The Joining of the Three

Chapter 10

Hermione sat at the library table she'd occupied the day before. Her notes were still in the same place, her quill was still lying atop a parchment half-covered in runes. In essence, nothing had changed since she'd last sat at this table. Yet, at the same time, everything had changed. Her heart sighed and her pulse jittered at the memory of the previous night.

When she'd first laid out her supplies yesterday, her heart had been in shambles, her marriage at its lowest point. And now…well, now she was having a bloody hard time keeping a stupid self-satisfied grin off her face.

The night before

They walked back towards the apartment hand in hand, a sight that caused more than one student or fellow faculty member to stop and gawk. While curious glances met them, only smiles remained in their wake. Harry and Hermione were both so familiar with the attention that neither paid the looks any mind. As a matter of fact, they didn't notice the looks at all.

All Harry could see was Hermione, and all she could see was him.

They finished the journey to their apartment still plagued with their own version of tunnel vision, blocking out everything but the person at the other end of the hand.

Once inside, Harry shut the door firmly behind him and opened his arms to his wife. She nearly jumped into them, stifling a sob on his shoulder as his arms enfolded her. They stood that way for quite some time until Harry pulled back, took her hand and led her towards their bed.

"Harry," Hermione said as she cuddled into his arms. "I missed you so much."

"So did I, Mione, love. And I'm…"

"Hush," she whispered, placing a finger to his lips and then kissing him softly. She removed his glasses and raised her head so their eyes met with no impediments. "No recriminations, Harry. I don't want to think about the last two weeks. Right now, I've got my husband back in my bed. I'm not about to waste a moment like this on talking."

Hermione deepened the kiss, sliding her tongue across the sealed seam of his lips. Harry lost the battle when she began to nibble at his lower lip. Reaching up to pull her closer -- as close as her distended stomach would allow -- Harry grabbed her hair by the fistful and plundered her mouth.

Her hands began to travel over a body that craved her touch more than a fish craved water, but when they began to unfasten his trousers, he halted her.

"Mione," he growled as she fought to continue undressing him, "Poppy told us that we couldn't make love during the last few weeks, remember? She said it could send you into an early labor."

"She said that I can't, Harry. But last I checked," Hermione grinned at Harry's sharp intake of breath when she finally struck gold, "you aren't pregnant."

They spent the better part of two hours laughing and teasing -- reconnecting on every level they could until they finally felt satiated. Hermione spooned into his arms, positioning a pillow to take the weight of the baby. Harry fell into sleep almost instantly, murmuring words of love in her ear even as he drifted off.

But sleep eluded Hermione. Partially due to the uncomfortable position the baby had settled into, and partially due to a heart that still ached at Harry's cold indifference over the past two weeks. She lay quietly for a while, watching the steady rise and fall of Harry's chest as he slept. With every breath, she felt the ache in her soul deepen.

As quietly as she could, Hermione left the bed and walked towards the window overlooking the lake. She sat on the padded stone window seat and stared out at the water. That lake had played such a monumental role in her life since coming to Hogwarts. A hundred different memories danced past her closed eyes until finally coming to rest on the one memory she couldn't shake…the look on Harry's face two weeks ago.

While it was true that their physical reunion had taken some of the pain from her heart, their emotional reunion was still a ways off. He had told her some of his feelings in the library earlier, but she realized now that she was still holding back a bit of herself from him. The part of her heart so abused during the past two weeks was refusing to open up – refusing to allow him back.

Almost as if her very thoughts had bidden him, Hermione felt a hand close over hers and she raised tearstained eyes to his. He wasn't wearing his glasses. And somehow, it made the ache even more bittersweet in its irony – she was constructing protective walls as the one barrier he had wasn't there.

"Can't sleep?" Harry asked her quietly.

"No."

Harry placed both hands at the sides of her face and used his thumbs to eradicate the tearstains from her cheeks. "Want to talk about it?"

"Will you?" she asked, a little more acidic than she intended.

"Yes, love. I will."

Harry led her back to the bed and settled her in his arms, her back to his chest. With their hands clasped over the swell of their child, he told her everything. The pain of losing her, his desire to drink himself to death in order to join her, all the worries, all the fears kept tumbling out of his mouth like so many pixies let loose from their cage.

Hermione said nothing while he talked, she just clenched and unclenched their joined hands, raising them to her lips every once in a while in support.

When he finally seemed to talk himself out, Hermione raised the one question she needed the answer to most. "And Draco?" she asked, knowing that was all she needed to say.

Harry shifted around on the bed, moving to face her. He raised his hands to her face and cupped her cheeks with a feather light touch. "Love, that was only the nudge. I'd been standing on the edge of that cliff for quite some time."

Hermione smiled weakly, so Harry carried on. "I know a few things with absolute certainty, Hermione Potter. I know that I love you, and that you love me. I know I have a ways to go before I feel truly able to deal with obstacles the way I should. And I know that with you by my side, helping me, I will get there."

She didn't answer. She couldn't around the lump in her throat. So she kissed him instead. A kiss unlike any they had shared before…as if this time, their souls were entwining instead of their arms. As if their true inner beings were becoming one through the contact of lips on lips.

And then they slept, wrapped in each other heart, body and soul.

Back at her table in the library, Hermione ran a hand over the swollen abdomen that kept up with the rhythmic contractions that Poppy assured her were just a sign that her body was preparing for labor.

