FIC: Fortunate Misfortune (NC-17)
Title: Fortunate Misfortune
Type: Fic
Prompter: orlando_switch
Creator: worrywart1966
Beta(s): Velveteenbunny, Frenchie 84
Rating: NC-17
(Highlight to View) Warning(s): No overt sex, just 'fade to black'.
(Highlight to View) Prompt: Hermione and Snape and some other war veterans are literally thrown out the wizarding world (portkey? blasting curse? just waking up elsewhere?) and not able to enter it again. What is happening?
Note: I'm glad I had the opportunity to bring orlando_switch's prompt to life. I hope you like it!
Mod Note: worrywart1966 has posted a longer version of this story to the Archive of Our Own and FanFiction.Net.
Summary: Beware the freckled redhead bearing a bottle of wine.
We've all heard the phrases that get us into trouble. Phrases such as:
Look, Ma…no hands!
Here, hold my pint!
Look at this dusty old bottle of wine I found; let's have a drink!
Eight witches and wizard were rudely woken by the screeching residents of number 11 Grimmauld Place to 'get the bloody hell out of our garden, or we'll call the police!'
Severus, who woke first, quickly realised a bad situation when he met one and hauled the sleepy residents of number 12 out of what they thought was their garden and into the park across the street.
"Is everyone all right?" he asked.
"I've got a blinding headache, and I only had half a glass wine. I don't suppose you've got any Sober-Up potion?" asked Hermione.
"Where's my house?" Harry gasped.
Everyone gaped as they looked at the spot where number 12 should be. Because they were magical and all had been given the location at one time or another, they should have been able to see it between 11 and 13.
"Uncle, what's happening?" asked Draco, "Why can't we see our house?"
"I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is that I'm going to kill Weasley and pickle his bits for potions!" roared Severus. "What did you do!?!"
"Nothing!" stammered Ron. "Why are you yelling at me?"
"Because the last thing I remember is you with a stupid grin on your face, prancing around the sitting room yelling, 'I found wine, I found wine'," yelled Severus.
"Severus, please don't shout. My head is killing me," said Hermione.
"I'm sorry, love. But as you can imagine, I'm a bit upset."
Harry asked again, "Where's my house?"
"Severus, why can't we see it?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know. Let's have a seat on those benches and see what we can remember. Perhaps we can come to some sort of conclusion."
"Do you have any Sober-Ups?" Hermione asked again.
"No; they were in my bag in the house."
"Does anyone have any Muggle money on them? I don't know about you," said Draco, "but I could use a coffee."
"No, mate, not me," said Neville. "I could really use a cuppa as well."
"Ha!" Hermione laughed, waving a small card. "My bank card; I slipped it into my pocket after I paid for the take-away. Come on, isn't there a café on the next road over?"
Harry nodded.
"We'll head there then," said Severus. "By the way, do you all still have your wands?"
The sound of hands patting pockets was heard followed by several groans. In the end, only Severus, Draco, and Hermione had their wands. The rest had left them in their bedrooms, considering that the whole reason they were in Grimmauld at all was to spend the night having drinks and games, something the couples did with regularity.
"Okay," said Severus. "Keep close to me, Hermione and Draco. We don't know if we're dealing with rogue Death Eaters or something else."
Arriving at the café, they found a quiet table at the back, for which Severus was grateful. He sat with his back to the wall so that he could see the entire room and entrance. A server scurried over and took their orders for drinks, handing each a menu. When she returned, they placed their food orders.
"Do you have any idea what happened?" asked Draco quietly.
"No."
"We should go to the Ministry," Ron said, "They'll figure this out."
"We'll go nowhere until we know what is going on," said Severus. "How can we be prepared to protect ourselves without a plan?"
Draco snorted, "Gryffindors…act first, think last."
Ron began to splutter, but was interrupted by the waitress bearing a tray with their food. When she left, and Hermione asked, "Luv, what's the plan? I assume you already have an idea of how to figure this out?"
Severus took a sip of tea before answering, "I want everyone to tell what they remember. Start from when you left your house to the time you got to Grimmauld."
Neville said, "I see what you mean. Any clue, no matter how small, could be important."
"Exactly," said Severus. "Even a letter that you weren't expecting could be important. Let's start with Neville."
Neville swallowed a bite of his bacon butty and began to recall what he had done prior to the night in question. "I was teaching that week, of course. Then, as usual, Luna and I took the baby to Gran's so she could watch her. We stopped by her father's on the way over to drop off some notes on a story for the Quibbler. Once we did that, we Apparated to number 12."
Severus nodded as she finished. "So nothing out of the ordinary?"
Neville thought about the question. "No. Nothing," he answered. "But, Severus, a lot of people know we all get together every other Friday night."
Severus nodded. "That's why it's important to recall any detail regardless."
Lavender spoke next. "I did buy a new outfit for tonight. I like the anonymity of shopping in the Muggle world and do so quite often. I chit chatted with the girl in the fitting room, just inconsequential things. I mentioned that I was getting together with friends for a night of games and drinks. Ron told his parents of course, so they could watch Violet."
"We are not working on any cases related to Death Eaters or war criminals; haven't done so in a good six months, wouldn't you say, Harry?" asked Ron around a bite of potato.
Harry nodded in agreement. "Well, like Ron said, we're not working on any DE cases. Draco and I went to Asda Friday morning to pick up things we needed."
"We ran into your cousin, bear," Draco reminded Harry, who blushed at the term of endearment, still not used to Draco using it so familiarly with friends present.
"That's right," Harry said. "But there's nothing to worry about there. Duds and his wife were getting their weekly shopping."
Hermione wiped her mouth on a paper napkin before she recounted her day. "St. Mungo's was busy as usual on a Friday. Everyone wanting to get a potion for this or that before the clinic closed for the afternoon. I didn't notice anything more than the usual over abundance snot nosed brats…"
Draco cut in by poking Hermione's gravid belly. "Be careful there, Aunty…you're about to pop with your own snot nosed brat in a few months."
Hermione laughed and slapped Draco's hand away. "Paws off, nephie poo! Anyway, I didn't notice in particular any notorious family names to worry about. No weird owl posts and no one suspicious. I had an appointment over lunch with my antenatal healer."
"No weird post at my place," added Neville.
The others chimed in about their post as well; nothing suspicious.
"I had none at Hogwarts either," said Severus. "The first week of school went along much as usual."
"So," Harry began to sum up, "if nothing happened outside of the house, then whatever happened, happened inside of it. We tested the take away, yes?"
Hermione nodded. "It's second nature for me, to be honest, and not just because of the baby."
"The house is secret kept, so we know who can and cannot come in. We had no other visitors this week," said Draco. "Not even my parents."
"So, we can all agree that we noticed nothing unusual or suspicous?" asked Severus. Everyone nodded. "Good. So let's recount what happened last night. Hermione and I arrived just after seven, went to our usual room…"
"And forgot your silencing charm," Harry grimaced. "You two need to have your reunion sex before you come here from now on."
Severus' ears went pink and Hermione hid her face in his arm. "Yes, erm, well. We helped set up the game table, Hermione ordered the take away, and I set up the drinks trolley."
Ron added, "I helped Lav set the table for dinner. Harry and Draco were fixing nibbles."
Hermione said, "You all were pretty well into your cups by around midnight. That's when Ron found the bottle. I hadn't been drinking at all until that point, but decided to have just a bit to help me sleep."
Severus said, "And since we can't find the house, there's no chance of finding the bottle now."
"If we're all done, let's head back to where number 12 should be," Hermione said. "I want to check out the back gardens for any clues, since that's where we woke up.
Ten minutes later, the group stood, looking at where number 12 should be.
"I can't believe I can't see it," said Hermione.
"Nor can I," replied Severus.
Harry stood with his hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped. "Next to The Burrow, this was my first real home. And my first home with Draco."
Draco wrapped an arm around Harry. "It's still there. We just have to figure out why we can't see it."
"How do we get round to the back, Harry?" Neville asked.
"Oh, this way. We go down the side road there, and turn left."
As they walked along the alley, they looked along the verge for anything unusual and they peeked into the gardens. They all stopped at the gardens between 11 and 13.
"They look pretty unremarkable," said Hermione.
Severus stepped up beside her. "That they do, as does the alleyway; nothing except of the usual crisp and ice lolly packets, cigarette butts and beer cans. What's Lovegood doing?"
Hermione turned to see Luna attempting to slip through the hedge of number 11. She padded over. "Luna, what are you doing?"
"There's a bottle just inside this hedge. I could see the glimmer from the glass as we were looking through the fence of number 13. I think I can just reach it." She attempted to reach it but failed by just a few inches. "Could you maybe use a localised Bombardia here, Hermione?"
"Of course," Hermione answered. She pulled her wand out and used a modified charm. When it didn't work, she said, "My magic has been occasionally wonky now that I'm pregnant; let me try again." When her charm didn't work a second and third time, she asked Severus to come and try.
To his consternation, his charm did not work either. When he attempted to try wandless magic, it failed as well. He indicated that Draco should attempt and he too failed. Eventually, he was able to break a few branches and pulled the bottle out, handing it to Luna.
Once it was in her hands, she stepped away to the rest of the group. Draco turned to Severus. "What's going on, Severus? First we can't see the house and now our magic? Are we cursed?"
"I don't know."
"Ronald, isn't this the last bottle of wine we all drank?" Luna asked, as she handed it to him.
Looking at the label, although obscured with dust, he confirmed what she had said. "Yes, it is. I remember finding this in the closet."
"Why were you in the closet?" asked Harry.
Ron turned red and mumbled, "Lostmywaytotheloo." Everyone chuckled except Severus. "Anyway, we had all had quite a bit to drink, 'cept Mione, and we were all happy to try it."
Severus snorted took the bottle away from Ron. He carefully sniffed the neck. "This smells like a good red wine, but there's something underneath it….Draco, can you tell?" Severus handed him the bottle.
Draco took the bottle and sniffed. "You're right. There's something there beside the usual grapes. It smells a bit like pear."
Ron said, "So what? The wine could have been made with pears. A lot of the old pureblood families make wine. The Blacks probably had loads of it."
"Why hide it in a closet then?" asked Neville. "Gran has a cellar, as do the Malfoys and the Blacks, right Harry?"
"Yes, they do, But this doesn't explain why my house is gone!" he said impatiently.
"It looks like," began Severus, "the bottle was hidden years ago, many years ago if the dust is any indication of age, and given how many Dark Magic items were found in the house when Draco and Harry cleaned it out, it would not surprise me to find something like this. I suspect the bottle has been tainted with chloral hydrate, which can smell like pears."
As soon as those words were out of his mouth, Hermione gasped. "Oh, no! I drank half a glass of it!" she put her hands over her swollen belly. "The baby! If I passed out, what has happened to the baby?" She burst into tears.
"Have you felt the baby move today at all?" asked Severus.
"Erm, yes, he has been moving."
Severus turned to the rest of the group. "Okay. First things first, if you will all indulge me?"
Seven heads bobbed in agreement.
"Thank you. First, let's get to St. Mungo's so that we can have Hermione and the baby checked out for any side effects. Then, we'll have to find a base camp of sorts. Hermione, do you think your parents would allow us to stay as we make plans? It has more room than Spinner's End."
"Of course," she said, sniffing.
"What about The Burrow?" asked Ron. "You know mum will let us kip there."
"If we have no magic, we can't Apparate. I was not able to use wandless magic, so I cannot Apparate using wandless magic either."
"Severus," asked Luna, "what is chloral hydrate?"
