Chapter 3 folks! Thanks for all the interest, especially those of you who have reviewed - I love reviews!

Excessivelyperky – no, Albus didn't leave anything to show why Snape acted as he did but that's not Dumbledore bashing. He'd left a message for him to deliver to Harry and he knew that Harry had to believe that message in order to succeed. Once he did that, Dumbledore knew Harry well enough to know he would speak up for Snape and thought that would be enough to protect him. What he hadn't counted on was the old Ministry resurrecting itself. He just made a mistake, which, as he admitted to Harry, he was capable of doing.

Previously,

"Good morning, Severus." Mrs. Weasley greeted him as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley." He replied respectfully as be began setting the table without being asked. As he did so, he remembered his first meal at The Burrow.

He'd looked at the food with disbelief, large chunks of meat crowded against generously sliced pieces of vegetable. He'd briefly compared it to the grey water with a solitary sliver of carrot or cabbage leaf floating in it that had masqueraded as broth in Azkaban, while the single hunk of bread alone would have been an entire day's ration there. Then, to his shame, he'd attacked them both, greedily and with a total disregard for table manners.

Chapter 3

"Morning Mum, morning Severus." George Weasley casually threw an expensive looking travelling cloak over the back of a threadbare but comfortable armchair and proceeded to pile sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs and mushrooms onto his plate. He looked round, "Where's the toast?"

"George Weasley, where's your manners?" his mother replied. "What about the rest of us?"

Severus set the full toast rack beside the young man as he grinned back at his mother, "I've got to keep up my strength Mum! I'm apparating to Moscow after breakfast for the grand opening of our new branch there. You didn't mind Severus eating his way through a cauldron of broth and an entire bakery when he first arrived!"

"That was different as you well know!"

"What do you think, Severus? Apparating uses up a lot of energy doesn't it?"

"I'd be grateful if you'd leave me out of this discussion." Severus replied dryly. Then winced and added, "Sir." as the collar reminded him he had yet to show appropriate respect to the man it regarded as one of his masters.

Further debate was terminated by the appearance of the other, a bleary eyed Mr. Weasley, still dressed in his nightshirt. "Ah, breakfast!" he exclaimed, "best meal of the day!" He sat down and poured himself a mug of tea.

Mrs. Weasley's protests had obviously been for show because the dishes containing the food were re-filled and she and Severus joined the male Weasley's at the table. Finally, the last piece of toast disposed of; they all sat back with sighs of satisfaction.

"Right, I'm off, see you all tonight!"

With that, George grabbed his cloak and left the house. There was a loud pop as he apparated, Mrs. Weasley's cry of "Put on that cloak before you leave, it's cold in Russia!" falling on empty air.

Almost immediately an owl flew in through the open window and landed on the table, dropping its package and looking expectantly from Mr. to Mrs. Weasley. After Mr. Weasley had placed a sickle in the bag attached to its leg and given it the remains of a sausage, it took off.

Mr. Weasley unfolded the Daily Prophet and glanced at the front page. "Damn it!"

"What's wrong Arthur?" asked his alarmed wife.

Mr. Weasley began to read aloud, "WIZARDING SAFETY REMAINS MINISTRY PRIORITY. Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Cornelius Fudge used his speech to the annual conference of the Dark Force Defence League yesterday to announce improvements in measures for the safety and security of the wizarding public. 'Why should only Ministry buildings and the homes of senior officials enjoy the benefits of Dark Detectors?' he asked. 'The Ministry has concluded that we are failing in our duty if we do not extend these to the wizarding public at large. So, over the next few months, we shall be undertaking a programme to install them in all places frequented by wizards and witches. The first places to enjoy this level of enhanced protection will be Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, where installation will commence over the next few weeks.'

Chief Warlock Fudge's statement was welcomed by Mrs. Agatha Trott of Nether Wallop who said, 'As a mother I worry about the safety of my children. You hear such horrible stories. Once the Dark Detectors are in place I will sleep so much easier!'

Mrs. Hermione Weasley of London, well known defender of Dark Wizards, including infamous Death Eater Severus Snape, however, condemned the move, calling it 'government intrusion' and 'an invasion of privacy.'"

Mr. Weasley threw the paper down in disgust. "This has nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with public control!"

"Yes, I know dear!" his wife agreed, "but I wish Hermione hadn't spoken out. As a friend of Harry's they won't dare attack her directly but the Ministry knows she's our daughter in law and Severus is here with us. The Prophet didn't just bring up his name by accident."

As Severus listened, what he'd been told the evening of his arrival at "The Burrow" flashed through his mind.

"I'm sorry it's taken us so long to get you out of Azkaban and that the circumstances are still far from ideal." Mr. Weasley had apologised. "The Order has never stopped trying to get you released. After your conviction, Harry went to Scrimgeour and asked for your case to be reviewed but Scrimgeour all but laughed in his face. Said that Harry hadn't helped him when he'd wanted a favour, so why should he help Harry? In fact, he's been trying to re-write history ever since he was re-instated as Minister of Magic and, thanks to the support of the Daily Prophet, he's been quite successful."

Mrs. Weasley had interrupted her husband, "He hasn't been able to write Harry out altogether, but, according to Minerva, over the last few years new pupils have arrived at Hogwarts believing he was part of a Ministry assault team and just happened to be the one who killed Voldemort. The rest of us don't exist at all!"

"That's right. Scrimgeour has used the power of the Ministry to prevent the publication of anything that contradicts the official version of events and Harry's influence with the wizarding public at large has waned as a result."