With another grin, Hermione settled down to pore over the notes she had made for the counter. It didn't make any bloody sense. She knew she had it right, but the spiders kept disappearing. It was almost like having a word sitting on the tip of her tongue – she knew the answer was there somewhere, she just couldn't find it.

Resignedly, Hermione opened another book, loaded up her quill, and did what she did best…research.

^*^*^*^*

Mariah stirred lethargically, raising her hands over her head in a long, leisurely stretch. It seemed like forever since she'd awoken on her own and not to the insistent demands of a hungry infant. Scrubbing her hands over her eyes to rid them of sleep, she glanced over at the tuft of red hair sticking out from beneath the comforter. A wave of love so profound swept over her, she nearly gasped. If they weren't already engaged, she'd propose to him this second, she thought with a grin. Mariah leaned over to place a feather soft kiss to her fiancé's cheek and noticed the clock.

She gasped audibly.

That couldn't be right. There was no way that was right. The clock read 6:04 am. And that was impossible unless Ron had found a way for the baby to nurse without her knowledge. The last thing she remembered was feeding Rianne at nine the previous evening, just before Ron was due to close the shop. She remembered hoping that by feeding her a little early, she and Ron might actually have some time to themselves before the baby woke again.

Which meant that Rianne had gone nearly ten hours without eating.

A shimmer of panic slipped down her spine as she eased herself off the bed and slid into her robe.

Every fiber of her being screamed at her to run to the next bedroom, but she made herself walk. She knew she was just being a silly, overprotective mother. She knew that babies sometimes slept through the night early, and that it wasn't unusual for a six week old to do so. Mariah stuffed the panicked feelings down as she crossed the threshold into her daughter's room, knowing she'd get a hearty laugh at her overreaction once she picked up the baby.

But as she reached the crib side, and saw the empty space where her child should be, Mariah knew it would be a long time before she laughed again.

She slumped to the floor and screamed. A long, silent scream heard by only one other person. The anguished cry was still echoing through Ron's head when he reached her a second later.

"Angel? What is it? What's wrong?" Ron's face bore the rumples and creases of sleep, but the concern in his eyes was still visible.

"She's gone, Ron. Rianne is gone."

^*^*^*^

It wasn't any better, she thought. If anything, it had gotten worse.

Renae sat in the once broken and decayed but now recently transfigured rocking chair, a baby nestled in her arms. The poor little thing was still whimpering slightly, but had finally cried herself to sleep.

For the hours she'd rocked her, Renae had felt every ounce of her resolve desert her. For the hours she'd listened to Sabastian rant, she'd felt her desperation grow. And for the baby, she would do what she had to do.

Last night, as they had sat waiting for the baby to arrive in the makeshift crib, she had studied the shell of the man she used to know. Any trace of Sabastian Jamison had been eradicated by jealousy and rage. The man she'd bonded with was no more. The insane man in his place was beginning to terrify her.

In one desperate and pathetic moment, Renae had hoped that once they had the baby things could return to normal. She had persuaded him to see the Triuna mark when he'd checked for it with the gleam of triumph shining from his eyes. Renae had hoped and prayed that if he believed this child was the Triuna, they could leave this place.

Her heart ached for Mariah, and she would try and find a way to return Rianne to her, but for the safety of all involved, she had to try and regain some control. And that meant keeping the baby for the time being.

"Milord," she'd whispered, "now that we have the child, are we returning home?"

"Home?" he'd spat. "Why should we go anywhere when justice is so near to hand? Why do you think I brought us to this dilapidated shack? I could have portkeyed that baby anywhere, but we need to be here. How else can they find us?"

Renae had gulped audibly. Like a whirlpool, the downward spiral of Sabastian's madness was now clearly beyond the point of no return. "You want them to find us, milord?"

"Of course I do," he'd addressed her as he would a particularly annoying child. "How can I attain the ultimate revenge if they don't find out who has their child? How can I land the ultimate blow if I don't do it in their presence?"

Later, Renae would wonder how she'd managed to keep her face straight. Because in that one moment, his entire mind had been opened to her. She had seen the madness, the anger, and the end result he hoped for.

He no longer wished to raise the Triuna child. He wished to kill it…while Mariah watched.

And that left Renae with only one option. She pressed a kiss to the downy head of the sleeping baby and resolved herself to her fate.

^*^*^*^

Draco stared at the assemblage before him with a heart that felt like lead. Harry was pacing, Hermione and Ginny were flanking Mariah, and Ron was staring at the floor.

In his whole life, he'd never thought he'd look forward to a snide comment from Ron Weasley. But he did right now. Anything would have been better than the hoarse voice that had greeted him with a "Hello, Draco. Thank you for coming."

When Harry had arrived at the Manor four hours earlier, Draco had thought he was there to apologize. But then he'd seen Harry's face, and his eyes. And he'd known that something somewhere had gone horribly wrong.

So he and Ginny had dropped everything to return to Hogwarts with Harry and provide whatever moral support they could.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be much at all. Hermione had said that their being there was all the support they needed, but Draco couldn't help but feel inadequate. And as he gazed at his wife, still sheltering their child within her, he realized there really was nothing he could do.

His gaze kept travelling to Ron. As the other man stared fixedly at the floor, Draco tried to think of what he must be going through…what his thoughts were at this moment. Panic? Fear? Sorrow? He imagined it was probably all three. With their relationship as friends rather than enemies still on its first legs, Draco wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation. He settled for a comforting grip on Ron's shoulder as he passed by on the way to speak to Harry.

