"I am so sorry, Ivy," she said, hugging the girl she'd raised from the age of five tight.

Hermione had worked hard to create the spell that the other version of her had come up with. She was very lucky that Minerva knew her and didn't get upset if Hermione shirked her duties for a day or two (or five in one instance) because she was "onto something". Ivy had actually helped the last couple of years.

At first it had been morbid curiosity to see if she could create the same, or a similar, spell to the one a scared witch using limited amounts of magic created when she was far younger than herself. Then came the idea that if she could do it and not leave signatures, maybe they could get some answers about Ivy and Jasmin's world. Ivy asked questions now and again, knowing full well that they didn't know the answers. Jasmin did, too, but not as often as she really had no true memories of much of anything.

Ivy wasn't a pest about it, making Severus or her believe she was miserable with them. She was clearly curious, though, as she should be about the fate of her mum. And the world she was born into. Ivy had become aware enough by about ten to realize that there being no Ivy in this world meant things had been very different here. (Voldemort being defeated in 1998 aside.)

Hermione sent her to her room once. She couldn't recall the infraction committed any longer, but she clearly remember the stomping of her foot and hands at her hips pose the girl had gone into.

"Yeah, well, if it hadn't been for me you wouldn't have Forrest or Aster."

She likely wasn't wrong. She'd still been sent to her room, Hermione recalled that much. It was a very real reminder, though, that it was because of that world's Hermione that she had a husband and children. And a career that maybe not what she'd envisioned upon getting her Hogwarts letter was solid and made her happy. She never doubted that she was wanted or valued. That to her was satisfying.

A few experiments with it and Hermione was adequately confident they had enhanced the spell so they didn't leave their signatures behind. So, while someone might be able to detect that magic had been done in the spot the portal was created and possibly that a portal was opened, they would not know who did it or where they had gone.

And, most importantly, they would not be able to follow it back. That was key because she would not contemplate venturing to that universe if she wasn't confident she wouldn't be endangering her other self, or others.

So, here they were fourteen years after Ivy had left this universe, taking in the chaos that was once her home. It was obvious by the state of things that her mother was not here, and had not been for sometime.

"Thank you," Ivy said finally as they looked through the house in question. It was a foolish endeavour. It was very clear Ivy likely knew that, too, but they were looking for any clue that would tell them Hermione had left the house for somewhere else of her own free will.

"For what?"

"For letting me…"

"Nonsense," Hermione said, cutting her off from explaining. She understood. She'd want to know. So how could Ivy be any different. Jasmin she didn't fault for not being as curious.

Ivy had wanted to know. She'd wanted to see for herself whether this Hermione was okay or not. Fourteen years was a long time, and she supposed there was a part of Ivy that might think their mother found it easier without them. That she was here, remarried with two more daughters as if Ivy and Jasmin didn't exist.

Hermione knew that wasn't true, but she also understood the way a teenager's mind could work. Hormones and stress from NEWTs (not that Hermione experienced that personally but she had the stress of being on the run instead) could reak havoc on a normally logical person. If it was her, Hermione knew there was no way she wouldn't have come back if she was able.

"Ivy, honey. She brought you to your dad. That led him to me. How could I be jealous or mad about that?"

Ivy shrugged.

Their first order of business when they'd come here was to look at a newspaper. It was fourteen years later, too, so August 2015 here. Hermione wasn't sure how it worked exactly, or why they couldn't go to the current time.

They'd found the house Severus had thought she'd been hiding in easily enough.

It was clear whatever happened there, that this version of Hermione Granger had put up quite a fight even seeing the scene before them today. The date on the last newspaper in the house was from July 2002.

They'd searched the house thoroughly, collecting all of the personal belongings that had been left behind. There weren't many, obviously people knew the house was empty so things had been picked over. Hermione was clever, though, so they'd found some things that had been missed by muggles. They had no idea what might have belonged to Hermione versus that Severus' great aunt. (Though some things were obvious as to who their owner had been.)

Hermione found an assortment of letters in an antique cigar box. She checked it because it seemed … out of place in a home that prior to this Hermione hiding here had been inhabited by a single woman. And then apparently inhabited by no one, leading Severus to believe she'd be safe here. Not that women couldn't smoke cigars, she supposed, but she was fairly certain Severus would have mentioned his great aunt doing so if she did given how unusual Hermione would have found it.

