Tori didn’t sleep that night; she kept tossing and turning, analyzing her feelings for Severus. She never should have questioned him. Maybe Ginny Weasley had been right: his dark and gloomy personality was one of his more captivating features. Without that sarcasm and everlasting rivalry with Gryffindor, he would be just another man, not worth the trouble. She saw him now as the unique individual he was: a wonderful, complex man. Life would never be boring with him! So what if they argued? As long as they loved and respected each other, those arguments couldn’t harm them. That’s where it had gone wrong, she had shown a lack of respect towards him by criticizing his teaching methods and that was why he had reacted so fiercely. Could she blame him? What if the only person she loved would make clear to her that he loathed a part of her? Would she say: “Oh, thanks for letting me know, I’ll change.” No way!

Now she only needed to go to him, throw herself at his feet and hope he would take her back.

Harry and Ron left the next morning, after being assured by Tori that she would have that talk the very same day.

She was incredibly nervous and jumpy the whole day. She didn’t see him around and couldn’t find the right moment to go and talk to him. It would have to wait until after dinner. She checked the message board in the staff room and saw that there were no detentions for Potions this evening. Very unusual, but a stroke of luck never the less, for it meant he would be alone.

When she stood in front of his door that night, she took a deep breath and knocked. He opened it and they locked eyes.

“Ahem, I…err…I came to…” Suddenly she didn’t know how to begin.

“You came to see your cat?” He asked and let her in.

She walked towards a chair by the fire, sat down and patted Crookshanks who was lying at her feet.

“Actually, I came here to talk to you.” She raised her head and looked into his eyes again. The cold blackness couldn’t hide his pain from her and she shivered when she realized the agony she caused him, that she had caused both of them.

“Go ahead.” Only a slight tremble gave away he wasn’t as much in control of his emotions as he wanted her to believe. It was enough to give her the courage to continue.

“I know you think that I don’t respect you.” His eyes flashed and she continued: “But I do, very much so. The time we’ve spent apart was horrible and it made me think that maybe I was wrong in judging you like that.”

He didn’t say a thing and only the sound of his breath would convince anyone witnessing this scene that he wasn’t a wax statue. Tori took another deep breath and prepared for the most important part of her speech.

“What I wanted to say is that I was wrong in wanting you to change. Not only is it inappropriate to ask someone to change for you, but most of all, I’ve come to realize I don’t even want you to.”

Now his eyes grew bigger.

“I know now, as I should have known all along, that everything about you makes me love you and if a part of you were to change, even if I would think at first that it’s for the better…it just wouldn’t be you and in the end you wouldn’t be the man that I love.” She talked faster and faster and in the end she was almost rattling. Judging by the look on his face he didn’t have a clue what she was talking about, or was it something else she saw there?

“Umm, am I making sense?”

He waited a while before he spoke, and Tori died a thousand deaths in the meantime.

“I’m quite overwhelmed here. Am I right in understanding that you want to give it another go?”

She nodded, not able to say anything.

In a split second, his whole appearance had changed from a cold and distant pillar of salt into a warm and caring human being. He took her into his arms and she seemed to melt against his body, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting embrace.

“I love you Tori and I’d do anything for you, just don’t ever leave me again.” He buried his head in her hair and she whispered through her tears of joy:

“I love you too and you’ll never ever get rid of me. I’m here to stay.”

They kissed, hesitant at first, but soon passion took over and they lost themselves completely.

Crookshanks squeezed himself between them and when they finally noticed something was tripping on their feet, they looked down and smiled.

“He knew all along, didn’t he?”

“Hmm, that cat of yours deserves a treat and he’s not going to let us forget that.”

Both of them laughed and Crookshanks purred, brushing between their legs.

“Does this mean that you’re moving back in?”

“If you’ll have me…” She looked up at him with a spark in her eyes; happy to see his eyes participate in her joy...

“Shall we get your things now?”

She chuckled. “That can wait until tomorrow.”

They went to sit on the sofa, his arms still wrapped around her like he was afraid that he had been imagining things and that she would disappear again if he loosened his grip. Soon it felt like the last weeks had merely been a bad dream and Tori had never heard him say so many lovely things to her. Finally they started kissing again and their need for each other was growing by the minute. After a while, he stood up from the sofa, scooped her up into his arms and carried her into ‘their’ room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next day was a Saturday and they didn’t feel like leaving the room. They would face the school some other day, preferably not until Monday!

