Chapter 21 – Family Matters

With a crash Percy and Umbridge fell to the floor in the middle of Percy's bedroom. During their struggle as they fell out of the window at the former Minister's home, Percy had managed to reach into his robes and pull out his emergency portkey. Fudge had insisted that Percy, like most of Fudge's personal staff, have a portkey to bring them to safety, and Percy's was triggered to bring him to the home he shared with Penelope. That Umbridge had not thought of the same escape was a blessing for Percy.

As they crashed to a stop, Percy and Umbridge continued to struggle. Umbridge was kicking and screaming at him in an incoherent rage, scrambling for leverage so she could release her fury on him. Fending off several key blows to his face, and more private areas, Percy made yet another mistake.

He dropped his wand.

Umbridge heard the tell tale click of the wood hitting the floor and dove for the loose wand. Managing to clutch it in her grubby hands first, she pointed the wand at Percy and shouted a quick succession of spells at him, blasting Percy against the wall and immobilizing him. With as much dignity as she could muster, the wretched little woman picked herself up off the floor, brushed her robes with her pudgy little hands, and smiled a foul smile at Percy who stared at her in horror.

"Well Percival," she sneered in her annoying girlish voice. "Since you insisted on aiding that awful little Potter, perhaps you'd prefer to take his place in my revenge?"

"What do you mean Dolores?" Percy asked with dread.

"CRUCIO!" she snapped, a bright beam of light shooting out of the wand in her hand, hitting Percy squarely in the chest.

Percy's head snapped back as his body writhed in agony. Every cell in his body throbbed with pain as the dreadful curse coursed through his body. His hair pulled at his scalp, as if it was trying to pull away to avoid the pain. His fingernails felt like they were curling into his fingers in agony. His eyes started watering as the soft tissue felt like it was melting. Every bone felt brittle and as if it was being twisted, pulled, wrenched, and pounded at the same time. His blood burned throughout his body, searing through his veins.

Percy screamed in absolute agony as all of the hate, all of the anger, all of the frustration that Umbridge felt poured through the curse into his body. The foul little toad stared intently at Percy, the wand in her hand pointed at him as she trained the curse on his twitching body. Umbridge was so focused on exacting this measure of revenge that she didn't notice when the door to the room opened.

"IMPEDIMENTIA!"

The blast was enormous as Umbridge crashed against the wall. Her concentration broken, the curse she had aimed at Percy was ended and she coughed as she picked herself up from the ground.

The pain subsided, the intense agony was gone, and Percy was left with the terrible residual sensations of the dreaded curse. Barely able to lift his head, he rolled his neck to see what had caused his torment to end. He would remember the sight for the rest of his life.

His beloved was there. The only thing that remained in his life to make it worthwhile was there. The core of his being, the center of his existence, his Penelope, she was there. Despite the problems he had caused for her, the mistreatment, the blind arrogance, the tremendous neglect, despite all that, the love of his life stood in the doorway, eyes blazing with righteous fury, wand held firmly in her hand, and a look of loathing aimed at the foul toad who had abused him for too long.

"Leave Percy alone, you hag," Penelope said in a calm voice laced with fury. "Drop the wand. Now!"

It was the most beautiful sight Percy had ever seen in his life. This beautiful witch, this essence of womanhood, stared, unafraid, at the horrible creature determined to kill him, and Penelope was going to fight for his life. He didn't deserve her. Percy knew this to be true. He didn't deserve that kind of love, didn't deserve that kind of devotion, he was both embarrassed by her love, and thrilled by it at the same time. Summoning his courage, bracing his strength, he shot her a look filled with love and tried to pull himself to his feet.

"Foolish girl," Umbridge said with a sneer. "Do you really think you can compete with me?"

With a flick of the wand she held, Umbridge cast three quick charms at Penelope, knocking her to the floor and blasting her wand out of her hand. With a smug smile, Umbridge walked over to pick up her second captured wand. As she bent over she gasped and took a startled step backwards, fear etched across her face.

"I think I might be able to give you some competition, Dolores," Professor McGonagall said with cold disdain as she walked into the room.

"Minerva," Umbridge said with a quaver in her voice. She quickly tried to cover it with a sneer. "I see you're doing well. All recovered from the exams?"

