Blood of the Virgin Witch

Blood of the Virgin Witch


All Harry Potter characters belong to JK Rowling and to those with whom she has agreed contracts. This story was written for practice not profit.

The Vigil


Severus was the first to wake. He gazed blearily around himself, trying to work out where he was.

“Ah Severus,” came the familiar voice ofus Dus Dumbledore. “How are you feeling?”

“Why am I not dead?” he enquired hoarsely.

Dumbledore conjured a glass of water and handed it to him.

“You were dead for a while but you seemed to get over it. The strengthening potion seems to be effective against the Killing Curse. As far as Lucius and I can work out you were dead for about twenty minutes.”

“Lucius?”

“He and Narcissa are confined to a guest room and have surrendered their wands.”

“How did you catch them?”

“Lucius came to us. He decided to defect and brought your body with him as an offering of good faith. He wished to thwart your plan to use Miss Granger to get to Potter. We fetched Narcissa for him because he was worried about her. He has told us Voldemort’s location and we’re heading off in a moment to try and put an end to him.”

“Did you put him under Veritaserum?”

“I did. I am satisfied that losing his son has changed his perspective on life. You need to rest now and look after that pretty little wife of yours. She’s sleeping now but if you’d taken much longer to come back to life she’d be dead.”

“Where are we?”

“In the Chapel. We laid you out in here and put her beside you in an attempt to stop her pain. Then when we realised you were both just sleeping Minerva transfigured the altar into a bed. I must leave you now my dear boy, everyone is congregating round the gates.”

“I should be coming with you.”

“No you should not. There are enough of us and Voldemort has only two Death Eaters with him. According to Lucius nearly all the othernt hnt home earlier today with a hefty dose of ‘Crucio’ so even if he does summon them they won’t be very quick off the mark.”

“Did you find an extra wand for Potter?”

“He’s taking Lily’s. I let him try it and he seems compatible with it.”

“That seems fitting. Must I really stay here?”

“You’ve died once today already. I was grieved to lose you in your prime and if you die so does she. You were not blessed with the ‘Natura Confundere’, so you could kill her within twenty-four hours. It implies that you will have a future together and found a dynasty.”

“She doesn’t want this Albus.”

“She’s young. She’ll adjust and you will teach her. She’s frightened at the moment but she does love you… I must go my boy… take good care of her.”

With that Albus Dumbledore faded away.

Hermione stirred when her husband resumed their embrace. He looked at her face adoringly and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was him. She threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight.

“I dreamed you died,” she said. “I wanted to die too.”

“Lucius cast the Killing Curse on me. I did die briefly but I recovered thanks to the potion. You suffered quite badly because of the bond. I’m all right now and you will be too.”

“Where are we?”

“The Chapel. It’s only used for funerals. They laid me out in here and brought you to me. Minerva gave us the bed when they realised we were going to survive the experience.”

“I’d rather be in your bed.”

“Can you walk?”

“I think so.”

“In that case we can go back to my rooms.”

“Shouldn’t we tell someone where we’ve gone?”

“There’s no one to tell. All the members of the Order have gone to fight the Dark Lord. They have probably engaged by now.”

“They’ve gone without us?”

“They have. I was awake when Albus left and he told me that my role was to stay here and look after you. By all accounts it isn’t going to be much of a battle. Lucius has defected and was able to reveal the location of his camp so we could get to him. He’s only got Bella and Wormtail with him. If the attack is swift enough he won’t have chance to summon the others.”

“Are we going to win?”

“Yes. Of course if you want a second opinion we could go and annoy Sybil.”

“I won’t be able to rest again until everyone comes back.”

“You seem reasonably healthy considering. We could take a walk down to the gates to watch for them.”

“Let’s do that.”

They walked out of the Chapel hand in hand. Thanks to the fact that it was now after curfew they were not seen and Severus was careful to let her set the pace on the walk down to the gates.

They sat down on the grass verge at the side of the road.

“You should have worn a cloak,” he said. “Come, let me warm you.”

She settled into his lap without argument and he pulled his cloak around to cover her as well.

“You are a Wizard you know,” she said after a moment. “You could have used a charm.”

“To borrow your phrase, where’s the fun in that? I like holding you. Sooner or later we will have to address the fact that you are my wife according to tradition if not law. I know that you were less than pleaseout out it but there is no going back.”

“I’m so sorry about earlier. I hated myself for hurting you so much. I was so frightened.”

“Of me?”

“No, not of you. I love you. I’ve always believed that marriage is the most important choice I’d ever have to make. It’s a decision that affects every aspect of your future. We don’t divorce in our family. My parents might not go to Mass but they gave me the social values that go with Christianity. I was so shocked that I didn’t get to make the decision at all. I do love you and I hoped that one day we might choose each other but I didn’t dare think about it too much because it was too soon. Am I making sense?”

“Perfect sense. I had never dared hope that you would choose me. I have never felt anything for another woman compared to what I feel for you. When I realised what we’ve been given I was elated. You will always be mine. You will never want another man. If you will give me children they will be outstanding among their peers. This gift is so rare. I didn’t stop to consider how you would feel about it. I didn’t realise that you would feel cheated.”

“Do you want me to have children?”

“I would love for you to have children… but there’s no hurry. You might like to wait until….” He broke and appeared to be in some kind of pain.

“What’s wrong?”

“The Mark!”

“Are you being called?” she asked anxiously, moving off him.

“No look!” He pulled up the loose sleeve of the shabby robe he wore. She looked.

“I can’t see it,” she said puzzled and then it dawned on her. “The Mark is gone!”

“Not just faded! There isn’t even a scar this time! He’s dead.”

“We’ve won.”

She dropped back into his lap again and he cradled her in his arms.

