SEQ CHAPTER h r 1Disclaimer: I don't own the concept of Harry Potter or any of the characters. Only the plot is my own.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the story. My regular beta Sepia is unwell at the moment. Lots of well wishes to her for a speedy and thorough recovery and a big thank you to my guest betas, Texasjeanette and Maxwell Demon, your efforts are greatly appreciated. J
Thank you to Maxwell Demon who has lent her artistic talents to the fic. Her pictures have been uploaded onto her website. I can't upload her website address on FFnet but her website address is on my author profile page. I'll try and think of another way to get it in here. If anyone has any suggestions…Incidentally, her picture of Theresa is definitely my favourite so far.
Follow the link and then click on "Lady Assassin's" Link. If her pictures aren't uploaded yet, they'll be up in a couple of days so please check back then.
At this point I think I should make a small confession. I…er…have been taking a lot of liberties with the world of pharmacology and pharmaceuticals and a lot of the things that I've written about aren't actually possible. My back ground is in law (why I didn't make Harry a lawyer I'll never know) but I've got a couple of lovely reviewers who have offered to let me ask them anything regarding pharmacology (being pharmacology students themselves) so even though I'm stuck with the unrealistic world of pharmacology according to Harry Potter, I might be able to throw a little realism in there every now and then. However, if you squint your eyes and stand on your head, it doesn't seem too unrealistic. J
FROM CHAPTER 10
"Legilimens!" she cried in desperate shrill tones.
Harry had just finished speaking to Theresa and his mind was unguarded, but with the speed of reflexes honed during his years fighting in the war, he was able to throw off her attack without having allowed her to glimpse anything of importance in his mind. The force of having her spell thrown off pushed Sarah back against her chair. She fell off the chair and landed heavily onto the floor.
Everything had happened so quickly and unexpectedly that no one in the room had had the time to prevent Sarah from acting.
"What on earth are you doing?" Duncan asked her, sounding very unsure of himself.
"No! I need to know! Legilimens!" she cried desperately as she threw the spell again. Once more, Harry threw her attempt off with ease.
With a level gaze at Sarah, Harry told her, "There's no excuse for sloppy spell work. This is how you do it." Harry lectured her as he pointed his own wand at her before calmly saying, "Legilimens."
CHAPTER 11
Sarah trembled under the force of the spell and the effort of trying to throw it off.
"What are you doing? Stop it, you're hurting her," Duncan yelled, jumping from his seat and joining Sarah on the ground, gathering her in his arms.
"You've got to be kidding," Ron said.
"I'm not hurting her, I'm educating her," Harry replied coolly as he sifted through an assortment of information and images from her mind.
"Mr Green, I must say that as a Ministry Official, I really can't allow this," Johnathon interrupted just before Harry released her from the spell.
"Oh come on!" cried Ron. "She attacked him – twice. She really brought this one on herself." The staff members did nothing to stop Harry, secretly agreeing with Ron and since Harry had everything well in hand, they decided to stand aside and not interfere.
"Well, well, well. Isn't that interesting?" Harry said coldly, looking down at Sarah who was trembling and gasping for breath. "I think you should make sure she doesn't go anywhere," Harry suggested to Albus, never taking his eyes off Sarah.
Sarah had other ideas. Breaking free from her fiancee's grasp she sprang to her feet, making a desperate attempt to reach the door, but the Headmaster stunned her so she didn't get very far at all.
"What's going on?" asked Duncan, absolutely confused, pulling his wand out.
"I wouldn't," Professor Snape warned him, pointing his own wand at Sarah.
"The minute you revive her, one of us will simply stun her again," Draco told him, also pointing his wand at her. Ginny and the other professors had their wands aimed at the reporters that were in the room.
"I suggest that we remove the reporters… Duncan and Theresa as well," Harry said.
Everybody who had been asked to leave protested loudly at this.
"You can't just dismiss us..."
"No way, this is front page stuff..."
"The public has a right to know..."
"The truth will come out..."
"You've never let the truth get in the way of a story before," Harry said archly.
"SILENCE." Everyone ceased talking. "You will follow Professors Weasley out of the room," Albus instructed as he moved casually over to Harry's side. "What did you see?" he asked very quietly as everybody began to gather their belongings together.
"I'll tell you in a minute. And perhaps we should erase everybody's memory of this last little incident. It's probably best that the general public doesn't know about Sarah. Wouldn't you think?"
"I agree. We'll let them remember Theresa's statement – except for the part describing the incident at the pharmacy – and nothing further." Albus politely excused himself to issue quiet instructions to Ron and Hermione.
"…the nearest vacant classroom. I must emphasise that you cannot let anyone escape from the group. They must all be obliviated. Take the other professors and both Ginny and Draco with you. Once you have finished, return their wands and have a group of house elves escort the reporters out of the school. Then return here."
"Right," nodded Hermione.
"More bloody trouble than they're worth, the lot of them," Ron muttered darkly.
"Excuse me!" cried Duncan. "I think I have a right to be here."
Albus looked up from where he was, but before he could respond, Harry leapt off the desk he was sitting on and walked up to Duncan and Sarah, pulling his wand out. Duncan flinched when he saw Harry's wand pointed in his direction, and several other people in the room gasped.
"He wouldn't," Hermione whispered.
"I wish he would, in fact, I wonder if he'd let me help him," Ron added earning a nod from Draco and an evil smirk from Severus.
"Oh don't be ridiculous, I'm not going to do anything to you," Harry snapped irritably.
Duncan retorted. "Well, it's just that, you – "
"Your fiancee attacked me... twice. Since you haven't done anything, you've got nothing to worry about," Harry explained, holding his wand low at his side.
"What are you doing?" Duncan asked, nervously.
"Take off her right shoe and give it to me," Harry commanded. Duncan's confusion mirrored everyone else's, but he did it anyway. Harry took the expensive running shoe from him and held it out in front of him.
"Be careful professor. Um... her feet, er... smell," Theresa warned. Harry grimaced and the rest of the Hogwarts staff fought desperately to keep from laughing on the spot.
"Er…on second thought, maybe I'll just let him handle this on his own," Ron said quietly, trying not to choke.
"Look carefully, you will see a lever and a pressure point here. It's on the side of the shoe so it will not be triggered by accident. This is a good thing because when it's triggered," Harry paused to trip the trigger on the shoe and a well concealed six inch dagger sprung forward from the front tip of the shoe.
"Holy shit!" cried one of the reporters, amidst gasps of surprise.
"Holy shit is right," Harry commented as he pulled the knife from the shoe and held it out in front of Duncan. "Your fiancée was planning to use this on me. Believe me, you don't want to be implicated in this. I suggest you leave. Now."
"Shit. I s- swear, I- I had no idea. I had nothing to do with this... any of this. In fact, I don't think I want anything to do with her at all anymore," Duncan stammered, quickly releasing Sarah with a look of disgust and scrambling to his feet.
