Run, run, run. That was all they were doing anymore, it seemed. Run this way. Run that way. Run every which way. Run until you couldn't run any longer. Run for your life, your families' lives. Run. Just run.

Sighing silently, Severus slowly sat down on the edge of the bed a few hours after they had arrived. He had just come from checking on Harry, so he knew the boy was asleep finally. And based on the loud snoring from the other room, he knew his parents were asleep as well. Which only left him and Aurora awake in the small four room cottage on the edge of the forest.

"Are you going to tell me now?" she asked softly, her eyes searching his. "Or must I continue guessing what all this is about?"

He shook his head. "I don't know if I truly know everything, Aurora."

"Well, you certainly know more than I do, seeing as how I was at Hogwarts while you were out gallivanting the countryside for Dumbledore."

"Gallivanting?" he repeated, frowning.

"How else am I to put it? He tells you to jump, and you say how high every freaking time."

"You must understand—"

"No. No I must not understand anything. You have done more than enough for him, Severus. More than a hundred people, in fact. You owe him nothing anymore."

"Except my freedom, my job, my son—"

Once more, she cut in sharply. "Albus Dumbledore didn't do a goddamn thing for Harry except leave the poor boy on the doorstep of abusive Muggles not even a day after his parents were murdered. Even you have to know that was wrong."

"He was doing exactly what Lily had wanted him to do; leave Harry with her sister to raise."

"Fine. Then let's discuss your freedom since you believe you owe him something for that as well. Did you kill anyone while you were in the service of Voldemort?"

"Aurora . . ."

"Answer the question, Severus. Did you kill anyone?"

"Yes."

"Did you kill them for pleasure, though?"

He closed his eyes and sighed. He knew exactly what point she was trying to get across, but it wasn't as simple as she was making it out to be.

"Did you enjoy watching others suffer at your hand?" She gently cupped his face and turned his head towards her. "Did you, Severus?"

"You know I didn't."

"Then, the point is moot. You did what you had to in order to survive."

"I casted Unforgivables."

"So did loads of Aurors. Hell, Moody himself casted a few, and look at him now. Considered to be the most respected Auror. You don't owe him anything."

"You're going to argue until you're blue in the face about this, aren't you?"

"You're damn right I will because I'm right. You don't owe him, Severus."

Once more, a sigh escaped his lips. Why was he even arguing with her about this? Just a few hours ago he had been wanting to kill Albus, and now he was defending the man yet again. Deep down, he knew she was right. He had more than paid off his debt to the man over the years. And, yet, he couldn't not stand up for Albus. The man had good intentions . . . usually. Just his methods were wrong.

"A few hours ago, I'd have agreed with you wholeheartedly," he admitted to her quietly. "But that was my anger and temper talking, not my head. Am I saying, though, that I believe that he does no wrong? No. Of course not. He's just as human as the rest of us are. But everything he does, he does because he believes that it will be for the greater good."

"What good is that if the greater good is dead because he's sacrificed the wrong person?"

Severus shrugged. "I honestly don't know. But whatever actions he does, whatever consequences come of his choices, that's up to him and his maker, Aurora, not us to decide."

"So you're defending him yet again?"

"I am." He sighed. "And that's after he kept me from you and Harry for two days."

"Can't you see how twisted that is? How he has you so far manipulated that you can't even see how wrong that is?"

"It's not that I don't see it. I do."

"Then what? You just choose to ignore it?"

"No. It's not even that. I-I don't know how to explain it, Aurora, but it comes down to a single question. Do I trust Albus Dumbledore? And, so far, the answer is yes. I do trust him. He's given me a second chance."

"He didn't give you anything. You gave yourself that second chance, Severus."

They were getting nowhere, and they never would at this point. "We're going in circles."

"Who's fault is that I wonder?" she quipped, shaking her head. "For two days Harry and I had no idea where you were. If you were alive even. And why didn't we know? Because Albus Dumbledore once again decided that the Greater Good could do without someone, without you this time."

"He believes that—"

"I don't give a damn what he believes. What excuses he gives this time. None of it. He held you prisoner, Severus. Kept you away from your family for two days. Two! Now, he may not have tortured you, as . . ." Her voice trailed off before she inhaled sharply and continued with her voice a bit steadier than before. "As Voldemort did with me last year, but the fact remains that he kept you as his prisoner for two days. Two, Severus!"

