The Twisted Path

by Xetarma

When Minerva McGonagall discovers that Harry Potter's relatives intend to keep him from attending Hogwarts, she takes matters into her own hands. But when Harry comes to Diagon Alley one day early, it sets events into motion that end with him and his friend, Hermione Granger, sorted into Slytherin. Now the two of them must somehow tame the House of the Snakes.

59. The End of the Path

Chapter 59: The End of the Path

June 17th, 1998

Blaise Zabini closed the door behind him as he entered the room where his mother was being held captive. She was awake now, and had made herself a cup of tea on the small stove. The flat he had given her was small, but not for one person, and it had amenities, Despite the fact that it seemed like an ordinary flat, it was a prison. Clarise Zabini could not escape it, no matter how hard she tried.

"I haven't seen you for a while," she said as he entered the room.

"I've been getting established here myself," said Blaise, "Seamus and I have our own place."

Clarise shook her head. She still didn't like it. Well, tough for her.

"Where are we?" asked Clarise.

"Canada," said Blaise.

"Risky," said Clarise, "What if they catch me?"

"Then the Canadian Ministry will ship you back to Britain," said Blaise, "I never promised you that I would protect you from the government. I just need to figure out if you and I ever had a chance to be a mother and son."

Blaise paused. "Your constant disapproval of Seamus doesn't help your case," he said accusingly.

"Probably not," said Clarise sadly.

"Listen, I never gave you a chance when you took custody of me," admitted Blaise, "Maybe if I had you'd have understood me better, would have made different decisions. Or maybe you would have become a Death Eater anyway. I don't know. And until I do, you will stay here."

"What if I fail your test?" asked Clarise.

"Then I will give you to the Irish Underworld," said Blaise, without missing a beat.

"Oh," he said suddenly, changing the subject, "Voldemort is dead. Harry killed him yesterday "

"Oh," said Clarise. It didn't sound sad. It was just… resigned.

"Now," said Blaise, "Let's talk about me and Seamus…"

XXXXX

Daphne straightened her jacket. She was dressed in a muggle women's suit, which she had to admit had a very odd fit. But she had to look professional. She was visiting the Prime Minister.

Stepping into his office was a bit of a thrill. Daphne knew he should be alone, but should was not an area Daphne liked to test when it came to the Statute of Secrecy.

The new muggle PM (Daphne thought his name was Tony Blair) was waiting for her.

"You aren't that Umbridge woman," said Blair, his voice suspicious.

"Well, considering that she will soon be going on trial for helping to murder her predecessor, we thought she should be replaced," said Daphne lightly, "My name is Daphne Greengrass, and I am the acting Minister for Magic."

She extended her hand, and it was taken cautiously.

"Pardon me if I'm wrong, but you don't look like you are much older than 18 years old," said Blair.

"I am 18," said Daphne, "I won't mince words. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister who was elected in 1995, was assassinated late last year by a group of terrorists called the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters also assassinated most of their political enemies on the Wizengamot. Umbridge was working for the Death Eaters, and what was left of the Wizengamot allowed her to be interim Minister by virtue of a parliamentary trick that meant she couldn't be removed until the Wizengamot came back into session."

"And she didn't call it into session," finished Blair.

"Exactly," said Daphne, "I am, well I was, part of a group that was assisting the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in fighting the Death Eaters. We provided them with intelligence that showed Umbridge's allegiances clearly. The DMLE stopped cooperating with her, so she tried to form her own security force. Three days ago Umbridge called the Wizengamot into session. We stormed the session, exposed Umbridge, and then… convinced the Wizengamot to disband."

"So it was a coup," said Blair.

"A counter-coup," said Daphne.

"And your goals?" asked Blair.

"Democratic Wizengamot elections, more rights for magical creatures, equal treatment of witches and wizards from non-magical backgrounds," explained Daphne.

"And hunting down the terrorists?" reminded Blair.

"Already done," said Daphne, "They tried to come out into the open the same day we took over the Ministry. We knew this was going to happen, and we defeated their attempt that day. Most of the rest were killed or apprehended yesterday."

Blair seemed to relax a little.

"There are still two fugitives you should be wary of though," said Daphne handing over two file folders, "The first is Severus Snape. He is wanted for the murders of Theodore Nott and Fleur Delacour, as well as for various other charges. The other is Draco Malfoy, who is my age. He is wanted for the murder of Pansy Parkinson as well as Vernon Dursley, and other charges. Dursley wasn't a wizard, he was the non-magical uncle of a wizard."

Daphne was actually proud of how she had gotten through that, but her voice had cracked near the end.

"Are you all right?" asked Blair.

"Yes," said Daphne, "I knew all of the murdered people quite well, except for Dursley. His nephew is one of my closest friends though."

Blair nodded.

"Let me give you some details on how I intend to proceed," said Daphne, putting her grief out of her head. She was the Minister for Magic, and it was time to put Magical Britain back on the right course.

XXXXX

Ginny had decided that she needed a few days of quiet before she returned to the Burrow. Molly had agreed, reluctantly, that Ginny should stay at the Potter residence for the time being. Harry understood. Even though Ginny tried to put on a brave face, she was rather drained after her captivity. Staying with Harry and Hermione gave Ginny a chance to relax, without having to deal with Molly mothering her. There was still a slight chill in their relationship from the whole marriage contract thing.

This also meant it was easier for Harry and Ginny to coordinate the search for Snape and Malfoy. This was even more important because Hermione was going to leave today to retrieve her parents.

When Harry had awoken, he had found Hermione gone. So he got up and made his way down to the kitchen. There he found Dobby making breakfast, and both Ginny and Hermione chatting as they helped him.