"Technically it's a poison, but from a potions standpoint, I use it as a reagent. Properly used, it can be a sedative. It synthesizes quickly so it can be easily used, which means it can be improperly used as a recreational drug or even knock out drops which, I believe, was the intended use here. The reaction, and a mostly likely the curse, was probably held in stasis until the cork was removed." Severus turned to Ron. "Mr. Weasley, I believe you may unwittingly be the catalyst of what happened to us all, and not completely at fault here."
"I am not!" Ron shouted.
"Ron," Hermione said quietly, "he said you might not be at fault. But can we argue about this later? I need to get to St. Mungo's. Is there a tube station nearby?"
"Yes, two streets over," said Harry.
Severus looked around and found an empty plastic bag and put the bottle in it. Taking Hermione's hand and indicating that Harry and Draco should led the way, the group made for the tube station. Thanks to Hermione's debit card, they soon had tickets and were on their way to St. Mungo's.
The group made it to Purge and Dowes, Ltd., the building that acted as a façade to St. Mungo's, with no trouble. However, when Severus went to the mannequin in the window and whispered who he was and what he wanted, nothing happened. He tried a second time with no response and then had the rest of them try it.
"What should we do, Severus?" asked Neville.
"We'll head to the Ministry," he said.
Thirty minutes later, the group stood in front of an old public call box. When Severus and Hermione entered, he picked up the phone and dialled the number. Nothing happened. No voice, no badges.
"Severus," Harry said frantically, having just returned from the public toilet, "the loo…it won't let us in that way either!"
"Let's go to the Leaky then. We can have Tom contact Minerva and Kinglsey for us."
The octet grabbed a bus and headed to Charing Cross Road. Once off at the stop, they headed up the road to where they knew the Leaky Cauldron should be. They were beginning to attract the attention of Muggles passing by as they kept walking back and forth, gesticulating and arguing that it should be 'right here!'.
Severus finally lost his temper. "Look, just shut it all of you! I don't know what's going on, but we can't wander around like fools. Let's head to Hermione's parents. They have an owl, and we could send it to Minerva. She can come to the house, and we'll go from there."
"The children!" exclaimed Neville. "How will we get word to Gran and Ron's folks about the kids?"
"We'll send letters to Augusta, Arthur and Molly when I send one to Minerva. Now, shall we set off?" Severus asked.
Everyone agreed to Severus' plan and soon they were on the tube heading for Chelsea.
Helen Granger returned to the kitchen to see Hermione, Severus and their friends finishing their tea. She opened the refrigerator as she said, "Hermione, your father is on the phone with a friend of his from school, who is an obstetrician. He's seeing about getting you to her office. In the meantime, we'll fix something to eat. You'll feel a little more like yourself once you've had a bite."
Everyone sat around the kitchen table, fixing themselves sandwiches from the meats and cheese Helen had laid out for them when David, Hermione's father, came in.
"Ellie will see you in an hour, Hermione. I told her you were visiting when you knocked over a bottle of something in the potting shed. She said she'll do some blood work and a scan. David bit his lip. "I suppose you'll have to Obliviate her afterward?"
Severus answered, "We can't, as we've explained."
"Oh, stupid of me, of course you can't," said David with regret.
"It's all right, David. Do you still have the owl Hermione gave you?"
David nodded. "I'll just run and get her. He snatched up a bit of meat and cheese, rolled it up and bustled away. Helen and Hermione went to get cleaned up while Severus and the others talked about the next step in their plan.
Later that evening, Hermione and Severus were in Hermione's old bedroom, discussing what had happened. The others were spread throughout the house, sleeping on various bits of furniture that had made up as beds.
"I'm so thankful the baby is all right," Severus said, running his hand along Hermione's belly.
"He was acting up quite a bit during the exam," giggled Hermione. "And his heartbeat was excellent."
"The lab results showed only a trace amount of the chloral hydrate; nothing to harm the baby. I'm glad everyone believed our story of cleaning out the potting shed and a bottle falling."
Hermione snuggled closer. "Hmmm. Oh, Severus, what are we doing to do? The eight of us can't stay here for long?"
"I agree."
"What about Spinner's End? We haven't sold it yet, perhaps we could go there?"
"I'd rather you stayed here with your parents. Spinner's End is not modernised; you can feel the wind blowing through, and the loo is not up to date at all."
"I can't see Draco wanting to go there. Luna would find it an adventure; perhaps she and Neville could go there? But can't Neville's gran comes to take them back to her house? If it's Muggle built, then they'll be able to see it."
"More than likely if it's Muggle built, then yes, but any of the magical enchantments means they won't see them. There's a danger they could think they're walking down a hallway and then suddenly find themselves in the garden, much like we did."
"I hadn't thought about that," said Hermione sleepily.
"We've had a long day, love. We'll talk in the morning when we're all a little more rested." Severus pulled Hermione to nestle her back into his front, and was soon asleep.
In David's study, Harry and Draco were also chatting as they attempted to relax on the pull out couch.
"What do you think has happened?" asked Harry.
"Severus thinks, and I agree, that there was some sort of curse tied to the cork of that wine bottle. I could kill Weaslebee!"
"Draco," Harry chided. "It wasn't really his fault now was it? He couldn't have known. Although, by now you'd think he'd have learnt to suspect anything old and dusty he's found at Grimmauld."
Draco snorted, "Too right."
"Love, how can I contact my parents? Aren't there Muggle ways to do that?"
"Since they are on a Muggle vessel, we could send a telegram or something. I'll ask in the morning."
"Couldn't Hermione's parents drive us to Wiltshire? We know where the Manor is."
"Yes, but since the Manor is magical, we wouldn’t be able to see it. Now," Harry said, turning to cuddle closer to Draco, "it's been an exhausting day. Let's get some sleep, love."
Draco kissed Harry, and he too fell asleep.
Ron and Lavender were in the living room on a couple of camp beds that the Grangers had, quietly talking about their situation.
"I can't believe everyone is blaming me," said Ron.
"Oh, Ron," sighed Lavender, "Only Professor Snape is blaming you, and he's really not blaming you either, but you know how he can be."
"I know," Ron answered morosely. "What are we going to do? We can't go to The Burrow if we can't see it. Doesn't Snape have a Muggle home? Maybe we could stay there? I love Hermione's parents and all, but eight extra people in the house will be hard."
"We'll ask in the morning. I agree; we need to go somewhere else. I wouldn't want to stress the Grangers too much."
"I really am sorry to have caused any trouble, Lav."
"I know, Wonnie. I love you, you know that?"
Ron laughed with relief and happiness. "I do, Lav. I love you, too."
Neville and Luna were in Helen's sewing room, lying on a pallet of blankets. "Do you think we'll have heard anything in the morning?" asked Neville.
Luna tucked the covers around her shoulders. "I'm sure. I just wish I could see the Nargles. They are a comfort to me, and they always give me signs about what's to come."
Neville smiled. His Luna often talked as though she were away with the fairies, but more often than not she was so in tune with nature and magic that he was as surprised as the rest of them to find she had no magical ability at the moment, either. "What do the stars tell you, love?"
"That all will be well," she said honestly. "But it will take some time, and they also tell me that some of us will have a decision to make in the end."
Neville considered her response. "I trust you, love. I hope the owl got the message to Gran."
"I'm sure, but even if it didn't, Gran may just assume we had a bit too much to drink and will be able to pick up Frankie later in the morning; it's happened before," she giggled.
As Hermione and her mother did the washing up after breakfast, Severus and the others wandered into the garden to see what help they could be of there. David was rather proud of his vegetable and herb beds. Helen had told the group that if she had not put her foot down, it would take up the entirety of the garden. Severus was using a hoe while the others desultorily pulled at weeds, all rather silent despite the situation.
The cry of an owl drew their attention, and they hurried to the patio where Ariel had landed. Severus reached her first and pulled two letters from her leg, handing one to Neville after looking at the address. Hermione and her mother had just stepped out of the kitchen.
"I heard Ariel," said Hermione, handing the bird a treat she had grabbed on her way outdoors. "What does your letter say, Severus?"
"It's from Minerva," he said. "She has contacted Kingsley and Auror Proudfoot and will be here around tea time. She says we are to make sure we have the bottle and the cork."
"The cork was in the house, remember?" said Ron.
"Shite," replied Severus with a sigh. "They'll have to do the best they can then with what they've got."
"No they won't," interjected Draco excitedly. "McGonagall and Shacklebolt are secret keepers…they'll be able to get into the house and find it for us."
"What does your letter say, Nev?" asked Hermione.
Neville looked up. "Gran will take care of Frankie, and has contacted Molly and Arthur. They'll take care of Violet."
Lavender sniffed a bit. "I want to see Violet, though."
Hermione said, "We'll send Ariel out again with messages later. Molly and Mrs. Longbottom can bring the children here."
"Thank you, Hermione," said Luna. "I miss my little girl."
Harry said, "Now that we've had a night to sleep on it, let's talk about what happened again. I think we should talk about how we felt once we began to drink the wine. Maybe there's a clue we missed yesterday?"
Everyone agreed, and Hermione went to fetch some tea. When she returned, they all settled around the table and rehashed what happened.
"I remember," began Neville, "feeling very relaxed…not really aware of where I was. I felt swimmy headed, as though I was high. I also remember feeling as though I could do anything."
"How do you know what being high feels like?" asked Draco.
"I'm not plant boy for nothing, Draco," Neville hinted with a smirk.
"Oh, really?" drawled Draco. "Care to share, Plantboy?"
"Be that as it may be," growled Severus, hoping to bring the discussion back around. "Did you feel like you were compelled?" asked Severus.
"Not so much compelled like with the Imperious, but that any suggestion would have been fine with me."
Draco said, "Yes, I felt that way, too. Like I hadn't a care in the world and the idea of letting someone else do the thinking was really great."
Luna, Lavender, and Harry all shook their heads, each murmuring in agreement with what Neville and Draco has described. Only Hermione felt differently.
"I felt relaxed, but not to the extent you all did. Perhaps because I only had a few sips of the wine."
"You know," said Harry, "for a regular sized bottle, there seemed to be an awful lot of wine in it. I mean, I remember drinking at least two glasses of it, and there were seven of us drinking it."
"So," Severus said, "not only was the bottle cursed, it seems it was laced with an Everfill charm."
"But what sort of curse?" asked Hermione.
"Probably a modified compulsion charm. Since we didn't feel the need to immediately do something, I suspect the charm was to make the drinker susceptible to suggestion."
"Snape," began Ron, "do you think that someone else got into the house once we had drunk the wine? I don't remember much after my second glass. Could someone have entered and cast a curse on us to remove our magic?"
Severus nodded. "I think you have a point; someone could have come into the house, or the curse was tied to the cork."
"We'll have to get Kingsley or Proudfoot to cast for magical signatures once we get to Grimmauld," said Harry. "That'll at least be a starting point."
"Good idea," agreed Severus. "Now, let's go over things one more time to be sure we've missed nothing before the others arrive."
The visit from Minerva, Kingsley, and Proudfoot did nothing to alleviate the worries of the group no longer able to see or perform magic. They had discovered an unknown magical signature had been in the house; unknown because the frequency of the signature had been tampered with. Proudfoot explained that the DOM had been experimenting with such magic. This led to the possibility of an infiltrator within the DOM, someone who had connections to the group as well. They also confirmed that the curse and the chloral hydrate were linked to the cork, which was found once Minerva entered the house.
The conclusion was that the bottle was not as old as they thought. At some point, someone entered the house and planted the bottle in the closet. When everyone was passed out, they returned and removed their magic. Just how had yet to be discovered.
