Hibernaculum

The corridors were quiet and still. The early morning sun cast light across the floors leaving them gleaming against the dark halls. Elizabeth quietly slunk through the hallways, trying to be inconspicuous. Sirius had accosted her every chance he had gottShe She never knew when she might suddenly be enveloped in a great big bear hug. He was nice enough, but the force of his personality was often overwhelming to the shy witch.

She was still getting used to being with people constantly, and while some of her shyness had abated, she was still a bit nervous when faced with gratitude combined with brotherly affection. She was much more comfortable around Remus. The studious wizard was kind and friendly towards her in his reserved way. She was realizing he had his mischievous side though. She had already been the victim of several pranks.

When it rained for two days in her room, she finally accused Sirius as her tormentor until McGonagall and Dumbledore had laughed at her, and pointed their fingers at the true culprit. Remus had originally reacted with wide- eyed innocence and concern. He had had her completely fooled. \"Wide-eyed innocence indeed,\" she huffed irritably. The man was a skilled actor. When revealed, he had laughed and merrily helped her charm her things dry while she glared at him suspiciously.

She was just turning down the corridor towards the library, when she was grabbed from behind. Arms wrapped quickly around her, dragging her into a classroom. She kicked wildly, finally getting her captor in the kneecap and slipped free from him.

\"OW!\" Sirius cried, clutching his kneecap and rolling on the ground in pain. Remus looked on in amusement.

\"I told you that was a bad idea,\" he laughed.

Elizabeth railed at him, \"You scared me half to death!\" shaking her finger at him fuming, \"You deserved it!\"

Sirius crawled over to her on his knees, clutched at her skirts dramatically, and gazed at her with big teary eyes, \"How could I ever have been so boorish as to accost such a lady?. Could she ever find it in her heart to forgive me?\" and wept bitterly holding her skirts to his heart in agony.

Remus snickered.

She kicked at him impatiently, \"Prat.\"

Sirius gasped in shock, \"Such language, I must speak with McGonagall, she is clearly a bad influence on you.\"

She couldn\'t help but laugh at this.

Sirius stood grinning at her. \"We are going to kidnap you. The Mrs. Snapes are converging on the castle as we speak! We must flee!\" At this, he grabbed her again and began dragging her towards the exit, with Remus casually strolling along behind as if this was an everyday occurrence.

\"But where are we going?\" Elizabeth demanded, trying to break free.

Sirius stopped suddenly and knelt before her. \"We have pledged ourselves to a noble quest. We are to accompany the fair maid Elizabeth to Hogsmead where we are to perform great deeds involving shopping and making her cut her ridiculous hair!\"

\"My hair!\" she exclaimed.

Sirius ignored her fully enjoying his dramatic moment. \"The evil sorceresses McGonagall, Sprout and Pomfrey have declared that we are to make fair maid Elizabeth fashionable, so she may fetch suitors from far and wide to seek her hand.\"

\"They are busy with the Aurors,\" Remus explained, \"and Pomfrey won\'t leave with Snape in the Hospital Wing.\"

\"So they are sending two bachelors to make me over?\" Elizabeth laughed.

\"Of course,\" shrugged Sirius. \"Who better?\"

She couldn\'t think of a response to this strange logic.

\"How on earth did they get two men to agree to take me shopping?\"

\"Blackmail,\" they both said, grinning.

\"This is silly!\" she insisted.

\"Well, that\'s pretty standard around here really,\" stated Remus. \"Have you met the Headmaster?\"

\"We\'ll have to go to some Muggle shops,\" said Sirius eyeing her.

They both looked at him confused.

\"Erm, why is that?\" wondered Remus.

\"She can\'t wear those corsets, it\'s ridiculous.\" Ignoring Elizabeth\'s shocked gasp he continued, \"No really, once the students are here the teachers really do a lot of running around. Things happen quite a lot: fights beaks out, students hex each other. We can\'t have you passing out and falling down the stairs.\"

\"You are not taking me to buy under things,\" she huffed, offended. \"Besides, I don\'t have any Muggle clothing.\"

\"Well Mooney, this sounds like a job for you.\"

\"What?\"

\"You\'ll have to go talk Vector into lending her some.\"

\"Is there any particular reason why you can\'t talk her into it?\"

\"Certainly, she thinks I am a git, and she fancies you.\"

Remus stared at him.

