"History will one day praise your valiant sacrifices."

"They'll dramatize me more than Van Gogh."

"No cutting off any ears, though."

"Wouldn't do to mar my pretty face."

"Certainly not."

Kiss!

Lovely wife.

Next little bit's gonna be pretty much just settling into Hogwarts' new situation, won't it... Anathema's still nervous a lot, but - she's got Ellie and everyone, and they responded better to the Ministry falling than she would've guessed before...

Yeah. No one's trapped outside and it almost seems like they've got their shit together.

Almost.

(Minister Bones reveals her survival and the characteristics - though not location - of her government-in-exile not long after, coordinating with the members of the remaining free wireless station to disseminate information, especially to anyone who didn't successfully make it to Hogwarts, or who is a more quiet supporter of the resistance. She encourages those still operating within normal wizarding society to keep themselves safe but to be as non-compliant as they can, especially in ways that hinder the new regime.)

(Voldemort brings a siege against Hogwarts. He doesn't have nearly enough loyal Death Eaters to maintain a cordon, let alone a siege the wizards sheltering within the castle can't just overwhelm with a bold enough rush.)

(He uses Dementors instead. A roiling cloud of them, pressing constantly against the edges of the wards, bringing an intense pall over the grounds. Many of the sapients within the Forbidden Forest move in closer to the castle itself, away from the worst of the aura of misery. The Dementors don't sleep. They don't get distracted. They don't get bored. They can't be tricked or affected by conventional magics. There's enough that even the strongest Patronus or the angriest Thestral can't force them back for long. They can't be chipped away at in a war of attrition by defenders safely ensconced in Hogwarts' powerful wards.)

(Anathema directs the Chamber to form a tunnel, deep underground, under the water table, well reinforced against inundation, out to the edge of the wards. Headmistress McGonagall carves a distinctive room out of the bedrock past that, condensing the stone into a dense shielding. They can Apparate in and out of that. It's not very pleasant, or very good for bringing in supplies, even after Anathema widens the path enough cars can drive it. People seeking to flee to Hogwarts can't Apparate to it on their own, and they have to rush to disseminate information about the siege to the wider society so no one will try to come without an escort. There's an extreme risk of someone tracing an Apparition into it and gaining access to the castle; Anathema sets up traps and remotely activated security gates along the path. It's something, though.)

(Hogwarts' grounds become farms. Professor Sprout uses magic to make growing conditions as ideal as possible - easier with the muggle seeds - but can't increase growth rate too much without compromising nutrition. Chickens range in pastures magically protected from predators, eating all the scrap Hogwarts' inhabitants can't. They coordinate with the Black Lake's inhabitants to start fish farms. They bring in a trickle of more supplies, more seeds and cuttings, live fruit and nut trees a few times, more livestock through the Apparition point Anathema made. They ration.)

(Attacks against muggleborns and their families who were caught outside Hogwarts step up. They convince some parents of young muggleborns to move to Hogwarts. They don't convince enough. Some 'blood traitors' and 'sympathizers' who didn't make it to Hogwarts are publicly tried and then either given harsh sentences or executed, depending largely on if they accused or betrayed others. Indiscriminate attacks against muggles as a whole begin. It sounds like Voldemort's not really bothering making the attacks seem non-magical, though the Statute hasn't been broken yet.)

(They try to track Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. The Diadem is the easiest to find, though likely hard to kill; they suspect there's only one more. (Intentionally made, at least.) Fay dives deep into the lore on the Deathly Hallows - what little of it she can access. Communicating with her international allies becomes difficult, requires leaving Hogwarts. She strives as hard as possible, often risking herself, to seek out information on living horcruxes. On how to remove a fragment of soul without damaging the host.)

(Fay borrows the resurrection stone, sometimes. She doesn't say what she's using it for.)

(Anathema spends her birthday curled up in the Chamber of Secrets with Ellie, reading science fiction books about worlds of infinite possibilities, far away from their problems.)

They hold strong.

On Ellie's birthday, they go back to the Chamber. But she doesn't open her book right away.

"I have to tell you something."

She leans against Ellie. "What is it?"

"It's-"

"When D-"

She takes a deep breath and starts over. "Before Dumbledore died, he told Fay something that really upset her. And is the proximal reason he did die."

"He said that he was sure that Voldemort had made one more horcrux, one that he didn't intend to. One in a living person. And the only way to get it out was to kill that person."

"And he said that was me."

Her arms tighten, vice-like, around Ellie.

"We'll get it out without hurting you. Or leave Voldemort alive and locked in a box filled with Dreamless Sleep - I don't care if - "

She makes a choked noise. "I'd rather have you than - anything else."

"Are we sure? About the horcrux?"

"We're- pretty sure, yeah."

She makes a small, unhappy noise.

"You - said you've known since Dumbledore died."

She shifts a bit. "I - "

She bites her lip. And, hesitantly: "You could've told me sooner."

"I was hoping we could just- find a way to do it quietly. And then you wouldn't have to worry at all."

"...Ellie. If I had a potentially fatal condition, that I thought there was probably a cure for but it might take a while and no one knows what it is, would you want me to not tell you?"

"I dont-"

"You make me kind of stupid sometimes."

Nuzzle. "You make me stupid too."

"I - don't want to be upset with you. This sucks and we'll fix it and Voldemort will be dead and gone and we'll be free."

"But - I'm your wife. So just. Next time there's a big thing - I wanna know. So I can support you."

"Okay. I'll tell you. Promise."

Kiss.

"I don't want you to die. Ever ever ever. And if you do I'll resurrect you. I'll find a way."

"But - "

"I'm - gonna have a lot of. Really bad emotions. That - there's any case in the world where you might die. That doesn't mean telling me was bad, it - "

"I want to be here to support you, and - if you die I'd rather. Have had those emotions. While you were still here. So I can go straight to working on resurrection without - breaking too badly first."

Hug.

Snuggle.

"We're going to do our best. We're going to try. We - if there's a way, we'll find it."

"I - "

"Meeting you was the first time I really believed that - there was some corner of the world not thoroughly dedicated to sucking every chance it got. I can't. I can't pretend we'll definitely succeed. Not - soon enough."

"I'd rather have Voldemort around than lose you even for a little bit, but - I'd be willing to die to get him out of my head, to kill him, to keep him from ever bothering you again, and - I can't take that choice from you."

"I can just - be here, and love you, and do my best to give you all the options in the world. And - we know immortality's theoretically possible, especially if you don't go pissing people off into finding a way around it. So if you die I'll become immortal, and - then I'll just work until I can get you back. Even if I have to invent entirely new fields of magic first."

"I love you, Anathema. So much."

She's maybe crying a little bit.