Friends and Allies

Disclaimer: It still belongs to JKR. Enough said.

AN: Eternal thanks to Ariadne.

"Minerva, the Riddle house is monstrous. It's not as if we can go galloping in there and search it at our leisure," Severus said as they walked towards the castle gates.

"I see. Well then, why don't you just destroy the entire thing then," Minerva said, waving her arms with a laugh. "Just blow it up. It seems to be a talent of yours."

Her anger over his "accidentally" blasting a hole through Hogwarts had dissipated a little. She couldn't resist teasing him about his apparent destructive streak, intentional or not.

Severus gave her a stern look out of the corner of his eye and chose to ignore her comment. He couldn't help but try to hide a smirk, though. "It was an accident, Minerva."

"If that is your story," she said casually, gazing towards the lake. She clasped her hands behind her back as they walked.

"Minerva..." he said, gritting his teeth, "I am not a child."

"And yet you act like one," she said with a soft laugh. "Love has done strange things to you, Severus. I have known you since you were a small, intense-looking boy. Yes, I noticed you. A frightfully thin and sullen thing. Closed off to the world, trying to fight back by being as formidable as possible. Hurt them before they hurt you was the strategy, hmm? Drive them away and they never get a chance. Only you never stopped doing that, did you?"

Severus turned his head slightly, his expression only a shade more attentive than bored, painful memories shoved far into the shadows.

"Ah, then love comes along," Minerva continued, slowing her pace, forcing Severus to match hers out of good manners. "Hermione didn't fall for the intimidation act, did she? She stood up to you, and you love her for it."

Severus remained silent, choosing to stare at the castle gates, cursing them for being so far away.

Smiling, Minerva said wistfully, "Do not try to fight love, Severus. Its effects on you are a blessing."

"I will not lie and say it hasn't... influenced me – in a way," he said, choosing his words carefully.

"Influenced? Oh, Severus, you are the master of the understatement. I daresay you have lived more in the past few weeks than in the past twenty years."

"I do not deny it," he said, mostly to himself.

"You love her, Severus?" she said, more as a statement than a question.

"I do," he said without hesitation, his eyes fixed on the approaching grass as they walked.

Minerva nodded. "Then you know what you must consider. What you must do?"

"I do," he said, tilting his head towards her. Without a word, an understanding passed between them, and the subject was closed.

"Tell me more of your grand plan, Severus. You are quite the strategist," Minerva said, patting him on the shoulder as she negotiated a slight decline. The gates were now coming into view.

Visibly relaxing, Severus said, "Voldemort is choosing to move their headquarters."

Minerva stopped, watching Severus turn after realizing she was no longer beside him.

"How do you know?" she asked.

Severus shrugged. "It's an educated guess. Since Wormtail is obviously not there to enjoy the finer points of Spinner's End, one can only assume. The Riddle house is far too large to cast enough protection wards. That leaves them open to too many blind spots. It makes sense to hide amongst the Muggles. In plain sight, if you will."

Minerva considered his words and nodded in agreement. "You believe they would leave the Horcrux unguarded or move it?"

Severus shook his head, saying, "Moving it is too risky, as Voldemort is aware of both our hunt and that it is I who have destroyed the locket and cup. He has only two left and will not take chances. No, he will leave it there, but it will certainly be guarded."

"Interesting plot of yours, Severus. Why not have Wormtail simply bring the Horcrux to you?"

"Because I do not think Voldemort dim-witted enough not to notice his closest servant acting strangely. Too much suspicion would be raised by Wormtail trying to remove the Horcrux, and there is little chance of him being successful. The plan is to have him share with us the location within the mansion, who will be guarding it, and when the headquarters will move."

"And what will become of Pettigrew once you have what you want?" Minerva asked with a tinge of sadness.