Sirius snickered.

A short time later, they found their way down into the dungeons. Remus glared at his dearest friend as he knocked on Professor Vector\'s door.

Professor Vector opened the door and smiled softly when she saw Remus.

\"How can I help you, Remus?\"

Sirius shoved his way in front of him. \"This is no time to dally woman! This is an emergency!\" he thundered.

\"What!\" she gasped.

\"Quick Vanessa, we need a Muggle dress for Elizabeth. Snape\'s mother is on her way here and we are running away!\"

\"Oh really, Sirius,\" she rolled her eyes. \"Lucita is quite nice-\"

Sirius interrupted, \"His grandmother is coming as well. Dumbledore said the staff has to have tea with her.\"

\"Oh God, not again,\" she gasped.

\"Yes again!\" he cried, waving his arms imposingly.

\"I am coming with you,\" she insisted.

\"Then hurry!\"

A quick twenty minutes later, the foursome were on their way towards the apparition barrier outside of Hogwarts. Elizabeth had protested at the light sundress and sandals until Sirius had threatened to come into Vector\'s bedroom and dress her himself.

They could make out the coach winding it\'s way down the road towards Hogwarts. Sirius screeched; tossed Elizabeth over his shoulder; and began to run away, robes flapping behind him. Remus shrugged amusedly, grabbed Vector, and followed suit.

A small group watched from the window having been startled by the shng ong on the grounds.

\"What the hell are they doing?\" McGonagall asked, amazed.

Dumbledore was coughing, trying not to laugh, \"It appears they are running away.\"

\"Are these the same two men who have fought Death Eaters without flinching?\" she snorted.

Pomfrey laughed, \"It does do my heart good to see them act like silly asses again.\"

\"I couldn\'t have put it better myself, Poppy,\" Dumbledore smiled.

\"Brilliant plan though ladies. Looking after Elizabeth, will keep them busy until it is time for their appointment, and it seems they took Vanessa with them,\" Dumbledore noted. \"That is surprising, but she does seem to be enjoying herself,\" he grinned.

\"I always thought she was a bit stiff,\" smiled McGonagall. \"I am sure those boys will be just what she needs right now.\"

\"Or that boy,\" noted Pomfrey nodding towards them, as Remus ran across the grounds carrying the Arithmancy Professor like a sack of potatoes.

\"It seems the bravery of Gryffindor was overrated,\" Vector laughed once they had Apparated to Gringotts, the Wizard bank.

\"There are times to fight and times to flee, Madame,\" grinned Sirius.

Finishing their business at the bank took some time, as there were four separate vaults to visit. By the time they exchanged some of their Wizard money for Muggle money, it was nearly time for the shops to be opened. Stopping for a quick tea before entering Muggle London, they removed their robes, shrunk them and tucked them away.

Elizabeth had never been to the Muggle World before, and everything seemed amazing and wonderful. Their morning was full of shopping and laughing, and her handbag was filled with shrunken parcels from the various shops they had visited. She had even let them drag her into a salon to get her haircut, but she had insisted on taking the shorn locks with her.

\"Potion ingredients,\" she explained at their questioning looks, and they nodded.

Her hair now fell barely past her shoulders, and the salon had left it down much to her discomfort. She wasn\'t used to having her hair down, but the men had objected to her putting it back up again.

They made their way back towards Diagon Alley and into The Leaky Cauldron. Pulling on their now enlarged robes, Sirius walked over to Tom and whispered something to him. Tom grinned and nodded, and Sirius walked back over to the three.

\"Well, we have one more stop before we do any shopping in Diagon Alley,\" said Sirius. The two men grinned at each other. They seemed excited and nervous.

\"Ready, Moony?\" he said smiling.

\"Never been more ready old friend.\"

A strange man walked over to the fireplace and held out a bag of Floo powder to Sirius. Sirius smiled at him, took out a small amount, tossed it into the fire, and stepped into the fireplace.

\"Arabella Figg\'s,\" he said.

\"My God,\" said Vanessa. \"So this is it? And you\'ve brought us along?\" she looked at Remus stunned.

He laughed, handing her the Floo powder, \"We told you they blackmailed us.\"

She smiled and tossed in her Floo powder. \"Arabella Figg\'s,\" and she was gone.