It was the first time they spent this much time together without arguing. They talked and talked, Snape assuring her that he would not be so quick to raise his temper and she almost begged him not to. Never did they have so much fun like that day, sneaking out like schoolchildren to try and get her stuff without being seen, eyes glowing with excitement and laughing their heads off when they succeeded.

Sunday was spent in much the same way as Saturday, long talks alternating with even longer sessions of snogging.

In the evening, Tori curled up to him in front of the fireplace. The warmth coming from the fire created a warm cocoon for them and for a while they sat in silence.

Then he sat up straight, cleared his throat and began hesitantly:

“Tori, there eh, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Hmmmm, what?” She was still a bit fuzzy and looked up at him through her eyelashes.

“Well, err…I was wondering if…err…if you’d come to the reception with me?” Damn, he chickened out, realizing it was too soon, but cursing himself for not going through with it.

At once her mind was clear.

“Why, yes of course, we are both invited so I think it would be only natural if we went together.” She looked at him and saw the state he was in. “Umm, somehow I don’t think that’s what you wanted to ask.”

“Oh, never mind, it just wasn’t the right time, that’s all.” He tried to avoid the subject, but Tori could never resist a mystery and certainly not one that had to do with her.

“Come on…ask me…I promise I won’t bite, well, unless you want me to that is.” She gave him a teasing look, not really knowing what to expect, she sure hoped he wasn’t going to ask if she had been seeing Sirius again!

“Ok, here it goes…Tori, I was wondering if you’d do me the honor of becoming my wife.” He talked fast and had sunk to one knee while holding her right hand.

Tori was shocked. He had proposed to her! She was totally baffled and at a loss for words. Seeing her confusion, he elaborated:

“Not that I expect an answer right now or that we’d get married very soon, I mean…maybe I’m jumping the gun here…”

Noticing his embarrassment and only now coming back to reality she answered with a firm “YES”.

He was so concerned with trying to explain himself that he didn’t hear her at first.

“Wait…what did you say??”

“I said yes. Yes, I would love to marry you.”

Now it was his turn to look shocked. He’d never expected her to accept his proposal this fast, not after their recent break up!

“I don’t know what to say…I mean…that’s wonderful…you’ve made me so very happy.”

They both smiled at each other, Tori brushing away a tear from his cheek. The next moment they were in each other’s arms, sealing the engagement with a tender kiss. When they finally broke off the kiss, he looked at her with a solemn expression on his face.

“Tori, you ARE sure, aren’t you?”

“I couldn’t be more sure of anything.”

“It’s just that…will you be able to put up with me?”

She laughed: “I thought that we’ve covered that enough this weekend, but if you need reassurance: yes, I will put up with all of your little peculiarities; if you’re willing to accept mine.”

He wouldn’t stop his lecture though. “You do know a marriage between wizards is nothing like the ‘until death do us part’ in muggle tradition? Marriage for wizards goes beyond the boundaries of life and death; it’s like an unbreakable bond for eternity. Are you ready for that?”

Tori’s eyes grew bigger. “That sounds so…romantic! But I understand what you’re getting at. And my answer stays the same: yes! I do want you for eternity.”

Totally reassured, his lips claimed hers again.

Their kisses led to a whole night of fun and when the morning came, they woke up into an entire new world, or at least, that’s how it felt for them. Both of them wanted to keep the news to themselves for a while, enjoying this lovers’ secret. Of course they told Crookshanks, whether he understood or not was unclear, but he did look happier than ever.

Tori didn’t want an engagement ring. “A wedding ring will do just fine,” she said.

So now it was Monday and they had to get back to the outside world. Both were reluctant, but they knew that they had to do it sooner or later.

When they were about to leave, he took her in his arms for one last time. She closed her eyes to receive his kiss, but when she opened them again, she felt strange. He noticed her body leaning towards him, getting heavier by the minute and looked at her, worried.

“What’s wrong?”

She sounded far away when she answered in a faint voice: “I don’t know…I feel funny…the room is spinning.” Then she passed out and he caught her in his arms.

