Joanna and Professor Dumbledore walked through the corridors of the school. Both of them were soaked after coming out of the Chamber of Secrets. There was no danger in going down there now, but their prize was dangerous enough. Dumbledore was too old to crawl into the mouth of the giant Slytherine bust and search through the lair of the former beast of the chamber, the basilisk, the corpse of which still lay decaying on the stone floor. When she crawled inside, it was clear the bust was hollow and extremely old, full of shed snake skins. And it was also clear that there was one large stone along the back of the skull that was newer than the rest. It took her almost a half hour to chip away at the concrete and remove the block. Inside it there was a gold ring. On the black stone was a carving of the Slytherine family crest. Upon crawling back out, significantly drenched from standing in the knee-deep water, she handed the ring to Dumbledore who immediately bestowed it on his finger. As they began walking out, Joanna in front, she could hear a splash behind her. When she looked back Albus was writhing in the water. When she approached she notices the professor's hand was turning quite black. Joanna pulled out her wand and muttered a few old spells she knew, and the blackening slowed to a stop. Now they was walking back to the headmaster's office. When they arrived, Joanna helped Dumbledore sit in his desk chair. He tried to take the ring off, but it held fast to his finger not moving an inch. Dumbledore bit his lip and sighed. "Joanna, I don't suppose you would be kind enough to call your husband and ask him to come and assist us with this?"

"Of course."

Twenty minutes later is was midnight and Severus had arrived with Lucan in his arms. He handed their son off to Joanna while he worked on the headmaster's hand. While he worked, Severus explained as well as he could.

"The reason this was so easy to obtain is that the ring itself is the protection. If Joanna hadn't done something this could have killed you."

Joanna sat in the armchair in front of the fireplace and rocked Lucan in her arms. She asked, "What kind of spell is this?"

"An old one. Likely something archaic from Germany." Severus slid the ring off Albus' finger and dropped it on the desk. "You're lucky sir." They waited several minutes, but the hand remained blackened. Severus determined the damage was permanent. "If you hadn't fought the Dark Lord last month sir this might have been reversible."

Dumbledore waved Severus off. Just as the couple was taking their leave Dumbledore called Severus back. As Joanna waited by the door, the headmaster whispered something to Severus and before long they were on their way.

When they returned home, Severus remained in the upper house, making sure everything was quiet while Joanna brought Lucan down for the night. They had just taken on Wormtail to assist Severus in his lab in the attic. Wormtail was not aware that there was a second house underneath the current once, since he was confined to the attic anyway. The trick was making sure the rest of the house looked as though it were being lived in when in fact it wasn't being used, just in case Wormtail happened to go snooping.

Joanna set her son down in his crib, but when Severus had not come down yet she went back through the closet stairway to find him. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only person she found in the living room when she got there. Narcissa Malfoy and her sister Bellatrix had apparently paid Severus a little visit. And the subject was a little more than a tad concerning.

Narcissa had come begging Severus to help her son Draco with a special assignment from the Dark Lord. Severus beckoned for Joanna to sit as he and the women talked more about the case at hand. She had no idea of the precise plas of course, but Narcissa hardly needed to know it. Joanna remained silent as a tomb, even through a rather long interlude consisting of Bellatrix's doubts over Severus' dedication, which of course spilled over into Joanna's once he had answered for all of his own apparent mishaps.

"And your wife? How does a lifelong do-gooder and Dumbledore pet like her possibly come over to our side?"

"Because she is fiercely dedicated to her husband. She is in the same boat as I am; we're both teachers now, and we're both holding down very important positions in the Order and the Priory. We cannot jeopardize those fountains of information, as so ordered by the Dark Lord. Now, if you please, may we finally continue."

"She shouldn't be here. You may know of the Dark Lord's intentions, but I highly doubt she does. She hasn't been for a visit since the very beginning."

