Five

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I make no money here.

AN: This story was written for the 2010 ss/hg_exchange as a gift for lady_karelia. Many thanks to my wonderful betas, dreamy_dragon73 and Clairvoyant.

~

The next morning when Severus woke up, it was chilly in the cabin, but at least he wasn't freezing. He threw a couple of logs onto the still glowing embers in the stove and in a few minutes had a blazing fire again. He'd planned to go out and hike around the area to check for likely spots for the Spiralhorn sprout to grow. Upon opening the door, however, he discovered nine inches of fresh snow accumulated just off his porch and more coming down. Well, it looked like spring was not coming today, or any day soon.

He'd just assumed that this part of Canada was roughly about the same latitude as Scotland, so he'd expected similar weather patterns, but apparently that was not true. He'd also thought that a snow storm would involve howling winds and bitter cold. Although, yes, it was cold; it wasn't really bad, or maybe he was just getting used to it. There was no wind at all, in fact it was completely silent, so much so that he swore he could hear the sound of the snow falling. It was so quiet, so beautiful. He just stood and observed for several minutes in awe of nature before returning inside for a second cup of coffee. That would teach him for not researching things, like climate patterns, a bit more thoroughly.

A few hours later, with another two inches of snow on the ground, he heard a strange high pitched sound coming from the distance. As he listened, the sound got closer and closer. Looking outside, he soon realized that three Snowmobiles were approaching. Art and two of his grandsons were on them, plus they were towing sleds with petrol cans, equipment and Little Anne in one of them.

Severus opened the door and was greeted by Art. "I hope we aren't disturbing you, Severus," he said. "I brought the boys out to split some more wood and stack it, so you will have plenty of firewood. And we brought out extra gas for the generator."

"Thank you. I appreciate your help. Come in, come in, Art, Little Anne. Would you like some coffee or a cup of tea?" he asked. Then, looking over Art's shoulder at the young men preparing to split wood from the woodpile, he asked, "Would your grandsons like something?"

"Thank you, tea would be good for us. The boys are fine; they brought a thermos of coffee. After I warm up, and when the boys are done chopping wood, I thought we might go down to the lake and try to catch some fish to share for supper. It would give you time to talk with Little Anne about your medicine plants and such."

So, Severus and Little Anne spent the next few hours discussing various plants and herbs and their uses in healing. Little Anne showed him her medicine bag, which held not only medicinal plants and herbs but also many other small items of special meaning to her which she explained to him: a smooth round stone...as a child she had picked it up on the shores of Lake Superior while on a trip with her family...that had odd markings and she called it a Petoskey Stone; another stone, rough looking and pale pink, almost translucent, was rose quartz; a small piece of raw copper from the mines in Northern Michigan where her grandfather had lived; a heavy silver ring that had belonged to her great-great-grandmother; a large claw from a black bear; several different feathers from a blue jay, a crow, a loon, a swan and two eagle feathers.

Stroking one of the eagle feathers, she stared at Severus solemnly for a moment before holding it out to him. "The eagle is a sacred bird, a powerful totem. His feathers carry strong magic. This magic is a gift he gives to whoever finds them. I give this to you because you are migiziinini, eagle man: you are a powerful shaman of your people."

Severus hesitated briefly before accepting her gift, realizing what a generous offering it was, as she clearly treasured these items dearly. Taking it gently from her fingers he stroked it reverently. "Thank you, Little Anne. I am honored. Will you accept a gift from me as well?"

The old woman nodded. Severus went to the bedroom and returned with a worn wooden box. Opening the clasp, he rifled through the contents. Finally finding what he'd been looking for, he held it out to her, a small flat rock. Turning it over, he showed her that on the back side was the perfect spiral shape of a shell forever preserved in the stone. "I found this when I was a child near the place where I grew up. It is a fossil from some ancient time. I found it fascinating, so I kept it all these years. I would like to give it to you. A gift from me from far away."

"Thank you, Severus, migizi. I will keep it and treasure it. It is very old; I can feel it. It reminds you of your childhood, your home; that is why you have kept it all of these years in your medicine box."

He smiled. In essence it was just as her medicine bag; things he had carried with him for years, items that all held special meaning only for him.

"May I look at your things?"

