The Fool, the Emperor, and the Hanged Man

Title: The Fool, the Emperor, and the Hanged Man
Author: ianthe_waiting
Rating: MA/NC-17
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter books and their characters are the property of JK Rowling. This is a work of fan-fiction. No infringement is intended, and no money is being made from this story. I am just borrowing the puppets, but this is my stage.
Genre: Suspense, romance, angst
Warnings: Character Death, graphic violence, madness, non-consensual sexual acts, abuse, oral, M/F, and overall darkness. Dark!Harry included.
Summary: DH-EWE: Ten years after the fall of the Dark Lord, Hermione Granger leads of life of self-imposed obscurity, that is, until the day Headmistress Minerva McGonagall is murdered and a certain 'hero' is responsible.
Author's Notes: This fic is in 1st person POV, so take heed. It will eventually be a DM/HG, but there is a squicky scene that might make you think otherwise. There is some non-con in this fic, so if it squicks you, don't read it for Merlin's sake! Comments and ConCrit is welcomed!


The Fool, the Emperor, and the Hanged Man

Part 22





The morning of June 24, 1995, Draco woke me with a hiss, pulling away sharply to grasp his left forearm. We had slept through the night as if we had not slept for years. I could only deduce that the trauma of such a long travel through time had caused us to sleep so soundly. However, as Draco sat up in the bed, still nude for the day before, he gritted his teeth and released a curse.

The Dark Mark was black on his skin, and I gasped as the snake seemed to slither sluggishly.

“Why now?” he gasped as I rose from the bed and began dressing.

I shook my head, my braids flying. “I cannot say, Draco—could He know that you are connected again through the Mark?”

Draco winced as he began to manage the pain. “I don’t think so, it never worked that way before.

Father said that just before the Dark Lord was reborn, the Mark stung, but He did not know who was left among the Death Eaters, not for certain, not until after the night in the cemetery.”

I frowned, and passed Draco his trousers as he stood from the bed. I allowed him to dress while I drew my wand and cast cleansing Charms on both of us.

“Time?” I asked softly, after Draco donned his jerkin.

His face still strained, he cast the Charm. It was 11 am.

At noon, Draco called to me from the parlour, calling my name. I had been in the water closet, washing my face and eyes of sleep. I moved to the door, and peeked into the parlour to see Draco kneeling before the empty hearth, his head looking up into the flue, his wand lit to peer into the dark.

“Have you seen this?” he asked, extracting himself and turning to look at me with a strange grin on his lips.

I frowned, moving to kneel next to Draco as he grasped my hand and pulled me forward so that we were both nearly sticking our heads into the soot coated flue. Lifting the lit yew wand high, he used it to point to a particularly large, smooth stone. I could tell that Draco had brushed some of the soot away.

Carved into the stone were Greek letters reading ‘Δράκων.’ I mumbled the phonetic Greek to myself as Draco pulled me back into the parlour.

“You could not see it until you were sitting just at the hearth, looking up. I was just thinking about that night Potter attacked you, and this fireplace—and then I saw it,” he grumbled, canceling the charm on his wand and slipped it back into his chest holster.

“I have never seen it before,” I whispered, my eyes focusing distantly on the soot smeared over Draco’s hands.

“You can read Greek, can’t you?”

I nodded. Yes, I could.

“What do you think it means?” he asked softly.

I could not answer, my mind whirling.

“It is too odd to be a mere coincidence,” he continued.

I agreed. The only explanation seemed so implausible, ridiculous even.

‘Δράκων’ was Draco—literally ‘Drakon’ in Greek. The name of an ancient Greek lawgiver by whom the world ‘draconian’ had been derived. And, obviously, it was name of the man who knelt next to me.

“Mysteries upon mysteries,” I mumbled.

And no more was said on the matter. Draco too befuddled, and I too overwhelmed with more immediate matters to ponder.

By two pm, the pain had lessened in Draco’s arm, and once again we sat in the parlour floor, eating. I had gone to my day diary again, reading back through what I had written in my Fourth Year.

I paused at my entry for March 6, 1995 and scowled. It had been the day of a Hogsmeade visit.

“I’m really a fool, Draco,” I muttered, glancing up to Draco who was finishing one of the sandwiches I had packed in a basket with a stasis Charm.

“You say that so often, my dear,” he mumbled, his mouth full.

I quirked my lips, noting that he had called me ‘my dear’ quite often.

