oooOOOooo

A loud pop alerted a hidden Lucius to their arrival. Before Severus or Sybill even had a chance to assess their surroundings, he had screamed, “Incarcerous!” Long ropes extended from his wand and surrounded Sybill and Severus. They were bound together, back to back. They both struggled to escape the bonds, but that just made them tighter. Severus grasped Sybill’s hand and tried to get her to stop moving. She caught on when he squeezed her hand so she too became still. The two of them glared at Lucius Malfoy, who was still pointing his wand at them.

“Well, you seem to have forgotten how to ring the doorbell, Severus,” Lucius sneered.

“Lucius, we need to talk. You must give up on this obsession of yours.”

“My obsession just waltzed into my home and gave herself to me as a gift. I will destroy her and then my obsession will be satisfied.”

He raised his wand, but Severus shouted out to him.

“Wait! Lucius, surely there must be something else that will satisfy you. Why don’t you kill me instead? Don’t think that I don’t know how much you hate me for being a spy all of these years, right under your nose!”

Lucius looked to Severus in fury. “And who do you think was going to be next on my list, hmm? Certainly not Rubeus Hagrid!”

“Then kill me. Let the witch go.”

“The witch was the one who gave Potter the strength to destroy our Lord! She must pay!”

Severus saw the insanity in his old friend’s eyes. He would never give up this fetid obsession. He would search out all of those who caused Voldemort’s death and kill them, one by one. And there was nothing Severus could do about it. Not one thing.

oooOOOooo

Draco sat across from his mother, mulling over the talk he’d had with his father.

Something’s not right. Father gave in too easily. Of all the rotten luck, to plan the raid on the one day Father had made plans with Mother. He lets her rot in our home, and here in the villa, for weeks on end but picks this day of all days to do something differently!

Draco sat up straight suddenly. His father had suspected him, he realized. Severus and Trelawney were walking into a trap! He turned to his mother.

“Mother, I have to return to the villa. Come with me, I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

“But, Draco, we’ve only just arrived!” Narcissa said in exasperation.

“I know, I’ll explain as we go. Please, trust me, Mother.”

Narcissa smiled at him. “Of course I trust you, my son.”

She rose and extended her hand. They walked out of the restaurant and Apparated to a room he had gotten just for this circumstance. It was a small room over the restaurant where they just were. It would serve to hide his mother away in case he had to return to the villa before the fighting was over. Quickly entering the room, Draco turned to his mother.

“Mother, Father has been plotting to kill Professor Trelawney. Severus and she are planning an attack on him today. That’s why I wanted to take you to lunch, so you would be out of the house when they attack.”

“Draco, what have you done?” Narcissa cried.

“Mother, it is the only way! Father has gone crazy, he must be stopped. Severus has promised me that he will not kill him. He will only be sent to Azkaban.”

His mother wailed and fell to the floor, her head covered by her hands. “You have sentenced him to death!”

Draco knelt next to her and put his hand on her arm.

“Mother, Severus will not kill him.”

Narcissa pulled her head up and looked miserably at Draco. “Azkaban will kill him, though. He was a shattered man when he returned from there after the Ministry attack. It took him months to become himself again. He will die if sent back there again, Draco! Please, stop this before it’s too late.”

“I intend to, Mother. I need to go back and help out.” He didn’t dare say who exactly he was going to help out for fear that his mother would lose it entirely.

Narcissa grasped Draco’s arms and pulled him to her. “Thank you, son. Save your father! Please, go!”

Draco kissed her cheek and stood up. “Stay here until I come for you. I want you safe.”

She nodded, and Draco Disapparated away.

He appeared in his bedroom at the villa. Pulling out his wand, he listened at the closed door. He heard nothing. Slowly opening the door, he found the hallway to be empty. He cautiously went down the hall toward the guest bedroom. As he neared the doorway, he could hear his father’s smug voice. Lucius had left the door open. Obviously, he had been sure that he would prevail. Draco crept up to the door and peeked inside. He almost gave himself away with the groan that nearly escaped from his throat.

Inside the bedroom, Severus and Sybill were tied together with ropes. He watched as his father paced back and forth and sneered at his two captives.

“You both must be taken care of. Now, I have the opportunity to get rid of the two of you,” Lucius cried. “I will reap vengeance on both of you at once. Voldemort will laugh in his grave as the two of you sink to the floor in death!”

He lifted his wand to cast the Avada Kedavra at his two captives. Severus squeezed Sybill’s hand in farewell, hoping that his love for her would be conveyed through that simple symbol. Her squeezing back told him of her love for him. He braced himself for the end, but instead of a green shot of light speeding toward him, the ropes that were binding Severus and Sybill disappeared. The couple grabbed their wands and sent Stupefying Hexes simultaneously at Lucius. Another Stupefy Hex flew from the doorway. The three hexes shot Lucius into the wall with a crash. He slumped to the ground, leaving a huge indentation in the wall where he had crashed into it.

Draco entered the room, blowing imaginary smoke from the tip of his wand.

“Draco saves the day,” he drawled.

Both Sybill and Severus turned to look at him, relief in their faces.

“Draco,” Sybill uttered in awe. “Thank you. One second later and we both would have been dead.”

“Yes, Draco,” Severus said as he looked into Draco’s eyes intensely. “Thank you.”

Without waiting for more praise, Draco quickly went over to his father to assess his level of consciousness. It would do no good if the man were to wake any time soon. Severus looked over to Sybill. She was staring at him in relief. Before Severus had a chance to move, Sybill had flown to him and was clutching onto him for dear life.

“Oh, Severus, I thought it was the end!” she cried.

Severus hugged her tightly to himself. “You mean you didn’t see our rescue in a vision?”

