Disclaimer: The same as the previous chapter.

Chapter 34

The Floo connection had flared up and in moments the Minister's head was visible. Taking into account the people present at Snape's personal study, the man had just looked at the potion master. Severus, on the other hand, did notice the caged up anxiety traced on the man's countenance and simply waved at him to step in. The man had stepped out of the grate and standing aside he had made way from Minerva McGonagall to step in as well. To say that the others present in the dim-lit study were surprised was an understatement. The former Gryffindor's had sprung to their feet and hand in no time surrounded the woman in green tartan clothes. "Professor!"

The woman had gushed and had offered each of them, side hugs and a pat on their shoulder. The fact that they were safe and standing in front of her had made her sigh in relief. The only addition to her persona was the sorry looking cane the one she was leaning on, Snape noticed.

"I am glad to see both of you, Mrs. Snape and Mr. Longbottom."

Nodding to her former students, she had hobbled up to Severus Snape, who too had stood up quite baffled by her arrival. The woman did notice him trying to catch the eye of Kingsley and had smacked his arm before engulfing him into a tight hug," Oh, don't try to stew Kingsley, I insisted on coming back to Hogwarts. Severus, I don't like to lay around, doing anything, while you both run around without getting a wink of sleep. Now, I would expect you to reciprocate my gesture and hug me back like a good boy!" When the taller man had brought his arms around the older colleague he was acutely aware of Neville Longbottom gawking at the scene and his own wife smirking right back at him. Pursing his lips, he had pulled back and drawled," Welcome back to Hogwarts."

Showing the Minister the empty two-seater couch a little away from the present setting, Snape had guided Minerva to his own and had helped her sit down. The minister had levitated the couch and had adjusted it so that now the whole seating arrangement looked like a circular formation with the coffee table as the center of attention. Turning to her former students, McGonagall had taken the opportunity to look at them from head to toe. And Snape had to groan because he knew that look of the Transfiguration professor meant she was about to reprimand her cubs in one way or the other.

She had decided to deal with Hermione first," I see my choice does suit you well," eyeing her dress," and I hope you are not already making your mind to take residence in the library," when she heard, Snape cough at that and saw Hermione blush, she had narrowed her eyes and just said," I will talk to you in private after we have had our long-awaited discussion." Without waiting for her bright student's reply, she had turned to Neville, who had immediately stopped grinning and sat up straighter, preparing for a verbal assault. Minerva noticed how the young man had done away with his shakiness and had taken up responsibilities way beyond his capacities and had heard of his success from Shacklebolt. After watching him minutely for half a minute she had actually beamed at him and just exclaimed," I am proud of you Mr. Longbottom. You have brought honour to not only the house of brave Gryffindors but you have made Hogwarts and your ancestors and also your parents and all of us proud of you." Neville's eyes had gone wide and he had ducked his head and just nodded back in acceptance.

Severus had offered her a cup of steamy tea and thanking the man for his thoughtfulness, Minerva had addressed the group in a loud voice," It would have been better if we could have all of you here, but present circumstances are indeed dire. Since I am still the head of the Order of Phoenix," at the mention of Phoenix, Fawkes had flown in and had greatly surprised them. Hermione had caught Neville's eye and had indicated she would fill him with the details later. The students watched how Minerva had regarded the fiery bird and then looked back at Snape and finally back at Fawkes. Not moving her blazing eyes from the magical creature, she had smirked," So you thought you could stick on to Severus, remember he is a master of hiding in the shadows, he is not as lazy as Albus, but I am glad you chose Hogwarts over anything. Thank you, and welcome back."

Turning once again to the group she began," Well, where to begin with...I think it is better that Severus, you and Kingsley start off and I will fill details in between." Giving the woman a curt nod, Snape had stared at the fire and had begun," Madam Snape, you will recollect Bill and Fleur Weasley's wedding ceremony, from where Mr. Potter, Late Mr. Weasley and you had escaped and went on to your pre-decided 'quest for Voldemort's Horcruxes'," both Minerva and Hermione had noticed how he had gritted his teeth while he said the name of his dead master. "Not only the three of you but even the young sister of the bride had gone missing."

Kingsley had cut in," We initially speculated she could have joined you all, but pieces of evidence were not supporting that line of thought beyond a week of her going missing. The Delacour family had filed for an official enquiry and," looking at Snape, he jerked his head," sources from the Dark Lord's rank came back with news that neither did the Dark Lord request for her abduction nor did any of the death eaters owned up having to do anything with it. We had to accept that on face value because it was common knowledge that Voldemort was an ace Legilemens. Well, it became clear much later, that Severus had been duping him on a regular basis."

Snape took up the conversation and went solemn while looking at Neville directly," The department of Aurors did continue to look for the girl, but with the war nearing and the ministry breached by the dark side, that search and its trail both had gone old, till Greyback started getting reckless. I did not pay attention to it. He was always the man to handle the most gruesome task. Yaxley, Dolohov, Bellatrix, the Carrows siblings and Greyback were also the most ruthless. Lucius was more on the side of seeking sadistic pleasure from torture without getting his hands dirty. Anyways, we would have picked up Greyback's sudden retreat from the battle of Hogwarts, and consider it as a red flag, if we were not busy defending the school and making sure to defeat Voldemort for good. But Remus will find it odd. He had told me, it was quite unlikely of a werewolf alpha to retreat because the pack considers it as an act of cowardice. And the only explanation that could support this stepping back and disapprating could be, he knew Voldemort would never win it. That he was not true to the cause. His words were proven right when that very night Greyback attacked the castle with his most fierce pack."