He sighed, chewing the last of his sandwich, “Why are you a fool?”

I showed him the entry for March 6th.

“One place your Aurors did not look.”

Draco’s eye widened for a moment, and then he smirked. I frowned deeper.

“Sirius used the cave, a cave that is outside the enchantments of either Hogwarts or Hogsmeade. A perfect place to hide.”

Draco nodded. “He cannot be there now. Sirius Black would see him.”

I nodded, but added. “Sirius did not stay in the cave all spring. He had Grimmauld Place. But to be honest, before the Third Task, Sirius had to be close by. He was in the Hospital wing after Harry returned from the cemetery.”

I hated myself for not remembering that day, or the cave. Sirius had used it from March, and intermittently during the rest of the school year. Harry could not risk being seen by anyone, not yet, not until later in the day and in the cemetery at Little Hangleton. If Sirius were to see Harry…I shook my head. Needless to say, Sirius would seriously confuse Harry’s plans.

“Oh, if we could go back right now, back to the day he attacked us outside Hogsmeade, we could stop him,” Draco sighed, stretching his legs so that his dragon hide clad limbs lay on either side of me.

“Too late now.”

I stared at Draco’s boots, thinking, and then I remembered something.

“The other night, when we had dinner with your parents, you mentioned something…” I began, my voice unsure.

Draco nodded, a bottle of butterbeer poised at his lips.

“About a man who disappeared around the same time Harry did—before you arrested Dennis Creevey?”

“Aidoneus. He was a relatively new W.A.T.C.H. member. Creevey mentioned during questioning that Aidoneus was close to Potter.”

I frowned. “Close, how?”

He shrugged before taking a drink. “Uncertain. Creevey’s response to Veritaserum was limited. The bastard purposely built up a tolerance to the stuff.”

I sighed. There was something bothering me, an intuition, perhaps, I could not tell for certain. The fact that the name Aidoneus literally meant ‘unseen one’ was almost slap in the face as far as clues went; I almost wanted to laugh.

Shoving my unease down, I studied my day diary closer. It was a dull diary with very few personal thoughts, but it did contain detailed observations of the events of the day, the weather and the phases of the moon. What few personal remarks were on the grades I received in classes -- mostly complaints as to Severus’ grading method.

Severus, his voice had been silent, and it was disconcerting me. I knew that within a few hours I would be seeing him…but I wondered why exactly.

Why did I need to expose myself and possibly create a paradox? Obviously, I had, Severus had written ‘June 24th 1995, 7:15 pm, contact.’ I knew I had to have told him about the specific times and dates so that he could write them in the cover of ‘Behold the Man.’ He also knew that I needed to convince him that I was somehow in his confidence, speaking words that had a significance, words that no one besides himself and possibly Albus knew in June of 1995. Lily, ‘Tuney, whom I knew to be Petunia Dursley; Spinner’s End, Severus’ home; 1969, the year he had met Lily Evans; and again, with his last words: ‘Half-blood Prince.’

It seemed it would take over an hour to convince him of something as he had written ‘8:45 pm, the task’ before the keywords.

Why did I need Severus?

‘The task’ obviously meant stopping Harry in the cemetery, which meant Apparating to Little Hangleton—and then I realized…

“You have never been to Little Hangleton, have you?”

Draco blinked. “Of course not. I never had to go, the Aurors and Charlie searched the place. I was more concerned with Creevey and Godric’s Hollow.”

I bit my lower lip. “And unless your Mark burns for summons, you would not be able to go to the cemetery with the rest of the Death Eaters?”

Draco shrugged, grabbing another sandwich from the enlarged basket. “I doubt it. Father said that unless the spell of summons came through his Mark, it was very difficult to Apparate any where near the Dark Lord. The old bastard was paranoid that one of his own would try to ‘off’ him.”

I bit my lip harder. Damn. That was why we needed Severus. Severus could get us to Little Hangleton.

I flipped to June 24 in my diary, then to the 25th—and there, written in my own hand was the comment Harry had made about Severus.

‘Dumbledore sent Snape off to do a task. Snape is a spy for the Order of the Phoenix.’

This had happened the night Voldemort was reborn, but I recorded it later since Harry did not tell Ron and I what had happened until later. I suddenly wondered what the task had been.

Draco and I sat on the floor for a long while, in silence. I forced myself to eat, but already, my stomach was twisting in anxiety. I judged the time by the way the light streamed into the parlour, and wished in my soul that sunset would never come.

