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Captive at Number 12	By : CeliaEquus Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 32439 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I have no claim on the Harry Potter franchise, and am making no money from any of my fan fiction.

Chapter List
- 7
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- 9
Severus was the last man left standing of the Death Eaters on the next raid. He’d managed to help several Muggles and Muggleborns escape, even though he had had no warning and could therefore send no word. At least one innocent had fallen during the skirmish. However, help had arrived in time to prevent further devastation, and he assisted them in taking out his fellow Death Eaters, much as it pained him in many ways.

His last conversation with Harry still haunted him. It brought back old regrets and wishes, that he had really married Lily, and that Harry had really been his son. In fact, had the child not looked so much like James Potter, and had he not reminded him so much of the one thing that he wanted – Lily’s love – then he would have adopted the boy as soon as Black was thrown into Azkaban. Anything to keep Harry from being looked after by people who hated him.

But, Merlin forgive him, he wanted the son of James Potter to suffer just as he had suffered most of his life. Just another regret to add to a long list.

He went to Rabastan Lestrange’s body and yanked a handful of hairs from the dead man’s head. These went into a small glass jar. Then he performed the same spell as Yaxley, turning Rabastan into a facsimile of himself, and swapped their cloaks and masks.

With a twirl of his robes, he Apparated straight to Grimmauld Place.

“Welcome to our committee, Professor Snape,” Harry said as soon as he was seated at the dining table with the others, trying to lighten the mood. Hermione looked pale and Yaxley kept stealing looks at her, frowning as he did so.

“How far have you come with your plans?” Severus asked. It had been a week since he performed the test for Hermione, so he expected more headway. He should have known that taking the one Ravenclaw among them back to Hogwarts would have a deleterious effect on the planning. He arched an eyebrow at the parchment covered in scribbles, but with no definite ideas. “I fabricated my own demise for this?”

“You’re closer to the Dark Lord than I was,” Yaxley said. “And if we are going on the defensive then we must arrange a plan that can apply to any number of possible places.”

“I still think that he’s going to declare battle at Hogwarts,” Harry said. “It was the closest he ever had to a home.”

“To be sure, perhaps we should go on the offensive,” Severus said. “Then we will be at liberty to choose a setting more suited to our purposes. On that note, have you contacted the Order of the Phoenix?”

“Ron, you should really contact your family and tell them that you’re okay,” Hermione said. “They’ll want to know, and then they can notify the others.”

“Yeah,” Harry said. “Why haven’t you told them yet? Yaxley said that we can use the floo network, since it’s still undetectable.”

“I’ve had other things on my mind,” Ron said, glancing at Hermione sullenly. She was looking at the parchment, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance that You-Know-Who might surrender?” she said. Ron snorted.

“You must be joking,” he muttered.

“It’s very unlikely, Hermione,” Yaxley said, placing his hand on hers. As soon as her gaze snapped to his he let go. “Why do you ask?”

“Under what circumstances would he – or any of them – surrender? The majority of them are Slytherins, so surely you and Professor Snape must have some idea.”

He sat back and looked at Severus. “Self-preservation.”

“But how would one go about playing on that instinct?” the potions master asked. “Their every hope would have to be destroyed before they would give up, and they would need assurances of leniency. Otherwise, I cannot imagine them backing down.”

“Ron, you’re usually good at strategies,” Harry said, nudging his friend’s foot under the table.

“Look, I haven’t got any ideas, all right?” Ron said, standing. “I’m going upstairs.”

“Ron…” Harry trailed off as his friend marched out of the room. He sighed and looked at the others. “I’ll floo-call the Weasleys.”

“I am uneasy about leaving Hogwarts under the rule of the Carrows, or whoever will take my place there,” Severus said as Harry left. “If it is possible, I would like to take Hogwarts back from the Dark.”

“We’ll help, sir,” Hermione said.

“We haven’t long before my supposed death is discovered,” he said. “With any luck, the Carrows may battle it out to determine who replaces me. If we can catch them in such a vulnerable moment, and ward off the others who have admittance…”

“You’re right,” she said. “If this is the case, then we should go soon. Tonight at the latest.” She checked the clock. “It’s after three already. We should pack and then go. We won’t even have to stay there in secret if we take over Hogwarts… and I can access the books in the library.”

“I will inform… Harry,” he said. As he leaned on the table to stand he looked at Hermione and then at Yaxley pointedly. She shook her head slightly. “Miss Granger.” She averted her eyes. “Hermione. For Merlin’s sake, you must tell him. He should hear it from you, and the sooner the better.”