"True enough," Joanna responded for herself. "But you might have noticed, this is my house, and you have not yet revealed anything I have not already been told on the Dark Lord's order by my husband. I know enough so that I need not be banished from my own living room." Truthfully, she had no idea what they were talking about, but Severus had called her in for a reason; if he hadn't wanted her to know what was going on he would have sent her away and told her what little he could later. No, he wanted her here, for face if nothing else.

The conversation continued on for almost twenty minutes before Joanna heard something that finally made her want to jump out of her skin. Narcissa asked Severus to make the Unbreakable Vow with her to help her son succeed and protect him any way he can. And after Bellatrix called Severus a coward, he took it.

"Why would you do that, Severus? You know as well as I that unless you do whatever it is you promised to help the boy with you'll die!"

They saved this argument for the underground bedroom. In retrospect, not the best place to be holding an argument, but all the same, it was the deepest section of the secret house with no chance of Wormtail overhearing. Joanna pacing the floor before Severus as he sat calmly on their bed. "Why would you do that?"

"Because Bellatrix still does not trust me."

It was true. Whatever doubts Bella had would be quashed now. Still, Joanna did not like the idea of the vow being placed on Severus' head. "What is the mission anyway? I can't pretend to know for long so you'd better tell me."

"Kill Albus."

"Dumbledore?"

"You know another Albus?"

Joanna fell silent and did the math. If Draco succeeded, then Albus was gone, and Severus might die, and might was a loose term. Severus had just promised two things, one was to help Draco the other was to take on his job if he was unable. 'Help' was a vague promissory term. If Severus did it for him, Dumbledore would be gone and Severus would have to disappear from the general wizarding world. If neither succeeded, Severus would likely die. So would Draco, come to think of it. There was no win in this situation. Severus took her hand and led her to sit in his lap. "I'm going to talk to Albus tomorrow morning. I think you should come with me. Like it or not, the outcome of this pact is going to affect you as well."

Joanna sat up in the rocking chair in Lucan's room that night, hoping to Merlin there was a way out of this.

"Severus is right. If he had not done it, Bellatrix would have never trusted him. Knowing how close she is to Voldemort, it would not be wise to continue to sew doubt to her mind. You did what you had to."

Albus was rather considerate, more so than Joanna had anticipated. "Severus," he said, "I need you to honor this vow. You need to kill me."

"Sir, no. There must be another way-"

"None that I can think of. If you do this, Draco's soul may yet be saved, you'll live. I feel like I have been declining for some time now anyway." He rested a hand on Severus' shoulder. "It's time."

Joanna sat in the armchair in the office, unable to speak. Severus was standing in the center of the room with Dumbledore, unable to sit. "I imagine you have instructions for me after this should happen."

"I do. You must become a full time Death Eater. In simple fact you will not be able to remain a part of the Order without suspicion from your fellows. No one must suspect you did this on my orders, from either side."

"Why?" Joanna asked. "Why can't it be explained to them?"

Dumbledore turned to her and sighed. "Because unfortunately they need to believe he's been conning us for the rest of this plan to work. I need Severus to gain as much control as he can on the other side. For that he needs time, full commitment. He needs to be in a place to received power when Voldemort finally exercises control over us all. And when he has that, he will be better able to help turn the tide."

Joanna was not much for vague answers; she liked knowing what was going to happen, but she knew he must be speaking the truth. There was only one thing left that she was concerned about. "Where does that leave me?"

Right where you are. I need you to continue to be the second in command when I'm gone, under Alastor."

"I meant what about me…and Severus."

"I think you will not be spending as much time together as you might like."

Joanna stood up and approached the men. "You mean I may see him once a week?" Dumbledore shook his head. "A month?" Another shake. After a moment Joanna put it together and with tears in her eyes, she said, "I may not see him again until this is all over."

"Yes."

"But…he may have been killed before then."

"Yes."

The tears began falling, and Severus pulled Joanna into his chest. Dumbledore left them for a moment. Severus pulled away and wiped her tears on his own sleeve. "Go one home, love," he said. "I'll be along when I finish up here."

Joanna nodded and practically ran from the office. The moment she was out in the corridor, she slumped against the wall and sobbed into the sandstone bricks until there was nothing left.

