—————S—————

"I think it would benefit us if Dumbledore thinks the pair of you are in a romantic relationship," Severus presented to Hermione and Black, glancing at the bar to ensure Lupin was still busy with drinks.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, and Severus was quite glad they'd had sex before heading to the village. He was fairly certain she wasn't going to be too keen on this plan. But it needed to happen.

He was, after all, a spy. And while Severus may not be able to read Dumbledore's mind, the former Gryffindor lacked subtlety.

"I'd bet my inheritance that the headmaster's motive for hiring you, Black, was for you to keep Hermione's company. He has made a point to inform me countless times that he witnessed the pair of you being quite... chummy. He also wants us to call off the engagement," Severus said this just as Lupin returned.

"You're calling off the wedding?" Lupin asked as he sat down with the tray of drinks.

Black cringed and Hermione's eyes darkened.

"Heel, boy," Severus sneered. "I said the headmaster wants us to call off the wedding."

Lupin, at least, had the decency to blush.

"So, please explain how making Dumbledore believe there's something going on between us—"

"He'll think his plan to tear us apart is working, despite her being as far from your type as she could get," Severus replied.

"And when the wedding goes ahead?" Lupin asked, still that touch of hope in his voice.

Severus shrugged. "Probably believe that Hermione is unfaithful."

"Oh!" she said beside him, a look of realization plastered across her face.

"Oh?" he said, arching a brow.

"Nothing," Hermione smiled back. "Just... you made me think of something my old headmaster said once."

"Indeed?" he asked, his mind knocking on her door, requesting entry.

" I don't know if I can tell you ," she said in her mind, her voice disembodied in her consciousness. " It's a small detail that you can't know about ."

He could let it go. Besides, her words may not be reassuring, but the humor in her voice was good enough for him.

"So, Sirius and not me, because ...?" Lupin asked, and Severus barked a laugh.

"Yes, because I would let you, an untrustworthy swine who already stole a kiss from my fiancée, act as though you're in a romantic entanglement with her."

Black nodded, taking a sip of his drink. "That, and I'm quite the friend of Mrs. King," he boasted with that irritatingly charming smile.

Lupin frowned. "Sirius, that's... that's a very Muggle expression and I'm not sure you know what it means."

"No? All right, how's this: I'll be under Merlin's robes, not Nimue's skirts," he retorted, a cheeky grin on his face.

Lupin was physically taken aback. "You don't mean...?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you? I don't mind, really."

"You're—?"

"Yes."

"And they knew?"

"Oh yes."

"And James?"

"Hasn't a clue, frankly. But since he only has eyes for Evans, it doesn't make a difference." Black took a sip of his firewhisky, sighing in what might have been pleasure if he wasn't trying to hide a grimace. "Wormtail may or may not know, but honestly, I don't think it matters."

"So, you're... and that makes you the better choice for a make-believe love affair?" Lupin asked, and Severus barely kept his smirk to himself at the werewolf's petulance.

"Moony," Sirius sighed, "put yourself in Snape's shoes and think this through. Imagine you had Kitten, but someone didn't approve because of your... condition, and they wanted you two broken up. But you're engaged and happy, and—"

"You don't need to paint such a vivid picture, Black," Severus interrupted, snaking his arm possessively around Hermione's waist as Lupin's eyes took on a dreamy, far-away look.

"Right. So, the person who wants to separate you two has the chance to hire someone who may turn her head. Me or Severus. Now, Severus here has carried a torch for her as long as you have and has even, let's say, put a toe out of line in the past. And then you have me—"

"Right, yes, I get it," Lupin said, blushing and looking into his Druid Draught. "And I suppose no one would believe you're..."

"Say it, Moony. Gay." Black elbowed the werewolf. Lupin seemed to have some difficulty even thinking it.

"Can we discuss something else?" Hermione asked. "Unless, of course, you're seeing someone?"

"No," Black lamented. "No, I'm woefully single. And you, Moony? Have you found anyone worth sniffing?"

Lupin ducked his head. "No," he said quietly. "That would mean socializing, and I'm afraid this has been the most interaction I have had with anyone since leaving school."

