Dark Obsession

Harry sat there, hand to his forehead, completely nonplussed. His shaking fingers touched the raised skin, the source of the ache. What the hell?

Hermione stirred next to him, her voice breaking the eerie quiet of the room. "Harry?"

He didn´t answer. He couldn´t. Speech seemed to have left him.

"What is it?" She sat up too, tucking one leg beneath her to face him.

"My scar," he said, "it woke me up. It..." He had to say it, even though he didn´t want to, "it hurt, Hermione."

He should have known that his wife would react with calm, not hysteria; with reason rather than anxiety. She searched his eyes for a few moments, and then traced her own finger over it. "Was it like before?"

She didn´t need to clarify "before"; he knew just what she meant. It didn´t matter how many years had passed, neither could forget the blinding agony Voldemort had put him through in the seventh year. It hadn´t been until Voldemort´s body had been examined that Harry had found out how he´d been able to do it. The dark wizard had cut his own forearm in the same shape as Harry´s scar. Dumbledore had surmised that Voldemort had charmed the scar to connect with Harry´s when touched.

"No," Harry shook off the past with a toss of his messy black hair. "Not really pain. Not what I felt while I was looking for you. Something in between." Harry placed his arm around Hermione and hugged her close.

"So you don´t think..."

"I don´t know, Hermione. I´ll need to check a few things, talk to Sirius."

"I think I should owl Jason," Hermione rose from the bed and fastened her dressing gown as Harry pulled on a sweatshirt. Modesty wasn´t an issue as Faren was off duty today, but self-preservation was. Jamie had taken to grasping at the fine hairs on his chest whenever she could, so he covered up for his own protection.

Harry tried to contain his scowl at the mention of the Auror and nearly managed it.

"What?" she asked puzzled, rummaging through her bedside table drawer for ink.

"He fancies you," Harry growled. When Hermione whipped around to face him, Harry´s growl turned to a grin. She looked flabbergasted.

"You´re mental," she laughed.

"I´m male, Hermione. And I can sense when another alpha is sniffing after my mate."

Hermione raised a single eyebrow. "Woof."

Harry couldn´t help it. Despite the seriousness of the morning, he belted out a laugh, long and loud, and then crossed to gather Hermione into his arms. He was just about to settle his lips on hers when Jamie interrupted. They sighed.

"Will you...?"

"I´ll get her." Harry made it to Jamie´s crib before common sense overrode the alpha male instinct. He settled his daughter on his shoulder and walked back into the bedroom. He knew it couldn´t be Voldemort. He´d made sure of that years ago, but if some other dark force was using the same method to get to him, he wanted to know all that he could. Jamie made a playful grab for his glasses, and he pressed a kiss to her warm cheek. There was more at stake now.

"Erm, Hermione?"

"Yes," she said, already beginning to write.

"Can you have him meet us here after breakfast?"

"Yes," she said quietly, sensing his shift in mood.

While Hermione was writing to Jason, Harry went downstairs and lit a fire. He threw in a pinch of powder and called for Sirius. His godfather took a while to answer, and the wild state of his hair told Harry he´d roused the man from bed.

"This had better be good, Harry," he growled, sounding like the dog he transformed into when the spirit moved him.

"My scar hurt this morning, Sirius," Harry replied without preamble. He waited for this information to register before continuing. "I need you to check the sites. It didn´t feel the same as before, but I need to know. And I´m not leaving here to check for myself."

"I´ll do it now," he said stiffly and disappeared with a small pop.

Satisfied that Sirius would handle what he couldn´t; Harry carried an increasingly fussy Jamie in for her breakfast.

*^*^*^*^*^*^

Jason arrived an hour later. Harry and Hermione had both made an attempt to keep themselves occupied, but it hadn´t worked. Harry had been staring at the same essay for five minutes and hadn´t a clue what the student had written. Hermione had cleaned an already immaculate kitchen while Jamie cooed at her from a baby seat.

The knock on the door stopped both of them. Harry was closer, so he answered, pulling the door open to admit the handsome Auror. He could do with a few of Moody´s scars, Harry thought grimly.

"Hermione," Jason breathed, walking past Harry without a glance. Try as he might to keep Hermione from noticing Harry was fairly sure she could see his hackles rise. His suspicions were confirmed when she pointedly raised her eyebrow at him again.

"Thanks for coming so quickly, Jason," she said in greeting. They took their seats, Harry and Hermione on the couch, Jason on the overstuffed chair opposite them.

"What´s the emergency?" he asked her, still not meeting Harry´s eyes.

Hermione glanced at Harry, her eyes a mixture of concern and comfort.

"I wanted to know if you´d had any indications of dark magic lately," Harry began, deciding to use broad strokes before centering in on the crux of the issue. "Powerful dark magic."

"Is there any other kind?" Jason laughed, but his grin died away when he saw it wasn´t reciprocated. "We get reports of dark magic all the time," he said, sobering. "Anything specific you´re looking for?"

Harry was kept from answering by Sirius´ sudden appearance in the room. Jamie gurgled at the sight of him and the hard lines of his face softened as he took the squealing infant from her mother and pressed a kiss to Hermione´s cheek.

Jason, Harry noted, had met the sudden appearance in classic dueling stance: up on the balls of his feet with his wand firmly drawn. He´d known too many Aurors to be surprised.

"Who are you?" Sirius growled at the younger man, clearly not happy to find a stranger in the room pointing a wand at him.

"It´s okay, Sirius," Hermione soothed, standing to introduce them. "This is Jason Taggett. I met him while I was at the Institute and we asked him over to..."

"Did you check them all?" Harry asked, interrupting Hermione.

"Every last one." Sirius looked tired but relieved. "Wards are still in place, no sign they´ve even been disturbed."

