MUDSNAKE

by Flye Autumne

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: QUESTIONS

Severus started slightly when the unfamiliar fox patronus popped into existence in his sitting room.

"Snape," Moody's harsh voice growled. "The girl's at the station. Your presence is required ASAP. Apparate to the Ministry Lobby and an Auror will escort you to the station."

The patronus popped back out of existence, and Severus swore. Trust Moody to give as little information as possible.

Severus stopped briefly to summon his travel bag of potions and his cloak. First time it's fortunate I'm at Spinner's End instead of Hogwarts. The sharp crack of apparition filled the air, and Severus reappeared in the Ministry Lobby. It was empty, save a daft looking blond man near the Visitor's Entrance.

"Mister Snape?"

Potions Master Snape, actually. "Correct. And I assume you are the Auror Moody sent?"

The man nodded eagerly. "Yes, that's right. I'm Auror Bartleby, we'll be headed right this way -"

They stepped into the lift. Bartleby flashed his badge and jabbed the button for the Auror department.

Bartleby cast a sidelong look at Severus. "You're here for the Granger case?"

"Yes."

Bartleby exhaled loudly. "Rough case, that one, eh?"

Severus resisted the urge to smack the idiot. If he's going to fish for information, he could at least attempt to be subtle. "I suppose."

"Y'know, I was the one that spotted it on the chart," Bartleby prattled on proudly. "Forwarded it onto Moody, I did."

More like you were lazy and incompetent and passed the information to someone who knows what they're doing. "On the chart." Merlin, what was Hermione getting herself into?

"Yeah, y'know, the one that monitors magic - underage magic usage. There was a big spike out in Surrey, y'see, and it didn't register as underage wanded magic. Odd, right?"

"Quite," Severus said reflexively, mind whirling. If it didn't register as wanded, it was either wandless or accidental. His heart froze for a second. Sweet Merlin…

The lift dinged. "Level Seven: Auror Offices."

"This way," Bartleby said as he headed through a veritable maze of corridors. Severus followed, feeling more apprehensive by the second. What if something truly terrible happened to Hermione? No, it's Granger. Granger. Severus shook his head slightly to clear it. Stop being a busybody. You aren't Molly Weasley, after all. The mental image of the redhaired matron was more than enough for Severus to regain focus. Concentrate on the problem at hand. Merlin knows it's serious enough.

They had arrived at a heavy door. Bartleby traced a complex pattern in the air with his wand, and the door swung open to reveal a common area with several sofas and an official looking desk blocking the way to several corridors beyond.

"Auror Moody should be waitin' for you," Bartleby said, stifling a yawn, "I'll jus' leave you 'ere for now."

Severus nodded in acknowledgement. Bartleby exited the room, leaving Severus to pace. It seemed like an age - or maybe just a few seconds - until Moody's leg clunked down the corridor.

"Snape." There was almost a grudging respect in the tone.

"Moody. The girl - ?"

"In Room A," Moody growled, "I left Tonks to supervise her. She's - " the grizzled Auror seemed lost for words, "she's not doing particularly well."

Bloody hell. "What happened?"

Moody clunked down the hallway with Severus following closely behind. "To be perfectly honest with you, Snape, we don't exactly know."

"Then - "

"Quit interrupting me. What we do know is that there was an aggressor - our information points to the muggle father as the most likely candidate - and there was a big spike on the chart. Either there was a massive display of wandless magic, which is highly unlikely given the age of the girl, or the aggressor did something that triggered the girl's accidental magic, which is far more likely."

Severus swore. "And the girl? Is she alright?" He wasn't sure why he was feeling so concerned. Surely it is only natural to worry about one's student.

"She's in one piece," Moody said gruffly, "Here." Moody gestured to a wooden door set into the wall in front of them. He rapped sharply on the door.

"You may enter." It's a young woman's voice. Right. Tonks. Nymphadora. Hufflepuff. She'd been in one of the first classes he taught - a veritable klutz and almost more of a menace in the Potions classroom than Longbottom.

The door swung open to reveal a hastily transfigured interrogation room. The usual rickety chairs had been transfigured into squashy armchairs. Tonks was nervously perched on the edge of hers while Hermione -

Something in Severus' chest broke.

Hermione was curled up in a tiny ball, shaking slightly as she cried.

Tonks crossed the room. "She's been like this since we got here," she said quietly, "I haven't been able to get a decent response out of her."

"That's not unusual." The words slip out before Severus even realizes what he's saying.

Tonks looks at him suspiciously. "And how would you know that?"

Severus can hear the implications in her voice, and he fixes her with a cold glare. "Personal experience." He turns his back on Tonks and walks over to Hermione's chair, potions bag in hand. "Miss Granger, it's Professor Snape."

There's no response. Just the same muted sobs.

Severus swallows hard. "Hermione. They said you were injured. Let me help you."

