap.

"McGonagall taught me too, to try and help me stay out of trouble, but somehow— Potter and his friends always find me. No matter where I hide." Severus said, using his rear foot to scratch behind his ear. "I tried to hide in a burrow, and they sent a dog to dig me out."

Hermione pulled his muzzle down and snuggled against it, rubbing her whiskers against his face. "You smell even better than before."

Severus stared and flushed. "You— I—" he trailed off and made an irritated sound. "I do not."

"You do too," the otter squeaked, snuggling a little closer. "You're warm too, and your fur is thick and attractive."

Severus buried his muzzle under his paws. "Stop talking. This is a little too much to take at once. I found out that my future friend, not my soon to be friend but friend actually from the future almost bled out because her best friend used my spell to kill her after a war caused by some half-blood calling himself a pureblood instigating mass genocide. And now a blast of strange magic I've never seen before triggered an Animagus transformation— and I can somehow speak with you in English."

The otter wiggled her whiskers. "Yes."

"You're terribly calm about this."

"I survived being almost murdered by my best friend," Hermione pointed out. She scratched her ear. "Thank you, by the way. For helping me."

Severus flushed under his fur, averting his head to avoid eye contact. "You're welcome."

Ottermione wriggled up against him.

Severus' whiskers twitched. His eye twitched. His paw twitched. Finally he could take it no more and snaked a foreleg around her and cuddled her mercilessly, rubbing his scent all over her in a primal need to claim every bit of fur on her as well as get her scent all over himself.

Hermione squeaked, seemingly pleased with herself. She reached over and licked his nose. She looked him dead in the eye. "I like you." She then bounced over to a bookcase that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Righting himself, Severus trundled up behind her, looking over her shoulder. "What are you— oh."

He stared at the book.

"Magical Bonds in the Wizarding World?" Severus boggled. "How did you—"

"It wasn't me. It's the room." Hermione pointed with her tail. "It provides what we really need. Surely you knew that. That's how you found me."

"I can't remember ever really needing to take care of a time fugitive before," Severus said, lips curling back from his pointed teeth.

Hermione huffed. "Honestly, Severus. I mean you really needed a place to get away and it gave you that, right? I just— happened to be squatting in the same room."

Severus frowned. "I suppose so."

Hermione lowered her head, her nose touching the paper. "Do you really— regret meeting me?"

Severus stiffened at the question, and the otter slumped visibly.

"It's okay," she said, her whiskers suddenly drooping. "No matter what the magic did. If it wasn't truly your choice, I can't blame you for feeling ill about it."

"No!" Severus said, putting his paw on her tail to keep her from shuffling away from him. "You don't understand." The wolverine-wizard huff-growled in frustration. "You have no idea what I feel. What maybe I shouldn't feel. What I want."

Hermione looked at him sadly. "And how is anyone to know, Severus, if you won't tell them? Do you think me blind? That I can't see your pain? That you're suffering? You think because you disagree with someone that it will cost you a friendship, but the truth is when you're friends with someone— you're willing to forgive them. That's what I did, so many times. And I think that's what you've done too. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but as your friend, even if we've only known each other for a few days— I feel like I understand you. I understand because I've been there. I've had my best friend accuse me of sleeping with my other best friend. I've been cursed to the point of hiding out in a magical room in Hogwarts. I've been tortured. I sent my parents to Australia with their minds altered just to save their life. I did that. I did it. Not some Dark wizard or some evil person on a poster somewhere. I was that evil person who stole away my parents memories and banished… I didn't give them a choice, and I will life with that impulsive, stupid, emotional decision for the rest of my life. I've always been the know-it-all with buck teeth, frizzy hair, and plans that never work because everything always went to hell when we got there. I couldn't even summon a Patronus when my best friend desperately needed me to. When I was being chased— I Disapparated with my best friend, and I splinched him." Hermione turned away.

"I know what it's like to make mistakes," Hermione said. "I know what it is like to be ridiculed by your peers. I know what it is like to be sought out for my brain when someone's grades are on the line but not so you can go out pass the time with meaningful conversation— or just spend time together in quiet communion."

"And instead of finding it where I should have, I found it in a hidden room, forgotten by everyone, as I was quietly bleeding out from a wound inflicted by my supposed best friend," Hermione said.

"He meant for me to die," Hermione said softly, her squeak low and mournful.

"He meant it because he desperately wanted to hurt me," she said. "You have to truly mean it. He did. In that moment, however true or misguided, he wanted to make me to suffer. And my other best friend is now faced with a choice he doesn't really want to make. He either takes his best mate in for using Dark magic with murderous intent or he covers it up so his adopted family doesn't have to bury one more son. Guilt will eat him up forever because that is the way it's always been. Loyalty torn between his one female friend and the friend whose family has been the only family he's truly had."

Severus pinned the otter down and clenched his teeth with effort. "I have powerful feelings for you, Hermione. Scary, powerful feelings. Feelings I don't deserve to have. Feelings that scare me. I don't loathe you. I desire you. More than anything in this world, and that terrifies me. I feel you, inside my mind, wrapped around my heart, and I cannot imagine walking out that door without you."

He pressed his forehead to hers. "No one has ever understood me, Hermione. No one has even wanted to try. Not even my best childhood friend. She saw me once, like this, and she thought I was a wild rabid animal and tried to crush me with her sculpture of a giant goldfish."

Hermione snorted laughter. "What?"

Severus slumped. "I'm just saying, I find it hard to believe that anyone, especially someone I have— come to care about— could possibly accept me as a real friend or—" Severus' expression twisted in pain, making his wolverine muzzle present a strange combination of a grimace and a snarl. "Even the possibility of something more."

Hermione said nothing, her ottery muzzle pointed into the tome in front of her. "We may have some time to figure it out," she whispered.

Severus poked his own muzzle over her furry shoulder.

The Weave — The Courtship Bond

Formed between two magically compatible people who possess precisely what the other needs to complete them, emotionally as well as magically. This is usually a prelude to the full marriage bond, and can be consummated in the following ways:

Conditions that cause the full magical bond to solidify and tie their lives together permanently. If the life of one is endangered, the marriage bond may spontaneously form to save the lives of both parties, as the death of one often leads to the swift demise of the other.

Willing, consensual, and meaningful sealing of the bond

True love's kiss, which is actually the sealing of two magical lines into one superior, more powerful line— the legendary creation of what has become somewhat erroneously known as the "pureblood" line and is, more accurately, the forming of a new magical house.

The only way to break the Weave is for the two parties to formally repudiate each other both in magic and in life, permanently sealing each other from joining the lines with a formal declaration of separation. It must be willing, and it must be intentional. Forcing someone to say words that they do not mean with the intent of breaking the bond will not work. An accidental, meaningless declaration will not work either. Any attempt to forcibly break the Weave by any means will cause a powerful magical on those who attempt such a heinous act, often leading to the cauterization of the magical line, sealing off the magic of the offender, effectively rendering that person and all of their descendents squibs.

It it for this reason that this type of bond is regarded as the highest and most sacred of bonds and any knowledgeable wizard or witch worth their salt and bloodline will never question the Weave nor attempt to break it.

Those that do will curse their own line for all time.

The otter and the wolverine exchanged glances.

"McGonagall?" Hermione squeaked.

"McGonagall," Severus growled.

"One problem," Hermione said.

"Hn?"

"We need a smaller door," Hermione squeaked, staring forlornly at the too-high door handle.

The wall crackled as the door shrunk and swung open invitingly.

The pair exchanged glances.

Hermione hesitated. "What if— what if I can't go out the door, Severus? What if— I end up back in my original time?"

Severus stared at his foreleg, watching the gold and silver runes swirling around under his and her skin. "Do you believe that some things are meant to be?" he whispered.