"Oh, I wouldn't be too upset about ending your relationship with her if I were you. She's been sleeping with your secretary for about six months now," Harry tossed out casually, examining the blade of the dagger.
"What? But my secretary's a woman!"
"That doesn't seem to be a problem for either one of them, does it? Oh, yeah, and you might want to ask your sister why she doesn't like Sarah," Harry added.
Duncan stared helplessly, first at Harry and then at Theresa, who was blushing fiercely, feeling very much out of his depth.
"I think I'll leave," Duncan said quietly.
"An excellent idea," Professor Snape observed.
"Mr Malfoy, I want to stay. I'm involved here too now," Theresa whispered to Draco who was standing on one side of her.
"You should go. It's a little dangerous for you," Draco said, putting one hand on her shoulder.
"But – "
"Let Professor Green handle this. You don't want to get in his way, do you?" Draco asked, laying as much guilt into that question as he could.
"Of course not!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"I didn't think so," he said knowingly.
"I'll see that she returns to her rooms. Perhaps her brother should join her," Professor Snape commented from the other side of Theresa. Draco nodded and turned back to the young student.
"How did you put up with her?" asked Draco, nodding in Sarah's direction as he and the potions master led Theresa to the door.
"Oh, she's definitely not nice, but sometimes her cousin would come round, and she's ten times worse," she explained with a grimace.
"Who could be worse than her?" Draco asked her, trying to continue the conversation all the way to the door so that she wouldn't ask to stay again.
"Her cousin is Bambi... no Pansy... um... Parkinson or something like that. You've really got to know her to know what I'm talking about."
Been there, done that, Draco grimaced inwardly to himself.
"Go to your room and stay with your brother. I'll come and get you after we finish up here," Draco said as he opened the door for her.
"Okay," she sighed.
Draco joined his wife and the other professors as they ushered the reporters out of the room. It was no mean feat erasing the memories of that many people, but finally they decided to hold them in one classroom and then lead them, in groups of five, to the room directly across the hall. Once there, they obliviated them before having a couple of house elves escort them off the premises.
They finally returned to Ron's classroom to find the others deep in discussion. Sarah was still sitting stunned in the middle of the room.
"We need to make it official," said Johnathon.
"Then get her to take it," Harry countered.
"She's entitled to refuse – and let's face it, if what you said is true, she probably will. If that happens, we need you to take it."
Harry stayed stubbornly silent.
"Ah, excellent, you're back. Well, let's get started shall we?" Albus asked, politely.
Draco, Ginny and the professors gathered around Sarah with their wands drawn and leveled at her.
"Is that really necessary?" Johnathon asked mildly, glancing around him.
"For safety," Hermione explained.
"Whose? Yours or hers?"
"A bit of both, really," Ron replied thoughtfully.
"Whatever," Johnathon sighed. "I don't remember school being this exciting when I was here," he muttered as he pointed his wand and revived Sarah, who immediately tried to leap up.
"I am afraid youmust stay right where you are," said Albus sternly. "You see, the Ministry is very interested in hearing about what you were going to do here today – and the rest of us are particularly interested in knowing why you were going to attack one of our colleagues."
Sarah sat back up on her seat, folded her arms across her chest, firmly pressed her lips together, and glared at them all defiantly.
"We need to make this nice and official, so I ask you to give your statement under veritaserum," Johnathon explained to her.
"No. I'm allowed to refuse. Isn't that right, Professor Green?" Sarah asked bitingly.
"Yes, you are," Harry agreed.
"In that case, I ask you to take the veritaserum and make a statement about what you discovered," Johnathon offered to Harry.
Harry simply shook his head in refusal.
"Now you're stuck, aren't you?" Sarah taunted them.
"This only means we cannot conduct a formal ministry investigation into the matter. I can assure you, however, that we are more than willing to deal with this matter… unofficially," the Potions Master threatened.
"In any case, this matter isn't for my department. I'll send some aurors in to handle this if you'd like?"
"That will not be necessary. I am certain this won't be too difficult to resolve," Albus assured him gently.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do anything to hurt her," said Johnathon.
"No one is going to hurt her. We are upset that one of our colleagues was put in danger today, but I can assure you that no one will hurt her," Albus pressed.
"Alright," he conceded. "Well, since there's nothing left for me to do, I'll head off. Um, would you mind if I stopped off at the kitchens on the way out though? I left in a bit of a hurry this morning and I'm afraid that I didn't get to finish my breakfast," Johnathon asked sheepishly.
"Of course," Albus said jovially, showing his former student to the door. "Thank you for coming in so quickly."
"You're welcome. You know, I really do miss this place," Johnathon replied wistfully, as the door closed behind him and his assistants.
"It's obvious that you're not going to tell what you were planning to do here, so I'll do it then, shall I?" Harry stated, quiet and cold, once Johnathon had left the room.
"You can't prove anything!" Sarah said venomously.
Harry gave her a look that spoke volumes about her stupidity. "I don't need to. This isn't an official investigation anymore, remember? And, I have your knife," Harry told Sarah, who quickly looked down, noticing for the first time that one of her shoes was missing.
"Don't tell us you just noticed?" Ron asked in surprise.
"Give her some leeway, she was just stunned," Hermione explained, the corners of her mouth twitching, "that'd make anyone a bit groggy for a while."
"Yeah, it would, wouldn't it?" Ron said in malicious amusement.
"This really is an excellent blade – dual edged, minimal flexibility, sturdy," Harry pronounced, expertly turning the blade over in his hands and examining it closely.
Knowing there was nothing she could say that would help her in this situation, Sarah simply glared at Harry from her seat.
"Make yourself comfortable, I believe there are some things we need to discuss," Albus told her.
"I don't have to say anything you!" she spat.
"Quite right. You do not have to say anything. I can assure you though that you will want to talk to us once you've taken a little of this," Professor Snape told her coldly, holding a small vial of veritaserum up for her to see.
"If you even try it, I'll scream – someone will come and help me."
"Surely you're kidding, right?" Ron scoffed. "You're on our turf, what makes you think anyone would come to help you?" Ron noticed Sarah's shoulders droop a little. "Besides, no one's going to hear you. We've already taken care of that." Ron used his wand to gesture at the room, indicating to her that a silencing charm had been placed over the room.
Sarah's face dropped as she realised that she was at the mercy of the witches and wizards in the room, without the possibility of escape. She looked around her, frantically searching for something, anything.
"Looking for this?" Harry asked politely, holding her wand in front of him. "I took the liberty of holding onto it for you. Things will run much more smoothly if I keep it with me."
In desperation, the woman tried to run, but Draco, Ginny and the professors had already formed a circle around her and she ran straight into Ginny. She struggled against her, trying to bite, kick and scratch in an attempt to escape from the strong grasp, but Ginny had grown up with six brothers who had taught her how to look after herself very well. She quickly found the sensitive nerve in the fleshy area of the webbing of both of Sarah's hands, right next to the thumbs and she pinched it – hard –causing her to fall to her knees and scream in pain.