“What?” Yaxley asked, looking from one to the other. “What is it?”

“I’ll tell you,” Hermione whispered. “In private.”

“I shall go back to Hogwarts and assess the situation,” Severus said, standing up. “Be ready to leave as soon as I call for you. I cannot guarantee that my office will be safe until I have seen for myself and made sure. Until later.”

And just like that, it was Hermione and Yaxley, alone together.

“What do you have to tell me?” he asked. “Is it to do with Snape? Or is it one of your friends?”

“No,” she said.

“Does it explain why you weren’t in bed when I woke up last week?” Her eyes widened.

“You weren’t there when I got back,” she said.

“You had left! What was I supposed to do, when it was clear that you didn’t want to be there with me?” He shoved his chair back as he got to his feet, glaring down at her. “How else was I supposed to take your absence…”

“I was sick!” she shouted. “I was going to come back as soon as… as soon as…”

“Wait,” he said, touching her shoulder, suddenly concerned. “You weren’t well? I could have helped you.”

“Why would you help a Mudblood?” she said, eyes flashing with hurt and anger.

“Hermione, don’t say that word…”

“You were perfectly fine saying it when talking with Professor Snape.”

“You… you heard. Oh gods,” he whispered, kneeling beside her chair. “Hermione, I was just… I didn’t mean it. You must believe me. He was saying so many things which were true, and I didn’t want him to get too close to the biggest truth of them all.” He stroked her arms. “But you said you were sick. Is there anything I can do to…”

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered. When she looked at him, she saw that his jaw had dropped.

“You’re… you’re pregnant?” he said.

“I am.”

He smiled, and for once it was a beautiful thing. Immediately, he stood again and pulled her into his arms.

“I’m going to be a father?”

“You are,” she said, smiling up at him, but still cautious. He cupped her chin.

“Then you love m…”

“I do. Otherwise I wouldn’t be in this state.”

He kissed her gently and slid a hand down to her abdomen. She relaxed into his embrace, thankful that the professor had been right.

“How far along are you?” he asked, his lips still just touching hers.

“About a month and a half,” she said. “When you asked whether I needed Pain Relief Potion after you’d been away all that time, I realised that I was late.”

“Oh, Hermione, I’m so sorry,” he said, drawing her close. “I never thought this would happen.”

“I know. After all, I’m not Pureblood.” He went to speak, but she didn’t notice. “Oh well.” She pushed away from him and then took his hands. “Madame Pomfrey might be able to do a proper examination.”

“Why does Severus know?”

“I asked him to perform the spell,” she said. “There was no one else I could ask.”

“I suppose not. Gods, this is a relief.”

“Why?”

“I thought… well, I thought…” He shook his head. “Never mind. I have my answer now.”

“He did tell me to ask you what your first name is,” she said. He grimaced. “Honestly, how bad can it be? Our baby should have…”

“Your what?”

“Oh dear,” Hermione murmured, turning to face Harry and Ron. She shuffled in front of Yaxley. “Please don’t be angry.”

“Hermione, are you pregnant?” Ron asked. She nodded. “By… by him?” She nodded again, wanting to cry at Harry’s look of disgust. “So… you’re in love with him?”

“Yes, okay?” she said, still holding one of Yaxley’s hands. “I rather thought that that went without explaining.”

“And he’s…”

“Hold on!” Harry said. “How did this happen?”

“The usual way,” Yaxley said, arching an eyebrow. But Harry’s murderous expression stopped him from saying anything else. Instead, he surreptitious moved his hand closer to his wand.

“But you can’t be in love with a Death Eater, Hermione,” Harry said, pointing at him. “I mean, he hates your kind!”

“Yet he cares about me,” she said. Ron blinked.

“Cares… cares about…” He shook his head. “Uh, right.” He frowned at Yaxley. “You’re definitely the father?”

“Of course he is, Ronald,” Hermione snapped. “Putting aside my character – since you’ve already done that – thing of it like this: who else would it be? Until you three showed up, and then Professor Snape, I hadn’t seen anyone else for months. I never even saw Dobby.”

“Well, uh, then congratulations, I s’pose,” Ron said, pulling on Harry’s sleeve. “We’ll leave you two alone. Come on, Harry.”