Hermione frowned. "I want to."

"So do I."

"But I don't want to be proven wrong," she said, her whiskers twitching.

Severus put a paw on her tail. "Whatever happens. Even is this was just a fluke. You were— are— a friend to me." His black eyes, staring out from a wolverine face, shimmered with emotion. "I will wait for you. I promise."

Hermione shook her head sadly. "Don't, Severus," she said. "Don't promise what you may not be able to keep. I would never forgive myself if something wonderful came along and you didn't let yourself enjoy it because of a promise made a girl trapped in a room with you."

Severus put a gentle paw on her muzzle. "If that book is right, neither of us have a choice. We are already highly compatible. We just have to find out if we are willing to live with all that entails." He looked at the open door. "Merlin knows I'm a right bastard to most people, and I haven't even hit twenty. Living with me might be a curse worse than bleeding out."

Ottermione whapped him upside the head with her tail. Her face twisted into a worried frown as she stared out the doorway. "With just this little time we've known each other, I know I will miss you. I already do."

Severus pressed his muzzle to hers, weaving their whiskers together. "Do you know how long I've dreamed of someone who would willingly touch me who didn't want anything of me?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Hermione said with a small smile. "I do want something from you."

The wolverine's expression tried for disbelief but landed somewhere in the region of bewildered.

"I really want a hug once I go through that door," Hermione said, whiskers twitching. "Maybe more than a hug, depending on if I have hands or not."

Severus flushed under his fur. "You can't be serious."

"Whyever not?" The otter said in reply. "You smell scrumptious. I want to roll myself all over you."

Severus twitched, having gone through the exact same mindset earlier when she had rubbed her muzzle against his.

Hermione took a step towards the open door. "I'm afraid, Severus." She turned back to stare at him. "I'm afraid you won't be there when I go through, or if you are— you'll hate me."

"I would never hate you," Severus said firmly. "I couldn't."

Hermione hung her head. "You would in my time. You would loathe the very air I breathed."

Severus shook his head adamantly. He bonked his head against hers. "It won't matter. I know you are from some time in the future, and I know you know me there. You haven't told me details, and I know why you don't want to risk it lest you change something significant— but we are already changing something significant. I've met you. I am already changing. He placed his paw to his chest, looking like he was saying a pledge. I can feel you. In here." He pounded his chest with his paw. I want it to be real. I want to walk out of this room and know it was not a dream— some cruel prank. I want to take you out for sweet cream and toffee ice cream and talk about agrimony."

"Hopefully not in my ice cream," Hermione mused.

Severus gave her a look.

Hermione replied with a rather mischievous ottery grin. She leaned into him once more before preparing herself to run through the doorway.

"Severus?"

"Hn?"

"You don't have to prove yourself to real friends," she said softly. "It took me almost two decades to learn that. Real friends believe in you because every breath is proof. They don't ever need to ask.."

Severus was silent for a long moment and then he nodded.

"Severus?" Hermione said, her voice cracking.

"I believe in you." Hermione turned abruptly and bounded through the door. There was a flash of magic and she was gone. Severus found himself standing as a human, and the door in front of him was human-sized. The room was empty but for a stone floor and pillars.

Severus sagged to the floor as he watched the glowing runes on his arm fade from the surface of his skin. One tear flowed down his cheek and fell to the floor. He placed his hand on the hardwood door, pressed his head to the doorway and closed his eyes. "Hermione."

As Severus stepped through the door, he was greeted by a furious round of squeaking. He looked down and realised his boot had connected with an otter tail, and the tail was not in the slightest bit happy about it, nor was its' furry owner.

Severus scooped up the otter and snuggled her tightly, all of his emotions and former tears leaving him as he groaned in sheer relief. She snuffled against his face and squeaked, seemingly just as happy as he was at the reunification.

Just as Severus tried to figure out why he had had to exit the door as a human, he realised they weren't alone.

"Well, well, well, there you are, Snivellus," James and Sirius greeted him together menacingly.

"Contemplating joining the troll ballet?" Sirius asked, pulling on a strand of the tapestry of the trolls in ballet dresses and shoes.

"What do you want, Black?"

"Oh, why is it that we always have to want something, hrm?"

"Yeah, Snivelly," James said with a grin. "We heard you got in a little row with Lily."

"Really sad, that," Sirius mocked.

"Yeah, maybe Avery and Mulciber can give you a bit of comfort." James grinned. "I didn't know you swung that way."

"Don't know why you even tried to make up, honestly," Sirius said.

The two pranksters grinned.

"I don't want or need anything from you," Snape growled.

Sirius pouted by sticking out his lower lip. "Don't be like that, Snivelly. After all, you spent hours outside the Fat Lady begging Lily to come forgive you. You've done it every single year since you called her THAT word. Right to the day, every year. How pathetic."

"Of all the words," James said, pointing his wand at Severus. "You had to choose that one. I suppose I really should thank you," he continued, twirling his wand. "Thanks to your sorry mouth, Lily and I are going to get married. She finally saw the light of my superior skills. Once we're out of here, you'll never see her again."

James tapped his wand to his glasses. "You know, it's been fun, Snivelly," he said. "I think I'll make a memory book of all our best moments. That way, when, not if, I have a son, he can know all the grand and glorious times we had together. It's only right he know the worth of his mother's supposed best friend turned traitorrrrrrERRRRKKFFFF!"

James stumbled forward, clutching his wounded testicles as one extremely teed-off Ottermione took a big bite into his overgrown gonads.

Snape's furious expression transformed into something resembling true admiration as the brassed-off aquatic mammal demonstrated the concept of male vulnerability and the application of sharp Mustelid teeth. From the amount of creative mental profanity the otter was sending into his mind, he had the feeling he would owe her a bucket full of tasty crustaceans to make up for it— or a bowl full of kruidnoten. Where the hell had that come from?

He was about to turn and leave, when Sirius ripped the irate Mustelid off of Potter's balls, which would have been comical had that not been followed by him slamming the otter into the tapestry against the wall with a sharp crack.

"You have a fucking familiar, Snivellus? You think you can just do as you please and sic it on us? I think you need to learn what it means to pull shit on us! Wormtail, hold this sodding piece of fur down!"

Peter Pettigrew stepped out from under a cloak, appearing out of nowhere. He had a stupid shit-eating grin on his face mixed with eager anticipation.

Snape was on his knees, clutching his head. His mind was filled with wadded cotton from the moment Hermione's head cracked against the wall. "Stop, please," he wheezed. Trickles of gold and silver dripped down his arm. "Please! Stop!"

"Look, Pads," Sirius said. "Icky Snivellus said please."

James lifted his head, looking irate. "We should teach him what happens when he plays with his betters."

"Yeah, you're not allowed to have familiars that aren't cats, owls, or toads either," Peter said with a grin.

"So familiar bonds don't matter since YOU are breaking the rules, Snivels," Sirius said.

Peter was clutching the young otter by the neck, ignoring the claws tearing up and down his arm as Ottermione tried frantically to escape. He was cutting off her air, and her struggles were becoming weaker and weaker.

"Let her go, please!" Snape begged, willing, in that moment, to humble himself to any extent if it meant Hermione his tormentors would cease their assault on Hermione.

"Please? Please! Please make it all better?" James looked at him with fury. "Let's show Snape how we make everything better, yeah?"

All three Gryffindor pointed their wands at Snape.

Severus closed his eyes. Better they attack me than you, he told the otter.

No! No, no, no, no! Hermione mentally screamed.

He could feel her trying to shift— the familiar vibration of magic he knew would return her to her human form, but just at that moment, the three Gryffindor turned their wands to her.

"Stupefy!"

"Inaedifico glaciem!"