It was also discovered during their visit that although any one of the group who had lost their magic could go into Grimmauld accompanied by someone with magic, once they were left on their own, they suddenly found themselves in the back garden. They absolutely had to be in the presence, at all times, by a magical person. Although this meant they could return their homes, it also meant that they had to be in the presence of a magical person at all times in order to use the homes where magical enlargement or enhancements had been made. The awkwardness of this dilemma was not lost on any one of them.
Luna asked, "If we only need to be in the presence of a magical person in order to be in a magical place, doesn't that mean that to some extent, our cores are intact? They must be for them to sense the magic of another person, and if that's the case, we should be able to sense magical places."
Severus gave consideration to what Luna had said. "To a degree, you are correct. However, if your supposition is correct, then something is blocking our cores. I believe that it is tied to the curse."
"I'll be sure to have our agents in the DOM trace the curse for that particular variant," said Proudfoot.
"So what do we do?" asked Neville.
"We could easily assign each of you an auror to accompany you at all times," suggested Kingsley. "That would allow you to at least remain in the magical world."
"An easy solution if intrusive, to be sure," said Severus.
"I agree," said Hermione. "We don't know how long it will take to find the infiltrator or the counter curse. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not going to have a wee with an auror present; I don't care if it is a female. I'm pregnant…do you realize how much time I spend in the bathroom?"
"I'm with Hermione," said Lavender. "I don't want an auror watching me dress or worse, sleeping in the same room with me and Ron."
"What if we assign you Aurors for during the day, and then you sleep somewhere Muggle at night?" Proudfoot asked.
Severus grunted. "Doable, but not practical. I have another suggestion."
"Oh?" asked Minerva.
"Assign an auror to us for our protection and defence. However, we will live in the Muggle world temporarily. I'm sure you could assign us aurors who are half-blood or Muggle born."
Luna spoke up. "That sounds fun, Severus! But, I've never lived like a Muggle."
"You know some things, Luna," said Draco. "You've shopped in the Muggle world and so has Lavender, Harry and I. You can already manage Muggle money, and that's probably one of the most important things."
Everyone around the table murmured in agreement.
Minerva said, "I think Severus has the best plan. How should we handle the arrangements then?"
"I think you should find flats for us in the same building. That way, we can help each other out, but still have some privacy," said Severus.
Kingsley agreed. "Proudfoot…you handle the flats. Assign each couple an auror who is half-blood or Muggleborn. Minerva, you and I will Apparate everyone back to the Grangers'; your parents will let you stay at least a few more days until everything is arranged?" he asked Hermione.
"Of course," answered Hermione.
"Very good. In the meantime, I need to contact Hestia Jones and see what the hell is going on in the DOM."
In less than a week, everyone was settled in a block of flats near Chelsea. They were fortunate enough to be able to stay in the same area as Hermione's parents, who would help the couples as much as they could. Lavender and Luna were thrilled to have their daughters back in their arms, and the couples settled down into new routines. The new routines did not come without their setbacks, however.
Hermione and Severus laughed as they dined with Hermione's parents one evening and recalled Ron and Neville's attempts at buying nappies. Luna and Lavender had been busy doing housework-with guidance from Hermione-when Lavender sent Ron to the store.
Neville had volunteered to go with Ron, and the pair made their way to Sainsbury's. Hermione had explained to the boys what to look for, but she had failed to explain about the sizing system.
The odd pair stood in front of the display, confused by the plethora of options in front of them.
"Lav usually uses cloth diapers, mate," said Ron. "Reckon these are them?"
"Dunno," said Neville. "Luna does all of this." He moved along the aisle, looking at the other options. "What's it mean 'Up to seven K'? What's a 'K'?"
"Dunno," said Ron. "Look this one says 'cruiser'. What do you suppose that means?"
Neville shrugged. "No idea. This one says 'all night protection with special fibres to wick away wetness'. Cor…it's enough to make your head spin!"
Ron stood with his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Look there, Nev," he said, pointing to a picture of a cherubic toddler, "that looks to be the size of Frankie. Why don't you get those? These ones here," he pointed to a box in front of him, "look like they'd fit Violet."
"I don't know mate," Neville said cautiously. "Frankie isn't cruising; she's only five months and just sort of kicks her feet and moves forward an inch or two. Your Violet is ten months…is that cruising age?"
"She does walk about the furniture. You're right…I'll get those. Do you suppose we should pick up a couple boxes of different ones just in case?"
"Okay," said Neville and the pair started to grab boxes and tossing them into a trolley.
Pleased with themselves for having accomplished what they thought was a difficult task successfully, the pair made their way to the queues. The cashier gave them a few wide-eyed looks, but they managed to give the correct pound notes and were soon back at the house.
With pride at having accomplished their mission, the boys set their packages on the kitchen table amid the gasps of the girls.
"Ron," said Hermione, "what on earth were you thinking?"
"We bought nappies!" he replied.
"Yes, but twelve boxes? None of these seem to be the right size," said Lavender. "At least I think so…I use cloth."
Neville said, "The babies on the packages looked about the age of the girls, so we thought that's how you buy them."
Hermione giggled. "Well, I'll give you points for reasoning, Neville, however, you by them by either the age or weight of the baby."
Ron and Neville's shoulders slumped, and both muttered apologies.
"Tell you what," began Hermione. "Us girls will go out and get what we need and return those we don't. In the meantime, use these," Hermione selected two packages, "for the girls until we return. I need a few things anyway, so we'll return these."
Four months had gone by, and they still had no news. In those months, everyone adjusted, slowly, to living without magic.
Neville and Lavender were finding it hardest among the group to adapt as they had both grown up in pureblood families. Luna had as well, but she was having fun in learning all things Muggle, and the others admired her spirit. Ron had the occasional mishap, but because of his father's obsession with all things Muggles, he was able to adapt.
Tensions rose among the group as expected, and the occasional fight among couples and friends occurred. Since no one had their usual occupations, there began to be a bit too much togetherness.
It was at their next meeting with Kingsley-he had begun to meet with them every two weeks to bring them up to date on the investigation-suggested that those who could should get jobs to help curtail the problem of boredom that was leading to the fights. Kingsley would have the Aurors create the necessary documents for them to use on applications.
Neville, naturally, applied for jobs at florists and was rather pleased to find a job quite quickly. Lavender went to the shop where she usually bought her dresses and asked if they were looking for help. The ladies were delighted to offer her a job as one of their sales girls had just quit. Luna applied at a day care and was accepted, happily skipping off to play with the children every day. Ron took a while to place, but he found work with the maintenance crew at the local sports stadium.
Severus had decided to take some Muggle courses and was accepted at the local university as a returning adult. Hermione, due to her pregnancy had intended to volunteer at the local library, but her son decided to make his appearance a few days into her inquiries.
Tobias David Snape was born in the early hours of fourteen January, with a shock of curly black hair on his head, a tiny nose, and murky blue eyes. He was absolutely perfect. The Grangers visited straight away, cooing over their new grandson. Harry and Luna were chosen as godparents, and the group of friends were diverted, for a while at least, from their worries as they marvelled that the greasy git produced such a lovely baby-Ron earned a slap upside the head for that.
One night, as Severus and Hermione were up feeding and changing Toby's nappy, they talked quietly about the future. They discussed the possibility of their never getting their magic back.
"Do you think you could live without it?" asked Hermione.
"Perhaps. I've enough other skills that would translate into the Muggle world, but I imagine we could find work that would keep us in both worlds."
"What about the others?"
Severus rolled over and adjusted the duvet while watching his wife, who was sitting up in bed, nursing. "Hard to say. Harry and Draco would do fine; Luna would as well. The others…I'm not so sure about. They don't seem to have realised that this could be for their rest of their lives."
Hermione hummed in agreement and switched Toby to her other breast. Once he was settled, she started laughing.
"What so funny?" asked Severus.
"The other day, Luna had to call me for help. She was hoovering and caught the drape in it. When I got there, the entire machine was upside down, having sucked in the drape that much!"
Severus snorted. "Typical Luna."
"I think the little guy is done; would you burp him while I go to the bathroom?"
"Of course. Come to Papa, my boy," said Severus, who had sat up and was reaching for Toby. "Let's see if you have the Snape propensity for loud burps. We know you've got the fart."
"Like father, like son," giggled Hermione.
Days later, Hermione took Toby to her parents' house for lunch while Severus was in class. Helen relayed a story to her that had Hermione's father in tears for he had done the same thing for Helen, in an effort to surprise her, when they were first married.
"It was the day you all went to the zoo. They tried, they really did try," giggled Helen, as she told the story…
Lavender and Luna had decided to stay behind, the young mothers eagerly looking forward to a few hours of peace and quiet and a chance to have a bath uninterrupted. They had made plans to meet for lunch at Luna's flat. As the two ate, they complained back and forth about the difficulties living as Muggles presented. Lavender had also complained about all the laundry.
"I never realised how much we had since the elves always do our laundry."
"You know," said Luna, the more adventurous of the two, "Hermione always helps us with our laundry. I think we should be able to handle that, shouldn't we?"
Lavender agreed and went to get her laundry.
Once in the kitchen, where Luna had set washing liquid on the counter not far from the bottle of dish washing liquid, they sorted the laundry as Hermione had shown them. What they hadn't known was that one of Ron's trainers had been folded in among the shirts and that Lavender had gotten the lace caught in the door when she closed the door. The lace was thin enough that the door closed, allowing the washer to run. Neither girl realized that Luna had grabbed the wrong bottle of soap, unwittingly setting up what was to come.
"And when I got there," Helen was laughing, "the girls were on chairs, covered in bubbles and in near hysterics, or at least Lavender was. Luna was busy making shapes in the foam. Oh, Hermione, it was the funniest thing ever!"
"How did you get the mess cleaned up?"
"I dashed back home and got your father's shop vacuum. We used that to get most of the mess cleaned up, and then I called Minerva; you know my Floo had been attached to the castle for emergencies? She came and used a bit of magic to be sure all was well. I invited her over for tea afterward, and we laughed until we cried."
"What happened to cause the mess?" asked Hermione.
"The best conjecture is the trainer thumped the door to the washer open and the foam spewed out. Luna must have grabbed the wrong bottle of washing liquid."
Two weeks after that conversation, Kingsley and Proudfoot had gathered everyone at Grimmauld Place to update them.
"I'll get straight to the point," said Kingsley, "as I know you're eager to get back to your usual lives. We just arrested the person who was involved."
The men and women gasped and began throwing questions at the Minister. "Simmer down, simmer down. I know you're all anxious to know what happened and if you can be cured." With a sip of tea, he began…
"The first place we began to look was the Department of Mysteries. We checked over employment records to see if anyone was recently hired or fired. Then we looked for any connection to Death Eaters of either war. Once we ruled those out, we began to look at the Black family tree, since the incident happened here."
"If you were sure it was someone from the DOM," asked Hermione, "why were you looking into the Death Eaters first?"
Severus sneered. "Who else would be the most obvious person to know such a dark spell?"
Hermione blushed with realisation. "Oh, of course. I'm sorry."
"Not to worry, Hermione," said Kingsley. "And yes, Severus, we did start our investigation with Death Eaters because Death Eaters are or were known to be dark and evil. It was the most obvious place. Once we'd had exhausted that source, we'd move off in other avenues."
"Such as?" asked Hermione.
"Once we eliminated all the possible suspects from the most recent war, we went back to the first war. We started with the original Order of the Phoenix members who weren't members during the second, omitting those who are dead or incapacitated. We then traced the social circles of the known Death Eaters of that time, and we found something interesting."
"Oh?" Eight voices asked, all leaning forward.
"It seemed that an old school mate of Regulus Black's had come up missing after the first war. His name was Robert Alexander. Do you remember him at all, Severus?"