If that had been the extent of the summer's bad news Joanna could have possibly learned to deal, but clearly there would be more than the simple worry of the vow Severus had made weighing on her shoulders. Albus was making Severus the new DADA professor. Joanna had a few choice words for her boss when she heard, mainly reminding him that the curse on that position was more real than anyone would like to admit. After reviewing the memories the professor had collected in the days directly following the Ministry incident in order to place them chronologically for Harry's private lessons in the coming year, Joanna had discovered that there had been a time when Voldemort asked for the same position at the school. He was the source of the one-year rule among anyone who taught the course. There was always something that happened to the teacher, and in recent memory one had even died. The bricks were stacking in this direction for Severus and Joanna was less than thrilled at having to admit that her husband was indeed mortal. He had always seemed to be one who could get out of any situation, but the window of opportunity for him to keep is life in the following academic year was shrinking more and more.

It was under this cloud that the school year started. While Joanna hadn't had the slightest idea who would be taking Severus' place in the potions rooms, she soon found out when she met the former potions professor from long before her time in Hogwarts, Horace Slughorn. The name was familiar though she had never formally met the man. He used to send a Christmas basket to her father every winter trying to kiss ass in the hopes of getting his name on the alchemist's guest list to a party or what have you, maybe earn a perk or two on one of the man's many discoveries.

Turns out he was even more interested in Joanna as was made apparent at the teachers' welcome back cocktail party.

"I am so pleased to finally meet you at last!" he boomed while shaking her hand. "I always thought you would be a brilliant girl and look at you, a Hogwarts professor and noted alchemist yourself. Why ever did you quit my dear?"

"Inconsolable differences. It was too difficult to be taught by the man I was dating. I chose a different venture." Severus was having a hard time holding onto Lucan, so he passed him off to Joanna as he babbled away. "Besides," she added with a smile, "It makes it easier to raise a family if we're in the same place at the same time."

Joanna stalked away and Slughorn nudged his old pupil. "Not bad Severus old chap. She's a fine woman. Hardly more than a girl, though. She stopped working in her prior field when she was only twenty, and learning under your supervision so I'm told. That's a bit ill advised isn't it?"

"She's an adult, sir." Severus looked at Slughorn, who was still watching Joanna, though admittedly focusing on her hindquarters. "And she's married. To me."

"Oh for heaven's sake Severus, I know that. Have you ever known me to be the lecherous sort? You should come by some time, have a drink with me." The large man floated, or rather waddled toward another group, leaving Severus to mingle with more of the teachers returning to the school and solemnly wishing Joanna was just a tad more like Bellatrix. Perhaps if she was not quite so bubbly as she was pretty, she wouldn't catch the eye of every man in a room.

"You were quiet tonight," Severus observed as Joanna brushed her hair and braided it before bed.

"It's hard to be chatty when your life is falling apart."

Her tone was flat. Severus had heard her like this once, right after her father died. She was shutting down, preparing for the worst. If she closed off, she believed it wouldn't hurt as much. Severus understood. If he didn't die this year, and chances were he would not if the plans went off as they were supposed to, they would still be separated. Maybe for years. He himself was having a hard time coming to terms with that reality. He sat beside her on the bed and finished raiding her hair for her.

"It will all be all right, Joanna. This will all come out right."

"How do you know that? You can't know what will happen."

Severus sighed and thought for a moment before answering. "Because the last time we both lost everything we cared about. I will not go through that again, and neither will you. There's too much to lose this time."

"Just because we have a lot to lose doesn't mean we will win."

With that Joanna lay down on her side of the bed clutching at the quilt and closing her eyes. She was right of course. Everyone on both sides had a lot to lose. If Voldemort was successful it was unlikely he would keep very many of his Death Eaters around. Very few would be safe, and those who would be kept alive would be under the Imperious curse for sure. Alastor had said over a year ago they were safer closer to danger than far from it. Seems he was wrong; they weren't safe anywhere.