“We have to time it perfectly, we cannot risk Voldemort or the Death Eaters to see us when we get to the cemetery.”

Draco sighed. We had finally begun talking about contingencies.

“You have the Cloak?” he asked, scratching at the silvery stubble on his jaw.

I smirked, never having once seen Draco Malfoy with any hint of facial hair. “I do. But only one of us can use it.”

He nodded, “It should be you. I can hide by other means, if I must.”

I did not question his words, and continued on.

“Voldemort and the others must be urged to leave as soon as Harry Portkeys back to Hogwarts with Cedric’s body. Harry will be laying in wait until his past self leaves.”

Draco began placing the left over food back in the basket, but said, “I wonder whose wand Potter has now?”

I paused. I had not considered that Harry would need another wand after I had taken the Elder wand and his old wand had been destroyed in the Fiendfyre. Surely one of the W.A.T.C.H. members would have procured a wand for the most wanted man of 2008? Ever since Ollivander had died in 2002, wands were not as easy to obtain, at least, not wands of Ollivander’s perfection.

Conversation moved on as the day’s light began to change.

“We will have to take Harry back with us…I just hope that when we confront him that he has the other Time-Turner.”

“Because they only can allow two?”

I nodded, forgetting that I had told Draco about the Time-Turners earlier that morning.

“We cannot allow his…body…to be found in this time. Even a body would seriously complicate things,” I muttered.

“And if one of us is killed, what do we do?” Draco asked, mixing seriousness with a smirk.

I pressed my lips together between my teeth. Could one shrink a body?

“Burn the body. We have to take Harry’s body back intact so the Aurors can verify that he is no longer a threat.”

Draco turned his eye away from me, and slowly rose, casting a stasis Charm on the basket and shrinking it again.

“There cannot be a trace that we were here, Draco. Not a trace.”

Draco walked into the kitchen, and I heard him slam a fist into the stone countertop of the island. I twisted my body to gaze back at him.

“If I am killed you will have to burn my body, Draco, there is not other way around it. You must Vanish the ashes as well. If you are…” I trailed, taking a shaking breath. “If you are killed, I will have to do the same.”

Draco whirled around to look at me, his teeth clenched, his silver eye flashing. He stalked towards me, falling to his knees, and grasped my face between his hands.

“Neither of us will be killed, Granger, do you understand me?” he hissed through his teeth, his breath hot on my face.

My chin quivered, and my eyes watered. “We have to consider all the possibilities…”

“Consider, yes, but it will not happen!”

Tears fell from my eyes as Draco pulled me into a tight embrace, and I could feel how his body quivered with suppress anger, and suppressed fear. It was comforting to a degree that Draco Malfoy was also feeling as I did, as if we were somehow being punished by the Fates.

But no matter how I considered my life as unfair, the only bright point was how I felt for the man who held me. I knew that it would take a long while to believe that the man I loved was Draco Malfoy, but I knew, deep down, he was the man I was meant to love, the man my mother always called ‘the one.’ I could not explain why I knew him to be ‘the one,’ I simply did. I supposed that was how it was, how it always had been when a woman found happiness with a man. I was not so naïve to think that that happiness would last forever, but I hoped it would last for far longer than I could foresee.





Time had not changed the deep dungeon passages. So deep in the earth and rock, only geologic time would ever shift the way the rock patterned the floor, or shift the puddles of water dripping from tiny stalactites dangling from the ceiling. In the dark, Draco and I moved, our cloaks and our dark clothes swathing us in the blackness. Wending our way up from the stone troll guarded passage, we moved like shadows, making no noise.

The castle was full of life high above our heads, and I could not help but have my chin quiver—in thirteen years, the corridors would be devoid of life and human warmth. Draco squeezed my hand as we finally entered the corridor with the concealed door into Severus Snape’s chambers.

Torches lit the corridor, but we continued, Draco drawing his yew wand and casting a detection Charm, revealing that there was no one in the dungeons.

It was 7:00 pm.

Harry had entered the maze for the Third Task at 7:15 pm.

Draco moved his wand to dispel the concealments on the door, and then quickly dismantled the wards. I wondered if the wards had been removed in our time for I had never noticed them the one time I had passed through the door.

Only our cloaks whispered as we passed inside, noting that the candles were not lit and the fireplace cold. I did not push back my hood as I moved toward the gramophone, turning to face the door, glancing at the little clock on the shelf.