"Yes, it really hurts, doesn't it?" Ginny asked, almost pleasantly.
"Yes, it really does," Draco muttered quietly as he watched his wife in action. He spoke in tones that suggested that he'd been on the receiving end of that particular move before.
"I taught her that one myself," Ron proudly told everyone who was standing near him.
"So I have you to thank for that?" Draco grumbled under his breath.
"Return to your seat, Sarah," Albus instructed.
Ginny released her hold on the woman who stood up, gingerly rubbing her hands. "You can't make me stay here," she told them.
Albus paused before he replied thoughtfully. "Maybe not, but we will certainly give it our best endeavour."
She returned to her seat and glared at him. "If you do anything to me, I'll tell the Ministry and I'll have you all before the Court."
Albus raised an eyebrow calmly but Draco took a step forward and told her in threatening tones "What makes you think you'll be able to tell the Ministry?"
Sarah paled considerably at this. She'd heard stories about the Malfoys – who hadn't?
"Mr. Malfoy. That will do," Albus admonished, but the rebuke was belied by the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, and lack of force behind the statement. Draco nodded at Albus and took a step back from Sarah, still giving her a chilly look. The Headmaster turned steely eyes to Sarah. "Young lady, you made it very clear that you did not want the Ministry to be involved in this, so we have no other option but to take matters into our own hands. Now, I believe my professor had something to share with us."
Harry made himself comfortable on the desk he was sitting on. "Sarah was at the mall the day that I took Theresa to the pharmacy. She'd been keeping an eye on the Order members who were patrolling that day, and she got a bit of a shock when she saw Theresa walk right into the pharmacy she was sitting in front of. You see, Sarah has made it very clear that she doesn't like muggles, so she was afraid that Theresa would recognise her and ask her what she was doing in a muggle shopping mall." Pausing to look at Sarah, he asked "Isn't that right?"
Sarah looked away from Harry, refusing to answer him.
"What business does she have keeping an eye on my staff?" Albus asked Harry, gazing sternly at the woman.
"From what I could tell, she'd gone to visit her brother that morning. He told her that he was supposed go to the mall and keep an eye on any Hogwarts professors who might be there. He then invited her to go along with him and help him out."
"Who is her brother?" Albus interrupted.
"Walter Walters."
"You're joking," Ron said loudly.
"No, that's really his name."
"Poor thing," muttered Ron in sympathy.
"I agree." Ginny added with a grimace.
Sarah glared at both of them as they looked back at her, completely unaffected.
"Anyway, her brother told Sarah and the rest of his friends who were sitting outside the pharmacy, that if they saw any professors leaving they had to make sure they didn't go anywhere. He explained they only needed one, but told them that if they saw either Draco or Professor Snape to definitely keep them from going anywhere."
"Why is that?" Severus intoned.
"She doesn't know. She was only there at her brother's behest and apparently he failed to explain his reasons. Isn't that right?" Harry asked Sarah in a particularly condescending tone of voice. When he didn't get a response, he looked at Albus and continued.
"After that, her brother went into the pharmacy to see if Draco or any professors were inside. When all the trouble broke out, she," Harry nodded his head at Sarah, "was quite happy to stay outside and watch what was happening."
"How could she see?" Draco asked.
"The whole front wall was made of glass, so I don't think it would have been too hard to see inside." Harry told him.
"Oh, I forgot about that." Draco admitted ruefully, shaking his head at his own forgetfulness.
"She may have been happy to stay outside, but she definitely wasn't happy when she saw me throw a knife at her brother."
"No way! The guy who tried to grab Theresa was Sarah's brother?" Ginny asked in surprise.
"Yep," Harry answered.
"Small world," commented Ron.
"Very," Hermione agreed.
"So, she's not happy with you?" Ron asked, understating the obvious.
"Apparently not. It turns out that the fellow that her brother works for told him that he had to stake out the mall and come back to him with Draco, Professor Snape or any other Hogwarts professor. He botched his job and landed himself into a whole lot of trouble because of it, and because he allowed himself to be injured as well. He told Sarah, and she decided that she'd come and show me exactly how unhappy she was about that."
"How did she know who you were?" Hermione asked shrewdly.
"I gather she could see my face from where she was sitting. Since I was with Theresa, she assumed I was a wizard and started asking people who I was. Various people from Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley could put a name to the image of my face that she created for them. Duncan always read Theresa's letters to her whenever he got them and when people from Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley mentioned my name, she realised that I was the professor in Theresa's letters.
"You've read some of the letters. It was rather easy for Sarah to persuade Duncan that there was something improper about the relationship between Theresa and myself. Sarah suggested that Duncan confront you about the matter. This meant that she could tag along with him into the school and when I was called in to explain myself, she'd be near enough to me to do…whatever it was exactly she was going to do. It was just a bonus for her that Duncan decided to take the story to the newspapers instead. He thought that you'd try and keep this all quiet and that the families of the other students deserved to know what kind of professor you'd hired."
"What exactly did she plan to do to you?" Ginny asked quietly, her eyes – and wand – fixed on Sarah.
"Well, I don't think she had anything in the way of a solid plan. She just wanted to get near enough to use her knife," Harry replied after a moment's thought.
"She nearly succeeded. It was only by chance, and her own stupidity, that she failed," Professor Snape observed solemnly, turning to Harry. "You were extremely lucky."
Harry returned Severus' serious look. "I know."
"Was she planning to kill you?" Ginny asked.
"I don't think so. From what I could gather, she wasn't intending to, but she wouldn't lose sleep if she accidentally did."
"So she was going to attack you with a knife because you attacked her brother with one. Nasty," Ron tutted.
"How apropos," Professor Snape sneered.
"My brother said the same thing when I told him what I was going to do," Sarah smirked. "And you would have deserved it for what you put him through."
"Your brother was going to hurt one of my students. None of us takes that sort of thing lightly," Harry told her, narrowing his eyes.
"He wasn't going to hurt her."
"That's not what it looked like to me."
"Why did you try to use a legilimens spell on Professor Green?" Albus asked Sarah, interrupting the argument between herself and Harry. Sarah didn't answer. She simply glared at Harry.
"And you were so talkative a minute ago," Ron observed sarcastically.
"She was looking for something," Harry explained, giving Sarah a chilly look.
"That was obvious, but what was she looking for?" Ron asked.
"Her brother was supposed to find a Hogwarts professor and question them – fairly extensively – about how they discovered that it was wizards instigating the muggle violence around London. He botched the job though and whomever he works for wasn't happy about it. Sarah thought that since I was with Theresa in the mall and a professor myself, I would have this information. It didn't even occur to her to try and get that information from anyone else. She seems to have me fixed as her target."
"Who does her brother work for?" Albus asked, slightly vexed.