Joanna left Lucan with Marvin while she stalked through the corridors toward McGonagall's office. Fortunately, she reached it before Severus. As he walked past her she pulled him into the window nook she was hiding in. "Nice advice."

"I didn't tell him to use the damned thing. I had no idea he was planning this," Severus hissed back.

"I see, so this was all his idea."

"I already contacted Borgin; Draco bought it over the summer. I had nothing to do with this plan," he repeated.

"I see so you didn't tell him to give it to another student and curse her so she would bring it to Dumbledore. If you're going to help him kill Albus you need to make sure he doesn't kill someone else in the process."

"Shh!"

They both fell silent for a while. Joanna pulled on the base of her neck and looked to the ceiling. "I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't have encouraged him to do something that would endanger another student." She looked at Severus again. "He needs guidance. Not very good guidance, but guidance, so this doesn't happen again, nor does he succeed. Dumbledore's right. The boy won't be able to do it himself, and to make sure you live you have to."

Severus nodded. "We'll think of something, I'm sure." He gestured back to the corridor. "Shall we?"

Joanna had lost her husband somehow. He was at the Christmas party when she had excused herself to the restroom and now he was not. Approaching the small cluster of professors she found Slughorn and asked if he had seen Severus. Apparently Draco had snuck into the party and Severus was giving the boy a talking to in a spare classroom. Joanna thanked him and scurried out of the party once again.

It didn't take her long to find them with the argument going on. She let herself in a shut the door behind her. "What on earth were you thinking Draco?" the boy didn't answer her and merely scowled in her general direction. Joanna stepped closer and shed her outer robes fanning herself. "What were you up to? Another plot?"

"Mr. Malfoy has already refused to let me in on this secret despite the fact that I promised his mother I would assist him in any way I could."

"How interesting." Joanna fanned herself. "That stunt with the necklace was ill advised Draco. Very ill advised indeed. Whatever you're up to I assume that you have taken a more direct route this time?" Ever so slightly, the top button of Joanna's robes popped out of place, and she sat before the boy, leaning into her hands and staring into his eyes.

Draco didn't answer. He took another hard glance at Severus and stalked out of the room. Once the door had slammed behind him, Severus leaned against the teacher's desk. "Well that was interesting."

Joanna slipped her over robes back on and smiled. "I hope you read something out of him for that."

Severus nodded. "He found the bottle of wine Horace was planning on giving to Dumbledore tomorrow for Christmas and poisoned it, I think"

Joanna lifted her eyebrows and shrugged. "Lose a potions master I guess."

"It's for Dumbledore I said."

"Horace is selfish. He'll keep it for himself."

Severus had to admit she was probably right. "All the same, I'll let Albus know not to drink, eat or even touch a gift from Horace before calling me."

Joanna smiled and shook her head at him. "You really are enjoying this teaching position aren't you?"

"It's the dream post."

"Yes well, that dream has a curse on it. Try not to turn it into a nightmare."

Severus stood straight and took her hand. They started to walk out of the room, and he responded, "I think we're already living one."

"I know you've been declining my requests to come to his lessons, but I cannot to my mind understand why." Dumbeldore and Joanna were speaking together while standing in a grassy knoll on the Hogwarts grounds. The day was crisp and cool and Severus was in the distance, crouched over and holding onto Lucan's hands as he tried walking some more.

"I've been busy, sir."

"You're running from the inevitable."

Joanna sighed, frustrated. "Forgive me sir, but preparing for the inevitable is taking more time than I thought and I have a lot of thinking to do."

"I've told you what must be done when this has come to pass."

"But I don't have to accept that." Joanna paused, watching Severus roll along the grass with their son, laughing. "I can't sit back and watch my family be destroyed. He saved my life once. Now it's my turn. There are magics…old magics that can save him."

"What you're speaking of is very dangerous, Joanna. You must know that."

She nodded. "I know." Before the headmaster could answer she began to walk away from him. "I hope," he called after her, "That when the time comes, you will still accompany us to the caves to retrieve the locket?"

