Disclaimer: Except for some OCs, the characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling. This chapter takes place within the time line of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Some of the italicized portions are direct quotes from the book.

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“You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.”

Hope started. She hugged the bag her mother gave her to her body and looked around. That voice that filled her with dread seemed to be in the room, but as before it was from somewhere else. How her father could stand to hear it so many times in the course of his work as a spy was a question she would not try to figure out.

“Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.

“Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately.

“You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

“I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you...”

Hope sat up. She felt guilty for sitting up here when so many others were fighting, but she wasn't sure if going out to fight would be helpful. The people she wanted to fight with thought she was with the Death Eaters. They might feel the need to attack her and she would have to defend herself while worrying that real Death Eaters were attacking them.

Then again, Mum gave her the task of staying in this office until Daddy or Harry Potter came. Her first job was to find Daddy and make sure he got to Mum. She hoped he wasn't off fighting somewhere and she would have to argue with him. She hoped no one else found her here. She hoped--

The door opened and Harry Potter came in. He didn't even see her but went into the cupboard with the Pensieve in it. He removed the bowl-shaped object and put it on Daddy's desk.

She stood up. “Please, where's my father?”

Startled, Harry looked around. Seeing that it was Margo Snape, he drew his wand. “You won't prevent me from doing this. I got these memories from your father.”

Tears smarted in Hope's eyes. “So you have seen him. Please, where is he? My mother insists that I bring him.”

Harry looked at the young woman in confusion. She was always so self-contained but tonight she was soft and worried. It was so odd, that a man like Snape should have a devoted family while he, Harry, had to grow up with those Dursleys. The plea in her eyes softened his heart, especially in light of what he had to tell her.

“He's—well, that is—Voldemort killed him.”

Hope shook her head as her knees threatened to give out. “No, no, no!”

The murderer of Dumbledore didn't deserve such compassion, but Harry had it anyway. “I'm sorry, it was that snake. Voldemort made the snake bite him. Then your father gave me these memories and then he... died.”

She looked around the office with tears in her eyes and looked again. “His portrait isn't here. There must still be time. Please, where did you leave him?”

“The Shrieking Shack. You can get there by—“

“The Whomping Willow. I know.”

“Do you know what's in these memories?”

Hope thought a moment, and recalled a conversation she overheard between her parents over the last vacation. She shook her head. “I really have no idea other than it might be about something Dumbledore thought you needed to know. I didn't even know that Daddy was spying on Voldemort until a year ago.”

“I thought everyone knew he was a Death Eater.”

“Well he's not, but anyway, my parents never wanted me to worry about these things until they thought I was old enough.”

Harry snorted. “Sounds like Dumbledore. I was told the same thing by him, once.”

They shared a grim smile.

“Thank you, Harry Potter, and...good luck.”

She left as Harry tipped the contents of the vial into the Pensieve.

Hope worked her way through the castle and down the front steps. She sighted the willow tree and took the most direct path. Despite the Dark Lord's directions, there were still little skirmishes that she passed along the way. She took out her wand and took a deep breath. Without thinking, she Stupified every Voldemort sympathizer that came toward her and put up a Shielding Charm between herself and the members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army.

She reached the tree and disarmed it as Daddy had shown her long ago. She had to stoop pretty low to get through the tunnel but eventually reached the end. She listened for a minute at the opening. She heard Daddy's voice, low and shaky, but still Daddy. It was a great relief, but she couldn't tell whom he spoke with.

“Your sister has been so very talented. Even with the school such a mess, she's still likely to get top marks on all her N.E.W.T.s, if they have them this year. You would be taking O.W.L.s, with similar results, I wager.” There was a silence. “Is she in danger? What is keeping her?”

Hope decided to chance it. Her wand out, she slipped into the room and said, “I'm here, Daddy.” He was alone. She knelt down and opened the bag.

“Ah, my Hope has come.”

“Who are you talking to?”

Severus never turned his head. “I've been speaking with Marcus. He's not visible now, but he said he's always with us.”

Hope didn't see anyone and wondered if Daddy's injury had made him somewhat delirious. “Harry Potter said the snake bit you. Where?”

“Neck.” He was getting woozy again.

Hope opened the bag and put her hand over the opening as her mother instructed. “Snake bite.” Four ampules leaped into her hand. “Daddy, stay with me, please. Asp?” There was a slight shake to his head. “Cobra?” Another shake. She read the next vial. It was a name, not a type of snake. “Nagini?”

“Yes.” His voice was becoming a hiss.

Hope read the directions on the vial before she snapped it open. She needed to keep Daddy alert if she could. “Mum told me to give you her love. She couldn't come herself.”