Harry exhaled. He knew it would have been impossible for Voldemort to return, but having confirmation that his various resting-places were undisturbed made him breathe a little easier.

"So it´s true, then," Jason spoke loudly, interrupting the silence. "I´d heard rumors that Voldemort´s remains were divided up and buried in an undisclosed number of unplottable areas."

"Yes," Sirius said quietly, "it´s true." His tone indicated that the subject was closed. Jason met Sirius' harsh stare for only a moment before averting his eyes. Harry didn´t blame him; not even he could last long under that stare.

"But that leaves us with a problem, Harry," Sirius said, taking a seat and cradling a now yawning Jamie in his arms. The growl of his voice never failed to make her sleepy. "Why, after all these years, did your scar start to hurt again?"

Jason´s eyes widened and his attention flipped back to Harry. Harry was relieved because if the Auror had continued to stare at his wife for much longer, he´d have had to do the man grievous bodily harm.

The discussion that ensued took nearly an hour. And it got them exactly nowhere. By the time Sirius and Jason Disapparated, they´d decided to retreat into a wait and see mode. Wait and see if it happened again. Wait and see if Jason could find any leads from other Aurors. Hermione wasn´t much in the patience department, but there wasn´t much Harry could do about that. They´d just have to live with the questions for a while.

"Harry?" Hermione said, turning to face him after laying Jamie down for her morning nap. "We need to talk."

"I know, and we have to find out what´s causing..."

"Not about that," she said seriously, but Harry thought he saw a slight upturn to her lips, "about your jealousy."

"Hermione..." Harry said, then trailed off because he had no idea what to say. She knew him too well and would see right through a lie. And he couldn´t help it. He was jealous.

She moved closer to him, taking his hand in hers, her face still serious. "What can I do to convince you that there´s no reason to be jealous of Jason?"

Harry picked up the underlying meaning in her words and felt a broad grin grow on his face. He pulled her into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers. "I can think of one or two things..." he said seconds before their lips met.

*^*^*^*^

Mariah found her sitting on the window seat of the tower room, staring out of the window towards the lake below. She could just make out the tear tracks on the other woman´s face. Funny business, love. Even the most unworthy managed to capture hearts and imprison them.

Lucky for her, her heart had been imprisoned by Ron. No parole necessary, thanks.

But that didn´t make helping someone grieve any easier. Especially when she´d been so instrumental in the death that had robbed Renae of the man she loved.

"You owled?" Mariah asked softly, closing the heavy oak door behind her.

"Something´s happening. I saw it this morning. Has she gone away?"

"Yes," Mariah said evenly. Half of her wanted to clamp her hands over her ears and not listen; the other half wanted to know all she could to help her friend. "She was away for a few days this past week. What did you see?"

"The pain of an old ghost. It will bring on the unrest, the unease. It precedes the black shadow."

Mariah had no idea what the pain of an old ghost could mean, but she knew what the black shadow was. It had been the first thing Renae told her when she´d agreed to hide her childhood friend at Hogwarts.

The owl had arrived the night Jamie and Morgan were born -- an urgent plea from Renae. She´d tried to hide herself away, knowing that word of what she was carrying had spread throughout their community. But Mariah´s mother had found her within days, and had begun a campaign of harassment; trying desperately to ingratiate herself into Renae´s life. Mariah didn´t find it at all odd that the woman who had shunned her son for most of his life was now trying to become involved in his child´s. That was just the way Allison worked.

Allison wanted her hands on the Triuna Crudus and would do anything in her power to make sure she did.

Mariah supposed that there was enough of her father in her to overlook the chaos Renae had caused over the last year. But whether it was familial instinct or just not wanting Allison to have any influence on her niece, Mariah had agreed to shelter Renae until she was on her feet. Until the baby was born, its identity confirmed and both of them could seek shelter from Kalena.

There were times, like now, when she wished she´d just shooed the owl out of the window and had gone on with her life. But old friendships and the fear of her mother having anything to do with the Triuna Crudus had spurred her to action.

She´d also spent hours wishing that Renae´s ability was Tactile, or Persuasion.

"It´s getting closer, Ria. They have to be on guard."

"Well, it´d be a hell of lot easier if I could tell them," Mariah snorted. "Honestly, you´re getting as bad as Sybill with all her misty portents."

"They can´t know that I´m here," Renae said fearfully, "I know you´ve already told your Bond and there´s nothing I can do to remedy that. Unless you Persuade him..."

"Never," Mariah hissed. "I will use this curse to guard your secrets only in extreme situations. But I will not betray Ron that way. I´ve had to Persuade Hermione once, and by God, Renae, I will not do it again."

"You´ve never seen things the way we do, have you, Mariah?"

"No, and that´s not likely to change. You call it a gift, a power. I call it a curse, and a dangerous one for those that use it without forethought. Which many do Renae. You know that as well as I. And if you want them on guard, you have to let me tell them what you´ve seen."

Mariah shuddered unconsciously, remembering the trance Renae had gone into not long after she´d arrived in North Tower. She´d gone rigid, her eyes rolled back in her head, spouting premonitions of pain and death.

"Would they believe you?"

Therein lay the rub, Mariah thought. Hermione wouldn´t believe a word of it, nor would Harry. She didn´t know Ginny and Draco as well, but figured they wouldn´t either. Not without proof. And proof was thin on the ground.

"It hasn´t changed, Ria. But it´s getting clearer. Nothing has happened to alter what I´ve seen. A blond will die...a blond close to those you love. I´ve seen you standing over the casket. And there is division behind you. Tension. Hate. Pain. An angry woman, spurned by the man in glasses. She is in the arms of another. I can see her dark hair flowing behind her in the wind at the gravesite. Your Bond comforts another redhead..."