7:01 pm.

Draco, whose hood also obscured his pale hair and face, replaced the wards and stowed his wand. Moving to my side we glanced out the enchanted window and over the Lake.

“We wait,” he whispered.

“We wait…”

If I had not known, I would have led myself to believe that Draco and I had not travelled through time by the looks of the parlour. Almost nothing had changed between the years. The only difference was a framed picture on the mantle, moving sluggishly. I studied it in the dim light and realized I was looking at a black and white photograph of Eileen Prince, the same photograph that I had found of her when she was captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team. I wondered what had happened to the photograph thirteen years later.

As I looked about the shelves and to the table and chairs in the middle of the room, I realized that no one besides Severus and possibly Albus had set foot in the rooms. My eyes moved to where I had pulled ‘Behold the Man’ from the shelves, and I could tell that either Severus or someone later in time had changed the arrangement of the books. Next to ‘Behold the Man’ were Wizarding treatises on time travel, and Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time,’ along with other Muggle fiction books. ‘The Time Machine’ rested next to ‘Slaughterhouse-Five.’

I bit my lip as my eyes landed upon the face of the clock again.

7:14 pm.

Harry and Cedric would have entered the maze, and Severus would be entering the door across the room.

“I’m scared, Draco,” I whispered, my hand finding his.

Draco smiled and pulled me close, bending his knees to place a kiss on my forehead under my hood.

“Don’t be—not yet.”

When the wards fell upon the door, Draco pulled me into the corner of the room, his back pressed against the shelves, pulling his wand, and blinking at it—and we both realized that Severus would know Tom Riddle’s yew wand, and possibly attack us before we could speak.

Draco lowered his arm, obscuring his wand in his cloak while I slipped the Elder Wand into my palm, but hid it.

The door opened, and immediately upon Severus Snape’s arrival the fireplace roared and the lamp over the table lit. My breathing was strained as a black clad figure with swirling robes entered, closing the door behind him. He did not seem to notice the two dark figures in the corner of the parlour at first for he was clutching his forearm. He did not turn to us, but instead stalked into the bathroom, the wall sconces lighting automatically.

In the light, I could see Severus’ face, sallow skinned, and his raven wing black hair, lank about his severe face. His lip was curled, out of discomfort. We watched as he dug through the wall cabinet, and withdrew a phial, pulling the cork out with his yellowed, crooked teeth, and spitting it into the sink. As he threw the potion back, I managed to contain my emotions, and watch as his Adam’s apple bobbed to swallow.

It was surely a pain-reducing potion, for Severus’ head lowered; I could tell that relief softened his features. His black eyes closed for a moment as he leaned his fists to the counter, letting he phial clatter into the bowl of the sink.

I knew he had only come into his chambers during the wait of the Third Task to find a potion to relieve the pain of the Mark. Draco had managed to push his pain aside hours before, a mental feat that I knew I could never perform.

Finally, Severus turned, ready to march back out of his rooms and rejoin the throng of people on the grounds. However, as he left the bathroom, he drew his wand and cast a Stunner in our direction.

I did not even blink as Draco silently cast a shield charm, absorbing the Stunner until both spells fizzled to nothing.

“Identify yourselves!” Severus snarled, and my heart gave a lurch.

I had missed that face, acerbic and cruel.

Draco’s hand squeezed mine one last time before I stepped forward into the light.

Severus’ body stiffened as I lifted my hands, the Elder Wand curled in my thumb, and pushed my hood back to fall to my shoulders. I could feel half-formed tears in my eyes, but I did not weep. My face was otherwise emotionless as I stared at Severus Snape, and he stared back. I felt a nudge in my mind, but nothing more. The embedded spell in the seat of my brain kept any attempts at Legilimency from penetrating my mind, and when the living Severus’ mouth moved in anger, I finally let myself smile.

“Who are you?” he hissed, raising his wand to point at my face.

Draco moved like a ghost to stand just behind me, waiting for another hex. Severus, at the sight of Draco’s tall and shadowed form, hesitated. Surely Draco seemed like some Dementor-like creature in his black cloak, his pale face hidden in deep shadow.

“We are not here to harm you, Severus,” I said softly, still smiling, a warm smile since I was confronted with the physical manifestation of the man I considered a friend.

