Chapter 1

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thanks to June for her help and for being my beta.

Chapter 1 - posted

They had been married for a little over thirteen years now. Raven was in his third year at Hogwarts, and Kat had begun her second. Every night, Severus and Hermione thanked the gods in heaven that their children made it through another year. The children’s penchant for troublemaking had not waned one bit as they grew; it only increased. They were great kids, intelligent, sensitive towards others’ feelings, and not afraid of anything.

Of course, it didn’t help that the children’s love for mischief was shared by their honorary nannies — Osiris, Severus’ cousin; and Crookshanks, Hermione’s familiar since her own third year at Hogwarts. Then, add to that, their friends. Also in attendance in Hogwarts were Lucius’ and Rosmerta’s children — Odette, who was also a third year; and Vladimir, now in his second year. Then, of course, you had Draco and Ginny’s children; Samara was in her second year, and Maximilian in his first. And, last but not least, Harry and Pansy’s kids — Armando in his second year, and Artemisia in her first.

Whenever all the children were together, Severus felt as though he was the head of a junior death squad rather than a father watching over children, especially since there were six Slytherins in the bunch. It had pleased Severus to no end that both his children were sorted into Slytherin. Hermione, however, had made Severus sleep on the couch for two days after each sorting. She was convinced it was all due to the mischief the children caused with the encouragement of Osiris and Crookshanks. She made them sleep outside for two days after each sorting. At least there were two Gryffindors in the bunch: Harry and Pansy’s daughter Artemisia, and Draco and Ginny’s son Maximilian had been sorted into Gryffindor. Holidays were never dull, that was for certain.

And so, the new school year had begun. Hermione was sitting in the study grading the first years’ essays, while Severus was busy looking through one of his older Dark Arts spell books. The fireplace roared, and then Albus’ head appeared.

“Good evening, Hermione, Severus,” he said.

“Albus, good evening,” Hermione smiled at the Headmaster.

“Albus,” said Severus.

“Severus, I received an owl from Remus this evening. You know that Remus and Tonks have been on assignment for the past several months, and they happened upon an old dilapidated house. When they searched the house, Remus found several items he believed to have belonged to Voldemort. Remus thought it would be wise to have someone who was an expert in the Dark Arts have a look at them. Would it be possible for you to go and look at these things?” asked Albus.

“Yes, of course,” Severus agreed. “He was right not to touch anything. Voldemort made it a habit of placing various spells on his personal belongings, which could quite possibly kill whomever touched the items. Tell him to owl me his location, and I will be there in the morning.”

Albus nodded and closed the connection. Severus looked at Hermione, who was about to open her mouth, then raised his hand to stop her.

“Please, believe me, you do not want to know.”

She shrugged her shoulders and went on with her paper grading. During their thirteen years of marriage, he had opened up to her about the things he did as a Death Eater, even those he had done in the name of the Order. Whatever he didn’t want to tell her, she knew it must have been horrible enough for him to spare her the details.

* * * * * * *

Unbeknownst to them, there were two people far away from Hogwarts, plotting their revenge. Bellatrix Lestrange had been in Azkaban for over nineteen years. During her time in the prison, she thought of only one thing: she wanted to get out. She needed to get out and make Severus Snape pay for what he had done to her Dark Lord. It was Snape’s deception that turned the tide of the war, his deception that caused the fall of Voldemort. With the help of another faithful servant, she would soon be out. She had planned it all perfectly. The only flaw in her plan was that Wormtail was a complete moron. However, even he could not mess this up; it was too easy. He would gain entrance to the prison with the assistance of Polyjuice Potion. It was easily done, since he remembered where the Burrow was after living there for so many years in his Animagus form. All he needed was one hair from Arthur Weasley’s head, and the rest would take care of itself.

Their plan was set in motion the following Saturday morning. Peter Pettigrew walked into the Ministry of Magic in the form of Arthur Weasley. He went to the office in charge of granting passes to the prison passes, and with little explanation he was given a day pass. Of course, it helped that Arthur was now the Minister of Magic, so no one would argue or ask him why he needed to go to Azkaban. As Peter walked out, in the form of Arthur, he looked at his watch. He had half an hour left before he began to turn back into himself.

The next stage of the plan was now set into motion. Peter then Apparated to Knockturn Alley, and approached a woman he had seen on several occasions. She was the right height and build, and even had the same dark long hair. He looked around; there was no one about. He then pointed his wand in her direction.

“Imperio,” he muttered. “Come here,” he instructed. The woman had a glazed and confused look in her eyes as she approached him. He took hold of her and Apparated to the gates of Azkaban Prison. From there it was as though even he was in a dream. They walked through the gates.

“I am here to see the prisoner Bellatrix Lestrange. This is her sister; she wishes to see her,” he said. A guard led him and the woman through several dark and damp hallways. As they approached the cell at the end of the hall, Peter held his captive tighter. He looked at his watch again. He had only fifteen minutes left as Arthur’s double. The door was opened, and he stepped in with his captive. As the door shut behind him, he threw the woman against the wall. As she recovered herself, Bellatrix took Peter’s wand and hit her with a Stupefying Charm.

“Quckly, Bella. My time is running out,” said Peter nervously. She exchanged clothes with the woman, then with her wand outlined the edge of the woman’s face. As she did so, the skin began to separate from the woman’s skull. The unknown woman’s eyes grew wide, and streams of tears came rushing out. Her muffled cries were heard within the cell as Bella laughed. When the woman’s skin was completely separated, Bellatrix took it and placed it against her own face; with a quick bonding charm, she fused it to her own face.

“We must go. I have but only five minutes,” hissed Peter. They turned the woman so that she faced the wall, then knocked on the door, signaling they wanted to be let out. They walked out quickly, not bothering to look behind them; all the way, Peter was looking at his watch. At one minute left, they finally reached the gates of the prison, and Apparated away.

It was several hours later at lunchtime, when the faceless woman was found in the place of Bellatrix Lestrange.

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I'll be posting a chapter a day if I can. I'm sure I will be able to update quickly.