She’d only been out for a few seconds when she regained consciousness and tried to tell him she was all right, but he wouldn’t listen. He scooped her up, kicking the door open and rushing her to the infirmary, leaving the students open mouthed when they saw their Potions teacher carrying their Charms teacher. Soon they started talking about what they had seen and word spread fast that the romance was apparently back on.

Poppy Pomfrey looked disapprovingly at Snape when he carried Tori in.

“No, no,” he said. “She’s been eating properly and I haven’t drawn her blood, do don’t go blaming me.”

“Please don’t fuss; it’s just the emotions of the past days, that’s all.” Tori tried to say, but both wizards wouldn’t let her stand up from the hospital bed.

Pomfrey asked Snape to leave and he only obeyed because of the menacing look she gave him.

“Now dear, tell me, what happened exactly.”

Tori thought hard, which wasn’t easy since her head was still spinning. Actually she did have an idea that had been lingering in the back of her mind for a while, but that was so ridiculous! Although…she couldn’t ignore the signs any longer…oh no, it couldn’t be, could it? But that was impossible!

All those emotions reflected on her face and Pomfrey was still waiting for an answer.

“I think I know what’s wrong with me.” Tori sighed.

“I think I know what’s wrong with me.” Tori sighed. “I’m pregnant.”

“But that’s impossible!” Madam Pomfrey looked astonished.

“I know, but I would still like you to do a test. I’m pretty sure though.” Tori was terrified.

“Maybe it merely looks like a pregnancy because you want it too much.”

At first Tori was hopeful, but realized soon that it could not be the case.

“No, I never longed for a baby; I knew Severus wasn’t able to…oh Poppy, what am I going to do?

“Ssshh, hush hush, no time for panicking just yet. I’ll do the test fist.”

Madam Pomfrey carried out the test and left Tori alone for a while. It seemed to take ages before she returned, when in reality she had only been gone for a few minutes.

When she came back in Tori stiffened, afraid the news would be bad.

“The test was positive. You are approximately one month pregnant.” Tori sighed. “Do you want me to get Severus?”

“NO!” Tori cried out. “No, give me some time first. I’ll call for him later. Can you leave me alone for a while?

“Of course.” Madam Pomfrey left he room, looking very worried. This was a very strange situation. She had given Severus a complete check-up when he got back from the battle at Malfoy Mansion and his condition had been the same, so how was it possible… Well, they had to deal with it themselves, for the moment her primary occupation would be keeping Severus out of the infirmary.

Tori lay quietly on the bed. How long had she suspected that she was pregnant? She had tried to block the thought, knowing it couldn’t be possible, but now she would have to face it. She clenched her fists. How cruel that this should happen when they had just made up! Would he believe that the baby was his? Given the facts, she couldn’t really blame him if he doubted being the father. Maybe he loved her enough to put on an act and tell her he believed her, but there would always be that doubt and she feared it would come between them. Above all that, he didn’t even want children, he had said so himself! Oh no…tears started to run down her cheeks as the implications of her pregnancy became clear to her. In time he might grow to resent her for imposing what he would consider to be an illegitimate child on him.

Tori kept torturing herself with these worst-case scenarios when she heard stumbling outside the infirmary. Something shouted and the door flew open, a mean looking Severus storming in. When he saw her, his expression changed into a caring one, but she knew it would only be a matter of seconds before he would give her that same mean look he had shot at Pomfrey.

“Tori, what’s wrong? Why wouldn’t Poppy let me see you? Is it that bad?” The concern in his eyes was killing her and she couldn’t keep him in the dark any longer. She started crying again when she told him.

“I’m pregnant.”

At first she thought he hadn’t heard her, so she told him again. He kept staring at the same point in front of him, his mouth partly open, his hands gripping the sheets until his knuckles whitened.

She swallowed and prepared for the worst.

Slowly he turned his head and she read confusion in his eyes.

“How…I mean, is it possible? Poppy examined me only recently and she assured me…” He kept holding on to the bed, trying to recover from the shock. The he saw her tears and the fear in her eyes.

“Tori? What’s the matter? Why aren’t you happy?” Then it hit him. “You think I won’t believe it’s mine, don’t you?”

She started sobbing. “How could I blame you?”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the top of her head.

“Oh Tori, of course I don’t question your fidelity. I was your first, that was more than clear, and I know you too well to think that you would sleep around, even if we had broken up.”

She raised her head to look into his eyes and saw that he was not trying to make her feel better, but meant every word.