"His name is Ron," Mariah interrupted, not even trying to hide her anger at Renae´s refusal to use Ron´s name.

"As you wish," Renae said softly, looking abashed. "I fear for your friends, Ria. But until I know more, I can´t let you tell them. I can´t risk others knowing I´m here, even for them. Kalena has promised sanctuary once the baby is born, but until then, I am vulnerable. Until then, I must remain hidden."

"There´s nothing else you can tell me?" she nearly choked on the words, and her own hypocrisy.

Renae´s eyes closed, her face a study in serene introspection. "A young girl´s pain will herald the point of no return."

Mariah left her soon afterward. She headed straight for Ron, telling herself over and over that Renae had said a young girl, not a baby. Part of her feared that the semantics didn´t matter.

Once she reached him and drank in the comfort his arms always gave her, they took Rianne out into the warmth and the light, trying to enjoy whatever calm there was before the proverbial storm

As she watched Ron sleeping with their daughter sprawled on his chest a few hours later, Mariah resolved to stay as close as possible Hermione and to Ginny; prepared to thwart the pain and heartache that Renae had seen. If there was one thing she knew having spent her life around Diviners in general and Knowers specifically, it was that the future was not certain, was not set. She was counting on that.

Almost as if bidden by her thoughts, she heard the combined laugher of her closest friends drift towards her. Sure enough, within moments Harry, Hermione and Jamie and Draco, Ginny and Morgan had joined them.

"Lazy git," Ginny laughed, prodding her brother with a toe. "Probably ate himself into a stupor again."

"Who, exactly, is that supposed to surprise, Gin?" Draco drawled.

"Shut it," Ron muttered, not even opening his eyes.

"Yes, leave him alone, Draco," Hermione grinned as she surveyed what was left of the picnic, "he's digesting."

"You're eating like we did, Ron, at about seven months along. So when are you due?" Ginny teased.

Mariah felt tears prickling her eyes. She didn't want to know the pain that awaited these four people. She wanted to be blissfully ignorant. At the same time, she was grateful she was at least on guard. The paradox was driving her mad.

Relax, angel

.

I know, Ron. I'm trying.

If she´d been less preoccupied with her own worries, she would have seen the concern on Harry´s and Hermione´s faces as well.

^*^*^*^*^*

Journal Entry

I saw my beloved sitting by the lake, surrounded by others. My beloved saw me. Our eyes met over the head of our child...the child that should and will belong to me. My heart beat faster, my breathing labored, the connection our eyes formed built a bridge between us that no one can destroy. I am getting through, I know it. The spell will not endure. Only our love will remain to stand the test of time.

*^*^*^*^*^*^

All things considered, Harry thought as he headed for the staff room, the owl should have arrived with a great deal more fanfare. But it hadn't. The tawny bird had simply fluttered in through the open window, dropped a bit of parchment on Harry's desk and had flown off without a backward glance.

Harry's heart had quickened when he'd recognized Seamus' scratchy handwriting. He'd torn open the envelope and devoured the words.

Harry - sorry it's taken so long to get back to you, but the Muggle police were being a bit more secretive than I'd anticipated. I had to call in a favor to even get these results, and the man that gave them to me grilled me on why I wanted to know. Seems the Dursley fire has been sent to the arson investigators, as there is no known cause. The Muggles can't figure out why the house burned down. I've made a note on the actual report that might interest you. I'm going to go and check the site tomorrow.

The noted remark was still rolling around his head as he pushed open the door to the staff room...fireman states flames seemed resistant to water...

Hermione was sitting with a book in her lap. She wasn´t reading it, however. Her attention was directed at the Transfiguration teacher on the other side of the room. Harry nearly laughed as he spent a moment watching his wife watch Sara. That in itself wasn´t really funny, but Sara watching Hermione was. Every time Hermione looked away, Sara looked up at her. The humor would be lost on them, though, so he held his tongue.

"Mione," he said softly once he reached her, taking a seat opposite her. "I have to tell you something."

Harry was prevented from saying anything further by the echoing of Minerva´s voice from out in the corridor.

"Professor Dumbledore might have put up with your antics, Peeves, but I will not. You´re on final warning. One more broken cabinet and you´ll be expelled from this castle."

"Didn´t do nothing," Peeves snapped back.

Minerva entered the staff room a moment later, shaking her head. Her eyes were still blazing with suppressed anger. She surveyed the room and went over to sit next to Hermione.

"What happened, Minerva?"

"Peeves. He denies it of course, but who else would have broken all the glass in the trophy room?"

Harry had to admit that it sounded like something Peeves would do, but something didn´t seem right, though.

"But without provocation, Minerva?" Hermione asked, voicing Harry´s thoughts.

"I stopped trying to figure out that poltergeist a long time ago," she sighed. Hermione looked ready to continue the conversation, but Sara chose that moment to dash from the room as though her robes had caught fire.

His wife gave him a fleeting glance before heading after her. Harry noticed Snape take a few steps forward, but then seemed to change his mind and turn back to staring out over the grounds. One of these days, he´d have to do as Draco asked and try to mend the fences with his other nemesis. Staring at the back of the Potions Master´s head, but not today, Harry thought. Today, he had other things to handle.

"What´s on your mind, Potter?" Minerva asked, correctly interpreting the look on his face.

"Something happened this weekend. Something I think you should know."

*^*^*^*^*^

Out in the corridor, it took Hermione moving at a dead run to catch up with Sara.

At first, she´d thought she´d lost the other teacher and was about to return to the staff room. Until she heard the sniffling, that is.

"Sara?" Hermione said, approaching the other woman like she was a bear protecting cubs.

"Please leave me alone, Hermione," she sniffed, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

"Sara, what is it? Can I help?"