The most recent letter was clutched in Ivy's hand. Hermione's heart broke for the girl. There was nothing she could do or say to make any of this better. She'd been warned before coming here that they had no idea what they'd be going to. There was a difference, though, than accepting an idea in your head and having it play out for you.

Dear Ivy and Jasmin,

It's been over a year since I brought you to a different version of your father in an attempt to keep you safe.

As I feel less and less safe every day, I hope it was the right decision. I believe it was. Your father would agree with me that you should live if the opportunity presented itself to ensure you did.

Even in explicitly muggle areas I feel as if I'm being watched. (It's probably me being paranoid, but a witch can't be too sure where He Who Must Not Be Named has eyes.)

If you're reading this, it means despite my telling that Hermione not to she has found a way to come to me. I knew she would eventually. I hoped she would find the cigar box out of place. I saw it one day and knew instantly it would be a good item to … hide things in.

All of the items are for you two.

Hermione, if you are reading this, which I assume that you are. There are some things as Severus' widow you would be entitled to. I know that goes against what you would think is right, however, we want the girls to have them. There is a vault at Gringotts in Halmstad, Sweden that you have access to. Please take the items and distribute them to the girls when you see fit. There aren't a lot, but Severus insisted so I'm relaying the information to you. We chose Sweden because they have, much like during the muggle World War II, stayed neutral. If something has happened to me it likely will not have been reported so there shouldn't be anything documented that might prevent you from gaining access.

Be safe.

At the writing of this letter he has not been defeated. I'm not sure anymore that he will be. I took heart when I left you in that other universe that he could be, but day by day I am losing hope. Hope was truly all that I had left. Without that. Well, what is there?

Your version of Severus didn't look as worn down as mine did from seven years and counting of a war. So that led me to believe your universe has known peace for some amount of time.

The spell to disable the anti-apparition wards needs to be accompanied by what Ivy used to call my familiar. I don't want you to risk being seen.

Be well to all of you. And Ivy and Jasmin, your father and I love you, but we know we have left you in capable hands.

"What did you call him?" Hermione asked Ivy once she had thoroughly checked the home for anything else that might be there for them.

Ivy laughed despite the tears in her eyes. "Cookies."

Hermione smiled a bit at that. She could see that. Jasmin had called Crookshanks Cook. Cookies wasn't out of the realm of possibilities as to where a child might get that from.

She really had no idea what to do for the girl. Young woman really. She was graduating this year.

"Do you remember this house, Ivy?"

"A little," she said with a shrug. She was obviously looking around, trying to remember that far back.

"Is there anything you want to take with us from here? Anything that was your great aunt's?" Her great great aunt really since she was Severus' great aunt.

She looked around the house again, from a different perspective this time. The first walk through had been to find anything of the girls' mother's. Hermione's heart constricted. The house had clearly been picked over.

"Ivy," she said when she came back. "I'd like to run a diagnostics on you."

"What?"

"Well, the last time I ran them was when she just brought you to us. It told us that your father had died."

"Oh," she said.

She nodded then, seeming to remember they had told her that her mother's suspicions of their father being dead were correct. What they hadn't told her was that it had been days after she'd written her letter to this Severus. Neither wanted to tell Ivy or Jasmin that their father had likely been held captive and tortured for more than a week. There were just some things children didn't need to carry with them. One day, they had both supposed, that either girl could cast the spell on the other and get that information, too. By then, though, they would be old enough to talk about it. As far as Hermione knew, neither girl had done so once they started at Hogwarts.

"Okay." She nodded then, biting that lip that was so eerily familiar to Hermione.

She knew what she was asking. Why she was asking it. She wanted to confirm that her mother - Hermione Snape from this universe - was deceased.

She cast the diagnostic, feeling a little wistful remembering when she'd cast it last fourteen years ago. How much this girl had grown since then. Not just physically either. Both of them had. She felt so … privileged that she and Severus had been witness to it. Had been able to help them grow into the women they would become.

