FicWad

It was still daylight when they returned, but shadows were stretching long over the lawn. Severus noted, approvingly, that the shrubs he had pointed out were about two feet larger overall - not enough of a change for a Muggle to notice, but still providing more cover than they previously had. The air was far warmer than Hogwarts at midnight, so he removed his jacket and rolled up his shirt-sleeves as he strode back to the house with Potter.

Ron and Hermione were sitting at the kitchen table, and they looked up eagerly when the door opened. Harry joined them, but Severus merely nodded. He wanted Zelda, and seeing that she was not there, walked through the house looking for her. She was in the living room, which was no longer magically enlarged. When she heard his step, she looked up, joy flooding her face as she rushed to meet him.

Severus tossed his jacket and the knapsack full of books onto the couch and held his arms out. He had not known the feeling of coming home to someone who loved him for so long. It was splendid. He held her tightly against him, savoring the scent of her hair, amazed again that she loved him. He wanted to touch and kiss her and tell her everything all at once.

"Did it go well?" Zelda asked as she led him to the couch and pulled him down to sit close to her. "But you're back and you look fine... no, you look wonderful. Please tell me."

"I would prefer to kiss you first," he said, suiting his action to the words.

Zelda put her hands on his cheeks and looked into his black eyes. "Is it easier this way?" she thought.

He considered and said, "Definitely faster." He gave her his memory of the entire conversation, and felt in return that she liked what she saw of McGonagall very much. When he kissed the older woman's cheek she laughed, and he generously allowed her to hear the absurd parting comment about his "new look."

"I'm glad something turned out better than you expected." Zelda said, touching his face and smiling. "I missed you terribly."

"It was... wonderful... knowing that I was returning to you, my girl." Severus said quietly. "I missed you too."

"What now, dear boy?" Zelda asked. "I know that you need more time to recover, but you're very stubborn and you must have a plan in mind."

"I shall make your house Unplottable, so it will be protected from unwanted visitors. Then I will apply the Fidelius Charm, so that no one can divulge your whereabouts to our enemies," Severus said, trying not to alarm her with the seriousness of it.

"Is it worth what seems a great deal of trouble?" she asked. "I'm of course fascinated by the theory."

"You must be protected, my girl. Nothing is more important than knowing that the Dark Lord or his followers cannot find you," he said, his eyes blazing with intensity.

"If my house will be so safe... do spies ever get a day off?" Zelda asked wistfully.

"I wish it could be, Zelda," Severus said quietly, "But I do not dare to risk leading them to you."

"I'm always here if you need me. I'll do anything to help you," Zelda said. "If it would help, Sev... "

"What is it?" he responded curiously, wondering at the sudden determination in her voice.

She took a deep breath and said, "Obliviate me. I don't want to be used by your enemies to harm you."

"Darling girl, thank you, but I cannot. I need to know you are thinking of me, as I will think of you every day." Severus was stricken by her offer, having some idea what it had cost her to suggest it. He reached out and took her into his lap, wanting to feel her warmth against him.

"Are you sure?" she asked, putting her arms around his neck and snuggling against his shoulder. "I don't want to forget you, but if it'll help..."

"Dear girl, even the strongest Memory Charm can be broken by a ruthless wizard. I have more faith in your Occlumency than I do in anything else," Severus said, as he closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair. Merlin, how he loved those soft curls.

"I have questions then, about what you do," she said. "You must give the Dark Lord something, don't you? You can't just show a blank mind to him. How do you make him believe something that isn't true?"

Severus had never needed to explain to anyone how he did it; in fact he no longer really thought of what he did, he simply did it.

Zelda realized that this was something she needed to understand, so she turned to face him, making eye contact.

"I... compartmentalize everything in my mind," he explained, fumbling to find better words to explain it... and I do not actually lie to him... I simply offer the pieces of information that will present the necessary appearance..."

"That's remarkable," she said. "Can you show me? Or if you don't want to, it's okay."

Severus tensed, but he had welcomed Zelda into his mind already... and perhaps it would be wise for him to review his technique.

"Compartmentalize something, and let me see it please, Sev. I wonder if I can learn to do it. Whenever you've done Legilimency, you focused on something specific, but you could have seen anything. I couldn't have stopped you from seeing one particular thing," Zelda said thoughtfully.

Severus thought, and then finally said slowly, "Over time, when he has enquired about Potter's abilities, I have told him that the boy is nothing unusual, although in fact Potter has exhibited remarkable abilities since he has been at Hogwarts. This is what he has seen."

Zelda looked into his black eyes, which were now expressionless. Instead of the good man she knew, she saw a cold person - clever, quick-witted, ambitious, but frighteningly vacant emotionally. When she pressed on, searching for the real Severus Snape, all she saw were impressions of Harry Potter. In all of them he seemed to be screwing up at something, and he looked like a self-important, impulsive idiot, dependent on his friends to get through classes and life. She searched his mind again, but there was nothing to contradict the impression he had put forth. Zelda was amazed.