Draco would have been surprised, however, to know that of all the emotions swirling about Ron Weasley at that moment, guilt was the most prominent. Guilt he couldn't quite place. But there was a nagging feeling that this was somehow his fault…that he'd done something to cause it.

Before he could do much but wonder where these thoughts were coming from, Mariah stood and started to pace, rubbing her hands up and down her arms as if trying to warm them.

Everyone watched in a kind of mute horror, and Hermione was reminded of a time her parents had taken her to a production of Macbeth. The way Mariah was rubbing her arms was nearly identical to Lady Macbeth's attempts to remove the blood from her hands.

"Mariah?" Hermione asked quietly. "What is it?"

"My arms hurt," she responded distantly. "They ache. They're empty when they shouldn't be. My ears are ringing with the sound of her cry. My baby is crying and I can't go to her. I can't help her."

No one attempted to stop Mariah's outpouring of grief. This was the first she'd spoken since telling Ron that the baby was gone. Tears of sorrow and compassion filled the eyes of those watching, but no one made a move to comfort her or stop her. Ginny shook her head to keep Ron from rising and effectively told the rest of the group to let her go. She knew from helping a friend deal with the loss of a child that it was best to let the mother talk for as long as she wanted once she finally opened up.

"I can't stand this. I feel helpless and angry and scared and sad. I feel guilt that is not my own and I don't know where it's coming from. I miss her so much, yet I know she's safe. In my heart, I know she's safe. But my arms hurt, and my heart hurts and I hate that she's gone, and I can't do anything to help her when she cries. I can't feed her when she's hungry because of that damned portkey Renae put in the bassinette."

Mariah seemed to freeze. So did the rest of the room.

"What did you just say?" Ron said quietly, his mind running in circles for reasons he still couldn't place.

Mariah herself looked just as bewildered, as if trying to recall what she'd just said. Her mind replayed the entire soliloquy as she watched Ron stand up and walk over to the window. When he passed her without a touch, or a glance, she suddenly knew where the guilt was coming from.

What's wrong? Mariah asked when she reached him.

Nothing, he answered.

Bullshit, she scowled, turning him to face her. I know now that you're trying to shield me. But I can still feel it, Ron. The guilt is coming from you in waves. You must know that there is nothing for you to feel guilty about.

"But there is," Ron insisted aloud, and stalked away from her to pace the room.

All eyes focused on Ron. "I did something to cause this, Mariah. I know it. I just can't seem to remember what."

And like a bolt of lightning, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. "Oh my God," Mariah breathed. In that moment, her sadness over Rianne's disappearance was replaced by a fierce determination. A sense of purpose -- and an almost encompassing need for revenge.

"What?" asked more than one voice.

Mariah waved the rest of them off and beckoned Ron to her. Once he was seated beside her, she placed her hands on either side of his cheeks and began speaking to him mentally. To the rest of the room, it looked like two lovers gazing into one another's eyes. But as Ron's eyes first grew wide and then glazed over with rage, they all knew something had happened. Something not good.

"Ron?" Harry asked from across the room where he had been debating the futility of search parties with Draco.

"That bloody bastard has my little girl," Ron screamed, his face turning the color of flame before losing all pigment to turn ashen white.

The words were like a catharsis to him, though, and he crumpled into the sofa, allowing Mariah to wrap her arms around him and soothe the tears.

Neither noticed when the room emptied to leave them in privacy.

"It's my fault, Angel," Ron sobbed into his fiancée's shoulder. "I gave her the bear. I'm the reason she's gone."

She knew any denials would fall on deaf ears right now, so Mariah simply murmured soothing words into his ear and ran her hands up and down his back. It seemed no time at all before the flood had passed. Mariah wiped the tear tracks from eyes now swollen and red.

"Ron, honey. It's not your fault. Persuaders like Renae can be more powerful than the Imperius curse…and nearly impossible to fight because you don't notice. There's no feeling of happiness and light when you're being Persuaded. You just….are."

"But I should have realized, Mariah. I should have done something…."

Mariah knew that nothing short of proof was going to alter Ron's perception. And she needed him to move past this if they were going to save their child.

Walking quickly, Mariah opened the door out into the corridor and invited both couples back in. Once they were all settled, Mariah stood before them like a teacher. "Who in this room is the best at throwing off Imperius?" she asked simply and without inflection.

Four voices called out Harry's name. With a nod, Mariah walked over to Harry and began speaking to him softly. Before the others could figure out what was going on, Harry had stood and walked over to the window, thrown it open and yelled "I am the Master, you are the Minion" then walked back over to the couch and sat next to Hermione.

"Do you believe me now, Ron?" Mariah asked.

Ron, whose jaw was hanging open in shock, merely nodded.

"Believe you about what?" Harry asked, his face a study in curiosity. Hermione explained briefly what had just happened. Harry shuddered slightly as the implications of such a gift, of such a power, hit him.

"Remind me to never hack you off, Mariah," Draco deadpanned.

She smiled weakly at him, but it was at least a smile.

"Now then, the real work starts," Mariah sighed. "I can rest a little more comfortably now that I know who she's with. I was fairly sure Sabastian was involved…I just didn't know how he'd done it. And now all we have to do is find him, and we'll find our baby."

"Mariah," Hermione began tentatively, not sure she liked the emotionless leader the distraught mother had become.