Name: Ivy Liana Snape

Born: April 1, 1996

Height: 19.5 inches

Weight: 7 pounds, 5 ounces

Gestation: 39 weeks

Mother: Hermione Jean Snape (muggleborn) (deceased July 10, 2002)

Father: Severus Tobias Snape (half-blood) (deceased April 10, 2001)

Status: Married

Siblings: Jasmin Aileen Snape

Of course Forrest and Aster wouldn't be included, because they didn't exist in this universe. It was interesting how it worked.

That was two days after the last newspaper in the house. What had happened to her?

"This one's for you," she said, handing Hermione a letter. "There's a ring with it."

"Thank you," she said. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"I know. It's okay. I mean, it's not, but I think I always knew."

They'd come here today, to this house, for Ivy to deliver a letter inviting her mum to her Hogwarts graduation. Hermione's heart broke for the young woman that she could not deliver the letter or have her mum there.

Hermione opened the letter in question.

The ring was probably the cleverest bit of magic Severus Snape created. The ring has a compartment that housed a cyanide tablet. If I was incapicated in such a fashion that I could not access the ring to open it myself, I merely had to think Zhivago for it to dispense the contents to me. If the ring is with this letter then it did exactly what it was supposed to, and returned "home" once I was gone.

Love my daughters. I hope that they have the long and glorious lives that they are deserving of. I know you and Severus have prepared them to do wondrous things.

The ring in question looked like a square set ruby ring. Nothing fancy, but …

"Oh, you are a clever wizard no matter the universe, aren't you," she murmured as she felt the small clasp on the band right where her thumb brushed against it. This triggered the ring to open. The compartment was empty and when she sniffed it, she could detect a faint smell of almonds. Severus was more … sensitive to the smell of cyanide she knew. If she smelled it at all that meant he'd likely get a real whiff.

"Why would she do that?" Ivy asked.

"I think she and Severus didn't want her to be put through any more trauma than necessary, Ivy."

"They would have…"

"They likely would have done unspeakable things to her, especially if they knew you were really alive and that she'd been able to hide not just herself but two children from them for nearly six years."

Hermione held back a shudder at the very idea of just what that Hermione might have been subject to. And then she barely held back a sob at what that Severus was likely on the receiving end of if they found out he'd deceived them for years.

Her Severus was fine. He was at Hogwarts in their universe waiting for their return. He was fine. He was unharmed. Well, since the war he was anyway. That didn't mean she didn't feel empathy for this universe's Hermione and Severus. And for these girls.

She showed Ivy the scar on her neck. She'd seen it before, several times. Hermione didn't go out of her way to hide it, but this far removed from the war she didn't talk about it much.

"This was the result of just hours under a death eater's hospitality, not days, weeks, or months."

Ivy swallowed. "You never told me you'd been captured."

"I'm surprised you haven't read about it, but yes while Harry, Ron, and I were hunting for the horcruxes."

"Oh," she said. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Ivy. I, on the other hand, am very sorry that your mother and father weren't as lucky as Severus and I were. I'd really hoped," she shrugged.

She'd come up with all sorts of excuses as to why the other Hermione hadn't returned. She and Severus had both assumed death was the reason. They'd both … held onto a bit of hope that she was alive, just unable to get back for whatever reason.

"Well, I'd hoped that she couldn't replicate the portal or something and that was the reason she hadn't come back."

"Do you think he had horcruxes in my universe?" Ivy asked.

"I don't know, Ivy. All we know is what your mother told us. I imagine he must have if he came back as he did for us."

There were more than a few times over the year she'd cursed her other self's brevity in passing helpful information to them. She knew, of course, she was pressed for time and did the best she could. The fact that she brought the girls to Severus and yet took the time to write her a letter, too, was enough most of the time.

She looked thoughtful. Hermione recognized the look by now.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm just wondering if there's someone I could tell about the horcruxes," she whispered.

Hermione sighed softly. Of course she would want to. Hermione wanted to help her. They were woefully lacking in information as to what was happening in the magical world in this universe. There was no magical part of Cokeworth. Severus had specifically forbidden them from going anywhere that was not necessary to ascertain the wellbeing of this universe's Hermione. He did not want them traipsing around, getting caught.

