Chapter Summaries

Pomona spent a snowy day in Godric's Hollow with Severus, using magic to take Muggle children on a reindeer sled ride. The outing brought her unexpectedly face-to-face with Harry Potter, whom she introduced herself to under a false name.

• Pomona and Severus discussed Filch, Dumbledore, and the dangers faced by people drawn into the Order of the Phoenix.
• Pomona animated decorative reindeer and invited Muggle children to ride a sled, then used Obliviate on a man who saw the magical scene.
• Pomona contacted Hannah Abbott with a fake Galleon, and Hannah joined her and the children for the sled ride.
• Pomona spotted Harry Potter outside his home and, when he approached, introduced herself as Hannah's relative Miranda.
• Harry showed Hannah his fake Galleon and said he had received her message to meet outside his house.

Pomona, Hannah, and Harry searched for missing Muggle children and found them under attack by Dementors in a cemetery. Pomona summoned a swan Patronus to drive the creatures away, then Severus appeared and asked her to bring a girl home so they could talk somewhere warm.

• Pomona, Hannah, and Harry discussed Harry’s Auror work, home protections, and Hermione’s new Ministry job while riding toward the church.
• Pomona and the others found the sleigh unattended and entered the cemetery after realizing the Muggle children had gone inside.
• Harry summoned his stag Patronus when they found Dementors attacking the children, and Pomona cast a swan Patronus that chased the Dementors away.
• Severus appeared after Harry and Hannah went to help the children, asked Pomona how she had learned about the Obscurus attack, and told her to bring a girl home so they could talk.

Pomona struggled with guilt over Harry’s near-death while Severus recruited Hannah to help watch the Leaky Cauldron and investigate rumors about Voldemort’s child. Hannah left with desserts and plans to visit Hermione, while Pomona prepared food and information for her.

• Pomona baked sweets as she blamed herself for failing to protect Harry and resented his disregard for his life.
• Severus urged Hannah to consider helping Tom manage the Leaky Cauldron and told her to watch for rumors that the Dark Lord had left behind a child.
• Severus asked Hannah to watch for Theodore Nott and proposed passing Hermione’s parents’ information to her, but Pomona insisted on delivering it herself.
• Severus explained that he wanted to improve life for people around him, including those with Dark Marks, rather than become a new Dark Lord.
• Severus told Hannah to collect a Kneazle with Hermione when the Ministry reopened, and Pomona sent Hannah off with treacle tarts for the children and Harry.

The chapter recounted the history of Severus Snape’s potion-making and his postwar reputation, while describing the political fallout from roaming Dementors. Pomona reflected on her relationship with Severus, kissed him, then left him to go comfort Hermione.

• Linfred of Stinchcombe invented the original Invigoration Draught, and his son Hardwin founded the Potter family with Iolanthe Peverell.
• Severus Snape improved the Wolfsbane Potion and invented the Cheering Potion, while Harry Potter later pushed to make Expecto Patronum compulsory amid the Dementor crisis.
• Pomona considered Severus’s growing reputation and their secret relationship, then asked how he had known Hermione would come to Osmanthus Street.
• Severus kissed Pomona passionately, but she pushed him away after their kiss and refused to return to their room.
• Pomona went to the dining hall to find Hermione, intent on helping her recover from her family troubles.

Hermione stayed with Pomona after arguing with Molly about postponing her career to have children, and Pomona urged her to communicate with Ron and keep pursuing her work. The chapter ended with Pomona giving Hermione her parents’ address and warning her that Dementors threatened them, leaving Hermione to decide how to protect them.

• Hermione told Pomona that Molly had opposed her plans to work and that Ron had stayed silent during their argument.
• Pomona encouraged Hermione to return to the Department for the Care of Magical Creatures, warned her about McLaggen’s new position, and urged her to talk with Ron rather than expect him to solve everything.
• Hermione reminisced about Christmas with Ron and revealed that their wedding night had been repeated at The Burrow because he had been too drunk to remember it.
• Hermione told Pomona that Amos Diggory blamed Harry for Cedric’s death, and Pomona insisted that Hermione’s imagined alternative past with Lily was impossible.
• Pomona gave Hermione her parents’ current address and told her that Dementors threatened them, urging her to protect the parents who had once protected her.

Severus vented his bitterness about being treated as a Slytherin scapegoat and his painful past while Pomona comforted him with sweets. After binding her with dark magic, he admitted he feared his love would bring her harm, but Pomona promised they would face their difficulties together.