Elizabeth looked at him confused. \"Am I missing something?\" she asked.

\"You\'ll see.\" He smiled as she took a bit of Floo powder, and moments later, she was dusting herself off in a strange room. It had large couches with lace doilies on the backs of them, and smelled strongly of cats and cabbage.

Sirius and Vector were both smiling and speaking with a small old woman with wild gray hair. It was stuck up haphazardly in a twisted knot, held up with a couple of pencils and what looked like a crotchet hook. Elizabeth turned just in time to see Remus step from the fireplace and dust himself off a bit before greeting the woman.

\"Elizabeth,\" he said, \"this is Arabella Figg. She is Harry Potter\'s Secret Keeper.\" Elizabeth\'s eyes widened at hearing the boy\'s name, and she shook the woman\'s hand.

\"Are we going to visit him?\" she asked.

\"No,\" it didn\'t seem Sirius\' grin could get any wider, \"he\'s coming home.\"

The gentle scents of lemongrass, chamomile, and lavender in the Hospital wing were an annoying reminder of the presence of a female Potions Master in the school. He was certain only she would have bothered with such a thing. His experiences with her Headache Potions were enough for him to be sure. Concerns with such subtleties were obviously female in nature.

He grimaced. He hated the Hospital wing. Every morning Madame Pomfrey seemed more concerned by his continued presence in her sanctuary. She was far more used to admonishing him as he made his escape, or simply arriving to find him gone. The Madness Potion had left a toll on him that years of Crucio had not. Perhaps he had underestimated its usefulness.

Snape stared at the morning light sifting in through the windows, and sighed. He had to get out of here. He tossed his sheets aside and attempted to stand. Ignoring the sudden waves of dizziness and fatigue, he shuffled a few steps before his legs collapsed from under him.

Madame Pomfrey arrived at the Hospital wing to find him still on the floor, glaring at her. Wisely choosing to say nothing, she simply levitated him back onto the bed before leaving him with a Headache Potion, moving his books closer to his bedside, and quietly making her way out. He closed his eyes, ignoring the screams and feminine laughter drifting up to the window from the grounds below.

\"Severus?\" A cool slender hand brushed across his brow and he opened his eyes again to find himself once again plagued by his accursed female relatives.

He sighed and sat up slowly, glaring at the two women who had interrupted his rest. His mother looked guilty, while his grandmother was coolly gazing at him; her eyes dark and calculating. He tensed inwardly. There was always trouble brewing when Slytherin women were looking like that.

\"Severus,\" his mother whispered. \"Your grandmother wishes to speak with you.\" She stood suddenly and walked away.

His grandmother sat down beside him, her eyes glittering with thought. She reached into her robes and took something out.

\"Severus, do you know what this is?\" She opened her hand to reveal a large pendant on a silver chain. The pendant depicted three snakes, intertwined, devouring their tails, as their emerald eyes gleamed at him.

\"It is the Hibernaculum,\" he muttered, a knot of fear tied tight inside him.

\"Do you know what it means?\"

\"Only pieces, it means the old families are drawing together. The old houses defer to the wearer, as they plan the best way for the families to survive.\" He eyed it solemnly as if looking at his own downfall. \"Do you mean to use this to support Voldemort?\"

She stood suddenly and took a silver ball from her robes. She placed it on Severus\' bed and tapped it gently with her wand. It opened with a soft click, and a whisper of smoke emptied from it and created an Anti-listening ward around them. She looked at the ward and satisfied, shook her head slowly as she whispered, \"We don\'t plan to use this to support Voldemort.\"

\"I will fill you in on what you don\'t know. It is very secretive of course, or you would have known about it a long time ago.\"

She drank from the glass of water next to her. \"The Hibernaculum is indeed a sign to the old families that \'winter\' or \'bad times\' are approaching. The bearers of the pendants give orders and they must be obeyed. While the Hibernaculum is active, all plots and intrigues are called off as the houses band together to ensure their survival. If necessary, marriages are arranged between dueling houses to concrete the Hibernaculum.\" drandrank again. \"There are always three people to hold the pendants and give the commands.\"

\"If you are not going to use this to support Voldemort, what are you using it for?\"

\"We are pulling our support.\"

Snape\'s head rang with the words. They repeated themselves over and over in his mind until they began to take shape.