"Familiaris frangit vinculum!"

Ottermione squeaked in terror and pain as the three spells hit her all at once, and Snape crumpled on the floor as her body fell to the floor, encased in an ice cube. Red magic swirled around her body, and he felt waves of agony as it tried to rip away the magic that connected them.

Familiaris, he thought. They were trying to break a familiar bond. They thought she was his familiar.

Part of his mind was trying to remind him that any attempts to break magical bonds, familiar or otherwise, was taboo in Wizarding society, but the other part of him could only feel Hermione's extreme agony and terror. He clutched at his head. He crawled on his belly, inching his way closer to her as the other wizards continued to cast a series of "experimental" spells upon her. He tried to reach for his wand.

No! Hermione voice insisted. I can take it. He could feel her shaking off the stupefy.

Hermione, no! They're killing you!

I've had worse! She told him.

What could possibly be worse than this agony? He pleaded.

Suddenly he saw it— an older and, if it was even possible, more insane-looking Bellatrix Black carving Mudblood into Hermione's arm as she Crucioed her over and over.

"CRUCIO! CRUCIO! CRUCIO!" Bellatrix screamed.

"Sectumsempra!" screamed a red-headed wizard with so many freckles. His face was twisted in fury.

"Run, Hermione!" Potter screamed at her. "I'll cover you!"

Potter?

No— the eyes. The eyes were bright green like Lily's.

"Stop this!" Snape cried. "Stop!"

"Awww, Snapey wants us to stop."

"Stoooop!"

"Stahhhhp!" they mocked.

Ottermione was wriggling, struggling to shake off the bonds of magical confinement the wizards had her trapped in.

"We'll make it stop for you, Snape."

The three Gryffindors glowered at him as they pointed their wands at him. "We learned a new spell, just for you, Snivellus."

Their lips curved into a malicious smile.

Better me than you, Snape whispered into her mind. You deserve better than me.

No! NO! The otter writhed and wriggled in the confining magic.

"CRUCIO!" the boys bellowed together, beams of magic flying out of their wands.

A otter squeak and scream filled the hallway as Ottermione threw her body in front of Snape, taking the spells directly to her body. Her furry body convulsed and twitched as her mental agony tore through her and Snape at the same time.

Snape threw his arms around the otter, clutching her to his chest. The beams hit him and her at the same time, and their bodies jerked and writhed like puppets on strings.

I'm here, he promised, clutching her to his body. Always.

Severus, she whispered his name in her mind.

Even amidst the pain, there was warmth. The lines of silver and gold from the runes on their arms wove together again, tighter, tighter— There was a cocoon of warmth without pain, and it surrounded them, pulling them together. Their bodies seemed to merge together in the swirling cords of magic.

Tighter. TIGHTER!

The green beams intensified as the wizards attempted to get the response they desired: his agony. But the more they strengthened the power of their hate, the closer Severus and Hermione's bond became. The tendrils of gold and silver spread up the arm, no longer limited to a single limb. They burrowed underneath their skin, infiltrating all of their organs, swimming in their blood.

Hermione was no longer trapped in her otter form and she clung to Severus as a human witch— lost within the folds of his dark robes.

I see no difference. The older Snape's face twisted with spite.

Why must you be such an insufferable know-it-all?

No! Severus clutched Hermione to him. I will never be that person. I will not be that to you! Not now. Not ever!

Hermione's fingers wove with his as she pressed into his neck. It's okay, Severus. It was another time. A time long before I knew this you. Her voice faded as her eyes drifted closed.

Don't leave me. Please. Please, he begged her, his hands running through her hair as the cocoon of light swirled around them. Tendrils of magic were burrowing into their skin, spreading all the more. Stay with me. Hermione. Stay with me!

I lied, Hermione said.

Severus frowned, shaking his head.

I did want something from you, she whispered into his mind, and it wasn't a hug. Her fingers brushed his cheek as her eyes met his.

Severus stared into her face, pain twisting his features, begging her not be like so many other disappointments and misunderstandings— pleading with her not to be one more bad decision.

A kiss, she whispered. Her eyes drifted closed as her hand fell from his face.

The glow of the runes started to dim— their spread suddenly halted.

Hermione? he begged her. His hair framed his face like a shroud. His trembling hands wove through her hair. He pressed his forehead to hers. I would bind myself to you. To you and you alone. He pressed his mouth to hers in a kiss, a plea and a desperate longing.

Hermione's eyes fluttered open. Her hands planted on the side of his face as she pulled him down, a surge of warmth filling the space between them.

Yes, her voice rang out into his mind, answering the question he could not voice aloud at the moment.

The cords of magic surged and flared as the runes covered every part of their body, glowing brighter and brighter. Their magic merged together like the meeting of tides, and the outgoing wave blew outwards in a heated wind. Energy arced like electricity.

ZAP!

ZAPPPP!

KERZAPPPPP!

The bolts hit James, Sirius and Peter straight to the chest, blowing them backwards down the hallway.

James bleated as he tumbled helplessly in stag form, transformed by the blast of powerful magic.

Sirius yelped as his canine form slammed into the troll ballerina tapestry and it rolled around him, wrapping him up like a canine burrito.

Peter squeaked, his plump, rat body blown arse over teakettle down the hallway only to come to an abrupt halt as James' stag body landed on him with a distinct crunch.

Impaled on James' antlers was a piece of parchment. A map of Hogwarts, complete with moving names, was exposed for all to see.

"What in the bloody blue blazes is going on here?" Minerva McGonagall exclaimed as she rushed up, Filius Flitwick and Septima Vector hot on her heels.

Flitwick picked up the parchment map, brows furrowing in concentration.

Septima knelt beside Severus, who was passed out in a heap, Hermione's reverted-into-an-otter body concealed within the folds of his school robes. The professor's long fingers pressed against his neck to feel for a pulse as her other hand wove a wand.

"Dark magic, Minerva," she said, clearly horrified. He's been put under the Cruciatus!"

"He what?" Minerva gasped. "Get them to the infirmary. I want memories of these unregistered Animagi infractions ASAP! And I want their wands traced for spells at once!"

"Yes, Minerva!" the professors agreed, setting to work.

Minerva stared at the parchment map in Flitwick's hands. "Well, your reign of terror on the students of Hogwarts is at an end, gentleman," she said darkly, tapping her wand to the map. "And for once, all the evidence is staring me right in the face."

"Surely this is just a case of overzealous pranks, gentlemen," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the gathered Aurors. "They are obviously very talented young boys to have successfully become Animagi without the aid of an instructor."

"Headmaster," Alastor Moody replied, gesturing with his hands. "This is not some minor infraction or a case of schoolboy pranks. Mr Snape was hit with Dark magic. Cruciatus to be Unforgivable curse. To top it off, they have a magical tracking map and an invisibility cloak in their possession. I remember the rules of Hogwarts, Headmaster. Assault or offensive spells against a student is grounds for expulsion or at the very least suspension."

"There is a far greater concern here, Alastor," the other Auror said.

"What, Savage?"

"The wands show they not only successfully cast the Cruciatus, but they also show they tried to break a magical bond between Snape and another party. It looks like they were trying to break a familiar bond," Savage said.

"Well, that confirms they didn't do anything serious, gentleman," Dumbledore said. "Mr Snape doesn't have a familiar here at Hogwarts."

"Three unregistered Animagi, a magical tracking map, and an invisibility cloak, Headmaster," Alastor said. "Unforgivables! There is a reason they are called UNFORGIVABLE! We cannot let this go, Albus. You know that. The wand traces alone show us that Snape hasn't cast anything since Potions class to finish off a batch of Felix Felicis, which Horace Slughorn has confirmed."

