The cold air bit into my skin as soon as I stepped outside the door of Zofia's tavern. Fog had settled over the small town, significantly reducing visibility.

     Breathe in, one - two - three. Breathe out, one - two -three.

     My heart was racing. Not from the cold air that was numbing my skin, nor from the fact that my parents might be rescued tonight. It was attempting to break free of my chest because where Severus's large hand had recently covered my thigh was now mad skin, screaming in protest as it felt colder than the rest of me from his missing warmth. He smelled good - edible in fact, and his dark eyes had wandered appreciatively over my body since picking me up from 12 Grimmauld, making me giddy. 

     To top off being near the man I'd been dreaming about for close to a year, Zofia's encouraging words were still ringing in my ears, "Don't worry, Ron Weasley will heal. Severus, on the other hand, well, I've never seen him in love with someone else before. It's nice."

     With that bit of knowledge, I instantly decided the first thing I was going to do when I was done with this trip was dump Ron and the second thing I'd do was the sexy man standing in front of me. 

     "Before we go," Severus's voice broke into my thoughts as he waved his wand over me, and the darkened beach became visible. Abdelaziz's Byzantium hijab was more lifelike and deeper purple than it had previously been and Markus's dark brown duster and matching cowboy hat were richer in color.

     "Is this a cat eye spell?"

     "Yes, it is," Severus's eyes locked on mine before touching my right ear, and a tingle worked through my whole body. "And that's a communications spell. Just touch your ear to activate it, and the three of us will hear you as long as you're within a quarter miles range."

     Footsteps could be heard walking away from us, but I couldn't stop staring into his deep grey-black Crookshank looking eyes. Eventually, Severus gave me a small smile and waved his arm to follow the rest of the party.

     The four of us walked along the cold, dark Petrification Bay beachfront for fifteen minutes. At some point, Markus had chattered on about the various creatures found in the Tasmanian Sea with Abdelaziz chiming in on occasion.

     Sulfur tinged the air, stopping me in my tracks at the same time as the dark-clad wizard at my side.

     "Spread out," His deep voice instructed.

     The other two Aurors broke off and began casing the area while I stuck close to the nicely spiced smelling wizard. 

     There was an old burnt out campfire pit, a few empty beer bottles, and footprints wandering in all directions.

     "Here we are," Abdelaziz kicked at a small area in the sand. "It's melted into glass," She waved her wand, and a cloud of sparkling dust poofed in the air.

     A silent image of Greyback yelling at two people scuffling in the sand appeared. A moment later the giant werewolf said something else and a thin and unwell looking person came into view with their wand raised.

     "Dad!?" The air was knocked out of me at seeing him after all this time and at the poor state he was in. I'd begun trembling and was near tears just before Severus's calming presence surrounded me, and he gently squeezed my shoulder.

     My father sent bolts of light at the quarrel and broke up the fight. I was in shock and disbelief at having seen him behaving like that. To make matters worse, my mothers' frail form came into view looking far worse than my father, as they gathered together before heading further down the beachfront.

     Severus's dark eyes were searching my face, and I wanted to tell him to hold me like I know he wanted to. Instead, I cleared my throat and did my best to sound like I was better than I actually was, "It's ok. I knew that I was going to see this even though it's still hard to believe."

     Noticing that Markus and Abdelaziz had already begun following the images, we quickly joined them.

     A quarter mile further up the beach, we arrived outside a haphazard wooden gate where the five figures vanished. There were acres of nothing, with the exception of a graveled path leading to an old, dilapidated shed and a cow with dull black eyes that started mooing at us.

     "Charming. I see why the pure-bloods enjoy staying here so much," I stated at the lack of opulence.

     Severus's mouth twitched into a small smile just before he waved his wand. A warm gust of air blew in my face as the gate creaked slowly open to allow us entrance.

     "Quickly, and stay close," he said as he moved through the opening followed by Abdelaziz, both of which disappeared. I sucked in a shocked breath and hesitated, feeling uncertain this was such a good idea since I didn't know where we were blinking out of existence too.

     "It's safe, little lady," Ellison reassured me with a strange grin and a twinkle of what could be excitement in his one bright blue eye before disappearing where the other two had.

     I cautiously moved forward but must have been too slow for the impatient older Wizard because his hand popped out, grabbed me by the scarf, and pulled me through.