"She doesn't know. Her brother didn't tell her." Harry told the Headmaster before he turned to address Sarah. "I may have left out the odd detail here and there, but that's about the size of it, isn't it?"
"You think you're so clever don't, you? Well, it doesn't matter because everyone would have read the article by now, so you won't be able to show your face outside of here," Sarah told him smugly.
"You have no idea how little I care about what anyone thinks of me. In fact, you've actually given me the perfect excuse to avoid having to supervise student Hogsmeade weekends. Harry told her. The other professors grinned at the wry remark, but Professor Snape looked at his colleague speculatively, his brows knitted together in concentration.
"Damn. Don't look at me to cover for you," Ron warned him.
"This is all moot anyway. Once Johnathon's assistant releases her report to the newspapers, everyone will know the truth," Ginny observed.
"Oh? You think so, do you? You're so naïve. People will believe what they want to believe, and a lot of them would rather believe a scandal than whatever's going to be in that report. There'll still be enough people who will think that Professor Green has a thing for young girls, and that Theresa is a hussy who sleeps with her professors, to make going out difficult for either of them," Sarah told her.
"It's true. People believe what they want to believe, not necessarily what is true," the Potions Master noted, quietly and coldly.
"You've got a point," Ron muttered, grudgingly.
"I don't know about that," Draco objected.
"Why not?" asked Ron.
"Well, maybe Jason might have a problem, but this might just make Theresa one of the most popular girls in school."
"You think?" Ron was clearly puzzled.
"Yes, I do. I haven't been here for very long, but I think that quite a few of the girls… admire… Professor Green on many, many levels. If they actually believe this cock-and-bull story, I think a lot of them are going to want to talk to the girl who managed to snag him," Draco explained.
In the background, Ginny rolled her eyes at this dizzying leap of logic.
"Oh good. One more thing for her to write home about," Sarah muttered under her breath. "Look, this is all very interesting, but I don't think we have anything further to discuss here, so I'll be leaving." She leapt to her feet, shouldering her tote bag. "I believe you have my wand," she said to Harry, holding her hand out.
"Yes, I believe I do," Harry replied calmly.
"I want it back."
"I'm sure you do, but you're not going to get it back," Harry told her, sliding off the desk he was seated on and walking casually toward Sarah.
Before Harry could say anything more, Albus spoke sternly to her. "I am concerned. If I were to let you leave the school as you are, there is a good chance that you would harm Theresa. It is certainly clear that you do not like her. There is also every chance that you would reveal Mr. Malfoy's whereabouts to your brother, who, in turn, would give that information to whomever is looking for him. That would put him at considerable risk and I simply cannot allow that to happen. If that were not enough," he continued, raising his voice and hardening his gaze, "you have publicly released a story that puts one of my professors and one of my students in a very bad light, and you came here today with the intention of attacking my professor. You represent too great a danger for me to allow you to simply walk out of here as you are."
"And you know what?" Ron added, waving his wand menacingly at Sarah. "The Headmaster may have his concerns, but we don't take that lightly either. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us." He looked at Harry as he said this, who, in turn, nodded.
Harry was mulling over the problem of what to do about Sarah. Albus was right, she had become a danger to too many people and she had to be neutralised. He didn't want to do anything permanent to her, and he certainly didn't want to hurt her if he could avoid it. He cringed inwardly at the idea of what he was about to do. He hated the very thought of it, but most of all he hated himself – not so much because he could do these sorts of things, but because he would.
Stay focused, stay detached. "If I might have a word with you," he inquired of the Headmaster.
"Of course." Albus led him a short distance away from the group
"What are they up to?" Hermione asked.
"How on earth should I know?" Ron answered, shrugging his shoulders animatedly.
The two men returned moments later, wearing identical stony expression with their eyes on Sarah, who squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.
"You'll be leaving us, but you won't be a threat to anyone – ever again," Harry told her icily. The two men stood some distance in front of her and drew their wands.
"No!" she screamed, leaping out of her seat and trying desperately to escape. She was grabbed by Draco and Professor Snape, who turned her to face Harry and Albus, and with a firm grip on her arms held her securely between them.
"You were lucky today, that's all. You just got lucky!" Sarah threw at Harry, still struggling in Draco's and Severus' strong grip. "If Theresa hadn't taken the veritaserum… just what kind of person allows a child to take veritaserum?"
"There's nothing particularly dangerous about the serum if it's administered properly," Harry informed Sarah evenly. "And you're right. I was lucky today."
"You knew that taking the serum was just about the only way to clear your name, and you still wouldn't take it!" Sarah cried.
"Yes."
"You must be hiding something pretty big."
Harry continued to stare at her coldly.
"And even when all the reporters left the room and only you, me and the professors were left here, you still wouldn't take it," she hurled viciously at him, in an attempt to distract him from whatever he was about to do. "You can't have much of a working relationship with them if you don't trust them."
"It's not personal," Harry said, walking closer to her. "I don't trust anyone," he told her in a quiet monotone. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ginny widen her eyes in shock and Ron and Hermione glance at each other. He raised his wand and nodded at Albus, who raised his own wand as if on cue.
Sarah renewed her struggle to break free of the strong grip she was in. "You wouldn't hex me. You might miss and hit one of your friend,." she cried desperately.
Harry tilted his head to one side and gave her a very patronising look. "I assure you, we won't miss.
"But – " Sarah began to protest.
"Obliviate," Harry recited calmly as he threw a powerful memory charm at the frightened woman.
"Confundus." Albus threw his spell at just about the same time as Harry threw his. Both spells hit their intended target, who cried out as she was thrown back against Draco and Severus, who in turn had to take a couple of steps back to steady themselves. A moment later, Sarah passed out and the Potions Master carried her back to her seat and revived her.
"Hello, what's your name?" Sarah asked Severus in a child's voice when she came to.
"Don't you remember me?" the professor asked carefully.
"No, but can you help me find my mummy? We were looking for a pretty dress for me to wear on my birthday and now I can't find her." the woman said as she began to cry. Her behaviour tore at Harry's heart.
"Stupefy."
"Draco!" Ginny cried, glaring at her husband, "what did you do that for?"
"I really didn't want to listen to her cry for the next half hour, did you?"
"No, but it really is rather sad the way things had to turn out, isn't it?" she asked, looking at Sarah.
"What did the both of you do?" Hermione asked Albus and Harry.
Harry looked at the professors in the room, gauging their reactions. "We didn't really want to hurt her, but Albus was right. She was too much of a threat to Theresa, Draco, Severus and myself to just let her walk out of here. It would have been a little difficult to try and erase just her memories of that day in the mall, Theresa's letters and the memories of what she saw and heard here today. They're just too randomly spread out to be able to pick out those specific ones. Besides, it'd look a bit suspicious if those key memories went missing and the others didn't. Someone, like her brother, might try to break through the charm if they thought she'd been obliviated." He paused allowing everyone in the room to absorb what he'd said so far, before he continued.