It seems like an eternity when a pair of bloodshot brown eyes peek out from under the mass of hair. The rest of her face eventually emerges, and Severus sucks in a breath at the sight of the bruise marring the left side of her face.

"Professor?"

He's prepared to be clinical, to gently question her, to offer her potions to make the pain go away, at least for a little while. To say he's woefully unprepared when she launches herself at him is an understatement.

She clings to him like he's a lifeline, burying her face in his shoulder as she sobs.

Severus doesn't know what to do. For a moment, he freezes. Then, ever so slowly, he hugs the girl back as he desperately tries to hold on to the blank mask that is Severus Snape.

Moody placed a gnarled hand on his protegée's shoulder. "Let's give them a moment."

Tonks looked at him, confusion evident, but followed him out of the room without a word. Tonks chewed her lip. "Are they going to be alright?"

Moody scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I reckon so. Snape's got a lot more to him than I initially knew. You had him as a professor, didn't you?"

"Yeah. He was a right bastard too. I mean, he was brilliant, but a complete arsehole to everyone."

"What else do you know about him?"

Tonks' brow furrowed. "How do you mean?"

"What do other people think of him? Is he married or have a girlfriend? Does he have kids? What sort of man is he? These are the sorts of questions that should be popping into your mind. You need to be constantly analyzing the data you have. Paint me a picture of this man. Start with the basics."

"Well, his name is Severus Snape. He's thirty-one years old. Single, far as I know. Youngest person to obtain the title of Potions Master," Tonks listed out quickly. "He's the Potions instructor at Hogwarts, and Head of Slytherin House. Most of the students find that he's a bit of a git."

"How so?"

"He very prickly, and quick to take points off. He also incessantly favors Slytherin."

"Why?"

Tonks shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe he takes all the 'your house is like your family' and 'take care of your own' stuff really seriously."

"Do you think so?"

Tonks shrugged again. "It's just speculation," She frowned, "What's with all these questions?"

"The girl can't exactly go back those muggles, now can she?"

"Well, no, but what does that - " the image of the small girl holding onto Snape - Snape, of all people! - like he was the only thing keeping her together came to mind. "Oh."

Moody quirked an eyebrow. "Now you get it."

"Yeah. What are we going to do about it?"

Moody drummed his fingers on his walking stick. "Not sure yet. Any real decisions will have to run before the Wizengamot, but hopefully our friends - " there was a slight twisting of his mouth " - the Malfoys can help speed things up in that department. Right now, the concern is finding somewhere to put her tonight."

It was a couple hours later when Moody and Severus reconvened in the Auror office common room. Hermione was safely ensconced in Tonks' flat, and Severus had given the young Auror specific instructions to contact him if anything went amiss.

"Did she tell you what happened?"

Severus grimaced. "Yes. It was… less bad than it could have been. The father commenced arguing with the girl, and it kept escalating. He struck her across the face - fairly hard, I would estimate, based on the bruising - and continued to berate her. When she attempted to get him to stop, he seized her wrists hard enough to give her a contusion and continued to physically intimidate her. Somewhere around that point the girl's magic lashed out, sending the equivalent of a stunning spell towards the father. Based on her account, it seems like accidental magic."

Moody shook his head in disbelief. "And in your book, that isn't bad."

Severus clutched his empty coffee cup. "No. Had the father been intoxicated, it would have been far worse. The girl's injuries were relatively minor, and the bruise paste I gave her should clear them up in the next couple days."

"We should be in the Wizengamot by then. Tonks is writing another letter to those blasted Malfoys tonight, and with any luck Lucius - " Moody spat the name, " - will be able to pull the strings he has with the Minister." Moody shook his head slightly, "It's going to be a bloody messy case. There's going to be havoc over a witch - even if she's muggleborn - " Severus started slightly, and Moody fixed him with a glare. "I know about the ruse that girl was running. Bloody clever too. Anyhow, no one is going to like that the girl was in a home that was at a minimum verbally abusive. I don't think we'll have any problem convincing the Wizengamot that she should be relocated. The problem will be with whom. The purebloods will want one of their families to take her in, the Light side will object to most of the proper pureblood families, and so on. And then there's the issue with Dumbledore, which is whole 'nother can of worms."

Severus winced slightly. "You are not wrong there."

"I will be sending in the documents tomorrow. Pensieve memories will most likely be required at the trial."

"Understood."

"I will keep you up to date via owl post."

"Excellent. I suppose the next time I see you will be in the Wizengamot?"

"Yes." Moody disapparated with a sharp crack, and Severus was left alone to walk up to the Ministry atrium.

By Merlin, I am not looking forward to this whole legal endeavor.

A/N: Wow, I can't believe this fic has over 500 followers! Thanks to each and every one of you who has followed/favorited/reviewed this fic. You guys are great! I never thought my fic would get this much attention! Also, a big thanks goes out to my fabulous betas Scintilla of Myself and Delos-Solon. You guys are awesome!

As usual, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter as well as any predictions as to where Hermione might end up. Just press that nice little review button...