"What have you been doing, then?" Hermione asked.

Lupin shrugged. "Private training with a new Auror, Kingsley Shacklebolt. He's a friend or something of Dumbledore's. And he's an Order member. I don't think I'll be able to actually become an Auror."

"Why haven't you gone to stay with Prongs?" Black asked.

"As you said, he only has eyes for Lily. And I don't want to be there, a shadow in the background, when they're trying to reestablish what they broke off."

"What has Lily decided to do?" Severus asked, looking to Hermione as much as the others.

"She's writing for now," Lupin offered. "I don't know if her heart is really in it, though. They don't seem to want to run her stories."

"All based on the Dark Lord, then?" Hermione asked, and Severus saw that Lupin was taken aback by her choice words.

"Yes," he said simply, taking another long drink of his draught.

They continued making small talk for a while, but as the sun began to set, and Lupin was getting deeper into his cups, Severus and Hermione left the tavern and headed back to Hogwarts.

She clung to his arm as they made their way up the winding path, and he placed his hand on hers to keep her close. She was oddly silent, and he realized in the back of his mind that she had been the entire time they were out. He looked at her, seeing a slight bit of melancholy lingering around her eyes, and the hint of regret in her mind when he allowed himself a quick skim.

It had him stopping short. "Hermione?" he said, nearly breathless as fear clawed its way in and sat heavy on his heart.

"Hmm?" she asked, looking up at him, seeming only half aware of him and their surroundings.

He swallowed. "Hermione would you... would you rather have Lupin be the one who...?" he couldn't finish the sentence. It was one thing if she acted with Black, but with Lupin?

She snapped out of whatever fog she was in and frowned. "No," she answered flippantly at first, then upon meeting his eye, became vehement. "No!" She reached up and cupped both of his cheeks in her hands. "No, Severus. I don't want to act the part with either of them. I know that flirty banter with Sirius and even taking tea in my quarters or his will be enough to alight Dumbledore's suspicions, but I want no part in giving him an actual incident to base his beliefs on. Especially not with Remus. No, it's just..." And here she trailed off, the sadness returning to her posture. "Sometimes knowing the future is difficult. Knowing too much of what's to come and who it will affect. I know you've seen yourself, but have you—?"

"I swear to you, I only saw myself through your eyes, and ... well, I suspect it must be Potter's child, given what he looked like, and a few things you didn't say during your spells. And am I to suspect the werewolf I was protecting you from was Lupin?"

Her lips quirked. "If it didn't kill me to, I'd let you take a look, so you can carry the full burden with me. But... knowing where life takes you all, it makes moments like the one we just shared with our friends heartbreaking."

Severus pulled her hands down from his face, set them on his shoulders, and then pulled her to him. He held his Hermione, reveling in the warmth, the smell, and the feel of her, as he said, "I may not be able to bear the burden of knowledge with you. But I swear, Hermione, swear it on my very soul, that no matter what happens, I will never hold it against you. I will never rage, I will never blame. Any anger at any future situation will not be at you."

"You'll still love me?" she whispered, and his heart clenched at how tiny she sounded.

"Until my dying breath."

"Fuck!" Severus cried, accioing burn salve before the curse had fully left his lips. He'd been stirring a cauldron full of Sober-Up when the Mark burned, startling him. He'd bumped his fingers against the rim of the hot cast iron, and the last thing he needed to deal with were blisters on his wand hand.

He set the stirring rod aside as he deftly caught the jar. He unscrewed the top, dabbing some paste on his fingers before setting the jar down on the counter and closing the lid. A flick of his hand and his mask was summoned while he rubbed the paste in, pausing to catch and put on the mask. Another flick of his wrist and his robes were Transfigured.

Nikola looked up from his notes. "You have that down," he observed.

"I multitask well," he replied, hearing Igor grumbling behind him about inconvenient timing. "Apologies for stepping out," Severus said with a bow.

"Don't keep him waiting," was Nikola's reply. Though curt, Severus could hear his concern.

Severus pressed his wand to his Mark and found himself in the woods in the next moment, the rest of the new inner circle still coming in. He moved to take his place and waited patiently for the others to arrive. Igor, he noticed, was one of the last.

