Chapter Four – Day One

They got a special escort to the Ministry. Apparently, the collar that Snape was wearing would not permit him to Apparate, not even Side-Along Apparition, and using Muggle means was deemed highly inappropriate. So they were met by a car at some godawful hour of the morning. Harry was barely out of bed and was still trying to wish away the hangover when the rap on the door came. Magnified by ten thousand in his abused mind, Harry was well-prepared to curse the bastards that came for him at the unsightly hour of ten in the morning. Upon opening the door and seeing that it was the Ministry, he re-thought things, and allowed them in while he went off to get dressed.

It took him more than an hour before he felt ready to go back downstairs, and didn't really care that he was making the Ministry wait. Yes, he had called them the previous evening and told them that Severus was talking and that they were more than welcome to bring him in for interrogation, but couldn't they have waited for a more sensible hour? Finally, he was ready to go, and went in to tell Snape.

Snape was sitting on the bed, serene and haughty. "It's time to go to the Ministry, Snape," said Harry, finding himself unable to meet Snape's eye.

"I think I would have realized that for myself, as they introduced themselves, very loudly, I might add, when they came in."

"Uh…well…yes. Well, it's time to go."

"What if I do not particularly feel like accompanying you, Mr. Potter?"

"Well…you're the reason that they're here. They want to question you…now that you're talking to us again. We need to know certain things."

"Such as?"

It was disconcerting, Harry realized, that Snape was not making eye contact. In fact, he seemed to be looking everywhere in the room except him. It felt as though Snape wasn't actually speaking to him, but to somebody else. "Mostly…I guess, they want your confession, but they also want to know what's going on."

"What's going on?" Snape now looked at him. There was a distinctly amused expression on his face as he rose from the bed. His movements were slow and measured, as though he was not quite sure of himself, and had to watch every step to keep from falling over.

"Come on, Snape. It's not me you need to tell it all to. It's the Ministry. And they're waiting downstairs for you, so let's go." Harry reached out to grab Snape's arm, but Snape pulled back before Harry even got close.

"I assure you, Mr. Potter, that I am quite capable of walking down a flight of stairs."

Harry shook his head. Sometimes, it just wasn't worth even trying to be nice to Snape. "Fine. Have it your way. Come on." Harry walked out of the room and waited for Snape to start walking before starting on the stairs. Keeping an eye on him, Harry walked into the living room to hand him off to the Ministry officials.

Harry had thought that they would be able to take Snape and he could go back to bed, as he was sorely tired and in need of at least five more hours of sleep. But they dragged him along anyway, saying that there were things that they needed to ask him, too.

The car ride there was thoroughly uneventful, and Harry had long since grown unimpressed with the magic way of squeezing into impossible gaps to make sure that even the worst traffic did not delay them by more than a few seconds. They did not go through the visitors entrance, but through one of the three employee entrances, and shortly emerged into the lobby.

He was far too familiar with the place, and frankly would have been glad to have never set foot in the place again. More specifically, to never go back to the Department of Aurors, where he knew Felix would be waiting for him, with that smug look on his face. Sure enough, Felix was, and Harry wanted to punch him. Instead, he smiled and said, "It's been a long time, Felix."

"That it has, Harry. I trust you are doing well?"

"Brilliant. Except for having a Death Eater in my spare bedroom, I couldn't be better."

"On that, I must congratulate you." Felix jerked his head backwards. "We've got him in an interrogation room right now. Thanks for getting him to talk. All of us here appreciate it."

"Oh, so has he been talking?" Harry was thrilled; that meant that Snape would be going back to Azkaban and he could have his life back. Though, he was forced to admit, things weren't that much different now that Snape was there. Still, it felt damn strange to have his former professor and acknowledged Death Eater sleeping in the same house as him.

Here, Felix looked at the floor. "Well…not as such…but the day is still young." Clearly trying to change the subject, he cleared his throat and continued, "In any case, Harry, we would appreciate your input on certain activities and goings-on in the country."

"In case you forgot, I don't work here anymore." As a teenager, being an Auror seemed like a cool job, but the reality of it was far more boring. Half the day was whiled away on paperwork, and it was only on the rare occasion that they got to do any fieldwork. Harry had been hoping for a job that would keep him active and moving around, and instead, he had wound up at a desk job in the Ministry. He didn't think that he would take this job back if it was offered to him; he had enough money to never need to work again. "And I don't think that I really want to work here again, so don't bother offering me my job back."

Felix laughed, but it was not a particularly happy laugh. "Don't fool yourself, Harry. You may be famous, but I wouldn't hire you if McDougall himself told me to."

