Chapter Twenty-Nine

It Takes a Child

Severus entered the classroom to find the fourth years waiting for him. They immediately faced forward as he strode into the room and dropped a stack of books and paper on the desk before striding wordlessly towards his office. Beside the door, Descartes greeted him loudly, and then waited with renewed alertness when the professor reappeared with his class notes in hand.

"Pass up your work from over the holiday," Severus said, gesturing for the blackboard to move forward and putting on his spectacles. "As I'm sure you may have guessed from the material I had you complete, we will be starting with major undead creatures this term. I hope for your own sake you took your time but kept it concise," he said, looking dubiously at Zoë and Zack who merely smiled beatifically back at him. Suspiciously he looked through the papers and pulled Zack's out, looking it over scrupulously. "Hm," he said simply, and went to the next row. "Morfinn, are you going to sneeze in my class?" Morfinn, who was holding his nose tight, shook his head fervently. "Good. I hardly thought you wanted to start off with extra homework. Miss Snape," he added, gathering her paper as well before heading back up to the desk.

"There are two main types of undead creatures, as you know…those that typically destroy life, and those that destroy souls, both of which often use their victims or the corpses of the victims to grow in number. Up to this point, you have mainly studied undead that act from a sort of mindless instinct or low intellect. Now we are going to begin to look at those types that may sometimes have individuals with exceptional intellect; the most famous, of course, being the vampire. Can anyone tell me how vampires come about?" Severus asked. Alicia's hand quickly went up, followed by a few less enthusiastic ones. But Severus had noticed that Morfinn had his handkerchief out and was fussing with his nose again. "Mr. Bliant? Unless that's a flag of surrender?" he asked evenly. Several of his classmates snickered when he blushed slightly, putting it down.

"Vampirism is caused by a victim dying while another vampire is feeding from them, whether the death is intentional or accidental. The condition then is transmitted to the body of the victim, which keeps it in a state of animation mimicking life," Morfinn said.

"Correct," Severus said turning towards the blackboard.

"Although," Morfinn added, the professor looking slightly irritated about having to turn back around. "There is a lot of speculation on a political front on whether to call it a condition of being undead, or as a disease such as lycanthropy is."

"Lycanthropy does not cause the death of the victim, Mr. Bliant," Severus pointed out. "Generally speaking, vampires actually maintain a pseudo-intellect and should not be mistaken for a living being. They are only mimicking life in most cases, since the soul of the victim left the owner at the time of death," he said, then noticed his daughter's hand was still raised. "Yes, Miss Snape?"

"Well, what about the cases where the soul doesn't leave? Aren't they at least partially still alive?" Alicia asked.

"Technically, no," Severus said evenly. "However, it is correct that politically speaking they are treated as magical creatures because of that anomaly instead of as undead menaces. But we are not speaking politics, merely facts, Miss Snape."

"But why do those souls stay?" Alicia pressed. "And since they have their old minds and personalities and their bodies still work, why wouldn't they be considered alive?"

"For one thing, they are static. They do not grow, nor do they function on the same level that we do."

"A lot of things don't function the same way we do, but that's hardly an argument that they're not alive," Alicia said.

"This is also not a philosophy class, Miss Snape," Severus snapped. "By definition, death must have occurred to become a vampire, and therefore they are not alive. Death is a permanent condition."

"Really? Then how did Voldemort come back?" Alicia asked. Immediately Severus reacted.

"Fifteen points off Hufflepuff for insolence. You will go by the book definition and leave your personal convictions out of this topic, and if you bring it up again, you will be serving detention," Severus said, several of her classmates eyes widening while Alicia looked unusually defiant, much to Severus' frustration. "Also I want a twenty-four inch scroll from you on the definition of undead and why all vampires fall into that category with relation to the book you are studying," he tapped the top of her book firmly. "And not anything theoretical, political, personal, or anything else that you may have heard."