The Dark Lord, it seemed, noticed as well. "How is Severus here before you?" he asked without preamble.

"He clearly abandoned his volatile potion," Igor retorted.

Severus scoffed.

At the sound, the Dark Lord turned toward him and closed the distance between them with eerie speed. Severus felt the Dark Lord enter his mind and allowed him to see what was happening as he was leaving, blunting Nikola's concern.

"Your fellow apprentice was far ahead of you, and it seems he has been for some time. Tell me, Igor, why should I keep you? I have Severus, a man much more skilled than you, in potions and curses. What have you to offer me?"

The masks hid any reaction the Death Eaters had, but there was a tittering around the group that made Severus nervous. Was he already thinning out the younger Death Eaters? None of them would have been at his side or as loyal as the elder ones were, so what would happen if any of the new Inner Circle pissed him off?

As Igor didn't seem to have a reply, Voldemort shot a quick Cruciatus his way, just long enough to cause pain but not torture.

"It matters not what you have to say. Tonight, you will show me! Show me what it is you can give to me, your master! Tonight, we show wizarding Britain what they truly need to be afraid of! To Diagon Alley, my friends, and we will thin out the undeserving."

There were cheers from the crowd, and while Severus raised his hand in a show of solidarity, he said nothing. He needed a way to warn the others, and damn it, he couldn't do it from here.

The Dark Lord Apparated, and it was clear they were expected to follow him right away. But Severus knew that he wouldn't be missed if he acted quickly.

One of the first to Apparate away, he first went to his mother's property. A swirl of his wand, a hasty message sent with his lioness, and he pressed his wand to his Dark Mark and was there before the others had finished appearing.

He was already sweating behind the mask, dizzy from such rapid displacement and magic use. But he had a job to do.

Following the other Death Eaters in a morbid parade, he noted many people frozen where they were on the streets. Some, mostly witches and children, fled. However, the majority just ... stood.

Leave, you drooling idiots!

Once they were in the center of Diagon Alley, the Dark Lord stopped, signaling for the Death Eaters to do so as well.

"Wizards. Witches. I don't think I need an introduction. My power, my reputation, precede me. You see these people before you, my most loyal followers, my faithful. They are high within my ranks, but if you deny your Minister, renounce their Muggle-tolerating ways, believe as I know you do deep down that you are superior to those loathsome creatures, and join me—"

"No!" a voice Severus would never forget had him fighting the urge to groan with disappointment and sigh with relief all at once. Of course James Potter would not stay quiet, ready to put himself in the spotlight against a murderous tyrant. But at least there was someone from the Order there. "No, we won't stand for your blood superiority."

The Dark Lord turned toward Potter and looked him over. Severus' heart stopped as he realized the Dark Lord may just skim the arrogant fool's mind.

"You have a Mudblood lover," the Dark Lord stated. "Talented, beautiful. Though she comes from poor stock, she could be of use in our regime. She won't ever get to be much more than a broodmare, but she will serve as a good base from which children can come from."

"You think I would subject my Lily to something like that?" Potter scoffed, and Severus nearly scoffed with him. At him. His Lily?

He looked behind Potter and caught a head of red hair against the wall of a building. She was here, so that ... no, she wasn't part of the Order. Not as far as he knew.

"You defy me? That is unwise," Voldemort hissed, and as he did, two more Gryffindors stepped out .

"We reject you as well," Longbottom said, dressed in his trainee Auror robes. The girl, one of Lily's other friends, was dressed in the same.

A survey of the crowd showed more looking as though they agreed with the fools standing alone but were not fool enough themselves to say anything.

It happened in a flash then. There were pops of Apparition, the Order of the Phoenix and a few Aurors appeared in the alley. The Dark Lord demanded the Death Eaters fight and chaos ensued.

People were trying to escape, their fear making their brains malfunction and making them run and hide rather than Apparate. Potter had engaged with someone right away, but Lily, Severus noticed, seemed to disappear. Maybe she'd Apparated? To be sure, Severus stalked to where he'd seen her, making a show of hitting a few wizards with a strong stinging curse before Stunning them or Confunding them to wander away from the battle. He turned the corner and found a small alley between two shops, and Lily at the end with Marlene McKinnon.