"As much as I would like to see him die in a most creative way, he will be left alive. He will deliver his information here in person, be taken back to my house, and have his memory of ever being under the Imperius Curse Obliviated. Narcissa agreed to not leave a mark on him, so there will be no evidence of any abduction or tampering." Grinning, Severus continued. "We may then trap him at will, extract information and then return him untouched. We will allow Voldemort to think we're completely in the dark for as long as possible, leading him to believe we're at a disadvantage. If Pettigrew is found to be under the Imperius, we have lost nothing."

Minerva smiled broadly. "An unwitting spy... Brilliant!"

"Yes, well... the position has been left open, hasn't it?" he said while waving his hand.

"Severus, you are far too intelligent for your own good. I am glad to have you on our side," Minerva said laughingly.

Severus moved to continue towards the gates, but Minerva stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Severus, I mean what I say. Orders of Merlin aside, you are a hero to the Order. Never forget that."

Suddenly she held out her arms, prompting Severus to look at her as if she was mad.

"Prepare yourself, Severus. I'm going to hug you."

"Oh, hell, Minerva. Has something been dropped in your tea?" he said, looking around the grounds quickly.

"Yes, the Hufflepuff cup almost landed in my tea," she said with a sad smile. "Now, hush and humor an old witch."

Minerva then gingerly held him by the shoulders, attempting a light hug without touching any wounds.

"See? You didn't die, did you?" she said, patting his arm.

"Worse things have yet to kill me."

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"It's about time, Snape," Narcissa sneered as Severus and Minerva approached the castle gates.

"Patience, Narcissa, patience," he drawled, opening the gate and motioning in an exaggerated bow for her to pass.

"Everything in order, I presume?" he asked once they were safely inside. A thought struck him as to how strange it felt to be the one on the receiving end of information back from the field.

"Yes. Not a mark on him. Kitty here..." she said, holding up a black cat who looked to be in need of a few dozen good meals, "... should be thanked for being in the right place at the right time. Draco could use a pet, now that... well, since everything is gone."

Narrowing his eyes as the cat attempted to stare him down, Severus asked, "And the Curse? Do you think anyone will notice?"

"Not likely. I've crafted it so that it is very subtle. His orders are to locate the Horcrux, announce that your house is ready to house headquarters sooner than expected and to volunteer to stand guard at the Riddle house. Wormtail, of all lower life-forms, shouldn't raise suspicion by begging to perform such a prestigious task," she said while stroking the cat in her arms.

"Excellent," Severus said, engaging in a staring contest with the cat. It hissed at him and wrapped its paws almost protectively around Narcissa's neck.

"Of course, if the Dark Lord gets a hold of him, he will plainly see what I've done," Narcissa said, passing a slightly apprehensive look between Severus and Minerva.

"Narcissa, there are no shades of treason. You and Draco have already achieved full traitor status. Be proud; I may have badges made up," Severus said with a grin.

Narcissa actually laughed before catching herself.

"I suppose you will you be wanting my wand again?" Narcissa said reluctantly as she glanced between them.

"That won't be necessary," Minerva said. "I think Severus will agree that you are no longer a prisoner, Draco included. Right, Severus?"

"Agreed. You are one of us now. Understand this, though..." he said, stepping forward. His face darkened as he looked gravely at her. "The time will undoubtedly come when you will be faced with your former colleagues, people you have associated with for years, possibly even Lucius. I have no doubt that Azkaban will not hold for long."

Narcissa looked at him as though she had already considered this very thought.

"You will have to obey the Order's commands without hesitation, even if it means killing your own husband or others you may have been close to. Are you willing?"

Narcissa nodded solemnly and said, "Lucius has already tried his hand at killing both Draco and myself. It would be my pleasure to return the favor."

Severus nodded his approval.

"Only – I will succeed," she added, her eyes filled with vengeance.

A sly grin spread on Severus' face as he said, "That's the spirit."

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"Hermione, do you honestly think whatever happened to him will be in a book?" Tonks asked quietly so Draco wouldn't overhear. "Don't you think it's getting his hopes up a little?"