“That is irrelevant, miss. Who are you? I will not ask again!” Severus hissed, his onyx eyes glittering out of anger.

I quirked my lips as I glanced to the clock again.

7:18 pm.

“There is not much time, Severus, so listen very closely, and do not attempt to hex me or my protector will no doubt make you wish you had listened to my words.”

Although my voice was light, the weight of warning was not lost on Severus. He lowered his wand to a resting position at his hip, standing to his full height to gaze down his long nose at me.

I nodded once. “You will not believe me, Severus, but I will prove to you that everything I say is the truth, and that what will be said will not leave this room. There is no time to perform a Vow, so we will have to trust each other.”

Severus’ eyes told me that his trust was not easily bought by a person who did not identify themselves, and I knew that his suspicion was only natural.

“Voldemort,” Severus winced, “will be reborn tonight. This must happen. However, a series of events have been set in motion, which will change the course of this timeline irrevocably if we do not stop it.”

I stepped closer into the light of the lamp, and gazed at Severus.

“Do you not know who I am?”

Severus’ brow rose as his eyes scanned my face, and his mouth moved to form my name, but did not speak.

I nodded. “Thirteen years from now, Harry Potter will travel back to this night in order to kill Voldemort and all his followers. If this happens, this time line will overlap with mine—destroying it. We have followed Harry back to stop him, and we need your help.”

Severus crossed his arms before his chest, and I knew that he was not entirely convinced…of something.

“Hermione Granger, from the future, has come back to stop Harry Potter from destroying the Dark Lord and his followers?” he muttered, and then barked a laugh. “Why should I help you? I could be helping Potter!”

I sighed. “Severus, we are risking a paradox by even being in the same room with you, so I suppose I should tell you that in my time line Harry defeats Voldemort in 1998, and the world is freed of that mad man’s taint.

In my time line, Harry went mad, and for some reason decided to change everything by travelling back through time to kill Voldemort in 1995. His memories of my time line will lead him to kill every Death Eater, Death Eater’s families, those whom Voldemort used…people who are not even involved with Voldemort in 1995! Innocent people, entire families, magical creatures, Muggles, anyone connected, even by association, with Voldemort will be killed…all because Harry Potter remembered their names in my timeline!” I cried, hoping to the Fates that Severus would understand my quick explanation and the wider implications of my words.

Severus’ brow furrowed.

“You are Hermione Granger, that I can see…but who is your protector?” he snarled.

I glanced back to Draco, unsure what to say to Severus’ question. But I did not have to speak as Draco stepped forward, pushing back his hood.

Severus’ reaction was surprising. He stumbled back, his arms falling to his sides. The surprise at the realization at who I was did not even compare.

“Draco?” Severus gasped.

Draco nodded. “Everything Hermione has said is true, Professor. We need your help.”

Severus’ mouth worked, but I knew that he was still not entirely convinced. I knew he believed that we were a part of some plot which had nothing to do with Harry Potter.

“Severus… You left me keywords to use. I can only assume the words were chosen because of what they mean to you. Thirteen years from now, I know their significance…but no one, not my past self or the fourteen year old Harry Potter would understand.

Lily and Petunia, ‘Tuney Evans—you knew them as a child. Harry’s mother and aunt, you met them in 1969 near your home, Spinner’s End…”

Severus’ face contorted, and once again I was staring at the tip of his wand. I could feel his anger.

“…my Half-blood Prince…we desperately need your help!” I sobbed, the tears finally spilling down my cheeks.

At the sight of my tears, it seemed Severus finally conceded the truth of the situation. I wiped my tears away hastily, and continued.

“Draco’s Mark can not lead us where we need to go, Severus.”

Severus frowned, glancing to Draco. “You were Marked?”

Draco nodded.

“What happened to your eye?”

Draco grinned. “Can’t really tell you that, Professor, we really do not have the time…”

Severus smirked, and it made my heart lurch again. And then, turning his dark eyes to me again, sighed.

“What do you need, Miss Granger?” he asked, slipping his wand into his sleeve.



It almost seemed too easy to explain to Severus that we need him to lead us to Little Hangleton. He was hesitant to agree, but when I told him that he would have time to return to Hogwarts to see Harry return—with a dead Cedric Diggory, he agreed.

“To avoid a true paradox, I can be Obliviated, but Albus would have to do it…he…”

I then revealed that I had the Elder Wand, which made Severus shudder. I realized that he knew the significance of the wand, but had kept his knowledge hidden.