"I'm aware of how long it was, Aurora."

"Are you?" she challenged, crossing her arms as she stared back at him. "All I had to go off was a 'Severus has been called away on business for Dumbledore' message. That's it. No, 'The Headmaster believes that there's a correlation between the attacks and the void after Voldemort's downfall so he has Severus out checking on it.' Hell, there wasn't even a goodbye from you."

"There wasn't time."

"Bullshit," she replied coldly. "If I had done that to you, that little vein on your temple would be throbbing to the point where everyone would think it was going to burst, Severus!"

"He needed me to go to the forests in Albania before—"

"He needed you? What about us, Severus? About Harry? Our son has gone through one major crisis after another lately. He needs stability in his life. He needs to know that everything is going to be all right. He needs his father!"

"I'm here now."

"Yeah, until the next time Dumbledore asks you to do something for him. And who knows how long you'll be gone then? Two days? Two weeks? Two months? Hell, two years even? Or better yet, two decades later?"

Severus's eyes narrowed on her, hearing the slight panic in her voice.

"I can't be away from you again. I realize that makes me seem clingy, but . . . damn it, Severus, I'm just starting to—what are you doing?" He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "A hug is not going to fix this."

"I'm sorry," he murmured above her.

"That's not going to cut it either," she said with a scoff as her body relaxed slightly.

"He asked me to go to Albania for him, because he thought that Voldemort had hid one of his Horcruxes there, considering there had been an uptick in violence near there."

"And? Was there?"

He briefly considered how much he should tell her. She needed to know about her mother, he knew, but was he really the person to tell her something like that?

"No. We found a small band of vampires, though. Or rather they found us."

"And?" Her eyes narrowed on him when he didn't reply. "What aren't you telling me, Severus?"

"One of them, a man, told me that while you chose me instead of them, you still share his blood ultimately." He could see her trying to work out what he was saying. "Your mother, Aurora . . ."

"I know what she did, Severus."

"No. It's not that." His voice then lowered. "Your mother died." He watched her eyes narrow in confusion. "They killed her. I couldn't—"

"My mother's dead?" she asked, her mouth hanging open slightly.

He sighed inwardly before he nodded. He felt horrible for telling her, but she needed to know the truth. "I'm sorry, Aurora."

"They killed her? These vampires you ran into?"

"Yes."

"Why?" She seemed at a loss of words, he could tell.

"I can't be certain if it's true or not, but he stated it was punishment for her harming you."

"So? That doesn't give someone the right to kill another. I . . . that's absurd."

"After I informed Albus of what had transpired, he moved your father to safety."

"And my sister?" she asked, glancing up at him with wide eyes.

"Sister?" Had he known she had a sister? He couldn't recall. "I believe she's fine, yes. Your father would have seen to that, I'm sure." She had a sister. One that it seemed he couldn't recall.

"Is that why Albus kept you from me? Because he was trying to protect you from me?"

"What?" He blinked. That made no sense. Why would his being away from her protect him?

"You and Harry . . . no actually . . . it would be better if I left, not you. It's not any of you they're after. Is it?" She shook her head, trying to pull back from him. "Let me go. I . . . it's me they want, Severus, not you."

"You're mistaken," he replied, holding her steady. "They're not after you either, Aurora. They seem actually to want to protect you."

"Protect me? Protect me from what exactly?"

"I'm not certain." He shrugged. "The man, um, I believe he called himself Adolphus—"

"What?" she whispered, barely breathing.

His eyes narrowed on her instantly. "Do you know him?"

"I know of him," she answered quietly, looking as if she had seen a ghost. "He, that doesn't—he died the day of my birth, Severus. That doesn't make sense. Are you sure he called himself Adolphus?"

"I am."

"Declan always said that Adolphus had died, though."

"Declan?" Severus repeated, thinking 'Who the hell was Declan?'

"He was a vampire at Windsor I was close friends with," she said offhandedly, her mind clearly preoccupied with the mystery that was unraveling before them. "According to Declan, Adolphus had rarely left my mother's side throughout her pregnancy with me, so he was nearby when someone broke into the room my mother and I were staying in a few hours after I was born. They fought, and somehow Adolphus was killed. Declan always said that he had died protecting us."

"Did this Declan ever state who it was that had tried to attack you and your mother?"