"Only if you can turn back the clocks," she muttered, but her voice carried to Hermione nonetheless. "No, Hermione, there´s nothing you can do. It´s just a few things I have to handle on my own. I´m fine, really."

Sara straightened and walked away, her head held high, leaving Hermione feeling even more puzzled. There was something wrong, that was definite, but at the moment, she just didn´t have the stamina to puzzle it out. Not with so many other things occupying her mind.

Later, she would wonder why she hadn´t put it all together then.

^*^*^*^*^

That afternoon, a warm breeze caressed the Hogwarts grounds, almost as if in a final farewell before the chilling winter winds struck in full measure. Harry and Hermione took their time walking home, wanting to savor as much of it as they could. They´d just reached the top of the hill in front of the lake when they heard a very familiar squeak.

Faren was sitting near the lake´s edge on a blanket. She was talking with a group of Harry´s seventh year students. Most of them were skipping stones across the surface of the lake and watching the giant squid bat them back, but Annika was sitting on the blanket with a gurgling Jamie wrapped in her arms. She and Faren were in deep conversation.

The arrival of the two professors cut short any further fun for the students, so they made their departure rather hastily. Annika lingered for a moment, though, after passing the baby to Harry.

"I hope you figure it out, Faren," she said kindly, placing her hand on the other girl´s arm and walking off with a casual hello to her teachers.

"Figure what out, Faren?" Hermione asked as Harry swung his now gurgling daughter up over his head to her great joy.

"It´s nothing, Hermione, really," the younger witch said softly, still stumbling slightly over using her employer´s first name.

Hermione answered that comment with a raised eyebrow and an expression that left no room for evasions.

"Well, I´ve been staying in one of Madam Rosmerta´s spare rooms, as you know, and it´s..." she paused, looking decidedly uneasy, "well, it gets loud at night..."

"And you´re having trouble sleeping?" Harry finished for her. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but Harry answered before she could. "The circles under your eyes are getting deeper, Faren."

Harry and Hermione had a brief conversation with their eyes. Hermione nodded and looked back towards her nanny. "We told you when you first started that we didn´t need you to live in..."

"I could never ask that of you, Hermione."

"I wasn´t going to suggest it," she smiled. "But I know Ron and Mariah have an empty flat over their shop as well. As he closes at nine, you might find it a bit quieter there."

"But it wasn´t on the rental listing I saw," Faren protested.

"I don´t think they´ve ever thought of letting it out, if truth be told," Harry commented. "Look, why don´t we just head over there and ask them," Harry said before Faren could protest again.

It took less time than Harry thought it would. Ron and Mariah had agreed instantly to Faren´s staying there. Ron, at least, looked delighted at Faren´s offer of babysitting when she wasn´t working at the Potters. Within the hour, Faren and Harry had transferred her belongings from Rosmerta´s flat to Ron´s.

"How´d it go?" Hermione asked when he returned home. Jamie had demanded her dinner quite loudly when they´d arrived at Weasley´s and she had gone home to feed her.

"Hardly any heavy lifting," Harry grinned, kissing both of his girls. "She doesn´t have much. Clothes, a few books. One of them looked right up your street," he grinned at his wife, "old leather cover and such. But she snatched it out of my hand." Harry's brow furrowed as he remembered the nearly manic look on her face when she´d seen him holding it. He continued before Hermione noticed his frown. "She's clearly thrilled with the prospect of an uninterrupted night´s sleep, though. She smiled the whole time we worked."

Harry wanted to frown again, but kept his face impassive since Hermione was looking at him. There had been something odd about Faren's smile. It hadn't quite reached her eyes.

*^*^*^*^

Once Hermione and Jamie were settled in for a bit of mother-daughter bonding (which meant the pair of them were napping on the couch), Harry jotted a quick note informing Hermione that he´d gone on a walk and headed towards Draco´s.

Hermione was convinced that Jason was looking into any dark activity and would find out if there was any threat connected to Harry. Minerva was doing her own bit of investigation and contacting Dumbledore. And Sirius had checked every last remaining resting place of Voldemort's remains to find them undisturbed.

But the words in Seamus' letter haunted him. And the memory of his scar hurting worried him. He had told Hermione of the latter, but had yet to tell her about the former. Minerva's scene with Peeves and Hermione's abrupt departure after Sara had taken his opportunity. Then he'd been busy getting his nanny settled. Come to think of it, he still didn't know what had happened between Sara and Hermione. It looked like he and his wife had a bit of talking to do later.

Now, however, he had more important things at hand. Now he had to ask a friend for a rather large favor.

Draco answered the door with his hair mussed and his robe on inside out. Harry bit back a laugh.

"Your timing sucks, Potter."

"Then why'd you answer the door?" Harry quipped.

Draco looked confused for a moment then smiled himself. "It's a bit early for that, Harry. I was just bathing Morgan. He decided Dad ought to join in."

"Jamie does that as well. She's not happy unless all of us are drenched."

They shared an odd moment, standing in the doorway of Draco's relatively modest house and talking about their children. Neither of them voiced it, but both were thinking the same thing. They'd come a long way.

"I need to talk to you," Harry said, dropping his voice. He shook his head when Draco opened the door further for him. "Not here."

Draco gave him one long, searching look before nodding briefly. "Give me five minutes."

Harry waited outside, not wanting Ginny to see him here. Ginny would tell Hermione. Hermione would want to know what was so important that he had to meet Draco in private. So would Ginny for that matter. On a need to know basis, Harry decided neither of them needed to know.

It was nearly ten minutes later when they set out down the high street towards the Three Broomsticks. Draco mentioned to Harry that he'd told Ginny he needed to see Rosmerta about something for work. As Morgan had been diving into his dinner, she'd merely smiled and told him to bring something back for them to eat. Between writing her column and the steady influx of owls from her mother and George's wife about the wedding plans, she hadn't had a moment to get anything prepared.