Harry gave Hermione a quick kiss, then gave Ginny a hug. "Good morning," he said.

"Morning!" replied everyone else.

"Luna will be here any moment," said Hermione, "Then we'll be off to Heathrow."

Luna had volunteered to keep Hermione company on this trip. Harry had a hard time believing that her father was okay with her leaving the country again, but apparently he was. Well she was seventeen now, wasn't she? She could probably do as she wished.

When Luna arrived she immediately hugged Ginny. Harry realized that the two of them had barely seen each other since Ginny had been kidnapped by Snape. Well, it would be good for them to catch up, but that would have to wait.

Harry unconsciously put his arm around Hermione. "It's strange. Even though I know you'll be safe with the war over, I still feel nervous about you leaving," he admitted.

"Peace will take getting used to again," said Hermione.

"Harry," said Luna as she let go of Ginny, "take care of my roommate, do you hear? I don't want to hear that Snape dragged her away again."

"Don't worry," said Harry as he hugged Luna.

The truth was that Luna was going with Hermione for one reason. There was a slight possibility that in their isolation Hermione's parents would have turned on their daughter. Not of their own accord, but because of some lingering traces of the magic used on them. Luna was going so that Hermione would not be alone if that happened.

Hermione had already packed, so within moments she and Luna were ready to go. Harry kissed Hermione goodbye. And then they were gone.

Ginny sat down in the dining room. "Mind if I invite Justin over one of these nights?" asked Ginny.

"Of course not," said Harry, "he's always welcome. When are you going to go back to the Burrow?"

"I don't know," admitted Ginny, "I still feel a little betrayed by Mum. I know she didn't put us into that contract on purpose… but I am still upset about it. I don't feel safe at the Burrow"

"You have that right I guess," said Harry, "I hope you can find a way to forgive her though. It isn't really her fault."

"So where do we start looking for Snape?" asked Ginny.

"I have no idea," said Harry. He'd asked Narcissa, but she hadn't had any information on Snape. He supposed Draco would look for him as well, he didn't really have any other options. Wouldn't finding both of them at once be convenient?

XXXXX

Draco wasn't a big fan of Edinburgh. He wasn't a fan of any muggle city. But he didn't have a choice. He had to find the one man who could help him. He had to find Snape. The last intelligence the Death Eaters had received said he was here in Edinburgh. So here he was.

He'd tracked Snape to the harbour. Which meant that Snape was looking for a boat. And then he'd tracked Snape away from the harbour. He caught up with him just outside a small fish market.

"Severus!" he said as he saw the back of Snape's head. Snape turned around, then narrowed his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" asked Snape, testily.

"I'm looking for you," said Draco, "The Dark Lord is… well he is almost certainly dead. I need to get out of Britain, and I thought…"

Snape nodded, "You thought I might have a way. I do. I will meet with a ship captain soon. If you want to come with me, escape Britain, it might be arranged."

Snape patted his side, where his wand was. They would use the Imperius Curse to force the captain to take them obviously. Draco nodded in understanding.

"Follow me," said Snape.

So Draco followed.

XXXXX

What Draco didn't realize was that his arrival had been very poorly timed. Another moment and Snape would have seen inside the fish market. But by yelling "Severus" he had given Petunia Dursley, who was inside the market, time to hide. She took off towards the nearby flat that Harry had rented for her, intent on summoning help.

XXXXX

When the strange bell sounded, Harry frowned as if something was wrong.

"What is that?" asked Ginny.

"Phone," said Harry, "I had one installed just in case. It is low tech enough that the local magic doesn't interfere too much, so long as I use a rotary rather than a touch tone. But I only gave one person that number."

Harry walked over to a strange device that he picked up and put by his ear. "Hello?" he said.

After a moment, Harry's face lit up with surprise. "We'll be right there," he said, hanging up the phone.

"That was my aunt Petunia," said Harry, "And she just saw Snape and Draco in Edinburgh. Get dressed."

Ginny didn't need to be told twice.

XXXXX

Despite Petunia's vague directions, there was really only one place Draco and Snape could have been coming from near the harbour. So Harry and Ginny had staked the place out. Harry was dressed in muggle clothing; a button up shirt and slacks. Ginny was wearing a pantsuit that Hermione had put deep in her closet. They'd quickly resized it for Ginny.

"You know, I think Justin would like the pantsuit look on you," said Harry as he looked for Snape from the shadowed canopy of a shop overlooking the main entrance into the harbour.

"Really?" asked Ginny.

"Well he hasn't really seen you in muggle clothes a lot, has he?" said Harry, "It would be a good idea for you to take up some muggle fashions."

"That is true," said Ginny, "and I do like the fit… I'll take that under advisement, Potter."

And that was when he saw Draco. And moments later, Snape.

"There they are," said Harry.

The two of them were dressed in robes, though they were the more modern style that looked vaguely mugglish, so they didn't stick out too much. They just looked vaguely odd. Harry smiled.

Harry and Ginny quietly disillusioned themselves as they began to follow Snape and Draco. They didn't have to go far before the two of them turned onto a side street. From there they turned into a cul-de-sac.

They were meeting a man there, a muggle. But no one else was there. So Harry pulled out his wand, and casually stunned the muggle. He wouldn't even know what had happened.

Draco and Snape turned to face Harry.

"Potter," said Draco, his face turning into a rictus of rage.

Snape, on the other hand, seemed resigned. He knew he'd been caught, and clearly knew this wasn't likely to go well for him.

"How did you find me?" he asked.

"This is where I moved Petunia," said Harry, "She saw you, and overheard when Draco met up with you near the fish market."

Snape nodded. He had to be cursing his luck right now.

"You blew my cover Draco," said Snape before casting a Body Binding curse on him, then sweeping Draco directly in between Harry and himself.

