A/N: Thanks for the reviews! The next chapter will be up hopefully on sunday.

Harry felt his heart drop when he climbed over the gate, Snape's frozen form suspended in the air in front of him, only to see the street deserted. It took him a moment to remember that Hermione and Ginny were still under their disillusionment charms, so course he wouldn't have seen them. As soon as the thought occurred to him, he noticed the sounds of footsteps splashing through the puddles close by.

"Harry!" A voice exclaimed, one that could only belong to Hermione. "I was so worried."

"You can lift the spell." Harry said, wishing very much that he could see her face. "I think it's safe."

Hermione obeyed, and a second later her body seemed to push out of the landscape. Her hair was even bushier than usual because of the rain, and her cheeks were bright red from the cold. Harry had never been happier to see her.

"What happened?" She demanded, her voice unnaturally high. "You were gone so long, I didn't know what to think..."

Deciding that at the moment actions would speak louder than words, he gestured for her to step forward, and he lifted the edge of the invisibility cloak to reveal Snape's face.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, gasping loudly. "He isn't dead is he?"

"No." Harry said, her words stinging him for a reason couldn't begin to describe. "You know I wouldn't..."

"Of course." Hermione said, a little too enthusiastically. "That was a silly question."

Harry glared at her for a moment, trying to keep this sudden feeling of hurt at bay. It was obvious that she was lying. Hermione thought he was capable of murder. One of his best friends, who knew better than anyone else, thought he would kill in the name of revenge. Would he? He had already done many illegal things today, but it had all been for a noble cause. His actions were far from wrong, weren't they?

"Where's Ginny?" Harry asked, eager to end this troubling train of thought.

He had expected her to come running as well, but it seemed as though she wasn't even here.

"We were really worried Harry." Hermione explained, nervously biting her lip. "We thought that maybe we should get some help, in case you didn't come back out again, or if you got hurt..."

"You didn't send for the ministry, did you?" Harry implored, a look of horror sweeping across his face.

What he had just done wasn't entirely illegal, a wizard making a citizens arrests wasn't entirely unheard of. Of course, he would have a harder time explaining how he knew Snape was here. That alone might be enough to get him fired from his new position.

"No!" Hermione cried. "We really didn't know what else to do, since we obviously couldn't come in after you. So Ginny went to fetch Alex..."

"Oh great." Harry groaned, the back of his neck tensing in anger. "Like he isn't going to turn me in on the spot?"

"Why would do something like that?" Hermione asked, taking a few tentative steps away from Harry.

"You know why." He retorted sharply, accidently waving his wand so Snape nearly came crashing to the ground.

Cursing, he steadied his wand and then turned his attention back to Hermione. Her face was flushed, and she was having a hard time meeting his gaze.

"Alex really likes you. He asks after you every time he's at the Burrow, he seems to really be impressed with you." Hermione explained, pausing to give Harry a weak but sincere smile. "To be honest I'm not sure if he even knows that you two dated. So he really has no reason to dislike you."

"Not yet anyway." Harry muttered.

He knew Hermione's words were supposed to sooth his fears, but they didn't. Instead they made him even more weary of this Alex character. There had been several times after Voldemort's defeat that people hung around him, pretending to be his friend, faking adoration and kindness. They always wanted something from him, whether it was the faint hope that some of his unwanted fame would rub off on them, or even the desire to blackmail him because he had something they desired. It was more than understandable that Harry would not easily trust anyone's intentions.

Ginny and Alex shortly came into view, both running in his direction. Ginny looked dispirited to see them standing alone, while Alex merely looked worried.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have gotten yourself into, Potter?" He asked when they were in earshot, though there was no harshness to his voice. "You're lucky that you haven't been killed, or arrested."

Harry found it very hard not to shout something very unpleasant at him, and only nodded grimly instead.

"Harry, you have no idea how frightened I was for you. After you went inside I started to think that we shouldn't have let you go in at all. It really wasn't the brightest idea." Ginny said, a glimmer of panic in her eyes. "What happened in there?"

Harry couldn't help feeling pleased that she had worried. That meant that she still cared about him, and even if it was nothing more than what friend's might feel for each other, it was still better than nothing.

"You didn't let him get away, did you?" Alex prodded, when Harry didn't respond.

Again Harry lifted the corner of his invisibility cloak to expose Snape's face. Ginny threw her hands up over her mouth, and let out a sharp gasp. Alex merely nodded appreciatively, looking very much like he wanted to give Harry a hearty slap on the back.

"Invisibility cloak." Alex said in an admiring tone. "Good thinking."

"What are you going to do now?" Ginny interjected, still looking slightly horrified. "We have to be careful, or else you might get sacked over this, or worse!"

Harry tried his best to seem unconcerned, but in reality his stomach suddenly seemed be turning flip-flops. He couldn't say it wasn't worth it to capture Snape, but a year of training and hard work was an awful lot to throw away.

"I really don't know what to do." Harry confessed. "I'll bring him to the ministry I guess."

"No!" Alex quickly insisted, which such force that Hermione and Ginny both looked startled. "That definitely isn't a wise idea right now. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but there are still a fair number of people in the ministry who hold grudges against you, Harry. If you bring Snape to them in this condition, there's bound to be an inquiry. If they find out what you did to Narcissa Malfoy this morning, they'll crucify you. Getting sacked will be the least of your worries."

"Then what do you suggest I do?" He asked bluntly while staring daggers at Alex, who seemed unaware of Harry's hostility.

"Take him home." Alex said, looking towards Hermione and Ginny for their approval. "Wait a few days, to place a distance between yourself and the...incident. Then immobilize Snape and leave him somewhere out in the open. Have a trustworthy friend send for the ministry, and then wait somewhere secluded and watch. He'll be in Azkaban that night guaranteed, and no one will ever have real proof that you were involved. The ministry would never believe Snape, and I strongly doubt anyone here would betray you."

Harry felt vaguely dumbfounded, and Hermione looked incredulous.

"Can't you see that will only make things worse!" Hermione protested. "It's better to bring Snape to the ministry now, and face whatever consequences may come. If we try and hide what we've done..."

"Easy for you to say." Ginny interjected. "Your entire future isn't at risk, and you know you'll never end up in Azkaban. You know how some of those wankers at the ministry are. It should be up to Harry anyway, just let him decide before you go and get all worked up."

All eyes were shifted to Harry, who had grown remarkably paler in the past few seconds.

"I don't know." He confessed, his chest heavy with an imaginary weight.

For all of his bravery, Harry didn't think he could face the ministry today. He didn't want to answer for what he had done, and Alex's plan seemed like such an easy solution. Harry wouldn't be blamed, and Snape would still be brought to justice.

"I guess we should do what Alex says." Harry said, quelling an intense feeling of spite towards him. "But if something goes wrong, its his fault."

Alex only laughed, and patted Harry on the shoulder.

"Let's do this then." Alex announced, clearly happy to be in charge.

Harry couldn't say he felt the same.