Pausing to take a sip from his cup of tea, which was still hot, he started again," And Mr. Longbottom, along with Mr. Blaise had the opportunity to witness Miss Brown's attack. Though you had your own assumptions of Greyback's backup plan or let's say "his actual plan" way before the war."

Looking back at Snape, then at both Minerva and Hermione, Neville had nodded," We were all hiding in the room of requirement, and I saw him attack Pansy one night, I saw him violating and actually digging his claws, but it was his words, that made my blood run cold." Minerva had leaned forward, her voice raspy," what did he say, Longbottom?"

Gulping down and gritting his teeth till his jaws ached, Nevile looked up and repeated from memory," You would make such a feisty mate, I can't wait to taste you raw. You would make a fine mate, flower. As fine as that floral girl, such curvy flesh within the reach of my hands," rubbing his face with both of his palms he grimaced," I was so focused at saving Pansy that I forget that bit. He was hinting at Lavender and I just couldn't work that out. I will never forgive myself, professor, I could have saved her from this horrible fate," turning once at Snape, he had implored," I was certain of your loyalty but would you have trusted a spy completely amidst a war!"

Snape had had the courtesy to offer the man a genuine reply.' And you did well. Both you and Blaise had taken up the responsibility to counter Greyback while we elders could concentrate on greater perils at hand. Lupin had managed to force Greyback retreat from Hogwarts' grounds that night but he was quite shaken. He had come to me and had explained that in some way he was able to read the werewolves thoughts and get a glimpse of his memories and thoughts. He was certain that Greyback was planning to overthrow and erase the magical world of Britain and perhaps entire Europe as we know it today, and he was doing it in the way of the wild."

Gesturing at Kingsley, Snape continued," I had sent Remus back home to unite with his family and had contacted Kingsley, who was aware of both Draco and my unique role in the War. Shacklebolt you can say your part once I have done with mine. I need to say this now, or else they will get confused unnecessarily. And I suppose Minerva, you will have to explain to me in detail about this blood marital bonding spell! Never thought you would know of it in the first place, I was betting on Filius's involvement in all of this. Kingsley, is there any word of him?"

Minerva had sniffed and the Minister had gravely replied," We are still inquiring, but the charms professor is still missing. His cottage is warded and protected and his office…" cutting him Snape had blurted," still sealed off, in fact, the entire Ravenclaw tower is sealed off."

From the corner of his eyes, he watched both Hermione and Neville exchange concerned looks and continued," We had Miss Lavender's words as our first clue, thanks to your Mr Longbottom, which I had mentioned to both Shacklebolt and Minerva. And the next thing you all were aware of was the attacks on the Parkinsons and our on raid at Staghorn Lair, while Greyback had gone after the Greengrass family, unable to locate Pansy. But before all of this something monumental happened that night in this study, that till now only Shacklebolt and I were privy to. Now of course for the sake of this, we thought we would the both of you in. Later on, perhaps, we would be needing the others to join. But I feel we still have some time," looking at Hermione and then staring at the fire, he said," we need to adjust to these sudden changes in our lives to band together and function as one united force, I suppose that was what you were aiming at Minerva, at the end of it?"

Giving the potion master an apologetic smile, the old Scottish woman had confirmed," It was the only thing in my mind at that time Severus, the only thing that could aid us, secure us and save the magic we are so passionate about." then turning back to Hermione and Neville, she had exclaimed," even if Miss Granger and Mr. Longbottom's magical alternative to muggle dating site did sound fantastic and fascinating, it did manage to salvage the situation. With many wizards and witches getting married in a short span and their magical affinities making their bonds strong and responsive, we are at a better position at responding to a crisis and an attack and we will rebuild the magical world faster."

"And, I cannot quite take all the credit, Severus, I would like to inform you, that our Charms Professor was quite astounded by 'this side project of the Gryffindors.' You are saying the entire section of the Ravenclaw tower is both sealed off and intact. Do you feel Filius's magic at work?" the transfiguration professor asked hopefully.

Pursing his lips, Snape opined," It is him, I think he is alive. Wounded or gone underground, the battle and Greyback didn't us much time to look for our own people…"

Hermione did notice Minerva and Shacklebolt share a significant look. Snape had sensed that through their personal connection and had drawled," Why are you asking about Filius Flitwick?" Shacklebolt had brought up a letter from within his robes, taking the letter out of it, he kept it to himself but handled the envelope to the potion master. Snape had narrowed his eyes and had allowed them to rest on the Minister's face for a while. Then abruptly he had grabbed the envelope and read the words," To the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Friend." underneath it was the seal of Gringotts bank in red and crimson black.

He felt like he had missed something for the first time, so he brought the piece of paper close to his eyes and read it carefully. It was quite an ordinary salutation followed by the official seal, written by a person who had known the way to handle the quill for a long while. But the word 'friend' had stood out. He had looked back at both Minerva and Shacklebolt measuring their subtle reactions, then murmured," I will get back to you on this if I am allowed to hold on to this for a while."

Kingsley had relaxed and nodded confirming,"I had thought of the same thing. We are not going to hear from them very soon. At least I presume, the goblins will give us at least two days to decide. If things were that urgent they would have specified it in the letter," tapping his robes' pocket, he added," which we will share afterward, obviously."