And that was when Harry realized that Snape was going to do to Draco what Draco had done to Pansy. Send him at Harry and blow him up. And for a moment, Harry was tempted to let it happen. But that was when he realised that it wasn't in his hands.

"Don't do this, Severus," said Harry.

Draco's eyes were terrified as he realised what was about to happen. He fell into panic as Snape pushed him forward towards Harry. And he closed his eyes as Snape began to cast his spell.

Which was when Ginny summoned Draco away. Harry sidestepped Snape's curse, and with a single spell stunned Snape.

Draco's bindings released and he threw up his wand.

"Draco, I promised your mother that I would bring you in alive," said Harry, "Don't make that impossible."

"YOU KILLED MY FATHER!" screamed Draco.

"He didn't," said Ginny, "I did."

Draco turned to face Ginny, his face covered in shock. And that was when Harry stunned him.

"Well, that's that," said Harry, "Idiot. He didn't stand a chance."

Ginny nodded. "Let's get these fuckers to the DMLE," she said, "Though, could you take Snape? I really don't want to touch him."

Harry grinned. It was over. It was finally over.

XXXXX

Harry and Ginny sat comfortably as Amelia poured them both drinks. Ginny noted somewhat glumly that Amelia was only giving her a butterbeer, while she was pouring Harry wine. An annoyance, but Ginny found it funny rather than upsetting.

"Well done Harry, Ginny," she was saying, "That was the last major loose end. This is almost over."

"Almost?" asked Harry curiously.

"Well, we have to interrogate Snape," said Amelia, her face turning sour, "Interrogating a master Occlumens is always challenging. And I don't really have a master Legilimens to help me. Dumbledore is far too busy helping Daphne keep the ICW from marching in."

"We could help," said Ginny, "We are both quite skilled Legilimens."

Amelia seemed to consider that. "Well Harry could help," she said finally, "It would be inappropriate to have you in his mind when you are the victim of a kidnapping that we intend to prosecute."

"He's accused of two murders," said Ginny, "He's also in violation of his previous parole given at the end of the last war. Snape's going away for life. So drop the kidnapping charges. I want to see inside his brain. I need to see inside his brain."

Amelia looked at Ginny seriously for some time. Finally, she nodded her acquiescence.

"We'll start tomorrow," said Amelia.

XXXXX

Draco sat in his cell in the DMLE, staring at the wall. It was over. It was all over.

Suddenly the door opened, and his mother walked in. She walked into the cell. She didn't hug him, or offer him any sign of comfort. Did he deserve any?

"You will not be tried for terrorism charges, because you joined the Death Eaters as a minor," said Narcissa without preamble, "But you will be charged for your role in the attack on Vernon Dursley and the Ministry, as well as for the murder of Pansy Parkinson."

Draco nodded. He'd expected as much.

"The only reason you are still alive is because I begged Potter not to kill you," said Narcissa.

Draco shook his head. His mother may have betrayed Voldemort, but she didn't understand Potter like he did.

"He'd have tried to save me anyway," said Draco, "It's who he is. That's why I killed Pansy, remember?"

"Do you regret killing Pansy?" asked Narcissa.

"Potter didn't kill my father," said Draco simply, "I killed Pansy to get back at him for that, but it wasn't him! It was Weasley!"

Silence fell upon Draco's cell for a moment.

"Yes," said Draco finally, "I regret it. Even if Potter had killed my father, I'd still regret it."

Narcissa looked at her son for a long time, then finally she laid her hand on the top of his head.

But Draco was past caring. He knew the truth. He'd broken himself when he killed Pansy, and had only realised once the rage had died down.

Still, after all that he had done, it was nice to know his mother still cared. Even if killing Pansy was only the tip of the iceberg that was his many crimes. And those were just the things they were blaming him for. If they found out what he had done in Diagon Alley...

XXXXX

June 18th, 1998

Helen Granger had to admit, America was a far better hiding place than Australia. Australia would have been ideal if things had been planned out properly. But they hadn't been. Here they met with a man they only knew as Doug, every two weeks. He was apparently FBI, but he was also magically raised. He was hesitant to discuss magic with them. The American magical community was fairly obsessed with maintaining the statute of Secrecy. Apparently, legally things were far less strict than they had been, but the culture in America was still very much against mingling with non-magicals.

Helen felt relatively safe here. They were in the Northwestern corner of Nebraska, in a small house not far from a small town. It was a place Death Eaters would struggle to find. And even if they did, Robert was armed. It was quite easy to get a gun in Nebraska, and while that was worrisome to Helen on a cultural level, it was rather convenient for her and Robert.

So when Doug showed up two days early Helen knew something was up. He'd never come early before.

"Is something wrong?" Helen asked as Doug walked onto their front porch.

Doug shrugged. "Ned wanted to meet," he said, "That's all I know."

Helen called Robert out. When he arrived, he greeted Doug in a friendly way. Robert got along with Doug better. Doug was into baseball, and Robert was somehow able to stomach watching it. Of course he had played cricket in school. Cricket was the only sport that was somehow more long and laborious than baseball.

"Anything interesting going on?" Robert asked Doug.

Doug shrugged, but then seemed to remember something. "Oh yeah," he said, "Shit really hit the fan over in Britain. The Ministry got overthrown or something. Also there was a big battle at Hogwarts. Apparently the good guys won though, or so everyone's been saying. Don't really know what is going on over there."

Helen tried to keep herself calm at that news. It sounded good, but that part about the Ministry being overthrown was troubling. Unless of course…

No, that wasn't possible, was it?

And at that moment, Ned Hakes came spiraling out of the sky, his hand on an empty plastic bottle of cola. And with him was Hermione.