     I bumped hard against his firm chest when he'd marched us over to a grouping of rainbow eucalyptus trees, abruptly turning, stopping and looking down at me with a disapproving scowl.

     He jerked his head as his strange cat eyes bore into me, "Assume everything here isn't as it appears. The supposed beef was an alarm system, and now they know someone was just outside the perimeter. Hopefully, they'll think it's a jogger, dog walker or another passerby." He gently tugged my scarf before letting it go and spoke quietly, "Stay close to me, Hermione."

     I sighed, "Sorry." I wonder what the 'supposed beef' is?

     "Looks like there's a large house hiding in the trees just up the path that way," Markus stated while pointing. The three of them spoke for a few moments as I took a deep breath to calm myself, noticing my surroundings for the first time.

     The freezing weather we'd just been standing in was hitting against an invisible wall that appeared to outline the entire property. Inside the border, it was beautiful, at least 75 Fahrenheit and the stars were twinkling brightly up in the early evening sky. The warm air was tinged with the scent of eucalyptus from the rainbow-colored trees, making every breath enjoyable as your lungs felt like they were being revived from the invigorating smell.

     What I was experiencing was the Australia I'd always envisioned and was now questioning my earlier comment about the pure-bloods taste in location; especially considering Zofias delicious beef stroganoff is just down the beach.

     Two sets of footsteps came hurriedly crunching down a path that was lit by tiny floating glow balls running along its sides.

     Severus moved the two of us against a large rainbow eucalyptus, braced a hand on either side of me, and I enjoyed the feel of his body brush mine here and there as he hid us with his long cloak.

     Usually, I'd be irritated by being manhandled, but this was Severus Snape, the man starring in my erotic dreams, and his strong hands moving me sent my pulse racing and heated my body with desire.

     Not now, Hermione!

     I stood perfectly still, holding onto the tree behind me with a death grip so I wouldn't run my hands all over Severus and listened to his breathing with my nose buried in his broad black-clad chest. The smell of spices and parchment coming from him was intensifying the intoxicating effects from the one butterbeer I'd consumed with dinner.

     Focus Hermione!

     A couple of sets of feet scuffled around on the graveled path nearby.

     "Bessy must have been wrong, cuz I don't see anyone out there."

     "I think the old girl needs to be eaten," A deep voice chuckled.

     "That beast is ten times our ages combine, and I doubt it would be edible anymore. Plus, there's no way that they would let anyone harm the powerful thing."

     "We better look around so that we can tell Kizzy the beast was wrong."

     My pulse steadily rose the closer they drew to our hiding spot.

     I quietly squatted down, doing my best to not think about the penis inches from my mouth, and grabbed a rock. I rested my hand on his hip and slid back up along him, enjoying his excited breathing and tossed my weapon at Bessy.

     "Moo!" The cow screeched as the pebble bounced off its side and ran away.

     "Oi! What was that?" feet scuffled nervously.

     The men could be heard moving around, and the light from their wands was shining here and there for several minutes.

     "The damn cow's just old and was spooked over nothing."

     "Yer, right. Let's get back. I have a bet with Gil that the Harpies' are going to take the game within the first two hours."

    The excited quidditch discussion between the two men drifted away as they headed back towards the house in the distance.

     Severus's dark cat-eyes were staring down at me as he slowly stepped away and took a deep breath. After a few moments, he touched the side of his head, and his clear voice spoke in my ear, "Let's do a perimeter sweep, so we know what we are dealing with. Markus and Abdelaziz go north around the property. Granger and I'll take the south. Check back in five."

     I was roasting! I quickly unbundled myself from my winter wear, reclaimed my bag, and tossed my belongings inside before pulling my hair into a pony, "Ready."

     Severus had a warm glint in his eyes as he watched me, and my body kept telling me to go rub up against his.

     Granger, get it together - right now! You are here to rescue your parents not be seduced by his dark, mysterious everything in the outback. Who am I kidding? I'd been horny since he'd shown up outside my bedroom and his hand on my leg at the tavern had me walking funny.

     Several calming breaths later I followed after him and kept my eyes peeled for anything that could be a surprise security system, like Bessy, who was still wandering off into the distance.

     When coming to the edge of a cluster of trees and brush, I stopped in surprise. "Wow, that's nice!"

     There was a well-tended three-story tan and white ranch house that had many gardens filled with checkerboard tulips, carnivorous sundews and dozens of other exotic plants of various sizes and colors I didn't know the names of. 

