Chapter One

Disclaimer: JKR owns it all. I'm just having fun.

Chapter One

June 2, 1998

Hogwarts

There had been no body.

An extensive search of the Shrieking Shack and the Hogwarts grounds had yielded no sign of the remains. The Order had continued looking for several days, even after the Ministry of Magic had declared Severus Snape officially dead. When all efforts had proven fruitless, Harry Potter had conceded that perhaps the body had been stolen or disposed of by Death Eaters.

After all the sacrifices Severus Snape had made over the last two decades, Harry had wanted to provide a proper burial for the wizarding world's greatest unsung hero.

It was not meant to be.

The memorial service took place on a Sunday afternoon on the grounds of Hogwarts. Harry had been adamant that Snape would not have been appreciative of a lot of pomp and circumstance, and so the ceremony was brief, with only Harry offering a short eulogy, and the acting Minister for Magic presenting Headmaster Snape the Order of Merlin, First Class, posthumously.

As the crowd dissipated, the trio remained behind to pay their own respects to the man who had been their teacher and protector. The three friends stood solemnly before the monument dedicated to the bravest man they had ever known. The black marble obelisk stood within eyesight of the tomb of Albus Dumbledore but not so near that one would overshadow the other.

Several minutes passed in silence, until Harry stepped forward and touched the cool stone, his eyes lingering over the words that had been etched into the marble.

In Honour of Severus Snape

Teacher, friend, and hero

"I want you to know that I am fully aware that without you, I wouldn't be standing here today. I just wish...I wish you and I had ...." Harry swallowed before returning to his place next to Ron. "Thank you, and goodbye ... sir."

Ron shuffled forward, urged by a sniffling Hermione, and mumbled his respects. "Erm ... thanks, Professor. For everything."

Harry slapped his friend on the back in sympathy, and the two young wizards watched stoically as Hermione knelt at the base of the monument. She bowed her head as if in prayer, the fingers of one hand splayed against the marble while the other clutched the grass. After several minutes, she rose to her feet and wiped the dampness from her face. She hesitated for the briefest of moments before kissing her fingers and touching his name.

"Goodbye," she whispered as one final tear coursed its way down her cheek.

Hermione turned and saw the shocked faces of Harry and Ron. To their credit, they said nothing about her unexpected tribute. She looked at them...her two boys...and her heart swelled with gratitude that she still had them; they were still here. She only hoped they still would be after she told them what she had done.

"I have something to tell you," Hermione said nervously, her tone suggesting that whatever she wished to discuss was of the utmost importance. "Professor McGonagall said we could use her office."

Harry looked at Ron, hoping for some indication of what was going on, but Ron merely shrugged; whatever Hermione wanted to discuss had not been shared with either of them in advance.

"All right. Let's go." Harry offered an arm to Hermione, while Ron did the same on her other side. Arm in arm, the three friends trudged up the hill to the battle-worn castle.

*******

Hermione sat in the new Headmistress' office, her nerves a jumbled mess. She had never been so frightened in her entire life. Not even when Bellatrix Lestrange had been torturing her in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor had she felt this kind of terror. Would they understand? Would they be angry? Would they abandon her? She needed them now more than ever. She wasn't certain she could do this on her own.

She looked to her left. Harry appeared unusually calm. He sat next to the fireplace, simply watching and waiting for whatever information was to come. Ron, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. His long legs were twitching with nervous energy, and it was driving Hermione insane.

"Stop that, Ronald," she snapped before instantly apologising. "I'm sorry. I'm just a bit anxious."

Ron immediately halted his fidgeting and then glanced at Harry, his eyes wide with confusion. "Yeah. Okay."

Harry leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and reached to clasp Hermione's trembling hands in his. "Why don't you just tell us? Get it over with."

"Because she wanted to wait for me. Isn't that right, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled in relief and stood to embrace the man who had entered the room. "I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for coming."

"Anytime, love."

Completely confused by the turn of events, Ron's eyes shifted from the newcomer to Hermione and back again. "What the bloody hell is going on? And what are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you, too, little brother," Bill Weasley said as he released Hermione and took a seat in the makeshift circle of chairs.

Hermione returned to her seat, as well, and took a deep, steadying breath. She straightened her spine and in a clear voice said, "Harry, Ron. I've been keeping a secret from you."

"What kind of secret?" Ron asked before turning to Harry. "D'you know about this?"

Harry shook his head and raised his hands. "Not me. I have no idea what she's talking about. What's going on, Hermione?"

Her throat suddenly went dry, and the words stuck in her throat. She conjured a glass of water and drank several long swallows.

"Start from the beginning, Hermione," Bill said encouragingly. "It's going to be all right. They'll understand."

Hermione nodded and began again. "Last year, Remus asked me to meet him in the hospital wing before Professor Dumbledore's funeral. He and Bill told me the truth about Professor Snape."

"You knew?" Ron asked, his eyes shifting between Hermione and his brother, his tone incredulous.

Bill nodded. "Just listen, Ronnie."

Bewildered, Ron blinked and turned his attention back to Hermione.

