To everyone's relief, George was recovering, slowly but surely. When he woke the next morning, the first words out of his mouth was a joke. That was how they knew he was going to be perfectly fine.
He would always have that faint scar on his abdomen, though. Even Heather's best potions weren't able to get rid of it entirely. Dark magic was tricky like that – it lingered, it left marks on both the caster and victim. It was why her werewolf scarring was also giving her so much grief.
Much as Heather would have liked to just rest after such trying events, she knew they were on a tight schedule. George insisted that he was well enough to get some work done, though Fred wasn't too happy about it. He only backed off when Hadrian assured him that they were only discussing and planning for now.
"Okay, does everyone remember Professor Snape's suggestion to keep the muggleborn students away from school? I think I have an idea," Hermione said. When she received nods to go ahead, she continued, "Hogwarts owns an enchanted book created by one of the previous Headmasters that automatically records the name and address of magical children born in the UK. There must be indications inside it that mark out muggleborns and muggle-raised, because the school needs to know which students to organise the Diagon Alley tours for. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout were in charge of the tour for me and all the other muggleborn students in our year."
George's eyes lit up. "So if we just get that book-"
"-we'll have the information we need!" Fred finished with a satisfied grin.
"How are we even supposed to get it though?" Ron asked, "I figure it should be heavily guarded 'cos it's so important."
"I'm sure Professor McGonagall would lend it to us if we tell her our reasons," Hadrian said, "She wants to protect them as much as we do."
"We would have to go to Hogwarts though," Ginny muttered, frowning in worry, "It that really safe?"
Heather shook her head. "I don't see why we all have to go. Hadrian definitely can't. The safest bet would be for me to go to Hogwarts. I'm the only one with a viable excuse to be there, anyway."
"But you can't go alone!" Hadrian protested. The others echoed his opinion.
She held up her hands. "Okay, okay. How about the twins come with me? George can get looked at by Madam Pomfrey while he's at it."
George pouted and was about to say something when his twin gave him a warning look which shut him up.
"So, that's the plan. Heather, Fred and George go to the castle and borrow the book from McGonagall," Ginny said.
Humming thoughtfully, Heather considered something. "Why don't we steal it?"
"What?" came collectively from the group.
"Why go to the trouble when we could just ask Professor McGonagall?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes.
Quirking her lip, Heather waited for them to settle before continuing. "I don't mean that literally. But what if we just keep the book in our possession for as long as Hogwarts is under Voldie's control? Professor McGonagall can just say it went missing one day. No one would know we're the ones who have it. That way, Snakeface can't get the addresses of the students."
Her friends and brother stared owlishly at her.
Ron, surprisingly, was the first to break the silence.
"That's brilliant! And maybe we could get McGonagall to not send letters to the incoming muggleborn firsties, so they wouldn't even know about Hogwarts! They'd be safe from Noseless!"
"But Ron," Hermione said, "we can't just not let them know about magic! They would be a danger to themselves and those around them if left untrained!"
The boy deflated, slumping in dejection. "I kinda thought...this would only be for this year."
"We have to be prepared for the worst though. We might not be able to defeat Riddle within the year," Ginny said slowly, face grim.
It was a sobering thought.
"It would still be safer for them," George said.
"Yeah, way better than being targeted by DEs at school," Fred added.
Hermione sighed, agreeing. "Okay, so we'll go with that plan. When do you think you should go?" she asked, facing Heather and the twins.
They looked at each other, coming to a silent agreement.
"Right after this meeting, the sooner the better."
"Alright," Hadrian said, "Is there anything else we should talk about?"
"The horcruxes," Ron immediately piped up, "We said there might be one at Hogwarts. While you guys are there, you should contact the elves for help like we talked about."
Heather nodded.
"Heather said Professor Snape listed Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov as possible keepers of a horcrux," Hermione said, "I thought it over. What would be the safest place someone would store something?"
"At home," Hadrian said.
The brunette inclined her head slightly. "Yes, that's one, but I was thinking somewhere like Gringotts."
It made sense. Lestrange or Dolohov wouldn't know what the object was, presumably. Heather couldn't really see Voldie divulging such sensitive information to them. All they would know was that their Lord had entrusted a priceless treasure to them with strict orders to keep it safe. The most secure location in Wizarding Britain was Gringotts. No one has ever stolen anything from the bank successfully before, that incident with Quirrellmort back in third year notwithstanding.
Ron groaned. "Okay, but if that's the case, how are we supposed to get it then? We'd never be able to steal from goblins!"
"Never say never, dear brother!" Fred said, throwing an arm around him.
George did the same on his other side. "Yes, dear Ronnie. I'm sure with our wide selection of products we'd be perfectly armed for a measly little robbery."
