Everyone went silent and looked at Dumbledore. He stayed calm and asked Harry for more information. He told him that they had searched the Manor, but there was no sign of the fugitive. Draco had given them directions to the Malfoy’s summer residence where his mother was staying. They put her under surveillance, but Malfoy senior had not turned up. Dumbledore sighed.

“Well, there’s not much we can do, except to keep an eye out for him. He’ll turn up eventually. I will inform my fellow Headmasters and I suggest you do the same with the foreign Ministers, Arthur.” Arthur Weasley nodded and left immediately. Then Dumbledore continued: “Although this is an unwelcome setback, we must not let it stand in our way of celebrating our victory. This is truly a great day in history and I suggest we don’t let Lucius’ escape spoil it. Let the festivities begin!” With that said, house elves, serving champagne and the most delicious assortments of food invaded his office.

The celebrations continued the following day in the Great Hall, allowing the students to participate. As the news of Voldemort’s defeat spread, journalists came to Hogwarts to look for a first-hand report. Dumbledore briefly explained what had happened and asked to let everyone deal with last night’s events first, before giving any interviews. But because of how careful he wanted to handle all of this, he wasn’t able to prevent rumors from spreading and soon the reporters wanted to know everything about the role Severus Snape and Tori Bloom had played. They couldn’t resist this splendid opportunity to add a romantic touch to the already legendary battle. In an attempt to avoid this media-frenzy, Dumbledore decided to go on with things as if nothing happened, continuing the lessons on Monday as usual. The students were obviously disappointed, for they had hoped to go home to their parents to celebrate and get a week off. Dumbledore assured them that there would be enough time to celebrate during the Christmas-holidays. He pointed out to them that it wasn’t over yet. Not with one Death Eater still missing! This made them settle down a bit and the capture of Lucius Malfoy was the main topic of conversation from that point on. Bets were made on how long it would take to catch him and who would do it, Harry being the favorite person on everyone’s list.

Tori seemed to be completely unaware of all the commotion. She had participated in the celebrations the first night, but found that she couldn’t relax while Severus was in pain. Therefore, she confined herself to the dungeons where she indulged in studying large volumes of potion books. They had moved Snape to his own bedroom and Tori always left the communicating door open, so she could check on him regularly. Madam Pomfrey had given him a strong sedative and he looked totally wiped out, but sometimes he managed to move his head and then she heard him moan. It cut right through her heart.

It was close to midnight that Sunday when Draco Malfoy knocked on the door. Tori let him in, not really surprised to see him.

“Hi Draco.” She felt a little awkward, knowing that he had to raise his wand against his own father. “Um…how are you? You know, how are you coping?”

His eyes went cold when he looked at her. “I don’t care what happens to him. Professor Snape has always been more of a father to me than Lucius ever was.” Then he showed his concern. “How is he?” He whispered like a person does when visiting the terminally ill.

“You can go in and see him.” Tori said. “He hasn’t regained consciousness yet, but I’m working on that.” Draco hesitated on going into the room so Tori decided to go in with him. Together they sat by the bed looking at his motionless body with Crookshanks curled up at his feet. They sat in silence until Draco cleared his throat. Overwhelmed by emotion, he stood up and said: “If you need help; don’t hesitate to ask me. I can come and sit with him when you are needed elsewhere.” She nodded, happy to know she could rely on someone.

“I never thought I’d be glad to see you, Draco.” Tori chuckled, succeeding in making him smile for a little while.

He sighed, “Well, I’m off to the Slytherin common room.” Seeing the surprise on her face he explained. “Since I didn’t graduate last year, I’m staying at Hogwarts to finish my education.” Tori was happy for him. Now he could be with Shannon and lead a normal life. Outside Hogwarts it would be very difficult for him to get by, given his family history and no doubt his father would be looking for him and it wouldn’t be a pleasant reunion!

When Draco had left, Tori had just started to read her book again, when Ron came in. He walked into the room, inspected it, looked through the open door and said:

“So it’s true.”

Tori immediately knew what he meant. She nodded. “I guess it is. If you’re referring to my feelings for Severus, that is.” She felt really uncomfortable seeing the devastated look on his face. Finally he sat down and held his head in his hands.

“Oh Tori, how could you? First Shannon and Malfoy, MALFOY for Merlin’s sake! And then all these rumors about Snape giving his life for you and you spending the night with him…I…I…honestly, I don’t think I can take it anymore.” He sighed deeply. Tori went over to him and laid her hand on his shoulder.

“I’m really sorry you had to find out all of this at the same time. Please try to understand. I cannot control these feelings. Believe me, it’s not the kind of relationship that I would have chosen for myself, but these things are never rational to begin with.”

“I know, but what is it with these Slytherin guys? Suddenly all Gryffindor girls fall for them and we Gryffindor boys are left out in the cold.”

Tori couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh Ron, it’s not that simple and trust me, you and Harry will find the girls of your dreams, don’t worry.”

“Yeah, Harry will. He’s the great hero, so everyone wants HIM. But where does that leave me?”

Tori sighed. So it was that old inferiority complex again. She thought that he would be over that by now.

“Ron, listen. Life isn’t about being a hero or being noticed. You’ve chosen a career at the Ministry, which means working behind the scenes, you knew that beforehand. Look at your mother and father. He wasn’t a big hero when she met him, right?” Ron slowly shook his head.