"No, but he said after that my mother made up her mind that she would make sure that I was always safe. I . . . it's stupid, but I . . . It doesn't make sense. Declan wouldn't have lied to me. Not about that at least. He looked up to Adolphus like a father. At least that was always the impression I got."

Severus frowned as he considered what she had said. "Perhaps we could speak to this Declan? Maybe he has some sort of insight on this?"

"If only that were an option," she said quietly before she sighed.

"I take it he's no longer with us either?"

"He was released, as he liked to call death, a few years back. After he lost his wife."

"Ah."

"You said my mother was killed by them? Did she say his name? Or say anything to him?"

"She seemed to recognize him, yes, but no she didn't call him by name. Why?"

"She'd have said his name. I mean, my baby book has hundreds of photos of Dad and Mother with Adolphus always lurking nearby. It doesn't make sense. Unless it wasn't really Adolphus you met but someone pretending to be him. But why someone would do that is beyond me. He was what they liked to call an Elder, sure, but . . ."

"An Elder?" He watched her eyes narrow on him.

"Yeah. It's a title bestowed to any vampire from the original clan. I think there were thirteen or so of them. I don't know. It's been so long since Declan taught me about that."

"Your mother seemed concerned when one of the younger ones insinuated someone was returning to teach them about the old ways. She mentioned the Elders."

"Well, just like there are bad wizards, there are bad vampires, too, Severus. The Elders certainly had their few. One, in fact, enjoyed bathing in her victim's blood. And wizards made her a trading card for the chocolate frogs because of it ironically."

Lady Carmella Sanguia was whom she was referring to, he realized. He had found one of her cards discarded in an old textbook when he was a teenager. He remembered reading about that fact, but nothing else about her. He then frowned as it dawned on him that he was sorely lacking in knowledge about vampires. He knew the highlights as that was what was taught in Defense classes, but other than that he didn't know much more.

"Are the Elders still around?" he asked quietly.

"I'd imagine so. Why?"

"Perhaps one of them is impersonating him then."

"But why? Any vampire from Windsor would know that the person was an imposter. And most of the vampires actually left Windsor after Declan's death."

"I don't know." He then sighed, deciding to explain more. "Lupin was tasked with finding out what the werewolves were up to as well, and he stated that they were nervous about something."

"About what?"

"They wouldn't say. Just that something was coming, and they needed to be prepared for it. One, in fact, admitted to Lupin that their pack was killing just to put the fear back into the Wizarding World. To prove that they were not as weak as some might think."

"I don't suppose anyone's asked our resident Dark Lord about this?"

"Albus spoke with him," he stated, "but it was primarily a one-sided conversation I've been told. The only thing that seemed clear, though, was that the Dark Lord was spooked by something."

"What?" she said in pure astonishment. "What could spook him?"

"I don't know. Albus had thought maybe it was the fact that we were finding some of the Horcruxes and were destroying them, but he thinks there's something else too. Something that we haven't anticipated." He then sighed. "And don't ask me to speculate on what that could be because I honestly haven't the slightest idea."

"Then how are we going to prepare for it?"

"We do as we always do, Aurora. We adapt and survive." He watched her for a moment and noted her somberness. "I know it's not the answer you're wanting, but—"

"Just once I'd like a year where we don't have to worry about anything. I mean, let's be honest. All this year was supposed to be about was healing and moving on from last year. And look where we are. Scared out of our minds, running yet again. What's the point?"

"Life isn't fair."

"I'm not wanting life to be fair, Severus. I'm just wanting all this to end. To reach the point where we don't have to be worried anymore. To be a family. To . . . don't you?"

"Of course I want our lives to be perfect. To give Harry the family he should have had growing up. But we can't just ignore real life, the dangers that surround us."

"Because of me," she scoffed glumly.

"And Harry and me," he added firmly. "Harry has the whole 'Savior of the Wizarding World' nonsense hanging over his head. You had the Azrial Prophecy. I, as I've recently learned, have a prophecy of my own hanging over my head."

"What?"

He couldn't help but smirk at the look on her face. "It would seem you two aren't the only ones with prophecies in this family. There was one made about my birth according to Pettigrew."

"You mean, the notorious liar, the man who faked his own death? That's whom you heard this from? Pettigrew?"

