Author's Notes:

Final chapter!

Snape married them that day before the ancient altar where centuries of Flints had committed themselves. Then, he'd married Oliver and Cassius as well.

Sealed to their loved ones, the four of them prepared to leave Flint Manor for good, to go out into the world to find the Order and rejoin them.

"Nagini dies this night," Snape said. "Tell Potter to be ready."

"I will," Marcus promised his former professor and mentor. "Thank you."

They shook hands.

Snape looked down at Katie, eyebrow arched as if he couldn't believe how she'd changed over the years…and how much things had remained the same for her. "Good luck," he wished her and the others, and in a swirl of black cloth, he was gone.

The chapel doors boomed shut behind him.

"He isn't scary anymore," she said, her opinion of Severus Snape having been completely turned on its head now that she knew the truth. "Funny how a single night can forever change everything you've ever believed."

At her side, Marcus grunted in agreement. Then, he turned and headed for the space behind the altar where they'd been married moments before. He turned a sconce on the wall, and a secret passage opened up. From the outside, the door had been completely sealed and undetectable by magic prior to that. "Through here," he said. "It leads to the family crypt on the edge of the property. We get out through there, cross the wards, and then Apparate to freedom."

"To Kirkwall. Edge of the town. There's a safe house not far from there," she told them.

"I've never been," Cassius admitted. "I can't jump to a place I don't know."

"I know it," Oliver finally spoke, his voice raw from disuse or perhaps too much screaming. He laced his fingers with Cassius', and in his face, Katie saw a hint of her old Quidditch captain returning. His spine straightened and his chin tilted, and in his amber eyes, there was a spark of returning strength. "I can take us there. I'm strong enough…now."

They all agreed to the plan, and Marcus was set to lead the way through the dark tunnel.

Another tunnel… she thought with a bit of trepidation. The last one she'd escaped through had caved in on her, leaving her on death's door. But then Marcus had come, and he'd rescued her.

He took her hand in his now. "Follow me. I know the way."

Trusting her new husband and their future together, Katie grabbed a tight hold of him and let him lead her and her old friend and her outrageous cousin to freedom.

This time, when their palms clasped together, Marcus' fingers were warm, his touch a million fiery suns that gave her courage in the face of a more certain future.

~FIN~

Author's Final Notes:

Thank you so much for taking this journey with me, Marcus, Katie, Cassius, Oliver, and Snape! I hope you have enjoyed it. No sequel planned - I like it just where it ended.

Thank you again so much for your continued reviews! I love reading your thoughts and hearing your ideas! Keep sending them to me.

Much love to you,

- RZZMG