“Oh Severus…” She wrapped her arms around him and a little smile broke through. He loosened his grip, kissed a tear from her face and caressed her cheek.

“Albus” was all he said and he stood up.

“Wait!” she said and climbed out of bed. He turned around and assisted her, watching out for her.

“I’m fine, you’re right, he might know something and I’m tired of breaking my head over this!”

They left the infirmary and went to see Dumbledore’s office. When they entered, he didn’t look surprised to see them there.

“Ah, Severus, Tori, I take it that congratulations are in order?” They both gasped. Did he always know everything?

“Don’t look so surprised. I heard that Severus took you to the infirmary because you fainted, and now you’re here…it doesn’t take a genius to know what you’ve found out.”

“But how…” Tori started. Then she saw Dumbledore going towards Fawkes, patting him on the head.

“Oh, of course!” she cried out, laughing now.

Snape looked sour. “Would any of you care to enlighten me?”

“Yes! Oh, how stupid of me not to think of that before, I must be an idiot to have missed it.”

“Or in love.” Dumbledore chuckled.

“You were going to explain.” Snape still could not see why those two were so cheerful, although he was glad Tori didn’t cry anymore.

“Well, you remember that potion I brewed to bring you back?”

“How could I forget?” he smirked.

“Then you will also remember Fawkes being there when you woke up.”

“Mmmhmm, yes I do recall seeing him there.” Something was dawning upon him.

“You see, I didn’t think it would help at the time and that’s probably why I forgot about it, but when I was brewing the potion, Fawkes cried and his tears fell into the cauldron.”

Snape’s eyes grew bigger as he realized what Tori was saying.

“You knew about this Albus?”

“Indeed. I wanted to tell you both, but then things seemed to get worse between you and it didn’t look to me like Tori was pregnant, so I left it at that. I must say I’m very happy I was wrong.”

“You’re happy? HAPPY? Man! You scared the living daylights out of me!” Snape yelled. “Have you got any idea what it did to Tori? She thought I wouldn’t believe that the baby was mine!” He was getting fired up now and Tori felt she needed to do something before her fiancé would say something he’d regret later on.

“Severus, it’s all right, I’m fine, Albus only did what he thought was right. We should be grateful.”

He stopped his tirade and put an arm around her.

“You’re right dear, come, let me escort you back to the dungeon. You need to lie down.”

“Err…actually; I have a class to teach in about ten minutes, so that’s where I’m going.”

“Out of the question! You must think about your health and the baby’s. Come, don’t tire yourself.”

Before she could even protest, he had scooped her up into his arms and carried her out. She looked over his shoulder at Dumbledore for help, but he only grinned and waved, his lips forming the words “good luck”.

Somehow she managed to convince Snape to let her teach the afternoon classes. She apologized to Flitwick, but he smiled and said: “I knew you two would work things out!” Nobody knew about her pregnancy except for Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore, so now they all assumed she and Snape had spent the morning together in bed…which was true of course, but she had been forced to drink a light sleeping potion and she didn’t think anyone would believe she had been asleep during the entire morning. It seemed like everyone was talking behind her back and by the end of the day she was so embarrassed she couldn’t look anyone in the eye.

Snape was turning into an overprotective father-to-be. He never let her out of his sight and made sure she had enough vegetables and fruit at the dinner table. He even suggested that they’d move out of the dungeons to make her more comfortable, but she settled for a few adjustments to his rooms. She liked his dungeon!!

After a week, the entire school knew about the renewal of their relationship, but nothing more. They wanted to tell their friends and colleagues about their engagement and the pregnancy at Christmas. Tori knew that it would be difficult to keep it a secret for much longer, especially if Snape kept carrying on like he did. She had a talk to him about fussing over her and he had looked a little hurt, but agreed to give her some space.

So things were pretty much back to normal when the day of the reception arrived. It was the Saturday before Christmas and the decorations at Hogwarts were already in place. Tori loved this time of year and made long walks with Snape in the snow, after he had cast a warming spell of course, he couldn’t let her catch a cold!

Tori had chosen a deep-blue, low-cut dress for the occasion and felt her cheeks reddened when she walked out of the bathroom and saw Snape waiting in his chair, his mouth dropping and his eyes growing bigger.