She looked older. That was the only way Helen could describe her. She had grown up. She was wearing a women's business suit and looked every bit a young professional.

Helen ran over and hugged her daughter, folding the young girl into her arms. Suddenly Robert was there and they were both clinging to their daughter.

They both stepped back after some time. As Helen backed off, she noticed a ring on Hermione's finger.

"You're engaged?" Helen asked excitedly.

"Yes," said Hermione, "we haven't set a date yet though. We were waiting for you to come back."

"Where is Harry," asked Robert. Helen's blood went cold. Surely he hadn't…

"He wishes he could be here, but he and Ginny are trying to track down Snape and Malfoy," said Hermione, "They… they killed a lot of people during the war. It's over now. Voldemort is dead. Daphne is the new Minister."

"You DID overthrow the Ministry, didn't you?" asked Helen.

Hermione nodded sheepishly. "We did convince the Wizengamot that they needed to step aside, after they nearly let Death Eaters take over," she said.

"So, how is everyone?" asked Helen, and Hermione began to talk about all of her friends.

After a moment, Helen realized that there was one person Hermione hadn't mentioned. "Are Bill and Fleur still together?" she asked.

Hermione went very quiet. "Fleur died," she said simply, "Snape killed her."

"Oh no!" said Helen, "are you all right?"

"I'm good now," said Hermione, "It was almost a year ago now. Bill was a mess for a while though."

"Actually," interjected Ned, "I heard Snape was brought into custody yesterday. Apparently your fiancee was busy."

"Good," said Hermione.

There was a loud meow from the house and suddenly Hermione ran over to pick up Crookshanks. "I missed you, Crookshanks!" she said as she scooped up her cat. Crookshanks began to purr contentedly.

Helen put her arms around her daughter again. She should have been there for her daughter. But it was all right now. They were going home.

XXXXX

Ginny Weasley watched as the aurors restrained Snape in the chair in the interrogation room. She had to admit, she wasn't feeling so great about this now. Snape was sedated, practically catatonic. Amelia had assured them that Snape would not be able to notice them, he was too far gone.

"Is this legal?" asked Harry.

"It shouldn't be," said Amelia, "But it is. Law on Legilimency issues is very out of date. Snape is a master Occlumens though. You'd have to take extreme measures anyway. A master Occlumens can resist Veritaserum by creating a false mind to answer the questions for him."

"So he's technically conscious," said Ginny, "But his cognition is largely shut down?"

"Precisely," said Amelia, "all of his defenses will be up, but he won't be able to construct new ones or try and redirect you or push you out."

Ginny nodded. It was still quite disturbing. Snape looked awake.

She and Harry took opposite sides of the chair Snape was strapped into. She looked at him and gave her a reassuring smile. And then they both plunged into Snape's mind.

It was odd. There was a lot in the surface level of his mind, but the recesses of it were curiously dark. Heading into those recesses brought up memories, but strange ones. As if they weren't fully there somehow.

"Clever," said Harry, "Since you can't see the memories from outside the recesses, he can plug whatever he wants there."

"Which is why they're messed up now," realised Ginny, "Random things are collecting there without Snape's will to organize them."

"It also explains why Riddle was so sure he could read Snape," said Harry, "he thought he was penetrating the defenses."

"We aren't going to get anything on the surface level," said Ginny, "Right now it's just random parts of his psyche. No actual memories at all."

Ginny began to cut away at the reality that formed in Snape's mind. It was sort of like wielding Legilimency as a knife. It felt absurdly wrong to Ginny, yet it was necessary. Finally, she seemed to break through to something. She also felt that Harry had broken through as well. Together they grabbed the edges of the surface of Snape's mind and somehow pulled it. Surprisingly, the whole thing peeled back easily, exposing the true form of Snape's mind.

"Merlin, what is this?" said Harry.

Ginny was dumbstruck. She'd been in other people's minds before. And they had been a maze of connections and bypasses holding together their memories. But this was totally different. She could see blobs that corresponded to memories. But everything here was disconnected. All of these memories were completely separated.

"He's Occlumencied his brain so much that pretty much everything is no longer connected," said Ginny.

"How can he think like this?" wondered Harry.

Ginny ventured towards one of the memories. And allowing herself to fall in, she was suddenly immersed in a memory.

"You're dead, Snape!" screamed a young man, who looked like Harry. It must be James Potter. Behind him was a massive ravenous beast. A werewolf.

"Nowhere to run!" shouted a more familiar voice. It was Sirius Black, blocking the passage from the Shrieking Shack back to Hogwarts. Snape roared in defiance as he brandished his wand…

And suddenly Ginny felt herself being pulled out of the memory.

"That didn't happen," said Harry certainly.

"Another fake memory," said Ginny, "This is all fake again. Snape doesn't think like this."

Ginny felt something brush by her, but she waved it off. It was nothing. Yet… maybe it wasn't. She began to look around, and then she saw it.

It was a tiny black knot. And next to it was a tiny hole. A strange path that seemed to lead towards the knot, but also seemed to lead everywhere else.

"That's where he is hiding everything," said Ginny, "and that path is how you get there. But it doesn't go directly there."

"We can break in…" started Harry.

"No," said Ginny, "I will… I will follow the narrow twisted path to its end."

And she leapt in. It was every bit as twisted as she had expected. It seemed to move past every false memory in Snape's head. As she moved past a memory, a little piece of it played in Ginny's mind. Over and over Snape must have tread this path. So often that he had seen this how often? Was this what caused him to lose touch with reality?

The path grew more twisted. Hairpin turns nearly foiled Ginny's progress on several occasions, or at least the mental equivalents. Yet Ginny didn't falter, didn't stop. She knew his true mind was here somewhere.