"Thank you, dear boy. Please come back," she said, stroking his cheek.

Severus opened his mind, and the real man was back with her. She relaxed into his embrace, trying to imagine how to create and maintain a surface persona, and use compartments as he did.

"Oh my... You're amazing," Zelda said.

Harry and the others trooped into the living room and sat down without saying a word about the sight of Zelda and Severus embracing.

"What's up, Harry?" Zelda said, moving to sit next to Severus, instead of in his lap.

"We're going back to Hogwarts to chat with Kreacher," Harry replied. "Hermione remembered that when we cleaned the drawing room at Number Twelve, there was a locket. We threw it into a sack of rubbish, but Kreacher was pulling things out and hoarding them. It may still be there, and if it's the Horcrux, we'll destroy it."

"When will you leave?" Zelda asked.

"We'll make dinner and eat here, Zelda, if that's okay, and leave afterward." Hermione said.

"Do whatever you want, kids, but you know, I think I'll miss you?" Zelda said, smiling ironically. "Make something splendid and I'll stand by to clean up afterwards."

The trio headed for the kitchen and Zelda turned to Severus again.

Severus felt an odd sense of loss at their imminent departure. Teaching them here, without the constant animosity at Hogwarts, had been amazingly productive and he wished he had more time to work with them. But they were right to go, and another Horcrux destroyed would be a powerful accomplishment.

"Will you stay tonight?" Zelda asked hesitantly.

"I have no intention of leaving you before I must, and it seems we will actually be alone tonight. I look forward to that," Severus answered, caressing her cheek.

"Come here, before we have to act like responsible adults in front of the children," she said. She let him lie down next to her and began kissing him, feeling the moment when he decided dinner could wait. He fumbled for his wand and whispered, "/Colloportus/," locking the door into the kitchen. Smiling wickedly, he said, "/Evanesco/," - and Zelda was naked in his arms. She blushed and began to laugh as he pulled off his own shirt.

"D'you think I can afford to replace every piece of clothing I own?" She wrapped one bare leg around his waist and added, "You're absolutely mad, and I adore you."

"This time I can bring your dress back, since I chose to Vanish it," he said with a smirk. "But you will not need it now, my girl."

Half an hour later, with the smell of cooking in the air, he proved himself as good as his word. They entered the kitchen together, with Severus was more contented than he had felt in his entire life... although deeply embarrassed, once he realized that all three of his students knew perfectly well how he and Zelda had just spent their time.

Zelda caught his eye, sweetly mocking his discomfort, as they sat down to the last meal before Harry, Ron and Hermione left.

"Severus," Zelda said, as she picked up her fork, "If you do the Fidelius Charm, I want these three to be able to come here if they need a place to go. Is that possible?"

"The Fidelius Charm, Professor?" Hermione asked, fascinated. That's complicated, isn't it? Who'll be the Secret-Keeper?"

"Must you ask?" Severus replied acidly. He hesitated for a moment. His impulse was to allow no one but himself to access Zelda's home. But Potter was of paramount importance, and if he and his friends were desperate... He could see that Zelda wanted to help them. They could do no harm if he were the Secret-Keeper.

"You three will be the only ones who may access this house, besides myself," he said, eying them intently. "I trust that you will not bring danger here."

All three looked extremely annoyed that he would suggest such a thing, although no one dared say a word in response.

"Thanks, Zelda," Harry said, eying Severus resentfully. "I don't think we'll need to come here, but we appreciate the offer."

Zelda put an offensively bright smile on her face cooing, "Let's enjoy this lovely meal, shall we? Ron, you've obviously had no experience of Muggle life. What do you think of my humble world?" she asked.

"My dad would love to meet you, Zelda," he replied, enthusiastically. "He's mad to learn everything about Muggles. He works a lot though, and doesn't have time to really meet real ones, like yourself... so he usually gets it all wrong when he tries to learn something."

"Mr. Weasley's great, Zelda," Harry sad. "Ron's brothers are cool too. You'd love Fred and George."

"If she didn't end up turned into a giant Canary," Hermione said cynically. "They're a danger to the unwary."

The rest of the meal was spent discussing Ron's large and eccentric sounding family.

Zelda heard about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, sweaters at Christmas, Bill and Fleur, Charlie and dragons in Romania, Ginny's Bat-Bogey Hex, Mrs. Weasley's famous Howlers and Percy's disappointing love of convention. She found herself laughing a lot at Ron's stories.

"Ron, what a marvelous family you have," she said. "Your mother must be a very strong, very tired woman."