"Let the children go, Dolores," McGonagall said coldly. "Perhaps I'll show you more mercy than you deserve if you do so."

Umbridge narrowed her eyes, quickly glancing around the room. With a smirk she twisted her wrist and muttered a soft spell. Eyes opening wide in shock, she stared in horror at McGonagall.

"Oh yes Dolores, very predictable," McGonagall said with a feral grin. "You've noticed the anti-apparition jinx. I simply must thank Albus for showing me that. Were you aware that only a handful of wizards know that spell? And I daresay a small number of wizards do as well, lucky for me. Now, are you prepared to hand over those wands?"

Umbridge swore at McGonagall and plunged her hand into her robes, puling out a small comb. "Home," she commanded. Once again her eyes widened in shock as the expected magic did not occur.

"Ridiculous," McGonagall said, rolling her eyes. "You are simply making a fool of yourself Dolores. An anti-apparition jinx is almost pointless unless one also is capable of casting a ward preventing the use of a Portkey. Of course a remotely competent professor of Defense against the Dark Arts would have known that. Oh, but then you weren't competent, now were you?"

Umbridge was shaking with fury at this point, her face red with rage. Tucking one of the spare wands inside her robes, she cast a quick series of spells at McGonagall, trying to cease the woman's insufferable smugness. McGonagall neatly deflected all of the spells, bouncing several back at Umbridge, while adding a few tricks of her own.

Umbridge dove for cover and shot a spell in Percy's direction, causing him to go limp, again. With another quick flick of Percy's wand, Umbridge animated Percy's body and forced him to stand in front of her as she shot a few more curses in McGonagall's direction. Recognizing the danger to Percy, McGonagall deflected the spells instead of bouncing them back at Umbridge for fear of hitting Percy. Using the barest of her skills at transfiguration, she turned several tiny portions of the back wall into highly reflective mirrors. Calculating the correct angles, she shot a few spells at Umbridge, missing her completely, but zooming directly toward the mirrored spot in the wall.

"Missed me, old girl," Umbridge said sweetly with a smirk. "I guess your age is getting to you."

"Not at all Dolores," McGonagall said, pursing her lips in a grim smile. "Not yet, at least."

At that instant the spells returned from the back wall of the room and intersected with Umbridge. For several moments she started glowing brilliant colors as each spell hit the foul woman - a leg locker, to keep her in place, a silencer, to keep her quiet, and finally a stunner, to knock her out. As Umbridge fell to the ground, the last thing she heard was the self-satisfied chuckle of Minerva McGonagall.

---XXX---

"Harry, please, just drink the bloody potion, would you?" Tonks demanded in exasperation. "You've broken six ribs, on both sides of your body, mind you. I'm not even sure how you're managing to stay awake with the pain you must be feeling."

"I'm fine," Harry replied stubbornly. "I can't just sit here Tonks, I have to help the Weasley's find Percy."

"No you don't, you idiot," she replied just as stubbornly. "Arthur and Molly dropped you off here to get healed, and heal you bloody well will do. Unless you want me to get Remus' opinion of the matter?"

"That's not fair," Harry protested.

"What?" Tonks asked. "I think it's a good idea. I'll go to St. Mungo's, wake Remus up, disrupt the last stages of his healing process, and get him to weigh in. I'm sure he'd allow you to ignore the fact that you've battled a legion of Dementors, dueled with Deatheaters, fought off Umbridge, and in the process managed to break several bones and use more magic in a day than most wizards use in a year. Yeah, let's both go and tell him this story and see if he thinks you should now gallivant around the country on a wild goose chase, unsure of where to go or where to even start. C'mon Harry. I want to see what he says."

"Fine, you win," Harry muttered darkly. "But you know that's not fair."

"I don't have to be fair. I just need to make you drink these potions so your ribs heal. And whatever else you've managed to sprain, fracture, or wound."

Tonks handed the bubbling potions to Harry and, with a grimace, he quickly downed them, making a terrible face as their contents gurgled in his stomach. After a few moments he felt a warm sensation spreading throughout his body, and the pain in his ribs subsided tremendously. His breathing grew less labored, and he felt slightly better.