And suddenly she was there, in the heart of Snape's mind, his real memories stretched out before her. They were still quite disconnected, but those connections that existed were powerful.

"Well done, Ginny," said Harry, as he had followed her here.

Ginny was now certain that this was what the prophecy had referred to a those years back, and not merely being in Slytherin House. But how would she find out about Harry here? It didn't make sense.

She looked towards Snape's memories of Lily. That was where she'd find what she needed. But what she found didn't help at all. A memory of Snape and Lily before Hogwarts, it was a warm memory, full of love and hope. Snape in Slytherin, a void. Snape trying to resist the Slytherins, trying to fight their bigotry. But who was there to help him? No one. And the Gryffindors were worse, actively sabotaging his every attempt to get help. The Slytherin Machine won. The Slytherin Machine always won.

"Snape tried to resist the pureblood regime in Slytherin, but he couldn't," said Ginny, "and your father..."

"He made it impossible," said Harry, his voice thick.

A fateful moment when he called Lily a mudblood, instantly regretted, but a moment beyond taking back. Lily's rejection, hot, painful, the last connection to the non-Death Eater world snapped.

But as time went on, the pain of that rejection became a scar, not a gaping wound. Potter tried to reach out to Snape, to undo the damage he'd done. He saved Snape's life.

"Too late," said Ginny, "Your father realised what he had done to Snape, but too late."

"And Snape seemed to get over losing my mother," said Harry, "This can't be right!"

The pain of that rejection grew less. Snape became a Death Eater. He hated it. The suffering and death they were inflicting was horrendous. Snape just wanted it to end. Those seeds of love he'd had were still there, and they screamed that what he was doing was wrong. But what choice did he have?

"Snape was… is sensitive," said Harry, "an idealist. That's why he is such a good Occlumens. To protect himself. He's so fragile on the inside."

Snape hears a prophecy. A chance to end things? No! It refers to Lily. And suddenly Snape is faced with a choice. A horrible choice. But it isn't a choice at all. Because Lily was his friend. Had always been his friend. Even though he'd given up on her long ago, he couldn't let her come to harm! She had to be protected. Ginny watched his increasingly more desperate attempts to save her. And suddenly she felt pity for the man. He had known how far he had fallen, and the thought of it had filled him with shame.

He'd gone to Dumbeldore, become a double agent. And for the first time since before he'd entered Slytherin, he felt like he was doing good. He realised how monstrous Voldemort was, and had come to hate him.

And then Voldemort had killed everything he'd loved. Killed the one thing that had reminded him of what he could have been, instead of what he had become. And that is where most of the connections in his mind shattered. Only a few connections remained. All related to Harry.

"He wanted to protect you," said Ginny.

Time moved on. And his heart remained dead, aside from that tiny hope that Harry would continue Lily's legacy. And then one day he had gone to Diagon Alley, and he saw Harry holding Ginny's hand. Ginny at that age looked so much like young Lily.

And those last connections broke, that image seared into Snape's brain. An image that for all the world looked like Lily and James Potter.

"Oh no…," said Ginny, her heart suddenly feeling unbearable pity. His mind had snapped, seeing Harry look like James had been bad enough, but seeing 'James' holding 'Lily's ' hand had snapped the last remaining threads of sanity.

Or had it? One last path was there, shattered and broken, but still navigable with care. And Ginny followed it with such care. And at the heart of it she saw Harry. Harry with his friends, laughing and having fun. Becoming a leader in Slytherin. Taking down the system which had crushed Snape. And there was Hermione at his side, with Harry's love for her so evident on his young face.

And Harry's love for Ginny was evident too. He cared for her, protected her, encouraged her. He was her best friend. Here was the memory that put the lie to Snape's madness, buried in this lost forgotten corner of Snape's mind. But every once in a while, this part of his mind had surfaced. And Snape had done something to help push Harry and Hermione together, to support his friendship with Ginny. This was what Snape was when not buried in the lies that he had convinced himself of. That sensitive boy who had looked at the world in wonder still lived here.

But whenever the Occlumency had gone up, all this had been disconnected. And the lies in his mind had become real.

One last memory demanded her attention. A memory of her mother complaining about Justin getting too close to Ginny. And then Snape had installed his scrying device. Not to perv on Ginny, but to protect her from accidentally violating the marriage contract Snape had thought still bound her. He was trying to keep me from having sex!

"Ginny, over here," said Harry, "I… found a memory."

Ginny followed Harry's voice to another memory. Without preamble, Ginny leapt into it.

Snape was in Diagon Alley, leaving a shop where he had just stunned the store owner, wearing full Death Eater regalia. He emerged into a charnel house, with corpses everywhere. Suddenly a stream of spells came at Snape. He tried to defend, but a spell knocked off his hood. Snape looked at his attacker.

Ginny saw that it was Fleur Delacour. "Severus Snape," she spat out, almost hissing. She hurled spells at Snape, Snape deflected them. Finally he cast a single spell back.

Fleur was knocked down to her knees. "What were you thinking Fleur?" Snape said sadly, "You are no match for me."

"You killed all these people!" Fleur screamed.

"I did not," said Snape indignantly "I would not…"

"No, I did," said Draco, emerging out of Knockturn Alley.

"Draco, not her!" said Snape firmly, "The international attention…"

"She's Potter's friend," snarled Draco, "Sectumsempra!"

And the spell hit Fleur, severing one of her arms and digging deep into the rest of her body. Ginny nearly vomited as she pulled herself out of the memory.

And Ginny left Snape's mind. Even under all the lies, Snape had seen so clearly. Suddenly she walked over to Harry, who was just pulling out of Snape's mind. And she hugged him. She wrapped her arms around Harry and hugged him. For a long time, Harry didn't say anything.