Severus leant back to think, fiddling with the handle of his tea mug as he did so. "I believe I do. Reg and I were close, and I remember a young man around our age always tagging along at Death Eater meetings and sometimes socially; Reg had apparently invited him along. I believe he was in love with Reg.
"If I remember correctly, he was not at Hogwarts, but had been educated at the Wizarding school in Sweden. I can't even remember how Reg met him or how he became part of the outer circle of Death Eaters, which is where Reg and I were at the time. One day, Reg and I were here alone, and Robert stopped by. He witnessed a rather private fight between the two of us and when I left, he stayed, I assume, to comfort Reg. Reg disappeared about two months later. I regret that he and I never patched things up."
"What was the fight about, Severus?" asked Kingsley.
"Reg admitted that he loved me as more than a friend," said Severus a bit uncomfortably. "He wanted to become lovers. I told him, rather forcefully, that I did not think of him that way and nor of any man in that way. He attempted to touch me intimately, so I punched him and left. On the way out, I glimpsed Robert entering the sitting room from the hall. I assume he had heard us."
The group made no comment when Severus quickly left the room. Hermione followed with a quick 'give us a moment, please'. Once the couple was out of the room, the rest looked at each other and Kingsley with a silent conversation of wide eyed 'did you knows?' and shoulder shrugged 'nos' in answer.
The pair returned with Severus making a mumbled apology, asking Kingsley to please continue.
"Robert Alexander disappeared shortly after the end of the first war," Kingsley said. "We combed the Auror records for a list of Death Eaters who were not captured, and his name was among them. It was assumed that he was either killed and his body never found, or left England, probably for America, and he knew he'd be safe there."
Severus added, "When the Dark Lord returned, I do not recall his being part of the group. However, there were so many unmarked supporters and marked lower ranking members it could have been easy for him move unnoticed. I was part of the inner circle and in a much different role this time around, so I didn't concern myself with anyone who was not in the inner circle."
Kingsley nodded. "At this point, we ran into a dead end. No Robert Alexanders anywhere, not even in America, at least magically inclined."
Draco said, "You obviously found him, though."
"Yes, through an inspired bit of thinking by Proudfoot." Kingsley smiled and nodded to Proudfoot, who picked up the story.
Proudfoot cleared his throat and began. "I decided to comb through the personal records of the DOM again. I was looking for anything at all from a documented late arrival to a disciplinary incident. I began to notice the habits of a particular individual-a Charles Ingersol-who'd been with the DOM for about ten years; a seemingly patternless habit of calling off work, late arrivals or overtime work. I noticed that they occurred with American and Swedish bank holidays. Remember we had said Robert was educated in Sweden and we assumed he had fled to America?" Everyone nodded.
"I took a cue from the Muggle police and did a bit of detective work. I began to follow him around. He tended to go to clubs that were sports themed, and I followed him into one and struck up an acquaintance with him.
"It took a few weeks of chit chatting about work, families, etc., but one particular night he was very into his cups and began to talk nonsense about a world where there was magic. He mentioned an evil man who had been seeking to create a more pure society. He talked about a man he loved who spurned him because he was in love with another man. He told me that man had eventually died in a war, but he didn't reveal which war or even that he was a wizard.
"Another time when we were at a club, drinking, and he began to rant about the need for revenge. He was going to do something to the man who apparently stole the only one he ever loved. He wasn't going to kill this person, but do as good as. When I asked him how, he passed out.
"It took another couple of visits before I got him drunk on purpose so that I could lead the conversation round to what I wanted. He told me about his job and how they were working on changing the frequency of signatures. He tried to make it as though he was working in the Muggle science field, but the little things he would say, things only a wizard would say, gave him away, at least to me. He'd quickly correct himself with a Muggle term and say he was being silly because he was drunk…mixing up his word and such like.
"I told him that the frequency thing fascinated me, and he expounded on his work. By the time he got half way through the explanation, I knew we had our man. He gave away information that I had recently learned from the DOM that only someone in the DOM would know. And in fact, some of their notes had gone missing several months prior."
Severus interrupted, "Did the DOM report this to you, Kinglsey?"
"No," he answered. "The DOM, as you know, has its own internal system of checks and balances. Only if the information or problem would affect the Wizarding community as a whole, will I be informed."
"This did affect the wizarding community, at least the eight of us," growled Severus. "Why didn't they report it to you?"
"At the time, it didn't, and the information was in the experimental stages so they were certain that whoever took the information wouldn't know what to do with it without all of the processes used as one."
"Well, they were wrong weren't they?" snorted Severus.
"Gentleman," said Proudfoot, "if I may continue?" Kingsley and Severus nodded. "I, erm, invited him to my place on the assumption of well, erm, and I hoped to get him to play his cards."
"We had had a few drinks, and I steered the conversation around to frequencies. He told me more about what he'd do with the frequency and with a little urging, to whom. I gave him a Sober-up, and immediately bound him and brought him to the Auror office."
Kingsley took over the story again. "From there, it was a matter of some Veritaserum, and we had the whole story. Robert never got over his rejection from Reg and blamed you, Severus. As he watched you move up in the ranks of Death Eaters, he became even more jealous. He kept track of you-Proudfoot found reams of notes and articles about you and your career-some of his diary entries were rather frightening, especially those from after you married Hermione.
"He told us he found the curse in the Black library; he had been in your house more than you want to know, Harry. Some of the times, he hid in rooms and closets while you were there."
The entire group was outraged and burst into chatter. The thought that this man observed the couple, and possibly the group, while they moved around the house, having fun and socialising, even sleeping, was more than frightening.
Harry growled, "How? How did he get in here, and we not notice him?"
Kingsley answered, "He was a brilliant man, actually. Once he had the notes from the DOM, he carried on their work. He had figured out how to attenuate his magic to become, well, invisible in a sense, almost as though he were in mid Apparation. He had also figured out a way to change the frequency of a signature down to the point of near depletion. He had found the curse in a search of the Black library; it could turn someone into a Squib. He then figured out how to combine the ancient curse and the frequency of magical signatures to effectively turn off your magic."
"So," Hermione began, "he had, in his hands, the means to wipe out magic in anyone, at any time."
"Yes," answered Kingsley. "And you can imagine where his thoughts may have gone from there."
Severus said, "A new Dark Lord on the horizon. If he could exact his revenge on me and remove the magic of even purebloods, think of what he could have done on a grander scale; simply lace a batch of Butterbeer or some other popular drink with a curse and frequency tied together in a curse on the bottle caps and voila…"
"It doesn't bear thinking," said Neville, shuddering.
"His diary detailed it all," Kingsley said.
"So how do we get our magic back?" asked Lavender.
Kingsley answered, "The DOM is working to reverse the magical signature frequencies. It should be a fairly easy process as Robert left detailed notes. They believe they should have the ability to attenuate your magic and then, remove the curse, since there is a counter curse."
An almost audible sound of relief reverberated throughout the room as the group realised they'd be cured soon.
"I can't wait!" said Ron. "I mean this has been a neat experience and all, but I've had magic for so long…"
Luna said quietly, "It may not be an easy decision for all of us to return to the magical world."
After another hour of discussion about what would happen once the counter curse was ready, Kingsley and Proudfoot left.
"I don't know about the rest of you," said Hermione, but this conversation has been exhausting. I'm ready to head back home and go to bed."
"I agree," said Harry. "We'll see you all in the morning for a celebratory breakfast!"
SSHG SSHG
Ron and Lavender were in bed, discussing their return to the magical world.
"Do you want to go back?" asked Lavender.
"Yes," said Ron unequivocally. "I learned a lot these past eight months, and my job was okay, but I miss magic. I want Violet to grow up in a magical household since she'll be going to Hogwarts."
"Ron, we both know you don't have to have grown up in a magical household to go to Hogwarts, but I know what you mean, and I feel the same. Ronnie…can I keep my Muggle job? I like my Ministry job and it is interesting, but I have such fun at the shop, and they love my dress designs and want to send me to design school!"
"I'm so proud of you Lav…of course you can. Mum would watch Violet, you know."
Lavender giggled, "I sort of counted on it."
"So we go back?"
"Yes," replied Lavender and then kissed Ron with the intention of a little celebratory loving.
At the Longbottoms', a shared bath was the setting for the same sort of conversation the Weasleys were having.
"I want to go back, Luna," said Neville firmly. "I want my magic…it's in me…I've missed it."
"What about your job? Do you want to go back to Hogwarts?"
"Believe it or not, no. I like teaching, mind, but I think I want to open a wizarding floral shop. What do you think? There's nothing like it in Diagon Alley."
"I think that's a lovely idea. Oh, let's do it, Nev!" Luna enthused. "I can still help Daddy at the Quibbler, right?"
"Of course. Luna, do you want to go back to the Wizarding world?"
Luna kissed Neville's chin. "I want to be wherever you are, Nev, magical or not."
"I thought of naming it 'Luna Moon'. I know Luna means moon, but it flows, don't you think?"
Luna smiled widely and let Neville know just what she thought of the idea.
Harry and Draco were washing the dishes after a late night snack, discussing what they would do once their magic was back.
"So we're agreed to get our magic back, but live mostly Muggle?" said Harry.
"Yes, I think so," said Draco. "That'll shock a lot of folks, don't you think?"
Harry snorted. "I'll say."
"You know, I'd actually thought about not getting it back, but it's part of me and my history, and I'd want to see my parents without them always coming here, you know what I mean?"
Harry pecked Draco on the cheek. "I do, love, I do." He pulled the plug from the sink. "Are we done here?"
Draco threw the tea towel onto the counter. "Yes. Let's get to bed; I'm exhausted."
Severus finished snapping the closures on Toby's onesie, talking to the child as though he understood. "So now we'll take you to your mummy, and she'll whip out the feed bags and off to sleep you'll go."
"Feed bag, Severus? Really?"
Severus blushed and made an attempt to cover up for his crassness. "You know I think you feeding the boy is a beautiful thing."
Hermione patted his cheek. "Nice try, love."
Severus followed her into the bedroom. "So," he said, "to recap our discussion, we won't go back to the magical world?"
"I think we hashed our reasons out pretty thoroughly. And, if we change our minds later, we can go to the DOM."
"If Toby displays magic, will we have his signature changed?"
Hermione placed Toby on her breast before answering. "No. We'll know what's happening and how to deal with it. I don't want the possibility of him becoming an Obscurial should we tamp his magic. We can allow him to decide whether or not to go to have magic when he is older and can understand what such a decision might mean."
"I agree." Severus was quiet a moment or two before speaking again. "I've decided to get my degree in chemistry. I could either teach in a college or find a job in a lab. I could even work on the side for the Ministry, to be honest. I'm sure they'd work with both of us to help keep one foot in, so to speak."
"Yes, I'm sure they would. With my job offer at the library, I'm sure I'd be happy. Right now, it's only a few days a week, and my mum will watch Toby while you're in your classes."
"What about never seeing magical places again?" asked Severus.
"Our friends can come here, or they'll just have to be with us when we go to their homes."
"This seems too easy," said Severus.
"But it feels right, doesn't it?"
Severus brushed his fingers along Toby's cheek. "I know. This does feel right, and it's disconcerting. I'm not afraid, but it'll be an adjustment."
"But one we can handle," Hermione said. "Shall we stay in this flat or buy a house?"
"We need a place for a growing boy. Once we sell Spinner's End, we'll buy a home, or we could build. Isn't there a plot for sale on the next road over from your folks?"
Hermione smiled. "Yes, there is."
Severus stood and offered his hand to Hermione. "Well then, Mrs. Snape, tomorrow we shall see the real estate agent and learn more about it."