It was an odd thing, Harry supposed, going to such a public place for a bit of privacy. But they both knew that the noise of the bar would cover their voices. Draco placed a dinner order with Rosmerta and joined Harry at the back table he'd chosen. A mug of Butterbeer awaited Draco; Harry stuck with tea.

"Do you miss it?" Draco asked honestly, then furrowed his brow. "Does it bother you, being here? We can go somewhere..."

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Malfoy," Harry smiled. "I don't have constant cravings for alcohol. I just know I can't handle it." Harry shrugged. It was true he didn't think about it all the time, but just now, he felt he could have done with a quick shot of Ogden's in his tea. He had even opened his mouth to ask for one, but the look on Rosmerta's face stopped him.

"So what's so important you had to drag me away from my family and left yours home alone?"

Harry spent ten minutes filling Draco in on everything from his scar to the letter from Seamus. The other man didn't interrupt, but let Harry talk. His tea was stone cold by the time he finished, but he drank it anyway.

Draco sat in silence for a moment after he'd finished. He opened his mouth twice, closing it again before saying anything. "So you think..." he trailed off, looking pensive again. "You think your aunt, uncle and cousin were murdered. By a wizard."

"Yes," he said softly. "Do you know anyone else that could make a water resistant fire?"

"Well, I don't know much about Muggle things, but wouldn't an electrical fire be hard to put out? I've heard things like that at the Ministry."

"The fireman didn't say it was hard to put out, Draco. He said it was resistant to water."

"Settle down," Draco muttered as a couple at a nearby table glanced in their direction. "I'm assuming you want me to do something about this, or you wouldn't have brought it up."

"I want you to go with Seamus tomorrow when he checks the site of the fire."

"I know we're friends now and all," Draco grimaced, "but do I have to start hanging out with all the other Gryffindors on top of that?"

"I'm not asking you to have him over to tea, Malfoy. I just want your eyes there along with his. I've heard about what you do for the Ministry. I know you'll see what he won't. Or can't."

"I think there was a compliment in there somewhere."

"Believe it," Harry affirmed. "But there's something else I want you to do as well." And this wasn't going to be nearly as easy, Harry thought.

"I knew all this buttering up was leading somewhere."

"I want you to contact anyone you can from the days before Voldemort fell."

Draco looked as though Harry had swung a Beater's club into his midsection.

"I can't, Harry," he said, his voice carrying none of its usual arrogance. "I..." Draco stopped as the door to the bar swung open. Severus Snape stood there, scanning the various patrons as if looking for someone. Harry was completely thrown off track at the sight of him. He was wearing his usual black robes, but a hunter green turtleneck was just visible under the neckline.

"I didn't think the man knew color actually existed," Harry said in amazement. Then his jaw dropped as he saw Draco motion the man towards them. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you as best I can," Draco explained.

"Draco," Snape said as he reached the table, "Potter."

"Snape," Harry answered in the same blank tone his old professor had used.

Draco merely rolled his eyes and motioned for him to join them. Snape glanced at the door, then his watch, then snagged a chair from a nearby table and sat.

"We don't mean to keep you from anything," Harry said.

"You're not, Potter," Snape said briskly.

"Severus, Harry's got a problem..."

Harry almost laughed at the look on Snape's face. Their eyes met and they shared a moment. It wasn't the beginning of a beautiful friendship, but it wasn't outright hostility either. He supposed that was something.

"I'm aware of Potter's problem," Snape said softly. "Minerva informed me earlier. I've begun a little research of my own, but so far I haven't even been able to come up with anyone from those days still alive or in any condition to talk."

"Which is why I thought maybe Draco...?"

"No." Both Draco and Snape hissed the word at the same time.

"Harry, you don't understand a lot about the community I shunned when I left England. You know parts of the story, but not all of it. You weren't exactly up on current affairs when I left, you know?"

"There was a mark put on Draco's head," Snape informed Harry. "That's one of the reasons I encouraged him to leave. There weren't many that would have been capable of murder, but I didn't want him taking any unnecessary risks."

"But those men and women, by your own account, Snape, aren't in any condition to be a threat now."

"Their children would be," Snape said. "And as you might know, children often harbor grudges on their parents´ behalf for quite some time."

"And I'm still the dark side's poster boy for treason. Right below Severus. And while the Aurors haven't heard anything pertaining to threats on me, I'm not about to go stirring up the pot by asking questions. I have too much at risk now."

Harry remembered the feeling he'd had that morning as he'd carried Jamie from her room. He nodded to Draco. "I understand. And I didn't realize. I'm sorry for even asking."

"Potter, are you absolutely sure the pain in your scar has to do with something recent?"

Harry's eyes snapped back to Snape, who was regarding him with an almost kind expression. It wasn´t filled with its usual malice, at any rate.

"What I mean is, Voldemort's curses were very strong. He was an exceptionally powerful wizard." Snape's right hand reached over to grasp his left forearm. "Sometimes, his marks still burn."

"You mean...?" Harry gasped.

"Yes, Potter. I don't know whether it's the force with which he burned it into us, or if it's just my own memory, but the mark still bothers me at times."

Harry marveled slightly at Snape's use of the word "us". He wasn't quite sure how he felt having something in common with the man. Harry didn't know what felt odder: being comforted by Snape or...no, that was the oddest feeling of his life, nothing could top it. And he did feel comforted. Could it be that the pain he'd felt that morning was nothing more than a memory? It was true that certain events from his own time as a Hogwarts student had been on his mind a lot lately. It was feasible that those memories triggered a remembered pain. Feeling more at ease than he had in days, Harry looked up at his old nemeses -- both of them. He smiled at the one he now called friend. Maybe someday he´d be able to do the same to Snape.