“We have indeed. It’s all over bar the shouting… and the legal matters.”

“Legal matters?”

“Trials of Death Eaters. The Ministry mice will be coming out into the open to savage them now they are no longer a threat. I will be a witness… There is also the matter of our own legal status.”

“Meaning?”

“The ‘Natura Confundere’ does not count as a marriage in terms of law. The law requires ceremony and witnesses. I would be honoured to marry you in any way you deem appropriate, at the time of your choosing.”

“Is that a proposal?”

“Yes. We are bound by the power we carry but other aspects of marriage, the way we share our bodies, our living arrangements, the bearing of children and the public witness of our commitment are all things you can control.”

“We can control, you mean…. Not just me.”

“I am happy with what I have been given. I am willing to cede the control to you. You’re very young… I forget sometimes how young you are. It’s important that you are comfortable with the way things develop. We are lovers. We cannot stop that without harming ourselves. I will be content with that until you are ready to move forward. The proposal stands until it is accepted.”

“I’m so young to get married.”

“You are young, yes.”

“I thought I’d have an education and career first.”

“You have a long time in which to do everything. We can expect to live a hundred years together. I’m hardly going to lock you up in the dungeon all the time. I work hard in term time and so can you. You can teach, study, even research if you want to. I’m not going to turn into a tyrant and demand a baby every year until you wear out. When you’re ready to have babies I will gladly father them on you but it would be nice for you to have your babies at the same time as your friends have theirs. We are bound. We will never want to take other lovers. We will always be drawn to intimacy with each other. It’s not as though by delaying the marriage you will find a more suitable partner to take instead. Our marriage will be what we make it. At the moment a union of a teenage girl and a forty old teacher with a difficult past will be different from the marriage we will have when you are in your thirties and the one we will have when our children are making their own way in the world.”

“You’d let me make my own choices about career and such?”

“Yes, within reason.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I would not be happy if you were to permanently station yourself outside of apparating range without it being a joint decision. Western Europe is fine but Egypt or South America would be difficult unless I moved with you.”

“That’s reasonable enough. I suppose if we don’t marry I won’t be able to stay with you now. I don’t think I could handle separation.”

“Albus recognises the situation. He respects the bond.”

“I don’t see the point in waiting. As long as most people come back tonight I will marry you straight after NEWTs.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. I’ll need to introduce you to my parents.”

“I’ve never had any social dealings with Muggles before.”

“What about your family?” she asked curiously.

“I’m the head of my line. I have uncles and cousins of varying degrees but no parents, grandparents or siblings.”

“What happened to your parents?”

“My father killed my mother and was executed for it in Azkaban. I was a witness against him at his trial. I came to school a year early because of it. I daresay I will tell you the whole story one day but not today.”

He sounded exhausted and Hermione sought to comfort him.

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”

“It’s not something people mention…”

He was interrupted by the faint pops of a double Apparition. It was Fred and George.

“One of them is injured,” said Hermione.

They got and raced over to the twins.

“George got bit by that bloody great snake,” said Fred bitterly. “Dumbledore said you’d be a better bet than St Mungo’s. I’ve tried sucking on the wound but I don’t know if I got it all.”

“By the look of it I’d say not,” said Severus tersely. “I’ve got an anti venom for it in here. I never trusted the damn thing myself. I always carried it with me. Lay him down, I’ll need to inject this.”

He pulled a tiny phial out of one of his pockets and conjured a small syringe. He drew of some of the liquid, and injected it into George’s arm.

“Get him up to Madam Pomfre she she can monitor him. Are there many more casualties?”

“No serious ones. The Lestrange woman was drugged or she could have done more damage than she did. The rat fellow tried to run off but we caught him. Then we watched the duel between Voldemort and Harry and Harry killed him. They’ll be gone a while. The Ministry are all over the place taking statements and such.”

“Good. I’m glad. Take him up Fred. He’s going to be fine but he’ll need looking after.”

Fred left them, levitating his unconscious brother in front of him.

“It’s not quite the battle we all imagined is it?” said Hermione.

“No thank Merlin, but life is like that. Lucius saved a great loss of life by his actions.”

“Do you forgive him for what he did to you?”

“That’s a hard question… I can understand why he did it. I always felt that when the battle came I would kill him. We go back a long way. I used to holiday with his family like you go to the Burrow. Try to imagine if twenty years down the line you found yourself in life or death opposition to Harry or Ron.”

“How do you stay sane? All the things you’ve had to do?”

“I don’t know… a man does what he has to. Many of my difficulties stem from my own foolishness… but the end is in sight now and I have the rest of my life with you to look forward to.”

“I hope I can live up to your expectations.”

“You are my reward and my consolation.”

“I love you Severus… I want to kiss you but…”

“You’re right. If we begin to kiss we will not be able to control ourselves. I take we will stay here for now?”

“Please.”

“We will stay here for now and then later…”

“Later,” she agreed and snuggled against him more tightly. He closed his eyes as he held her and buried his face in her hair. There would always be later.


This is the final chapter of this story unless I add an epilogue in the future. I have had some enquiries about a sequel but I haven’t decided yet. This grew into so much more than the three chapter PWP it was supposed to be.

I am currently working on ‘Love and Parenthood’, which is the sequel to ‘Marriage Vows’ and deals with the events surrounding the birth of Hermione and Severus’ baby. I expect to start posting that in a couple of weeks because as some of you know I like to have things completed in draft before I start posting so I can deliver a chapter a day and there is no risk of running out of steam. If you get bored waiting you might try ‘Marriage Vows’ as it has a lot of subplot around the MLC which might appeal.

I’d like to thank all my reviewerst’s t’s a real boost for an author to get feedback and I appreciate your comments a great deal.