Type: Fic
Prompter: orlando_switch
Creator: worrywart1966
Beta(s): Velveteenbunny, Frenchie 84
Rating: NC-17
(Highlight to View) Warning(s): No overt sex, just 'fade to black'.
(Highlight to View) Prompt: Hermione and Snape and some other war veterans are literally thrown out the wizarding world (portkey? blasting curse? just waking up elsewhere?) and not able to enter it again. What is happening?
Note: I'm glad I had the opportunity to bring orlando_switch's prompt to life. I hope you like it!
Mod Note: worrywart1966 has posted a longer version of this story to the Archive of Our Own and FanFiction.Net.
Summary: Beware the freckled redhead bearing a bottle of wine.
We've all heard the phrases that get us into trouble. Phrases such as:
Look, Ma…no hands!
Here, hold my pint!
Look at this dusty old bottle of wine I found; let's have a drink!
Eight witches and wizard were rudely woken by the screeching residents of number 11 Grimmauld Place to 'get the bloody hell out of our garden, or we'll call the police!'
Severus, who woke first, quickly realised a bad situation when he met one and hauled the sleepy residents of number 12 out of what they thought was their garden and into the park across the street.
"Is everyone all right?" he asked.
"I've got a blinding headache, and I only had half a glass wine. I don't suppose you've got any Sober-Up potion?" asked Hermione.
"Where's my house?" Harry gasped.
Everyone gaped as they looked at the spot where number 12 should be. Because they were magical and all had been given the location at one time or another, they should have been able to see it between 11 and 13.
"Uncle, what's happening?" asked Draco, "Why can't we see our house?"
"I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is that I'm going to kill Weasley and pickle his bits for potions!" roared Severus. "What did you do!?!"
"Nothing!" stammered Ron. "Why are you yelling at me?"
"Because the last thing I remember is you with a stupid grin on your face, prancing around the sitting room yelling, 'I found wine, I found wine'," yelled Severus.
"Severus, please don't shout. My head is killing me," said Hermione.
"I'm sorry, love. But as you can imagine, I'm a bit upset."
Harry asked again, "Where's my house?"
"Severus, why can't we see it?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know. Let's have a seat on those benches and see what we can remember. Perhaps we can come to some sort of conclusion."
"Do you have any Sober-Ups?" Hermione asked again.
"No; they were in my bag in the house."
"Does anyone have any Muggle money on them? I don't know about you," said Draco, "but I could use a coffee."
"No, mate, not me," said Neville. "I could really use a cuppa as well."
"Ha!" Hermione laughed, waving a small card. "My bank card; I slipped it into my pocket after I paid for the take-away. Come on, isn't there a café on the next road over?"
Harry nodded.
"We'll head there then," said Severus. "By the way, do you all still have your wands?"
The sound of hands patting pockets was heard followed by several groans. In the end, only Severus, Draco, and Hermione had their wands. The rest had left them in their bedrooms, considering that the whole reason they were in Grimmauld at all was to spend the night having drinks and games, something the couples did with regularity.
"Okay," said Severus. "Keep close to me, Hermione and Draco. We don't know if we're dealing with rogue Death Eaters or something else."
Arriving at the café, they found a quiet table at the back, for which Severus was grateful. He sat with his back to the wall so that he could see the entire room and entrance. A server scurried over and took their orders for drinks, handing each a menu. When she returned, they placed their food orders.
"Do you have any idea what happened?" asked Draco quietly.
"No."
"We should go to the Ministry," Ron said, "They'll figure this out."
"We'll go nowhere until we know what is going on," said Severus. "How can we be prepared to protect ourselves without a plan?"
Draco snorted, "Gryffindors…act first, think last."
Ron began to splutter, but was interrupted by the waitress bearing a tray with their food. When she left, and Hermione asked, "Luv, what's the plan? I assume you already have an idea of how to figure this out?"
Severus took a sip of tea before answering, "I want everyone to tell what they remember. Start from when you left your house to the time you got to Grimmauld."
Neville said, "I see what you mean. Any clue, no matter how small, could be important."
"Exactly," said Severus. "Even a letter that you weren't expecting could be important. Let's start with Neville."
Neville swallowed a bite of his bacon butty and began to recall what he had done prior to the night in question. "I was teaching that week, of course. Then, as usual, Luna and I took the baby to Gran's so she could watch her. We stopped by her father's on the way over to drop off some notes on a story for the Quibbler. Once we did that, we Apparated to number 12."
Severus nodded as she finished. "So nothing out of the ordinary?"
Neville thought about the question. "No. Nothing," he answered. "But, Severus, a lot of people know we all get together every other Friday night."
Severus nodded. "That's why it's important to recall any detail regardless."
Lavender spoke next. "I did buy a new outfit for tonight. I like the anonymity of shopping in the Muggle world and do so quite often. I chit chatted with the girl in the fitting room, just inconsequential things. I mentioned that I was getting together with friends for a night of games and drinks. Ron told his parents of course, so they could watch Violet."
"We are not working on any cases related to Death Eaters or war criminals; haven't done so in a good six months, wouldn't you say, Harry?" asked Ron around a bite of potato.
Harry nodded in agreement. "Well, like Ron said, we're not working on any DE cases. Draco and I went to Asda Friday morning to pick up things we needed."
"We ran into your cousin, bear," Draco reminded Harry, who blushed at the term of endearment, still not used to Draco using it so familiarly with friends present.
"That's right," Harry said. "But there's nothing to worry about there. Duds and his wife were getting their weekly shopping."
Hermione wiped her mouth on a paper napkin before she recounted her day. "St. Mungo's was busy as usual on a Friday. Everyone wanting to get a potion for this or that before the clinic closed for the afternoon. I didn't notice anything more than the usual over abundance snot nosed brats…"
Draco cut in by poking Hermione's gravid belly. "Be careful there, Aunty…you're about to pop with your own snot nosed brat in a few months."
Hermione laughed and slapped Draco's hand away. "Paws off, nephie poo! Anyway, I didn't notice in particular any notorious family names to worry about. No weird owl posts and no one suspicious. I had an appointment over lunch with my antenatal healer."
"No weird post at my place," added Neville.
The others chimed in about their post as well; nothing suspicious.
"I had none at Hogwarts either," said Severus. "The first week of school went along much as usual."
"So," Harry began to sum up, "if nothing happened outside of the house, then whatever happened, happened inside of it. We tested the take away, yes?"
Hermione nodded. "It's second nature for me, to be honest, and not just because of the baby."
"The house is secret kept, so we know who can and cannot come in. We had no other visitors this week," said Draco. "Not even my parents."
"So, we can all agree that we noticed nothing unusual or suspicous?" asked Severus. Everyone nodded. "Good. So let's recount what happened last night. Hermione and I arrived just after seven, went to our usual room…"
"And forgot your silencing charm," Harry grimaced. "You two need to have your reunion sex before you come here from now on."
Severus' ears went pink and Hermione hid her face in his arm. "Yes, erm, well. We helped set up the game table, Hermione ordered the take away, and I set up the drinks trolley."
Ron added, "I helped Lav set the table for dinner. Harry and Draco were fixing nibbles."
Hermione said, "You all were pretty well into your cups by around midnight. That's when Ron found the bottle. I hadn't been drinking at all until that point, but decided to have just a bit to help me sleep."
Severus said, "And since we can't find the house, there's no chance of finding the bottle now."
"If we're all done, let's head back to where number 12 should be," Hermione said. "I want to check out the back gardens for any clues, since that's where we woke up.
Ten minutes later, the group stood, looking at where number 12 should be.
"I can't believe I can't see it," said Hermione.
"Nor can I," replied Severus.
Harry stood with his hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped. "Next to The Burrow, this was my first real home. And my first home with Draco."
Draco wrapped an arm around Harry. "It's still there. We just have to figure out why we can't see it."
"How do we get round to the back, Harry?" Neville asked.
"Oh, this way. We go down the side road there, and turn left."
As they walked along the alley, they looked along the verge for anything unusual and they peeked into the gardens. They all stopped at the gardens between 11 and 13.
"They look pretty unremarkable," said Hermione.
Severus stepped up beside her. "That they do, as does the alleyway; nothing except of the usual crisp and ice lolly packets, cigarette butts and beer cans. What's Lovegood doing?"
Hermione turned to see Luna attempting to slip through the hedge of number 11. She padded over. "Luna, what are you doing?"
"There's a bottle just inside this hedge. I could see the glimmer from the glass as we were looking through the fence of number 13. I think I can just reach it." She attempted to reach it but failed by just a few inches. "Could you maybe use a localised Bombardia here, Hermione?"
"Of course," Hermione answered. She pulled her wand out and used a modified charm. When it didn't work, she said, "My magic has been occasionally wonky now that I'm pregnant; let me try again." When her charm didn't work a second and third time, she asked Severus to come and try.
To his consternation, his charm did not work either. When he attempted to try wandless magic, it failed as well. He indicated that Draco should attempt and he too failed. Eventually, he was able to break a few branches and pulled the bottle out, handing it to Luna.
Once it was in her hands, she stepped away to the rest of the group. Draco turned to Severus. "What's going on, Severus? First we can't see the house and now our magic? Are we cursed?"
"I don't know."
"Ronald, isn't this the last bottle of wine we all drank?" Luna asked, as she handed it to him.
Looking at the label, although obscured with dust, he confirmed what she had said. "Yes, it is. I remember finding this in the closet."
"Why were you in the closet?" asked Harry.
Ron turned red and mumbled, "Lostmywaytotheloo." Everyone chuckled except Severus. "Anyway, we had all had quite a bit to drink, 'cept Mione, and we were all happy to try it."
Severus snorted took the bottle away from Ron. He carefully sniffed the neck. "This smells like a good red wine, but there's something underneath it….Draco, can you tell?" Severus handed him the bottle.
Draco took the bottle and sniffed. "You're right. There's something there beside the usual grapes. It smells a bit like pear."
Ron said, "So what? The wine could have been made with pears. A lot of the old pureblood families make wine. The Blacks probably had loads of it."
"Why hide it in a closet then?" asked Neville. "Gran has a cellar, as do the Malfoys and the Blacks, right Harry?"
"Yes, they do, But this doesn't explain why my house is gone!" he said impatiently.
"It looks like," began Severus, "the bottle was hidden years ago, many years ago if the dust is any indication of age, and given how many Dark Magic items were found in the house when Draco and Harry cleaned it out, it would not surprise me to find something like this. I suspect the bottle has been tainted with chloral hydrate, which can smell like pears."
As soon as those words were out of his mouth, Hermione gasped. "Oh, no! I drank half a glass of it!" she put her hands over her swollen belly. "The baby! If I passed out, what has happened to the baby?" She burst into tears.
"Have you felt the baby move today at all?" asked Severus.
"Erm, yes, he has been moving."
Severus turned to the rest of the group. "Okay. First things first, if you will all indulge me?"
Seven heads bobbed in agreement.
"Thank you. First, let's get to St. Mungo's so that we can have Hermione and the baby checked out for any side effects. Then, we'll have to find a base camp of sorts. Hermione, do you think your parents would allow us to stay as we make plans? It has more room than Spinner's End."
"Of course," she said, sniffing.
"What about The Burrow?" asked Ron. "You know mum will let us kip there."
"If we have no magic, we can't Apparate. I was not able to use wandless magic, so I cannot Apparate using wandless magic either."
"Severus," asked Luna, "what is chloral hydrate?"