"Draco will pay," whispered Ginny, "He will pay."

After some time, Amelia broke in. "Was it bad?" she asked.

Ginny broke off her hug with her best friend. "He is extremely mentally damaged," said Ginny, "I am not qualified to determine whether he is competent to stand trial or not. I can say this, now that we've reconnected all the parts of his mind, I think he will cooperate. But he needs a Mind Healer. Badly."

"Mind Healers are hard to come by," said Amelia.

"Trust me, every Mind Healer in the World will want to work with Snape here," said Harry, "His condition is… incredible."

"He knew that what he was doing was wrong when he killed Nott though," said Ginny, "Though that only happened because he thought Nott was stalking me."

"But he didn't kill Fleur," said Harry, his voice cracking, "That was Draco Malfoy. Malfoy killed all those people in Diagon Alley. Snape tried to rein him in, but then they encountered Fleur. And while Fleur was incapacitated from attacking Snape, Draco killed her.

Amelia nodded. That was what she needed to know.

"Let's get out of here," said Ginny, "I think I'm going to invite Justin over tonight, if that's all right."

"Of course it is," said Harry.

Ginny grinned. "After tonight, I think I'll head home," she said, "I… I realised something. From Snape's mind. Even under his insanity, he still wanted to help you. My mother, she really was trying to protect me from getting hurt, even when she was being used to try to hurt me. I can't imagine how she feels. I need to let her know that I love her."

"Sounds good," said Harry, a warm smile setting across his face.

"I also love you," said Ginny, "You're my best friend. And I have a plan. A plan you are going to love."

Try as he might, Harry had no idea what she was talking about.

XXXXX

Harry didn't quite know why he was doing it, but minutes later he found himself in front of the Wizengamot office of Albus Dumbledore. He supposed that the old man deserved this much - he deserved to know exactly how badly he'd screwed up.

"Come in Harry," said Dumbledore as the door in front of Harry opened. Harry grinned. Dumbledore still had a flair for the dramatic.

Harry walked into the office. He noted that Dumbledore had moved many items from his old office at Hogwarts here. They looked out of place here. Harry supposed that was his fault.

"What brings you to my doorstep today?" asked Dumbledore.

"I just got done helping interrogate Snape," said Harry.

"He was not in his right mind I suspect," said Dumbledore.

"Extended use of Occlumency shredded his mind," confirmed Harry, "But it was seeing me meet Ginny that really set him off. He rigged our sortings into Slytherin, so that he would have more control and access to me and her. Including so that he could easily gather bits of my hair to key potions to."

"I see," said Dumbledore, "Did you discover anything else?"

Harry shook his head. "I know you want to ask me about what he did to you," said Harry, "I know I would want to know."

"I will admit that I do want to know how culpable I am for my own actions," said Dumbledore.

"Well, you lied to me about the horcrux in second year on your own, but he did give Molly a potion that made her highly suspicious of me," said Harry, "He meant for you to drink that as well, but it didn't matter in the end."

"And yes, he drugged you for the signing of the marriage contract, along with Molly Weasley," said Harry, "That was a strong potion, but diluted in your tea. It was a big risk for Snape."

"Why did he arrange the contract?" said Dumbledore, "It doesn't make sense."

"Yes it does," said Harry, "Snape needed to 'save' Ginny from marrying me. But then it became obvious to Snape that I was interested in Hermione, not Ginny. So he had to make sure there was something to save Ginny from. He needed to do it. And that was why he forced you and Molly to arrange it. Thank you, by the way, for reporting it to the Ministry. If you hadn't, I would not have known about the contract."

"I am not sure I did so in awareness of what it would mean for you, but I am glad that my actions assisted you," admitted Dumbledore.

"You allowed me to go on vacation in France on your own, but you also allowed Crouch to enter me into the tournament on your own. Still, Snape thought we were getting too friendly at that point, so once I started suspecting Crouch was Crouch, he dosed you again, so that you would doubt everything I said. After Voldemort's resurrection he thought he had permanently lost control of you. He overdosed you that summer, which was why you refused to allow Hermione into Grimmauld Place. And you were still under the effects for our chat."

"But he stopped then, didn't he?" said Dumbledore.

"Yes," said Harry, "He was worried you were getting suspicious. You did allow Umbridge to disband the IUC, though I realise that you were trying to let me run her out."

"Yes, well you ran me out instead," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye.

"I admit, it probably was a silly thing to do in retrospect. At the time though, it felt like you were putting us all in danger," admitted Harry.

"I know, I should have told you what I was planning," said Dumbledore, "But you should have as well."

Harry nodded. "Yes, well… we paid the price for that mistake."

"Yes we did," said Dumbledore sadly.

"Obviously Snape drugged you again along with the Grangers and Headmistress McGonagall when they kidnapped Hermione," said Harry, "But you decided not to tell me about the horcrux in my head all on your own. Snape had stopped using any potions on you at that point, as it had become too dangerous and he thought he might get caught collecting ingredients for, brewing or administering the potions. But then you got fired. And suddenly he didn't care anymore. You were under Snape's control for almost six straight months."

"Until Molly gave me the antidote," said Dumbledore.

"Yes," agreed Harry.

Dumbledore closed his eyes. "The failure that caused the Trace to break… it was my fault. And I could have done more to resist Snape."

"If you had trusted Snape less, perhaps," said Harry, "Ironically, your trust in Snape was justified, after a fashion. He really was devoted to stopping Riddle. And in his heart, he wanted to do the right thing. But he was lost. And that made things worse. Do you understand?"