“I don’t think you should have your memory modified, Severus. At some point you need to write down information so I can find it in the future,” I said, gazing at Severus from across the table. We had sat down when I told him we had approximately an hour to speak, five minutes of which would have to spent moving outside the castle and into the Forest for us to Apparate to Little Hangleton.

“What information?”

I glanced to Draco who sat on the sofa across the room.

“Times and dates.”

I then told him about the book, the title, and the exact words written inside.

Severus nodded, understanding.

“It will be done, Miss Granger.”

I went on to tell him what I could, keeping certain information to myself. Severus did not ask about his future self, and I knew that he refrained from asking, knowing that by asking could lead to a true paradox. I also wanted to tell him about the embedded spell, but that information would lead to Severus forming a conclusion that he had indeed been killed at some point in the future.

“Severus, you have helped me more than you know,” was all I could say. “And I have cherished your assistance.”

Severus’ face tightened, and he leaned back in his chair, his hands clenching on the table top. I knew that in his mind, I was still associated with my younger self, and I was not exactly a person whom he would accept praise.

“Potter,” Severus growled. “You said that he was mad. How?”

I glanced past Severus to Draco again. Draco rose from the couch to move to stand behind me, his hand on the back of my chair.

“It is not exactly known why, Professor, but we have speculated that his madness was a culmination of traumas in his youth. There are some things we cannot tell you, but needless to say, the stress of being the Boy Who Lived did not result in Harry Potter becoming a well-balanced adult.

The machinations that allowed Potter to defeat the Dark Lord in 1998 severely distorted his concept of the world around him. Dumbledore’s manipulations, the Dark Lord’s ferocious attacks on Potter’s mind made Potter into what he needed to be, the slayer of the darkest wizard of our time. In the end, however, those manipulations have proven to do more harm than good,” Draco explained in an even voice.

Draco and I had been over the cause of Harry’s madness many times—either in discussion or in our minds. And we had come to the same conclusion. Between Voldemort and Dumbledore, Harry Potter had been made a monster.

“He has become obsessed with ‘cleansing’ this timeline of Voldemort—every person, every trace. I suppose that he wants to create a world where he is freed from such heavy responsibilities. It sounds idyllic, wonderful, but in truth, this world will never be so great.

We die. All of us. We die because Harry cannot stop us from remembering Voldemort and the darkness that has already engulfed this world, even before Harry was born. But Harry cannot see this, he will not see it,” I whispered, feeling Draco’s hand against my shoulder blades.

Severus frowned. “And if he succeeds in slaying the Dark Lord, he effectively signs the death warrant for us all.”

I nodded. “Just because he kills one does not mean he will spare all.”

Severus sighed. “And you did not take this up with Albus because he is instrumental to Potter’s killing the Dark Lord?”

“Yes,” I gritted out. “Albus’ arrogance is one of the causes why our world is…”

“Fucked,” Draco supplied.

Severus barked a laugh, and I felt myself smiling slightly.

“Do not be mistaken, Severus, Albus is a good man, but he is flawed, shortsighted. But aren’t we all? I just know that in thirteen years the world is slowly recovering from what Voldemort has done. It is not a perfect world, and things have been difficult, but it is a far better alternative than what Harry has in store for us if we do not stop him.”

I glanced at the clock, 8:08 pm.

“We don’t have much time, Severus, and we need to get to the cemetery before Harry and Cedric arrive. He will be summoning you at 9:00 pm, approximately. Not until He summons you will you be able to go, and when you do, we cannot be seen, He cannot know you are there.”

Severus sighed. “I was not to go at all, Miss Granger.”

I licked my lips. “Yes, I know. That is why we cannot be seen.”

Severus frowned, his face twisting horribly. I rose a hand to stop him from speaking, and said, “We know a lot of things, Severus, and believe me when I say that our allegiances are our own. We serve no master. For us, that time has passed.”

Severus relaxed, but moved to cross his arms before his chest. “You know where He is?”

“Yes, and that, with the help of Peter Pettigrew, He will be restored. He needs Harry, the Harry of 1995 to achieve this.”

“Then why won’t the future Potter kill both Wormtail and Dark Lord before He can be reborn?”

Draco moved his hand to my squeeze my shoulder. I watched Severus’ eyes take in this familiar motion, but he said nothing, only tightened his lips disdainfully.