“You’re not going in THAT, are you?” he gasped. He was mesmerized by the curves of her breasts popping out of the velvet fabric, barely covering them.

“Of course I’m wearing this dress. Don’t you like it?” She whirled around and stopped right in front of him, slightly bending forwards, displaying a tempting view.

He growled and reached for her, grabbing her by the waist.

“You temptress! When we get back, I’ll teach you!”

“Oh, only when we get back?” She looked disappointed and he sighed.

“Alas, I’m afraid we would miss the entire ceremony if I were to start on what I have in mind…”

She giggled and looked him over.

“Well, you look very handsome yourself.” He rolled his eyes.

She looked at him again when they stepping into the fireplace. He did look good today. He wore black boots, a pair of tight black trousers, a long black shirt with wide sleeves that were tightened around the wrists, a leather belt with a silver buckle that made his shirt look like a medieval tunic and a long black cloak hanging around his shoulders to top it off. Yes, he did look rather dashing, especially after she had loosened the top three buttons of this shirt. He let her do it without arguing, but managed to slip a shawl around her neck. She raised her eyebrows. He shook his head and said: “You wouldn’t want me staring into your dress the whole night, would you?” Then he took some floo powder, said “Ministry of Magic, cloak room” and they disappeared into the green flames.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore was also getting ready to go to the reception. He would be there on official business, since he was the one that would be handing out the Order of Merlin. It would be a splendid celebration. Although Harry and Ron hadn’t been successful in locating Lucius Malfoy, he believed it would only be a matter of time. He hoped both young wizards would make it to the reception tonight. Then he thought about Severus and Tori. Those two kept amazing him. Just when he had thought all hope was lost they got back together again. He knew Severus had proposed to her. The Bloody Baron had overheard and hadn’t been able to keep the news to himself. He was glad that they were reunited before knowing about the pregnancy. Now he was sure they both wanted this engagement and he would do nothing to stand in their way. He knew some headmasters didn’t allow married staff, and he wasn’t exactly thrilled about it either, but if any couple could make it work, it would be them.

Dumbledore had been so immersed in daydream; he had forgotten what time it was. With a shock he realized he was late for the ceremony and headed for the fireplace. Just when he was about to step into it, green sparks appeared and Harry and Ron emerged from the flames. They stumbled into the room and Dumbledore had to calm them down to get a sensible word out of them.

“We missed! We’re at Hogwarts!”

“Where are Severus and Tori?”

“The reception…has it started yet?”

Dumbledore had a lot of trouble to say something since they were talking in confusion. At last he managed to get Harry to explain to him what was going on.

“We found the place where Lucius has been hiding. Some shack in the swamps. Anyway, he was gone when we got there, but we found this on the table.”

He had rattled and needed to catch his breath when he showed Dumbledore what appeared to be an extremely wrinkled issue of the Daily Prophet. It was the one that had Snape and Tori on the cover. Their faces were mutilated with something sharp and a red circle of what appeared to be blood was drawn around the article. Then his eyes fell onto a highlighted section that mentioned the reception.

“He’s going to the Ministry! That’s where you were heading, right?” Dumbledore seemed to panic.

“Yes, we know that wands have to be left in the cloak room. It’s the ideal moment for and attack; they’re all defenseless.” Ron cut in.

“Everyone has left. The ceremony must have started by now.” Dumbledore sighed. “We must get there as soon as possible and we will NOT leave our wands at the reception desk.” They stepped into the fireplace together, Dumbledore called: Ministry of Magic, Ballroom!” hoping they would get there on time.

Tori had never been to the Ministry of Magic. When they stepped out of the fireplace, they found themselves in a spacious hall. A large chandelier was hovering above their heads, the candlelight reflecting on the marble floor. They joined a queue in front of the cloakroom. When their turn came, they both handed over their wands.

“Can I take your cloak, sir?” the witch behind the counter asked.

“No, I’m keeping it on.” Snape answered and turned around, his cloak swirling over the floor. Tori couldn’t help noticing the look of longing in the girl’s eyes. She followed him quickly and put her arm through his, making sure everyone, especially the women, knew he was taken.

As the entered the ballroom, Bill Weasley came up to them.

“Hey! So you’ve decided to show up after all. I think they’re going to start soon. Just waiting for Dumbledore I guess.”

“He’s not her yet?” Snape sounded alarmed, but Bill didn’t look too worried.