     Severus's eyes ran over me, "Surprisingly, this is the smallest estate I've seen."

     "Of course, it is." The house was big enough for a family of twenty, but it was tiny and humble compared to Malfoy Manor. "Pure-bloods," I shook my head, knowing that they'd never change.

     "Mmm hmm," he waved his hand for me to follow.

     I stopped in my tracks when spotting black rosebushes off in a garden by themselves. "Severus, do you happen to own a black baccara rose bush?"

     "There beautiful but no, I don't because they can be deadly if mishandled, and they take up a lot of space in the garden." His eyes traveled to the plant in question, and then my face, "Why?"

    My pulse raced as I thought of the flower pressed in my favorite book, "Um."

     Severus moved closer and lifted my chin to capture my eyes with his, "What happened?"

     "I received one for valentines day, and it wasn't from Ron, so I thought maybe... Well, I thought you gave it to me," I shrugged feeling a little silly saying it like that - or at all for that matter.

     "You..." his dark eyes grew wide, and I could tell he was getting upset. "You're absolutely positive it wasn't from Weasley?"

     I thought of my 'gift'  from Ronald and huffed, "Positive."

     "There wasn't someone else who would have given it to you?"

     Giving him a look that said he was insane even to suggest such a preposterous thing I quipped, "No."

     He grabbed my hands, inspecting my fingernails and palms. Within moments he was running warm, skilled fingers over my neck and checked my thyroid. I sucked in a shocked breath as he pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head.

     I could feel him shaking as he reassured himself more than me, "You're fine."

     I wrapped my arms around him, loving that he was holding me but worried about what was really going on. "I only touched it a few times, and nothing happened."

    "You threw it out, right?" His deep voice rumbled against my face.

     "No."

     He pulled back and bent to look me in the eyes, "You'll give it to me when we get back home."

     I liked the way he said 'home' to me, "Ok, Severus."

     "For future reference, I don't sacrifice roses to give to beautiful women." He glanced at my necklace. "I give things that are more significant and will 'hopefully' never be thrown away - or forgotten." With that, he gave me a sexy smile and quietly walked off.

     He called me beautiful!

     I took a few calming breaths to silence the hormones raging through me and wondered what he wasn't telling me about the rose. I put in on my mental list of things to ask him about later and quietly trailed behind the dark, seductive figure.

     After making it around to the west side of the house, it was apparent that it wasn't well guarded; I had noticed only one man on the veranda and another one in the southeast area of the property.

     "Abdelaziz," Severus's voice spoke in my ear.

     "Here."

     "There are two guards, one south and one southwest. I've located an open window on the east side of the main house that Granger and I will use to make our way inside. What have you and Markus found?"

     "No guards out here, but there is a kennel with half a dozen or more hungry looking boarhounds in them. We've also spotted a cellar that may or may not connect with the house. Markus and I'll go check it out."

     "Sounds good. Same check back time."

     His black-haired head jerked in the direction of the entrance he'd found, and we moved across the yard, quickly hiding in the foliage.

     The sounds of an excited commentator going on about the quidditch game came from somewhere within the large house. There was excited indecipherable chatter from several different toned voices and the clinking and clanging of dishes being handled.

     Snape peeked in and started pushing the window further open when a deep voice rang out, freezing me to the bone, "They all look good. Must be that beautiful face of yours that makes them heal so quickly."

     I ducked as Severus moved to the side of the window and we quietly listened to the ongoings in the house while staring at each other.

     "Oh, give it a rest. You're not my type, and you know that." There was clinking of glasses and a sound of liquid being poured into them.

     "Kizzy, you're the only reason I like Australia," The unmistakable voice of Fenrir Greyback traveled through the window and I noticed Severus tense and his features darken - he was furious.

     Merlin, he is even sexier when he's shaking with anger and looks like he's going to kill something!

     "You always try, and I always turn you down. One of these days, you'll finally get it through your skull and give up."

     "Not likely."

     "Do I really have to explain this again?" The woman huffed.

     "You still a lesbian?"

     "That's not going to change - ever."

     "You sure you can't get some pills or something?"

     Kizzy sighed heavily. "When are you leaving?"

     "You can't blame a guy for trying," Greyback chuckled. "What's the status of your newest ward?" I tensed at anyone being discussed by these low life's.

     The woman cleared her throat, "Tell them that due to Mason's young age, he's healed, doing well and was able to survive the trauma to the body's nervous system. The younger they are, the better they seem to heal from the procedure."