• Severus complained to Pomona about Gryffindors receiving praise while Slytherins were blamed, and recalled how James and Lockhart had used him as a foil.
• Pomona offered Severus peppermint creams and shared stories about Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco at Hogsmeade.
• Severus and Pomona kissed, and Pomona said she would not let Neville face the next werewolf transformation alone.
• Pomona asked Severus to show her dark magic, and he used Light-and-Shadow Binding to immobilize her while explaining the spell.
• Pomona told Severus she would accept his flaws and solve their problems together, and Severus confessed he feared his love would hurt her as it had the women he loved before.

After a disastrous theater date, Draco confided in Pomona about his feelings for Astoria and his fears that she might reject him for his past as a Death Eater. Pomona reflected on their relationship as they visited her greenhouse, where Draco asked to borrow it for Valentine's Day.

• Draco recalled how a play mocked Lucius Malfoy and praised Harry Potter, before Astoria took him ice-skating.
• Draco asked Pomona whether she minded that his godfather had been a Death Eater, and whether Astoria would mind Draco's own past.
• Draco asked Pomona to sound out Astoria's feelings, but she suggested they visit the greenhouse instead.
• Draco told Pomona that Moaning Myrtle had returned to the second-floor bathroom and that Theodore Nott had disappeared.
• Pomona and Draco found the greenhouse thriving, and Draco asked to borrow it for Valentine's Day.

At the Triwizard Tournament Christmas Ball, Draco watched Severus Snape leave the dance floor before Pomona ambushed him at Malfoy Manor and discussed planting a magical guardian tree. Pomona’s memories of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black stirred her emotions, and Severus calmed her with potions before she reflected on Fleur and the hidden Durmstrang school.

• Draco noticed Severus Snape leave the ball with Karkaroff, followed him into the courtyard, and watched Snape punish two students for kissing in a carriage.
• Pomona ambushed Draco at Malfoy Manor, then suggested replacing an oak beside the greenhouse with a magical guardian tree.
• Pomona explained that she disliked the Weird Sisters’ music and remembered her anger over Dumbledore leaving Sirius Black in Azkaban and Remus Lupin’s troubled life.
• Draco asked why Pomona and other tournament figures seemed unhappy, and Pomona sent him to chop down the tree.
• Pomona’s emotions surged, so she summoned Severus, who gave her soothing and calming potions; she leaned against him and said life was unfair.
• Pomona complained that Fleur had called Hogwarts food greasy, and Severus explained that Durmstrang was hidden to protect it from people hunting it down.

Pomona reflected on Fleur’s Triwizard task and the chaotic events surrounding the Yule Ball before trying to calm Severus, who was ready to abandon caution and die with her. After Pomona sang him to sleep, a Blackroot plant in the greenhouse began to dance.

• Fleur Delacour used enchantment magic to lull the Dragon, extinguished her burning dress, silenced the audience, and took the golden egg.
• Pomona recalled helping Cedric learn the Bubble-Head Charm and ensuring Neville’s Gillyweed information eventually reached Harry Potter.
• Pomona and Severus discussed her curse, his willingness to die with her, and his desire to stop worrying about consequences.
• Pomona reminded Severus that she could not forgive casual killing, then soothed him by letting him rest on her lap while she sang.
• Pomona’s song made the hellhound snore and caused the Blackroot in the greenhouse to dance.

Pomona and Severus discussed Kingsley’s investigation into a Thunderbird crisis and revisited their painful past, including Lily’s fate and Harry Potter’s scar. After Severus urged Pomona to confront her hunger and her connection to giants, they turned to clearing Bubotuber vines at Malfoy Manor, while Severus asked her for a more intimate birthday name.

• Severus told Pomona that Kingsley was investigating an avian crisis involving a Thunderbird and that Aurors were tracking Marcus Flint.
• Severus pressed Pomona about her hunger for human souls and argued that she could teach giants to use earth magic, while Pomona feared the consequences.
• Severus recounted his history with Lily, the Dark Lord, and Harry, then revealed that Harry’s scar had begun hurting again around the time Pomona was attacked.
• Pomona recalled that Severus had poisoned Karkaroff at the Yule Ball and realized Severus had given her sorrow-inducing Sorrow Worm honey.
• Severus summoned Draco to gather potion ingredients so they could clear Bubotuber vines, and Draco happily agreed to break off his engagement with Astoria if she could not keep a secret.
• Severus asked Pomona to give him a more intimate name as a birthday present, then left while she prepared potion ingredients.