"We don't have to steal, do we?" Hadrian asked in dismay, "The goblins will kill us!"
Ginny shot him a grin. "Why Hadrian, not up for the challenge?"
"What is with this sudden fascination with theft?" Hermione threw her hands up helplessly. "I'm sure we can find an easier alternative, the goblins are a reasonable lot."
"Hermione's right," Heather said, stifling a laugh, "While I'm always up for a little cloak and dagger, I think negotiation would be a smarter move this time. I don't we want to risk the wrath of the goblin kingdom. We might trigger the gazillionth goblin rebellion and I don't think we need the trouble."
"There's only been 107 recorded rebellions so far, actually," Hermione said, seemingly unable to help herself.
"You're the only one I know who pays attention in HoM, Mione," Ron said rolling his eyes.
"That can't be true!" Hermione cast her gaze around the room and landed upon Heather. "I'm sure Heather is as diligent in the class!"
Fred and George snorted in laughter.
"Puh-lease, Heather-harp here does everything except-"
"-listen to Binns. We've seen her doing everything, from-"
"-doing homework, working on runes to even practicing spells in class!"
The look of utter betrayal Hermione gave her was so funny it made her almost feel bad. "I think we should get back to the topic."
"Yeah, good idea," Hadrian said, leaping to change the subject to prevent any possible conflict. "Maybe we should contact Griphook? He's our account manager."
"Goblins hate wizards though," Ginny said, "How will we convince them to help us?"
"They'll do almost anything for a fee," Heather said. "We just need to find out what they want in return."
"It's also well-known that goblins hate thievery, so mentioning that Lestrange's or Dolohov's vault might contain a stolen object will at least get them to check it out," Hermione pointed out.
Hadrian then clapped his hands once. "Okay, that's that then! Heather, Fred and George will go to Hogwarts to get the book and ask the elves to look for a possible horcrux while the rest of us go to Gringotts to talk to the goblins!"
"But mate, you sure it's safe for you to be out?" Ron asked, turning to her brother.
"Actually," Hermione started, in the tone Heather recognised to be her teaching one, "Gringotts is considered sovereign land of the goblin kingdom. Wizards don't fight there, or they could get executed under goblin law. All clients of the bank are protected, no matter their status in the wizarding world. A wanted criminal could walk in the bank and get service there without a problem."
"That's right," Heather said. "So it should be fine for you lot to floo over directly into the bank, but it would still be prudent to be in disguises so you don't draw attention."
"Polyjuice?" Ginny asked eagerly. Heather realised the girl was probably the only one among them who hadn't tried the potion before.
"A little overkill, don't you think?" Hadrian raised a sceptical brow. "Wouldn't a glamour be fine? We'll be in a private room for most of the visit, we only need to be disguised when walking between the room and the floo in the lobby."
Sighing, Ginny reluctantly agreed.
"Okay, so everyone knows what to do?" Heather asked, looking at each person. When everyone agreed, she continued, "Each of you have your portkeys with you?" They all held the necklaces out for her to see. "Alright, then I suppose we can head out now. Try not to stand out, we want to be sneaky."
Heather, Fred and George went through the floo first while the others put on their glamours. Their destination was her quarters in Hogwarts. It was the only floo she trusted to be secure in the castle.
"Hold on, guys. I want to get something from the lab," she said when they had arrived.
"Need any help?" George asked.
"Nah, you guys can just take a seat. This might take a while."
The twins shrugged and did as she suggested while she walked to the door that connected her rooms to the private potions lab. When she opened it, however, the sight in front of her had her freezing in shock.
"Severus?"
"What? Snape's here?" Fred and George said at the same time from somewhere behind her.
The man had turned swiftly at the sound of her voice and was now facing her from his position in front of the bookshelves.
"Heather." Merlin, his voice. Patronus messages were a pale imitation when faced with the real thing.
It felt like ages since she had last set eyes on him. She hadn't been prepared to see him again so soon. Though she should have known it was a possibility. This lab was shared between the both of them, after all. She'd thought he would be holed up in Voldie's hideout, however, not in Hogwarts.
She cursed herself for not remembering to check her map before coming to Hogwarts. The place could be swarming with DEs, maybe even Lord No-Nose himself, and she wouldn't have known!
Her legs started moving through no conscious decision of hers, bringing her to stand right in front of the man. Without thinking about it, she flung her arms around him, hugging him tightly. The familiar scent of herbs and ink washed over her, releasing a knot in her stomach she hadn't noticed was there. Ever so slowly, she could feel the tense line of his own shoulders loosen as his arms crept upwards to reciprocate the hug.
"Ummm."