But Snape wasn't looking at him. Snape had turned in his chair and was now staring at the entrance to the bar, the door having just swung shut.

"Excuse me," he said gruffly and swept from their table without another word.

"So, you'll meet with Seamus tomorrow then?" Harry asked, pushing aside the scene with Snape until he could analyze it further.

"I will. And I'll owl you before I even leave the site of the fire."

Harry and Draco parted soon after, both checking their watches and realizing that two witches were probably wondering where the hell they'd gotten to. "Probably think we're up to something untoward," drawled Draco as they reached the fork that would lead Harry towards his house and Draco towards his.

"Untoward?" Harry stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come off it, Harry. Don´t pretend you never heard the rumors. Didn´t you notice the sly looks being shot in our direction when we walked in there together?"

Harry goggled at Draco, his chin hitting his chest, realizing what he was inferring. "You´re mad," he said.

"Nope. Heard a few of them with my own ears. Apparently, there are some in our world that think I went off for all those years to nurse a broken heart and that you spent those years pissed for the same reason."

"You...and me..?" Harry said with soft wonder. He moved closer to Draco, whose eyes widened with every step Harry took. "I´d never thought..."

"Potter, what the hell are you doing?" Draco asked with a kind of quiet alarm.

"What is that cologne you´re wearing? It´s intoxicating."

Their eyes met across the scant inches that separated them. The corners of Harry´s mouth twitched. Draco shoved at his chest and scowled as Harry bent double in fits of laughter. "The look on your face," Harry said as he tried to regain control of his breathing.

Draco simply stood there and waited for Harry to regain his composure. "Having fun?" he said, trying to remain angry in the face of Harry´s mirth. It wasn´t working, and he could feel a smile tugging at his own mouth.

"Yeah," he said, wiping tears of laughter from his cheeks. "I needed that."

Draco smiled back, glad to see Harry taking the events of his week in stride. He hated to admit watching his friend for signs that he was cracking under the mounting pressure. He was relieved to see not a single fissure. He wanted to ask if talking to Severus had made him feel that much better, but he didn´t think that was the way to go. Better to let those two work on things by themselves. But to see Harry laughing after seeing him so dour gave him hope that the other wizard was beginning to deal with life´s stresses as others did. He couldn´t wait to tell Ginny.

And if relieving stress meant fielding aspersions on his sexual orientation, he could handle that.

"Just so you know," Harry said once he´d recovered, "I'm planning on telling Hermione we were making plans for Ron's bachelor party. Don´t look at me like that," he interrupted before Draco could speak, "we are going to have one and you are going to be there. Anyway, I figure if we tell them that, it´ll keep them from asking questions."

"Hermione and Ginny?"

"You're right," Harry sighed, "nothing will keep those two from nosing about, but it might make them ask fewer questions."

Draco grinned as he walked back towards his house. He was planning on giving Ginny just enough false information to drive her insane with curiosity while insisting to his face that she didn´t want to know.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Jamie lay sleeping between her parents, blissfully unaware of the tense conversation taking place around her. Despite Harry´s best efforts, Hermione had seen straight through the "bachelor party" story as if it were made of the thinnest gossamer veil. She´d met him at the door with a kiss to the cheek and asked if he´d walked to London since he´d been gone so long. He hadn´t gotten through half of his prepared remarks before she´d raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms in her best I´m-not-buying-this stance.

Harry had sighed.

By the time he´d finished telling her about the owl from Seamus, Draco´s reaction and the odd conversation with Snape, they were in bed with Jamie, who´d awakened twenty minutes previously, fussy and trying to stick her fist down her throat.

Hermione had performed a soothing charm on the baby´s gums, having been assured by Mariah earlier that week that the infant showed all the signs of incoming teeth. It worked somewhat, but had to be performed every hour or so. No sleep for them tonight, Harry thought.

"What do you think it means, Harry?" Hermione asked in a whisper. "Do you think it´s related to your scar?"

"I don´t know, love, but after talking to Snape, I doubt it. I think it´s just what he said it was. A memory."

"Well, that would go with what Jason told me earlier."

"When did you talk to Jason?" Harry could no more keep the rancor from his voice than he could stop the march of time.

"He stopped by while you were off with Draco," Hermione said evenly, either missing or ignoring his tone. "He said there is nothing unusual going on anywhere near here. At least nothing to indicate that the pain in your scar has anything to do with the remnants of Voldemort´s supporters."

Harry scowled as her eyes brightened. "And I can´t believe I almost forgot to tell you! Jason told me something else. My counter had its first test in the field. An Auror in Bath used it successfully yesterday. He´s alive and well and the three men who tried to kill him are in Azkaban."

"That´s wonderful, Mione," Harry said truthfully, pride in his wife´s accomplishments filling him, leaving no room for the shadow of jealousy Jason´s name had caused. Without thinking, he reached for her and pulled her close. Jamie stirred and began to fret once again.

"Whoops," Harry sighed, cuddling his daughter onto his shoulder as Hermione cast the charm. Her wand grazed over Jamie´s tender gums and the baby´s wails slowly softened into whimpers.

Once Jamie was soothed back into sleep, Hermione transferred her to the bedside bassinet left over from when she was a newborn and Harry tucked Hermione into the curve of his arm. Content for the moment that everything that could be done was being done, they settled in for as much sleep as they could scratch out between turns soothing Jamie.

*^*^*^*^*^

Across the village, Mariah wasn´t sleeping nearly as well. Rianne had successfully cut three teeth ages ago and was sleeping peacefully. Ron, being Ron, was sleeping like the dead next to her. But Mariah was tossing and turning, caught in the throes of a vivid nightmare.

