Severus and the Thunderbird

The Battle Is Won

The parts in italics are verbatim from "The Deathly Hallows." I didn't write them.
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"Carry it with you. All the time. Swear" Seren wrapped a small vial of anti venom around his neck and under his shirt as she buttoned it up.

The chances of him getting caught with anti-venom were low, no one tried to get close enough to him to see it. She carried several vials with her too, as well as a bezoar stone, and several healing potions. He was a target and she could easily become one too.

"I promise I will. Remember what you promised me?" he asked, kissing her deeply, the weight of the world on his chest.

"Yes, but I don't like it. But I'll do it" she assented quickly, laying against his chest for a brief moment before stepping back.

"You should be safe inside the library. Keep your head down. No unnecessary attention. Please?" he told her, stroking her cheek affectionately

"Okay" she whispered, the confines of the rules already strangling her free spirit.

Love sometimes had to endure hardship.

"I love you" he tilted her face up, hoping that would soften the blow of his strict rules.

He just needed to help Harry fulfill the plan.

"I love you too" she told him with a sad smile, dropping the anti venom vial down into her blouse on the string.

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His welcome back speech had been anything but welcoming. Fear, loathing, disrespect. The children kept their eyes down at the table. The only ones to stare at him, the ones willing to defy him, were the members of Dumbledore's Army. They believed him to be ignorant of their meetings and dealings, but he knew the truth. He kept away the Carrows and other cronies so they could continue to practice unimpeded.

The weight of a few hundred angry stares should have been nothing, but now it killed him. Those children didn't deserve to live in fear but yet he had to perpetuate it.

Seren walked straight past him after dinner, her arm within Minerva's as they watched the student scurry back to their dorms. He wanted to unclip her curls and watch them flutter around her face. Push her against the wall and kiss her neck. No. Hide that away.

He had to accept her anger.

The halls were quiet now, not filled with merry chatter. He never thought he would miss that.

"Excuse me" he called out to her, knowing that Minerva would take offense to anything he said

"Yes, headmaster" Minerva spoke sharply, gazing at him with barely veiled contempt.

"Miss Murphy. You will follow the rules to their exact letter. You may be new here but you will not be spared from discipline. Any whiff of opposition to our new leadership and you will be turned over to the Carrows. Understood?" he spoke quietly and threateningly, looking down at her along his nose

Seren nodded, exchanging a quick glance with Minerva as he stepped closer and asked again in a rumbling bass

"You will answer your superior. Understood, yes or no?"

She squared her shoulders and answered in a candy coated tone that could cut glass

"Yes sir. I understand"

He told her threateningly, standing straighter  to appear intimidating

"Minerva might have hired you without my knowledge but believe me that if I hear one whiff of dissension from you, you will be tossed out and left to fend for yourself. Now straighten your robes, you will dress according to the guidelines set forth. Right now you are out of compliance"