He actually had used the word forbid, and Hermione wanted to get mad at him for it but she knew he was worried about both of them embarking on this.

With Severus and his concerns in mind, she hadn't wanted to risk going to a wizarding area to get a paper to see if He Who Must Not Be Named was still in power here.

"I don't know anyone who is a member of the Order here, Ivy. We weren't given information like that. I don't even know if the Order is a thing here, for that matter. I'm guessing it was because of Severus working as a spy here, too. We don't even truly know if he's still in power. It's been thirteen years since the last paper here," she said.

"We have your time turner," Ivy said.

"We do." She'd brought it just in case. In case of what, she wasn't sure, but they were prepared for anything not knowing what they were going to be coming into.

Silence. She knew Ivy well enough by now to know the witch was thinking something, so Hermione left her to it. She'd tell Hermione what was on her mind when she was ready.

"I could save their lives," she said finally.

"We could," Hermione said.

She sensed that was where she was heading. She couldn't blame the witch for going there. She would have, too. She was proud of her actually for going in that direction.

"If you did that, went back, you wouldn't come back to this time. It'd be different because you changed something so drastic. The portal is different, it's not altering anything. We're just going from our world to this one and back again. If you went back in time you may not be born. Jasmin may not be born. And selfishly, you may not have been brought to us. That could mean that Severus and I may not be married. Forrest and Aster may not be born. You could be dead."

She nodded, tears in her eyes. Hermione so wanted to help her. Maybe there was something here that would tell them who they could trust. If there was an Order. Something. She wanted to do this for Ivy. To do something to make this trip not only about confirming her mother had died. And by the ruby ring being empty, likely hadn't gone peacefully or without incident.

"Let's take a look at her papers and see if there are any names of people they trust. Anything. I make no promises, but if we find something. Well, maybe we can get word to someone now…"

"Okay," Ivy said.

Using as little magic as possible, they ensured everything was brought down to the cellar so that they could look through everything by candlelight (those hadn't been pilfered for some reason) late into the night without anyone from the street or a neighbour seeing light coming from an abandoned house. Hermione wasn't going to jeopardize Ivy's safety and she had no idea if anyone watched the house. She even hated using magic here either, in case that would bring someone here that shouldn't be here. She wished she could think of somewhere to go that might be safe to pick up a copy of the Daily Prophet but she wouldn't risk it. Not with Ivy with her. She was pretty sure Severus would never forgive her if something happened to Ivy through her doing something foolish. If Hermione and Severus were both dead, it was unlikely anyone was watching the house. It wasn't a risk she was willing to take.

"Minerva," Ivy said finally, after hours of perusing papers and various items. Hermione thought for a moment she was looking in a mirror. A mirror where her hair was dark like Severus'. She knew that frazzled look from perusing page after page of information well, though. "Minerva is the only variable I know that is constant. She knew about me. Uncle Albus wouldn't have let her know about me if he didn't trust her."

"All right. Are you sure you want to do this, Ivy?"

She bit her lower lip and Hermione sighed. There was little doubt whose daughter she was the older she got. Hermione was surprised that people hadn't accused Severus of wrongdoing when Hermione was a student because to her (as well as Harry and Ginny once they knew the truth) it was dreadfully obvious Ivy and Jasmin were her daughters. Forrest and Aster were the spitting image of their father (including to his chagrin his nose). Though like her sisters, Aster did have Hermione's curls.

Should they do this? She knew where Minerva lived. At least in her universe she did. Did she want to risk being seen to offer information that might or might not help this universe? One look into Ivy's eyes and she knew that she should.

Wise or not remained to be seen.

"All right. A couple of ground rules," she said.

"Okay," Ivy said, looking a little surprised that Hermione was going along with this.

"You cannot tell anyone anything else about things you know from our world. We don't know for certain that things here are the same. We can't risk Minerva knowing anything in the event she's not with the Order. I can suggest to Minerva she look for these things. I don't think it will hurt anything. We cannot, though, as your mum feared, make anyone think a portal could be created to change things elsewhere. You have to promise me, Ivy. You haven't seen her since you were a baby, you don't really know. I don't really know."

"I understand, Mother."

"You must not under any circumstances say his name. That's how Harry, Ronald, and I were captured. I don't know if the taboo is in effect here or not."