Sybill pulled away from him and scowled. “You are terrible, Severus Snape. I don’t even know why I fret about you at all!”

Severus came close to her ear and whispered into it so Draco couldn’t hear him. “You fret because you are crazy about me.”

“I believe the same can be said about you,” Sybill retorted with a giggle.

A loud throat clearing caused the two to pull apart and spin towards Draco, who was looking at them curiously.

“Don’t tell me you two are together?” he drawled. “Trelawney, surely you can find someone who doesn’t eat children for breakfast?”

Sybill smiled at him. “Well, I probably could, but I long to be near Severus.”

Draco grimaced. “Now that’s just wrong,” he muttered. He eyed Sybill warily. “I thought you weren’t doing anymore of that crazy stuff, Trelawney.”

“Draco, my dear boy, whatever gave you that impression? Could it be that your Inner Eye is blurry?” Her voice was deep and dark, as it had been before her transformation.

“Sybill,” Severus said quietly.

Sybill grinned as she watched Draco’s eyes widen. “Can’t a girl have some fun, Severus?” she asked him in her normal voice.

“Yes, but you have entirely too much fun turning yourself into a quack,” he chastised her. His retort was lessened by his kissing her neck lightly.

“Ugh! Would you two stop it?” Draco cried. “I have no desire to watch the two of you snog each other senseless while my father lies bound and unconscious on the floor.”

Sybill reluctantly pulled away from Severus and went over to where Draco was standing. She examined the man who was passed out on the floor. Lucius was now in ropes, as Draco had cast the binding spell on him.

“So, what are we going to do with him?” Sybill asked as she peered down on Lucius’ form.

“I will call the Aurors, and he will go to Azkaban,” Severus said as he came up to Sybill and put his arm around her.

“My mother will never forgive me,” Draco muttered.

Suddenly an image flashed through Sybill’s head. It was of Lucius, back in his home, with his wife and son. They were all sitting together laughing. Sybill stiffened.

“No, this is wrong. He shouldn’t go to Azkaban,” she said with a faraway look.

“It’s what he deserves, Sybill. He tried to kill us both.” Severus looked to her as she concentrated on what she had seen.

“But… I just saw him with his family. They were happy. Severus, something’s wrong. We’re missing something.”

“Sybill, he deserves to go to jail,” Severus replied as he scowled at her.

“I know that. But what I saw… he was happy. What can we do that will make him be like that? He had lost the evilness in him. Severus, he almost looked like a child.”

“There’s nothing we can do to make him happy,” Severus murmured. “His life has been so full of hate for so long, that nothing we can do can erase that from him.”

Draco looked up suddenly at Severus, hope in his eyes. “Obliviate him,” he uttered.

“Pardon me?” Severus questioned.

“Obliviate him!” Draco said with more enthusiasm. “We can wipe his memory and start over from scratch.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme, Draco?” Severus asked.

“As if Azkaban isn’t?!” Draco cried. “This will solve everything. He won’t need to spend his life in jail. My mother and I can help him to know what his life was like before without all of the nasty stuff thrown in. We can tell him what’s important for him to know to be a good husband and father.”

“Draco, what you’re suggesting is too invasive,” Severus chastised. “We have no right to take a man’s memories and then create ones that we see fit for him.”

“Well…” Draco wracked his brain to try and think of a way to do this well. “We can tell him everything, I suppose. If we help him from the beginning to see how wrong his actions were, then he won’t want to repeat them. Severus, please! He’s my father, but I have hated him for most of my life, but my mother loves him. She pleaded with me to help him. If we do this, I can help him. Maybe I can even have a father who cares about me.”

Severus glanced over at Sybill, who had not said a word for quite some time.

“What do you think?” Severus asked her. “Does it seem like he’s lost his memory of those horrid things he’s done in your vision?”

Sybill concentrated on the vision once more. It had only been a quick image, so it was difficult to interpret exactly what she had seen. After a minute with her eyes closed, she opened them and nodded her head.

“I think it does. But, Draco, if we do this, the road will not be easy. The type of Obliviate you’re suggesting is similar to what happened to Gilderoy Lockhart. He still has not recovered from the spell.”

“But that was a backfired spell. Surely that has something to do with it!” Draco’s eyes were pleading with them. “Lockhart has no one! With my mother and me, we can help Father know about himself.”

“Draco, this might not work out the way you hope,” Sybill continued.

“Trelawney, it’s better than having him in jail for the rest of his life. It will have to be! We can do this!” He looked from Sybill to Severus, pleading for this one chance. “Severus, he was your friend for years. Surely you owe him something? My mother thinks he’ll die if he’s sent away. This will give him a chance to live. This may even give him a chance to be happy.”

Severus and Sybill exchanged looks. She gave Severus a quick nod, and he turned back to Draco.

“Very well,” he acquiesced.

“We will help too, Draco,” Sybill assured. “Maybe with the four of us, we can help Lucius to recover quicker.”

Draco’s eyes lit up. “Could you? That would mean so much.”

Severus put his hand on the young man’s arm. “Go get your mother. We’ll make sure she’s all right with this plan before we go ahead with it.”

“All right,” Draco said with a sigh. “I’ll be right back.”

He Disapparated as Sybill moved a little closer to Severus and laid her head on his shoulder. Severus moved his arm up and caressed her back.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked her.

“He was happy, Severus. Maybe his mind wasn’t all there, but he was happy.”

Severus kissed the top of her head. “Then I’m sure it will all work out.”

Just at her word, he believed her. Sybill looked up into his dark eyes. Not only did she see love there, but respect also. He trusted her. She had never felt so loved in her life.

---

A/N: Next up: To Obliviate or not to Obliviate… that is the question.

Did anyone see that coming? Thank you once again for reading. I appreciate your comments. A big hand for Lilith Kayden for her beta work.