As Severus turned back to the blackboard, he heard an unmistakable sigh but attempted to ignore it, and in fact ignored her for the rest of the class, pushing back his parental concerns until after the class. He paused then and watched as she gathered up her books and watched her still rebellious composure, quite tempted to pull her aside. But at last he decided against it, and instead began to work his way down to Jennifer's office. She waved distractedly when he came in, busily searching for her notes for her next class on her unkempt desk.

"Jennifer, have you noticed anything odd with Alicia lately?" he asked, and Jennifer nearly laughed outright.

"Severus, I have been trying to tell you that for months," Jennifer said, shaking her head at him.

"This isn't something about a chosen color choice Jennifer," Severus frowned, but immediately recalled from their last conversation that Jennifer had thought it was more than that as well. "No, this is definitely something more. Have you happened to notice that she has become unusually attached to Francis Pyther, lately?"

"Actually, she's been unusually attached to him for years," Jennifer said. "Not really surprising, is it, considering her talent? After all, we've all had to deal with the occasional student admirer…" Severus stared at her, and Jennifer's lip twitched. "All right, perhaps not all of us."

"This is more than just a normal infatuation," Severus said after he thought about it a moment.

"Do you want me to talk to her about it? Not that I'm sure it'll do much good," Jennifer added wryly.

"Perhaps we should speak to Pyther about it first," Severus decided, glancing at his watch. "But not tonight. I need to go see Draco during my conference, and then we need to have a family meeting tonight to make sure everyone knows what's been going on. If I'm not back right away, have the children meet in your sitting room and I'll give you an update."

"All right, Severus," Jennifer said thoughtfully, watching as he left. For a brief moment when he turned, she had caught a glimpse of intense concern as his mind went from family matters to whatever it was plaguing him to go to Draco about. Of course Ciardoth was at the center of his concern…but it had been some time since she had last seen his face quite that grave.

It wasn't long before Draco discovered just how much he hated detective work. It was much more preferable to have people do it for him, but the Enforcers, he quickly decided, were nothing but bumbling idiots… practically incapable of taking orders let alone giving them. How Thurspire dealt with it so long he had no idea. Draco sighed with frustration as he and Peasegood waited at the front desk of St. Mungo's for a resident. He had asked Arnie, of course, if he were interested in the LE Minister position, but had been politely turned down, explaining quite bluntly that his patience was best served as Malfoy's adviser and, as he put it, 'damage control.' Rhys Brown, too, had also been quick to refuse the idea of coming out of retirement, (but was no where near polite about it.) Furiously, Draco found himself taking over the investigation while still having to conduct his own duties as well as take on the headache of going through the few people who dared to submit applications…none of which came close to Draco's idea of what was needed to attempt to rebuild the ragtag Law Enforcement Ministry.

"Ah yes, Minister Malfoy," the doctor said, nodding respectfully. "You are here to interview Miss Thurspire before her release, I believe?"

"Peasegood here is going to interview her, actually. I'm merely observing," Draco said evenly. That much, at least, Arnie was more than willing to do, not quite trusting the girl's reaction to Draco.

"We just got done speaking with her about it, and she seems comfortable with the idea. Her guardian, Mrs. Black wishes to be in the room…"

"Fine, I don't care. Black sometimes works for me," Draco said, waving it off. Nodding again, the doctor led them down the hallway.

A gentle knock later, Draco and Arnie found themselves looking at a young but vibrant girl, who gazed at them with an expression both anxious and challenging at the same time from where she sat on a made bed. Anna, who had been sitting in a chair opposite her, got up when they came in, stepping out of the way so that Arnie could go over to Lindsay.

"Hallo, Lindsay," Arnie said with a warm smile, sitting down. "Do you remember me?"

"You worked with my Daddy," Lindsay said, pulling a toy witch doll to her from the bed.

"That's right, we were friends," Arnie said. "Do you know why I'm here?" Lindsay glanced at Anna then nodded. "Do you remember what hurt your house?"

"The dragon," she said. "It was angry at my Daddy."

"Do you know why?" Arnie asked quietly. Lindsay shook her head.

"He said he had to go away. He said we weren't safe, and he had to find something out," Lindsay said, rubbing her eyes a moment but refusing to cry.