She nodded, \"Voldemort has failed too many times for us to sit by idly and watch him destroy us all. That boy has escaped him at every confrontation. Only last winter his Death Eaters were scattered by a group of children with fireworks. When he was injured, his followers took it upon themselves to take what they could. The only loyalty they have to him now is through fear.\"

She continued, \"If it is successful, those that hold the pendants will be beyond reproach. Any Death Eaters who survive the war will not dare to molest them should the wrath of the houses fall around them.\"

\"You are to have one of these,\" she said, as she pushed it toward him.

His eyes narrowed, \"Madame you have seriously underestimated my influence if you wish me to carry that.\"

\"Not at all, the Snapes are an old respected family,\" she huffed arranging her robes.

\"Madame in case you have not noticed, we neither have the wealth nor the holdings to weald that kind of power.\"

\"The Snapes have other weapons,\" she hissed. \"While we currently do not have wealth and we currently do not possess holdings, those things have never been where our power lay. Even when we were but the tiniest annoying insect we wielded power. We have never had to rely on wealth. We have our minds, our ambitions, our cunning, and our ruthlessness. Do not think for a moment that a Snape requires wealth to hold power. When Dumbledore was made Headmaster how many students were sent to Durmstrang? When you were made Head of Slytherin how many returned? The old families knew well that you would be an excellent mentor to their children.\"

\"To use that pendant, Madame, I will need more than just cunning.\"

\"You shall have it,\" she nodded, her eyes once again glittering.

Severus felt his stomach drop as he weighed her words. She had him in a corner. The evil woman would use just this moment to marry him off. She had him by the balls and she knew it. He would kill her when this was over, something extremely slow acting and painful. He hated being manipulated.

\"Who is she?\"

\"Can you not guess?\" she laughed at him incredulously.

\"Could it be a woman whose family kept her locked up for many years then suddenly decided that she could live at Hogwarts? Not very subtle, Madame,\" he sneered.

She shrugged, \"You will marry her Severus.\"

\"Madame, you have given me no choice.\"

\"You wouldn\'t have agreed otherwise Severus. The Snape house will survive.\"

\"Just because the old families withdraw does not mean there will no longer be a war. Voldemort has many followers in many circles.\"

\"Yes, but when they lose we will come out ahead, we wouldn\'t otherwise.\"

\"Dumbledore will not be fooled by this sudden change of heart.\"

She waved her slender hand dismissively, \"Dumbledore knows the way of things. He would not be fooled by sudden crocodile tears of supposed redemption. But you will not be alone now in your subterfuge. I don\'t expect a sudden influx of Slytherin members to his Order, but he will receive his information nonetheless.\"

\"Who else is to carry the medallions?\"

\"Narcissa Malfoy and one other.\"

He nodded.

\"How much longer will this potion affect your movements?\"

\"I should be better within a week.\"

\"Very well Severus, but if you are not, there are ways of disguising such things.\"

\"Of course Madame,\" his voice dripping with sarcasm, \"just in case Dumbledore actually thought we were being genuine, let\'s just use Dark magic right under his nose.\"

She shrugged, \"Dumbledore would know better, besides, just because something is considered Dark does not mean it is Evil. The ministry has always had their own opinion of what was Dark.\"

He rolled his eyes; he was used to this argument.

\"Besides, our knowledge of the darker arts may prove useful in this endeavor.\"

\"I cannot wait to see the person who attempts to teach Moody dark magic.\"

She raised a stately brow in amusement.

\"You may discuss this with your Order but no one else. We want Voldemort to think we intend to enforce the Hibernaculum to support him for now. We may wait until the last moment to walk away if it means you and Lucius can provide Dumbledore with information. It will give you a trump card in dealing with him\"

He nodded.

\"Ms. Dupries\' family will be arriving later to discuss this with her.\"

\"Do you expect her to agree?\" The idea that she would was beyond him.

\"Her family has said that she will agree and I do not question them on that. The girl knows what is expected of her.\"

\"Do you really think she will be happy with this arrangement? Married to a Death Eater?\"

\"You don\'t have to tell her,\" she said, unconcerned.

He laughed bitterly, \"Don\'t you think she would notice? The Dark Mark isn\'t exactly subtle.\"

She shrugged again.