“No need, Mr. Weasley,” Yaxley said, less tense now. “We’re going to go upstairs to celebrate, if you’ll excuse us.”

Harry spluttered as the couple brushed past them and climbed the stairs. He was still protesting when Ron dragged him into the living room.

“You’re not gonna just let this go, are you?” he asked. Ron sighed.

“I have to, mate,” he said.

“But you’ve been sulking all this time…”

“I didn’t know that she was pregnant.”

“Well… what difference does that make?” Harry asked, waving his arms around. “I mean, it just shows that they should’ve used protection.”

“Harry, there’s nothing like that in our world,” Ron said.

“After she’s had the baby then you can be together, can’t you?”

“Listen.” He grabbed Harry’s arm to stop him pacing around. “There’s something you need to know about magical pregnancy, and I bet he hasn’t told her everything.”

“Shouldn’t we be packing?” Hermione asked as Yaxley placed her on the bed. She bit her bottom lip as he magicked their clothes off.

“We’ve got time,” he said. “And it only takes a few spells. Besides, what do we have to pack? You keep everything in that bag of yours, and most of my things are at my manor house.”

“W-well, I’ve got to remember to get the rest of the food out of the cupboard b-before we go,” she said, though the way he was kissing her body was quite distracting. “And we need to f-finish contacting the O-order…” She gasped when he sucked on her left nipple.

“That’s enough talk,” he said, nuzzling her breasts. She whimpered. “It’s time for something much more enjoyable.”

“Actually, t-talking can be quite… quite…” Now he was laving her other nipple as he raised her knees, and she fell silent.

As soon as she was prepared, he plunged into her, remembering just in time to lock and Silence the door.

And then all coherent thought fled.

Afterwards, they were cuddling as each considered the future. Yaxley finally felt that he should speak.

“Hermione,” he murmured. “There’s something I have to tell you about magical pregnancy.” When he looked at her, however, he saw that she was asleep. He sighed. “I’ll tell you later, then. And be prepared to marry me, Hermione Granger, because marry me you shall.”

The Carrows were indeed battling it out when Severus got back to Hogwarts. A special assembly had been called in the Great Hall as soon as his ‘death’ had been announced. The teachers were keeping the students out of the way of the duelling, shields in place. The fighting was so intense that no one noticed the headmaster enter the room; not at first. By the time they did the Carrows were getting tired. He breached the shields, Stunned both combatants, and then removed the wards.

“The students may return to their rooms now,” he said, not looking at anyone. When no one moved he whirled around, robe billowing, and glared at each and every one. “Now! The Heads of Houses and other teachers will meet me in the staff room in three hours’ time. Horace,” he murmured as the potions professor walked by. He halted.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Ensure that your charges will stay put,” he said, still in hushed tones. “Ward the Slytherin Dungeon so that none may enter or leave it.”

“Severus?” Horace whispered, his eyes wide. “Why?”

“I will explain in the common room.” Then he noticed that Luna was staring at him, and called her over as Horace toddled off.

“Hello, sir,” she said.

“Well, Miss Lovegood?”

“Here it is.” She pulled the diadem out of her book bag and handed it to him. He concealed it beneath his robes as smoothly and discreetly as possible. “It didn’t take long to find at all.”

“Good. I must go to Gringotts. Have you told your friends what you saw in my memories?”

“No, Professor. They still think that you’re a murderous git.” She looked at the two former co-Heads of Hogwarts. “What will you do with the Carrows?”

“I will deal with them soon. Do not concern yourself with their fate, Miss Lovegood. I can assure you that it will be unpleasant.”

It was child’s play getting to the Lestrange vault. The difficult part would be finding and acquiring Hufflepuff’s cup. He had used a spell to alter his voice, knowing that his own would be too recognisable, even though the goblins knew better than to question either Lestrange brother. (Or Bellatrix, for that matter.) If he survived the war then he would try to improve upon the Polyjuice formula.

Once inside the vault, he had to use the Imperius Curse on the goblin – Pullaxe – to tell him of any traps.

“Wait there,” he said, still using the curse, and then he explored the room as quickly as he could. Thanking Merlin for his observational skills, he eventually found the horcrux.

They managed to get past the dragon and into the cart well enough. It was when they got to the foyer that trouble hit.

Severus took a sip of the Polyjuice Potion with Rabastan’s hair in it, and then ended the curse and altered the goblin’s memory. That was simple. As they neared the foyer, however, they heard shouting.