     "That good?" Greyback's voice was full of disbelief.

     "To be honest, I'm amazed at Mason's quick recovery and ability to use magic so proficiently. He's even better than some of the wizards I know."

     "I'll be sure to include that in my report. My older new-maj's aren't too good at taking care of themselves. How are yours doing?"

     "They are mostly mindless, so I had to incorporate a schedule for feeding and bathing. It's worked so far, but they'll never be able to live a normal life again."

     My chest tightened at her words, and I thought I was going to cry. As if knowing that, Severus held his hand out, and I place mine in it. His warm fingers squeezed gently, and he ran his thumb back and forth in an effort to soothe me. I tried to smile at him, but the feeling of helplessness kept me from doing so.

     "Grandmaster's not going to be happy about that, but all the cells have reported the same thing as you just did."

     "We need babies, toddlers, children, and young teens only. Any older than that, and you might as well eat them."

     "Ha ha ha, I like the way you think, Kizzy."

     I sucked in a startled breath, and my stomach rolled at his words. 

     Is he eating people?

     Severus squeezed my hand again and held his finger in front of his lips to keep me quiet.

     "When's the next batch coming in?" Kizzy asked.

     "They're up north still healing from the procedure, but shouldn't be more than another week."

     "How many this time?"

     "A father and his two little girls."

     "You shouldn't bother with the old man."

     "If he doesn't work out, I'll ask the Ice Queen if I can munch on him."

     More liquid was poured, and a few moments passed before Kizzy spoke, "Do you know who's next?"

     Noises of shuffling papers and then a tapping sound was made, "Them."

     A loud crashing noise reverberated through the house, and excited voices piped up.

     "I hope it's not another broken dish by that miserable house-elf," The woman barked as a set of footsteps could be heard leaving the room followed by a more substantial set a few moments later.

     Snape peeked into the window just before I popped my head above the sill to do the same.

     The wizard pushed the window open, climbed through then helped me, and slid the glass back into place. He silently flew over the hardwood floor of the nicely furnished study, to its door and peeked out.

     I gazed around the room, getting my bearings and seeing if anything warranted further investigation. When nothing about the book packed space jumped out at me, I made my way over to the large oak desk where a parchment filled with family trees lay on top of its well-kept surface.

     My eyes ran over several familiar names, and I pointed to Slughorn, "Looks like a wizarding directory of sorts."

     Severus moved back to my side and rubbed his chin in thought, "Pure-bloods and those with magical ancestry." He pointed to an unfamiliar name, "That was one of Greybacks victims."

     I pulled out a blank parchment, cast a duplication spell, and was getting ready to put the copy in my bag for later study when Severus whispered, "Wait."

     I cocked an eyebrow at him so he'd explain.

     "It's enchanted," He pointed at the original parchment near the bottom corner where a strange round mark was embossed and nearly invisible to the eye. "Take it instead."

     I rolled up the scroll on the desk, tucked it into my bag, and replaced the missing one with my newly made copy.

     Severus moved back to the door, looked out again, and silently slipped from the room when I reached his side. With a few quick looks left and right, I followed him up the stairs and stopped on the landing, relieved no one was there to catch sight of us.

     The sound of something substantial being dragged across the floor in a room further down the wooden planked hall grabbed my attention, and I motioned for us to go that way.

     The moonlit hallway's plush rug cushioned our footsteps to the large door.

     I used my wand against its wooden surface to amplify the noises inside and noticed Severus doing the same. No sounds emitted, and we quickly moved to the doorframe before he turned the knob.

     The wooden monstrosity lightly squeaked open, and when no attack was forthcoming, we entered into the dark room.

     Along the far wall, a slight human sat on a large box, looking out the window into the moonlit grounds.

     "Identify yourself," Severus spoke in the authoritarian voice I had heard him use on hundreds of occasions over the years.

     No answer came from the figure, and I felt myself grow leary. I stepped to one side of the sitting person as Severus stood on the opposite and felt my stomach heave when recognizing my mother.

     "Mom!" I went to hold her hand, but Severus stepped in front of her and grabbed my hands, giving them a squeeze.

     "Don't touch her," His eyes were calculating. "We don't want to upset her." 

     Mom hadn't moved a muscle the whole time. I don't even think she'd blinked.