The floo suddenly flared to life, green flames reaching to the top of the hearth. "Headmaster Dumbledore," Amelia Bones' voice came through, followed by her disembodied head. "We have tracked magic intended to break an established Weave, sir. We have also tracked traces of unauthorised temporal disturbance and a sealing of the Weave. We need your permission to confirm these occurrances before the trace magics fade."

Dumbledore fidgeted with obvious discomfort. "Ms Bones, we already have Aurors—"

"I must insist, Headmaster," Amelia said. "This cannot wait."

"Very well, Amelia," Albus said with a sigh.

Amelia stepped through the floo with two others in attendance. They had clothes wrapped around their eyes as if they were blind, but eerie green eyes glowed underneath them. They had ornate headdresses that covered their mouths decorated with a highly intricate goblin silver filigree.

"Unspeakables, Amelia? Is this really necessary?" Albus asked.

Alastor and the other Aurors bowed slightly, getting out of the way of the Unspeakables.

"It is what we do, Albus," Amelia stated firmly. She pulled out two crystals and tapped them with her wand. They began to faintly glow blue. She released them, and they hovered in the air for a moment, then began to float away. "Let me know the results," she said.

The two unspeakables said nothing and disappeared after the floating crystals.

"Amelia, the uniforms of the Unspeakables alone will incite panic in the students," Albus objected.

"They will leave the Unspeakables alone," Amelia said. "Precisely as intended."

"Come on, Savage, Proudfoot," Alastor said. "We need to confirm the spells from those wands and get the statements. Erm, well, after we get them to change back."

"Yes, boss," they replied.

As the Aurors and Amelia strode out to do their respective jobs, Albus sank down into his desk chair and sighed deeply, burying his head in his hands.

Amelia sat in the chair beside Severus, nodding to Minerva as she watched over them.

"Mr Snape," Amelia said. "You've been through quite a lot today."

Severus flinched, pulling his robes around to his chest.

"I'm not here to blame you, Mr Snape," Amelia assured the clearly anxious young man. "We've already traced the temporal anomaly and the conferred with Alastor Moody about the attack. We know you were tortured. You're not in any trouble. Please, could you tell us what happened?"

Severus was silent, but a chain of active squeaking emitted from his robes and a furry face full of whiskers poked out from under his arm, pushing it aside to peek out at them. She squeaked imperiously. His eyes went wide as he tried to push her back into hiding, but the otter wriggled out and squeaked at Minerva. She stood on her hind legs and reached her paws up into the air, beckoning the elder witch closer.

"Oh my word," Minerva cooed, lifting her up. "Where did you come from, little lass?"

Ottermione squeaked and snuffled her face.

"Oh, she's an Animagus," Minerva gasped, fingering the registry mark on the otter's right ear. "It's alright. You can change back, my dear." She placed the otter on the nearby mattress and smiled.

The otter squeaked, preening her long whiskers and then transformed into a haggard-looking young bushy-haired witch.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," she said with a small smile. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

Amelia was waving a wand over her. "So you are the source of our temporal anomaly."

"I will tell you honestly that my being here surprises me as much as it does you," Hermione explained. "I was on the run. It was after a very long and bloody battle.I can provide memories to you, Madam Bones, because I know who you are and what you do. I was fleeing for my life, and I needed a place that was safe. Hogwarts, as you know, provides help to any who ask for it. I asked, and it answered. I hid away in the come and go room, and it was in there that I met Severus, who took care of me until I was able to move about on my own. I had no idea that I was bridging time until I realised who Severus was— or rather— when Severus was."

Hermione paused and then continued. "I was hiding a wound, and it caught up to me. In healing it, our blood mingled. There was magic. Runes. He saved me, but there was more to it. There is some magic between us."

"The Weave," Amelia said.

Hermione and Severus exchanged glances. "You know of it?"

"It is a legend— most pureblood families know about it. Most Wizarding families know of it. It's the reason why breaking magical bonds is highly illegal in modern Wizarding society— and why that was the case long before our modern society," Amelia said. "The Weave is what creates new magical lines. It is what created the first magical families. It starts with courtship, but if consummated, it forms an entirely new magical line— a pureblood family. It is what being pureblood really means: being magical." Amelia smiled. "It's very rare anymore. The stuff of myth and legend. The laws, however, still remain on the books."

Amelia smiled. "Did you know, that it is the only bond that will anchor someone from another timestream into another? The only thing that will allow one born of another time to permanently remain in another without causing dangerous rips in the fabric of time and space?"

Severus and Hermione exchanged glances, their hands linking instinctively.

"I suppose, I should offer my congratulations, Lord and Lady Snape," Amelia said. "I stand here in official witness to a confirmed Weave and formation of a new line of magic. I cannot say that I am happy about your torture, but I am glad that their attempts to break it did not succeed. Their punishment may be enough— even long before the Wizengamot is involved."

Minerva's brows furrowed. "What is going to happen to them?"

"It's what will happen to them, if it hasn't happened already," Amelia said. "You remember what happened when Mr Abernathy Filch attempted to break the bond between his daughter and her young suitor— one Hector Dagworth-Granger? They eloped, got married, and Mr Filch attempted to neutralise their marriage bond. It ended up cursing his entire line, rendering all of them squibs from himself on down, including the unfortunate unborn son, Argus."

"The whole line, Amelia?" Minerva gasped. "I was a told it was only for a single generation."

Amelia shook her head. "No, old friend. Different rumors have been spun and spread over the years, so I don't blame you for not being aware of the true facts of the matter. Mind you, some magical bonds are a bit less violent about retaliation. The Weave is, by far, the most violently protective of its chosen people."

"We're not in trouble?" Severus asked tentatively.

"No, Mr— Lord Snape," Amelia said with a smile. "Hogwarts did what it did because it wanted to save a life, which I will confirm when I see the pertinent memories. Either way, the Weave never lies, and I can see for myself the runes that bind you together— the magic."

Amelia turned to Hermione. "I would appreciate some time to debrief you, Lady Snape, so the records are made clear and we can prepare the proper papers for your— rather sudden appearance."

"Thank you, Madam Bones," Hermione said with considerable relief.

"We will, of course, provide you lessons in Occlumency from some of the Unspeakable masters," Amelia said. "For the both of you, as you must be able to protect your knowledge of the past and future from prying minds."

"Given your circumstances, I would like to extend to you an invitation to complete your studies with the Unspeakables until your minds are tempered— but you may find that you wish to remain with us."

"Amelia, are you recruiting students directly from my infirmary!" Poppy admonished.

"Yes, ma'am!" Amelia said, giving the pair a wink.

Madam Pomfrey tutted. "Why don't you go scrape those boys out of my infirmary. It feels like a clinic for animals."

"That's for the Aurors, Poppy," Minerva said. "They need to get them back in a human form first."

"That may take a while," Amelia sighed.

"Whatever do you mean, Amelia?" Poppy frowned.

"Even without the proof from the map, the cloak, and the traces on their wands," she explained, "if they truly threatened the integrity of the Weave— they'll be losing their magic as we speak. They and all those who are connected to them via blood or magic will be suffering for their sins."

"Poppy! Poppy! Come quickly!" one of the mediwitches cried out frantically. "There is something wrong with Mr Pettigrew!"

""What?" Poppy gasped. "Show me!" She hustled after them in a bustle of robes.

"I only managed to release him from his Animagus transformation," a wizard in green healing robes said, throwing up his hands. "But the moment I did— well, you can see for yourself!" He pointed to Pettigrew's arm where an inky, blacker than black tattoo writhed and squirmed on his skin: the Dark Mark.

"Merlin's aftershave," Poppy gasped. "Do the others have it too?"

"No, ma'am," the healer assured her. "Believe me, I most certainly checked."