"Yes," replied Dumbledore, "My inclination was to believe him, so when I was under his control I had no capability to resist him. If I had trusted him a little less, I might have brought my will to bear and broken free."

"Snape was a brilliant spy," said Harry, "He always knew how to assuage your doubts."

"So, where does this leave us?" asked Dumbledore, "Do we just part ways now, and say goodbye? It somehow feels wrong."

"I know what you mean," said Harry, "I think we'll meet again Professor. In a way, you played an important part of my life. I don't hate you. In fact, I can now say that I am very certain you only wanted the best for me. You did fail me… but I made my share of screwups as well."

"Grindelwald figured out what you intended," said Harry after a moment, "How you expected me to sacrifice myself for everyone, but still survive because Riddle used my blood in his resurrection."

"I know," said Dumbledore remorsefully, "It is unforgivable that I would not tell you that. That I would ask that of you. But I trusted that you would understand."

Harry sat for a while. "It would have worked," he admitted after a long time, "I would have sacrificed myself. If I hadn't removed the horcrux of course."

"I am glad it didn't come to that," said Dumbledore.

"Yes, well, I suppose I will see you around," said Harry.

"Harry," wondered Dumbledore, "Why didn't Snape try to use the potions on you?"

"Deep down, he didn't really want to hurt me," said Harry, "And if he had used potions on me it would have forced him to. He had that much control of himself I think. It was all the control he had."

Harry stopped. "And I think he wanted to see if I would follow in my father's footsteps on my own. I think he really wanted me to be better. It isn't rational. But Snape always was a romantic."

"Hmm," said Dumbledore.

"Goodbye for now, Professor," said Harry. This had taken longer than he had intended. Yet he finally felt as if he understood Dumbledore. He finally felt as if their relationship had turned a corner. Towards what, Harry didn't know.

XXXXX

June 19th, 1998

Harry woke up groggily. He had to admit, waking up alone was kind of terrible, especially when your house guest was with her boyfriend that night. Not that Harry begrudged Ginny some alone time with Justin. Indeed, he was happy that their relationship seemed to be progressing.

Justin and Ginny were already up, which was suspicious. If Hermione had just come home, he'd definitely have found an excuse to stay in bed for a bit.

"Hermione will be arriving at Heathrow at around 3pm," said Ginny, "She left a message with Luna, who flooed back this morning. Apparently Hermione's parents didn't want to take the International Floo."

"Probably a good idea," said Harry, "It isn't recommended for muggles. It can be very intense for them, since they can't control the experience at all."

"You also got a Floo call from Gringotts," said Ginny, "Brokgut wants to see you. I told him you would see him at 1pm."

Ginny was trying to get Harry out of his own house, Harry realised. She had some plan cooked up, obviously. Well Harry wasn't going to play spoiler.

"Also," said Ginny, "Justin agrees that I'm ready to move back to the Burrow. As long as he is welcome there. And by welcome there, I mean in my bed."

"Harry doesn't need to…" started Justin, But Ginny interrupted him.

"We had sex!" she said excitedly, causing Justin to cover his face in embarrassment.

Harry just shook his head, but he was smiling. Justin had become a level headed young man. And Ginny had become an incredibly brave and talented woman. He wondered if they had given any thought to marriage. Probably not yet. Either way they both had a bright future ahead of them.

XXXXX

Harry had expected to meet Brokgut at Gringotts, but he had not expected to meet Peter Davis. It was a bit strange that Tracey's father was in the room, but he suspected that something was up.

"So, we've heard that you and Miss Granger are attempting to become soul healers," said Brokgut.

"I am," said Harry, "Hermione wants to go into Mind Healing, using Psychiatry."

"Taking a full curse breaking course is a bit wasteful, isn't it?" asked Brokgut, "I mean a soul healer isn't going to have to fight a mummy, or read Egyptian hieroglyphics. What you need is practical information about how to remove curses."

"I've been talking to the curse breakers here at Gringotts," said Peter, "and we think we can create a program that will teach you Healing and all you need to know about curses, all on a schedule that is only a year longer than the normal healing course."

Harry's eyes widened. That would allow him to immediately begin trying to test out soul healing. But it went even further.

"We could use the course you set up as a framework to train more soul healers once we added our own knowledge of curses into the mix," said Harry.

"Exactly," said Brokgut.

"That would be incredible!" said Harry excitedly, "but… why is Gringotts helping me so much? It isn't what you usually do."

"Harry," said Brokgut, "you are one of our best customers. You and Hermione treat us with a respect that few wizards of means are willing to. And now you want to do something that will help many, many people? How could we not help?"

Harry gave Brokgut a smile (with no teeth showing of course) and he looked at the papers on Brokgut's desk. There was a full schedule and training plan laid out.

"Well, I'll have to talk to Hermione before I decide anything," said Harry, "But I am very interested in what you have to say."

XXXXX

Hermione laughed when she saw Harry waiting to meet her at the gate as she disembarked from the plane.

"You didn't have to come," said Hermione, "I could have managed on my own."

"I wanted to come," said Harry as he gave Hermione a hug, "And if I went back home I was afraid I'd catch Ginny and Justin doing something indelicate. I want to be sure they are gone."

Hermione laughed as Harry pulled away and gave her mother a hug, and then hugged her father. "Follow me," said Harry.

Harry led them to a back room that was only accessible by walking through a wall in a recessed alcove.

"An apparition zone," said Harry.

"That's a good idea," said Hermione.

Harry took Helen's arm and Hermione took Robert's. Then they apparated to a spot just off of Harry's property.

"Still haven't taken down the anti-apparition wards?" asked Hermione.

"Haven't had time yet," said Harry.

Harry led them to the house. Helen let out a small gasp when she saw it for the first time.