"On the other hand, a general memory charm is too unreliable and not permanent, so Albus and I coupled a memory charm with a confundus charm. The enormity of both of the spells hitting her at the same time overwhelmed her mind and it… broke. Her… condition is permanent. She won't be a threat to anyone anymore."
"Good Lord." whispered Hermione.
"She seems to believe she's a child and she doesn't appear to be in any pain," Harry observed.
"But – " Hermione protested.
"It had to be done." he told her flatly. You've got a point, Greg, there's no point getting angry. That's what happens when I don't get angry, though. Just imagine what happens when I do.He sighed morosely.
"Yes, it had to be done. There really was no other way," Albus said. Nobody in the room spoke.
"I told Theresa and her brother I'd let them know when we were done here," Draco explained, breaking the silence. "What do you want me to tell them?"
"Tell them that Sarah has become very upset by what she has done here and that she'll be leaving them," Albus instructed, after a moment's thought. Draco nodded and left the room.
"Ron, Hermione, I'd like you to owl St. Mungo's and ask someone to come here immediately. Be discreet in your communications."
"Sure," replied Ron.
"We'll be discreet," Hermione assured him.
Harry put his wand back into the waistband of his trousers and ran his hands through his hair – as he normally did when he felt pressured or stressed. It had been a long day, and it was only just past lunch.
Albus began to rearrange some of the desks in the front part of the room and Ginny went to help Professor Snape pack up the equipment he had brought down to "test" the Ministry's veritaserum.
"Jason," she began curiously, "you told Duncan earlier to ask Theresa why she hates Sarah so much. I've only spent a few hours with her and I hate her, so it's not really surprising that Theresa would hate her, is it?"
"Oh, that." Harry grimaced as he helped Albus return some of the furniture to its proper place in the room. "I don't know that it's my place to say anything, but not long after Duncan started dating Sarah, he invited her to his place to meet Theresa. Sarah made a pass at Theresa. In fact, she invited Theresa to get to know her better…in the bedroom."
"You're kidding! She wanted to sleep with the brother and the sister?" Ginny exclaimed in astonishment.
"Apparently so. Theresa declined the offer and Sarah wasn't very happy with her after that. It seems that Sarah doesn't hear 'no' for an answer very often… even from her brother."
Ginny's jaw dropped in shock and Professor Snape asked incredulously, "Her brother?" Harry nodded.
"Oh my God! I grew up with six brothers, but I've never thought about…ew! I think I need a shower." Ginny exclaimed.
"Sorry," Harry apologised as he laughed at her reaction.
"Ick!" she cried as she gave a final shudder.
"Oh, Albus, I was supposed to take Theresa to the doctor today, but I obviously can't now. Anyway, I think that you should find someone else to go with her from now on."
"Why should I do that?" Albus asked calmly.
"I think Sarah might have a point. Regardless of what the Department of Education releases to the public, there will still be people who would rather believe that I took advantage of Theresa. We might be traveling primarily to get to Theresa's doctor, but we still have to take a portkey out of the village near the school to get to muggle London in the first place."
"I'm sure the report will be thorough enough to clear your name," Ginny offered.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Professor Snape remarked from where he was tidying and arranging his potion implements.
"Neither am I, but that wasn't my point. My point was that there isn't any reason to expose Theresa to whatever people might say if they saw us together."
"I don't think Theresa will go with anyone else," Albus protested. "She is very shy, but she seems to have grown quite attached to you."
"I was…moved…by what she said this morning." Harry murmured quietly, somewhat embarassed. "I had no idea she felt that way, and I really don't know that I deserve her praise, but that's half the reason we had such a problem this morning."
"I disagree," Severus protested firmly.
"Why?" Harry asked, curious to know Severus' opinion on the matter.
"Ms. Walter's need for revenge was the reason this all happened. Theresa's feelings were nothing more than a convenient excuse she could use in order to get near enough to use her knife on you."
"It doesn't help now that these nasty rumours are going to follow Jason and Theresa around though, does it?" Ginny sighed.
"Idle gossip and speculation follow all of us and we cannot hide from it. If people were not gossiping about whether you were taking advantage of Theresa, they would no doubt find something else to gossip about. But I take your point. There is no reason to expose her to the gossip any more than we have to," Albus granted.
"I'm sure you'll be able to find someone else to go with her. What about Draco, or Professor Snape?" Harry suggested. "She's comfortable in their company."
"No. Since you'll be making Theresa's medication, I feel you need to be able to listen to what the doctor and the pharmacist have to say concerning it, so you can ask any questions necessary. No one else will be able to do that. Perhaps I can arrange for Theresa's doctor to come and check on her here, that way you will be able to talk to the doctor as well. Although, there is still the problem of exposing Theresa when she goes to pick up her medication from the pharmacist," Albus maintained.
"I'll be able to go down and put the prescription in myself and talk to the pharmacist while I'm there. That's no problem," Harry told him.
"Very well, once we have finished up here, I will make the arrangements," said Albus.
" Theresa seemed happy with the doctor we saw last, whose aunt was a witch. He said he'd always wanted to see Hogwarts."
Albus thought about the idea and nodded. "Very well. I will ask him."
The two men quickly finished rearranging as much of the classroom as they could without disturbing Sarah. "Do you need me here for anything else?" Harry asked the Headmaster politely.
"I don't think so. Why?"
"If all of you have everything under control here, and if none of you object, I might head off for some lunch. I missed breakfast and I'm starving!"
"Yes, of course. We're only waiting for the people from St. Mungo's to arrive."
"Thanks!" Harry called out as he left the room.
"I am glad we were able to get everything sorted," Albus called after him, which made Harry pause and turn around.
"So am I." With a level gaze at the Albus, he said, "But tell me, Headmaster. Honestly. Did you think I was taking advantage of Theresa?"
"I do try to keep an open mind about things."
"But you weren't sure... were you?"
Albus paused before answering. "I didn't think there was anything improper happening between the two of you. She seems to be fond of you, but I've seen nothing to alarm me."
Harry couldn't fault Albus' reasoning, nor the answer he received. "Thank you."
Albus nodded as Harry turned and left the room.
"My goodness, you don't often meet people like him do you?" Ginny remarked to Albus, once Harry had left the room. "I understand that what you both did was necessary, but I'm just not sure that a powerful memory charm wouldn't have done."
"They are generally not powerful charms and, as Professor Green explained, they are seldom permanent," Snape explained to Ginny.
"Quite right, Severus. Remember Gilderoy Lockhart? He has made remarkable progress toward recovering most of his memories," Albus added.
"That's true," Ginny conceded somewhat.
"Using the two spells together was…inventive," the Potions master observed, carefully choosing his words as he addressed the Headmaster.
"Yes. We discussed using a memory charm or a confundus spell but neither spell usually has a permanent effect. Jason's idea to use the two spells at once to overwhelm Sarah's mind was sound in theory, but neither one of us was entirely sure it would work."