At his nod of approval, she carefully leafed through the box. There were several packets of dried herbs, some bruise balm and burn balm, a small shriveled brown stone and a few standard potions. She also found: a group of papers including his Hogwarts letter, his O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. results and his Potions master's certification; a cameo brooch that had been his grandmother Snape's; a ruby ring that had come from the Prince side; a small crystal vial of clear liquid; a Phoenix feather from Fawkes; a fine quill he had never used because it was the last gift he had ever received from Dumbledore; a photo of him and Lily on platform 9 ¾ before boarding the Hogwarts Express for the very first time; and a picture torn in half, showing a much older Lily Evans Potter.

"She was a pretty girl, a pretty woman. You... cared for her?"

Severus took the last photo from her and looked at it, surprisingly feeling no pain. "Once, I did, yes. But she chose another. She's been gone for a long time now."

"It was not your fault, migizi. You could not have stopped him, or what was going to happen. The snake-man had control then. But now you are free. Free from both him and the gray-beard. Now, you must find the strength to make your own way in life, your own future," she advised gently, squeezing his hand.

He looked into her face. "How do you know these things?"

"I am a chosen one, migizi. Or as you would say," she explained with a small smile, "it's magic."

~

Hermione was surprised how smoothly the first afternoon working with Lucius Malfoy had gone. He had arrived just after lunchtime. They had spent hours discussing and reviewing Arithmantic theories and going over her original formulas. Even though she'd been told about his aptitude for the subject, she was still amazed at his knowledge.

Lucius was on his best behavior and was actually quite pleasant and charming. After about the tenth time she had called him Mr. Malfoy, he'd insisted she call him Lucius. He told her that if they were going to be partners on this project, then she could at least call him by his first name. Feeling it would be rude not to offer the same, she gave him leave to call her Hermione.

After the first afternoon, they began working together on a daily basis. He would come to Grimmauld Place about ten o'clock and they would work until five o'clock, taking a short break for lunch around one o'clock.

After three days working together, Hermione revealed a new theory she had developed. "I've been researching some of the sources from Kingsley, regarding previous triads and running speculative formulations. I think that besides the house affiliation I've found another parameter for the triad. I believe it has to be balanced by bloodlines as well, one pure-blood, one half-blood and one Muggle-born. But what are the odds of finding a half-blood in Slytherin? Not too likely, I'd think," declared Hermione.

"A moderately rare occurrence. But it has been known to happen, more often than you might think in fact. Your theory does make sense, though," Lucius admitted. "After all, a lot of the woes we're facing now stem from the divisions created during Voldemort's rise to power. To solve this, to reach a balance, what better way than for the triad to be formed by a Muggle-born, a half-blood and a pure-blood?"

"But it would make more sense if the combination were two Gryffindors and one Slytherin instead of two Slytherins and one Gryffindor. We'd be more likely to find a half-blood in Gyffindor than in Slytherin; what are the odds in that?"

The following day, after doing a bit of further research, she learned that surprisingly enough, as Lucius had hinted, there were more half-bloods in Slytherin than she had originally thought possible. It seemed that most who were sorted into that house who were not pure-blooded had known enough to keep their bloodlines to themselves back then. Very Slytherin of them. She had toyed with several matches, but none of them seemed to fit the bill.

"I guess we will need to get our hands on the Hogwarts enrollment records," suggested Hermione after the fourth unsuccessful run through of a random half-blood Slytherin into the equation.

"That might not be necessary," replied Lucius, handing her a slip of paper with another series of numbers. "I believe these might be what you've been looking for."

Hermione looked at the numbers. "0-9-0-1-1-9-6-0. So, you obviously know who this series indicates. Who is it?"

"I've actually been thinking for a while...honestly, since the very beginning...that this might be the right match, but it seemed so unlikely I've been avoiding bringing it up. Before I give you a name, I'd rather have you run them through the equations, so you can see for yourself how strong the match is. Then, we can discuss the who and pair it with Tiwaz and Algiz."

Hermione gave him a suspicious look, but proceeded to do as he asked. Just as she had expected, the numerals blended perfectly with the rest of the formulation. By the time it reached the end point, the entire process had worked just like clockwork.

Her hands shook as she studied the results. It was complete, and the results indicated a 98.9% three-way match for fulfilling the triad they were looking for. She licked her lips before biting her bottom one in nervous frustration.