     "Lumos," I whispered and instantly regretted it as the light intensified her wrecked state. She was rail thin, almost a skeleton in appearance with a limpid layer of skin covering her and empty dark eyes that sent chills down my spine. 

     "Mom, what did they do to you?" My voice shook.

     Her head teeter-tottered as it swiveled in my direction, and her eyes slowly focused, "My little girl died years ago because of Albus Dumbledore and his pack of lies!"

     Her words ripped through my heart, and tears stung my eyes.

      "No, mom, I'm not dead. I'm right here, but I had to keep you away, so you'd stay safe." I tried to reason with her.

     Severus spoke in my ear, "She doesn't know who you are, and most likely won't believe you."

     I looked up into his eyes and felt my heart shatter into little pieces. Over the last few weeks, I'd done really well at holding myself together and didn't break down - until now, "We need to get them out of here Severus. Please!"

     He nodded, "Monica, where is your husband?"

     "Gone." The blank look in her eye did nothing to ease my worry or the look of concern Severus had on his face.

     The tall wizard swooped down into her line of sight, "When was the last time you saw Wendell?"

     "A while ago."

     "This morning?"

     "Yeah."

     "What did you eat for breakfast today?" He asked, sounding doubtful of her words.

     "Eggs, ham, and toast. At least that's what he said it was."

     "I like the yoke of my egg to run over my toast. Do you?"

     The wobbling head nodded precariously on her shoulders.

     "Does, Wendell?"

     "He likes oats and coffee."

     "Did he have that for breakfast?"

     She shook her head.

     "What did he have?"

     She shrugged.

     "Did he eat?"

     She shrugged again.

     Severus sighed and looked at me while shaking his raven-haired head. "I was trying to see if she was aware of time, but I don't think she is. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt her, but it can feel strange to some people." He turned and pointed his wand to mom's head. "Ligilimins!"

     My mother's mouth slowly opened, and the look of fear in her eyes grew the longer Severus sifted through her memories.

     Within half a minute, he lowered his wand and shook his head. "I can't make sense of what's in there. She's very confused."

     "What if he's gone?"

     Severus touched his ear while staring at me. "Markus?"

     "Here, Boss."

     "Status?"

     "There's dog's everywhere, and I found one I really want to say hello to."

     "Burke?"

     "Affirmative. Do I have permission to neuter him?"

     "Not yet. We found Monica, but there's no sign of Wendell up here."

     "Only mutts, pizza, and beer so far."

     "Keep looking." His dark eyes ran over me.

     "Severus, we have to take her."

     "We can't. Your father would be harmed."

     "I know, but we have to. We need a specimen for study so we can get some answers, and this is our best chance to do that." I couldn't believe what I was saying, moms, not a science project or...

     "No. We agreed that it was both or none."

     "You told me that was what we were doing. I never agreed, and since they are incapable of attending to their well being and I'm their daughter, I'm in charge. And I say, we take my mother."

     He cocked a dark brow at me while remaining silent.

     I moved to mom's side, pulled out my 'potion,' and popped the cork. "I have a little bit of peach brandy here, do you like that kind of drink?"

     My mother nodded.

     "Would you like some?"

     Mom grabbed the small bottle and quickly drank it as I looked at Severus. "It's her one vice."

     She handed the bottle back. "It tastes funny but good. Do you have more?"

     "I do!" I opened my bag as wide as it would go and set it on the floor. Reaching in, I pulled a ladder up to the rim and leaned it on the side of the purple fabric so she could safely descend. "It's in there. There's also food and clean clothes."

     She smiled widely, and her dark empty eyes were becoming animated. I knew the MDMA was taking hold of her when she asked like an excited child, "Real food?"

     "Yes, Monica. Just watch your step as you go down the rungs." I had to wonder when the last time she'd really eaten anything had been. I then remembered Greyback and Kizzy's discussion about cannibalism and was pleased that mom wasn't eating other humans if that was what was on the menu.

     "Goodie!" She was staring at me. "You're so beautiful, and look just like I think my daughter would." Her eyes moved to Severus. "And your husband is gorgeous! You lucky thing." She winked and nudged my elbow.

     "Yes, he is. I'm very fortunate." I looked at Severus and cleared my throat feeling overwhelmed at all she'd just said as well as the fact that I was close to getting her out of here. "Now, why don't you go ahead and get some food."

     "Ok, you go make babies with him, and I will find some yummy pie." She smiled as she climbed into my bag, giggling.