“You just don’t get it. You’re in your happy bubble right now and no one is allowed to feel depressed.” He wanted to continue his self-pity when she interrupted him furiously.

“Look Ron, just for once open your big self-centered eyes and see what’s going on around you!” She pointed at the bedroom. “Does that look to you like I’m in a ‘happy bubble’? P-lease! Wake up and realize that everyone has a hard time once in a while. The difference between you and me is that I deal with it and you whine about it.”

Ron stood up and walked to the door. “Well, if that’s how you feel about it. I guess…oh, I don’t know Tori. Just don’t get hurt, will you?” He looked at her once more and left.

Tori was relieved he was still speaking to her. With all things considered it had gone rather well. He needed sometime to let things sink in and then he would be the same old Ron again, her friend. She needed her friends! She reached for her book again when there was another knock on the door. Rolling her eyes, wondering if she would ever get any peace and quiet, she waved her wand to open the door. She instantly began to smile when she recognized Harry as her visitor.

“So, this is where you’re hiding, instead of joining our little celebration.” It looked like he himself had engaged in some serious partying.

“I wasn’t really feeling like it.” Tori said.

“I know. What a day, huh?!?”

“You can say that again. You just missed Ron.”

“Yeah, I saw him on my way down here. He’s really freaked out you know.”

“Tell me about it!” They both laughed.

Finally Harry continued. “Don’t worry, he’ll live. In fact, I was a little freaked out myself when I found out about you and Severus, not to mention Draco and Shannon.”

“Are you going to whine as well?” Harry raised his eyebrow and Tori told him about her conversation with Ron. Harry seemed amused.

“Oh, that’s our Ron! I’ll make sure he gets enough credit; he deserves it. Now, about you and Severus…”

“What about it?”

“How serious is this? You ready for the big commitment?”

Tori looked a little confused. “I don’t think it will come to that.”

“Huh? You’re talking about a man who was willing to die for you!”

“Right, but is he ready to live with me?” She had sounded so sad, Harry didn’t know what to say and let her continue. “I mean, it’s not like we’ve talked much about it. He wanted to give it some time and I guess he never really counted on surviving.”

“You honestly think he will not want a relationship with you?” Harry was totally astonished.

“Yes, remember, this is still Severus Snape we are talking about, Harry.”

“Hmmm…I see.” Then he laughed, leaving Tori puzzled. “Oh, in that case I’d really love to see his face when he gets to see the extra edition from today’s Daily Prophet.” He gave the paper to Tori and she blushed when she read the article on the first page. It read:

“FOR THE LOVE OF A WOMAN, an exclusive by PJ Blackink.”

“The epic battle at Malfoy Manor would not have been possible without some brilliant potion-brewing from Hogwarts Potions Master Severus Snape and his young assistant Tori Bloom, a close friend of the famous Harry Potter. Not only did they invent the potion that drained the power from He-who-will-now-be-known-as-Tom-Riddle. No, with her own life at risk, Miss Bloom was willing to infiltrate Malfoy Manor to take the potion to Riddle. It is here, dear readers, that our story takes a dramatic turn. Working so closely together must have lead to a more ‘intimate’ relationship between the two wizards. Severus Snape, known to be a former Death Eater, found himself overwhelmed by love for the fair Miss Bloom and could not let her put herself in danger. Knowing his former master would definitely kill him; he sacrificed himself to perform the task he would not allow his beloved to carry out. He is now fighting for his life in Hogwarts’ infirmary. May we hope their love will guide them through these difficult times! Severus Snape and Tori Bloom, we are indebted to you both for saving our world!”

Tori put her hand in front of her mouth. “Oh no.”

“I’m afraid it will only get worse. This is just the first day. They’ll want interviews from all of us. You know they’re going to ask you.”

“This is terrible. He’s going to fume when he wakes up and hears about this.”

“Oh yes.” Harry laughed anyway. “You’ll just have to get used to being the most famous couple in the wizarding world.” Seeing the horror on her face he took her hand and said: “Don’t worry about it too much. By the time he wakes up, it may all have blown over.” She desperately needed to believe that.

They sat together for a while, talking about what happened at the Manor.

“We’ve been able to reconstruct what went on before we got there.” Harry told her. “Severus replaced the potions, found Draco’s doll – which Albus will get rid of by the way – and then he must have gone to the office where he replaced the recipe.” He showed her the human-accio spell and suddenly Tori realized something. “I’ve wondered why we found him outside. Why Voldemort hadn’t discovered him inside the lab. I think…”

“You think that he must have read what was on the parchment? That he…”

“Let himself be discovered outside the house to divert attention from the potion.” Then they both said simultaneously:

“He did it on purpose!”

“Oh, dear.” Tori started to cry and Harry needed some time to let it sink in as well. Then he laughed.

“Just think about what the Daily Prophet would make of this!” and then they both laughed.

It was quite some time later when Harry was ready to go.

“Come, you’ve done enough for today, you need your rest if you’re going to teach Potions tomorrow.” He went for the door, holding out his hand, expecting her to follow.

“No. I’ll be staying here until he’s fully recovered, or…asks me to leave.”

Harry wished her goodnight and went to his guestroom, thinking that they might have won the war, but some battles still needed to be fought.