"You know who both of these are, don't you? This one and the sequence that Kingsley gave me. You're a Slytherin; who would know better than you? And you're also an Arithmancy expert. You're the one who gave the first set of runes and numbers to Kingsley, aren't you?"

"Actually, he figured it out when he saw your work. He worked through it on his own, and he came up with that first set of numbers. After he saw the results and realized what a strong match it was, that's when he came to me; I suggested adding the runes to make it more accurate."

Lucius was looking uncomfortable, almost guilty.

Hermione stood before him as he attempted to avoid her gaze. She bunched the front of his robes in her fists and forced him to look at her. "You know who they are... Tell me," she insisted.

"The first one, the numbers Kingsley first discovered, the pure-blood... It's me."

"3-1-0-5-1-9-5-4. That's your birthday then, 31 May, 1954. And Fehu: wealth; it indicates financial strength, hope and plenty, success. Othala: ancestral property, land of birth, inherited property or possessions, what is truly important to one, group prosperity. Those things couldn't spell out Malfoy and pure-blood any stronger if we wrote it in flashing neon lights."

He gave a puzzled look at her Muggle reference. With her fists still clenched in his robes, she leaned her forehead against his chest for just a moment. He raised his hands as if to embrace her, or offer her comfort, but then hesitated. She shoved away from him and stalked to the window, staring out but not really seeing what was there.

"Who is the other?" she demanded, turning to face him.

He hesitated, unsure if he dared reveal it to her. Damn it, Shacklebolt should have been here for this.

"Severus Snape," he answered finally.

It was her turn to look confused. "Professor Snape? But that's impossible: he's dead. He's been dead for seven years."

"Not dead, just gone from England."

"No...dead. I was there. I. Saw. Him. Die." She stated it slowly and clearly as if he were unable to comprehend her words.

"No. You saw him being attacked by Nagini. You saw him give his memories to Potter. You saw an extreme amount of blood. But you didn't see him die. Did you even think to check for a pulse?"

"Oh, dear Merlin. He wasn't dead? And we just left him there..." Her knees wouldn't support her. Before they buckled, he grabbed her and lowered her to a chair instead.

"I went back for him, stopped the bleeding as best I could and Portkeyed him away. I sent him to one of my estates in France where he was cared for. After he recovered, he decided there was really no reason for him to return to Britain. He's been gallivanting around the world ever since."

"Tiwaz and Algiz," she muttered. Then, looking up at him, she translated, as if he didn't already know. "Tiwaz: the sky god. It means: honor, justice, leadership and authority; knowing where one's true strengths lie; willingness to sacrifice oneself. And Algiz: protection, a shield; the protective urge to shelter oneself or others; defense, warding off evil, a guardian. That's him exactly, isn't it? All those years, and everything he sacrificed, spying for Dumbledore, and he always tried to protect us...always.

"The runes for me, then. Sowilo, the sun: success, goals achieved, honor, life-force, health, power for positive changes, victory. And Berkano, the birch goddess: birth, fertility, regenerative power, renewal, new beginnings, new growth, the prospering of an enterprise or venture.

"It is him, then. And you, too. Us, as the triad. And all the traits of the runes are things we'll need to carry it through. I can't believe this." She looked stunned.

"Hermione, I don't know what to say. I wanted Kingsley to tell you all this, to prepare you. But he and Potter felt you needed more time to assimilate all of the information."

"HARRY! Harry knew about this too?" She looked shocked, then hurt.

Before he could stop her, try to explain things to her, she was up and out of the door. He heard the door slam and knew that before he could catch up she would already have Apparated to Medusa-knew-where, probably to confront Kingsley, or most likely Potter. "This is not how it was supposed to happen," he muttered aloud. "If only you would listen to me when it really counts, Kings, you utter idiot."

~

Not knowing where to find Hermione, or what else to do, Lucius had gone home, but he'd left a message with Kreacher to tell her to contact him when she was ready to talk about the project. He was surprised later that night to get a Floo call from a worried Potter who didn't know where Hermione was. Lucius explained what had happened, but could offer no other suggestions as to her whereabouts. He was even more surprised when Tillie, his head house-elf, popped into his study and announced that there was a cold, wet, bedraggled Missy at the door, asking to talk to him.