"I'm fine, Hermione. I've been dreaming of Sabastian and Renae ever since Rianne's birth. And now, I'm not so sure they've been dreams at all. I think they've been memories. And if they are, I know Renae will keep Rianne safe. And I know Sabastian will do nothing until we find him."

No one pressed Mariah on how she knew what she knew. The ancient practice of the Diviners was still new to them. But the conviction in her voice and the nearly fanatic gleam in her eyes convinced them, and they set about searching for Sabastian.

^*^*^*^*^

They sat in the common room for an hour discussing strategy. Owls would be sent to search the countryside; the residents of Hogsmeade and other magical communities would be alerted. Hermione suggested using the Muggle press as well.

Harry proposed the most radical move of them all – namely, asking the Hogwarts ghosts for help. No one seemed to think this would do any good, but as Harry pointed out, it couldn't hurt. He hadn't forgotten how Nearly Headless Nick had helped him when he'd been about to receive punishment from Filch in second year…or how the ghosts of his parents and Cedric and Bertha and the old man had helped him escape Voldemort in fourth year.

Only one ghost took the mission seriously, though. He heard the others grumbling during the nightly ghost's council about the futility of searching the castle for a sign of the missing child or the man that supposedly abducted her. Most decided to simply spread the word around and hope for the best. But he didn't agree with them.

One ghost decided that this was his chance to do something. To put aside the fear that had doomed him to an eternity of walking the planet and hopefully send him to the next plane…and to those that waited for him.

Sir Stephen of Kodiak hadn't been a man of action while alive, a trait that had ultimately resulted in his death by stabbing. But he was going to, by God, act now. He would haunt the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade if necessary, to find anything that could reunite the parents with their missing child.

His determination to conquer his fears had led him out onto the grounds, down the tunnel leading off the roots of the Whomping Willow, and to a door just outside what was rumored to be the most haunted house in all of Britain. He'd heard it said that poltergeists worse than Peeves lurked in this house, and as he approached, he could feel the trepidation rising – his inner voice telling him that there was nothing here, that he should just go back, where it was safe.

And then a stronger, more sure voice came through. The voice of she who waited for him – filling him with a resolve he hadn't felt in eons. You're dead, Steve. How much safer could you be?

So he persevered. He glided cautiously through the doorway, keeping to the shadows as best he could. Then he heard it. The small, frail cry of an infant. His jolt of surprise knocked a book from the shelf, but neither of the rooms two inhabitants noticed. Because by the time they focused their eyes on the spot where he'd been, Sir Stephen was already zooming back towards Hogwarts.

^*^*^*^*

The Giant Squid was lazing in the uppermost part of the lake, enjoying the beauty of the day. There was a warm sun caressing the Hogwarts grounds and a gentle breeze keeping everything and everyone from reaching an uncomfortable temperature. Hermione wanted to enjoy it as well; normally, she would have reveled in such a day. But there was nothing to revel in today.

Rianne had been missing now for over 24 hours. And they were no closer to finding her.

Hermione had tried to shut herself off in the library. However, poring over runes and beating her head against the wall the Bloody Counter had become wasn't enough to keep her mind from wandering to the lost baby or from the fanatical look in Mariah's eyes the night before. So she had left Harry a note and wandered out here to the lake.

A cacophony of raised voices intruded on her as she sat throwing bits of bread to the squid. She craned her neck around to watch her three favorite Gryffindors walking towards her, clearly in the throes of an argument. Déjà vu washed over her in waves.

"What seems to be the problem?" Hermione asked once she'd risen to her feet and walked over to them.

"Professor Granger," Katia sighed in relief.

"It's nothing really, Professor," piped up David, cutting her off. "Just a minor disagreement."

"And a witch who won't admit when she's wrong," Zach pressed, earning him a glare from the witch in question.

"Can I help you settle the disagreement?" Hermione asked, biting her lip and trying not to laugh. If her first observation of the three had the déjà vu coming at her in waves, she now felt like she was drowning in it.

"I keep telling them that certain spells and potions have to be altered depending on whether the subject is human or animal, and they keep telling me I'm wrong. If they'd just do their required reading….Professor Granger? Where are you going?"

David, Zach and Katia watched as Hermione left them, moving with as much speed as possible towards the stone steps leading into the castle.

Hermione's mind was a buzzing in a flurry of activity. She walked through the corridors towards her office, mumbling out loud and causing more than one person to stop and stare.

It couldn't be that simple, could it? Have I really had the correct charm all along? Was it a simple matter of switching the words to reflect that the subject was arachnid rather than human?

The absence of her favorite ghost in his usual suit of armor didn't even register as she pushed open the door of her office and began rummaging through her parchments and quills. She found the glass jar of spiders, removed one and placed it on her desk.

She stared at the spider for a few moments, gathering her nerve. She had written two counters to the Avada Kedavra curse. One that worked like the original and would rebound the curse on the one who had cast it...and one that merely offered protection.

She placed her wand over the spider and murmured the words of the latter. With a glance upwards, she raised her wand and uttered "Avada Kedavra".

The spider seemed to look at her for a moment and then scuttled away towards the window.

It had worked.

"Excuse me, milady?"

Hermione looked up at Sir Stephen and grinned wildly. "It worked, Sir Stephen. My counter worked!"

"That is indeed wonderful news, milady. But I have just discovered something that I think you should know."

Something about the seriousness in his tone alerted Hermione at once. She had become quite fond of Stephen over the few months he'd lived outside of her classroom. And because of that friendship, she knew something was wrong.

"What is it?"