The voice startled her, causing her to practically leap out of the embrace.
Fred was standing by the doorway, looking to the side awkwardly. "We'll just go ahead, yeah? Meet you back in your rooms later. Bye!" Then he was gone, the door closed behind him.
Her face burned red hot as she fought a groan. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten about Fred and George.
"I'm so glad you're alright," she said, to break the stilted silence.
Severus tilted his head in acknowledgement. "As am I. I presume you lot escaped to a safe house after the attack at the Weasleys' house?"
"Yes, don't worry, we're as safe as can be." Hesitating for a moment, she mustered up the courage to ask, "Were you there?"
Something dark flickered over his face and he jerked his head in a reluctant nod. "Please convey my apologies to Mr Weasley."
It took her a moment, but she soon understood what he meant. Her heart hurt. Hurt that George had suffered such an injury. Hurt that Severus had been forced to do it.
"You did what you had to do.," she said eventually, "George will be fine. You were the one who taught me the countercourse, after all."
She was willing to bet that he had used the spell only because of that fact. Placing a reassuring hand on his arm, it was then that she realised how close she had drifted to him again. It was like she was a magnet drawn to him.
Severus' eyes were aimed downwards and she followed his gaze to her arms. When she realised what he was staring at, she flinched back, hands coming up to cover her scars. She looked away, unable to see what reaction he had. It was the first time she felt self-conscious about them.
The gentle touch surprised her at first.
Severus grasped her hands and pulled at them lightly, wanting to expose her arms. She tried to resist, but she was helpless against the soft, but insistent, prodding. He didn't release his hold, bringing her arms up higher. Perhaps for a closer look?
Her heart about jumped out of her chest when, instead, he brought each wrist to his lips for a tender, lingering kiss. There was no disgust or disdain, like she had feared. Tears blurred her vision and she had had blink rapidly to stop herself from crying. There was so much she was feeling she was hard-pressed to put it into words.
"Rumour has it that you were the one who took down Greyback," he murmured, lips brushing against her skin with every movement.
She gave a watery smile. "I didn't realise tales of my valiant battle had spread so far."
"I'm afraid you are treading on thin ice. One more act of bravery and it's the lion's den for you," Severus said teasingly. He finally lowered her arms, letting go with one last caress along the dark lines marring her skin. The touch sent a tiny shiver down her spine.
The serious expression returned to Severus' face. "Are you well?"
The words 'I'm fine' were on the tip of her tongue, but the searching look he gave her was enough to stop her. He wasn't looking for empty platitudes and nonchalance.
She shied away slightly, worried about his reaction. "My arms, they tremble if I work them too hard, or cast too much magic. I tried brewing Wolfsbane the other day and they started shaking halfway through the eighth step."
She heard a shocked intake of breath.
"I'm working on a potion, though!" she hurried to add, "Using Wolfsbane as a reference, I'm trying to invent something that can get rid of the lingering werewolf magic in the scars. I have the outline of the recipe planned out already. There are just a few reactions I have to test for."
"Hush." Heather immediately shut her mouth. "I have no doubt you will succeed in your endeavour."
"But what if I don't?" she whispered, unable to stop her secret fear from spilling forth. "What if I'm stuck like this for life? I'll never be able to brew anything more complicated than Veritaserum, my hands will be useless for heavy spellcasting. What if I'm not good enough? No one has been able to do anything about werewolf scarring."
"And no one was able to integrate runes and potions until you came along," Severus countered smoothly. "Frankly, I doubt there is anything you cannot do once you set your mind and frighteningly powerful magic to it."
"But what if?"
Severus grasped her chin gently between his thumb and index finger, tilting her head up so she could look straight at him.
"If, after exhausting every single avenue and lead, no cure can be created, then we will accept it, adapt and move forward. Your arms may not be in top condition, but you can still use them. I refuse to believe that you will let such a setback defeat you."
And that, that was more comforting than it had any right to be. Hadrian's blind faith was reassuring, nice, but Severus, like her, was realistic enough to know that having drive and brilliance and power did not necessarily equate a successful outcome. Sometimes, bad things just happened and could not be changed.
That Severus was willing to stay by her side despite her injury was something she had sorely needed to hear. She had not missed the way he said 'we', like they were a team, united against the odds.
Heather was sick of feeling like this. She was sick of pitying herself when she had gotten off fairly lightly, considering the reputation of the werewolf who had attacked her. Severus' words were the last kick she needed to get back to her feet. She would try her hardest to find a cure, but even if she didn't succeed, it wasn't the end of the world. Alastor Moody had lost an eye and a leg and he just put on prosthetics and kept on going. She could damned well carry on her life with limbs that just got tired faster than usual.