"Now, get up to your room where Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are waiting breathlessly for the information that I'm sure you'll tell them. Moody brought them back from the Ministry after you and Arthur disappeared, and I'm sure they are anxious for some news. You'll be ready to fall asleep in about a half hour, once those potions work their way through."

"What are you going to do?"

"What Aurors always do, find a way to save the day," Tonks said with a smirk. "Get some rest and we'll let you know what we find out in the morning."

Harry shook his head at Tonks' statement, but recognized his need to rest and recover. Marching up the stairs, he decided to learn from past mistakes and take some good advice for once.

Knocking on the door to announce his presence, he informed his friends that he was wounded so they wouldn't rush him and tackle him with hugs. Upon opening the door he realized that was a rather smart idea because all three of them made as if to jump off the beds and come running at him when they all gasped at the condition he was in. They stopped short of crushing him with hugs when they saw how exhausted he looked.

"Harry! All right mate?" Ron asked with concern etched in his face.

"Yeah," Harry replied with a tired grin. "I guess so. I mean, not really, but I will be. It's been a long day."

Sitting gingerly down on his bed, Harry got straight to the point and quickly informed his friends about the events with Fudge and Umbridge.

"You mean he's actually dead?" the three friends gasped at one point in the story, almost in unison.

Quirking his eyebrows up at them wickedly, Harry nodded. "Yeah, he kind of got what he deserved, don't you think?"

A small grin appeared on Ginny's face while Ron whooped with laughter. Only Hermione looked grim at the news, but Harry noticed that even she didn't say a word in defense of the former Minister. Continuing on with his story, Harry finished with the image of Umbridge and Percy disappearing in the flash of a portkey.

"Your Mum and Dad are looking for them now, I guess, as are most of the rest of the Order and as many Aurors as your father could spare from the Ministry. They'll find him, I'm sure."

"Yeah, and when they do, Mum's going to kill Percy," Ginny said with a forced attempt at humor. Affecting her mother's voice, Ginny started lecturing her brother in absentia. "Percival, how dare you throw yourself in front of a curse like that. And look what you've done, you've broken dear Harry's ribs. Not that it wasn't heroic what you did, but you must think before you do these things. Now give me a hug you poor dear, I'll fix up some sandwiches before dinner. Honestly, what does Penelope feed you, you're nothing but skin and bones."

The teenagers all roared with laughter at Ginny's astute impersonation in tone and words of Mrs. Weasley, and forgot for the moment their worries for Percy and the Weasley family as a whole. As Harry tried to stifle a yawn, Hermione and Ginny exchanged looks and nodded at each other.

"Well, perhaps we should head to bed," Hermione said, getting up from where she was sitting next to Ron. "Good night Harry. Good night Ron," she said as she leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek, causing him to blush.

The two girls left the room, closing the door behind them. Harry carefully sat down on his bed, contemplating the prospect of changing clothes, and deciding against it. As he started to pull the covers back, he was interrupted by Ron.

"Harry," he asked. "Do you think Percy will be okay?"

That Ron would even ask such a question stunned Harry. Not that Ron was concerned about his brother of course. Harry knew Ron was too compassionate to not worry about Percy, but Harry was stunned that Ron would admit such a worry, even to Harry. Ever since that stupid letter from Percy came, advising Ron to stay away from Harry and put his trust in Umbridge, Ron couldn't even be in the same room when someone mentioned Percy's name. And when Mrs. Weasley would start to cry over the status of the family's relationship with Percy, Ron would look like he was ready to kill someone. But he would never talk about it, Ron would just mutter under his breath and pound his fists together as his ears turned scarlet. So Harry was understandably surprised when Ron asked about his brother.

"Yeah Ron, I think he's going to be okay," Harry replied. "They'll find him."

---XXX---

The next morning Harry woke up early, despite his exhaustion from the day before. The potions he had taken the night before had worked, and all of his wounds and broken bones were fully healed.

As he climbed out of his bed, trying not to disturb Ron, he was surprised to see that his best friend was already awake.

"Morning," Harry said with a yawn. "What are you doing up?"

"Morning Harry," Ron replied. "I didn't sleep well. Worried about Percy."

"Well," Harry said with a sympathetic frown. "I'm sorry Ron, but we'll find him somehow. I'm sure of it."