Ivy nodded, seeming to understand that what they were doing was truly serious. She hadn't lived in fear the past fourteen years. She'd (thankfully) forgotten what it meant not to feel safe.

"Okay," she said, convinced there was nothing useful here. There were a few items Ivy handed to her to be taken back in her backpack.

They apparated from within the house, Ivy was hanging onto Hermione so she wouldn't get lost or end up in a different place. She apparated four times before finally arriving in Caithness, Scotland. She could only hope that this Minerva lived here, too.

They walked slowly through the streets so that Hermione could get her bearings on where she was. Finally, they found Minerva's home, or what Hermione hoped was Minerva's home. Hermione cast a bit of a glamour on herself, just in case something had changed about Minerva's side in things. Or Minerva wasn't here.

The door opened and Hermione almost cried out from the surprise of seeing an obviously blinded Minerva McGonagall. She had to remind herself that this wasn't her Headmistress McGonagall.

"Who's there?" she called out.

"Miss McGonagall. Minerva," she said. "My name is Jean and we have some information for you that might prove helpful."

"Information?"

"You don't know me, but I can tell you that my companion once called her mother's familiar Cookies."

The skin along her badly scarred eyes moved. Her hand gripped the door's edge.

"Come in," she said finally. And then stopped from actually letting them in. "You were not followed?"

"No," she said.

Hermione let Ivy go through and she got choked up when she saw Minerva reach for Ivy, touching her face.

"Is it really you, lass? I was one of only two who knew you lived. You were months old when Albus thought you should leave."

"Yes," she said.

"We hadn't heard from your parents in years. We assumed you were dead with them. And who is this Jean?"

Hermione entered the house then, ensuring the door was closed behind them.

"I have much to tell you. Is there somewhere private we can go?"

"Yes, of course," Minerva said.

She moved slowly through the room, obviously familiar with where everything was because she wasn't using a cane or anything to aid her and she wasn't having any difficulty manoeuvering.

She led her to what was really little more than a cedar closet. Large enough the three of them fit not exactly comfortably, but there was room for them.

"There is a permanent silencing charm on this room. You may speak freely."

Hermione sighed softly.

"First of all. He is still in charge?"

"Aye, such dark times. We've lost so many," she said, shaking her head. "There aren't many left I'm afraid. At this point, we have decided that all we can do is hope for a miracle because nothing we've done has defeated him. He has not lost so many and seems to gain more followers the longer this goes on. I was only able to get away because they'd done this." Her hands went to her face, fingertips grazing her eyes. "They couldn't see whether I was alive or dead and I cast a spell to slow my heartbeat. I knew I had to live. I had to try to come up with a way to stop him. I may not be able to see, but I still have my mind and my memories. A fat lot of good it's done me."

Hermione nodded then. She had to be sure. If Voldemort was gone and there was someone else in charge, their visit would have been pointless.

"My name is Hermione," she said softly. "Hermione Jean Snape."

"Impossible, she's been dead for over a decade."

"Your Hermione has," she said softly. "Your Hermione found a way to bring Ivy and her younger sister Jasmin to my universe a couple years ahead of the April 2001 it was in your world. I assume it was the parameters she set on the spell. She brought them to my Severus for safekeeping."

"It is really you, Ivy?"

"Yes, Minnie," she said. The older witch smiled a little at that. "That's what I call the Minerva I know."

"And you have a sister?"

"I do, Jasmin, she's four years younger. We have a brother and sister, too, in that universe: Forrest and Aster."

"Why are you here?"

"Well, Ivy is graduating Hogwarts this year, in our universe. She mentioned to me she wished her mum could at least see her graduate, to know that her plan worked. I had already been working on recreating the spell she'd used that brought them to us. Ivy helped some, too. She's a natural at charms. We went to the house we believed she'd been hiding in. We surmised she's been gone for a while. There was no evidence anyone had been there recently, and we found a newspaper dated July 2002. However, Ivy mentioned she wished there was some way we could help. The war where I come from ended in 1998."

"How?"

"Well, I don't know if this is true for your person. I don't want to say his nickname in case even that triggers something."