"I think I've found Master Weasley's missing child, milady. I heard an infant crying inside the Shrieking Shack just moments ago."

^*^*^*^*^*

"Well, I still say we Apparate in there and just take her back," Ron said through clenched jaws.

After Sir Stephen had informed everyone of his discovery, the living had gathered in one room while the ghost had been sent back to watch over the baby. This time, he had taken Sir Brian with him in case he heard anything useful while he observed them. He was not going to leave the baby unattended for any reason.

"Ron," Mariah began tentatively, taking his hands in hers.

"Perfect Gryffindor plan, Weasley," Draco snorted for the tenth time. "Rush in recklessly….brave and stupid."

"And you'd prefer the Slytherin method? Sorry, but I'd rather not wait for him to approach you about joining up with him."

"Draco," Ginny whispered, placing a hand on his arm.

"The only reason my fist isn't in his face right now, Red, is because he's your brother."

"I know." Ginny rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek briefly. The touch of her lips had its usual effect and his anger cooled by several degrees.

"If you children are finished, I think we need to listen to what Mariah has suggested," Hermione said loudly.

Just then, a ghost glided into the room and scanned the faces, crossing to Harry as soon as he located him.

"Sir Brian?" Harry asked, his pulse rate jumping. "What is it?"

"I've just come from the shack, Professor. I'm not sure if he saw us, or sensed us, but….he sends this message. 'Come to me and take back what I've taken. If you can.'"

All eyes flew to Mariah, who had suggested just that moments before. A fierce look creased her features before being softened by resolve and determination. "I told you. He wants a confrontation. Whatever he has planned, he wants us there to see that he's bested us. It's what he's been after all along."

No one spoke. No one moved. Every occupant of the room, both living and dead, stared blankly in front of them as they gathered what courage and wits they could.

"Hermione," Harry said, breaking the silence, "you're staying here."

Draco, who knew the direction of Harry's thoughts, replied, "You too, Gin."

"No bloody chance of that," Ginny spat while Hermione nodded her agreement.

"You are both pregnant and due to deliver any day now. There is no way I am letting you in the same room with that madman."

"Well, that's fine then," Hermione said stiffly. "You won't allow it. Fortunately for me, I am not your child, Harry Potter, therefore you have no right to allow me to do anything. There is no force on this earth that will keep me from standing by my best friend's side during this."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Ginny concurred. Harry and Draco watched as their wives stood and walked from the room.

"We asked for it, didn't we?" Draco drawled, a hint of a smirk on his lips. "Marrying those two?"

"Yeah, I guess we did," Harry matched the slight smile and turned to Ron and Mariah. "Are you ready for this?"

Ron was holding Mariah in his arms and talking silently to her. At her nod, he turned to Harry. "As ever."

^*^*^*^*^*

Renae patted the baby's back, trying to produce a burp. She hadn't taken kindly to Muggle baby formula, but hunger had overcome taste and she now took the bottle without hesitation. The little girl rested her small head on Renae's shoulder as she paced the dingy room. Renae tried to sing soothingly, but kept being interrupted by Sabastian's ravings.

She glanced over at the man. He hadn't moved from the front window since he'd noticed the ghosts watching him. Still as a statue, he stared out over the village of Hogsmeade almost willing them to appear in front of him. She felt them approaching a few moments before they arrived, giving her just enough time to run upstairs with Rianne. With a heart thudding in both fear and anticipation, Renae placed the baby in her makeshift cradle and tried to call up the courage to see this through. As she came back down the stairs, Renae slipped under the Invisibility cloak and watched as they Apparated in.

One by one, they arrived. Harry first, then Draco and finally Ron and Mariah. Once they had Sabastian in sight, Harry spoke. "It's okay."

Hermione and Ginny walked in through the front door, having walked from Hogwarts to the Shrieking Shack with the others, waiting until they'd Apparated before crossing the threshold. Hand in hand, the six of them faced Sabastian. Renae admired their loyalty to one another, and wished fleetingly that she had remained loyal to her friend as well.

But it was too late for regrets now. This was the time for reparation. God have mercy on her soul, she thought. Renae drew out her wand and prepared to place the spells on each person when he spoke to them, just as Sabastian had commanded. Apparently, he wasn't as confident as he'd postured and knew he'd need her help to keep the others subdued.

The spell was a simple one, meant to render the victim incapacitated as he or she dwelled on bad memories or insecurities. She just hoped that the ghost, whoever he was, had heard her when she'd told him how to break it.

"And so here you are. What a motley crew stands before me," Sabastian said softly, the triumph clear in his voice. "I was a little worried that the women wouldn't come, but your kind are so predictable. Even laden with unborn of your own, you stand with her. Touching…and even more glorious for me."

"Enough posturing," Draco demanded in a voice that would have made even Lucius proud. "We have come as you requested, now give us the baby. You are clearly outnumbered here, Sabastian. Let's just have done with this once and for all."

"And I'm supposed to just hand you back the prize I have stolen and trust your good word not to harm me once you have her back? I think not, Draco Malfoy. And we've found bravery, have we? The man once so cowardly he erased a young woman's memory is now going to stand up to me?" The slump in the man's shoulders was enough to let Sabastian know he had succeeded and that Renae was performing her spell as planned.

Bolstered with his success, he turned to Harry next. "And you?" He met Harry Potter straight on, vaguely wondering what all the fuss was about.

"What about me?" Harry asked defensively, his eyes darting furtively to Draco who was staring at the floor, his eyes half closed.