And looking at Severus, the faith and promise in his eyes, she believed.
~~~
Later, after the moment had passed, Severus cleared his throat and asked, "Should I ask what you and the twin menaces are doing in the castle?"
"I don't think so. Plausible deniability and all that."
He gave her an incredulous frown. "That serious?"
"Possibly. You might find out later anyway. Sorry in advance if you get in trouble with him for this." No need to state who 'him' was.
"I imagine it won't be anything I haven't experienced yet. He does get so repetitive with his spells," Severus said dryly.
No matter how blasé the man was about it, the Cruciatus wasn't fun to experience. She was far from pleased at the thought of Severus suffering, but it wasn't anything she could do about it.
"Please take care of yourself," she said earnestly, "There are people who worry for you." The sceptical look he had made her sigh. "I worry for you," she specified.
Severus visibly softened at her words. "I shall do my best." It was all he could promise.
"Good." She spent a few moments just drinking in the sight of him. With great reluctance, she turned away. "I have to go now. There are things I need to do."
"Have you had any progress with your brother's predicament?"
The reminder had her slouching in dejection. "Not yet, no. All the books I have don't mention anything useful about preserving the, the vessel." She scowled in disgust at using the word. "And you?"
"Unfortunately not. However, you may want to look into purification rituals."
She nodded. "Oh, and there's possibly one of them inside Hogwarts. We'll ask the house elves to help us search, but you can take a look around as well."
"Do you know what it could be?"
"Possibly a large golden cup called Hufflepuff's Cup. It could be something else entirely as well."
"First Slytherin's Locket, now Hufflepuff's Cup. The man has no shame, tainting the Founders' relics the way he did," Severus sneered.
The words seemed to set off an alarm in her mind. Heather gasped and gripped Severus' hand. Her heart pounded in excitement. "Do you think," she said, thinking rapidly, "do you think it's possible?"
"What is?"
"That Riddle sought the Founder's items on purpose! If that's true, the remaining object could be something that belonged to Gryffindor or Ravenclaw!"
"It seems possible," Severus said slowly, "I could certainly see him being arrogant enough."
"I know Gryffindor was famous for a sword he wielded, and Ravenclaw for a diadem that supposedly bestowed immeasurable intelligence to the wearer," she recalled, thinking of the history book she had read years ago. "I don't know where both of them ended up, however."
"I think I know a possible lead for that." Heather looked at him, curious. "The Sorting Hat was created by Gryffindor. It may know where the sword ended up, perhaps even the diadem."
"That's great! Where is the Sorting Hat stored?"
"In Albus'-" Severus' face darkened, "the Headmaster's office."
Her excitement tapered off as she looked at Severus in concern. She may not have liked the old coot, but she knew Severus had had complicated feelings towards him. Dumbledore had both saved him and shackled him. Being forced to end his life had not made the situation less complicated.
It was clear he did not wish to speak of the matter, however, so she pretended not to notice the way his fists knuckled white or the tension spilling off him in waves.
"I shall look into it," he eventually said stonily. "Should there be any new information, I will contact you through the usual means."
Heather nodded. "Thank you. The others are currently at Gringotts. We think one of the objects are inside a bank vault. Hadrian and I have had a good relationship with our account manager so far, so we hope we'll be able to work out an agreement with the bank."
"The goblins will want something in return," Severus said, "For a favour of this magnitude, I'm afraid the price will be substantial."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Heather said flippantly, "I'd give away the whole Potter fortune to see Riddle defeated." What were material possessions when the alternative was subjugation under a madman? The choice was an easy one to make.
His frown grew more pronounced. "Gold is the least of our concerns. They could demand something much more than that." He shook his head, sighing.
She couldn't stifle the warm smile that stole across her face at the obvious worry Severus held. As natural as breathing, she leaned up, rising on her tiptoes to bring her face closer to Severus'. Any regret or hesitance she might have had for her bold actions didn't even get a chance to sink their claws into her.
Her mind quietened as all her attention zoomed in on his dark gaze. She paused for a moment when her lips were a hairsbreadth from his, waiting for him to lean back, push her away, but no such resistance came. In fact, it was him who closed the remaining distance between them, joining their lips in a soft, slow kiss.
It was unlike any of the kisses they had shared before. There was no impulsiveness, no heat-of-the-moment excuses to hide behind. It was gentle, deliberate, all-encompassing and all the more fulfilling for them.
The slide of Severus' lips against hers made her want to melt into his embrace, to sink into him and stay there forever. To carve a little niche in his heart to make a home in, like he had in hers.
And when, after too little time, they separated, she looked into his eyes and saw that perhaps she wasn't too far off her goal.