“Snape’s alive, and he’s turned traitor!” Rodolphus was yelling. “His ‘body’ is my brother’s! Has anyone been to my vault?”

Pullaxe turned to Severus, who immediately Stunned him.

Of all the times not to have an Invisibility Cloak…

Hermione was awoken by a knock at the door. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

“What is it?” she called. Yaxley smiled at her from where he was dressing.

“I haven’t removed the Silencing Charm yet,” he said.

“Er, I hope you’re listening!” It was Harry. “Professor Snape said that it’s safe to floo to his office, and then we’re supposed to go to the staff room. Um… yeah. That’s it. And, er, congratulations. I guess.” She could practically hear him scratching his head. “We’ll be downstairs when you’re,” he cleared his throat, “ready.”

Hermione blushed as Yaxley removed the spells from the door. She pulled on the clothes that he had picked out for her.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Hermione,” he said, “there is much to discuss, but we haven’t time. I only hope that I survive the battle…”

“What about me? I have to survive the battle, too.”

“You’re not going to fight,” he told her, reaching for the door handle. “You are pregnant with our child.”

“And you are the father of this child,” she said. “I cannot risk you dying, either. I will fight by your side if I must, but I will fight. Ever since this war began I’ve known that my place will be on the battlefield in the end.”

He sighed and stroked her cheek. “I wish you’d never been caught up in this.”

“And be dead by now just for being a Muggleborn?”

He paled. “We will win. We will win, because that can never happen again.”

When they got downstairs Ron and Harry were waiting for them. Ron was smiling for the first time in days.

“I’ve got it,” he said. “I know how to make them surrender.”

Horace was the last to the staffroom.

“Is it done?” the headmaster asked, still nursing a headache from where Rodolphus had nearly cracked his skull open with a particularly nasty hex.

“Yes, but I still don’t understand why.”

“Is what done?” Minerva asked, frowning at Severus, even as he continued to heal various cuts and bruises on his arms, legs and face.

“The Slytherins cannot leave the dungeons,” he said. “They will not be able to interfere.”

“With what?” Pomona said.

“I don’t know,” he said through clenched teeth. “I hope that our guests shall enlighten us upon their arrival.” He managed to hide his look of surprise when he heard a knock. He strode over to the door – with only a slight limp – and let out a long breath.

Sure enough, it was them.

“Right on cue,” he muttered, and he opened the door wide. “It must be a headmaster’s privilege.”

After the meeting the headmaster summoned Luna to his office, where the sword of Gryffindor was lying on his desk, Hufflepuff’s Cup and Ravenclaw’s Diadem beside it. As soon as Luna was seated opposite she tilted her head. He answered her unspoken question.

“You found the diadem and you are in her house,” he said, pushing the tiara towards her.

“Very well, sir,” she said. She stood and picked up the sword. “You may want to sit back for this. I don’t quite know how it will work out.”

“I am here if you need me,” he said.

She looked like a wispy, slip of a girl, but her battle experience proved otherwise. He hoped that it would sustain her through the fighting to come. He was dragged from his musing as she brought the sword down and through the diadem. They both moved back as the horcrux screamed and bled out from where Luna had split it in two. Finally, it was over.

“Well… that was an interesting experience,” she said. He allowed himself a chuckle.

“Indeed. And now it is my turn.”

“Here you are.” She gave him the sword and he raised it directly over the cup.

“After the trouble I went through for this, it had better work,” he muttered. In a blur, he swung the blade downwards until it severed the horcrux in half, destroying the piece of blackened soul inside. Once it was dead, he dropped the sword onto the floor and collapsed back in his chair. It felt like an anticlimax.

“Well done, Professor Snape,” Luna said, smiling vacantly at him.

“Now it’s just the snake and Potter,” he said, looking into the distance.

A/N:Thank you all for your numerous suggestions for Yaxley’s first name. He still hasn’t told Hermione yet, but he will.

A question: do you want Professor Snape to die? I had him dying in my story notes, since I usually save him in my stories and I’m trying to be a bit more diverse. But if you want him to live then please let me know. In fact, I’ve written two different ‘endings’ for him, so it’s entirely up to you (the majority). As I have said before, I’m nothing if not flexible. *Grins*

And if he lives, do you want him to end up with someone? If so, who? There are strong hints of Severus/Luna in this story, I must confess. Not that I’m pressuring you or anything. They just happen to be interacting… a lot.

(I shall proceed to look innocent.)
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Captive at Number 12