The two boys quickly changed and headed for the kitchen, their stomachs rumbling. When they got there, Ron was stunned to find his father rummaging around in the pantry while Ginny and Hermione were trying to offer their assistance.

"Dad?" Ron asked. "Where's Mum?"

"She's having a bit of a lie in this morning, son. Yesterday was pretty tough for her, and she's not ready to face the day quite yet," Arthur replied. "So I'm making breakfast."

Harry and Ron exchanged grimaces at the news. Mr. Weasley's cooking record was spotty at best, and he had a slight tendency to mix too many ingredients together in his eggs, claiming that the Muggles liked lots of interesting things in their 'omlits' or 'crumbled eggs' and Harry couldn't bring himself to dampen Mr. Weasley's enthusiasm. Normally they would all just eat around the more bizarre ingredients.

Just as Mr. Weasley was about to start cooking, they were interrupted by a flash of green fire and Professor McGonagall stepped out of the fireplace. Harry was surprised when he saw her glance around the room and her face twisted in consternation at seeing Mr. Weasley.

"Good morning Minerva," he said heartily. "Can I offer you some breakfast, I'm about to make some for the boys and Molly."

"Thank you, no," replied Professor McGonagall. "I have news for you, and Molly, of course. Perhaps you could go get her Mr. Potter?"

Harry nodded his head and stood to dash out of the room, but was saved from that chore when Mrs. Weasley entered at that precise moment.

"What news, Minerva?" Mrs. Weasley asked hastily. "Is it about Percy?" she asked hopefully.

Professor McGonagall nodded in affirmation. "He's at Hogwarts. Poppy is tending to his wounds, and Penelope's, of course."

"Let's go," Mrs. Weasley said abruptly to her husband. Mr. Weasley nodded his head, but paused when Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and looked at him speculatively.

"Well," she said with hesitation. "Actually, maybe it would be best if you didn't join us, Minister," she said, emphasizing Arthur's title. "I've used rather, shall we say, unorthodox measures to restrain Dolores. She's at Hogwarts as well."

"I see," Arthur said with an absolutely straight face. "Yes, well, I do have to nip off to the Ministry I guess. What with carrying out Lucius' sentence this afternoon and all the other things the Minister has to do. You'll all be able to join me for that event, Molly? I would really appreciate it if you could join me, along with Harry and the rest of the children. If Percy's okay, that is."

Molly Weasley simply nodded at her husband, unsure of her own voice, so relieved that Percy had been recovered and seemed to be okay. As she started to address Professor McGonagall she was interrupted by her husband's shout of pure joy from the hallway.

No one in the kitchen was able to restrain their laughter.

---XXX---

Percy was overwhelmed by his mother's outpouring of affection. She was hugging him, scolding him, praising him, and crying tears of joy that he was okay, all at the same time. As soon as she had walked through the door to the infirmary at Hogwarts, she had started fussing over him, unable to restrain her emotions. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Professor McGonagall stood silently off to the side as Molly was reunited with her son.

After several minutes of her fussing, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, trying to get Molly's attention.

"Mum," Percy said patiently. "Mum, please, I'm going to be fine, seriously."

"I know dear," she said, catching her breath and wiping away the last tears. "What you did yesterday was very brave, very foolish, but very brave."

"Mum," he protested. "It was my fault. If I hadn't been so weak, so blinded by power, frustration, or ambition, none of that would have happened. When I was finally free, I just did what I needed to do, what I had to do."

"Of course you did, Percy," Harry said, stepping up to the bed and placing a comforting hand on Percy's leg. "You're a Weasley."

Percy's eyes welled up at Harry's praise and he tried to shake his head, as if to reject Harry's kindness. Turning his head to wipe away his tears, he was startled when he saw his brother and sister, not realizing that they had entered the room as well. Speechless, he stared at them, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to find the right words. Ginny, seeing his distress, ran to his side and enveloped him in a hug, tears flowing freely as she clutched him close to her.

"Gin?" Percy asked in wonder. "I'm so glad you're here, it means so much to me. I've been so stupid."

"Yeah, you have," Ron said hoarsely, his eyes glistening. "But now you can make it right. You can make it right with all of us. You've started with Harry, and that's enough for now."