     "Husband?" A small smile pulled at his lips.

     "Have you ever tried to have a reasonable conversation with a person rolling on ecstasy?"

     His eyes ran over me. "I wasn't complaining."

     "Oh." I felt my cheeks flush and wished it had been Severus that had proposed instead of Ron. I'd have said yes instantly. "Thank you," I quickly picked up my belongings and felt better knowing I had my mom one step closer to safety.

     "For?"

     "Letting me take her."

     "I could have attempted to sway you, but we both hate wasting time. Arguing with you about this would be just that, correct?"

     I chuckled, "True."

     "I hadn't thought to collect your parent's in such a way." He looked at my purple bag, "You are full of surprises." As he ran his eyes over me, I wished we were back in my bedroom so I could show him a few more things that would surprise the hell out of him.

     Boom! 

     The house shook around us, setting my heart rate to a thunderous gallop in my chest.

     "Boss," The eye-patched cowboy's voice announced in my ear.

     "What did you do?" Severus snapped.

     "We found Wendell Granger."

     "You need to work on your stealth skill set Markus. Now, grab him, and let's get out of here!" His warm hand clasped mine, and he pulled me out to the wraparound balcony.

     "You be sure and tell him that we mean him no harm when you get over here because he didn't believe me," Another boom sounded, and a flashing red followed by yellow lit up the sky as we walked around the corner.

     I quickly jumped back, yanking on the tall wizard's hand to pull him to my side. There was a homely man with his mouth hanging open looking worriedly over the railing halfway down the veranda.

     Severus waved his wand at the deck, and a dark purple mist slithered over the worn wooden boards. When reaching the unsuspecting man, it wrapped up and around him. Within moments, he slowly lowered to the ground and began snoring.

     Moving to the railing, I spotted Markus and Abdelaziz who were holding their positions in the east yard. 

     "Dad," I sighed in relief when spotting him. True, my Father didn't look very human anymore, but he was alive and seeing him like this was easier than it had been down at the beach earlier. 

     Two more people came running from the north yard and started bombarding the Auror's with deadly creations from their wands.

     "Who is that?" I pointed to a dark haired man that Markus was focused on.

     "Shit!" Severus sighed heavily and waved his arm. "Burke, the mutt who took Markus's eye."

     "Oh," My eye's were drawn back to the yard below that was filled with colorful flashes of light. Booming and banging noises pounded through the air as the two Aurors continued fighting. 

     Abdelaziz was effortlessly gliding across the yard like a deadly world-class ballroom dancer, lunging and spinning out of the line of fire that my father and two other attackers were spraying at her. 

     Markus, on the other hand, was storming forward with what looked like a massive gun. The large man squatted down and pulled the trigger, sending a rocket shooting from its wide barrel. The projectile missed everything in its path and zipped off into the atmosphere.

     "That was a miserable attempt!" The dark-haired Burke laughed as he watched the projectile zipping away. When he turned back towards Markus, a massive fist crunched into the wolf's face, knocking him to the ground. He screamed and hollered as blood seeped through the fingers holding his nose.

     "You're lucky that I don't have permission to put you down!" Markus hollered in anger while popping his knuckles, "I have a real hankering for werewolf stew!" 

     A curly haired woman and two others came running from the house joining in the fight as Markus pointed his wand at Burke. Suddenly, the giant cowboy was sent flying through the air by a blue-white light that hit him in the chest, and he landed on the other side of the huge yard with a loud thud and grunt. 

     I was distracted by a high-pitched whistling noise and looked around before spotting the rocket that Markus had fired headed back in our direction.

     "Incoming!" I yelled before waving my wand at my boots and jumped over the railing. Kicking my feet like I was jogging, I gently landed on the ground and took two steps before Severus's misty black form solidified a few feet in front of me. 

     Note to self, learn that or better yet, have Severus teach you. I smiled at the idea as I moved to his side, and we headed into the fight.

     Boom! 

     The three-story house groaned, cracked and popped as flames shot out of random windows. Scurrying footfalls could be heard within, and voices were frantically shouting to exit the building.

     "Go, go, go!"

     "Let out the boarhounds!"

     Howling and snarling sounded in the distance, making my pulse skyrocket.

     The yard now looked like a WWII scene with the ground disheveled here and there. Plant's from the nearby gardens were ripped from there dirt homes and scattered haphazardly across the yard. Dust and smoke reduced visibility, and the sickening smell of sulfur tainted the air.

