Web of Time Respun

Disclaimer: We don’t own this at all. Harry Potter is a product of J.K.Rowling and Co., various other places, etc ... and see author’s notes for further crediting.

Prologue

Severus Snape had fled Hogwarts out of self-preservation, dragging a shell-shocked Draco Malfoy with him. It wasn\'t until much later, when they were safely away, far away, ensconced in a safe house that Dumbledore himself had set up for him for just such an emergency, that he slowed down enough for the mind-numbing grief to take hold of him. He had killed his mentor, the man who had saved him and loved him like his drunken father had never done. The man who had given him a chance at redemption.

The only balm to the enormous wound was that he had saved the boy, whom he had similar feelings for, though he felt for Draco more like an older brother to a younger. The fact that Albus had ordered him to do it was no comfort- if anything, it made the burden that much greater.

He knew the day that Dumbledore\'s funeral was to be held on, all of the papers had proclaimed it, and both the men, dark and light, wished that they could attend. It wouldn\'t be possible, however. So many Aurors and Order members would be there that even heavily disguised, they wouldn\'t make it five steps. There hadn\'t been time for Dumbledore\'s Pensieve to be discovered yet; it detailed his mental will and explanation for the proceedings of the last several days. That would come soon, he knew. Fawkes would retrieve the scroll, and Minerva would be pointed in the right direction.

Snape was too much of a realist to pretend that even after that he would be forgiven. His help might- probably would- be solicited, but only grudgingly, for the greater good, not because of who he was.

But until the truth was discovered, he and Draco would have to be in hiding. He always had contingency plans, though they would be stressed in having to stretch to cover the both of them. There would be no leaving Draco behind, however.

It was after the funeral that the hard choices came about. There was no way that Severus was going to allow Draco to go back- at this point the younger Malfoy was still too susceptible to the doctrines he had been raised with. Severus was finally starting to get through the brain washing the boy had received at home.

There was also the mission to find as many of the Horcruxes as possible and get them to Harry Potter. It had disturbed Severus to see the hate in Harry\'s eyes that last night, and yet he knew that he could only blame it on himself. He had fostered and fed that hatred, using images of James and the Marauders, and all he felt he could do was wait for Harry to kill him. In the end, he felt that he deserved it.

At first the going was rough, because they were working with the limited clues that Albus had ordered sent to him in his will. The clues led them to the Scottish coast where one of the soul pieces was found in the tomb of a Nazi soldier. Severus could appreciate the irony of it. They used an anonymous owl to send the piece to the Order.

From there, they were off to Ireland. Severus was thankful that at least he knew about traveling as a Muggle. Poor Draco was at a complete loss and that made blending in that much more difficult. Draco was changing during this time as well, transforming from a sullen, arrogant brat to a more globally aware young man who was almost pleasant to be around at times.

It took them a month and a half, but they had managed to collect two more Horcruxes, passing them, with some difficulty, to the Order. Severus had managed to add a note to Arthur Weasley, trying to explain. The cryptic answer that came back was, that ‘the truth was known.’

What truth he meant, Severus was not sure. He had always held a reluctant respect for the Weasleys, particularly the matriarch of the clan. Molly had always had a kind word and a cup of tea waiting when he came to Grimmauld Place, no matter that he never said a word of thanks and snarled constantly. She had a way of understanding people that he rather admired, not that he would ever tell her so.

He hoped that the truth included the fact that Draco had not taken the Dark Mark, and that Severus had done what he had to in order to save the boy\'s soul. Their travels proved to be illuminating for the boy, providing him with more education in the real world than he had ever had in school. It was amusing to the dark man to watch Draco discover things in the Muggle world- especially regarding fashion. There had been more than one occasion that Severus had to tug Draco onwards because the lad was staring at some girl\'s jean-clad backside.

Their hunts were exhausting, and dangerous. He was sure that the Potter boy did not appreciate the full extent of what they were doing for him. He couldn\'t say that he blamed him, precisely, but a little Gryffindor leniency would be appreciated at times.

The Granger girl, however ... she had shown a surprising amount of maturity about the situation. The last letter that had found its way to them had included a small care package of medical potions and easily kept foodstuffs, all labeled in her careful hand.

As the summer waned, Severus knew that the Final Battle would soon be at hand. Because he was out of England itself, he couldn\'t be called directly to the Dark Lord\'s side, but he could still feel the roiling anger of the feared tyrant surging through the Mark on his arm; a constant reminder to him of all that he was striving for. Even if I never see it, just being free of this pain will make the Dark Lord\'s fall worth it. For Severus, though, the biggest goal was making sure that Draco was safe.

At least the Muggle traveling was getting easier with the boy. Draco had developed a healthy appreciation for all that Muggles could do without magic. He had somehow developed a fascination of sorts with DVDs and the cinema, often attempting to drag Severus to new releases as regularly as they could. Severus knew that he had little to fear about Draco going back to his pureblooded ways, as every now and then the boy would talk about never returning to the wizarding world at all. If things go the wrong way you might just have to do that my young friend...

They were in Wales now, not too far from Godric\'s Hollow. Ironic that the last piece of the Dark Lord\'s soul would be so close to where his nemesis was born. It was probably the Dark Lord\'s arrogance that led him to think that no one would think to look around the Potters’ ancestral home.

Severus wondered what would happen once they sent the last piece on to the Order. He had made plans for them to leave for France as soon as they found it, not wanting to be anywhere in the British Isles when the Final Battle occurred; not for fear of his own life, but because he needed to know that he had done his best for Draco and given him a chance to survive.