Ginny's eyes widened somewhat in surprise. "Jason's idea?"
"Yes, it didn't occur to me to use the two spells together like that, but I'm afraid we may have put too much power into them," Albus finished sadly.
"It was necessary," Professor Snape assuredly told the Headmaster.
"Yes, I do believe it was, though I wish it wasn't. In any case, I will bid you a good day, as I have a certain student that I need to speak to – at some length – about the virtues of showing appropriate respect for a professor of my staff," Albus told them grimly.
OOOOO
"Bloody hell! Now I remember why I never let you drive my car!" Tony said as he followed Harry, pale and trembling, into the small pub.
"Come on, don't be such a sissy," Harry replied, grinning back at his friend as they seated themselves at a small table and looked at their menus.
"Speed limits are enforced so that people feel safe…safe! I gotta tell you, I wasn't feeling safe…actually, I think I need to change my knickers."
"I knew exactly what I was doing."
"Too bad no one else did… I want my keys back!"
After leaving Albus, Ginny and Professor Snape in the room to wait for the St Mungos staff, Harry left the castle to see if Tony wanted to join him for a late lunch. It had been a long morning and he didn't particularly want to think about what had happened.
Having lunch with his friend – who also had no connection to Hogwarts or anything magical – would lift his spirits. Harry had checked to see if he was working at the pharmacy, which had only just recently re-opened for business; and when he saw he wasn't on duty, he found him at his home, re-grouting the tiles in the bathroom. It didn't take much to persuade him to go out for lunch, even though he had already eaten.
"I don't mind having two lunches. I'm a growing boy after all," he'd told him good-naturedly.
"Yeah, right. How about we go the 'Red Lion'?" Harry suggested.
"I'm game, but you'll have to drive because I don't think I've ever been there."
Letting Harry drive his car was one of Tony's bigger mistakes of the day, one he wouldn't repeat when it came time to drive back home.
"So, how are you doing?" Tony asked once they'd ordered their lunch. He was looking carefully at Harry, but trying not to be too obvious about it.
"I'm fine," Harry reassured his friend. Catching the look Tony was giving him, he added, "Really, I'm fine. Better than I was, I guess. But how are you doing? I haven't seen you since that day in the hospital."
"I'm doing great. That herbal stuff you gave me must have been something special and I'm willing to admit that it might not be as much of a waste of time as I've always said it is, but I'm still a pharmaceuticals kind of guy."
"Not that there's anything wrong with that."
"Hell no. Anyway when the doctors saw my test results, they were sure I'd need another transfusion, but it turned out that I didn't need another one after all. And, I've barely got a scar from the bullet, which really shocked them all. Look," Tony explained as he undid a few buttons and pulled aside his shirt to show him.
"They're pretty faint."
"Well…yeah, but…you see, women go nuts over scars, right, but mine don't really look too bad, do they?"
Oh Brother! "Well, if you really want a few scars to impress the ladies, I can arrange for you and me to get in the ring sometime and -"
"Ah…no…I'm quite happy with the ones I've got. Thanks anyway," Tony said quickly. He and "Jason" had been friends for years and "Jason" had told him on a few occasions that he'd had the benefit of some military training. Tony had no intention of being on the receiving end of some of the finer points of that training.
"Are you sure? I mean, I really want to be able to help you out, buddy."
"Ah, yes – very sure. The doctors were so impressed with the scar though they took pictures of it and everything. They said I must be really healthy because people don't usually heal so quickly or so well. So there you go, I'm a medical miracle."
"Yeah, whatever. I told you those alternative remedies were good for something."
"I guess so. Oh, actually, I've been waiting for you to stop by."
"Aww…you missed me!" Harry cried, cheekily tilting his head to the side, batting his eyes at Tony and lacing his fingers together under his chin. "I don't know what to say."
"Stop it!" Tony punched him in mock anger. "There's something you need to know."
"What?" Harry asked, all joking aside.
Their food arrived and Tony waited for the bar waitress to leave them before he continued. "You're being sued," Tony told him, taking a large bite of his hamburger.
"Excuse me? I haven't done anything, so what could anyone be suing me for?"
Tony swallowed his food. "Well, it has to do with the shooting incident in the pharmacy about three weeks ago. It looks like some of the people who were in the pharmacy at the time are suing you. They want compensation for the pain and distress they suffered."
Harry noisily dropped his cutlery and a few of the other patrons looked over to see what the noise was about.
"You can't be serious!" Harry hissed in disbelief when everybody went back about their business."
"I am."
"What about the pain and distress I suffered. It was my bloody pharmacy that got shot to pieces!" Harry spluttered. "Hang on a minute, you ended up getting shot, are you suing me too?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Besides, your employee health scheme paid for everything. Anyhow, it wasn't your fault, so why on earth would I sue you? Look, I haven't done anything, I mean, it's your pharmacy so I didn't want to interfere, but I was going to give the matter over to a lawyer if I didn't hear from you shortly. You've got to respond to the letters by Thursday."
"Well, I've got public liability insurance, I'll just make their claim off the insurance. The insurers will have a fit when they see what the claim's for and they'll defend the matter themselves. It'll save me a lot of time and money."
"Clever," Tony admired.
"No. I read something like that in the fine print on one of the forms I had to fill out. Remember Richard from uni? Gary's friend? I think his firm's a bit further up from where we are in the mall. It's called Richard Jackson & Associates…I think…it's something like that, anyway. Could you give all the letters to them and tell them to let whoever's suing me know that they'll have to pursue the claim through the insurance company? Let's see how keen they are after that."
"You'll need to be careful." Tony commented, trying to suppress a grin.
"Why?"
"That news might just add to their pain and distress and they might want to sue you for that as well." Harry rolled his eyes at Tony's weak joke. "Don't worry about it, I'll do it on Monday," Tony assured his friend.
"Thanks," Harry paused and looked at his friend for a moment, an odd expression on his face. "I stopped by the pharmacy to see if you were there today before I tried you at home."
"I thought you might have."
"It looks good by the way, very contemporary."
"I rather like it." Tony agreed.
Harry's insurance completely paid for the renovation of the pharmacy and Harry had left Tony in charge of the work, since he couldn't be there to do it himself. He gave Tony a general idea of what he wanted to be done and let Tony work with that. All in all, he was very impressed with the way the pharmacy looked now. It had a modern feel to it, which Harry thought was rather a nice touch.
"Anyway, the girls on staff hinted that I should ask you why you're limping."
"Er…did they?" Tony asked, shifting about uncomfortably.
"Yeah…so, why are you limping?"
"Oh…well…it's not important."
"No, come on, I'm sure it is. What happened?"
"Er, well, there was this nurse I had my eye on when I was staying at the hospital and I finally got the courage up to ask her out a few days ago, so I went to visit her to see what time she finished her shift. We started talking and we were getting along really well. It came up in conversation that I'm a pharmacist…and…well…Damn! I'm no good at this sort of thing and my nerves were just all over the place."
