Chapter fourteen

Kingsley, Gawain Robards the head auror and Simon arrived at the Burrow. They knocked, Molly opening the door looking anxious.

'The kids aren't hurt, are they?' Molly asked twisting her hands nervously.

'Something happened but no, they are not hurt,' Kingsley didn't smile he just nodded to Gawain who handed Molly some parchment.

'You want to search my home, why?'

'Ron, Ginny and Hermione all lost their magic. We have performed every spell over them, we never found anything. Poppy Pomfrey and Severus Snape also performed a lot of charms over them. From the information we received it seemed Ginny was having difficulty from the time she returned to school after the holidays. There are some very powerful potions that might be able to do this.'

'But it could have been a student, why would you believe I had anything to do with this?'

'No student could do this Molly, not even the combined staff could do this. We checked for all spells that could dampen or remove magic, none were found. A potion is the likely choice, and we know you do make your own potions, so they need to be checked. If you could show Mr. Robards and Mr. Robinson to your potions room please so they can examine what you have.'

'This is ridiculous Kingsley, you know me, I would not hurt my children like this.'

'This is official Molly, I must be addressed as minister and as you read for yourself, you cannot refuse.'

Molly grumbled but showed the two aurors into her potions room before heading to the fireplace.

'I am allowed to firecall my husband I would presume…minister,' Molly said coldly.

'Of course,' Kingsley nodded then looked around the kitchen. He did see some plants that could be added to potions and very powerful potions as well.

Within five minutes Arthur stepped out of the fireplace, 'Minister, what is this about?'

'As I explained to your wife Arthur, Ron, Ginny and Hermione have lost their magic. So far all tests have not revealed how it was done. We know your wife makes powerful potions so we decided to check. For all we know this was an accident, a potion that had gone off or it got contaminated. But until we examine ever potion we cannot say.'

Gawain and Simon walked out holding a few potions each, 'There are three here which is illegal and two we cannot recognise, they will need to be tested. The three that Simon has are classed as dark potions.'

'I've always used those, my mother used those, they aren't dark, they help with any health issues.'

'You might not believe they are dark but the ministry does and have done for more than twenty years now. Being in possession of dark potions is a criminal offence, so you will be taken into custody and face the wizengamot,' Kingsley said, 'I would suggest you get a lawyer Arthur, your wife will need one.'

'Molly, it'll be okay, just don't say anything until your lawyer arrives.'

Gawain placed the vials of potions into a bag then took Molly's arm, leaving the house with Simon and Kingsley following.

Harry was lying across Severus chest trying to get his breathing under control, 'Blimey babe, I've never…been so knackered.'

Severus chuckled, 'Stamina my young lover, you will need it to keep up with me.'

'Don't I know it,' Harry slowly sat up, 'Do you think they found it?'

'They must have, you placed it amongst all her other potions, yet as far as anyone knows, the castle is completely sealed to all while the tests are going on. I can allow someone in through the floo network but that has been sealed since I allowed the minister and his auror to leave.'

'It surprised me that I could apparate from inside the castle, at least you didn't have to unseal the tunnel. Finding out from Neville that all this was because of Molly made me furious. Well, she's going to pay for doing this. I could have just walked away if it was to use me for my name or money, but to find out it was her idea to make sure Sirius died, anyway possible,' Harry growled.

'Yes, she shocked both of us, but we're lucky Neville is such a good friend.'

'I trust Neville, that's why I let him use my cloak. I just had to know all of it and he found out for me. But Neville surprised me with how well he acted, he never let on that he knew anything,' Harry sighed, 'I'm sorry, we're here so you could calm me down and I'm tense again.'

'It's understandable that you would be upset, so you have nothing to be sorry about.'

Harry nodded but put his head back on Severus' chest, 'I just want to see the back of all of them.'

'You will, very soon. But we should get up and head down to dinner. Will you be able to keep it together when you see them?'

'Yeah, I can and since I am not talking to them will make it easier.'

Severus and Harry dressed, held hand and headed down through the castle to the great hall. Severus kissed Harry before going to sit with his staff.

'So any word on how this happened Severus?' Minerva asked.

'Nothing yet, I will tell you the moment I know. Have them been in here the whole time?'

'No, they only returned not long ago. If nothing can fix this it will be harder on Ron and Ginny than Hermione.'

'Yes, being a muggleborn will definitely help and I'm sure the minister can give them records that they attended some muggle high school so they can get work in the muggle world.'

'They will need a lot of falsified documents so they can have proof they have been involved in the muggle world since birth. I noticed Harry doesn't seem happy with them, what did they do?'

'Harry and I had some enchanted parchment so we could talk to each other of a night. He thought he misplaced his so he made another one. It seems Ginny had it and has been reading our private conversations; we believe she told her brother and Hermione, but they never returned it to Harry. So he refused to speak with them now, he felt like they were spying on our private lives. Some of what we wrote was personal and very graphic. It was not meant to be seen by others and they moment they knew what it was they should have returned it. But it was like they wanted to find out more about us.'

'I know a lot of students are curious about you and Harry, but yes, that was going a bit far. One thing I will say Severus, Harry has seemed very happy lately, you've given him what he wants and needs.'

'I could not believe he loved me when he had half the students after him, not just the girls either, a lot of boys wanted him. I was a bit concerned that he was confused about his feelings for me, but he proved me wrong, he loves me.'

'He sees the good in someone Severus and he saw you.'

Harry was sitting away from his ex-friends, Neville was beside him, some of their other friends scattered between Harry, Neville and Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

'Did your husband help you relax?' Neville whispered.

'He did, then it just came back to me and made me tense all over again. I can't thank you enough for finding that out. I had trouble believing they came up with it, well, not Ginny as she wasn't giving up, but I didn't want to believe Hermione or Ron would do this to me.'

'You never have to thank me mate, especially not for that. But on to another subject, defence, you will be teaching our children in years to come.'

Harry grinned, 'Yep, I will be. I was shocked when they offered me the position but I always knew I would end up at Hogwarts. I always felt a connection to the place, it's my home. So now I get to live here forever and with Severus, my life can't get any better.'

'You're happy, you deserve it. But look, the minister is back.'

Harry turned to see Kingsley walking towards the staff table. He got a nod from Severus before he walked off with the minister. They spoke with Ginny and Ron, then they left the great hall with Severus and the minister.

'That can't have anything to do with them having no magic or Hermione would be going with them.'

'It's probably about their mother and what they found, if they found something. But if they didn't then Kingsley shouldn't be here.'

'You make sense, so I wonder what Mrs. Weasley had.'

'Well, when I was talking to Kingsley and Severus, we had a theory that maybe Mrs. Weasley gave them a potion which removed their magic so they would have to remain home. It's going to the extreme and hard to believe she would do it, but nothing else makes sense.'

'Can you let me know tomorrow.'

Harry chuckled, 'I will and you know Sev is going to tell me don't you?'

'Of course, he wouldn't hold this back from you. Anyway, I want to sleep after such an exhausting day. I'll see you in the morning Harry.'

'You will Neville,' Harry waited for his friend to leave then he slowly walked away. He ignored Hermione when she called to him and just continued walking until he came to the gargoyles. He slipped in through a secret entrance that way he didn't need to go through Severus' office when he was with others. He just needed to see his husband before heading to bed, he needed to feel how loved he was and Severus always made him feel loved.