"I understand. He wanted to protect you. Is that why he sent you out of the house?" Arnie asked. Lindsay nodded slightly. "Why did you go on the roof, then?"

"I felt safe there. It's my thinking spot," Lindsay said.

"Never mind that, ask her what he was trying to find out," Draco snapped and pointed at her. Anna and Arnie both glared at him.

"I don't know. He said he had to go to Hogsmeade. To see the alchemist. But he never got to," Lindsay said.

"Corey?" Anna said in surprise, looking up to see that Draco and Arnie both had the same baffled expression on their faces.

"Did he say why?" Arnie asked. Lindsay shook her head. "Did he go see the alchemist?" Lindsay shook her head again.

"The dragon came," Lindsay said. "I don't want to talk anymore."

"It's all right," Arnie said, squeezing her hand gently before standing up again and going over to Draco, who stepped out of the room with a look of pure irritation on his face. Anna said something quietly to her before joining them as well. "We shouldn't push our luck. I think she's telling us what she can."

"Not much, apparently," Draco said with frustration.

"Draco, not only is she just five years old, but she has been through a major trauma," Anna said in annoyance. "She needs time and space. You're going to have to try other sources."

"Perhaps we can get Jennifer in here to talk to her," Draco mused.

"Not right now, Draco," Anna said firmly. "She's going home with me today and she's going to need time to get used to her surroundings and rebuild some sort of sense of security before you find other ways of grilling her."

"Anna, like it or not, she's the only true witness we've got," Draco said firmly.

"Not quite," said a voice from behind them. The three of them looked up to see Severus Snape standing there casually.

"Must you come up on people like that?" Draco snapped. "What do you mean, not quite?"

"Simply that I believe I know more about the situation than you do," Severus said evenly. "Ederick Thurspire happens to have sent me some of his case research before he died, and I've been working on following up on it."

"Why didn't you send it on to the Ministry?" Draco barked, immediately getting shushed by several nurses in the hall.

"Perhaps because you haven't appointed a new Law Enforcement Minister to report it to," Severus said calmly.

"Then you should have reported it to me!" he said.

"I am now doing so," Severus pointed out unconcernedly. Draco glared at him. "And as I said before, I haven't finished discerning the importance of the exact contents of this file, which proved to be quite esoteric. I was intending to give you the full analysis, but if you would rather attempt to figure this mess out on your own…be my guest."

"Fine, just tell me what you've found out," Draco said impatiently.

"I'm not completely certain as yet. That depends on some information I was hoping to get from you…particulars of magical activities in certain towns, and also some more information on the items lost…was there anything missing from the vault that might have been some sort of magic astrological equipment?" Severus asked.

"Astrological equipment?" Arnie repeated curiously, then shook his head. "No, everything that disappeared was burnables…nothing unexpected missing…"

"If you have a book list, I would like to see that," Severus said. "I also would like permission to head to the Western Isle; it's one of several locations I need to look into this weekend."

"The Fomorians are no longer there, Severus. The Ministry is watching the island at the moment…"

"Yes, Draco, I'm aware of that, which is one of the reasons I may need to go there, along with several other locations provided I can have access to those records I need."

"Fine! Peasegood, when we get to the Ministry, let everyone know that as far as I'm concerned, Snape has full clearance to anything Thurspire had," Draco said, turning back to Severus. "But you had better have something to tell me after you get back, Snape, or I swear I'll throw you in the Tower for withholding information!" he threatened before finally turning and striding down the hall. Peasegood flashed Severus and Anna a smile before hurrying to catch up, the amused grin still on his face when he finally reached the Minister's side.

"I'm surprised you didn't try offering him the job while you were at it," Peasegood said, only partially joking.

"If I could have, I would have," Draco snapped without missing a stride.

When they were out of range, Severus turned back to his sister, who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

"And how are things here with you?" he asked. "I hope you've been taking my advice."

"Not that it has helped, but I have," Anna admitted curtly. "Granted, I've been spending the days with Lindsay, but every evening I've talked at him until my voice cracks only have him to completely ignore me, staring at the window, most of the times with his back turned, or even worse turning into dog form, much to the staff's dismay. Severus, I don't think it's working. He's not listening."