Ginny reached out a hand, imploring Ron to cross the room and join them. Ron wiped his hands across his face, and stiffly walked over after getting a slight nudge from Hermione. Reaching out to grab Ginny's hand, he stumbled and fell into the bed, falling into an embrace with his brother and sister.

"Ron," Percy said haltingly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I'd do anything to make it up to you."

"You will Perce," Ron said quietly. "You will. But we're family. That will always come first. Family forgives, we might not forget, but we forgive."

"I know that, now," Percy said softly. "And I'm sorry."

---XXX---

The emotional reunion lasted another hour until Percy's strength started to wane. Madam Pomfrey chased them out with the guarantee that Mrs. Weasley could return in the evening and again the following day. With a last hug for her son, and an admonition to Penelope to rest, Mrs. Weasley and the others left Hogwarts and headed to the Ministry.

"I don't understand why you want to be there for Malfoy's punishment,"
Hermione said to Harry as they walked to Hogsmeade. "After everything that's happened the past few days, why don't you just take a break from it all and let's just go home to Headquarters."

"I need to be there," Harry said stubbornly. "I'm the one who proposed the sentence, and I want to see him get what he deserves. Plus, Mr. Weasley agrees that it would be good, symbolically, for me to be there. You know, the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing and everything."

Hermione shook her head and opened her mouth to push her argument, but stopped abruptly when Ron grabbed her hand and squeezed firmly. She looked at her boyfriend and the intensity in his eyes convinced her to drop the matter, reluctantly.

Not completely oblivious, Harry threw Ron a quick look of thanks. Once they reached the wards protecting the school, Mrs. Weasley held up her wand, summoning the Knight Bus, which appeared very quickly. They all boarded and the bus jumped away, heading rapidly towards the Ministry.

Surprisingly, there were no other stops and they arrived at the Ministry in plenty of time to grab a bite to eat for lunch before the scheduled punishment of Lucius Malfoy.

---XXX---

"Malfoy, your wife and son are here," the Auror said scathingly. "Here to see you before you get turned into a Muggle. They have ten minutes before you are dragged out of here for your sentencing."

Lucius Malfoy somehow managed to maintain his aura of superiority, even in a jail cell. Looking down his nose at the guard through the bars on the window, Malfoy simply sneered. "About time," he said. "Let them in."

"Sod off Malfoy, you damn Deatheater. You'll be getting yours today, and rightfully so," the Auror said with a cold laugh. "Now back up."

Grudgingly, Malfoy stepped away from the door to allow his wife and child into his cell. Once the door opened, Draco regally pushed his way past the Auror and Narcissa sullenly followed. Demanding some water as the Auror slammed the door shut, Draco embraced his father.

"Father," he said. "It is good to see you. How are you?"

"Fine," Lucius said impatiently. "What are the two of you doing here? I thought I forbid you to be here."

"Lucius, you are no longer in a position to be quite so demanding," Narcissa said angrily. "You have no idea what price we are paying for being here."

"What do you mean?" he asked angrily.

"Patience father," Draco said smoothly with an arch look at the Auror. "Patience. Auror?" Draco commanded. "My father asked for some water, my mother needs some as well."

Grumbling, the Auror opened the door and gave Draco two cups of water. With a sneer, Draco took them and handed a cup to each of his parents.

"My mother would like a few moments alone with my father," he said contemptuously. "I will wait outside with you."

Draco paced in the hallway, making sure to keep his back to the Auror. As the clock on the desk chimed the hour, Draco snorted and turned to the Auror. Gesturing for him to open the door, the Auror knocked loudly and opened the door. The Auror smirked as the Malfoy couple hastily completed the process of fastening their clothing.

"A last hurrah?" he said with a low chuckle. "Well, time is up. The Minister will be here shortly to escort you to the chamber."

"You mean that miserable excuse for a wizard is coming here?" Draco asked.

"I've already explained to your father that he and I have very different ideas about what constitutes a decent wizard, young Mr. Malfoy," Arthur Weasley said as he entered the cell of Lucius Malfoy. "I would hope that your father's sentencing and punishment might serve as a warning for any who would think otherwise."