“He’ll be here. If you like, you can join Shannon, Draco and myself. They’re over there with Alastor and my father. I was just looking for Ron and Harry.”

“You think they will come?” Tori asked.

“I’m not sure, they haven’t found Lucius yet, but Harry said that they would try to make it. You know your friends wouldn’t want to miss your moment of glory.”

“Oh Bill, please!” Tori laughed and started to walk towards Shannon.

Arthur Weasley looked very pleased.

“Ah, the stars of the evening.” He gave her a little wink and took her arm.

I’ll escort you towards the stage. When Albus arrives, he’ll give a little speech and then both of you have to go on stage where he will present you with the honorary title and you will receive the Mark of Merlin as an honorary medal.”

They followed Arthur to the left side of the stage where they had a good view across the room. Suddenly they heard a hissing sound coming from the fireplace behind them.

“Ah, that will be Albus now; I’ll go and inform the committee we can start.”

Arthur left them when the green sparks appeared in the fireplace and a cloaked figure emerged from the flames. Tori stepped forwards to help him out, but drew back when she saw that it wasn’t Dumbledore.

It happed so fast.

Lucius Malfoy jumped out of the fireplace and clenched his arm around Tori’s neck. He pulled a rope from his sleeve, touched it with his wand, mumbled something and forced Tori to grab it. In a split second, Snape understood he was not going to strangle her with it, but was turning it into a portkey. Before Lucius could escape with Tori to Merlin-knows where, he had jumped on top of them and grabbed a piece of the rope. At that very same moment, all three of them disappeared.

They landed on a cold, hard floor of what seemed to be a passage inside a castle, filled with armor and paintings. Due to the impact, Snape had rolled away from them. Lucius stood up and pulled Tori with him. He still had his arm around her neck and aimed his wand towards Snape.

“I’d say you’d better stay away, dear Severus.” He hissed.

“I hadn’t counted on you following me here, but it can be a nice bonus. You will be able to witness what I’m going to do to your Mudblood.” His eyes scanned Tori and rested on her bosom. He licked his lips. “Now I see why you keep her with you.” The flickering in his eye made Snape jump forwards.

“Don’t you dare touch her!”

“CRUCIO!” Lucius yelled.

Tori wanted to cry out when she saw Snape cringing, but didn’t want to give Lucius the satisfaction.

“Now…dear Severus. STAY!” He ordered.

“She has nothing to do with it Lucius, leave her out of it. I know it’s me that you want, and Draco of course.”

Malfoy’s eyes shot fire. “I will save my son for after I have dealt with you. The spell you cast upon him will wear off once you’re dead and then he will come back to me.”

“Hah!” Tori sneered. “You think he’ll come back to you, huh? Let me tell you something about your ‘son’, Lucius Malfoy. Not only does he despise you and reject you as his father, he is also in love with Shannon Richards and will marry her. And now the best news of all: he will no longer use the Malfoy name. Your son will become a Richards, how about that?!”

At one point in time she had laughed thinking about Lucius’ reaction to the news. She hadn’t been far from the truth. He did look like he was on the verge of exploding. Snape gave her an alarmed look and had tried to stop her from telling him, but she knew what she was doing. Consumed by his rage, Lucius loosened his grip, pushed her away from him and aimed his wand at her.

“NO!” Snape yelled and tried to jump in front of her as Lucius raised his wand and began “AVADA…” but he never got to finish the curse.

Tori had focused on his wand with all of her might and succeeded in performing a wandless Expelliarmus. Lucius’ wand flew across the passage and smashed against the wall, where it broke into a thousand pieces.

“I guess that makes up for us being unarmed, wouldn’t you say?” she smiled as she looked at both wizards standing there with open mouths.

Lucius recovered first and headed for the nearest suit of armor. He pulled the sword from it and headed for Tori.

Snape followed his example and came to her defense. He raised his own sword to meet Lucius’ lunge. Steel met steel when both swords slammed against each other. The clattering was deafening and Tori retreated to a safer place behind one of the suits of armor. Snape had warded off Lucius’ attack successfully and was now making a thrust himself. The rattling went on and on and Tori could barely watch. At one point, Snape had driven Lucius into a corner and his passes became more forceful when he noticed Lucius was starting to show signs of fatigue. Suddenly, Lucius managed to move aside and when he tried to follow his movements, Snapes’ cloak was caught on the stretched arm of a suit of armor. He was pulled back and fell on the floor, the armor falling on top of him.