"I know, but this library has everything that can be known about the Dark Arts, including reversal spells. It was good enough to have a history of the Dark Mark's usage; it should have something for this," Hermione said while flipping through the dusty pages. The book was fairly tame, but still struggled to snap closed every chance possible. Whenever left on its own, it crept slowly across the table.

As the book once again tried to close, Hermione pounded her fist on it in frustration, yelling, "Quit it!" The book's response was to wiggle slightly but to remain open.

Hermione kept scanning the pages, looking for anything that indicated the type of curse that affected Draco. She was looking for the incantation Informis manentia, but found nothing. While there were several quite fascinatingly terrible ways to disfigure someone, none involved the incantation Draco had described.

As the house-elves brought tea, Hermione had a thought. Could the spell have been non-verbal, and what Draco heard was to make it permanent?

Quickly turning back to the front of the book, she reread that the proviso stating the importance of understanding the types of magic one may deal with, as often they might be not purely Dark magic, but, rather, a combination. Renewing her search, she this time looked for spells that matched the curse's effects on Draco.

As time passed, Draco sat staring out the window, his hood still drawn. Remus and Tonks sat on the couch holding hands and, when not watching Hermione work, stared intensely into each other's eyes.

It must be here somewhere... come on... she thought while checking the index, hoping to find a lead.

For some time the room was quiet with the exception of Hermione turning pages and scribbling notes. Her quill would scratch quickly for a time, then stop abruptly. She held the book in place as it weakly tried to creep away as she researched. Frequently, she would read a passage aloud to herself, then either mutter something like "Possibly" or "No, definitely not." In her excitement when on the trail of something she thought promising, she stood as she read, hunched over the book while holding it with one hand and taking furious notes with the other.

Even a distant boom that sounded like thunder did little to distract her; she merely glanced out the window and noted in her mind that it was strange since there were no clouds.

At times, although no one noticed, Draco turned to watch her as she researched. The expression on what was left of his face spoke volumes. He was certainly stunned that Hermione would so passionately pour herself into looking for a solution to help him, of all people. After all he had done and, specifically, how he had treated her, it was astounding that she would still care. Could it be possible that all he had known or thought he knew about blood was wrong?

Another hour stretched out, the silence filled with the rhythmic sounds of Hermione's quill and her muttering to herself. After adding one last passage to her notes, Hermione stood up slowly and pounded her fist on the table startling everyone. Remus and Tonks looked particularly stunned as they peered over the back of the couch at her. Remus' hair was standing up in strange angles.

"I've got it!" she cried.

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"Severus, you may go ahead and see to Hermione's project. I shall escort Narcissa to the guest rooms where she and Draco will live," Minerva said, looking quickly up at the castle. She and Severus had briefly discussed Hermione's idea of trying to break the curse afflicting Draco, but she had no intention of getting Narcissa's hopes up.

Severus followed her gaze and saw Hermione in their window waving at him. Part of him didn't believe that she could have found the solution so quickly.

Then again, what is the bloody saying? Cleverest witch something-or-other?

As Severus went to open the door to his rooms, it jerked out of his hand, and his arms were suddenly filled with a very excited Hermione. Groaning as his stitches strained, he tried to hold her without falling backwards. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him quickly.

Moving to pull the door closed, she said, "I think I've found it!" She pushed a parchment filled with notes into his hand, seemingly oblivious to his rubbing his chest.

Straining to read her notes, Severus' eyebrows raised. Looking impressed, he said quietly, "This is extremely complex. Are you certain?"

"Yes. Can you do it?" she asked, looking extremely hopeful.

"Of course I can do this, but, Hermione, this will most likely be very painful. It requires me to transform the curse before removing it," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder when she looked at him questioningly. "Dark magic is neither simple nor fair. The very nature of it is to channel evil into tangible results. Requiring me to hurt him again, worse, in the process of removing the curse is only one example."