"Technically it's a poison, but from a potions standpoint, I use it as a reagent. Properly used, it can be a sedative. It synthesizes quickly so it can be easily used, which means it can be improperly used as a recreational drug or even knock out drops which, I believe, was the intended use here. The reaction, and a mostly likely the curse, was probably held in stasis until the cork was removed." Severus turned to Ron. "Mr. Weasley, I believe you may unwittingly be the catalyst of what happened to us all, and not completely at fault here."
"I am not!" Ron shouted.
"Ron," Hermione said quietly, "he said you might not be at fault. But can we argue about this later? I need to get to St. Mungo's. Is there a tube station nearby?"
"Yes, two streets over," said Harry.
Severus looked around and found an empty plastic bag and put the bottle in it. Taking Hermione's hand and indicating that Harry and Draco should led the way, the group made for the tube station. Thanks to Hermione's debit card, they soon had tickets and were on their way to St. Mungo's.
The group made it to Purge and Dowes, Ltd., the building that acted as a façade to St. Mungo's, with no trouble. However, when Severus went to the mannequin in the window and whispered who he was and what he wanted, nothing happened. He tried a second time with no response and then had the rest of them try it.
"What should we do, Severus?" asked Neville.
"We'll head to the Ministry," he said.
Thirty minutes later, the group stood in front of an old public call box. When Severus and Hermione entered, he picked up the phone and dialled the number. Nothing happened. No voice, no badges.
"Severus," Harry said frantically, having just returned from the public toilet, "the loo…it won't let us in that way either!"
"Let's go to the Leaky then. We can have Tom contact Minerva and Kinglsey for us."
The octet grabbed a bus and headed to Charing Cross Road. Once off at the stop, they headed up the road to where they knew the Leaky Cauldron should be. They were beginning to attract the attention of Muggles passing by as they kept walking back and forth, gesticulating and arguing that it should be 'right here!'.
Severus finally lost his temper. "Look, just shut it all of you! I don't know what's going on, but we can't wander around like fools. Let's head to Hermione's parents. They have an owl, and we could send it to Minerva. She can come to the house, and we'll go from there."
"The children!" exclaimed Neville. "How will we get word to Gran and Ron's folks about the kids?"
"We'll send letters to Augusta, Arthur and Molly when I send one to Minerva. Now, shall we set off?" Severus asked.
Everyone agreed to Severus' plan and soon they were on the tube heading for Chelsea.
Helen Granger returned to the kitchen to see Hermione, Severus and their friends finishing their tea. She opened the refrigerator as she said, "Hermione, your father is on the phone with a friend of his from school, who is an obstetrician. He's seeing about getting you to her office. In the meantime, we'll fix something to eat. You'll feel a little more like yourself once you've had a bite."
Everyone sat around the kitchen table, fixing themselves sandwiches from the meats and cheese Helen had laid out for them when David, Hermione's father, came in.
"Ellie will see you in an hour, Hermione. I told her you were visiting when you knocked over a bottle of something in the potting shed. She said she'll do some blood work and a scan. David bit his lip. "I suppose you'll have to Obliviate her afterward?"
Severus answered, "We can't, as we've explained."
"Oh, stupid of me, of course you can't," said David with regret.
"It's all right, David. Do you still have the owl Hermione gave you?"
David nodded. "I'll just run and get her. He snatched up a bit of meat and cheese, rolled it up and bustled away. Helen and Hermione went to get cleaned up while Severus and the others talked about the next step in their plan.
Later that evening, Hermione and Severus were in Hermione's old bedroom, discussing what had happened. The others were spread throughout the house, sleeping on various bits of furniture that had made up as beds.
"I'm so thankful the baby is all right," Severus said, running his hand along Hermione's belly.
"He was acting up quite a bit during the exam," giggled Hermione. "And his heartbeat was excellent."
"The lab results showed only a trace amount of the chloral hydrate; nothing to harm the baby. I'm glad everyone believed our story of cleaning out the potting shed and a bottle falling."
Hermione snuggled closer. "Hmmm. Oh, Severus, what are we doing to do? The eight of us can't stay here for long?"
"I agree."
"What about Spinner's End? We haven't sold it yet, perhaps we could go there?"
"I'd rather you stayed here with your parents. Spinner's End is not modernised; you can feel the wind blowing through, and the loo is not up to date at all."
"I can't see Draco wanting to go there. Luna would find it an adventure; perhaps she and Neville could go there? But can't Neville's gran comes to take them back to her house? If it's Muggle built, then they'll be able to see it."
"More than likely if it's Muggle built, then yes, but any of the magical enchantments means they won't see them. There's a danger they could think they're walking down a hallway and then suddenly find themselves in the garden, much like we did."
"I hadn't thought about that," said Hermione sleepily.
"We've had a long day, love. We'll talk in the morning when we're all a little more rested." Severus pulled Hermione to nestle her back into his front, and was soon asleep.
In David's study, Harry and Draco were also chatting as they attempted to relax on the pull out couch.
"What do you think has happened?" asked Harry.
"Severus thinks, and I agree, that there was some sort of curse tied to the cork of that wine bottle. I could kill Weaslebee!"
"Draco," Harry chided. "It wasn't really his fault now was it? He couldn't have known. Although, by now you'd think he'd have learnt to suspect anything old and dusty he's found at Grimmauld."
Draco snorted, "Too right."
"Love, how can I contact my parents? Aren't there Muggle ways to do that?"
"Since they are on a Muggle vessel, we could send a telegram or something. I'll ask in the morning."
"Couldn't Hermione's parents drive us to Wiltshire? We know where the Manor is."
"Yes, but since the Manor is magical, we wouldn’t be able to see it. Now," Harry said, turning to cuddle closer to Draco, "it's been an exhausting day. Let's get some sleep, love."
Draco kissed Harry, and he too fell asleep.
Ron and Lavender were in the living room on a couple of camp beds that the Grangers had, quietly talking about their situation.
"I can't believe everyone is blaming me," said Ron.
"Oh, Ron," sighed Lavender, "Only Professor Snape is blaming you, and he's really not blaming you either, but you know how he can be."
"I know," Ron answered morosely. "What are we going to do? We can't go to The Burrow if we can't see it. Doesn't Snape have a Muggle home? Maybe we could stay there? I love Hermione's parents and all, but eight extra people in the house will be hard."
"We'll ask in the morning. I agree; we need to go somewhere else. I wouldn't want to stress the Grangers too much."
"I really am sorry to have caused any trouble, Lav."
"I know, Wonnie. I love you, you know that?"
Ron laughed with relief and happiness. "I do, Lav. I love you, too."
Neville and Luna were in Helen's sewing room, lying on a pallet of blankets. "Do you think we'll have heard anything in the morning?" asked Neville.
Luna tucked the covers around her shoulders. "I'm sure. I just wish I could see the Nargles. They are a comfort to me, and they always give me signs about what's to come."
Neville smiled. His Luna often talked as though she were away with the fairies, but more often than not she was so in tune with nature and magic that he was as surprised as the rest of them to find she had no magical ability at the moment, either. "What do the stars tell you, love?"
"That all will be well," she said honestly. "But it will take some time, and they also tell me that some of us will have a decision to make in the end."
Neville considered her response. "I trust you, love. I hope the owl got the message to Gran."
"I'm sure, but even if it didn't, Gran may just assume we had a bit too much to drink and will be able to pick up Frankie later in the morning; it's happened before," she giggled.
As Hermione and her mother did the washing up after breakfast, Severus and the others wandered into the garden to see what help they could be of there. David was rather proud of his vegetable and herb beds. Helen had told the group that if she had not put her foot down, it would take up the entirety of the garden. Severus was using a hoe while the others desultorily pulled at weeds, all rather silent despite the situation.
The cry of an owl drew their attention, and they hurried to the patio where Ariel had landed. Severus reached her first and pulled two letters from her leg, handing one to Neville after looking at the address. Hermione and her mother had just stepped out of the kitchen.
"I heard Ariel," said Hermione, handing the bird a treat she had grabbed on her way outdoors. "What does your letter say, Severus?"
"It's from Minerva," he said. "She has contacted Kingsley and Auror Proudfoot and will be here around tea time. She says we are to make sure we have the bottle and the cork."
"The cork was in the house, remember?" said Ron.
"Shite," replied Severus with a sigh. "They'll have to do the best they can then with what they've got."
"No they won't," interjected Draco excitedly. "McGonagall and Shacklebolt are secret keepers…they'll be able to get into the house and find it for us."
"What does your letter say, Nev?" asked Hermione.
Neville looked up. "Gran will take care of Frankie, and has contacted Molly and Arthur. They'll take care of Violet."
Lavender sniffed a bit. "I want to see Violet, though."
Hermione said, "We'll send Ariel out again with messages later. Molly and Mrs. Longbottom can bring the children here."
"Thank you, Hermione," said Luna. "I miss my little girl."
Harry said, "Now that we've had a night to sleep on it, let's talk about what happened again. I think we should talk about how we felt once we began to drink the wine. Maybe there's a clue we missed yesterday?"
Everyone agreed, and Hermione went to fetch some tea. When she returned, they all settled around the table and rehashed what happened.
"I remember," began Neville, "feeling very relaxed…not really aware of where I was. I felt swimmy headed, as though I was high. I also remember feeling as though I could do anything."
"How do you know what being high feels like?" asked Draco.
"I'm not plant boy for nothing, Draco," Neville hinted with a smirk.
"Oh, really?" drawled Draco. "Care to share, Plantboy?"
"Be that as it may be," growled Severus, hoping to bring the discussion back around. "Did you feel like you were compelled?" asked Severus.
"Not so much compelled like with the Imperious, but that any suggestion would have been fine with me."
Draco said, "Yes, I felt that way, too. Like I hadn't a care in the world and the idea of letting someone else do the thinking was really great."
Luna, Lavender, and Harry all shook their heads, each murmuring in agreement with what Neville and Draco has described. Only Hermione felt differently.
"I felt relaxed, but not to the extent you all did. Perhaps because I only had a few sips of the wine."
"You know," said Harry, "for a regular sized bottle, there seemed to be an awful lot of wine in it. I mean, I remember drinking at least two glasses of it, and there were seven of us drinking it."
"So," Severus said, "not only was the bottle cursed, it seems it was laced with an Everfill charm."
"But what sort of curse?" asked Hermione.
"Probably a modified compulsion charm. Since we didn't feel the need to immediately do something, I suspect the charm was to make the drinker susceptible to suggestion."
"Snape," began Ron, "do you think that someone else got into the house once we had drunk the wine? I don't remember much after my second glass. Could someone have entered and cast a curse on us to remove our magic?"
Severus nodded. "I think you have a point; someone could have come into the house, or the curse was tied to the cork."
"We'll have to get Kingsley or Proudfoot to cast for magical signatures once we get to Grimmauld," said Harry. "That'll at least be a starting point."
"Good idea," agreed Severus. "Now, let's go over things one more time to be sure we've missed nothing before the others arrive."
The visit from Minerva, Kingsley, and Proudfoot did nothing to alleviate the worries of the group no longer able to see or perform magic. They had discovered an unknown magical signature had been in the house; unknown because the frequency of the signature had been tampered with. Proudfoot explained that the DOM had been experimenting with such magic. This led to the possibility of an infiltrator within the DOM, someone who had connections to the group as well. They also confirmed that the curse and the chloral hydrate were linked to the cork, which was found once Minerva entered the house.
The conclusion was that the bottle was not as old as they thought. At some point, someone entered the house and planted the bottle in the closet. When everyone was passed out, they returned and removed their magic. Just how had yet to be discovered.