"I've had it confirmed, Aurora." He could understand her skepticism. If he hadn't heard it himself not long ago, he would have thought the same thing. "There's a record of it in the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries, though. My mother's name is attached to it, but it concerned my birth as I was the firstborn child. Actually, I'm her only child."

"I don't understand."

"Nor do I really, but there is a prophecy out there about me."

"What sort of one? Do you know what it said?"

He sighed softly. He hated prophecies actually. Ever since he had relayed the one he had overheard in the Hog's Head that cold, damp night. It had burned him severely.

"Severus?"

"I would be the one to end the war."

"What war?"

He shrugged. "No clue. Considering, though, that the Dark Lord diverted me onto his path, though, it would be difficult to tell for certain. All we could do is guess at this point."

"Yeah."

He didn't know why he thought he had to go on, but he did. "That prophecy was later told to Lily and led to Harry's conception."

"What?" Her eyes narrowed on him.

"Pettigrew told Lily that it would be her child that would be the one to end the war. Why he would tell her this is beyond me. The Dark Lord wouldn't have wanted me to be with her considering that she was Muggleborn."

"She took that prophecy to mean James at first, though."

It was his turn now to stare at her in confusion.

"What? I was unfortunately near her a few times during that time period. I'd see how they'd be with one another, hanging off each other. And then when she got the speech about how she and James possibly couldn't have kids . . ."

"How do you know this?"

"She told me. I didn't know at the time that Harry wasn't James's. I thought he was. But she told me her boy would be special and thanked me for, you know, taking her place so to speak when our mission went so wrong." She ran a hand through her curls. "After I lost the baby, I was staring at the newborns. I didn't pay attention to names. I just stood there looking in the window at them, seeing their sweet little faces. She was coming to feed Harry when she saw me. We talked. She was angry at first, but, you know how she was . . . Once she heard I lost the baby, she was all 'Oh, I'm so sorry. I couldn't imagine what you're feeling." Aurora shook her head. "She couldn't. Her son was right there, fourth from the back. Healthy and squirming and crying every now and then." She sighed. "She apologized to me a few times, and then thought if I knew the hardship she and James had gone through to get their sweet little boy . . . that good things happened to those who wait . . . and all that crap, I'd feel better."

"I see." She glanced up at him.

"I left after that. Returned to Italy to complete my studies and just was done with her."

"It's understandable."

"I just want to be done with it all, you know? To not have to worry anymore about the next crisis our family is going to have to endure? To not run all the time? To just . . . you know?"

He nodded slowly.

"All we've done, all we've ever done, is run. I'm just so sick of running." A loud clap of thunder then suddenly rippled through the cottage the moment she had made her declaration.

Severus felt her tense in response and narrowed his eyes. Strange. He then crossed the room and went to the window. Pulling back a blind, he glanced out onto the grounds.

"What do you see?" she asked, a trace of fear etched into her voice.

Another flash of light streaked the air, lighting up the area suddenly. He saw the lush trees moving gently in the breeze in sync with the wildflowers just outside their window. He saw no other movement, though. He then heard Aurora's loud gasp behind him and whirled around.

"Easy, wizard," a gentle, kind voice spoke from beside Aurora. "We mean you both no harm."

He stared at the familiar auburn-haired woman. "Rowan . . ." he murmured. His eyes then darted to her companions, noticing that the vampire that had ordered Syra's death was also there. "I don't . . ." He then saw the two others, his mind reeling in pure confusion. What the hell was going on?

"If you give us a moment, Severus, we'll explain everything," squeaked Filius Flitwick who was now standing there with the other three.

"How did you get in here? The wards . . . Filius?" They shouldn't have been there. And yet they were. Rowan, Filius, the vampire that had ordered Syra's death, and a centaur. He then watched the four intruders slowly pull pendants out from underneath their robes and shirt collars. "Time turners?"

"Modified time turners, yes," the centaur replied with a wide smile.

"They allow us to shift through time, which in this case allowed us through your wards, wizard," the vampire explained. His crimson eyes then darted to Aurora before he returned looking at Severus.

"Why are you here?" Severus directed his attention onto Filius. What was going on?

"You-Know-Who—"

"Oh, honestly, wizard," the vampire scoffed. "Call the coward by his true name, Tom Riddle."

The small Charms professor squeaked in fear but nodded. "He led people astray when they were not meant to leave their paths."