"Perhaps not, but he's at least hearing it," Severus said. "It'll pay off in the end, Anna."

"In the end of what?" Anna said. "None of this seems to end. I've done nothing but sleep and come here every waking moment since this whole thing began. I don't know how long I can do it anymore." Severus looked thoughtful.

"You are getting Lindsay settled tonight? Who will be watching her when you come visit Sirius?"

"I will probably be bringing her, although Ginny has offered to watch her on her days off," Anna sighed, glancing in to see Lindsay trying to get her doll's toy wand to work.

"Perhaps you could see if she's available one day this weekend so you can accompany me on my little tour," Severus mused. "I could use an extra wand, especially since these are wild magic sights more than likely."

"Jennifer's not going?" Anna frowned.

"Things are not all well at the school at the moment, Anna. I would feel better knowing she is there if anything happens in my absence," Severus said. "I hardly plan to force your arm; I simply thought you might like an excuse to get away for a day."

"Is it important?" Anna asked in a low voice.

"The safety of us all may depend on it," Severus admitted reluctantly, knowing it would entice her, despite being the truth.

"All right, count me in then," Anna immediately decided. "I'd better go…wait, where's Lindsay?" Anna said with surprise, staring in her empty room. But Severus merely gestured down the hall. Glancing at him in annoyance for not mentioning it, Anna hurried towards Sirius' room to find her sitting across the table from him, talking up a storm.

"Why don't you ever talk much when people come to visit you?" Lindsay asked. "People are always trying to get me to talk. They think it'll help. But I don't like to talk about what they want to talk about. Why are you here, Uncle Sirius? You look all right to me. Did you lose your Mummy and Daddy too?" Severus quickly kept Anna from entering then as a strange expression crossed Sirius' face and he seemed to notice the child for the first time.

"Too?" Sirius frowned, focusing in on the girl. "What happened to your Mummy and Daddy?"

"The dragon did it," Lindsay said, hugging her doll.

"Ciardoth?" Sirius asked quietly. Lindsay nodded.

"Aunt Anna wants me to come stay at your house. Is that all right?" Lindsay asked uncomfortably. Sirius nodded thoughtfully at that, vaguely remembering then that Anna had mentioned something about it before. But a moment later he was rather surprised to find a child in his lap, clinging to him as if afraid to let go for a moment before staring at his scruffy face so intensely that all the sudden he wanted to shave. "Do you like chips?" Blinking at her in bewilderment, Sirius nodded to her unsurely. "I suppose it'll be okay then," she decided with a sigh, leaning into him again.

Severus was quite tired when he got back, but kept the meeting with his family as concise as possible. Before the end of the evening, Jennifer was made fully aware of the dream, and then all of them listened wide-eyed as they heard at least part of what he had learned.

"Apparently, the dragon made of stars was a direct reference to the constellation Draco, and with Professor Sinistra's help I was able to find out that some of those stars correlate to an actual location, possibly somewhere near here," Severus said.

"Does this have to do something with those places you mentioned?" Alex asked, Aurelius jabbing her hard.

"Yes, however I need to further research those to find out if they have further significance next weekend," Severus said. "Your mother will be staying here to help watch things at the school."

"You mean to babysit us," Aurelius said dryly.

"Besides other things, perhaps," Severus said wryly. "If you want to be treated better, perhaps you should stop abusing the rules. You can start proving it by not stepping foot out of the castle or anywhere in the castle that you know you shouldn't be, including under it. Any questions?"

"No, sir," they answered one by one.

"Good, then we're done. Don't forget to practice your mental exercises every night…and Alicia, don't forget your report," he warned her. Not bothering to answer, Alicia followed the others out.

"So what all didn't you tell them?" Jennifer asked after the door shut.