The older witch's lips tightened. So Hermione took that to mean the taboo was in place here, too.

"Tell me," she said.

She told her about the horcruxes. What they'd been in her time and where they were when they found them in 1998. And that the diary had likely been at Malfoy Manor until 1992. If the Chamber of Secrets hadn't opened here, which it hadn't (interesting) the diary may still be there. How they were destroyed.

"We didn't know who to trust. Ivy thought of taking the time turner and going back, but I warned her that altering anything, but especially something as significant as destroying those items, could result in her being lost to this world completely."

"Yes, wise advice. I'd expect no less from you, Hermione. Especially if your mother went through such an effort to see you and your sister survive, Ivy."

"So, we decided to try this. If you can get word to anyone who might be able to look for these items."

"I will get on it."

"Are you okay, Minerva?" she asked. There wasn't anything she could really do for her, but she had to ask.

"Oh, I'm fine, Dear. I'm not sure any know I'm truly alive, not that they know where to find me if they did."

"We were safe coming here."

"I trust that you were."

"We should be heading back. We really shouldn't have stayed even this long, but Ivy's idea was a sound one."

"Hermione," she called out, reaching for and finding her forearm.

"Yes, Minerva?"

"You are well? Severus is well?"

"Oh, we are. Like Ivy mentioned, in addition to her and Jasmin, we have Forrest and Aster. They are almost ten and seven. Severus is still teaching at Hogwarts and I am actually working for you also at Hogwarts."

"I am so glad. He felt truly awful about…"

"I know. I mean I don't know, but I do. Never once have I thought badly about him doing something that was necessary due to a war and not even done to me."

"Good."

"I don't know if we'll be able to come back. We shouldn't. What we did uses a lot of magic, and we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves or the possibility that such magic exists. I was careful to create what this Hermione did without leaving signatures, but it's still going to register as magic."

"I understand. I will get this information to Alastor and Kingsley."

Hermione nodded, not that Minerva could see her. It … pleased her to know that Alastor and Kingsley were still in the Order here.

"You behave for your mother," she said, gripping Ivy's shoulder. "I have no doubt she's as smart as my Hermione was. That likely means you are, too, but don't think you're smarter than your mum and dad!"

"I will be."

"And oh, lass, I wish I could see you. Be strong. Know your mother and father loved you, and do great things. I know she wanted you to have that chance. I had no idea what happened to her, or you, but they did everything they did so that you could have a future. Make it a great one. So, go on now, get back so you can see to it you do that. I'll take care of it."

Hermione threw her arms around the witch, Ivy followed suit.

"Be safe."

"Always. I may be blind, but I'm not out of the game completely."

Hermione smiled. Yes, she doubted being blind would keep Minerva from doing whatever she could.

They made their way from the area, finding an abandoned factory in northern London to create an unauthorized portkey so that they could get to Halmstad. There they took care of Severus and Hermione's vault. Hermione didn't even look through the items that were there, merely put everything into her backpack. She didn't want to take the chance that her accessing this vault would trigger something. If Voldemort was still in charge, that meant Ivy was not safe here. She wasn't either, for that matter. On their way out she asked for empty or open spaces where her husband looking to take over a building for an apothecary might be located. Armed with a few locations, they found an empty office building. From there they opened the portal so that they could go home.

"Thank Merlin," Severus said when they returned.

"What?" she asked. She knew what. She knew he likely hadn't done anything but wait the entire time they were gone.

"Forgive your husband, and father, for being worried about you until you actually returned to me."

"You're forgiven," she said with a wink. She knew he was concerned and was actually very relieved to see him.

He hugged them both.

"I'm going to go find Jazz," Ivy said. "You'll let us look through those things later?"

"Ivy, honey, you can look through those things whenever you're ready. There's no rush. In your time, but absolutely. Give your father and me time to look through them ourselves and then we'll give you both the opportunity."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She walked up to Ivy then. She did an annoying mother thing and pushed her curls away from her face a bit so she could see her eyes. "Thank you for asking me to go with you, Ivy. For trusting me to do it. I know it wasn't easy asking me to take you to your mum."

"Thank you for coming."

"You're welcome. I would do anything for you. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Once she headed off to find her sister, Hermione filled Severus in on their trip to another universe.