"You can't even face the smallest bumps in the road without drowning them in alcohol, can you? How can a man so unable to cope hope to stand against me?"

"Now hang on," Ron shouted as Harry suddenly mimicked Draco's posture.

"You? Don't make me laugh. You never wanted this child. You didn't even look for her mother when she disappeared, did you? And then, once she'd reappeared in your life, you at turns ignored her and held her in contempt, isn't that right?"

Sabastian turned to the women as their mates remained motionless, eyes fixed, and minds trying to deny the impulse that the spell had cast over them. But it was too strong, and they were lost.

Hermione watched as Draco's, Harry's and Ron's heads drooped, fingering her wand the whole time. She knew he was placing some kind of spell on them, and it frightened her. She had seen Harry throw off the Imperius curse like others swatted at flies, but he was motionless now. Whatever this was, he either couldn't fight it, or didn't know it was even there.

What if she were next?

With her wand hidden up her sleeve, she could easily slide it down into her hand and be done with this whole affair with one smooth move. She knew how to perform Avada Kedavra. She'd done it many times on her work with the counter. She could end the life of this pitiful excuse for a human being in one easy….

And that thought scared her more than Sabastian himself. The ultimate in Unforgivable Curses was at her fingertips, and part of her mind considered taking the life of another person an easy task. What had happened to the young girl so appalled at the use of such magic? Had her fierce pursuit of success clouded her morality so thoroughly?

"Milady?"

Hermione heard a voice in her ear and felt a chill shimmer down her spine. Sir Stephen was nearby, but she couldn't see him. "Wake up, milady; he has put a spell on you and on the others. I will have to pass through you in order to wake you up, but do not let on that you are aware again."

Hermione nodded her head once to show her acknowledgement and had to brace herself against the shiver that ran through her when Sir Stephen's essence meshed with her physical form. A quick glance to the side told her that Harry, Ron and Draco were alert again, but still feigning the effects of the spell.

She could just hear Sabastian's voice as he finished with Ginny.

"Do you really think you left all that dark energy behind when you were eleven, Ginny? It lingers in you…it's what drew you to your husband in the first place. It's only a matter of time before you're just like me."

"Having fun?" Mariah said loudly as Ginny's head also dropped downward.

"I'm sorry, Mariah. Am I bothering you?"

"Boring me would be more to the point. I realize you are having a wonderful time with your little game, Sabastian, but I'd rather just get my baby and leave if it's all the same to you." Mariah fought to keep her voice sarcastic rather than scared, casual instead of concerned. It was the only way to keep Sabastian from knowing how shaken she really was.

"I don't think so, Mariah. It's not that simple. Did you think I took the child just to irritate you? This is the moment I have been waiting for all of my life and I plan on enjoying it. My only regret is that your mother and Kalena are not here to witness it. But, you can't have everything, can you?"

"No, you can't Sabastian. Or shall I call you Jason? That is your real name, is it not?"

Mariah felt a quick rush of triumph as he stumbled backward a few steps. "How?"

"You need to read up on your memory charms. Periods of intense stress will slowly erode them until they no longer exist. Childbirth is one of those periods, Jace. I've been slowly rebuilding what you stole from my memory ever since Rianne was born. Although, I will thank you for removing all memories of yourself. I've enjoyed not remembering you. But I didn't realize how much I'd missed the memories of my friends."

Mariah cast her eyes around the room, speaking to the one she couldn't see. "Hello, Na."

Renae's mouth dropped open at Mariah's use of her childhood nickname. Stunned, she removed the invisibility cloak and met her childhood friend face on. "Hello, Ria," she said softly, tears pooling in her eyes.

While Mariah and Sabastian had been talking, the five people behind them were whispering plans to one another. They were never going to get a better chance at keeping the upper hand Mariah had gained.

Draco raised his head and spoke, breaking the palpable emotion swirling around the room. "Touching as this is," he said simply, "I'd much rather see the reunion of mother and child."

Sabastian took another few steps backward as he realized all five of his victims were alert and focused on him with wands raised. His mouth opened and closed several times in shock and then he turned to Renae, eyes ablaze with rage.

"You bitch. You bloody bitch. You swore to me that the spell would incapacitate them. Your incompetence is only overshadowed by your stupidity." He turned to the five of them. "You are not a part of this. This is between Mariah and me."

"Wrong, Sabastian," Hermione said, her voice icy with hatred. "You involve one of us, you involve us all. That's how friendship works."

As one, they raised their wands towards him. Before they could stun him and end the whole affair, Sabastian raised his own wand and summoned Rianne to him.

"I always knew you were spineless," Harry spat as he watched the madman cradle his niece awkwardly in his arms. "Using a child for a shield is the lowest form of cowardice."

"That may be true, Harry," Sabastian smiled, "but it is nonetheless effective."

Mariah stood motionless, her eyes fixed on Rianne. Seeing her child, her baby, in harms way cut her to the core. Her arms ached to hold her, her senses screamed for her smell, her touch, her sounds. And those desires overcame all logic. She vaguely heard Ron's voice in her head telling her to stop, but she didn't listen. Instead, she charged at Sabastian, hands reaching for Rianne.

"Stupefy!"

The five others watched in horror as Mariah fell to the floor with a loud crash.

Draco and Harry immediately clamped hands on Ron's arms to restrain him. He was fighting them with all he had, but the mental anguish of the last 24 hours had left him weak.