Friday was never an easy working day for the Minister of Magic, for it meant to him the end of another week of working with idiots. Draco stared in disbelief at the application in his hand and crumpled it up into a ball and threw it into the fireplace, the ball immediately burst into flame. He glared at the pile of work on his desk, neglected as he attempted to juggle his own job and the daunting Enforcement. Suddenly thinking of someone he hadn't solicited for the job yet, Draco scribbled out a quick note and strode out of the office, tossing it in one of the message chutes himself. He waited for a long time, staring when it didn't come back right away. Frustrated, Draco strode down the hall and into the Enforcement Ministry. He paused to stare in the lounge, wondering why it was empty. Usually there were at least a couple of Enforcers or a bored Auror hanging out there, even in the evening, but no one was there. In fact, the entire area seemed quite deserted. Alarmed, Draco went to the main office and barged in only to find someone he didn't know snoring at the desk.

"Who in the hell are you?" Draco barked and the Enforcer leapt up with the speed of a startled cat, still shaking as he got to his feet.

"Enforcer Blair, sir. Sorry sir, must have dozed off…"

"Obviously! Where's Ricks? Isn't it his shift? Where's Grangely? Where's DeMille?" Draco barked.

"You fired DeMille, sir," Blair pointed out quietly.

"Never mind him! Where are the others?" Draco said angrily.

"Actually, most of them are at the Craw farmhouse, sir," Blair admitted. "The Aurors especially."

"What? Who did he kill this time?" Draco asked with alarm.

"No, no, sir, it's not that! They went to sit with him because Mrs. Craw is having her baby," Blair said. "I drew the short straw," he added glumly.

"I don't believe this. I just don't believe this," Draco said, shaking his head. "I am left here with no support at all if any calls come in and no Minister to call on, and the only one here besides me is a Blair! Meanwhile, the entire Enforcement and probably every Auror in the area are fawning over the fact that a convicted serial killer is daring to bring another Craw in this world, one that they will probably be forced to apprehend later in his life!" he ranted as Blair attempted to hide his amusement. "I don't get it. I just don't get it. Even before he was put into jail, he's had every Auror in the damn country throwing their support in for him!"

"Is it all that surprising, sir? I mean, he did what he did because his wife died and he felt like the government failed him…"

"He took matters into his own hands and became his own judge and executioner!"

"Not saying it was right, sir, but Fudge and the Ministry didn't really make him feel like he had a choice, did they? They weren't willing to stand up to Voldemort," Blair said. "Craw dared to do that and more, despite knowing what would happen to him because of it. That's something any Auror would understand."

"And so because they've turned him into some sort of misguided war hero, they view him with more respect and trust than they've ever given any of us?" Draco said.

"Hard to trust any organization that lies as much as the Ministry does, Minister, no offense meant to you. But even with all the positive changes to the government that you've made, it still has a tarnished image after years of corruption. Craw might not be the friendliest man in the world, and he definitely has a mouth to be reckoned with; but not a word has come out of it that he didn't strongly believe in, and I think that, along with his actions, has a lot to do with it." Draco stared at him a long time until he suddenly went to the back wall where all the law books were kept, flipping through several and chucking them on the desk before finding the one he wanted and reading it carefully. Finally he tossed it on the table as well.

"Here, do something useful and put those away, and don't you dare fall asleep again until I can get someone real in here," Draco ordered as he strode towards the door.

"Going somewhere, sir?" Blair asked curiously when a slicker suddenly appeared folded over the Minister's arm.

"Yes. To find a damn Minister," Draco said, slamming the door behind himself.

Thomas Craw was having the night of his life…despite the fact that his night had just begun. The young Craw wasn't in his mother's arms very long before Thomas descended, planting kisses on his tired wife to distract her while stealthily working the baby into his arms. But Fleur didn't mind…she was too elated and too proud, and never had she seen such light in Thomas' face before.

"Finally," Thomas murmured in partial disbelief as he looked at his son. But the disbelief melted away when he saw the small tuft of reddish hair on the baby's head, looking very much in some ways like Jennifer had when she was born, until he opened his very pale eyes, holding on almost disinterestedly to his father's finger. "His eyes are very light."

"Mine were like that, as was Gabrielle. He may end up with violet eyes," Fleur said quietly.

"Now that would be a new color in the Craw gene pool," Thomas admitted with an uncharacteristically foolish grin. "Magnificent job, Doctor Weathering!"