Joanna turned and shook her head. "No, sir, I don't think I will."

The closer the year was coming to an end, the more anxious Severus was feeling. He'd had several discussions with the headmaster in recent weeks about alternative solutions to the problem, but these always ended in arguments. Dumbledore always pulled the right cards to make Severus quit his point: Lily's blood on his hands, his family, his promise to protect the boy, the fact that Dumbledore saved Severus from retribution during the trials. While this was all true, Severus still found himself looking for ways out even though he knew it was a fruitless endeavor.

One such discussion they had on this matter took place in earliest March, at the edge of the forest. It started the same as they all did, and ended the same as they all did, until, before turning his back to leave, Severus said, "I need her."

Dumbledore shook his great head. "I can't let her go with you Severus. Harry will need her guidance."

"And what about her safety? There are things I have taken dangerous vows of secrecy to in those chambers; things I can't tell you. You know that. Things are about in the near future. Any one of them could put her in danger, kill my family. I want her as close to me as possible. I would rather have her within arms length of him for a time being and have him trust her than leave her alone in this world without me. Potter doesn't listen to a damned soul, do you really think he'll listen to her when this is over?"

The headmaster sighed and shifted his spectacle slightly. "Severus, I need to be certain there will still be someone here when I'm gone. If you both leave who looks after the boy?"

"According to you, I will be from afar. So can she."

"Severus-"

"With all do respect, headmaster, this is a decision you can't make for us. This is a family matter. As close as you are to us both…you're not family. I don't know if this is the right call or the wrong one. I don't know that there is a safer place for her and if there is where. If we have to run, we will, but until then, we're both going to stick together."

"Weasley poisoned with the wine Draco laced two months ago. At least he lived." Joanna was speaking in hushed tones with Severus in his small storage closet, locked behind them and charmed for silence. "I can't take much more of this. Someone could actually die before this all goes off."

Severus nodded. "The time is near. He's been working at something though I haven't the slightest idea what. How am I supposed to help him if he won't tell me anything?"

"He wants the glory. I don't think he has the slightest idea of what a cost it will come at."

"He won't until the time comes."

Joanna was silent for a moment, leaning against the shelves and willing her stomach to stop churning. This whole mess had been eating away at her all year, and as a result it had not been a healthy one. She'd let herself get scratched, burned and bit in nearly all her practical classes for the year, and the sleepwalking spells had returned with a vengeance. She was wan and thin. She was scared.

"Severus, what can I expect at the Riddle house?"

Severus had hoped she would not ask him that question. The fact of the matter was that the last time she was there she was there as a prisoner, to be used as a weapon. This time there would be no telling if there was an ulterior motive. They wouldn't know what to expect until they got there. Voldemort could very well seize the opportunity and imprison her again, or he could treat her like a princess and try and coax the power out of her.

Or he could just kill her; that was a distinct possibility.

Severus repeated this, minus the killing and Joanna sighed. "I hate not knowing. Much as I'm dreading what's to come, I am almost wishing it to come faster. The sooner I know everyone's hand the sooner I'll know how I should play the game."

Desperate to change the subject, Severus said, "Have you noticed that Slughorn seems to think very highly of Potter in potions?"

"I did notice that. He was never that terrible maybe the teacher change I agreeing with him. When I was in school and I asked for your help with something in another subject it came much easier to me than it had in class."

Severus shook his head. "The boy is as good as his mother was. He's beating Granger out for highest scores."

This was odd indeed. Tired as she was Joanna was sharp as a tack still. "He is using an old copy of the text isn't he? Since he didn't know he would be taking potions this year?"

Severus nodded.

"You think he's come across your old textbook." Joanna had seen some of the spells Severus wrote in his margins. Some of them were terribly dark, and he had admitted a number of years ago that one of his most gruesome curses resided in the lost potions text. He had described it to her, and while most things in mere description could hardly make her jump, this particular curse had made her blood run cold at the simple thought.

"Here's hoping he sticks with potion instructions."