"Anyone else care to have a try?"

They all did, but no one moved. With the smile of the insane, Sabastian awakened Mariah and watched with glee as she shakily returned to her feet and stumbled over to Ron. He placed a gentle kiss to her lips and enfolded her in his arms.

"Milord," Renae said quietly from behind him. "This has got to end."

Sabastian turned slightly to face her, a sneer on his face. "You insubordinate witch," he spat, "you do not decree the timetable. I am in charge, and I decide what happens and when. But perhaps you have a point. Enjoyable as this is, I am growing weary of playing with them and long for the revenge that has finally come to me."

"Revenge for what?" Ron asked through gritted teeth, Mariah still clutched tightly to him.

"Ah," he smiled again. "Finally, someone asks the question I have been longing to answer. This child," he gestured with the baby sleeping in his arms, "represents my life's purpose. The nice thing about being unwanted is that you become practically invisible at times. Harry, I'm sure you understand that.

"Through the course of my neglected childhood and adolescence, I heard talk of a miracle child, a Triuna Crudus. It seemed one was to be born in my lifetime, according to the Knowers. So I set about finding out all I could about it, and then watching for a wizard and Diviner becoming Bonded. Imagine my surprise, and delight, when word reached me that my very own sister had bonded with a wizard."

A startled gasp ran through the room and everyone looked to Mariah, who nodded slightly.

"It's true," Mariah said quietly, her voice still shaky with aftershocks from the stunning spell. "This man is my brother, though I didn't have much contact with him growing up. Mother sent him to live with relatives because she couldn't stand the reminder of her perceived failure."

"Failure?" Hermione asked.

"She considered having a son a failure, Hermione, because she wanted to only produce daughters…other Diviners." Mariah turned to Sabastian and spoke a bit more forcefully. "And that was her flaw, Jason, not yours and not mine."

"Ah," he grinned again, eyes alight with triumph, "but I chose not to quibble about such petty details. You were the favored one; you were the one she acknowledged. And now, you are the means through which I shall extract my revenge on her. She told me once, before I left, that she had been told by another Diviner while still young, that she would be closely connected to the birth of the miracle child. And when I was born, she nearly drowned me because I couldn't be the one that produced a Triuna. It was only on Father's pleas that she didn't.

"And now I hold Mother's precious progeny in my arms. The Triuna she so longed to be grandmother to. I only wish she could be here to watch as I kill what she wanted more than anything."

Stunned silence blanketed the room.

"But Sabastian," Ginny spoke softly, trying to appeal to him. "Mariah's child is not a Triuna. Kalena told us that when she was born."

"A subtle bit of trickery that I did not fall for. And this child is the Triuna," he averred, as if trying to convince himself as well as the others. "She has the mark."

Awkwardly, he unwrapped the bundle of blankets and showed a bare, unmarked left arm.

"What mark?" Draco asked.

Sabastian raised his eyes to Draco's and then looked back at the baby's arm as if seeing it for the first time. And then he realized how thoroughly he had been duped – and by whom.

"That's right, Sabastian. Rianne is no more the Triuna than you are," Renae said clearly as she moved to stand in front of Mariah and Ron. "So return that child to her parents and let these people leave. This is between us now."

"What are you talking about?" He was trembling now with a rage he hadn't felt in years.

"Accio!" Renae yelled, and the baby came across the room to land in her arms. Without pausing to look at Sabastian, she passed the baby to Mariah, her eyes a study in determination, sorrow and regret.

Mariah's first impulse was to run as fast and as far as she could, but that idea was quashed immediately. She couldn't leave Renae alone now. Meeting the eyes of her friends, she realized that none of them was willing to do so either, including Ron. Silently, she thanked him and told him again how much she loved him.

"You persuaded me?" Sabastian said harshly and with a trace of disbelief. "You had the audacity?"

"Yes, I did."

"But Mariah was to bear the Triuna, this child is female…"

"No, Sabastian," Renae said calmly. "Allison was to be connected to the Triuna, the Knower didn't know how. Everyone, including your mother, simply assumed her daughter would bear it. No one even considered that her son would father it."

"But I would have to be Bonded to a Diviner," Sabastian said in a dangerous whisper.

"You are," Renae said in the same low tone. She shifted her robes slightly to show him the band around her left wrist. "That mark has been there for years. At first, I persuaded you not to see it because I was afraid you wouldn't be happy, given your distaste for Diviners. But as you grew more and more obsessed with Mariah, you simply didn't notice it. You didn't notice a lot of things. It's a grand mistake to grow complacent and not remain aware of your surroundings, Sabastian."

Shifting her robes once again, Renae showed him, and the rest of them, the bulge that could only mean one thing. Renae was pregnant.

"I have known since the moment of conception that I carry the Triuna. But as I listened to your plans, your ravings about revenge, I kept my silence and kept you from noticing the changes in me. I let you continue to believe that Mariah carried, and then delivered the Triuna out of a hope that I could find a way to dissuade you from your path."

Sabastian didn't speak, but he was trembling from head to foot, hands clenching so tightly they had gone completely white.

Hermione had seen a rage that deep once before, in a cave when she was seventeen. She also knew that the same outcome was probably not far off. Praying with all of her might that her experiment with the spider hadn't been a fluke, Hermione raised her wand slightly and muttered the counter spell, protecting Renae.

"But your madness knew no boundaries, and no deterrence was to be found. I could only hope to go along and find another way out. But there wasn't any. There was no hope for me. I had done horrible things, terrorized women, kidnapped a baby…I had become just as low as you…lower.