“Potter wants to reveal himself to the Dark Lord and his followers before he kills them. His past self will Portkey back to Hogwarts, telling everyone that the Dark Lord had returned…”

I interrupted, feeling that Draco was not sure how to explain.

“When the reformed Order of the Phoenix goes to Little Hangleton to investigate, instead of finding an empty cemetery and small clues verifying that Voldemort was back, they will actually find the bodies of all assembled tonight. Voldemort dead, Pettigrew dead…”

“And my father,” Draco finished, clenching his teeth.

“The Harry of 1995 will be made a hero, he would not be able to explain how Voldemort was killed and everyone will assume that he had, at last, destroyed the Dark Lord. Meanwhile, the Harry of 2008 will systematically begin killing others. Whether he does this secretly or not, one can only guess. But I know that this is how it will start…” I trailed with a sigh.

Severus’ dark eyes glittered in the lamp light and his thin lips turned upward. “You have been trying to understand a mad man, Miss Granger?”

I smirked. “Every time we confronted him in 2008, we could not really sit down for tea, Severus.”

Severus returned the smirk. “You have changed, Miss Granger, and I, for one, am happy that time has not led you to become an eternal lackey to Potter and Weasley.”

I snorted a laugh, but did not know whether to be flattered or offended. It made no difference, though, I was simply happy that Severus Snape was smiling at me.

“I assume that is what happened to your eye, Mr. Malfoy?”

Draco said nothing, but glanced down to me.

“We both have been attacked by Harry, Severus, and both of us came very close to death. But do not be mistaken, we have not followed Harry back because we want some revenge, we are here to…”

“…to save the world, yes, Miss Granger, I have deduced that much.”

Draco stifled a chuckle and I rolled my eyes. The dynamic between the three of us was what it would have been like if Draco could hear Severus’ voice in my head. I liked the dynamic…all of us witty and sharp-tongued. If times were different, I was sure we would have a wonderful time talking over dinner or tea. Alas, time was running out.

We then left his chambers, leading Severus down deeper into the castle. When we were finally outside into the Forest, Severus was laughing that had he known about the passage out, he would have used it long before.

“You know about it now,” Draco chuckled.

Draco had shown Severus his Mark before he left the parlour. Severus grimaced at the sight of it, and then made a crude comment to Draco about his thoughtlessness…

“I was sixteen, Severus; most sixteen year olds cannot think beyond themselves,” Draco had countered.

We stood in the Forest and I closed my eyes, taking in the wind, trying to calm my nerves. Severus was rolling back his left sleeve and in the fading light, I could see the irritated skin over his Mark. Draco’s burned, but not like Severus’.

“Will He know?” Draco asked Severus, and I knew that Draco had meant us—if Voldemort would know if Severus brought two companions…

“No.”

I licked my lips as I glanced to Draco. It was nearly time.

“Aurors descending, it might convince Him to stay, Miss Granger, fight to prove that he was back…” Severus trailed.

I laid a cool hand upon Severus’ arm and smiled. Severus’ face flushed a strange shade of pink and he turned his eyes away.

“You can convince him to leave, Severus,” I whispered.

Draco smirked and laid his hand over mine.

“We have to trust you, Professor. And just so you know, I trusted you always.”

Severus nodded.

“As did I,” I whispered and again Severus’ face flushed. “Time?” I asked Draco who drew Tom’s wand and cast the Charm.

8:57 pm.

Severus opened mouth, doubtless to ask about Draco’s wand.

“It is a long and complicated story, Severus,” I supplied.

Severus smirked again, and I wondered what he face looked like when he actually smiled.

“Be on your guard, Severus. We have to assume that our Harry, the Harry from our time is already at the graveyard. Remember, you must remain hidden until after the younger Harry Portkeys away…”

Severus scowled. “I have a better idea, Miss Granger, if you do not mind.”

I frowned, but nodded slowly. “You have to be back in the stands by the time Harry returns to Hogwarts, and you must…”

“Appear as if I am surprised. Yes, Miss Granger. I have been worked sub rosa longer than you were—no, not longer as you have been alive, but for a long time,” Severus sighed, then added, “I appreciate your concern, Miss…Hermione, but I have done far more dangerous things than this…”

I took a shaky breath and nodded, grasping Severus’ arm tighter. In turn, Draco’s hand moved to grasp Severus’ wrist and with one last look at each other, we waited for the Mark to burn in summons.