"Skeeter!" Harry exclaimed when he and Severus rejoined the others. "I have a deal to make with you. We will get you out of here and save your life, on the condition that you don't publish what you heard, and that you do publish an article backing the court's decision, exposing the Minister for what he is, and advocating that Severus not be further tried for leaving Spinner's End under these circumstances. Is that acceptable to you?" Skeeter glared at him, but nodded.

"Alright," Harry continued, "Ron and Hermione, you go to Professor McGonnagall and have her keep the Ministry occupied with something - anything! - for long enough to have Skeeter publish her article. Severus and I will go to a small flat I have, and hope the dementors don't follow us." Ron and Hermione nodded. "Now, we all need to cast our patronuses together if we hope to get out of here."

A round of "Expecto Patronum!" was heard, and four new patronuses were seen. They all left Spinner's End safely, and split their different ways.

It was very quiet in Harry's flat. Severus had fallen asleep on the couch. His patronus had drained a lot of energy from him, and Harry was not about to disturb him. Harry wondered how the rest of the group were fairing. It would all come down to tomorrow's paper.

Harry opened up the morning paper and saw Skeeter's article on the front page. "Severus Snape - guilty and innocent at the same time." Harry read the article avidly, and found it to his satisfaction. It defended the idea that due to circumstances, house arrest was in fact a suitable punishment. She advocated that nothing happen to Snape because of leaving his house - this time - because the Minister had sent the dementors.

Then, Harry spotted another article, or rather, he should have spotted this one first. It was the top headline. "Minister resigns, due to scandal." That article dealt with the whole business of the trial, and the dementors. Apparently McGonnagall had called for his resignation, and knowing that public opinion was moving against him, he had decided to resign.

Severus was still sleeping, and Harry woke him up, telling him what had happened.

"It's safe to go back to Spinner's End now," he said. Harry smiled.

The End

House points:

Slytherin: 445

Gryffindor: 265

Ravenclaw: 210

Hufflepuff: 120