Draco glared at the Minister with the utmost of loathing, and Mr. Weasley felt certain that he fully understood his youngest son's loathing for the foul Malfoy brat. Shaking his head in dismay that such a young man could be so beyond hope, Mr. Weasley gestured to his Auror guards and they directed Lucius to turn around. Securing his hands behind him and putting his ankles in shackles, they escorted him out of the cell.

"Mother, you should return to the Manor," Draco said. "I am going to stay with Father, but you shouldn't be put through this farce. I will see you at home."

Narcissa nodded and swept regally from the room and Draco marched out after his father. Arthur stood in the dark cell for a few moments, not entirely sure why, but a dreadful nagging feeling was pulling at the back of his mind. Shaking it off, he followed the prisoner to the courtroom, preparing himself to carry out the terrible sentence.

When they arrived at the foyer to the courtroom, Arthur ordered the guards to keep the prisoner there until he was summoned. Walking into the courtroom, Arthur was not surprised by the size of the crowd. The room was filled to capacity, wizards and witches of all types were there. Purebloods, half-bloods, muggle-borns, even some squibs were present to see the downfall of the Dark Lord's servant. Even a contingent of goblins, several house-elves, and a centaur were there, which did cause some surprise for Arthur, but he should have realized that Dumbledore would have reached out to all of the victims of Lucius Malfoy's evil deeds over the years.

A smile crept across the Minister's face as he saw that his own family was there. His darling Molly was holding court over their children, biological and adopted. Greatly relieved by the firecall he had just received from Minerva McGonagall about Percy's condition, Arthur felt he could see years of tension lifted off his wife's shoulders. Not that everything between them and their son was healed, but the foundation for reconciliation was laid, and that was all Arthur could ask for.

Sitting next to Molly was his youngest, his precious Ginny. Arthur felt a fierce protectiveness wash over him as he gazed upon his little girl. Woman he thought to himself ruefully, not for the first time that summer. She is a spectacularly amazing young woman, and she has a bright future ahead of her, thanks to Harry.

Any compassion Arthur might have had for Lucius Malfoy was immediately dismissed as Arthur recalled the horror he and Molly felt when they were told the full tale of Ginny's first year. That Lucius had slipped the diary into Ginny's cauldron was beyond a doubt, and in Arthur's mind that alone justified the terrible punishment that Lucius was going to receive.

"Minister, are you ready?" Amelia Bones asked, snapping Arthur out of his reverie. Nodding his head, Amelia snapped her fingers and an Auror quieted the room.

"Bring out the prisoner," Arthur said. Two Aurors escorted Lucius Malfoy out into the center of the room. Roughly positioning him over the center of an elaborate diagram drawn into the floor, they secured the shackles to iron rings in the floor. Lucius simply stood there, looking surprisingly defeated, and Arthur was stunned to see that the Deatheater had tears in his eyes. The nagging feeling in the back of Arthur's head started pounding, but he couldn't figure out what exactly was wrong.

"Lucius Malfoy," the Minister of Magic said with an amplified voice. "You have been charged with murder, with the use of the Unforgiveables, with attempted murder, and numerous other crimes. You are sentenced to have your magic removed, to turn you into that which you despise most of all, a Muggle. Do you have anything to say before the spell is activated?"

Lucius simply shook his head, unwilling to speak. Again that nagging feeling flared up in Arthur's mind. Arthur had assumed Lucius would have made an imperious statement of some form, silence was never that man's mode of operation. Shrugging his shoulders, Arthur simply motioned to the wizards and witches from the Department of Mysteries.

Thirteen of them marched forward in an asymmetrical pattern. They formed a circle around Malfoy, stopping at places marked on the diagram. Lifting their wands above their heads in an elaborate pattern, a soft orange glow started emanating from the stone floor. A shimmering sphere enveloped Malfoy, forcing his body to a rigid standing position in the center of the sphere.

Arthur, knowing the full ritual after having been briefed, looked around the courtroom. He was surprised by two sights. Draco Malfoy, instead of looking at his father, instead of showing any emotion, seemed almost bored. Staring straight ahead, neither reacting to the sights or sounds of the spell, the young wizard could have been staring at a wall for the amount of emotion he had on his face.