It didn't take much time to prove the theory. One afternoon Severus and Joanna were sitting together in the teachers' lounge studying a textbook on common childhood diseases looking for the best remedy for dragon pox, which Lucan was coming out with when Severus was called down to the girls' bathroom where Moaning Myrtle resided by the ghost girl herself screeching bloody murder.

They both ran down as fast as they could, just barely beating out Professor McGonagall for time and there they found Harry standing over Draco Malfoy who was bleeding like a stuck pig from several slashes to his torso. Harry hurried from the bathroom and with Joanna's help, they were able to reverse the spell's damage without having to call on Poppy for assistance. The fewer people who knew about this curse, Severus had said quietly, the better.

To Joanna's utter amazement, Severus neither went after the boy, nor gave him more than a weekly detention for the rest of the year. Under the circumstances, she expected him to insist expulsion. Instead barely a week went by and Severus left their apartments to speak with Dumbledore again. He intended on going alone, but he seemed so irate over something she figured it best to have a referee present.

"This has to stop. If this does not happen no one will be worse off than they are now," Severus insisted.

"Draco will be lost to us."

"The hell with the boy. He's been lost for years. He'll grow to be like his father wither he does this or not, Albus."

"I don't agree."

"I have done everything you ever suggested, everything you ever asked of me, I went back to the old ways, resumed my spy work despite having a family who depends on me because you asked it of me. I took the position you gave me every year without more than a breath of a word even though I would not be given the one thing I truly desired from you and now you ask me to do something entirely reprehensible." Severus paused. "I've paid my debts to you for helping me fifteen years ago."

"Severus, I am asking this of you not just for my benefit but for yours perhaps you remember."

"I've done my part; the vow stipulated I help him. After this incident saving his life fulfills the requirement and we can end this ridiculous…Have you ever considered that you ask too much, that you take too much for granted? Has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that I don't want to do this anymore?"

"Whither it has or hasn't is irrelevant. I will not negotiate with you Severus, you agreed. There's nothing more to discuss."

Joanna had been unable to say anything this whole time. She hadn't wanted to. Not really. Everything in her heart agreed with Severus, however in her mind she knew the headmaster was in his own right as well. On their way back down the steps, the couple ran into Harry, Severus stepped and looked as though he were about to make a statement, but he simply took Joanna's hand and pressed on.

When they returned to the rooms the temper flared. "This in uncontainable! That boy is not within our reach he's well beyond it!"

"It may seem that way, but he puts up a good face, you know how Draco is."

"I just can't believe we're doing all this for the boy."

"Severus you're going to wear a rut in the carpet is you keep pacing like that." He stopped and sat on the sofa with Joanna. "Listen, if Malfoy thinks you wouldn't help his son, then the whole seed of doubt thing will start again. We can't afford that. I hate this just as much as you do, but it can't be helped." She took his hand. "Severus…"

But he cut her off with a kiss. He held it long and passionately. It was almost like the way they used to kiss in the very beginning, when every inch of them wanted nothing more than to just touch and be touched. When they parted once again, Severus smiled for the first time in months. "I could never imagine doing any of this without you."

Her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Dumbledore had sent Fawkes with a line. He had taken Harry to retrieve the locket they had located some time ago. Joanna refused to join them. She could feel a disturbance in the castle as she watched the night sky. Something was going to happen tonight, she could feel it.

Severus kept reassuring her nothing was going to happen, but it didn't stop Joanna from sitting at her desk and writing a note to Minerva. She did this while Severus was out collecting a few potions and ingredients in his supply closet. When she was finished, she called Marvin and gave the note to him. "You're not to give this to anyone but Minerva McGonagall, in privacy, and under no circumstances is anyone else to know this note ever existed. Not even Severus. You are not to read it before handing it over, and wherever Lucan goes, you are to go with him no matter the circumstances."

"But Missus, when will I know when I need to go to the professor?"

"You'll know, because Severus and I will be gone from the school."

"Yes ma'am."