"What happened?" Harry pressed, not letting Tony end the story there.
"I told her where I worked and said she should drop by some time and…I may have also told her…she was welcome to come round any time and check out my…equipment …in the back of the pharmacy." Tony mumbled.
Harry snorted into his drink.
"I only meant she should see the equipment of the trade, but she got pretty angry and kicked me…in my…"
"Equipment?" Harry finished helpfully, trying not to laugh at his friend's misfortune.
"Er…yeah, I guess."
Harry grimaced in sympathetic pain. "Smooth, Tony. Sometimes I wonder if you still have a little bit of Cro Magnon in you, somehow managing not to evolve while the rest of your genetic material progressed."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Hey – what time does the library at the Uni shut on Saturdays now? Is it still 2:00?" Harry asked out of the blue.
"Um, actually, I think they've extended the hours again. I'm pretty sure it closes at 5:00 now. Why?"
"Oh, I'm just working on something and I've hit a brick wall. I thought I might pop into the library to see if they've got anything that might help, that's all."
OOOOO
The large group crowded into the dark, damp room, quickly dropping to their knees before their Master.
"The preparations are almost complete. All will be ready in a week's time." Their Master hissed, eager in anticipation.
"That is wonderful news, My Lord," a witch cried out.
"Yes, it is. I will only require a few to serve me. The rest of you will be notified once everything is complete," the figure behind the screen instructed in a high-pitched hiss.
"With you permission, My Lord, who will attend?" one young wizard asked, his eyes cast submissively at the floor.
" I have yet to decide. There is still one more thing that must be done," their Master informed them, his voice getting louder and more menacing. "I want you to find the traitors! Find them and kill them!"
The group kneeling before the screen winced and drew back reflexively. "Yes, my Lord. It will be done."
"I want them dead before I complete my preparations! You have failed me too many times…do not fail me this time!"
"N-no, my Lord."
"Now, leave me. I have much to do," their Master dismissed them.
"Yes, my Lord." The robed figures rose and bowed as they all retreated from the room.
"It won't be long now," the shadowy figure behind the screen hissed to himself, "and Albus, I can hardly wait."
OOOOO
"I'm afraid you've caught me on my way out," Harry told the two men who knocked on his door.
"We won't keep you then. We've been doing a bit of research – actually quite a lot of research – on your question about the tonga roots and we just wanted to tell you what we've found," Draco replied.
"We simply came to inform you that so far we have found no answers to your question, but we will continue to look," Professor Snape supplied.
"You both looked for me to tell me that you haven't found anything?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Yep." Draco grinned.
"Oh, er, thank you." Harry stammered. He was serious when he said he'd research that, he thought in surprise. The Potions Master nodded once, curtly.
"I've hit a dead end researching as well, so I'm going to try researching from the other end," Harry told them as he stepped out into the hallway, locking – and "arming" – his door behind him.
"I beg your pardon?" Draco asked in confusion as the two men stepped out of his way. "You're going to what?"
"I've been researching whether there's a muggle chemical compound I can create which has properties that are similar or equivalent to the properties of the tonga tree root. I couldn't find anything in any of my books, so I thought I'd head out to the university library to see what I could find there."
"The university?" Draco asked. "It has books on that sort of thing?"
"The muggle university does." Harry replied, trying to suppress a laugh.
"The muggle university library is open on Saturdays?" Professor Snape asked, curiously.
"I was talking to my friend and he said that it closes at five o'clock now, so I've got all day.
Draco and Severus exchanged a quick glance. "We'll come along and help you, if you don't think we'd get in your way. I mean, you said yourself that pharmacology is the muggle equivalent of potions," Draco offered.
Harry's eyes widened in obvious surprise and he looked at the two men, particularly at Professor Snape.
"What's that look for?" Draco asked.
"It's… well… it just surprises me that you'd want to help me with my research, that's all," Harry addressed the older man.
Professor Snape's face was unreadable as he responded. "Professor Green, I am not helping you so much as I am helping one of the students. What you are undertaking involves potions, and as a potions master, I am not without skill in that area. If you could use our help, we will assist."
"Ah, you're helping your student, well that makes sense now." Harry said in cheek. "I'm working on an interesting, potentially unsolvable problem. Admit it, you're professional curiosity has been sparked, hasn't it? And you'd love to have an excuse to research in a muggle library, wouldn't you?"
"If you would rather we didn't assist you…" the Potions Master trailed off. He was a little annoyed that Harry had guessed part of the reason behind the offer of assistance, but Severus' professional curiosity was not his only motivation.
He had been impressed at the way Theresa conducted herself at the investigation into the claims that she and her professor were carrying on a secret relationship. It was clear that the young girl cared about Professor Green, and she set aside her shyness and her own personal feelings to take matters into her own hands, when it became obvious that the professor was going to be ridiculed and exploited by the media. Her actions had raised his opinion of her, and, oddly enough, it had also caused him to once again re-evaluate his opinion of the young man standing before him.
"You're right," Harry began thoughtfully, "it'll probably go much faster with three researchers than with just one. I'll explain what we'll be looking for when we get there, and I've got plenty of pens and notebooks, but you two need to change into muggle clothes," he told them as he looked closely at them.
"Pens and notebooks?" Draco asked.
"We cannot very well use quills and parchment in a muggle library," Severus said.
"Oh, I didn't think of that. But why do we need to change? If we lose the robes, what's wrong with what we're wearing underneath?" Draco asked defensively.
"Well…the library is a casual sort of place. People don't normally walk around in expensive dress shirts and dress trousers. It's early morning, think casual. I'll wait here."
OOOOO
Unconscious bodies littered the floor around the five men. "You all know what to do. We can't botch this one, alright? It'd be more than we're worth to bollocks this up," one of the men said, as he levitated the bodies to a nearby closet and magically locked the door.
"I know what we're doing," one young wizard said, indicating himself and the wizard standing next to him, "but why are you three going after this other fellow? That wasn't supposed to be part of the plan."
"It's personal," A stocky wizard told his young comrade grimly. "And anyway, we're all there to help one another out. We'll be helping you, and you'll be helping us," he explained in an attempt to reassure him. "We're all set, so let's do this. No mistakes this time."
OOOOO
"I think I picked up the heaviest stack," Draco complained, grunting under the weight of the books he was carrying.
"You said you wanted to help, didn't you?" Harry asked, also straining under the weight of a stack of books.
"Yeah, but I didn't think this was part of the deal," Draco muttered.
"How much farther is the apparition point?" Professor Snape asked from behind his tower of books.
"Not much farther, I think," Harry told him. The three men couldn't use magic around so many muggles, so they had to carry the books Harry had borrowed all the way to a suitable apparition point before they could take out their wands.
"Just look at it this way though, this is great for the upper arms and the stomach muscles," Harry offered.