"I seem to remember that Lovegood was never a man to be intimidated or to care what the Ministry thought. I'm surprised Potter didn't give one of his famous interviews to "The Quibbler," Severus had sneered.

A shadow had passed across Mr. Weasley's face as he replied, "He did, but the Ministry just ignored it and interest eventually died away. After that, Hermione started researching magical law, looking for a loophole to appeal your conviction to the Wizengamot but, unfortunately, there wasn't one."

"Perhaps, you should have consulted a qualified attorney rather than relying on a child who never even completed her NEWT's." he'd responded.

"She is twenty seven years old now and she is qualified. She specialises in pursuing civil rights cases on behalf of all magical beings. You might be interested to know that she's also married to our Ron." Mr. Weasley had responded quietly.

Severus had felt sharp needles of pain shoot across his temple and realised that his attitude was perilously close to insolence. He'd felt more like himself now he was clean and warm and had a full stomach but he'd have to watch his tongue if he wanted to avoid the collar punishing him. He'd wondered if that was how the House Elves had originally been trained to their enslavement. He forced his voice into a quieter, less confrontational tone. "I'm sorry, master. Please continue."

"Anyway, after that we were stuck for what to do next …"

"Yeah," it had been George Weasley's turn to interrupt, "though some of us were thinking of staging a prison break!"

Mrs. Weasley had given her son a half proud, half frustrated look, "And ended up in Azkaban yourself for your trouble!" she had exclaimed before taking up the tale, "We decided to wait until there was a new Minister of Magic but time passed and that became less and less likely as Scrimgeour consolidated his power base. Then the Ministry made its announcement and we thought that if we bought your contract at least you'd be out of that awful place while we waited for something to develop, even if you weren't actually free!"

"You should know, Severus," she had gone on in a serious voice, "that while most of the money came from Harry and George here, every member of the Order of the Phoenix made a donation."

The younger Weasley had shrugged, "Business has been good. In addition to London, we've now got branches in New York, Paris, Hogsmeade and other major wizarding centres." He'd then glared at Severus, "But don't think you're forgiven for my ear. One day, when you've got your wand back, you and I are going to have a long discussion about the importance of accuracy in spell-casting, with practical demonstrations from me on how it's done!"

"Everyone wanted to be here to welcome you back." added Mrs. Weasley. "But we thought that might be a bit over-powering for you. Especially as we didn't know what sort of shape you'd be in, so we persuaded them to wait a bit."

'I should have known.' Severus had thought to himself, 'Gryffindor's make a virtue of loyalty and the Order was full of them!' Despite himself, however, he had been touched by this exhibition of it towards himself; but, there was one obvious step the Order could have taken and he wanted to know why they hadn't. He had to phrase the question carefully, however, in case his collar considered it disrespectful to his masters and mistress.

"Forgive me for asking, mistress, masters, but why didn't someone just stand against Scrimgeour for the Minister of Magic post? The wizarding public is notoriously fickle. There must have been some point in the last ten years when he was vulnerable to a challenge."

Mr. Weasley had nodded and the shadow Severus had seen earlier, when he'd mentioned Lovegood, returned to his face, "Because people who dare to oppose him and Fudge have a tendency to suffer misfortune." he'd said quietly. "For example, about seven years ago, Scrimgeour signed an agreement with Bulgaria that would have put most small cauldron manufacturing companies out of business. It was very unpopular. Victoria Carmall, the head of the Federation of Small Magical Businesses, announced her candidature for the post. The very next day, the 'Prophet' alleged that she was a Dark Witch and forbidden rites were regularly practiced at her home. The Aurors took her in for questioning and searched the place from top to bottom. They found nothing of course but by then the damage was done. And you mentioned Xenophilius Lovegood earlier. Well, three years ago, he published an article accusing the Ministry of corruption and naming names. He said he had evidence implicating even more senior officials which he was going to put in the next edition. He got a visit from the Department of Magical Tax Assessment who said he owed over 10,000 galleons in back taxes. He told Luna that he wasn't going to be frightened off the story and he'd fight them all the way. A little while later, he disappeared. Fled the country to avoid prosecution according to the Ministry but Luna hasn't heard from him since…"

The sound of voices arguing brought him back to the present.

"What do you mean; you've made arrangements with Justin Finch-Fletchley to visit his father?" Mrs. Weasley was screaming. "Everyone is coming round this evening to see Severus. How am I going to be ready if you're not here to help? At least George had a good excuse. He's been planning the store opening for months."

Mr. Weasley was cowering away from his wife's wrath. "I'm sorry dear but Justin's father is in the commtutors industry. I've always wanted to learn more about muggle communication methods and it was the only day he could manage. I'll be back early afternoon and it won't take a moment to summon the tables and chairs."

"And what do we use for decorations, never mind the food and drink?"

"Well, I thought Severus could go shopping with you!"

"So, you expect Severus to actually help prepare his own welcome back party? And have you asked him if he wants to go to Diagon Alley the same day his name appeared in the paper again? Especially considering it would be his first trip out since he's been here. Well, I can see where George gets his streak of irresponsibility from, Arthur Weasley, and it's not from me!"

Severus spoke, he'd turned down other invitations from Mrs. Weasley to join her on shopping trips but he couldn't hide here forever and the fact that she appeared to be making decisions for him was another hated reminder of his subservient status. That, together with the reference to him in the Daily Prophet had left him quietly seething.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Weasley but I don't mind going with you. In fact, I'd like to see Diagon Alley again." he said.

T.B.C.