"What's he saying yes to?" Severus just walked in the door. When he arrived in the living room Marvin answered, "Missus, asked me to pick up the toys in the baby's room sir," and waddled out of the room in a hurry, discreetly tucking the note in a pocket in his makeshift romper. She tried to smile at her husband, but felt sure he could tell it was forced.

Severus set the various bottles and vials on Joanna's desk and said, "You're not fooling me." Then he opened a drawer by her knee and lifted out a black mask. Normally it was kept deep in a drawer in their bedroom wardrobe. He'd moved it so he could reach it quickly. "I've been preparing too."

Joanna picked one of the vials off the desk, recognizing the soft bluish color and read the label. A light sleeping draught. Joanna glanced toward her son's bedroom. From behind her she could hear Severus hiss slightly. When she turned he was rubbing his left forearm. They exchanged chilled looks. "Go," Severus said. "Give him three drops and leave the bottle with Marvin." He tucked the mask in a pocket. "I'll be out there, somewhere. Find me."

It was hardly difficult to do. When Joanna reached the ground floor there was a terrible racket coming from the Great Hall. Bellatrix was elated. When Joanna walked through the large double doors she witnessed the crazed hag skipping along the tables, kicking goblets to the floor and when she reached the end she cause the entire glass window behind the staff table separating the hall from the room behind to shatter. Draco was hanging back, watching his aunt with an expression of disgust. Perhaps Dumbledore was right, Joanna though as she gently took the boy's hand, though he was nearly a foot taller than she was by now, and led him along the tables, glass crunching underfoot, following the others wit Severus leading the way.

The band of Death Eaters walked along the grounds, though to be perfectly frank Bellatrix was skipping and humming to herself, much to Joanna's annoyance. She did catch up to Severus when they were just coming up on Hagrid's hut.

"She's getting on my last nerve, Severus," she hissed. "Shut her up or I will."

Everything happened so fast after that. Someone called Severus from behind them. The band turned and saw that it was Harry storming after them, alone, and irate. "He trusted you!" the boy bellowed.

Bellatrix, still humming and in a gleeful state made Hagrid's hut burst into flame and started jumping up and down before it, with an almost childlike laugh emitting from her throat.

Joanna jabbed her wand in her direction to silence her and Severus called for everyone to go on without him. They all turned and continued walking, all but Joanna. Despite the fact that she had not counted on being seen, it was clear that Harry had noticed her anyway. There was no sense in hiding herself. And Severus…she couldn't leave him behind. But her behavior would have to be handled very carefully. Unsure of what exactly to do, she merely stood there, watching as the fight unfolded. In retrospect, this was probably the best.

Harry shot a spell at Severus, who easily refracted it. "Fight back," Harry roared as he charged closer. "You coward! Fight back!"

From behind Severus Bellatrix shot a curse hitting harry straight on. She was cackling so clearly someone had taken the silencer off her. "No!" Severus called behind himself to her. "He belongs to the Dark Lord."

She stalked away, slowly, and Severus returned his attention to Harry, who now lay sprawled on the ground. It did not appear as though he would be getting up any time soon, though he was clearly still alive. Severus lingered a moment and turned taking Joanna's hand and beginning to follow the others. But before they got too far, they heard a voice call out a curse they were both familiar with. "Sectumsempra!"

Severus spun and blocked the curse, holding Joanna behind his back by hooking his arm behind him and shooting a jinx back at the boy. It was enough to knock him over. Severus stepped away from his wife, and she let his hands slip out of hers as he approached the boy, sneering barely loud enough for her to hear on the night air, "You dare use my own spells against me, Potter?" Harry shifted slightly to look upon Severus' face. "Yes, I am the Half-Blood Prince."

"Severus," Joanna called quietly. "Let him alone."

He heeded her, but not before kicking the boy's wand away from his reach. He reached for Joanna's hand and together they ran down the hill and into the woods. When they reached the trees, they slowed, making sure no one was followed. There was no sign of the others, likely they had already Apparated back to the Riddle house. This allotted them some time to walk quietly and calmly to the Apparation point. Hand in hand they walked and talked.