     Severus's black-caped form moved through the chaos like the Grim Reaper come to collect his next soul as he advanced towards my father, blocking and clearing everything in his path to get there.

     "To the east yard now," A loud voice yelled, snapping me back into action and I moved towards Severus.

     On my right, a plume of toxic black smoke swirled up from the ground with a howling sound. Various arms and heads shot out to grab or intimidate it's intended mark, and pull them into its poisonous fumes. Fortunately, I'd sidestepped just in time as two mismatched hands swooped out, trying to capture me.

     I dodged around two more plumes of smoke when a third one effectively blocked me from my mission. My heart pounded in wild fear as the three deadly mist plumes surrounded me and moved in. I made sure to stay in the center so none of the limbs could grab hold of me as I tried several unsuccessful hexes and spells before screaming, "Glacius!"

     The plumes slowly froze from the ground up. As I was going to disperse them with another spell, a large boarhound crashed through one of them, shattering it like shards of glass that bit into my naked skin. The boarhound knocked my wand from my hand and pinned me under him. His prominent jowls snapped at my face as I kept him at a distance with my hands straining against his neck.

     My arms shook from the tiring struggle just as a spell hit him on his side, sending him flying off of me. Taking little time to be thankful I wasn't dog food, I rolled over, spotted my wand, and was moving after Severus once again.

     Suddenly, Greybacks rage-filled voice rang out, "Where is she!?"

     Seconds later, the giant werewolf ran across the fire engulfed second-floor balcony, and I froze when his eye's landed on me. With a sadistic smile spreading across his scarred face, he pointed his wand at my father before blowing me a kiss.

     I stared in horror, watching dad's frail frame convulse before falling limp to the ground. 

     "No!"

     I dropped to my knees feeling like I was the one who'd been knocked down by the deadly green light. 

     "We don't leave until we've retrieved Wendell Granger's body," Severus's deep voice spoke in my ear, but I didn't understand what he was saying.

     Bright flashes of light zipped around me as my three traveling companions continued repelling the onslaught of curses and spells that crashed down on us. 

     I stared blankly at my father's emaciated form as the memory of him teaching me to ride my first big girl bike shimmered before my eyes.

     It was purple, my favorite color, with a basket up front for my books and a safe place for Mr. Bear to sit. It had a banana seat so that my best friend Valerie could ride along with me until her dad would allow her to get one of her own. My favorite part of my bike had been the purple, blue, and silver streamers hanging from the handlebars that shimmered when catching the sun. They made a fun whipping noise, so it sounded like you were going fast all the time.

     "Nice and easy, Honey," Dad's ever encouraging voice sounded in my ear as he held on to the back of the elongated seat to help keep me from falling over. 

     "I'm not scared. You can let go now." The exhilaration of having my first set of wheels made me feel like I was a responsible, capable adult.

     I peddled faster and started to pull away from his comforting presence before wobbling from the knowledge that he wasn't there to keep me from falling. 

     "You're doing great Hermione," With his four words of praise I straightened my shoulders and kicked my feet harder knowing I'd be fine so long as he was always there to give me the right encouragement just when I needed it most.

     A blinding white light snapped me out of my beloved memory, and I was violently jerked into the air surrounded by a bubble. It was deadly quiet inside with the exception of my labored breathing as I watch Severus and the two Aurors continue to attempt to reach my father's lifeless body.

     It finally dawned on me that my father was dead and that my traveling companions were attempting to collect his body. Even though it would be nice to give dad a proper burial, it was in no way worth them getting injured over.

     I moved my hand to my ear to tell them we needed to leave him; panic shot through me when nothing came out when I tried to speak. Suddenly, my airway constricted as if a giant hand had clamped around it.

     I clawed at my neck to remove the invisible vice as I continued struggling to breathe or contact someone. I scanned the battlegrounds, hoping someone would see me as my energy quickly diminished and my vision dimmed

     Severus suddenly clutched his left arm as if it had been hit with something and his head promptly swiveled around until it landed on me.

     I reached out to his dark form, feeling my heart break with the knowledge that I would never get the chance to tell him how I feel about him. That I'd only been lucky enough to kiss him once. That I'd never get to marry or have his children, and worse, that I didn't get to share the rest of my life with him.

     I love you, Severus Snape.

     Severus's stoic face filled with rage as he reached his hand towards me, and everything went black.