Radix Acclaro

4 - Thoughts

Dumbledore was pacing, he hated pacing. Pacing meant there was nothing you could do when something important was happening. There was a knock on the door. At his call, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley entered followed by Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Minerva McGonagall had been quietly seated in front of the Headmaster's desk for the last hour watching him pace.

"Thank you all for coming."

"Are the children all right Albus?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Wearily Dumbledore sat, "I don't know."

"Why don't you start from the beginning Sir," Shacklebolt prompted.

"Yes, yes. Very good Kingsley."

Albus wondered if he sounded as dazed as he felt. Was he destined to always fail Harry?

"Tonight Mr. Potter and Miss Granger had a detention with Hagrid. From what I understand, the two students wandered off the path to the Fungus Gardens and became lost in the Forbidden Forest."

"Albus," Mrs. Weasley gasped, "how could you let them go in there?"

"Now, now Molly, the Gardens and the pathway are heavily warded, there was no danger..."

"Until they left the path," Moody finished grimly.

"Yes," the Headmaster agreed heavily, settling into the chair behind his desk. "A little over an hour after they were reported missing, our undercover Order member triggered one of the new alarms we developed following the Tri-Wizard tournament. Minerva and I, along with Professors Sinistra, Flitwick and Sprout apparated to the beacon."

"And found?" Shacklebolt prodded.

"We found You-Know-Who initiating a new Death Eater, who I believe was Draco Malfoy. Severus was there and I'm almost certain the other was Lucius Malfoy. Plus three Death Eater witnesses, and our spy of course. Mr. Potter and Miss Granger were bound a short distance away but appeared healthy and intact."

"We tried to get to them but You-Know-Who and Lucius grabbed them and port-keyed away with Draco and Severus."

Dumbledore looked at the faces around him, faces he had known for many years. The Weasleys wore their concern for the children on their robe sleeves. Minerva's expression was tense and her mouth pinched. Kingsley was pale while Moody – Moody was Moody.

"Severus has not yet returned. We must hope that either he can extract the children himself, or else relay their location so that we can."

"Well Albus, this is it, isn't it?"

The occupants in the room looked confused by the question but Dumbledore was not. Moody had said for years that Snape was only obeying the master that fed him and with the Dark Lord's return, the snarky Potion's Master would return to Voldemort's ranks. The next few days would tell the tale.

Severus Snape, loyal supporter of the light? Or Betrayer of Wizard kind.

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Far away, the Potion Master in question found himself comfortably cocooned between his two new mates, two mates that were less than half his age. It was not the most pleasant aspect of his situation; in fact it made him faintly uncomfortable. After all, they were young enough to be his children if he'd been so inclined. Granted, having someone to care for him in his declining years was a comfort he reasoned, ignoring the fact that he wasn't even middle aged yet by Wizarding standards.

Looking down he smiled. Draco and Hermione were mirrors of each other. They both slept on their sides, snuggled tightly against him, heads on his chest and a leg each thrown over his. Snape was pinned and couldn't be happier.

Draco didn't show it much but he was very cunning – a true Slytherin and once he left his teenage-hormone-induced-insanity behind he would be a great Wizard. On a more carnal note, at sixteen the boy was...incendiary, but when he finally matured, he would be explosive.

And Hermione, the fierce and loyal lioness of Gryffindor. She truly was the brightest Witch of the age and she was his – with all her bossiness, nagging, and stubbornness. Well, at least he wouldn't be bored. She was a little too constrained by 'the rules' however. He and Draco would have to work on that, perhaps instructing Miss Granger on the subtle art of manipulating the rules... Severus thought she'd take to that rather well.

He tightened his arms around the pair – in one night he'd managed to gain the one thing he'd always sought and been unable to attain, his very own Holy Grail; peace.

Oh the war was far from over and times were as perilous as ever, but he was no longer at war with himself. The bond that they now shared had healed something in him, cauterized his many wounds and covered them in a soothing balm. All the anger, resentment and bitterness that had collected around his heart over the years was gone now, washed away by the unconditional acceptance of his mates.

Logically he knew that if they had been given the choice they would never have tied themselves to him and he would never have given them more than a passing thought. That's why magic was such a blessing, it had swept away all their preconceived notions and ill considered opinions. It had stripped them of all the burdens life imposed and left them clean, ready for their new destinies.

Severus was not angry that he'd had no say in the matter – only humbled that he had been deemed worthy of such an opportunity. Perhaps Fate was finally rewarding him for his years as her whipping boy. Whatever. He didn't care. There was that saying about gift horses and all...

This was truly a sign of things to come; the first stirring of the winds of change.

The Lord of the Dark was whole once again, bound to the Scion of the Light and both ensnared by the gray scales of Balance.