"Yes," she said, more grateful each second that Bill had agreed to be present when she told the boys. "Remus and Bill knew that it was likely we would not be returning to Hogwarts for our seventh year...Professor Dumbledore had left them a message...but they didn't know why or what we were going to be doing. At least, I don't think they did." She turned to face Bill. "Did you?"

"No. We only knew that we were to explain the situation to you...only you."

Ron looked at his brother and asked, "How did you get to be in the middle of this?"

Bill shrugged. "I'm a curse-breaker. Apparently, Albus thought at some point you might have need of one. Remus told me about Snape's true loyalties in case something happened to him. We knew the fighting would begin in earnest soon, and it seemed safer for two adults...no offence, Hermione...to know the truth."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Right. So, they told me about Severus ..."

Ron looked to Harry, aghast, and mouthed, "Severus?"

"... and the truth about what happened that night on the Astronomy Tower," Hermione finished loudly, staring pointedly at Ron. He flushed and shifted in his seat.

"Why you?" Harry asked suddenly, his green eyes blazing with intensity.

Hermione had known he would ask that. "I was the most likely to listen."

Harry stared at her as he visibly mulled over her words. Finally, he nodded and said, "Yeah. I can see that."

Relieved that he understood, Hermione continued. "I spent the summer researching Horcruxes. You know that. What you don't know is that much of the research was done at the side of Severus Snape.

"Hush," she admonished, before Ron could interrupt. "Let me finish. Then you can ask all the questions you want."

Ron slouched in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine."

"Thank you," Hermione replied. "At first, it was difficult to work with him. He was in an impossible situation, and the amount of strain he was under was terrible. Voldemort was still breathing down his neck, even after he .... Well, you know. Severus was horrified by what Dumbledore had forced him to do, and the pain of that act was eating him alive. He was also fully aware that time was of the essence, and he wanted to provide whatever help he could to you, Harry."

Hermione paused, her eyes glazing over with the memories of that summer. "He was so tired of being a spy, of pretending to be someone he was not, of being hated and reviled, but he had no choice; he had to see it through to the end. He was just so ... so tired."

She took a breath and rubbed her hands over her eyes to stem the threat of tears. "He hadn't had a true friend since your mum, Harry, and I am very proud to say that Severus Snape was my friend, and I was his."

She let out a small laugh. "It wasn't always easy...he was still snide and snappish...but he also had a wicked sense of humour, and he was so loyal to those he cared about that it would put a Hufflepuff to shame," she said, her voice cracking under the strain of her emotional upheaval. "He wasn't a nice man, but he was a good man, truly good and ...." She ended on a sob, unable to continue as grief overtook her once more.

"Hermione," Harry murmured gently, "you don't have to convince us of that. We know."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. After what Harry saw in Snape's memories, we know he was on our side."

Hermione sniffed and gave a wan smile. "I'm glad you think so."

Bill offered her a handkerchief, which she received gratefully. After drying her cheeks and delicately blowing her nose, she continued.

"Anyway, I took the portrait of Phineas Nigellus with us so that he could act as a messenger between Severus and me. Sometimes, Severus wanted to know where we were, but other times it was better if he didn't. You already know that Phineas is the one who told Severus and Dumbledore's portrait about our location so that the sword could be brought to us. Well, it was no accident that he overheard us talking. That was me, reporting our location. I would have done it while you were sleeping and I was on watch, but Phineas had gone on an errand for Dumbledore."

Harry was incredulous. "So, you're saying the entire time, you were in contact with the Order?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. Only with Severus, who had minimal contact with the Order...at least as far as I know." She once again turned to Bill for confirmation.

The oldest Weasley son had remained quiet for much of the discussion but had been listening intently. "Remus or I would get occasional reports from him, unsigned notes that would just say, 'all is well.' That's about it. He was busy at the school, trying to protect the students as much as possible without alerting the Carrows, as well as following whatever orders Albus and Voldemort had for him. The only other time I had contact with him was when he asked to visit a certain friend of his," Bill concluded with a wink in Hermione's direction.

Harry and Ron looked at each other before turning their attention back to Hermione. "What?" they asked simultaneously.

Hermione's cheeks flushed pink as she glanced away. "He means that Severus came to Shell Cottage after what happened at Malfoy Manor. He brought potions that were very helpful in my recovery, and ... and ...."

This was the part she had been truly dreading, the one that could mark the end her friendship with the two young wizards before her.

"Bill arranged for us to meet twice, both times during the middle of the night, near the cliffs but just inside the boundaries of the Fidelius Charm. The first visit was to bring the potions, and the second, was to honour a ...." She paused and bit her lip, searching for just the right word. "A favour I had asked of him."

"A favour? What kind of favour?" Harry asked.

Hermione clenched her jaw, gathered every bit of courage she possessed, and then met the boys' eyes with a defiant gaze.

"I wanted to have his child."

A/N: My unending gratitude to my very own golden trio, Subversa, DeeMichelle, and LettyBird, my beta readers and Brit picker. I also owe a huge debt to GinnyW for her cheerleading and brainstorming, as well as the lovely banner she created for this story. Thank you so much, all of you!