"Your wife did most the work, Mr. Craw," the wizened old doctor smiled thinly at him.

"Mind if I take him out a moment?" Thomas said.

"Yes but only for a moment," the fussy doctor protested. "That'll allow me to have a few words with Fleur about some things, being a first time mother and all."

"Yes, well, just be a gentleman," Thomas grunted at him, while the doctor raised his eyebrows at him. Fleur couldn't help but look rather amused as Thomas slipped out the door and down the stairs to where a large crowd seemed to be having a full-blown party. "Broke out the champagne early, did you?" Thomas said, shaking his head at the rowdy bunch. But immediately they stopped what they were doing, and if it hadn't been for Thatcher and Harry jumping in, Thomas would have quickly been crowded upon. "Everyone, meet my son and next heir to the Craw legacy…Maurice Thomson Craw," he announced, everyone who couldn't get immediately to him deciding to grab a drink out of 'respects' instead.

"That a French name?" Tonks asked.

"It's a Craw name," Thomas said proudly, "but I admit that Fleur wanting a name we could both easily pronounce had something to do with it." A few people chuckled at that.

"He definitely looks like you," Harry grinned.

"So he does, except his eye color."

"So how does it feel, then, knowing you're not the last male Craw anymore?" Thatcher smiled at him.

"Like some sort of justice has finally been served to me," Thomas said, and many of the Aurors and Enforcers there grinned in understanding or even nodded outright and began to chat again as Thomas walked into the other room. He looked around and was unsurprised to see his daughter near the kitchen door with her arms folded, watching him come forward with a strange expression on her face. "I thought you'd be lurking over here. The House Elves can take care of that, you know."

"I like to keep busy," Jennifer said uncomfortably.

"Your mother was the same way," Thomas said in a low but sincere voice. "Here then, hold your brother a moment."

"It's all right, Dad, I'm sure there are many others who'd prefer to…"

"I won't let anyone else take him from my arms tonight, let me assure you," Thomas said firmly. "After all, it is he who is the last Craw now. If anything happens to Fleur and I, his welfare would be up to you." Jennifer gazed at his serious expression for a long time before she sighed, her shoulders relaxing slightly before she unwrapped her arms and gently took him.

"As if anything would happen to you. You've already proven time and again you're much too cantankerous to die," Jennifer said.

"That may be," Thomas said, the strange grin coming to his face again. "Then again, no man lives forever… if one did, I doubt children would mean so much, no matter how moody and overly sensitive they have become," he said, patting her back and ignoring the dirty look on her face.

"Maurice, you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into joining this family," Jennifer confided in him.

"Good sense if you ask me," Thomas grunted. "At least we're not an insufferably boring family like some others I can name."

"Thomas?" Thatcher Boltin somehow managed to work his way around the edge of the room to them, nodding politely to Jennifer. "Minister Malfoy is here, along with Magistrate Muse. They say they'd like to see you alone for a moment."

"That intimidated by another Craw coming into the world, are they?" Thomas said evenly. "Oh, come now, Jen-girl, don't look at me like that!"

"What have you done this time, Dad?" Jennifer frowned.

"Now, do you really think I'd push my luck this close to my son's birth?" Thomas said. "Keep an eye on him. And don't you dare hand him off to anyone but his mother."

Jennifer frowned slightly as she watched him disappear into the library with Thatcher at his side while several others who hadn't gotten to see him yet began wandering over in her direction. Tonks and one of her friends came over next, cooing over him and otherwise getting the sleepy baby's attention.

"Can I hold him?" Tonks pleaded, but Jennifer immediately pulled him away, glaring at her protectively. "Guess not," she chuckled as Jennifer took the baby back to Fleur's room.

Jennifer nodded crisply at the doctor who had just helped Fleur get settled back in bed, and Weathering in turn nodded stiffly back, both remembering the rather unpleasant time when the two first crossed paths when Jennifer was pregnant. But Fleur obviously didn't seem to mind the cranky old family doctor at all. In fact, she looked quite well and happy, just like the baby that Jennifer placed back in her arms.