Pettigrew was writhing and screaming in agony as black and green tendrils of Dark magic were spreading through his arm and reforming.

"No, my Lord! Please, I have been faithful! I have been dutif-HRK!"

"He's in cardiac arrest," Poppy yelled. "Quickly! Get me the heart potions and the heart syringe!"

The medi-witches swarmed over Peter Pettigrew, attempting to save his life despite the realisation of who and what he was.

Suddenly, Peter bolted out of the bed, grasping his wand tightly. "Get away from me!"

"Mr Pettigrew, we are trying to help you!"

"Get the fuck away from me, you Muggle-loving freaks!"

"Avada Kedavra!" he yelled.

Dead silence followed after nothing happened.

Peter smacked his wand against his hand and pointed it again. "Crucio! Incarcerous! STUPEFY!" he screamed.

"Incarcerous," Minerva said, utterly deadpan, with her face as cold as stone.

Peter Pettigrew fell back on the bed, tightly bound in magical ropes.

"Someone send for the families," Minerva barked. "And inform the Aurors. We need wellness checks. If these three actually managed to mess with a Weave, that means their entire family line is draining magic out of their ears. MOVE!"

People scrambled in all directions as Minerva summoned her Patronus and sent it zinging out.

Student Assault on a Weave-bound Couple Brings Chaos to Hogwarts

Something amazing has happened, but it was overshadowed by a great crime that hasn't been seen in decades: assault with the intent to break a magical bond. Specifically, this bond was the Weave between two seventh year students at Hogwarts.

Severus Tobias Snape and Hermione Jean Greensea, a formerly home-tutored student who planned to complete her final year of schooling at Hogwarts, were bound together via the rarest of magical bonds, the Weave, earlier this week. However, due to the couple being assaulted by a gang of fellow students shortly after, the bond between them was solidified into permanence and forging a new magical line.

While we of the Wizarding world must celebrate this rare and joyous formation of a new magical family and send our most sincere congratulations to the new Lord and Lady Snape, this event is darkened somewhat by the fact that three other Hogwarts students have been found guilty of casting Unforgivable spells, multiple instances of bullying and malicious pranking while in possession of a contraband invisibility cloak, tracking of students via an illegally enchanted map for personal gain and with the intent of avoiding any punishment for their predatory acts of aggression. The three students known to be involved in the assault were James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.

One student, shockingly, was found to be branded with a living tattoo crafted of pure Dark Magic, which our sources believe is actually the Dark Mark of an allegedly rising Dark Lord who, we are told, refers to himself as "Lord Voldemort". Even more shocking, the known magical draining that occurs when an magical individual attempts to break a magical bond seems to be spreading to other marked individuals. The original students found guilty of the assault have already been fully drained of magic, and there has been a dramatic and inexplicable rise in admissions to St. Mungo's of witches and wizards who are also being drained of their magic, but each of these have been found to be in possession of the Mark and have been subsequently taken in by Aurors and arrested for incriminating ties to a cult-like group that allegedly promotes pureblood supremacy and the flagrant use of illegal Dark magic.

Miraculously, it seems that the backlash from the attack against the Weave was not inflicted indiscriminately. Specialists at the Ministry describe this mutation of the Weave's backlash as nothing short of a miracle— the old magic having attuned itself to the sense of justice of the chosen couple in question. Until this, it has always been assumed that if one person commits the crime, the entire family will be punished, which has led to quite a few laws to forbid such behaviour.

"It's a testament to the new Lord and Lady Snape's sense of fair justice," Master Elderbrook said. "Most people have a sort of blind sense of justice— they don't care who suffers as long as someone pays for the offence. This is the first time that we've seen justice meted out in a very specific way. The families of Mr Potter, Mr Black, and Mr Pettigrew have Lord and Lady Snape to thank for their retained magic. This could have been much, much worse."

As for the wizards and witches that have been afflicted with no immediate connection to Lord and Lady Snape, healers have connected the actual Dark Mark as the reason the contagion travelled beyond the parties who originally assaulted them.

"This is Dark magic," Healer Osworth said to us. "It is rooted in the person who created it, tying two life forces together permanently. It is both complex and utterly terrifying in nature. Whoever has one is linked for life to someone else— but it is like a parasite. Only one person benefits from its being there: the original caster. It is because of this that these Marked people are being drained of magic. They all share the same magic. They are like one person, united together with the same purpose. When Mr Pettigrew attacked his fellow student, the Weave punished him— and all connected through the Mark."

"Healer Osworth, what does this mean for the one who cast the original spell?"

"I can only presume that whoever it is— is not having a good day, nor will they have a good life."

"By the blessing of Magic itself, I here witness and record the magical adoption of Harry James Evans as Harry Magnus Snape," Samantha Twoscrolls said warmly, pouring a goblet of magic-infused water over the baby. "With the combined magics of mother and father, do you claim this child as your own, protect it as your own, and know him as your child from this day forth."

"We do," Hermione and Severus said together.

Samantha grinned at them as she traced runes on Harry's palms, placed Hermione and Severus' hands together over his, and watched the flash of family magic take root in baby Harry. His moppy black hair grew silky smooth and a bit longer around his face. His eyes changed from bright green to a dark coffee brown that was almost black. He giggled and kicked out his little legs happily, gurgling and fussing, whapping Samantha with his rattle. His skin turned slightly more pale, ending up somewhere between Hermione's golden peach tones and Severus' sun-free alabaster complexion.

"Congratulations, Lord and Lady Snape," Samantha said with a bow.

"Thank you, Madam Twoscrolls," the pair chimed together.

"If you don't mind me asking," Samantha said "Who would give up such a sweet and delightful little boy?"

Severus's expression seemed to become stone-like for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"No," Severus answered with a sigh. "It's fine. His mother was forced into marriage. She became pregnant before she had finished school. She left Harry in a basket by the front door of Alastor Moody's flat with a letter pinned to his baby blanket. She left for the States, hoping her past here in Britain would be well and truly forgotten."

"I'm very sorry to hear it," Twoscrolls said sadly.

"We do not all grow up to become our fathers," Severus said, picking up baby Harry from the pedestal. Harry babbled and cooed, smacking his rattle into Severus' rather prominent nose.

"Oh, I think Harry will be great if he grows up just like his father," Hermione said, causing Severus' head to jerk up.

"As long as that father is you, my Lord husband," she said with a wink as if to say, "Gotcha!"

Severus sniffed, extending his hand in public for her to take even as he cradled Harry closely in his other arm. Hermione placed her hand in his, having been well-drilled in proper protocol by Amelia since they had both joined the Unspeakables. The pair bowed to Twoscrolls and left, side by side and hand in hand, floating out the chamber door like ghosts, with only the swirl of their black robes marking their passage.

"I seem to be short two teachers this coming term, my friends," Minerva said as she sipped her tea. "Now that Albus has decided to retire and travel the world, the Board of Governors seems to think I should take up his cup."

"How very awful for you," Severus said, his lip curling.

Hermione ribbed him with her elbow, giving him a very otterish glare.

Severus rolled his eyes.

Harry and his younger brother and sister, Ethan and Serena, had released a Snitch into McGonagall's office, and they were all chasing it around as fast as their miniature legs could carry them.

"I've heard that the two of you are looking to settle down in something that doesn't require constant paranoia with regard to what your children might be sticking their inquisitive little fingers into," Minerva said. "I've discussed it with Amelia, and she's quite willing to share custody of you if you should choose to teach here at Hogwarts. During the school year, you would be here, and during the summer months she'll have work to keep your minds busy with the latest conspiracies, magical artefacts, and other miscellaneous catastrophes-in-the-making."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "Children are catastrophes in the making, Minerva. I should know. I have three of them."