Severus had sat silent again, unable to join the lighthearted conversation. He had always wondered what it was like to grow up in a happy, noisy family. Most wizard families were small and at least a little inbred - resulting in some rather odd traits. The Weasleys were as pureblooded as any, and yet they were sane and happy, their children all remarkably intelligent individuals.

"If you will excuse me, I should begin," Severus said, rising. "I will need some uninterrupted time to prepare."

Severus went to rummage through the knapsack of books he had borrowed from the Hogwarts library. He had never performed the Fidelius Charm before and he wished to review the procedure.

In the kitchen, Zelda looked around at her guests and said, "Please ignore Severus this once. If any of you need a safe place, don't hesitate to return here. Your job is important, this house will be safe - and I'll help you."

"Thanks, Zelda," Harry said. "I hope we won't need to escape to here, but I'd like to see you again. Maybe when it's over..." His voice died away, as he thought of the prophecy. He wondered if he would survive and be free to have a future.

"I have to ask something of you," Zelda said. "If you find out Severus is in trouble, and I can help him, will you tell me?"

"Zelda..." Hermione said weakly. "I don't... There's nothing... It would be too dangerous...."

"I'll tell you, Zelda," Ron said firmly.

Harry and Hermione turned to goggle at him, but he said defiantly, "She has a right, you know. You know, most wizards have no chance against these Death Eater nutters, and I don't care if Zelda's a Muggle, it's her choice."

"Thank you, Ron," Zelda said. "I didn't expect anyone to agree without arguing. Why?"

"Because of my mum," he answered. "Death Eaters killed her brothers. Even though she probably would have died too, she still wishes she could've helped them. Zelda can decide for herself, she's a Muggle, not a kid."

"Hermione," Zelda said. "Your parents are Muggles. Would you let them help you, or try to protect them? How would they feel if you refuse to let them help you?"

Hermione looked startled. Harry thought bitterly of the Dursleys, who wouldn't lift a finger to help him. He felt his own isolation more deeply than ever.

"Harry, don't look like that," Zelda said. The bitter resignation in his eyes was painful to see. "I mean it. If you need a place to hide out, come here."

"Professor Snape would kill us if he knew we'd tell you he needed help, Zelda," Harry said wryly. "This is the first time in my life that I haven't felt like he wanted to strangle me, so you're asking a lot. But yeah, we'll tell you."

Zelda rolled her eyes and said, "Goddess, you're a dysfunctional group. If I had enough weeks, I'd love to hear your whole sordid history - but there's no time, so make your plans," she said as she gathered up the dishes and began filling the sink. She was startled when all three of them came to stand around her, looking troubled.

"What is it?" she asked, handing the dishcloth to Harry and a towel to Ron.

"What should we plan, Zelda? If we find the locket Horcrux, there are still three more, and then..." Harry had to force the words out, "I have to face Voldemort."

"It sounds overwhelming, but you have the right idea, I think. Look for the locket. Take one step at a time, while you keep the whole plan in the back of your mind," Zelda said. "Are there safe places you can go to? If you're separated, how will you meet? Who'll be your contact person, and who can you bounce ideas off of?"

The trio stared at each other.

"Well, Dumbledore said Number Twelve's safe, so we can use that," Harry said reluctantly. He hated the thought of going back where Sirius had been so miserable.

"If Dumbledore said it, it's probably fine," Zelda said, "but check it out carefully first."

"We should stay in touch with my mum," Ron said, noisily piling dried plates into the cupboard. "She'll keep in touch with your mum and dad, Hermione, if you can't."

"What about Hagrid?" Hermione asked. "We can go to him."

Zelda beamed at them, delighted to see them planning for the future before they left.

"What about the rest of the Order?" Ron asked. "Should we talk to anyone else?"

"Can they help you, Ron?" Zelda replied. "They must have their own tasks to perform, and I think it's risky if too many people know what you're doing."

"Professor McGonagall said she'll help us if she can," Harry said, his spirits rising as he realized that there was help to be had.

"Speaking of Professor McGonagall," Zelda said, startling them all, "she knows the truth about Severus, as do you. Don't tell anyone what you know. I trust the three of you not to betray him to your Ministry or the Order. Your world must believe he's a loyal Death Eater."

"Don't you hate that, Zelda?" Hermione asked, drying the silverware and placing it in the drawer.

"I won't waste energy on that," she answered. "I want to see you plan for as many possibilities as you can. Severus will be all right, if it's possible for anyone to be."

"Why doesn't he just stay with you?" Ron asked shrewdly. "Everybody thinks he's a Death Eater, or probably dead."

Zelda chuckled, shaking her head. "Well, you could ask him," she said, "but he doesn't need the irritation, Ron. He's taken on his task and he'll complete it."

Harry finished wiping off the table, and then the kitchen was finished. All four of them headed for the living room to see what Professor Snape was doing.