"I am so glad you are here, Jennifer! Gabrielle is coming by train to see me as well and to stay for a week or two. You must bring your family by to meet her, as well as little Maurice!" she said enthusiastically. "I love company, but no one ever comes by!"

"I'll see if I can't arrange something," Jennifer said, suddenly feeling a bit guilty. The fact of the matter was she often found convenient excuses not to visit, rather than to show up and end up in another row with her father again. Still, it would be nice to see Maurice every now and then, realizing with mixed surprise and horror that he was already beginning to grow on her.

Suddenly the door popped open with extreme force as Thomas walked in with a strange determined look on his face.

"Jen-girl, get out. I need to talk to Fleur," he snapped.

"Why, Thomas!" Fleur said in surprise.

"No, no, not out of the house, just out of the room," he said impatiently, refusing to look Jennifer in the eye despite her obvious attempts at trying. Frowning deeply, Jennifer reluctantly left, hurrying to see if anything strange was happening downstairs. But nothing seemed to be at all out of place; most of those who had come had gathered into groups to exchange stories of their own exploits catching criminals while the liquor armoire in the front room became emptier by the moment.

"Aurors," Jennifer muttered irritably to herself. "If anyone attacked the house at the moment, they'd have two dozen drunk guardians to contend with… assuming they could even hold their wands."

"Don't worry, Jennifer," Harry said, coming up from behind and putting an arm around her. "We're not all out of our heads. Where's Severus at, anyway? Getting ready for the trip?"

"Yes, I imagine he'll be by sometime later this weekend," Jennifer said.

"Well, he hasn't really talked to me at all lately about what he's onto, but I hope it goes well. Especially if it has something to do with stopping all of this rain," Harry added. Jennifer nodded and began to tell him something when she noticed Thomas behind them, showing Muse and Draco to the door. A moment later he stood in the archway beside them and raised his hands, slowly gaining their attention.

"It seems I have a bit more news for you this evening," Thomas said.

"What? Did you have twins?" Grangely joked, several laughing at that.

"Stranger news than that, but mostly good, depending on how you see it," Thomas said vaguely. Harry didn't miss the fact that Jennifer's eyes had widened or how shaky she suddenly looked on her feet, making him all the more curious. "The Minister of Magic, with support of the Magistrates, have decided to claim, on the Ministry's behalf, partial responsibility for Alice's death by not acting against certain Death Eaters beforehand, and thus stopping the attack," he said, everyone listening silently. "The Ministry has also issued me a formal apology that states officially that my acts are that of a man 'faced with no other choices due to the level of corruption present within the Ministry at the time of my actions.' Now, I realize, these are just words to most of you… political gibberish not meant to change anyone's true opinion of my actions, whether you believe me guilty or not. I have always accepted that guilt and more and its consequences, and apparently in so doing, seem to have rather struck a cord with some…"

"With many more than you might believe, Thomas," Thatcher assured him.

"Nevertheless, words though they may be, perhaps you can understand that I do not want my son growing up without understanding the reasons behind what I did, wrong though they were, nor do I want him or the Craws that follow to look back and think of me as a criminal. As it so happens, these words shall clear me, perhaps not in any sort of spiritual terms but in legal terms. And it comes with a price I will take on readily, if that is your will. Of course, I also would be willing to walk away from it as well if you don't care to deal with me…I am hardly going to die a pauper…"

"Thomas…wait...you've lost me…" Tonks said. Instead of getting the normal jibes she got whenever she was lost, the Aurors and Enforcers looked at her intently. "Walk away from what? What do you mean deal with you?"

"Simply that the Minister has asked me to be the next Minister of Law Enforcement," Thomas said. "I suppose that means the Ministry is officially going to Hell, eh?" he mused. But the room had erupted in immediate excited enthusiasm having less to do with the wine and more to do with honest exuberance as the Enforcers came over to shake his hand and the Aurors began to hug each other. But after Harry and Thatcher took their turns congratulating him, they couldn't help but notice Jennifer sitting alone with a stunned expression, still shaking her head in disbelief.