Hermione said while gazing at the floor, "It's the best chance he's got, isn't it, though?"

"Yes. I doubt there is any other recourse. Understand, though, there is a high probability it will not work after all. A curse cast by Voldemort is by far more powerful than most. I will not lie to you – I am good, but I may not be powerful enough to be successful. It is admirable, however... your ferocity in the pursuit of a solution for him," he said softly. "In that respect, you are a far better person than I."

"Thank you, I just... well, I can't help it," she said, shrugging.

"Quite understandable. You must show off your impressive researching skills," he said with a smirk, hoping to cheer her a little.

As she smiled weakly, he drew her close and, putting his forehead against hers, said, "I will do my best, even if it exhausts me. I do this even for someone whose actions almost brought me death. Do you have any inkling as to why?"

Hermione grinned and said quietly, "Hmm, no, I don't."

"Allow me to enlighten you," he whispered before kissing her. "Because you have asked me... and to that, I have no hope of resistance," he murmured and kissed her with deep passion.

"We shall do this in the dungeons," he said quietly and opened the door.

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"Now, Narcissa. You may of course alter the rooms to your liking," Minerva said, watching Narcissa walk into the sitting room and then look towards the bedrooms.

"Thank you..." Narcissa said, looking out of place. Kitty had already taken up residence on the window sill, lazily flicking its tail as it surveyed the world outside.

"Minerva. Please call me 'Minerva.'"

"Minerva," Narcissa said with a polite nod. She gazed towards the small sitting area and fireplace.

Clearing her throat, Narcissa said, "There is no way for me to thank you for allowing us to stay here. Draco and I are indebted to you."

Minerva held up her hand and smiled sadly. "You are welcome, Narcissa. I understand these are trying times. I only hope that you will be happy here. If you are in need of anything, please let me know; your fireplace is connected to the Floo network now," she said, nodding towards the fireplace and turning to leave.

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A few hours later, Severus and Hermione appeared in the doorway to find Narcissa in the process of levitating a couch nearer the fireplace. She glanced his way and said, "Is Draco with you? I need him to help me with... Gods, Severus, you look like complete hell... More so than usual..."

Severus narrowed his eyes slightly, but remained silent. He moved aside, revealing Draco behind him.

The curse had been removed, restoring his face, with just some residual scarring.

Narcissa's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. The couch she was levitating crashed to the floor as she stood, her wand arm slowly falling to her side.

She gasped, "Draco!" and quickly crossed the room, taking him into her arms. At first, Draco looked embarrassed, but then clutched his mother's shoulders tightly. Narcissa had been reduced to murmuring his name over and over while rocking him.

After a while, Draco moved back and said softly, "Mother, look."

When Draco pulled up his sleeve to show that his Mark was gone, Narcissa completely lost all composure and could do nothing but sob. She ran her hand over his forearm as if to convince herself that it was truly gone.

Narcissa looked up and approached Severus. "I should properly thank you, Severus. I have to admit – I doubted you."

"Thank Hermione for both the Mark and curse. It was her research which found the solution," he said with a nod towards Hermione.

Narcissa turned to Hermione, wiping her tears away. She straightened her back and nodded solemnly before saying, "Hermione, there is nothing I can say to express my thanks enough. It is obvious that we have been wrong about blood hatred. My sincere apologies. I know that Draco would agree."

Draco stepped forward and held out his hand to Hermione. "Friends?"

"More than that," Hermione said, taking his hand and glancing around the room. "Allies."

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"You know I love you, but..." she began, tracing a pattern around his scar. She was making it itch maddeningly, but he wasn't about to ask her to stop. The sun had set since Hermione had joined him, lying beside him on the bed, but she had made no move to bid him goodnight. He was afraid of breathing incorrectly for fear that she would leave. Part of him had long ceased calling himself a coward for refusing to ask her to stay. The other didn't trust himself if she did.

"That does not sound like a good beginning," he said tiredly. What Hermione didn't know was that he had been exhausted even before removing Narcissa's Mark.