It was also discovered during their visit that although any one of the group who had lost their magic could go into Grimmauld accompanied by someone with magic, once they were left on their own, they suddenly found themselves in the back garden. They absolutely had to be in the presence, at all times, by a magical person. Although this meant they could return their homes, it also meant that they had to be in the presence of a magical person at all times in order to use the homes where magical enlargement or enhancements had been made. The awkwardness of this dilemma was not lost on any one of them.
Luna asked, "If we only need to be in the presence of a magical person in order to be in a magical place, doesn't that mean that to some extent, our cores are intact? They must be for them to sense the magic of another person, and if that's the case, we should be able to sense magical places."
Severus gave consideration to what Luna had said. "To a degree, you are correct. However, if your supposition is correct, then something is blocking our cores. I believe that it is tied to the curse."
"I'll be sure to have our agents in the DOM trace the curse for that particular variant," said Proudfoot.
"So what do we do?" asked Neville.
"We could easily assign each of you an auror to accompany you at all times," suggested Kingsley. "That would allow you to at least remain in the magical world."
"An easy solution if intrusive, to be sure," said Severus.
"I agree," said Hermione. "We don't know how long it will take to find the infiltrator or the counter curse. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not going to have a wee with an auror present; I don't care if it is a female. I'm pregnant…do you realize how much time I spend in the bathroom?"
"I'm with Hermione," said Lavender. "I don't want an auror watching me dress or worse, sleeping in the same room with me and Ron."
"What if we assign you Aurors for during the day, and then you sleep somewhere Muggle at night?" Proudfoot asked.
Severus grunted. "Doable, but not practical. I have another suggestion."
"Oh?" asked Minerva.
"Assign an auror to us for our protection and defence. However, we will live in the Muggle world temporarily. I'm sure you could assign us aurors who are half-blood or Muggle born."
Luna spoke up. "That sounds fun, Severus! But, I've never lived like a Muggle."
"You know some things, Luna," said Draco. "You've shopped in the Muggle world and so has Lavender, Harry and I. You can already manage Muggle money, and that's probably one of the most important things."
Everyone around the table murmured in agreement.
Minerva said, "I think Severus has the best plan. How should we handle the arrangements then?"
"I think you should find flats for us in the same building. That way, we can help each other out, but still have some privacy," said Severus.
Kingsley agreed. "Proudfoot…you handle the flats. Assign each couple an auror who is half-blood or Muggleborn. Minerva, you and I will Apparate everyone back to the Grangers'; your parents will let you stay at least a few more days until everything is arranged?" he asked Hermione.
"Of course," answered Hermione.
"Very good. In the meantime, I need to contact Hestia Jones and see what the hell is going on in the DOM."
In less than a week, everyone was settled in a block of flats near Chelsea. They were fortunate enough to be able to stay in the same area as Hermione's parents, who would help the couples as much as they could. Lavender and Luna were thrilled to have their daughters back in their arms, and the couples settled down into new routines. The new routines did not come without their setbacks, however.
Hermione and Severus laughed as they dined with Hermione's parents one evening and recalled Ron and Neville's attempts at buying nappies. Luna and Lavender had been busy doing housework-with guidance from Hermione-when Lavender sent Ron to the store.
Neville had volunteered to go with Ron, and the pair made their way to Sainsbury's. Hermione had explained to the boys what to look for, but she had failed to explain about the sizing system.
The odd pair stood in front of the display, confused by the plethora of options in front of them.
"Lav usually uses cloth diapers, mate," said Ron. "Reckon these are them?"
"Dunno," said Neville. "Luna does all of this." He moved along the aisle, looking at the other options. "What's it mean 'Up to seven K'? What's a 'K'?"
"Dunno," said Ron. "Look this one says 'cruiser'. What do you suppose that means?"
Neville shrugged. "No idea. This one says 'all night protection with special fibres to wick away wetness'. Cor…it's enough to make your head spin!"
Ron stood with his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Look there, Nev," he said, pointing to a picture of a cherubic toddler, "that looks to be the size of Frankie. Why don't you get those? These ones here," he pointed to a box in front of him, "look like they'd fit Violet."
"I don't know mate," Neville said cautiously. "Frankie isn't cruising; she's only five months and just sort of kicks her feet and moves forward an inch or two. Your Violet is ten months…is that cruising age?"
"She does walk about the furniture. You're right…I'll get those. Do you suppose we should pick up a couple boxes of different ones just in case?"
"Okay," said Neville and the pair started to grab boxes and tossing them into a trolley.
Pleased with themselves for having accomplished what they thought was a difficult task successfully, the pair made their way to the queues. The cashier gave them a few wide-eyed looks, but they managed to give the correct pound notes and were soon back at the house.
With pride at having accomplished their mission, the boys set their packages on the kitchen table amid the gasps of the girls.
"Ron," said Hermione, "what on earth were you thinking?"
"We bought nappies!" he replied.
"Yes, but twelve boxes? None of these seem to be the right size," said Lavender. "At least I think so…I use cloth."
Neville said, "The babies on the packages looked about the age of the girls, so we thought that's how you buy them."
Hermione giggled. "Well, I'll give you points for reasoning, Neville, however, you by them by either the age or weight of the baby."
Ron and Neville's shoulders slumped, and both muttered apologies.
"Tell you what," began Hermione. "Us girls will go out and get what we need and return those we don't. In the meantime, use these," Hermione selected two packages, "for the girls until we return. I need a few things anyway, so we'll return these."
Four months had gone by, and they still had no news. In those months, everyone adjusted, slowly, to living without magic.
Neville and Lavender were finding it hardest among the group to adapt as they had both grown up in pureblood families. Luna had as well, but she was having fun in learning all things Muggle, and the others admired her spirit. Ron had the occasional mishap, but because of his father's obsession with all things Muggles, he was able to adapt.
Tensions rose among the group as expected, and the occasional fight among couples and friends occurred. Since no one had their usual occupations, there began to be a bit too much togetherness.
It was at their next meeting with Kingsley-he had begun to meet with them every two weeks to bring them up to date on the investigation-suggested that those who could should get jobs to help curtail the problem of boredom that was leading to the fights. Kingsley would have the Aurors create the necessary documents for them to use on applications.
Neville, naturally, applied for jobs at florists and was rather pleased to find a job quite quickly. Lavender went to the shop where she usually bought her dresses and asked if they were looking for help. The ladies were delighted to offer her a job as one of their sales girls had just quit. Luna applied at a day care and was accepted, happily skipping off to play with the children every day. Ron took a while to place, but he found work with the maintenance crew at the local sports stadium.
Severus had decided to take some Muggle courses and was accepted at the local university as a returning adult. Hermione, due to her pregnancy had intended to volunteer at the local library, but her son decided to make his appearance a few days into her inquiries.
Tobias David Snape was born in the early hours of fourteen January, with a shock of curly black hair on his head, a tiny nose, and murky blue eyes. He was absolutely perfect. The Grangers visited straight away, cooing over their new grandson. Harry and Luna were chosen as godparents, and the group of friends were diverted, for a while at least, from their worries as they marvelled that the greasy git produced such a lovely baby-Ron earned a slap upside the head for that.
One night, as Severus and Hermione were up feeding and changing Toby's nappy, they talked quietly about the future. They discussed the possibility of their never getting their magic back.
"Do you think you could live without it?" asked Hermione.
"Perhaps. I've enough other skills that would translate into the Muggle world, but I imagine we could find work that would keep us in both worlds."
"What about the others?"
Severus rolled over and adjusted the duvet while watching his wife, who was sitting up in bed, nursing. "Hard to say. Harry and Draco would do fine; Luna would as well. The others…I'm not so sure about. They don't seem to have realised that this could be for their rest of their lives."
Hermione hummed in agreement and switched Toby to her other breast. Once he was settled, she started laughing.
"What so funny?" asked Severus.
"The other day, Luna had to call me for help. She was hoovering and caught the drape in it. When I got there, the entire machine was upside down, having sucked in the drape that much!"
Severus snorted. "Typical Luna."
"I think the little guy is done; would you burp him while I go to the bathroom?"
"Of course. Come to Papa, my boy," said Severus, who had sat up and was reaching for Toby. "Let's see if you have the Snape propensity for loud burps. We know you've got the fart."
"Like father, like son," giggled Hermione.
Days later, Hermione took Toby to her parents' house for lunch while Severus was in class. Helen relayed a story to her that had Hermione's father in tears for he had done the same thing for Helen, in an effort to surprise her, when they were first married.
"It was the day you all went to the zoo. They tried, they really did try," giggled Helen, as she told the story…
Lavender and Luna had decided to stay behind, the young mothers eagerly looking forward to a few hours of peace and quiet and a chance to have a bath uninterrupted. They had made plans to meet for lunch at Luna's flat. As the two ate, they complained back and forth about the difficulties living as Muggles presented. Lavender had also complained about all the laundry.
"I never realised how much we had since the elves always do our laundry."
"You know," said Luna, the more adventurous of the two, "Hermione always helps us with our laundry. I think we should be able to handle that, shouldn't we?"
Lavender agreed and went to get her laundry.
Once in the kitchen, where Luna had set washing liquid on the counter not far from the bottle of dish washing liquid, they sorted the laundry as Hermione had shown them. What they hadn't known was that one of Ron's trainers had been folded in among the shirts and that Lavender had gotten the lace caught in the door when she closed the door. The lace was thin enough that the door closed, allowing the washer to run. Neither girl realized that Luna had grabbed the wrong bottle of soap, unwittingly setting up what was to come.
"And when I got there," Helen was laughing, "the girls were on chairs, covered in bubbles and in near hysterics, or at least Lavender was. Luna was busy making shapes in the foam. Oh, Hermione, it was the funniest thing ever!"
"How did you get the mess cleaned up?"
"I dashed back home and got your father's shop vacuum. We used that to get most of the mess cleaned up, and then I called Minerva; you know my Floo had been attached to the castle for emergencies? She came and used a bit of magic to be sure all was well. I invited her over for tea afterward, and we laughed until we cried."
"What happened to cause the mess?" asked Hermione.
"The best conjecture is the trainer thumped the door to the washer open and the foam spewed out. Luna must have grabbed the wrong bottle of washing liquid."
Two weeks after that conversation, Kingsley and Proudfoot had gathered everyone at Grimmauld Place to update them.
"I'll get straight to the point," said Kingsley, "as I know you're eager to get back to your usual lives. We just arrested the person who was involved."
The men and women gasped and began throwing questions at the Minister. "Simmer down, simmer down. I know you're all anxious to know what happened and if you can be cured." With a sip of tea, he began…
"The first place we began to look was the Department of Mysteries. We checked over employment records to see if anyone was recently hired or fired. Then we looked for any connection to Death Eaters of either war. Once we ruled those out, we began to look at the Black family tree, since the incident happened here."
"If you were sure it was someone from the DOM," asked Hermione, "why were you looking into the Death Eaters first?"
Severus sneered. "Who else would be the most obvious person to know such a dark spell?"
Hermione blushed with realisation. "Oh, of course. I'm sorry."
"Not to worry, Hermione," said Kingsley. "And yes, Severus, we did start our investigation with Death Eaters because Death Eaters are or were known to be dark and evil. It was the most obvious place. Once we'd had exhausted that source, we'd move off in other avenues."
"Such as?" asked Hermione.
"Once we eliminated all the possible suspects from the most recent war, we went back to the first war. We started with the original Order of the Phoenix members who weren't members during the second, omitting those who are dead or incapacitated. We then traced the social circles of the known Death Eaters of that time, and we found something interesting."
"Oh?" Eight voices asked, all leaning forward.
"It seemed that an old school mate of Regulus Black's had come up missing after the first war. His name was Robert Alexander. Do you remember him at all, Severus?"