***

Hermione was the one to receive the final owl, with the final, warded Horcrux contained within the package. Her thoughts, as always, went to the two men who were on the run, hunting these all important items for Harry. Where would they go now? Were they truly safe? Would they ever come back?

She fervently hoped that they would. They could be a big help in the Final Battle, but somehow she knew they wouldn\'t return for that. Feelings on both sides were too ambiguous and hostile for their return to be safe.

Hermione had been the one to come up with the combination of spells used to disarm a Horcrux. She hadn\'t done it completely on her own, input from various Order members at different points had helped, as had the creative thinking of the Half-Blood Prince, straight out of his text book. It wasn\'t so much the spells in them that helped, but the process Snape had used to come to his conclusions. Hermione had played with spells before, \'tweaking\' them for her own use, but reading his findings had given her the understanding she needed to learn to craft her own unique spells.

After this, there would be only one more Horcrux, and Voldemort. Snape and Malfoy couldn\'t be expected to get a hold of Nagini. Everyone was sure that the giant snake held the last portion of Tom Riddle\'s soul, except for the small piece that still resided in the husk of a man.

She sighed, setting the items upon the table in the basement, casting the preparatory spells. Harry had to be the one to destroy them, yes, but she could and would lay the groundwork for him. As powerful as he was, she knew the spells best, and one mistake could be very dangerous.

It was dawn when the Order felt ready to make their move. Unlike other days the sky was not dark and gloomy. The sun was rising making the sky look almost bloody. When Hermione saw it she found it most appropriate since she knew that a lot of blood would be shed that night before it was all over. All she could was hope that those she held dear to her heart would make it through.

***

Severus and Draco were making their way to the Cardiff Airport. It had taken more time than he had counted on to travel incognito through Wales, because he knew that the Aurors were probably on the lookout for them. From the time they had risen, Severus knew that this was the day when all of the answers would be revealed, and that the light would either be put out or continue shining brightly.

There in the airport, Severus started handing papers to Draco and he spoke in a soft yet firm voice.

\"Now once we arrive in Paris, I want you to hail a cab and have it take you to the central Banque de France. Inside, you will ask for money from account number 8792731. In the safety deposit box you will find a set of identification papers for yourself. From there, leave France as soon as you can. Draco, you must promise me this.\"

Draco looked at his mentor with confusion. Severus wasn\'t going with him? He had to come. So many frantic thoughts ran through his head it took a couple of seconds for it to all form words in his mouth.
\"But Severus, I can\'t do this without you! Aren’t you coming with me?\"

Draco\'s words cut into Severus like a dull knife, the shrillness of the boy\'s voice reminding him that he was just that... a child in so many ways. It pained him to leave him, but Severus also knew that he had to stay close by, just in case the Dark Lord succeeded. Someone would have to remain to start up the resistance again, and if there were Order survivors, Severus knew he would do his best to get them out of England.

\"You will do fine, Draco. You have learned a lot these past few months. If all goes well, I will find you and join you, but if it doesn\'t, I know I have to stay and try to help. Please understand, I have to do this.\"

The pain in his godfather\'s voice moved Draco. For most of his life Severus had been one of the few people he could count on, and the only who had always told him the truth.

\"Uncle, if you stay, I stay, and you cannot move me on this. You saved my life... let it count for something now.\"

The maturity that Draco was now displaying was something new and the seriousness in his voice could not be ignored. Severus nodded before making the call to change their flight arrangements. If all went well they would leave to Paris together to start new lives, together.

***

The battle was hard. Of course, battles aren\'t supposed to be easy. The whole point of them was blood and death, and the ones with less blood and death at the end of it all were the winners.

Both sides were suffering losses by the time Harry Potter finally got to the Dark Lord. It was almost anticlimactic, and even amusing, once enough time for reflection was taken afterwards. Harry had his wand in one hand, Gryffindor’s sword in the other. The Dark Lord practically launched himself at The-Boy-Who-Lived-So-Many-Times, and Harry had thrown his arms up defensively ... and Voldemort had looked down to find that he was impaled on the sword.

His death had been quick. Harry hadn’t really even realized what had happened. As he released the sword, the body of the most feared man of the century fell back onto the ground.

What happened next was a bit of a blur to most people. An unseen magical backlash was released with the final beat of the snaky heart, and all of a sudden, the remaining Death Eaters were on the ground. Aurors and students moved forward hesitantly, only to skitter back when several Death Eaters threw off their masks to reveal befuddled faces.

Young, befuddled faces. Hermione immediately noticed how the robes hung differently, as if on leaner, younger bodies. Bodies aged from around sixteen to nineteen.

The ages of the men and women when they got the Mark, she realized.

“What? Where are we?” a young Bellatrix Lestrange asked, looking around with wide, dark eyes, looking nearly panicked.

*****

Later that night, a group of weary and shocked people sat around the table in Grimmauld Place. This sudden, strange turn of events was unnerving.

And things weren’t about to get easier. Fate proved this when a sudden loud pounding echoed through the first floor of the manor- someone was at the front door.

Hermione rose and went to answer it, wand held out warily. She opened the door to find a wild-eyed Draco Malfoy, whose hand was clamped around the wrist of a confused looking young man who could only be Severus Snape.

“Please ... Granger ... what happened tonight? He doesn’t even know who I am!” the boy... no, young man... said, his voice desperate. “What the hell is going on?”

A/N: This is a story written by Gelsey and Anijade, collaboratively. The idea for the Death Eater de-aging was taken, with permission, from Dodge-This off of ff.net- her story can be found here (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1926446/1/ ). A big thank you to Somigliana for beta-ing- you rock!! Any mistakes left are ours.