His eyes narrowed in annoyance. He muttered, \"I am going to speak with Dumbledore and the others before anything is agreed upon. They won\'t like it.\"

\"No, they probably wouldn\'t, but they will see the value in it.\"

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There was a quick knock on the door and Mrs. Figg hurriedly rushed to answer it while Remus and Sirius paced impatiently around the room; the two women watching. After a moment she returned with a young witch with shockingly green hair that was short and spiky, and a tall, dignified, black wizard. They quickly introduced the wizard as Kingsley Shacklebolt, and gave the witch\'s name only as \'Tonks\' after she gave them a good hard stare.

Tonks grinned happily and motioned them towards the door. \"Everything is set; ready boys?\"

The two men grinned at each other and followed her out with Elizabeth and Vector quickly filling in behind, and Shackelbolt bringing up the rear.

They climbed inside the large, black ministry car outside, and were on their way. They pulled up in front of a very normal looking house and clambered out. There was a large moving truck outside.

\"Where are they going?\" wondered Sirius.

\"The ministry is moving them to a new location,\" explained Shackelbolt. \" We had to agree we would never bother them again, and there was a bit of a bribe involved too from what I am told.\"

They rang the bell and an extremely tired looking man answered the door. \"Am I glad to see you; they shoved off not too long ago. Horrible woman made me dig up her flowerbed so she could take them with her. Come on now, he\'s in here.\" He led them inside, and there was a man that even Elizabeth recognized as Alastor Moody.

Moody glared at the man who had answered the door, \"Crumb! Haven\'t you learned anything?\" he grumbled.

The man turned to them and sighed, \"Sorry \'bout that. Alright what\'s your animagus form there Black?\"

\"A dog,\" grinned Sirius.

\"and yours Lupin?\"

Remus smiled at him, \"haven\'t got one.\"

\"Lots of people know about Remus,\" muttered Moody.

Crumb rolled his eyes and whispered something into Remus\' ear. Remus coughed embarrassedly a moment, then whispered something back to Crumb whom then grinned and nodded, \"It\'s them alright.\"

What did you ask him?\" questioned Vector, amused at his discomfort.

\"Most inappropriate,\" coughed Remus, \"he\'ll not tell you.\"

Crumb winked at her, and then went upstairs. He returned shortly with a young man fast on his heels. The lightening bolt scar could be thr through his messy black hair, and he had the lanky look of someone who had been growing quickly.

He hurried from behind Crumb, and embraced Sirius and Remus in turn.

\"Am I glad to see you guys!\" he exclaimed. \"What\'s been going on?\"

\"We\'ll tell you everything we can when we get back to Hogwarts,\" said Remus.

\"We\'re not going to-\"

\"-No, not now Harry,\" Sirius interrupted. \"You are to have a long talk with Dumbledore first.\"

Harry nodded, satisfied.

They shrunk Harry\'s trunk and broom and he quickly stuff them into his pockets as they walked back outside. He said a quick goodbye to the two Aurors who had been with him, and they got back into the carrivrriving at Mrs. Figg\'s, they rang the bell and she quickly ushered them inside. She had prepared a small tea for them and they enjoyed some idle banter, as they hadn\'t seen each other in some weeks.

\"Harry, this is Professor Dupries, she will be teaching Potions this year.\"

Harry shook her hand as he looked worriedly at Sirius, \"Then Snape?\"

\"He is fine, but he is still very ill.\"

They finished their tea and got up to leave. Harry approached Mrs. Figg and rather awkwardly handed her a small jewelry box.

\"I got this, erm, I thought you might like it. I wanted to thank you, for everything you\'ve done for me. Growing up, you were one of the few people who was nice to me.\"

She opened the box. Inside was a small gold locket with a key engraved onto it.

\"It isn\'t magic, sorry,\" he mumbled.

She smiled at him widely and wrapped her arms around the young man.

\"It\'s alright Harry, thank you.\"

\"I am sure we\'ll see each other again, at the meetings and all I mean. Won\'t we?\"

\"Of course, Harry.\"

He smiled down at the elderly woman.

\"Good-bye Harry Potter, and good luck.\"

\"Thank you, ma\'am,\" he said shaking her hand gently.

They made their way back to the fireplace, and a quick dust filled ride later they were back at Diagon Alley