Harry squealed happily as he had managed to catch the Snitch, and Ethan and Serena pouted that their big brother was always the one to catch the Snitch.

"They are seven, six and five years old, and I swear they revert to caveman grunts and squeals instead of the Queen's English just to prove they have successfully devolved," Severus muttered.

Minerva half-choked on her tea and set the cup down. "You cannot fool me, Severus. I know the two of you love them dearly."

"Love, perhaps," Severus answered. "Wondering how they have survived so far? Still wondering."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I can offer you large conjoined living quarters with extra rooms for each child," Minerva said. "Paid vacations including summer holidays, with an additional stipend that will be deposited into your children's accounts each payday as an investment into their future. We have a right happy team of house-elves who are excellent providers of child-care during your teaching hours. As you will also be replacing myself and Horace as heads of house, you will rate added benefits as befits the extra responsibility. Professor Burbage said she would be glad to take your children along on all outings to the museums, the zoo, concerts, plays and Muggle fairs if you so wish."

Severus studied at his fingernails.

"Private potions laboratory, complete with a full stock of ingredients, a personal storeroom, and all profits from your work will be yours to keep," Minerva set out the bait, tabby silver cat ears perked on her head. "We would request from time to time that you brew potions for Poppy, who needs her own stock for the hospital wing, but you would, of course, be fully reimbursed for such things."

Severus, finally, looked interested.

"We also have a new curriculum for children under eleven to teach the basics of English, Grammar, Maths, General Muggle and Wizarding History, Geography, and Study Skills."

Hermione perked almost immediately.

Minerva leaned in over the tea tray. "And your own personal library and study with access to the Wizarding Inter-library loan program that connects all the large libraries together."

"You," Severus said with a curled lip, "are bound and determined to lure us back to Hogwarts."

Minerva grinned. "Think of it this way. Where would the two of you be without Hogwarts?"

Severus sniffed loudly, wrinkling his nose. "Fine. I will agree, provided my Lady wife also agrees."

Hermione passed him the parchment she had already signed.

Severus shook his head at her. "Gryffindor."

"All yours," Hermione said, traces of ottery mischief on her face.

"As it should be," Severus agreed, dipping his quill into the inkpot and signing his name on the line.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, Professors Snape," Minerva said with a Cheshire cat grin plastered on her face.

Thump.

All three children had fallen asleep in a pile on Minerva's comfy settee. Harry had the golden Snitch grasped tightly in his hand.

"That one is going to be a star Seeker, mark my words," Minerva said, adjusting her glasses.

Severus shook his head. "Don't even start. Lucius is already plotting about what broom to give him the moment he's old enough to have one."

"Oh, and what age is that, Severus?"

Severus narrowed his eyes. "Two hundred and fifty-eight."

Hermione busted up laughing, giving her husband a hug. "Oh, Severus. You can't protect him forever."

Severus grumbled as his bushy-haired witch hugged him tightly— in front of witnesses. "Fine, but I'm going to be the one teaching him how to fly, not Lucius."

Hermione shook her head. "He's just happy he never got Marked. And if he has anything to do with it, Draco and Harry will be best mates and open their own business together one day."

"How are you so calm and collected over this?" Severus asked.

Hermione grinned. "Since Narcissa and I bonded over shopping together and I helped her deliver Draco in a park in Brussels."

Severus' lip twitched. "I knew it. Secret witch solidarity."

Hermione kissed him on the nose. "I don't fault you for getting together with Lucius and cheering over Quidditch, love."

Severus' eyes widened as he realised his secret hobby had been found out.

Hermione smiled at him. "I may be Gryffindor, but I do know you, my husband."

Severus slid his eyes to the side, turned up to look skyward, and then pulled Hermione into an embrace.

Hermione eeped, wriggled, and then transformed into an otter, squeaking as she tore across Minerva's office. Severus followed her as a wolverine, giving a growling, steady chase.

Minerva sat back in her chair and resumed sipping her tea, a smug feline smile on her face.

"Jess, do you think that's really them?" one of the first years whispered, peeking up over the large stone fence where the new hippogriff paddock had been constructed.

"I dunno, Martin," the other student replied. "I haven't actually seen them before.

The two curious students peered over the fence again, watching the two scruffy-looking men tending the hippogriffs' outdoor stalls, patching up the stone wall by hand, and heaving the fodder into the enclosure.

Whiiiiiihhhheeehhehheheee!

Both students jumped as a baby hippogriff greeted them and chewed on their hair.

They quickly bowed, but the baby hippogriff just nickered and made half-bird half-equine sounds, snuffling their robes in the search of—

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

The baby found a hidden apple in a pocket and proceeded to devour it noisily.

Jess and Martin tentatively pet the hippogriff's feathered head, eliciting a birdlike chirping purr.

"I thought they only liked ferrets!" Jess whispered.

Martin made a don't-look-at-me face, shrugging. "We don't get to be in Care of Magical Creatures until third year. How should I know?"

"We can still read you know," Jess pouted.

"You sound like Serena," Martin complained.

"Fffffth," Jess replied, sticking out her tongue.

"Come on, guys, Hagrid said we can come visit the baby hippogriff!"

Jess and Martin startled again as a black-haired trio of students rushed down the path from Hogwarts.

"Wait up, Harry, you go too fast!"

"Come on, Serena, just run faster!"

"Just pretend you're chasing a library book for Madam Pince!"

"Ha, ha, brother," Serene complained.

"Hi Jess! Hi Martin!" Ethan greeted as they rushed by.

"Hagrid, where are you?"

"Ach, I'm in here. Fang! That's me leg. Gerroff me!" The half-giant shambled out of his hut and brushed off his beard. Tiny birds flew out of it. Fang frolicked out the door, pouncing on the children with happy woofs.

"Hey, Fang!" the children greeted.

"Yer in for a treat, my friends," Hagrid boomed. "Baby Dapples is a real charmer. He's a bit of a freak amongst hippogriffs. He doesn't care about bowing or protocol, and he loves apples over ferrets."

Harry leaned over the high wall, and Dapples was already there.

Whiiihheheheheeee! Dapples greeted, slobber-beaking Harry's hair.

"Ack, no!" Harry grabbed at his hair. "My hair looks funky enough, thanks!"

The little hippogriff nickered in amusement, tail swishing and little wings flapping.

"Okay, you lot, be sure to bow to the adults, aye? But you can go into the paddock and greet the baby. Hippogriff mums aren't too protective unless they hear the baby screaming, so treat em well and we won't have issues. Stay near the fence in case you have leap over it, yeah? Harry, you keep a watch over your brother and sister?"

Harry nodded. "I will."

"We're not infants," Ethan pouted.

"We're not imbeciles!" Serena protested.

"Just keeping you safe, children," Hagrid said with a smile. "If you get hurt, I'll have two Perfessers Snapes coming down on me like lava out of Pompeii, and we all know what will happen then."

Harry, Ethan and Serena swallowed hard, nodding in agreement.

They entered the paddock, bowing to the older hippogriffs, who only bowed back before going back to stuffing their faces with dead ferrets.

"Mr Hagrid?" Jess asked. "Where do you get all the ferrets?"

"Ah, that's kinda complicated," Hagrid said, rubbing his beard. "Hey, you lot, stay out of Mr Potter's and Mr Black's way, yeah? They're busy repairing the walls."

"Okay, Hagrid!"

Hagrid sighed. "Long time ago, I had to trap them off the grounds, but as the herd got bigger, the ferrets became less common. We thought about shipping them in, or even raising them, but they don't breed as fast as chickens. Perfesser Snape came up with an idea, and she started to treat beef with the right about of vitamins and minerals and transfigured the resulting meat into a ferret. Hippogriffs don't know the difference. Well their stomachs don't, anyway. They get the nutrition they need, and we don't have to make the ferrets extinct."