"Mia," the soft voice beckoned through the mist. "Mia, follow me."

"Daddy?" Mariah called, for he was the only person that ever called her Mia. Her friends had all called her Ria; her mother had used Mariah. Her father had wanted something unique...just for them.

"Mia, hurry," he called, "time´s running out."

Mariah searched through the clouds of vapor surrounding her until she found him standing alone, arms outstretched.

"Daddy, are you hurt?" she asked frantically, stepping into the comfort of his arms. "Are you okay?"

"I´m fine, Mia. But your friends aren´t. They´re in trouble. And you need to help them."

"I´m trying, Daddy. I´m doing everything I can."

"Are you?"

"Of course I am," she said defensively.

"Do you know what the strongest organ in the human body is?"

Puzzled, Mariah shook her head.

"It´s the brain, Mariah. Because it´s capable of locking secrets within itself that none but the most powerful keys can access. Your friend Jane proved that."

"Why are you telling me this, Daddy?"

"Because you need to find the key, Mariah. Even if you don´t want to."

Mariah jerked back to consciousness as though she´d been shot. Ron rolled to face her and draped his arm across her midriff in the process. She cuddled into his arms and set about forgetting everything her father had told her. She was doing everything she could. Anything else was unthinkable.

***

Three days later, Hermione spent her free period stretched out on the staff room sofa, enjoying the peace of the empty room. She was just drifting off for a bit of make up sleep when the bell signaling the end of classes blared through the room. But try as she might, she couldn't find the energy to get up.

"Hermione?" The voice addressing her wasn't timid, but neither was it steady. Hermione cracked one eye open and saw Sara standing over her. Behind Sara, she could see the room slowly filling with the other teachers. Knowing Harry would be along any moment, Hermione struggled to a sitting position. If her husband saw her napping, he´d stop waking her when Jamie fussed so that she could sleep.

"Hi, Sara," Hermione yawned.

"Is everything all right?" the older woman asked, concern furrowing her forehead.

Hermione smiled while suppressing another yawn. "Everything´s fine, or it will be when Jamie finally cuts the tooth. It would be better if she would sleep longer than ninety minutes at a time. I was just trying to catch a quick nap."

"Isn´t there anything you can do?"

"There are charms, medicines. We´ve tried them all. And either they´re not working or we´ve spoiled her so completely she won´t accept them." A wry smile crooked her mouth, positive that the latter was at least partially true. But that was neither here nor there. If they didn´t find something that worked soon, they were going to go quietly insane on loss of sleep. Hermione didn´t even remember the baby´s first nights being this sleepless.

"I´m sure it will pass soon," Sara said with a slight smile before walking away. Harry was walking up as she took her leave, and Hermione could have sworn the other woman actually greeted him this time.

Well, it´s taken her long enough to get over the shyness,

Hermione thought. Harry joined her on the sofa and it was all she could do not to cuddle into his side and drop off to sleep again. The litany she´d been reciting for days was drumming through an overtired brain. Tonight, she´ll sleep...tonight...tonight...

"Did you talk to Finelius?" Hermione asked, lowering her voice, wondering if the Charms professor had been able to shed any light on the situation.

"Yes," Harry sighed, "and he said he couldn´t be sure. There´s no real way to tell that the purple residue Draco found at the site is an echo of flame enhancement charm."

Hermione watched as Snape crossed the room towards them, wondering at the look on the Potions master´s face. It took a while to register that the man was smiling at her. Not a sneer, not a glare. A real smile.

"Potter," Snape said curtly when he reached them.

"Snape," Harry greeted back.

"Any more discomfort?" Snape said softly.

"No, I think you were right about that. It hasn´t even twitched since the morning it happened."

Snape nodded curtly and left them, robes billowing in his wake.

"I don´t know if I can get used to that," Hermione said, watching his retreating back. "Think we´ll have to start calling him Severus?"

"I doubt it. Some habits are just too hard to break. And it´s familiar now, using our last names. Kind of like that Muggle television show you told me about."

"Well, if you end up like those two did, cuddled on a bed in a motel room, we´ll have more problems than just an aching scar."

Hermione laughed at the look of horror on Harry's face then raised her hand to stifle a yawn. "Don't even go there, Potter," she said warningly, interpreting the shift in his expression.

"What?" he said, feigning innocence.

"I´m no more tired than you are. And you can forget any plans you were making to put a deafening charm on me so I can´t hear Jamie´s crying."

"I was thinking no such thing," Harry said, lying through his teeth. Sometimes, he thought, it wasn´t so great having a wife that could read you so well.

They left the staff room not much later, headed for their afternoon classes, both trying to figure out how best to ensure the other´s sleep.

*^*^*^*^*^*

Harry was just dismissing his seventh years when he saw Snape at the threshold of his classroom.

"Professor?" Annika asked, text book open in front of her, "can I ask you something about Dr. Longbottom's counter?" Two of her friends remained with her and they continued what looked like an ongoing discussion of the matter.

"Just a moment," Harry said, walking over to join the Potions master at the door. Snape looked like he'd just bitten into a lemon.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to the phrase 'Dr. Longbottom'," Snape said in a tone somewhere between amusement and disgust.

"A common problem among we that knew him at school," Harry said, feeling yet another odd but increasingly familiar sense of camaraderie. "What brings you by?"

"This," Snape said curtly, pushing a bottle into his hands. "I heard your child is keeping you up with pain in her gums. It's a numbing solution."

"I tried suggesting that, Snape, and my mother-in-law suggested the Muggle version. Hermione's afraid it will go down Jamie's throat and numb that too."