"I know your family life wasn't anything close to passable," Joanna said softly. "It sets you on edge and makes you act out. You showed restraint with him." She stopped, causing Severus to stop too. "I'm proud of you."

Severus sighed heavily and staggered into Joanna's arms. There was a felled tree right behind them. Joanna fell into sitting onto it as Severus sank to his knees among the dried leaves with his head in her lap. When she realized her was sobbing, Joanna stroked his brow. "I know…I know darling." After a while Severus stopped and lifted his head. Joanna used the hem of her night black robes to dry his eyes and stood up, lifting her husband with her. She took his hand and led him along the path they had been walking. She didn't get far before slowing to a stop and looking around forlornly.

"It's all right," Severus said taking the lead. "I can lead from here."

They walked for another few minutes until they reached a glade. Severus held onto Joanna in both arms and turned on the spot. When they stopped spinning, they were standing on the grassy lawn before the dark foreboding mansion sitting atop a hill overlooking the small sleepy muggle town.

There was a good amount of celebration going on in the living room. Bellatrix seemed intent on drinking herself into a coma with glee while everyone else seemed to be taking their joy with a tad more dignity. After toasting to Severus and drinking to the victory of the evening, Severus led Joanna up the stairs to the third floor. There was a bedroom at the end of the hall. Severus let them in. The inside of the room was creepily cozy. It was decked in blues and yellows. There was a double bed, a desk, a wardrobe and a pair of nightstands.

Joanna froze. She recognized this room. It had furniture and bedding, but this was where she spent countless days when she was an eight-year-old girl. There was a hole in the wall on the far side from where Rookwood had shot a curse to wake her up one morning. There was a reddish stain on the floorboards. This was familiar too. She had refused to go with Fenrir Greyback. She was afraid of him, had seen him playing with human teeth before. Instead of insisting she go, Voldemort ordered her taken back to her room and punished. She received the Cruciatus Cruse over and over until she vomited blood and passed out on the floor.

Severus stopped and turned back on her. "Are you all right?" He followed her gaze and noticed the stain. "Um…would you like to find another room?"

Joanna shook her head and stepped inside. "I think I'd rather be someplace…familiar right now, for better or worse."

Severus nodded and closed the door, silencing and sealing it behind them and Joanna removed her cloak, and, taking Severus' she tossed them aside onto the bed. They sat together, propping up the pillows behind them and curling up together at the headboard and staring at the shapes the shadows on the stucco ceiling made in the soft light of the lamp on the nightstand.

"What did your note say?" Severus asked.

"I asked Minerva to entrust Lucan to Eric."

Severus nodded. "He'll look after him well."

"Marvin will go with him. I told her…that I thought you were losing your fight against the dark and was going to try and bring you back. They still believe you betrayed them, and they believe I'm here trying to help you. Dumbledore gets what he wants-," Joanna cut herself off and bit her lip. "Albus gets what he wanted," she corrected, "and we get what we want. And Lucan doesn't have to see a day of the horrors we're going to see while we're here."

Joanna snuggled as close to Severus as she could. She felt cold though her mouth and throat were dry. Fear never felt quite like this. It's one thing to be afraid because you don't know what lies before you, it's another to be afraid because you know exactly what could be in store for you.

Horrors, she echoed in her head. Horrors indeed. Joanna could remember what it was like the last time she was in this house. Tethered to a chintz chair and sitting at Voldemort's feet like a pet, having to let Nagini slither around her like she was stalking prey and waiting for the perfect moment to kill. At night she would be locked in the room she was in now, silenced and left alone for hours, sometimes days, barely fed and sleeping under a mother eaten blanket on the floor.

She could be welcomed, she could be imprisoned, or she could be killed. Joanna buried her face into Severus' frockcoat. He held her closer and kissed the top of her head. "Nothing's going to happen to you. I won't let it."

"Something will happen to me," Joanna whispered. "We just don't know what."

Downstairs the cheers and toasts continued until long after Severus and Joanna fell asleep with the laughter ringing in their ears.