The second sight was that of Harry Potter. This strong yet humble young man was staring with implacable eyes at Draco Malfoy. Harry wasn't paying attention to the ritual and he wasn't conversing with his friends. He was staring at his obvious school rival with a determined look that screamed out to Arthur that Harry too felt that something was odd in the courtroom, but couldn't figure it out either.

The chanting of the spell grew louder, and the orange light grew brighter, shifting to a deep purple, infusing the room with dark overtones of purple light. Then the witches took a step away from the circle in exact symmetry. Turning to their right, each witch started marching around the circle, twisting their wands in an even more elaborate pattern as they circled around and around.

A bright white light suddenly flashed through the circle, eliminating the purple light and the witches stopped in place. The white light gradually turned into a pillar of light, centered on the form of Lucius Malfoy. The light grew brighter and brighter. The witches turned around in unison and started circling again in a counterclockwise pattern, though much faster this time.

The witches were almost running now, their wands waving feverishly about as the wizards started stepping through the gaps between the witches in an amazing display of synchronization. Back and forth the wizards stepped, in between the witches as they whirled around the circle, all of them chanting the same complex spell. Finally the pattern on the floor flared bright green, temporarily blinding everyone in the courtroom. A scream erupted, piercing throughout the room, chilling everyone who heard it to the bone. I was a scream of terrible loss, of absolute despair. But oddly, it was not the scream of a man, it was the scream of a woman.

As Arthur blinked his eyes to recover his sight, he looked to the center of the circle where Lucius had been chained. As his vision cleared, he realized that something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Standing in the center of that circle, in shackles, and wearing the robes of Lucius Malfoy was not Lucius Malfoy.

It was his wife, Narcissa.

As the rest of the audience came to the same realization that Arthur did, the courtroom exploded in noise and all Arthur could do was look at the faces of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter.

Both were wearing the same neutral expression and neither seemed surprised.

"Aurors," barked the Minister of Magic. "Seize that woman, and Draco Malfoy as well," he added, pointing to the young blond teenager. "Bring them to my office after you have secured them, and confiscated their wands. I also want anti-apparition and anti-portkey jinxes on them at all times."

Arthur Weasley was livid. He didn't know how Malfoy had managed to escape, but he did, right under the nose of the Ministry. Fleetingly Arthur realized this would be a public relations disaster for the Ministry, but his focus was on figuring out how Malfoy had escaped, and what that meant for the fight against Voldemort. Dealing with the media would have to wait.

Turning to the place where his family was seated, he locked eyes with his wife. "Molly, please get Dumbledore for me," he asked the love of his life. "I'll need his help today. And could you find someone to see if Remus could leave the bloody hospital yet? He's already told me he feels ready to leave, but the blasted Healers won't let him out. I don't care what you have to tell them, but get him to my office now."

Thanking her with his eyes as Molly nodded in acceptance of her mission he swept from the room, followed by his Auror bodyguards. Molly gathered her group around her, eyes somber, and her hands clenched together as she worried about her husband.

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, interrupting her thoughts. "I think Professor Dumbledore is at Hogwarts, with Snape. Dumbledore was going to get to the bottom of that attack before term starts."

"Well then," she said. "I'll just floo Albus and ask him to join us."

When Dumbledore didn't respond to the firecall, Molly decided that the most expedient step was for her to go to the castle herself. Not surprisingly, Harry volunteered to join her, but she refused to allow the rest of the teenagers join them.

"We don't need an entourage everywhere we go," she insisted. "And Harry probably wants to hear Professor Snape's apology himself."

"Apology?" Ron and Harry sputtered simultaneously.

"Not bloody likely," Ron muttered to Harry as Harry nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm sure Severus has a reasonable explanation, Ronald," Mrs. Weasley said sternly. "Dumbledore trusts him so we should give him the benefit of the doubt, at least for now."

Grumbling under their breath, the two boys nodded their heads reluctantly, neither willing to continue a confrontation with the tempestuous and emotional woman over their doubts about Snape. Harry and Mrs. Weasley agreed that they would head to Hogwarts, while the others would go to St. Mungo's with a pair of Auror bodyguards to free Remus.

"It's time for me to have a chat with Snape," Harry said to his friends as they split up.