Severus leant back to think, fiddling with the handle of his tea mug as he did so. "I believe I do. Reg and I were close, and I remember a young man around our age always tagging along at Death Eater meetings and sometimes socially; Reg had apparently invited him along. I believe he was in love with Reg.
"If I remember correctly, he was not at Hogwarts, but had been educated at the Wizarding school in Sweden. I can't even remember how Reg met him or how he became part of the outer circle of Death Eaters, which is where Reg and I were at the time. One day, Reg and I were here alone, and Robert stopped by. He witnessed a rather private fight between the two of us and when I left, he stayed, I assume, to comfort Reg. Reg disappeared about two months later. I regret that he and I never patched things up."
"What was the fight about, Severus?" asked Kingsley.
"Reg admitted that he loved me as more than a friend," said Severus a bit uncomfortably. "He wanted to become lovers. I told him, rather forcefully, that I did not think of him that way and nor of any man in that way. He attempted to touch me intimately, so I punched him and left. On the way out, I glimpsed Robert entering the sitting room from the hall. I assume he had heard us."
The group made no comment when Severus quickly left the room. Hermione followed with a quick 'give us a moment, please'. Once the couple was out of the room, the rest looked at each other and Kingsley with a silent conversation of wide eyed 'did you knows?' and shoulder shrugged 'nos' in answer.
The pair returned with Severus making a mumbled apology, asking Kingsley to please continue.
"Robert Alexander disappeared shortly after the end of the first war," Kingsley said. "We combed the Auror records for a list of Death Eaters who were not captured, and his name was among them. It was assumed that he was either killed and his body never found, or left England, probably for America, and he knew he'd be safe there."
Severus added, "When the Dark Lord returned, I do not recall his being part of the group. However, there were so many unmarked supporters and marked lower ranking members it could have been easy for him move unnoticed. I was part of the inner circle and in a much different role this time around, so I didn't concern myself with anyone who was not in the inner circle."
Kingsley nodded. "At this point, we ran into a dead end. No Robert Alexanders anywhere, not even in America, at least magically inclined."
Draco said, "You obviously found him, though."
"Yes, through an inspired bit of thinking by Proudfoot." Kingsley smiled and nodded to Proudfoot, who picked up the story.
Proudfoot cleared his throat and began. "I decided to comb through the personal records of the DOM again. I was looking for anything at all from a documented late arrival to a disciplinary incident. I began to notice the habits of a particular individual-a Charles Ingersol-who'd been with the DOM for about ten years; a seemingly patternless habit of calling off work, late arrivals or overtime work. I noticed that they occurred with American and Swedish bank holidays. Remember we had said Robert was educated in Sweden and we assumed he had fled to America?" Everyone nodded.
"I took a cue from the Muggle police and did a bit of detective work. I began to follow him around. He tended to go to clubs that were sports themed, and I followed him into one and struck up an acquaintance with him.
"It took a few weeks of chit chatting about work, families, etc., but one particular night he was very into his cups and began to talk nonsense about a world where there was magic. He mentioned an evil man who had been seeking to create a more pure society. He talked about a man he loved who spurned him because he was in love with another man. He told me that man had eventually died in a war, but he didn't reveal which war or even that he was a wizard.
"Another time when we were at a club, drinking, and he began to rant about the need for revenge. He was going to do something to the man who apparently stole the only one he ever loved. He wasn't going to kill this person, but do as good as. When I asked him how, he passed out.
"It took another couple of visits before I got him drunk on purpose so that I could lead the conversation round to what I wanted. He told me about his job and how they were working on changing the frequency of signatures. He tried to make it as though he was working in the Muggle science field, but the little things he would say, things only a wizard would say, gave him away, at least to me. He'd quickly correct himself with a Muggle term and say he was being silly because he was drunk…mixing up his word and such like.
"I told him that the frequency thing fascinated me, and he expounded on his work. By the time he got half way through the explanation, I knew we had our man. He gave away information that I had recently learned from the DOM that only someone in the DOM would know. And in fact, some of their notes had gone missing several months prior."
Severus interrupted, "Did the DOM report this to you, Kinglsey?"
"No," he answered. "The DOM, as you know, has its own internal system of checks and balances. Only if the information or problem would affect the Wizarding community as a whole, will I be informed."
"This did affect the wizarding community, at least the eight of us," growled Severus. "Why didn't they report it to you?"
"At the time, it didn't, and the information was in the experimental stages so they were certain that whoever took the information wouldn't know what to do with it without all of the processes used as one."
"Well, they were wrong weren't they?" snorted Severus.
"Gentleman," said Proudfoot, "if I may continue?" Kingsley and Severus nodded. "I, erm, invited him to my place on the assumption of well, erm, and I hoped to get him to play his cards."
"We had had a few drinks, and I steered the conversation around to frequencies. He told me more about what he'd do with the frequency and with a little urging, to whom. I gave him a Sober-up, and immediately bound him and brought him to the Auror office."
Kingsley took over the story again. "From there, it was a matter of some Veritaserum, and we had the whole story. Robert never got over his rejection from Reg and blamed you, Severus. As he watched you move up in the ranks of Death Eaters, he became even more jealous. He kept track of you-Proudfoot found reams of notes and articles about you and your career-some of his diary entries were rather frightening, especially those from after you married Hermione.
"He told us he found the curse in the Black library; he had been in your house more than you want to know, Harry. Some of the times, he hid in rooms and closets while you were there."
The entire group was outraged and burst into chatter. The thought that this man observed the couple, and possibly the group, while they moved around the house, having fun and socialising, even sleeping, was more than frightening.
Harry growled, "How? How did he get in here, and we not notice him?"
Kingsley answered, "He was a brilliant man, actually. Once he had the notes from the DOM, he carried on their work. He had figured out how to attenuate his magic to become, well, invisible in a sense, almost as though he were in mid Apparation. He had also figured out a way to change the frequency of a signature down to the point of near depletion. He had found the curse in a search of the Black library; it could turn someone into a Squib. He then figured out how to combine the ancient curse and the frequency of magical signatures to effectively turn off your magic."
"So," Hermione began, "he had, in his hands, the means to wipe out magic in anyone, at any time."
"Yes," answered Kingsley. "And you can imagine where his thoughts may have gone from there."
Severus said, "A new Dark Lord on the horizon. If he could exact his revenge on me and remove the magic of even purebloods, think of what he could have done on a grander scale; simply lace a batch of Butterbeer or some other popular drink with a curse and frequency tied together in a curse on the bottle caps and voila…"
"It doesn't bear thinking," said Neville, shuddering.
"His diary detailed it all," Kingsley said.
"So how do we get our magic back?" asked Lavender.
Kingsley answered, "The DOM is working to reverse the magical signature frequencies. It should be a fairly easy process as Robert left detailed notes. They believe they should have the ability to attenuate your magic and then, remove the curse, since there is a counter curse."
An almost audible sound of relief reverberated throughout the room as the group realised they'd be cured soon.
"I can't wait!" said Ron. "I mean this has been a neat experience and all, but I've had magic for so long…"
Luna said quietly, "It may not be an easy decision for all of us to return to the magical world."
After another hour of discussion about what would happen once the counter curse was ready, Kingsley and Proudfoot left.
"I don't know about the rest of you," said Hermione, but this conversation has been exhausting. I'm ready to head back home and go to bed."
"I agree," said Harry. "We'll see you all in the morning for a celebratory breakfast!"
SSHG SSHG
Ron and Lavender were in bed, discussing their return to the magical world.
"Do you want to go back?" asked Lavender.
"Yes," said Ron unequivocally. "I learned a lot these past eight months, and my job was okay, but I miss magic. I want Violet to grow up in a magical household since she'll be going to Hogwarts."
"Ron, we both know you don't have to have grown up in a magical household to go to Hogwarts, but I know what you mean, and I feel the same. Ronnie…can I keep my Muggle job? I like my Ministry job and it is interesting, but I have such fun at the shop, and they love my dress designs and want to send me to design school!"
"I'm so proud of you Lav…of course you can. Mum would watch Violet, you know."
Lavender giggled, "I sort of counted on it."
"So we go back?"
"Yes," replied Lavender and then kissed Ron with the intention of a little celebratory loving.
At the Longbottoms', a shared bath was the setting for the same sort of conversation the Weasleys were having.
"I want to go back, Luna," said Neville firmly. "I want my magic…it's in me…I've missed it."
"What about your job? Do you want to go back to Hogwarts?"
"Believe it or not, no. I like teaching, mind, but I think I want to open a wizarding floral shop. What do you think? There's nothing like it in Diagon Alley."
"I think that's a lovely idea. Oh, let's do it, Nev!" Luna enthused. "I can still help Daddy at the Quibbler, right?"
"Of course. Luna, do you want to go back to the Wizarding world?"
Luna kissed Neville's chin. "I want to be wherever you are, Nev, magical or not."
"I thought of naming it 'Luna Moon'. I know Luna means moon, but it flows, don't you think?"
Luna smiled widely and let Neville know just what she thought of the idea.
Harry and Draco were washing the dishes after a late night snack, discussing what they would do once their magic was back.
"So we're agreed to get our magic back, but live mostly Muggle?" said Harry.
"Yes, I think so," said Draco. "That'll shock a lot of folks, don't you think?"
Harry snorted. "I'll say."
"You know, I'd actually thought about not getting it back, but it's part of me and my history, and I'd want to see my parents without them always coming here, you know what I mean?"
Harry pecked Draco on the cheek. "I do, love, I do." He pulled the plug from the sink. "Are we done here?"
Draco threw the tea towel onto the counter. "Yes. Let's get to bed; I'm exhausted."
Severus finished snapping the closures on Toby's onesie, talking to the child as though he understood. "So now we'll take you to your mummy, and she'll whip out the feed bags and off to sleep you'll go."
"Feed bag, Severus? Really?"
Severus blushed and made an attempt to cover up for his crassness. "You know I think you feeding the boy is a beautiful thing."
Hermione patted his cheek. "Nice try, love."
Severus followed her into the bedroom. "So," he said, "to recap our discussion, we won't go back to the magical world?"
"I think we hashed our reasons out pretty thoroughly. And, if we change our minds later, we can go to the DOM."
"If Toby displays magic, will we have his signature changed?"
Hermione placed Toby on her breast before answering. "No. We'll know what's happening and how to deal with it. I don't want the possibility of him becoming an Obscurial should we tamp his magic. We can allow him to decide whether or not to go to have magic when he is older and can understand what such a decision might mean."
"I agree." Severus was quiet a moment or two before speaking again. "I've decided to get my degree in chemistry. I could either teach in a college or find a job in a lab. I could even work on the side for the Ministry, to be honest. I'm sure they'd work with both of us to help keep one foot in, so to speak."
"Yes, I'm sure they would. With my job offer at the library, I'm sure I'd be happy. Right now, it's only a few days a week, and my mum will watch Toby while you're in your classes."
"What about never seeing magical places again?" asked Severus.
"Our friends can come here, or they'll just have to be with us when we go to their homes."
"This seems too easy," said Severus.
"But it feels right, doesn't it?"
Severus brushed his fingers along Toby's cheek. "I know. This does feel right, and it's disconcerting. I'm not afraid, but it'll be an adjustment."
"But one we can handle," Hermione said. "Shall we stay in this flat or buy a house?"
"We need a place for a growing boy. Once we sell Spinner's End, we'll buy a home, or we could build. Isn't there a plot for sale on the next road over from your folks?"
Hermione smiled. "Yes, there is."
Severus stood and offered his hand to Hermione. "Well then, Mrs. Snape, tomorrow we shall see the real estate agent and learn more about it."