Hermione laughed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, any sentence that starts with something like 'I love you, but ...' is bound to be followed with 'you're a complete git' or 'you secretly make me ill'. Something of that sort. Hardly the beginning of a sentence that is going to make the receiver happy."

"Severus, please," she said, chuckling. "No, it's just I don't know much about you. Your life."

"Oh. Is that required?" he groaned.

"Yes, very much so."

"Isn't secrecy part of the allure?" he said, waving his hand.

"Please do humor me," she said, tracing a circle on his stomach.

"Can't we just imagine that I arrived at Hogwarts a fully grown and accomplished Professor, robes and all?"

"Now you're just stalling," she whispered, kissing his ear.

"Will you be taking notes?" he said with a smirk.

Laughing, she said, "No."

"Fine, not much to tell. Pretty boring life."

"Boring! I'll say, you're anything but boring, Severus."

"Fine, what do you wish to know?" he said, resigned to his fate. No rest for the wicked.

"Hmm, tell me about your childhood. Your mum and dad."

"Not much to say. I am a half-blood. My mother, as you and your mystery team found, was a witch, and my father was a Muggle. My father was a miserable tyrant who abused both of us mercilessly. At one point I became so enraged that I performed wandless magic and threw him across the room. My mother sent me to her sister's after that. He killed her that spring."

Hermione gasped and sat up quickly. "I'm so sorry. How old were you?"

"Nine."

Staring at the ceiling, he continued, "I then came to Hogwarts to start a new type of hell. As you can most expertly deduce, I was not popular in any way and became the target of Sirius and James. While Remus and Peter did nothing to me, they did nothing to interfere either."

Hermione placed her hand over his.

"I knew quite a bit of Dark Magic when I arrived at Hogwarts and tried to develop a dangerous reputation. The library was my natural home. Sirius and James were as likely to be there as a Hippogriff was to be in Great Hall."

He grew quiet at that point, and with the candles dying out, she couldn't read his expression.

"And Lily?" she ventured.

Silence reigned for a stretch of time. The ticking of the clock could be heard faintly from under the mound of clothing she had buried it in.

Sighing deeply, Severus said, "Lily was extremely popular, but wasn't arrogant or snobbish as one would expect. She would often be in the library as well. One day, she came over to me, and when I found enough breath to form words, we talked. We found that we both loved Potions so met to study most nights. It was quite strange that in all that time, none of James' gang found us. Thanks to Lupin, I now know why. It went on for most of a year."

"That long?" she asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes. It ended, as Potter probably told you, the day she tried to protect me. The rest you already know."

"Were you... were you with anyone else?" Hermione asked, trying to act casual.

Grinning, he said, "Yes, early in my seventh year, I discovered the wonders of hygiene and supposedly cleaned up to look marginally good."

"Yes?" she said, drawing it out to lead him to continue.

"What question are you asking, Hermione?"

Thankful that the dying light hid her blush, she said, "Well, when did you first...?"

"Ah, we've gotten to the point, have we? Is this an interview? See if I measure up?"

Gasping, she said quickly, "No, no! I was just wondering..."

Feigning embarrassment, he said thoughtfully, "I should be dressed much better for an interview, I would suppose."

"Severus! I was just..."

"If you must know, it was in my seventh year. I somehow managed to have a few girls, all Slytherins – of course. Over time, I became quite bold and creative."

"Really? You? Breaking rules?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Shocked? How do you suppose I know exactly every single place an amorous couple may be found in this castle, if I hadn't been there myself?" he asked with a smirk.

"In fact, one time Minerva almost caught me. To this day I don't believe she has any idea it was me."

Giggling a little, Hermione said, "Oh, really? How?"

"Quidditch pitch," he said, looking at her seriously, his eyes shining by the dying light. "Was a full moon in more ways than one."

Hermione burst out laughing, resorting to hide her face in the pillow.