"Whoa," the children said together. "Brilliant!"

"Well, you all know Perfesser Snape. Both of them are the best minds you'll find 'ere at Hogwarts." Hagrid smiled.

"Yeah, and you can't get away with nuthin'!" Ethan complained, earning himself a smack from Serena's hippogriff book. "Ow!"

A student was running down the pathway, blond hair shining like a beacon in the sun. "Hi, Hagrid! Sorry, I'm late. I had to take Gunther to the infirmary. Susan tried to blow him up during our open Potions lab."

Harry reached over the fence to pull Draco in with him. "Hey, mate. Meet Dapples!"

Draco bowed to the nearby hippogriffs, but they all ignored him in favour of ferret chewing. Dapples, however, proceeded to chew on Draco's hair.

"Gah!"

"Welcome to the club," the others laughed.

Dapples nicker-chirped and snuggled his head into their chests for pets and scritches.

"Father doesn't allow ingredients in the open lab that mix to blow up. How did that happen?" Harry asked, suspicious.

"They smuggled in their own ingredients trying to make a love potion," Draco said, rolling his eyes.

"Amortentia?"

"No, some daft recipe they found in Witch Weekly," Draco said, giving Harry a look that simply oozed disdain.

"Father will be seriously grumpy," Serena commented.

"That means Mum will be grumpy too," Ethan complained.

There was a yell as one of the hippogriffs plowed into the men fixing the fence. That section of fence crumpled, pinning the pair down in the stone and half-set mortar.

"FUCK!" Sirius cursed loudly, startling the nearby hippogriff, who kicked out, knocking more of the weakened section of wall down.

Hagrid rushed in from outside the paddock. "Ey, what is going on, 'ere?" He gently nudged the hippogriffs aside, placating them so they didn't stampede out the opening.

Harry and Draco pointed their wands at the debris together, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Large rocks and debris floated off, and they guided it into a neat pile nearby. Dapples, however, eyed the opening with curiosity and bolted out the gap.

"Oh, boy," Hagrid cried. "Harry, Draco, can you lads fix the fence really quick? Normally I'd have those two do it, but we need it fixed pronto, yeah?"

"Sure, Hagrid," the boys said, setting to work.

"You lot, go get the basket of apples from the table and see if you can lure Mr Merrylegs back here before he becomes known as Runaway instead of Dapples."

"Okay!" the children said, scurrying off.

A shadow of black was making its way down from Hogwarts, causing Hagrid to look up. Severus was walking down the path, Hermione at his side. His pitch-black robes swirled behind him like a flag in the wind. Hermione's teaching robes, while also black, had coloured trim and embroidery that made her look less like a death shroud come to life.

Dapples went cantering by, whinny-chirping with glee followed by a cluster of children with apples.

Twin Snape eyebrows lifted together at once.

"Allo, Perfessers," Hagrid greeted. "Just had a wee bit of a problem with the paddock fence."

"At least the children will sleep well tonight," Hermione said, a smile upon her lips.

"Hn," Severus said.

"Are you okay, sir?" Harry's voice asked.

"Get the fuck away from me, Snape," Black's voice hissed menacingly.

"Hey, he didn't do anything to you!" Draco's voice snapped.

"We don't need help from any ruddy Snape!" James' voice butted in. "And we certainly don't need help from a sodding Malfoy."

"Suit yourself," Draco snorted. "Next time, we'll just leave you buried under a wall of rock. Come on, Harry."

Draco and Harry jumped over the wall they just fixed and joined the adults.

"Making friends, I see," Severus said, deadpan.

Harry sighed. "Those two have never liked me. They don't like Serena or Ethan either."

"Why did Dumbledore even give them a job here?" Draco asked.

Severus shook his head. "Nowhere else would have them."

"Because they have major bad attitudes?" Harry asked.

Severus snorted. "No, my son, it is because they have no magic in a world that has very few jobs for those without it. They are not allowed to make their way in the Muggle world because they know of magic."

The two boys exchanged glances. "I think it's because they are both grumpy arses."

Hermione arched a brow. "Language."

"Sorry, mum."

"Sorry, Aunt Hermione."

"Go help the others lure Dapples back to the paddock, hrm? We don't' want him getting pummelled by the Whomping Willow, do we?"

The boys shook their heads and tore off after the other children.

"Aren't you just the right proper father, Snivellus," a bitter voice said. "The shining star of fake pureblood supremacy."

Severus stiffened and straightened. "It really doesn't matter to me what you think, Black. Haven't you done enough to get yourself in less than desirable situations?"

"You won that little trick, Snape," James said. "I'll give you that, but once we figure out what curse you put on us, all your little dreams will come crashing down. Your pride and joy son will learn what sort of father you really are and that you are just some Slytherin wannabe pureblood."

"You actually think," Severus said, "that I did this to you? Rich, coming from such fine pureblood stock as yourselves. Do you think, since Dumbledore wrote in a little cause to ensure you'd have employment here due to owing you some penance for not having steered you right, that I will just take your lip?"

Hermione's arm blocked Severus from his advance. They exchanged glances, and Severus reluctantly stepped back. "Once upon a time, I heard of the great and wonderful James Potter. I heard stories of how smart he was. The kind of person a young boy could look up to and wish to have known as a father. I heard of such friendships— boys willing to grow up together despite the odds. Despite family— defying old beliefs for new, unprecedented friendships. I heard of a love that transcended life. It was all. A. Lie." Hermione said.

"And who are you, witch?" James snarled. "Some long-lost, bushy-haired bint who was homeschooled in some random country hut somewhere. For all we know, he ordered you from some foreign mail-order-catalog by owl."

Hermione's face twisted, and James and Sirius smirked maliciously, thinking she was going to cry. Instead, she burst out laughing, flipping her hair back. "Is that all you have? After— how old ARE you now? Physically? We all know you're still about twelve upstairs and perhaps sixteen in the basement. I've been insulted more effectively by far worse than the likes of you two cretins. I have the scars to prove it. Tell me, what scars do you have? Disowned by your family? Oh. That would be both of you. Nothing new for you, Sirius. I've heard all the stories. I've even been privy to a few new ones."

"You think just because you have a wand and we don't that you can treat us like shit?" Sirius yelled.

"Wait, you're complaining that I may be treating you poorly— you, who lured a boy to meet a werewolf during the full moon? You, who strung up someone by his ankles in front of Merlin and everyone— filling his mouth with soap bubbles and then ensuring he would be so emotionally compromised that he would call his best friend something utterly heinous? You team up against others three to one. You put an oil slick in the library causing Madam Pince to slip and hit her head, sending her to St Mungo's for an entire week before she could speak anything but Latin. You, Sirius, stole your own mother's pride and joy— a cameo from her mother— to buy a motorcycle, causing her to have a nervous mental breakdown that caused her to blame all Muggles for its theft."

Hermione tapped her index finger against her teeth. "I found it, by the way, in a dirty little hock shop that didn't even bother to deny you'd been the one to nick it. I returned it. Just imagine… how very healing that was for Lady Walburga Black when she realised it wasn't Muggles who had stolen her most treasured possession."

Hermione straightened herself and shrugged. "Your parents, by the way, are an absolutely charming couple. Lady Black makes a smashing chicken casserole. Family recipe. I'm told I'm the only one outside of the family who knows the recipe. Regulus tells me I even have an honourary spot on the tree, along with my Lord husband, and all three of our children. Apparently, they bicker for opportunities to spoil my children on weekends. They end up flipping galleons over it with the Malfoys."

"So tell me, Sirius. James. What sin is so great. What could I have possibly done to make you behave so hatefully to me? My family? When I have done nothing save tolerate your ceaseless spite?"