"Mariah, I am eternally sorry for all the misery I have helped him inflict upon you. My poor judgment and lack of strength have meant great sorrow for you and I cannot ever hope to redeem myself. I only hope that you can one day find a way to forgive me."

"Renae?" the voice that summoned her attention was a deadly cold and vicious whisper.

She turned towards Sabastian, head held high, knowing what was coming; knowing that her plan had worked. She could see it in his mind, the hatred of having been duped by her for so long. The rage at having his plan thwarted and his revenge left unaccomplished.

Mariah must have sensed it as well, because she took a step towards Renae, only to have Hermione stop her with a hiss and a shake of her head.

Renae steadied herself as his wand raised towards her. She met his eyes one last time, determined to meet her death eye to eye and refuse the cowardice that had ruled her life for so long.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The curse shook the very roof of the shack and all assembled closed their eyes to the blinding flash of green light that lit the room like lightning.

When they opened their eyes, it was not to find the scene they expected. Renae stood staring straight ahead, tears streaming down her cheeks, but alive. Sabastian, however, lay in a crumpled heap where he had been standing moments before. He was unmistakably dead.

No one moved. No one spoke. And then Harry turned to Hermione with a shocked expression and asked, "Why didn't you tell me you figured out the bloody counter?"

Harry's voice broke the veil of silence and everyone seemed to start speaking at once. Finally, Hermione raised her arms and the questions ceased.

"I figured it out just yesterday, Harry. About two seconds before Stephen came to tell me that he'd located Rianne."

"What counter?" asked Renae, who hadn't moved. She was still staring at Sabastian's motionless form.

Mariah passed Rianne to Ron and walked over to the woman who had been, once upon a time, her closest friend. "Why don't we leave here and discuss this in more pleasant surroundings?" she asked quietly, turning Renae so she couldn't see the body on the floor.

"I can't, Mariah. I wouldn't be welcome. I'm just very glad that you have your baby back. I did the best I could while she was in my care. And I'm so sorry for everything I've done, for all the pain I've caused."

Before Mariah could utter a protest, Renae walked over to the lifeless form of her Bond, placed a hand to his shoulder and Disapparated.

"Why would she take him with her?" Ginny asked what they were all wondering.

"Who knows what things love will cause us to do?" Mariah said softly, taking Rianne back from Ron and drawing her arms tight around the baby. "And she did love him. Bonds are very hard to manipulate without true emotion behind them."

Ron grinned at his fiancée and placed his arm around her shoulder and led them out of the shack. Once outside, they all stopped and inhaled deeply, letting the sweetness of the early summer air wipe away the dregs of anger that clung to them.

Paired off, the couples walked slowly down the incline towards Hogsmeade.

"Draco?" Harry asked nonchalantly. When Draco turned to him, Harry lobbed a clump of mud, hitting the former Slytherin once again right on the head.

"That's it, Potter. You're on," Draco grinned.

Mariah, Hermione and Ginny stood back and watched their wizards as they threw gobs of mud at one another, laughing and cursing loudly. It did Hermione's heart a world of good to see the unbridled joy in her husband, her best friend and … Draco. She still didn't quite have a term that described him.

"Should we stop them?" Ginny asked, smiling widely.

"After you," Mariah laughed as Ron's red hair turned a dark brown with one particularly well placed shot from Harry.

Ginny laughed out loud when Harry's latest effort hit Ron square in the face, and then doubled over suddenly, teeth clenched and arms wrapped around her middle. Draco was at her side in seconds.

"Gin?" he asked, dropping to his knees to meet her eyes.

"Hospital wing," she said in a low hiss.

^*^*^*^*^

Once again, Harry and Hermione found themselves waiting outside the hospital wing for news of a birth. This time, it felt a little more real as they were due to experience the other side of the door any day now.

Ron and Mariah simply sat on the low bench, talking quietly and playing with Rianne.

"Milord?"

Harry looked up to find Sir Stephen hovering a few feet away, wondering if there'd ever be a time that he didn't shiver at the word "milord".

"Sir Stephen. I was hoping to see you. We all," he indicated the four of them and waved his hand towards the oak door of the hospital wing, "wanted to thank you for your help."

"And for finding our baby," Ron said, voice thick with emotion as he and Mariah came over to join them.

"It was my great pleasure to be of assistance," the ghost said with a low bow. "And now it is with both great happiness and sadness that I must bid you farewell."

"Farewell?" Hermione asked, brow furrowing.

"As you know, ghosts are those trapped on Earth because of unfinished business. With me, it was regret over the cowardice I showed in life. My actions at the Shrieking Shack have freed my soul. And my lady has come to take me home."

Stephen stood aside and indicated a petite ghost standing a ways down the corridor. Even in death, the love was apparent between them. Hermione felt a pang in her heart for the reunited pair.

"You will be missed, Sir Stephen," Hermione said on an intake of breath as the pang in her heart became a stabbing pain in her abdomen.

They all watched as Stephen glided away towards the woman that waited, stifling giggles when they saw that the top of the small woman's head barely reached his shoulders.

And then Hermione screamed and the giggles stopped.

"Mione?"

But Hermione didn't answer. She was bent over, just as Ginny had been, and standing in a puddle of water.

"Well," Ron said as he hefted his sleeping daughter higher on his shoulder. "Poppy's going to have her hands full tonight, isn't she?"