Curious, Lucius hurried to the front door to find a soaking wet Hermione standing in his foyer.

"Hermione, for Merlin's sake, what happened to you?"

She looked a bit bewildered, as if she couldn't quite figure out why she'd come to Malfoy Manor. "I was so upset this afternoon when I left. I just wandered around London for the rest of the day... thinking. Then, it started to rain, but I didn't what to go home to Grimmauld Place. I ended up sitting on a park bench, but then it started to get dark. I just couldn't go home yet." She shivered, and her teeth started to chatter a bit.

"You're soaked to the skin, you silly woman. Come in and get warm."

"No, I'm all wet," she said, stating the obvious.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you." He tried to lead her into the study.

"No, I mean I'll drip all over your fine rugs, ruin your furniture," she protested.

"Bugger the rugs! We need to get you dried off and warmed up. What were you thinking? You're a witch. Did you forget that? Why didn't you Transfigure something into an umbrella, cast a drying spell... something... anything?"

"I don't know," she cried. "I wasn't thinking. I've just been trying to figure it all out."

In a conciliatory tone, he convinced her to come by the fire to get warm. Once there, he cast drying charms and conjured a warm blanket to wrap around her and called Tillie to bring some tea.

Once she'd warmed enough to speak, she turned to Lucius. "There's more to it, isn't there? Something extreme, I know there must be. If it were just having to work with you and Professor Snape, Harry and Kingsley wouldn't have kept it from me. I might not like the idea but it's not that upsetting.

"What does Professor Snape think of the whole thing? He never liked me very much, you know?"

"He doesn't know yet. We haven't been able to find him."

"You can't find him!" Hermione exclaimed. "What do you mean? I thought you must have kept in touch with him; aren't you still friends?"

"Yes, but as I said earlier, he's never come back to England. Once he realized he had his freedom to do anything he ever wanted, he decided he wanted to see the world. He's spent the last seven years after his recovery traveling to different places, studying magical practices and cultures, searching out the rarest of potions ingredients.

"The last time I actually visited him, he was living in the Amazon rain forest amongst a magical native tribe there. Since then, he's moved on and was studying the Mayan cultures in Central America. The last time he wrote, he'd just discovered an old journal by a Potions master who claimed to have discovered one of the rarest ingredients ever recorded. Severus was most excited to seek it out. The problem is he didn't say where he was going. It could be anywhere in the world."

"So we don't even know if he would agree to this whole thing; it could all be a moot point," she declared.

"Oh, there is little doubt in my mind that once he has a chance to consider it, he won't turn down the opportunity."

Hermione eyed Lucius suspiciously. "You do know something. Obviously, there's more to it than just working on a project with two Slytherins that happen to be you and Professor Snape. As I said earlier, if that were all then I don't think Harry would have been unwilling to tell me. Or Kingsley either. There must be something more. Please, Lucius. You know, I know you do. Tell me what it is," she pleaded.

He sighed, not quite knowing how to approach it. "Let me ask you a question first. How exactly do you see this whole thing proceeding? Why must there be a triad, and how do you think it might work?"

"Well..." she began slowly. "I suppose that now that we've identified the prime candidates for the triad, we would have to work together to find the answers we seek. Each of us using our strongest skills. Obviously, you and I are very strong in Arithmancy. I'm strong in charms as well. The professor in potions and defense. I'm sure you have other areas you excel in besides the Dar..." she stopped suddenly, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Besides the Dark Arts." He completed her sentence. "Yes, I do have other skills; but like Severus or anyone who has advanced knowledge of the Dark Arts, it gives us an edge at defense. I also have a very strong background in Ancient Runes, and I'm not half bad at Transfiguration either."

"See, that could all be helpful. We have no idea what skills we might need," she said approvingly. "I am very good at research. So I assumed we would have to find a particular spell, or perhaps a ritual, probably something ancient. Once we've found it and studied it, then we'd have to carry it out. That's how I envision it all working out."

Lucius swallowed, unsure how to tell her the truth. "Well, you are on somewhat the right track. It does involve a ritual in fact. And indeed it is a most ancient practice..."

"Oh, for fuck's sake! If you know what it is, just tell me!"

He cleared his throat. "What do you know of... Tantric rituals?"

tbc

AN: If you are interested in more information on runes, this is the site I used for my interpretations:

http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/meanings.html