"You married him."

"And if you didn't have that wand, I'd wipe the floor with you," James said.

Hermione pulled out her wand and passed it to Severus, whose face was as impassive as stone. He took it in his hand, tucking it into his robes and stepped back.

"Hiding behind your little wife's robes, Snape?"

"Tut," Hermione said. "Afraid to face a girl, boys?"

"What do you want?"

"Let us put this to rest, hrm?" Hermione said. "You get the first punch. I face you alone without my wand. Whoever admits defeat, and I do mean admit defeat, must treat the other and their family with civility."

"I want more than just civility," James said. "I want the truth from HIM about what he did to seal our magic away."

Hermione closed her eyes. "Severus?"

"It shall be done."

"There you see? Terms. Shall we?" Hermione said. "Hagrid, you are witness to this rather impromptu non-magical duel?"

"Yes, ma'am, Perfesser, sir— Lady Snape."

Hermione arched a brow. "Good enough. I believe you get the first swing, like a proper barbarian."

James took the first swing, smashing into Hermione's face, causing a trickle of blood to drip from her nose and the corner of her mouth. Hermione wiped the back of her hand. James, spurred by the blood, took another swing, but this time, Hermione moved out of the way.

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

One after another, his swings didn't connect. On the last swing, he overextended, Hermione tweaked his fingers back, twisted his arm around his back, and slammed him against the bark of the nearby tree— face first. She jerked her arm up, jamming his arm hard into his socket and to the side.

James let out an ungodly shriek of pain.

Hermione leaned in to speak directly into his ear. "I am not some average girl you dragged into a storage closet, James Potter. I survived a bloody war. I woke up every morning wondering if I was going to die that day. I had words of hatred carved into my body with a cursed blade. And one day, my best friend cursed me, and do you know who saved me? It wasn't James Potter or Sirius Black. It was him— Severus Snape." She jerked his arm hard, making him whimper piteously. If you want to find someone who fails at life. Look. In. A. Mirror."

"I did this to you without my magic. Without my wand. Think hard on what I could do with it when you insult my family. My children. My life choices. Or My. Lord. Husband." Hermione's eyes were alight with fierce emotional fire. "Now. Do you yield?" she hissed into his ear.

"I will never yield to you," James gritted out, even with the pain, a crack of sudden epiphany crossed his face. "You'll have to kill me. Then, where will your bloody honour be?"

"My honour will be intact," Hermione said with a smile as she released James. "I have already won what you have lost due to your petty squabbles. I have the love of my children and the love of my husband. My friends are not living in the Post-magical Incarceration Facility. I have my wand. What do you have, James Potter? You have the name, but it not truly yours anymore, is it? Your own family doesn't even support you anymore."

Hermione shook her head. "You're just not worth it. Live in your wallow and with your pathetic choices. Try and deny them to make yourself feel better."

"Why you little—" Sirius and James rushed up behind her.

"Whiiiiihehheheheeeee!" Dapples neigh-squawked, plowing into both ex-wizards and sending them tumbling into the herd of adult hippogriffs.

The elder hippogriffs reared up, taking offence to their ferret dinner being interrupted.

Pound.

Trample.

KICK!

The two men landed on Hagrid's roof, slid down it, and ended up prostrate in a heap of dragon dung the half-giant used to fertilize his pumpkin patch.

Severus and Hermione pulled shiny apples out of their robes and silently gave them to Dapples, saying nothing.

Harry, Ethan, Serena, Jess, and Martin screeched to a halt as they realised Dapples had come home before they could even catch him.

"So not fair," Harry protested as Draco rushed up beside him, holding his sides and gasping for air.

Dapples pranced around the outside of the paddock, kicking up his legs and flapping his wings wildly. He then jumped over the fence and returned to his dam as if nothing had happened.

The children looked at Hagrid rather accusatorily.

"Surprise!" Hagrid said, grinning sheepishly.

"Mum, what's with those men in the dung pile?" Serena asked, tugging on Hermione's robes.

"Learning a bit of humility, darling," Hermione said, leaning in to steal a kiss from Severus.

"Do you really have to be covered in dung to learn humility?" she asked curiously. "Does it have humility-inspiring properties?"

"It has humiliation-inspiring properties," Severus answered with a distinct smirk.

"Does that mean Harry needs to dunk Draco in dung when he tells him he needs to learn humility?"

Harry's eyes went wide. Draco's face flushed pink, and Hermione and Severus eyed them both somewhat suspiciously.

"Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa are coming for dinner, children," Hermione said, clapping her hands. Everyone get washed up and ready. And you, Miss Hayward, Mr Jones, I believe Professor Flitwick is holding a party for his Ravenclaws in the common room, yes?"

Jess and Martin nodded together. "Yes, Professor Snape!" They scurried up the hill and away, followed by the Snape children.

"Yay!" they cheered as they disappeared into Hogwarts.

"Hermione, Professor, ma'am," Hagrid said. "What should I do about these two louts?" He pointed to the sulking, dung-covered men.

Hermione turned to Severus. "I defer to you, my Lord husband. Your history is far longer than mine."

Severus eyed his former tormentors, his lip curling in clear disgust. But, as he looked into Hermione's eyes, his face shifted into something else entirely— warmth.

"Let them live their lonely, pathetic lives bereft of the gift of magic they were born with," Severus said. "I have… outgrown them."

"I guess I'll, uh, hose them off and take them to Madam Pomfrey then," Hagrid said.

James Potter and Sirius Black Reported Missing

The infamous James Potter and Sirius Black have gone missing after a fracas on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Where the duo have gone or how they managed to leave the magical grounds in the first place is currently unknown. Aurors have searched the school grounds and the surrounding forest for their bodies or any evidence of a trail, but without a magical signature, most of the tried and true methods for tracking a wizard or witch are entirely ineffective in this case. The Muggle authorities have been alerted regarding the disappearance of Potter and Black, but many who know the pair believe the pair have left the Country for greener pastures where squibs are more widely accepted by the magical community and have significantly better job opportunities with a reasonable potential for advancement.

Severus put the paper down as Hermione slipped in between the sheets and snuggled up to his side with a few ottery squeaks. He growled softly, capturing her mouth tenderly as he pulled her close into his embrace.

"Children are back in the dorms, and we have the whole chambers to ourselves," Hermione said, gazing steadily into his eyes.

"No patrol, and no papers to grade either," Severus said, brushing her cheek lightly with his fingertips.

"This is the night we first met," Hermione said wistfully. "The night Hogwarts chose to draw us together." She pressed her forehead to his. "Do you ever feel like you had to settle? With some strange time-displaced witch instead of who you were truly meant to be with?"

Severus pressed his finger to her lips. "Silly girl," he whispered, catching her mouth with his. "You are who I was always meant to be with."

Hermione gaze at him with nothing short of adoration. "I love you, my Lord husband."

Severus tucked her against his body, pressing his head over hers. "I love you too, my Lady wife. Always."

Hours later, an otter and a wolverine lay entwined in a furry pile in the middle of the bed. Moonlight danced across their fur from the open window. They slept on, blissfully oblivious to the world save for each other— united in love and peace.

(A silk strand falls from the bedpost as a clutter of plush spiders draw the green velvet bed curtains closed)

"Sleep time!"

"Shhh! They're sleeping!"

"Happily ever after!"

"Indeed!"

(plush spider wave) "Goodnight!"

"Sleep tight!"

"Hold your plushie spider tight!"

"Wheee!"

"Zzzz!"

(Plush spiders crawl under the velvet curtains and disappear, stopping only to hang a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the curtains)

The End.

A/N: And that's a wrap, folks! Happy Halloween!