"This one won't," Snape assured him, "it has a touch of willow sap in it for adhesion. If she's worried, have her try it on her own gums." Snape lowered his voice in deference to the students still in the classroom. "And about the other. I've heard from an old associate. I don't believe you have anything to worry about from that quarter. There isn't enough cohesion in that group to organize afternoon tea, much less a threat against you and your family."

Harry's eyebrows shot into his bangs at this, but Snape raised a hand. "I've already sent this information to the Auror Hermione knows so he can keep an eye on them."

"Thank you, Sev--," Harry tried awkwardly. Snape held up a hand.

"Let's stick with what we know, Potter."

"Agreed." Harry smiled, Snape reciprocated, and Harry thought lost souls were probably sledding in Hell right about now.

With a slight laugh, Harry headed over to his students and the debate that had been silently raging as he'd spoken with Snape. His hand flew to his forehead when he felt something there. He smoothed a finger over the scar, realizing what he'd felt. It hadn't been pain. It had been more like a caress.

"Professor?" Daniel asked. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," he said to all three of his students. "Just a bit of a headache."

*^*^*^*^*^

"And Felicity sent over these fabric samples for the maid of honor and bridesmaids dresses," Ginny said, draping a few swatches in front of Mariah. But the other witch wasn´t paying her any attention. Her eyes were fixed on some point over Ginny´s shoulder. "But I prefer the black leather bustier, personally."

"Whatever you think, Gin," came the vacant response.

It was the third time in twenty minutes that Mariah had said that and Ginny´d had enough. She disentangled herself from the pile of wedding plans George's wife had put together and crossed to sit beside Mariah on the couch.

"I know this is my brother you´re marrying, love, but if you´re having second thoughts, now is the time to tell me."

Mariah didn´t respond. Ginny looked into the other woman´s face and recognized the look. She was talking to Ron downstairs with her mind. It was a little disconcerting, but at the same time, she envied her brother this connection. She laid a hand gently on Mariah´s shoulder to get her attention and she saw Mariah jerk suddenly.

"I´m so sorry, Gin," Mariah said, flushing slightly.

"No apologies necessary. My brother can talk the leg off an iron pot; I´m assuming it´s no different with his mind than with his mouth. But at least now I know you weren´t ignoring me because you´re having second thoughts."

"Ginny," Mariah said softly, "of all the things in my life, the one I am most sure of is my desire to marry your brother."

Ginny wasn´t surprised to feel tears in her eyes at this statement, but was a little stunned by the moisture in Mariah´s. "Is everything okay?"

"It´s fine, Gin. Now, you were showing me samples, right? And no, leather bustiers are out, unless the wizards wear them too."

Ginny was still giggling at the thought of Harry, Draco and Ron trussed up in leather as she reached for the fabric samples. She jerked her hand back when she felt it slice on a spare piece of parchment.

"Are you all right?" Mariah asked.

"Paper cut," Ginny said, shaking her hand. But when she went to examine it, she found no trace of blood or of a cut. The sting was gone, too. "Or not," she grinned, feeling foolish for her exaggeration. She hadn´t cut herself at all.

"Onto fabrics, then" Mariah said with a note of alarm in her voice. But as they steadily made their way through the various shades and patterns, Ginny forgot all about the incident with the paper cut.

Mariah had even more trouble than ever sleeping that night.

*^*^*^*^*^

As Mariah tossed and turned, fighting her dreams once again, Harry and Hermione were standing over their baby´s crib, a bottle of a clear, thick potion in Harry´s hand.

"What did Snape say it was again?"

"A numbing gel."

It was midnight and Jamie had been sleeping peacefully for three straight hours. They´d come into her room in a burst of new parent panic, thinking that the baby might be hurt since she wasn´t crying when she was supposed to.

But Jamie was fine, sleeping on her side, stuffed animals littering her crib but a small black dog right near her hands.

"Don´t take this the wrong way, Harry," Hermione whispered as Harry led her from the room, "but I´d like to kiss Snape right now."

"So would I, love, so would I. But as he's not here and you are," he grinned, pulling Hermione into his arms, "I guess I'll have to make do."

^*^*^*^*^*^*

The note was on the mat inside their front door when they came downstairs the next morning. They were both nearly giddy with a full night´s sleep behind them and a new tooth for Jamie. Harry picked the note up and took it into the kitchen. Faren was already there, preparing a breakfast that smelled like heaven.

"Faren, did you drop this?" Harry asked since there was no name on the parchment.

"Drop what?" she asked, turning to face him. Harry thought he saw a moment's panic on her face before it went blank.

He showed her the envelope. "It was on the entrance mat when we came downstairs."

"It wasn't there when I arrived, Harry." Jamie began squealing at the sight of her nanny, and Hermione passed the baby over before she wriggled right out of her grasp.

"You know you don't need to make us breakfast every morning, Faren," Hermione said, helping herself to coffee and fielding an elbow to the ribs from Harry.

"I love to cook, Hermione, and I rarely get the chance anymore."

Harry was about to comment about how grateful he was that she did when the words on the parchment before him registered. "What the...?"

Hermione glanced over to Harry and took the proffered note. She soon wore the same puzzled expression as her husband.

It was written in block letters. At first, Harry wondered why it looked so strange and then he realized it. The note was written on Muggle stationery...with an ink pen.

Beloved. I cannot contain my joy at being so near to you. I know our time is approaching, I know you are slowly regaining freedom from the spell that has held you captive for far too long. Your scent when we're close enchants me, and I swear our hearts beat in unison when we're together.

Until we are free to be together, I remain yours always.

Harry and Hermione stared at each other over the breakfast table as Faren cooed to Jamie near the sink.

"Looks like you've got an admirer, Harry," Hermione whispered.

"And I know exactly who it is," Harry said blankly.