“Is she safe?”

“Yes, and Brendon, too. They're at the hospital.”

In order to put the potion on the wounds, she would have to remove the high-necked collars of his shirt and coat. “Daddy, I have to cut your coat up.” His neck had swollen a little and he grimaced in pain as she slid her fingertips under the fabric and started cutting with scissors from the bag, being careful not to touch the portions that appeared soaked in venom. She carefully separated the fabric from his wounds and they started bleeding again. She dabbed the puncture marks with the potion and re-dressed his neck with fresh gauze from Mum's bag. She made him take another dose of Blood-replenishing potion and that finished all she could do in that room.

Hope stoppered the ampule and packed the bag back up. Since the shack was outside of school grounds, she hoped it would be possible to Apparate. Using the technique her mother had taught her, she grasped her patient and thought, determinedly, of the staff entrance to St. Mungo's. She landed exactly where she was thinking, and managed not to Splinch either of them.

Attendants came right up to her and levitated her father. “I'm supposed to take him to my Mum, Healer Snape.”

“We were told to expect you.” They snickered. “This is the special patient for the Obstetric Ward, then?”

“Please, just hurry.” Hope followed them into the hallway. Grandma came, then.

“What happened?”

“You-Know-Who's snake bit him. Mum had a potion in this bag...”

Grandma smiled. “I'm sure you've done quite well. You may have venom on you, though. Go up to our office, take off that robe and jumper, and wash your hands up to your elbows. You should be able to find something to change into in one of the cupboards. We've been practically living here the past two days.”

“Yes, Grandma.”

“Oh, and Hope, you have a new baby brother. Your mother is tired, of course, but fine.”

Hope almost skipped to the office. Finally on this awful night some things were going well.

---

Twenty minutes later, the Snape family was reunited in the Maternity Ward. Daddy was in a bed, wearing a hospital gown and Mum was dabbing at his neck again and whispering an incantation. He was looking into her eyes, smiling, but clearly not quite himself. As she finished the spell he went to sleep. Hope watched while her mother applied a new bandage to the neck and kissed his forehead. He must not have been quite asleep, because his hand reached around until it found Mum's and then he was still.

“It might have been so much worse,” said Mum, with tears in her eyes. “Most of the venom went into the collar. It seeped back in after the fact, but it might have been so much worse...”

Mum was obviously exhausted but also obviously would never leave the side of her patient. Hope got her a comfortable chair to sit near Daddy and arranged the new baby's bassinet to be within arm's reach. Brendon was getting restless and Hope took his hand to quiet him down.

“Um, Mum?”

Eyelids fluttered. Mum was so tired that she could hardly stay awake. “Yes, Dear?”

“I'll take Brendon back downstairs, and then I think I need to go back to the school.”

“I finally get my family in one room, reasonably out of danger, and you want to go back?” Hope wasn't sure she had ever heard her mother hiss before.

“I can help, Mum! I have all this training. I used it, finding Daddy, and it was brilliant.” She smiled, remembering her path across the lawn. “I need to know, too...Neville...” She trailed off.

Emily's eyes softened. “Of course. Go find him, dear, and help him if you can.” With her free hand, Emily waved her daughter over and then she kissed her tenderly. “Be careful, Hope. You are very precious to your father and me.”

The girl kissed her mother's cheek, the little cheek in the bassinet, and finally her father's. Holding his hand tightly, Hope walked Brendon down to the daycare center, telling him to be good for Mum and Daddy and telling him to be brave and happy. She gave him one last hug and kiss before leaving him and going to the staff entrance. She walked to the Apparation point and went back to Hogwarts.

---

“He is dead!” Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers.

The crowd cheered, and Voldemort was elated. He had finally won, unless Narcissa was lying. He looked sideways at her. It occurred to him that there was another way to check. He reached his mind to the boy, as he had done a hand's count of times before. Nothing responded; the connection was gone. The boy must truly be dead this time. He Cruciated the corpse to demonstrate his triumph.

Was it time to perform the last spell? He would be fully a man and then ready to put his other plans into action. No, someone amongst the idiots here might know what it was for and his power over them would diminish. Better to finish the job of suppressing those at the castle and then find a private moment for his other spell. Madam Snape wasn't going anywhere. The time of her confinement was too soon.

It was all within his grasp. Potter was dead, the fools at the castle would soon know their place, and in a few months' time he could console a grieving widow. Since Snape was dead, he would have not just an heir, but a consort, and more heirs if he chose. Yes, there was plenty of time to perform the last spell and he would do it without having to worry about the resistance that was presently at the castle.

“Now,” said Voldemort, “we go to the castle, and show them what has become of their hero...”