"He believed he was above the Fates," Rowan stated.

"But no one is above the Fates," replied the vampire.

"Furthermore, he changed his own destiny and sent the universe into a cataclysmic time," explained the centaur. "The stars have been screaming lately. Begging someone to fix the wrongs."

"And that's, what, you four?" Aurora asked, moving to stand beside Severus.

"They no longer scream, Azrial," the vampire calmly said to her. "For they've aligned finally."

"He has been a parasite feeding off the world's strength for far too long," Rowan said softly.

"The last of his Horcruxes have been found tonight, Severus."

"And destroyed," stated the centaur.

"So the slate will be wiped clean, and time will be rewritten."

All four then raised their hands up in the air and said, "Tempus edax rerum."

A blinding light then overtook them before it retreated once more.

"Severus?" a voice said before them before their rooms settled back into view around them. "What do you think about Harry's decision to take new classes, ones that he finds challenging?"

"What?" Severus turned to Aurora, noticing that she seemed just as lost as he was. They were no longer in the cottage with his parents. In fact, they were back at Hogwarts with Healer McCoy in front of them in what seemed to be one of their therapy sessions.

"Harry just shared with us his reasoning for changing his classes to ones that are more challenging than ones that he chose solely because his friend had. What do you think about this?"

He glanced at his son, seeing that Harry too seemed at a loss.

"Did you—" Harry cut him off, though.

"See the white light? Yeah, I saw it, Dad. What was that?"

The trio then blatantly ignored Healer McCoy and carried on their conversation.

"Did they rewrite time then? I mean, we seem to be back at Hogwarts, but—"

McCoy then cleared his throat before he gave them all a small smile. "Perhaps I could be of assistance?"

"I sincerely doubt that, sir," Harry replied before he turned back to his dad.

"Why? Because I didn't see Four Fates as you did?" McCoy stated with a shrug.

"Fates?" The three stared at him.

"Well, I'd hate to be the one to point this out to you, but it is rather obvious that something occurred with all three of you in the span of a matter of minutes for me. The only explanation, therefore, is that the Fates intervened. I mean, since you brought up time being rewritten after all?"

"Wait. So, then did Dufftown get attacked?"

"No." McCoy shrugged. "Dufftown is perfectly safe last I heard. No attacks."

"And the Dark Lord?" Severus asked.

"Dead as a doornail." McCoy gave a quiet laugh. "Once the Horcruxes were found and destroyed about a month or two ago, there was no need to keep him around."

"How do you know this?" Aurora questioned.

"The Daily Prophet of course." His eyes then narrowed on them. "Or do you mean, how do I know that you aren't all suffering from a shared delusion currently?" He shrugged again when they nodded. "Vampires are very keyed in with nature, so we recognize when spatial anomalies take place. Now, shall we continue or do you three need a moment?"

"What about my mother?" Aurora asked.

"Unfortunately, dead as well, I'm afraid. As is Albus Dumbledore."

"What?" Dumbledore was dead?

"He died destroying the last Horcrux. Buried in white marble actually out on one of the island in the middle of Black Lake."

"And what of Sirius Black?"

"What of him, Severus?" McCoy replied.

"What happened to him?"

"His sentence was overturned once it was learned that Peter Pettigrew had staged it all, and he's a free man currently. I believe, he and Remus Lupin are planning a trip to Amsterdam soon actually."

"And us?"

"Us?" McCoy repeated. "What about you?"

"What about us?"

"Since your return, Aurora, you three have been slowly healing, attending sessions with me occasionally. Though, you still do like to keep your issues close to your hearts."

"We're not in danger anymore?"

"Danger?" McCoy laughed. "Good heavens, no, Harry. The danger's gone. The storm clouds that were once there have now vanished for good, leaving behind rainbows and sun."

"So, it's over?"

"Dark Lords trying to rip your family apart? Vampires trying to kill you? Hell, even werewolves? Yes. It's over. All you have now is each other and the future to decide."

Severus frowned inwardly. No more Dark Lord. No more Dumbledore. No more evil. Where did that leave them exactly? Who would they become? Would they be stronger now? Or something else?

"Only time will tell," McCoy drawled before he rose. "I'll end our session there for today. It's clear you three need time to process everything. You know where I am." He then inclined his head before he left the room.

"It's over."

Finally.