Lucius smiled menacingly and pointed his sword at Snape’s throat. Tori tried to disarm Lucius like she had done before, but he kept moving the sword and she couldn’t get a lock on it.

Just in time Snape recovered from his fall, he pulled his knees up and with one kick he knocked Lucius’s legs out from under him, the sword flying through the air, landing at some distant pillar. Snape jumped up now, the situation had been reversed and reached for his sword. Still, Lucius wouldn’t give himself up; he rose to his feet and pulled a dagger from his boot, ready to throw it at Snape’s heart. In a reflex, Snape ran the sword through him and ducked to avoid the dagger.

Tori screamed and ran towards him. She threw herself into his arms and smothered him with kisses. He held her tight, realizing all too well how close he had come to losing her.

“Are you all right?” They asked simultaneously.

“I’m fine. Severus, you’re bleeding!”

Drops of blood were dripping out of a few cuts in his shirt. Still catching his breath after the strenuous fight, his hair hanging partly in front of his face, sweat on his brow and his cloak torn where it had been stuck…he looked every bit the sword-fighting hero he was.

“It’s nothing, I’ll live. Are you sure you are ok?” He kept giving her an examining look.

“Yes, yes, I told you I’m fine.”

“Where did you learn to do that?” he asked, referring to her wandless magic.

“I found out recently, but it doesn’t work when the object is moving, otherwise I could have helped you with the fight.”

“My, my, you really have it in you to be a Charms teacher, don’t you?” He looked incredibly proud of her and she felt as if she was on top of the world.

Tori looked around. “Any idea where we are?”

“Yes, I’d recognize this place anywhere. We’re in the Grand Master’s Palace on the island of Malta.”

“What? He took us out of England? Why?”

He seemed to think for a while, but then his eyes lit.

“I guess he wanted to prevent you from disapparating. It’s impossible to apparate on Malta, much like Hogwarts really. As for what he had in mind, I guess we’ll never know.”

“Oh, but…how are we going to get out of here? We have no wands to create a portkey and I don’t think the rope will be much help.”

“Aaah, good question…let me see.” He started to walk up and down the passage, reading the sighs that were on the doors.

“If I remember correctly, the fireplace in the Tapestry Room is connected to the floo-network.”

“But isn’t the floo-network restricted to one country? We’re overseas!”

“Normally it would not be possible, but Malta is an exception.”

She wanted to ask more, he seemed to know so much about it, how come she did not? She had never even encountered references to Malta in her books and didn’t know there was a wizard population here.

“Umm…Severus, if we are really in this Grand Master’s Palace…isn’t it the House of Parliament? Shouldn’t we be hiding from the night watch? We made a lot of noise!”

“Well, it’s the week before Christmas and the guards must have celebration on their minds, but you’re right, we better hurry. Come; let’s take Lucius into the Tapestry Room. Can you try a wandless Mobilicorpus?”

Tori tried, but succeeded only partly. She needed to stop a few times, resulting in Lucius’ body falling down on the floor every time she lost concentration. Finally they had him in the fireplace. Snape counted the bricks on the mantelpiece and took out the fourth one on the left. He inserted his hand and took out a small bottle. He looked disappointed.

“There’s not enough floo-powder left for the three of us. In fact, I’d say there’s barely enough for one.”

They looked at each other and at Lucius’ body.

“We will send him and I’ll attach a note to explain that we will follow as soon as possible.”

“Where are you going to send him to? The Ministry?”

“Yes, straight to Arthur Weasley’s office. I assume Albus will be there at the moment.”

“But so will Draco, and he may resent his father, but it’s still his father and being confronted with his dead body like that…”

Snape sighed, “I know, but I don’t see any other way, everyone is there, it’s the quickest way to let them know that we’re all right. Besides, we cannot leave the Palace with a corpse.”

“Can’t someone take a supply of floo-powder and come to collect us?”

He took a pen and a piece of paper from one of the desks and started writing.

“It would take too long and we must leave here as soon as possible, maybe security isn’t tight but that doesn’t mean they don’t do their rounds. I will write a note to inform them not to worry about us and that we will return to Hogwarts when we find some other means of transportation.”