"Oh fuck!" McKinnon yelled and fled past him, screaming the whole way. Severus watched her for a moment before turning back to Lily.

The brave lioness had her wand pointed at him, a fierce look of determination in her eyes.

"Lils," he said, glancing over his shoulder and casting a quick notice-me-not over his shoulder, shielding the alley from view. "Lily, it's me," he said, raising his hands in surrender before slowly removing his mask.

Lily looked at him, horrified, then disgusted.

"What the hell, Sev?" she hissed, her wand jabbing forcefully toward him. "I thought you gave up this shit? I thought you didn't believe since Hermione came along. Or does she believe it too?"

"Lily I'm... it's not what it looks like."

"No? Because it looks to me like you became a Death Eater."

"Ask Black or Lupin, they'll tell you. Just... get away from here, okay? It's important..." he was cut off by the burning in his arm. They were being called to fall back. "I have to go," he said, maneuvering his wand up under his sleeve and touching the tip to his Dark Mark.

When he reappeared from his Apparition, he found himself in another village. Small, surrounded by trees, quiet. Remote. He swallowed back the bile that rose when he understood what was happening.

Occluding, distancing his conscience from what he was about to do, Severus fell into full Death Eater persona as the first wizard emerged from his cottage to see what the multiple Apparitions around their little village meant. He knew this time a stinging hex wouldn't be enough.

—————H—————

Diagon Alley wasn't as badly damaged as she thought it would be when all the Death Eaters disappeared. There were scorch marks here and there, some damaged signage and small carts, but for the most part, the area remained intact. The people, however, were another story.

Sobs of grief and devastation broke through the silence as people began to realize that there were casualties.

"Marlene!" Hermione heard Lily cry out. "Marlene, please!"

Hermione's eyes stung as she saw the open, empty stare of the girl she'd shared a dorm with not all that long ago. Someone who hated her as often as she begrudgingly liked her, who thought her the competition for Sirius' attention until she was so firmly placed at Severus' side. Someone who wanted Hermione to look her best, but simultaneously couldn't have cared less. While Hermione didn't share Lily's heartbreaking grief, she did mourn.

She went to Minerva, who was staring at a group of people clustered together.

"Min?" Hermione sniffed, putting her hand on her aunt's shoulder. Minerva startled, taking a moment to reconcile the woman who was beside her with the way she knew her niece should look, and then nodded in the direction of the dead. "The McKinnons," she said. "All of them. It looks... it looks like they had just come from Fortescue's. Why, of all the senseless...?"

"The whole family?" Hermione said, glancing back to where Lily was still with Marlene's body, James just behind her, trying to sooth her. "But why?"

"They were traditionally all Gryffindors," Minerva said softly. "Always one of Dumbledore's biggest supporters, they demanded blood equality. The perfect targets, really." Minerva glanced around. "It seems most of the fallen were either Aurors or vehement supporters of Albus."

"Do you think that was the intention?"

"Merlin knows, child. Severus' Patronus was so rushed, I don't even know if he knew."

"Order, to the meeting place," Albus declared, and Hermione stepped away from Minerva to Apparate.

The small cottage at the very edge of Hogsmeade was not Secret-Kept but had enough wards and charms on it for people to not think much of it.

There had been a meeting already in progress when Severus' Patronus announced the location and disappeared. The table was still full of tea stuff, cups and biscuits scattered around. They all Apparated in, one by one, a slow trickle that spoke of how some lingered. And, well, Hermione realized they all should have, and yet, she promptly followed Dumbledore's command.

She was cursing herself when she felt the old wizards' eyes on her. Glancing up, she noted that while he frowned, there was a note of recognition in his eyes.

"Interesting disguise, Miss Granger. I asked you to stay, but I see now that you did not," he said, gesturing to her appearance.

She hadn't thought of anyone in particular when she cast the spell, so she had no idea what she looked like, only that Minerva had been the only one to see her cast it.

"Severus made this for me," she told him as there were a couple more Apparition cracks, Sirius, Remus, and Kingsley appearing.