Pomona worked with Draco and Astoria to find Gnomes whose burrows might contain Horklumps, while warning Draco not to mistreat his fiancée. She revealed her marriage to Snape and, overcome by painful memories, ended the chapter crying in the snow.

• Pomona recalled Snape’s cruel detentions and his disgust at clustered things while preparing to brew a potion with Draco and Astoria.
• When Draco asked about the missing Horklump juice, Pomona explained that Horklumps fed on Gnomes and led them outside to search for the creatures.
• Pomona warned Draco that she would punish him if he deceived or mistreated Astoria, then demonstrated Sectumaxia by cutting down an oak tree.
• Pomona reassured Astoria that she was Draco’s godmother and confirmed that she had married Snape.
• Pomona advised Astoria to be careful around Slytherins, then broke down in tears over her own past foolishness.

Pomona and Severus Snape shared an intimate moment in a broom closet, recalling how he had protected her from a Yeti and how they had first begun working together. Pomona later watched Astoria and Draco play and planned to buy Horklump juice and flower seeds in Diagon Alley.

• Pomona’s Polyjuice Potion began wearing off before a hidden man dragged her into a broom closet and revealed himself as Severus Snape.
• Pomona asked Severus to hold her, and they became intimate as she reassured him about his strength and remembered his humiliation by James Potter.
• Pomona examined Severus’s body and kissed the scar he had received while protecting her from a Yeti.
• Pomona recalled that she and Severus had escaped the Yeti together, then agreed to work with him after he offered to help supply weedkiller ingredients.
• Pomona watched Astoria and Draco play in the garden and decided to send a House-elf to buy Horklump juice and flower seeds in Diagon Alley.

Pomona taught Astoria the Plant Growth Charm and spent the afternoon with her and Draco in the greenhouse. As evening fell, Pomona asked Draco to recount the battle, preparing to return to her work and confront what had happened.

• Pomona taught Astoria the Plant Growth Charm, and Astoria successfully grew flowering hellebore.
• Pomona put Draco and Astoria to work preparing potion ingredients and scolded Draco for overlooking a more efficient way to process them.
• After Draco remarked that Pomona was bored and had not examined the seeds, Pomona reflected on the value of being understood.
• Pomona asked Draco about the battlefield, where Werewolves, Giants, and Dementors had formed an allied force, and he agreed to talk over tea.

Draco recounted the North Sea battle, where he treated wounded wizards, helped repel a giant attack, and discovered that riders were assaulting the Ministry ships and Azkaban. Pomona praised his work but urged him and Astoria to prepare for future threats, while Draco and Astoria arranged a library date beneath growing mistletoe.

• Dementors and Werewolves attacked the human forces on the North Sea coast, and Draco treated the wounded despite his fear.
• Draco summoned a Basilisk to stop giants approaching the camp, then raised the alarm when it was discovered and the group retreated.
• Draco spotted Disillusioned riders on Water Horses sneaking toward the Ministry ships and warned the Aurors, but the Azkaban guards were ambushed and prisoners escaped using Strangling Poison Gas.
• Draco told Pomona that The Godfather had brought Dragons to support the retreat, while Draco had survived the Dementors by hiding behind people who could cast Expecto Patronum.
• Pomona urged Draco to study Potions with his godfather and Astoria to study advanced Herbology with her, and she assigned them to prepare supplies for fire-magic burns.
• Draco asked Astoria to go on a library date, and she agreed as mistletoe above them grew more luxuriant.

Pomona challenged Severus over his plans to hunt Werewolves and confronted him about his fear of death and his past. Severus warned that she had waited too long to regret their relationship, then left her in the snow.

• Pomona teased Severus in the greenhouse and asked what he and the others had done after Christmas Eve.
• Severus said they had hunted Werewolves, while Pomona insisted that Lavender Brown should be spared because she was a victim.
• Pomona challenged Severus over his harsh rule at Hogwarts and argued that he was making the wrong choices.
• Pomona told Severus she believed he feared his luck was running out and urged him to stop hiding his true self.
• Severus recalled how he had beaten Slughorn in a potion contest by making Exploding Fluid, then told Pomona it was too late to regret her choice.
• Severus left through the snow, and Draco warned Pomona that Severus would eat her alive.