After he finished, he slipped the paper inside of Lucius’ robe, took the floo-powder, threw it into the fireplace and yelled: “Ministry of Magic, England, Minister’s Office” and Lucius’ body disappeared into the flames.

Now they only needed to find a way out of the Palace. They returned to the passage, which looked like a tornado had gone through it. He led her to a door at the back of the passage. They went down the stairs and ended up in an inner court. The gate was closed, but Severus didn’t have too much trouble forcing the lock. When they got outside Tori realized that they must look very odd to the other people in the street.

“Our clothes!” she hissed.

“Never mind, they’ll think we are on our way to a party.” He scanned the street to see if anyone had seen them come out of the Palace, but apparently everyone was minding their own business.

He took her arm and they started walking. When she shivered he pulled her to him and threw his cloak around the both of them.

“I can’t believe it’s finally over.” She sighed and snuggled closer to him.

“I know, it all happened so fast, it’s hard to believe it’s all behind us now. It will take some time to get used to.”

“Yes, with Malfoy dead, Voldemort in chains and the other Death Eaters living their lives as common muggles, a heavy weight has been lifted from our shoulders. I feel like I’ve finally been given the chance to live my life the way it’s supposed to be.”

“I know what you mean.” He showed her his left arm. The mark had disappeared.

“Oh, Severus, it’s really gone now!” She kissed him on the cheek and they continued their way, feeling quite optimistic about the future.

Tori noticed the street was very long and straight and had lots of side streets, which were also straight. Some were very steep and had stairs instead of pavements.

“Severus? This city, the pattern of the streets I mean, it looks a lot like…”

“New York on a hill?” He grinned. “Imagine you’re a knight and you’re wearing one of those heavy suits of armor we saw earlier and then the alarm-bell rings. Wouldn’t you prefer rushing down straight streets instead of finding your way through narrow, winding alleys?”

“Right, that was very clever of those Grand Masters.”

“Of course they were clever; after all, one of them was an ancestor of mine.”

“You mean they were wizards?”

“Yes.”

“Wait…wasn’t the Order of St. John a Catholic one?”

He chuckled. “Very much so, but the Grand Masters sure knew their magic.”

She looked astonished. “I didn’t know you had Maltese roots.”

“My mother’s family has lived here for ages. That’s where we’re going by the way.”

“They live in this city?”

“Not exactly…they live in Mdina, the Silent Town. We are going there by bus, I hope we didn’t miss the last one or we’ll have to find a taxi.”

“Oh.”

She needed some time to digest all this information. There was still so much to learn about him!

They had reached the bus station where another surprise awaited Tori.

“Those things belong in a museum!”

“Tori! You’re hurting my feelings. These busses are a part of Maltese folklore. Look at them, every single one is a genuine piece of art!” He laughed seeing she was trying to overcome her repulsion.

They got on the bus for Mdina. Like the others, it was painted yellow and the interior was decorated with a zillion pictures and little statues of the Virgin Mary. It was more a shrine than a means of transportation!

Suddenly she realised they had no money. When she reminded him, Snape stood up from his seat and went to talk to the driver. Tori knew that all Maltese spoke English, but she sure didn’t understand a word of what they were saying. It sounded like some obscure mixture of Arabic and Italian, very strange, but Snape seemed to know it very well. When he sat down next to her, he told her what they had discussed.

“I explained we are on our way to my family in Mdina and since they are well-known on the island, he knows he will get paid.”

“It’s as simple as that?”

“Yes.”

Then another shock came when the engine started and the bus drove off. The noise was deafening and it seemed like there was no suspension system at all, making her bounce up and down during the whole ride.

She was more than happy when the bus stopped in front of a Medieval Gate and they had to get out.

“Only a limited amount of cars are allowed inside.” Snape explained, but he needn’t have to, because when they entered the town, Tori noticed that the streets were so narrow it had to be almost impossible for cars to drive through. Everywhere she looked, it seemed like time had stood still and she more or less expected to see knights in shining armor instead of 21st century people.

They didn’t have to go far. Severus stopped in front of what looked like a palacio from the Renaissance and raised his hand to knock.

Without any warning, the door flew open and a shorter, somewhat chubby version of Severus invited them inside.

“Cousin Severus, Tori, please come in, we’ve been waiting for you.”