"So, she is gone," he said.

"Yes," she said.

Neither were truly surprised by the revelation. Honestly, Hermione was surprised it took them a year after Severus' death to find her. She was proud of that Hermione for surviving that long. It couldn't have been easy, and especially living alone suddenly after not for years. She summoned the ruby ring from her backpack.

"Do you recognize this?"

He scowled. She took that to mean he did not, but took the ring from her and gave a small gasp. His eyes widened. Again, it was a powerful piece of magic.

"Oh," he said. "That is some powerful magic, cast by me. I know that. I'm afraid I do not recognize it, though."

"I assume so. That you cast it anyway," she said, explaining to him how the ring came into play.

"You can't feel that it was created by me?"

"No, am I supposed to? I mean, I could feel it was magical."

"I don't know. I guess I assumed it'd be like the backpack was for me, and for you, and you would recognize it. I suppose I didn't want anyone else to recognize or feel it as being mine."

"Probably not," she said, stepping toward him to hug him tightly. She sighed contentedly, her head resting against his chest just over his heart. The sound of it beating was grounding, assuring today. She needed that.

"Not that I'm not always grateful for your outward signs of affection, but what was that for?"

She laughed softly despite the tears in her eyes. Now that she and Ivy were back where they belonged safely. Well, she allowed what they learned to settle in. She knew, obviously, that she was alive and well. Here. Hugging her husband. In another universe, though, she was gone. Dead. Before the age of twenty-three.

One thing she did know, though. This man, that universe or this, demonstrated his affection by actions. And he protected his witch. All three of them.

"He protected her, Severus."

"I'm sure that he did." He sounded somewhat confused by her assessment, or why she was crying at that knowledge.

"No, if he died fourteen months before she took her life. That means he didn't give anything up. So, I'm hugging you because he did what he had to do to ensure that he didn't betray his wife and daughters. I love him for that. He's not here. You are. So, you get the outward sign of affection."

"It's no less than I would do for the five of you."

"I know." She did know that. Truly. It went deeper than her mind. It wasn't that type of knowledge. It was fundamental. Like the wind. Severus' protection. There for her and those he loved.

He sighed heavily.

"He loved her."

She knew, deep down where the good and honourable part of him staunchly lived, that still bothered him fourteen years later. She loved him more because of it. He would hate her not having a true choice.

"He did. On the other hand, wouldn't you rather he have loved her then to continue having sex with her if he didn't? Or being married to her and seeing other women because of the guilt?" She peered at him. "I mean, I know where you're coming from. I do, but personally, I'd rather know he loved her and the desire to be with her came from that. Then just because he could fuck her. Or strayed because he felt so guilty about wanting to."

He scowled, glancing in the direction Ivy had gone. No doubt not liking her choice in words, but it was true. There was a difference. She and Severus had enjoyed a lot of variations of sex over the years, desperate fucking when short on time or being particularly needy by one or the other had certainly been in there but there had never been a question of a commitment to one another: emotional or otherwise. She would not want to think of that version of herself being … used. She would not like thinking of him bedding other women to prevent from what he'd surely see as tainting her. She knew herself and didn't think a different universe would alter the fact that she would not a marriage in name only.

"I am glad that he had her. That he had that before dying. I can't imagine dying without having that … knowledge firsthand. I truly can't. It has made such a difference in who I am. Not just you either, the children. Ivy and Jasmin in particular."

She smiled at that. She understood what he was saying. Those girls were the first to give him something he'd never had before. She wasn't insulted or insecure enough to get mad at him. She was so glad whatever the parameters set were, the girls had come here. To her Severus.

Honestly, they were for her, too. Yes, she'd had her parents, a good childhood, which Severus hadn't had. She, however, until Ivy and Jasmin had never known acceptance for who and what she was so completely. They loved her. Unconditionally and completely. She got to watch them grow and learn. It was so overwhelming at times. She couldn't imagine how Severus felt about it.

The idea of having a positive influence on a child from such young ages. To see them flourish and grow, and know that you were responsible for that.

It was powerful. He'd likely needed that more than anyone else she knew.

And maybe that was why the parameters chose him. She'd never know.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com