Pomona sought refuge with the Malfoys after angering Severus, but Lucius demanded her help with Gringotts security and she returned to Godric's Hollow. There, Severus confronted her about Dumbledore's influence and pressed her to choose a life with him, ending with a kiss.

• Pomona asked Narcissa Malfoy for refuge, but Narcissa refused after Draco explained that Pomona had provoked Severus by calling him timid and discussing his bloodline.
• Lucius described the war against werewolves and demanded that Pomona help resolve Gringotts' security problem, so she returned to Godric's Hollow.
• Pomona found Severus waiting in her sitting room, where he questioned how Dumbledore had hidden his actions from the students.
• Severus accused Dumbledore of using him and Harry Potter, and asked whether Pomona would repeat the same pattern with Neville Longbottom.
• Severus urged Pomona to stop serving Dumbledore's legacy and join him openly, while she admitted that she liked secrets.
• Pomona threatened Severus for his dramatics, and he kissed her.

Pomona reflected on the blackout, Muggle fear, and Severus’s growing power while recovering from an intimate encounter with him. Remembering Severus standing unprotected between a Werewolf and the children, she resolved to protect Lavender Brown from the fate of Lupin, even as she accepted that some Werewolves might be made examples of.

• Pomona recalled how the North American blackout had brought out both generosity and violence, and contrasted it with the longer, organized conflict between European Muggles and wizards.
• Pomona remembered that Hannah’s Muggle mother had vanished and remained missing, and considered how pure-blood families rejected those who could coexist with Muggles.
• Severus teased Pomona after their encounter, and she kissed him when he asked how she would thank him.
• Pomona reflected on Severus’s dark nature, his dislike of students, and his past willingness to face a Werewolf to protect Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
• Pomona decided that Lavender Brown would become her new subject and that she would not let Lavender follow Lupin’s path.

Pomona and Severus discussed her plan to study Werewolves and the government’s plans for a Werewolf Capture Unit. As they grew closer, Pomona reflected on fate, Sirius, and the choices that had shaped their lives.

• Pomona asked to keep Lavender Brown as a research subject so she could explore how Werewolves and humans might coexist, and Severus agreed not to leave her to handle it alone.
• Severus said he needed an Animagus to lead the Werewolf Capture Unit and asked Pomona to train the chosen wizard, but she suggested using a former Order of the Phoenix member instead.
• Severus warned Pomona that Goblins might join the Werewolves in a rebellion and told her to prevent the Goblins from rising up.
• Pomona reflected on Lupin’s return to Hogwarts, Hermione’s Time-Turner, and how changing the fates of people connected to Harry had brought both happiness and grief.
• Pomona thought about Sirius’s unjust imprisonment and Kingsley’s refusal to return Dementors to Azkaban while she bathed with Severus.

Pomona went to the market with Hannah Abbott to buy ingredients for Easter ham and teach her to cook. She urged Hannah to prepare for danger and consider Severus's request, then took her home to have fun while the old bat was away.

• Pomona explained how Werewolves could be killed and reflected on Galvin's chance to gain power as Kingsley's support declined.
• Pomona and Hannah shopped for ingredients and accessories, and Pomona talked about Severus's fighting skill and the Confundus Charm.
• Pomona invited Hannah to learn Easter ham in exchange for delivering food to Harry and the Weasleys, and asked her to look for protective equipment at home.
• Pomona pressed Hannah to reconsider Severus's request and reminded her that she and other girls had helped push Draco toward becoming a Death Eater.
• Pomona encouraged Hannah to learn to fight without becoming reckless, then linked arms with her and headed home.

Pomona talked with Hannah Abbott about Hogsmeade pubs, old Hogwarts classmates, and the men they admired. Hannah asked to join Pomona’s plans with Ernie, while Pomona reflected on her changed feelings about Severus and her view of Neville.

• Hannah told Pomona she wanted to run the Leaky Cauldron in her own way rather than imitate Madam Rosmerta.
• Hannah teased Pomona about loving Professor Snape and asked how she had reconciled with Sirius.
• Hannah admired Pomona’s Occamy egg and asked to bring Ernie along to help at the Leaky Cauldron.
• Pomona and Hannah discussed Ginny’s ambition, her place in the Slug Club, and how she became Mrs. Potter.
• Pomona recalled teaching Neville to dance and wondered why she still struggled to accept Severus as a brave, powerful man.