Harry felt insulted. "What do you mean? I can do the job."

"You can do the job, but so can so many others, without all of the attitude."

"What attitude?"

"The saving-the-world attitude, that we should all bow down and worship you. Believe me, Harry, I appreciate what you did, but that doesn't mean that we need to worship you for the rest of your life, certainly not when you turn into the drunk asshole that you've become."

Harry felt that it wouldn't be wise to punch him, but he certainly felt like it. Instead, he shook his head and took a deep breath. "Then why would you want me to look at anything? If I'm the awful person that you claim I am, and that I'm so unfit for this job, then why should I do anything for you?"

"You're not a teenager anymore, Harry. Stop acting like one."

Harry nearly pouted, and then remembered that that would be proving Felix's point. He took another deep breath and counted to ten in his head. When he was finished, he looked back up at Felix and forced a smile onto his face. "What do you want me to look at and why?" He was going to try to be civil to Felix, even if Felix didn't deserve it.

"Just some possible Death Eater sightings south of London."

There had to be more to it than that, but Felix had never been one for long explanations. "Lead the way," said Harry. It was, he suspected, going to be an extremely long day.


He was right. It had been five hours of the worst tedium he had ever encountered. Yes, terrible things were starting to happen again, but there was little that Harry personally could do to stop them that the rest of the Aurors could not manage. It baffled Harry why Felix had insisted he aid the Aurors, as they seemed to enjoy his company as little as Felix did. All it accomplished was to put everyone in an awful mood and lead to Harry nearly stomping out. The only thing that stopped him from doing it was the fact that Felix had specifically pointed out that he was acting childishly, and he didn't want to prove Felix right, even if he knew he was.

Finally, Felix came over to them and pulled him aside. "We're done with him for the day."

"So?"

"So, it's time for you to take him back."

"Why don't you just put him back in Azkaban? He's started talking again, so what's the big deal?"

"He isn't talking to us, though. You need to convince him to."

"I think that's what you told me to do before. In case you didn't notice, I'm hardly his confidante, and I don't want to be." Harry shuddered at the thought. He didn't even want to think about the things that were on Snape's conscience, and certainly didn't care to share the burden. "What if I don't want him in my house? You can't obligate me to take him." Harry crossed his arms over his chest and fought the pouting expression that wanted to come out.

When Felix spoke, his voice was quiet and firm. "Harry James Potter, you will take Severus Snape to your house, you will keep him there until such time as he has confessed and given us the aid we need. That is the ruling that was made, and we are simply obeying it. Now, it is time for you and Snape to return to your house, where you will talk to him about the importance of him confessing. Is that clear?"

"I can't MAKE him confess, Felix." Harry shook his head. "Why don't you just use Veritaserum? I'm sure you could get permission."

Felix gave Harry a look of disdain. "Of course we've already used it."

"And?" Harry was a bit lost now. "If you gave him some, he should have spilled his most closely guarded secrets by now."

"We long suspected that Lord Voldemort had concocted the vaccine for Veritaserum, and it appears that those fears were true. We got nothing from Snape, and that is why it must be made under his own power, of his own decision."

Harry shook his head. "Fine. Whatever. Where is he?"

"Right here?"

Harry turned around and saw Snape walking towards him. Snape appeared to be limping a little. "What's wrong?" he asked, but received no reply, not from Snape and not from the Ministry officials. Without waiting for the explanation that he knew he wouldn't get, he walked out of the office and to the elevator, not much caring if they followed.

Unfortunately, they did, and they took the Ministry car back to his house, where he was left in the growing twilight with one Severus Snape. As they were walking into the house, Harry tried again, "What did they do to you?"

Snape didn't say anything.

Harry felt like throwing a tantrum. Instead, he poured himself a drink. That was a much more grown-up thing to do. "Look, Snape. I know you're not catatonic. There's no point in you not talking to me. In fact, I'm probably the only person in the world that can help you right now?"

Snape silently helped himself to a drink and sat down before saying, "And how, Mr. Potter, would you be able to help me? Unless I am sorely mistaken, you are the reason that the Ministry questioned me today."

"Well…yeah, I phoned them last night. To tell them that you were talking. So you can't just go in there and not talk. You're making me look like a liar…you're making me look bad."

"Don't fret, Mr. Potter, we both know you are more than capable of looking bad all on your own." Snape drained his glass and then rose, a little unsteadily, to his feet. "If you will excuse me, Mr. Potter, I am going to retire."

"Are you okay?" Harry called after him half-heartedly. He wasn't much for healing magic, but he could give it a shot.

But he got exactly the response he had expected. "I am perfectly fine, Mr. Potter."