"What a cozy place," said Helen, "not at all what I would expect from a place you call Potter Hall."

"We're trying to phase out that name," said Hermione, "Though this home is disguised."

"Like the Greengrasses," said Robert.

"Exactly," said Harry as he opened the door.

Dobby was waiting for them. Ginny and Justin were gone. But Ginny had left a note.

Keep the 31st free - G

XXXXX

July 31st, 1998.

The party they held for Harry's 18th birthday was spectacular.

Ginny and Justin were there of course, along with all of the Weasleys (aside from Charlie of course). Fred and George were laughing, and even Bill was looking happy for once. Ron was with Tracey. Hermione's parents were there as well. But others were there, Sirius standing with McGonagall and Dumbledore at his side and Hagrid behind. Luna and Neville were joining in with the rest of the group, Dobby in tow. Even Daphne was there, explaining how she had managed to find time to be here. And suddenly emerging from the side room was one last person…

"Blaise!" shouted Harry as he ran to hug his friend, "what are you doing here?"

"I don't know how Ginny figured out how to contact me," said Blaise, "but I'm glad she did. No way I was missing this."

"Blaise!" shouted Daphne as she ran to hug him once Harry was done.

"Everyone better keep this quiet," said Daphne to the whole room, "You have no idea the trouble Amelia will give me if she hears I've seen Blaise. Technically, he's a fugitive."

"What is this?" asked Hermione.

"I thought that once before we all went our separate ways we should get Harry's whole family together once," said Ginny.

Hermione remembered the vision Harry had seen in the Mirror of Erised. And then an idea hit her.

"Harry," she said, "come up with me to the balcony for a moment. I just need to get something first."

Harry nodded as Hermione ran to their room. This could change everything.

XXXXX

As Harry walked up to the balcony overlooking the entry hall, he discovered that he'd been followed. Sirius, Dumbledore and McGonagall had followed him up.

"We just wanted to speak with you privately," said Sirius.

"Specifically, we wanted you to know how proud we are of you and what you've accomplished," said Dumbledore.

"I am so proud to have played an important part in your life, Potter," said McGonagall, "And I am very proud of how well you acquitted yourself as Head Boy."

"Hermione and him will be a tough act to follow," said Sirius.

"Somehow I think Miss Weasley will manage it," said McGonagall, "though do not tell her that. It isn't official… yet."

"And I'm sorry I couldn't have been more of a parental figure to you Harry," said Sirius, "but I am glad to be back in your life."

Harry put his hands on Sirius' shoulders, but just then Hermione ran out of their room. And in her hand was the Gaunt ring.

"Wait," said Harry as he realised her intention.

"It's time," said Hermione. And she took the Resurrection Stone and turned it.

And that was when two hazy figures appeared in front of him. His parents.

"Hello, Harry," said Lily Potter.

"We are so proud of you Harry," said James Potter.

"James, Lily," said Sirius, his voice choking.

"This is Hermione," said Harry, pulling Hermione close to him, "She's my fiancee." Hermione handed Harry the ring.

And suddenly he waved to the whole room including the people gathered below. "And these people, all these people are my family. I love them all."

"We are so glad Harry," said Lily Potter.

And it was in that moment that Harry realised that his one impossible yet true desire had come true.

"Not such an impossible dream after all, was it Harry," said Dumbledore as if reading his mind.

"Let's go back down," said Hermione, holding out her hand. Harry took it and as he descended the staircase with her, the ring slipped from his hand.

Harry didn't look back as it fell to the floor. He looked forward, forward towards the faces of the people he loved. And for the first time, everything really was all right.

The End.

Author's Note: So I will get this out of the way first, those of you who want to know what happens to Clarise Zabini, I don't know. Will Clarise accept Blaise and Seamus? Is that even enough for her to avoid paying for her crimes? It's an impossible decision that Blaise will ultimately have to make, and frankly I leave it up to you to come up with your own ending to that.

I know a lot of people probably want Snape and Draco to die, but as we see, Snape needs help, and deserves punishment, but he doesn't deserve death. Draco probably does deserve it. Still, I like that he finally figures out how badly he fucked up right after he's been taken into custody. Oops.

The Harry and Dumbledore scene was one of the most difficult scenes to write. On the one hand, Harry has a lot frustration with Dumbledore. Dumbledore did make some questionable decisions without being forced to. At the same time, Harry made a lot of bad choices as well, and this has made him more tolerant of other people's mistakes. That being said, Harry's admission that he would have sacrificed himself (or at least tried to sacrifice himself) isn't entirely a conciliatory gesture. For all they know, that plan might not work. We know it would work from actual canon, but Harry and Dumbledore only suspect it would. Harry is admitting that Dumbledore read him correctly, but he doesn't absolve Dumbledore of his guilt.

The scene with Ginny and Harry dressing as muggles and hunting Snape gave me a mental image so fun I kind of want to write a Men in Black style one-shot where they hunt down dangerous wizards for the ICW. I have no actual plans to write this, mostly because I don't have a story idea for it. Still, a Harry/Ginny buddy cop adventure using these characterizations sounds fun.

This chapter will be the last narrative portion of The Twisted Path. The final upload, which will come soon, will include an appendix which is essentially a list of what happens to the various characters afterwards. As I said in my last update, it will also include my post-mortem of the Twisted Path. I may tease Harriet Potter and the Founders' Wars a bit as well, but I honestly am waiting for my writing to progress to actually release more content there. I think I have come to a compromise in my writing that will allow me to continue writing Harry Potter fanfics in good conscience. I will have more information in my final chapter, but you should expect a pause in my fanfic publishing regardless.

P.S. Sorry about the wait, I have been distracted recently by real life stuff.