"Terrific," Draco muttered. "Are we there yet?"
Once Harry had explained to the two men what he needed to research and how to use the library, between the three of them they had found quite a few useful resources, some of which they took notes from and some of which, actually quite a few of which, Harry borrowed.
"Here we are. Right, nobody's looking, let's go." All three men disappeared with a sharp crack.
"Ow!" Harry cried. His stack of books had fallen on top of him when he reappeared at the edge of the small village near Hogwarts.
"We should have thought this through a little more carefully before apparating," Professor Snape grumbled, rubbing at a spot on his head where the corner of one of the books he was carrying had struck him when he reappeared.
"Yes, note to self for the future: a precarious stack of books won't remain stacked after traveling via apparition," Draco observed sarcastically, picking himself up. "We'd better move if we want to make it back before dinner," he told the other two men as he levitated his books and began to walk back to the castle.
"Oh, yeah, dinner!" Harry cried, as he hurried along the path to the castle.
"If I end up with a black eye from where that stupid book hit me, how am I going to explain that to Ginny? She'll never believe me, Draco asked, walking beside Professor Snape.
"You'll think of something. You could always just tell her you got into a fight with someone," the older man suggested, the corners of his mouth twitching.
"No need, that's just what she'll think I've been doing, Draco moaned as he followed behind the potions master. "Those muggles have a weird way of arranging their books, don't they?" Draco asked. "And some of the books weren't even in book form, they were on the computer. Speaking of which, I think I'm going to need a headache potion after looking at that screen for so long."
"It certainly was…different…wasn't it?" Professor Snape noted. "Some of those books were in absolutely appalling condition."
"I noticed that myself. Jason said that's how it is in muggle libraries. They can't use preservation spells on their books like we can and it would just cost too much for them to have every book treated with a preservative. He said that when the damage gets too bad someone will let the librarian know and it'll be replaced." Draco threw his friend an odd look. "You know, we were there all day and you don't notice the weird clothes everyone was wearing, or the funny looking electrical things they all had, but you notice the condition of some of the books. I don't know about you."
Severus just smirked at Draco.
"Gentleman, a moment if you please," Albus called to them as he saw them enter the castle. They waited for him as he came over to meet them. "You look like you've had a… productive day."
"Yes, we were just researching and we thought we'd bring some books back with us," Harry explained innocently.
"I see," the Headmaster replied dubiously, looking at Severus and Draco.
"What can we do for you, Headmaster?" Professor Snape asked politely.
"Where are you headed?" Albus enquired.
"We were just going to drop these off in my rooms," Harry replied.
"I'll walk with you. There is something I need to tell you."
"Of course," Harry replied, as they headed off down one of the many corridors in the school.
"Cornelius Fudge and four of his staff from the Ministry arrived here this morning, just before lunch," Albus began.
"Why?" Draco interrupted.
"They wanted to meet with all of the Hogwarts staff, including Draco and Ginny, who were present at the time the Department of Education's investigation into the truth of the story written in the Daily Prophet was being conducted. It would seem that there are certain formalities that were overlooked in our haste to have the matter resolved last Saturday," Albus informed the three men. "They have been waiting for your return and are still here. I have invited them to join us in the Great Hall for Dinner. We will be able to meet in my office after the meal."
"I'm sorry. I would have let you know that we were heading out but I didn't think we'd be missed." Harry apologised.
"There is no need to apologise. They arrived unexpectedly," Albus said kindly.
"On a Saturday?" Harry asked.
"Yes. Many departments of the Ministry operate six days a week. Since the war ended, the Minister has discovered that there is just as much work to be done maintaining peace as there is fighting for it. But I will not keep you. I will see you at dinner," he called as he headed off in the direction of the Great Hall.
The three men had reached the door to Harry's room and they stood back as Harry "unlocked" his door.
"Nice," Draco admired as he walked inside.
"Where shall I place these…books, Mr. Green?" Professor Snape asked.
"Oh, anywhere in this room is fine," Harry replied, gesturing at the loungeroom and setting his stack of books next to the long couch. "Thank you. You didn't have to help me today but I appreciate that you did. I really did get through so much more than I thought I would, so thank you."
Professor Snape inclined his head, and Draco waived away the thanks. "You're welcome."
"No, seriously. I mean, Draco and I are good researchers but Professor, I think you got through double the research we both did," Harry said in amazement, looking at the stacks of books in his lounge room.
"I enjoy research," Severus stated, simply.
"I can see that," Harry said, still eyeing the impressive number of books he had to look through.
"We'll carry on with our research, but let us know if you make any progress with your research, okay?" Draco said.
"Sure."
"In the meantime, we're going to get dressed for dinner. I'm feeling just a little too casual," Draco told Harry with a grimace.
Harry chuckled along with his friend. "I think I might do the same. I'll see you at dinner," he told the two men as he showed them out.
"I think the two of you deserve a medal," Draco told Professor Snape mischievously.
"Oh?" the older man asked, raising an eyebrow at the younger man. "Do you?"
"Yeah. You two spent a whole day with each other and you didn't insult each other or try to kill one another once. I'm impressed."
"How would you like me to seal your mouth shut – permanently?"
"Ah – no. I quite like my mouth the way it is."
OOOOO
"What on earth is that thumping noise?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione as he took his usual seat at the staff table.
"Oh, who knows?" Ron replied, trying to hide the side of his face from view. "This castle's always making funny sounds – you know, stones settling, that sort of thing."
"Um, Ron, how did you get that black eye?" Harry asked, twisting so he could see what Ron was trying to hide from him.
"Oh… er… it was an accident. I… walked into something. It happens to the best of us," Ron answered, grinning weakly. Hermione gave Harry a meaningful look that clearly indicated Ron was lying.
"Oh, come on. That was a big fib and you know it," Ginny rebuked him as she took a seat next to Ron.
"Ginny," Ron whined.
"Ron and I were playing quidditch, just the two of us with Hermione as the scorekeeper," Ginny began to explain.
"So you could see that the whole thing was rigged for Ginny to win from the start," Ron muttered under his breath, earning himself a glare from his wife.
Ginny rolled her eyes and continued. "Well, to cut a very long story short, I'd been hitting bludgers at him all day and he'd managed to dodge most of them, but this last bludger hit him right in the face. He was out cold for quite a while." With a glare at her brother, she added, "Normally I'd be worried about the possibility of brain damage if someone took a hit to the head, but in his case, I think it's a little late to start worrying."
"How did you manage to let it hit you?" Harry asked, suppressing a grin.
"I had my eyes on the snitch," Ron shrugged.
Harry paused in confusion. "So you could see the snitch?"
"Yes."
"The tiny, fast, almost invisible ball?"
"Yes."
"But you missed the big as life bludger?"
"Yes."
"Does this sort of thing happen often?" Harry asked Hermione and Ginny.
"You'd be surprised," sighed Hermione.
The rest of the students and staff had taken their seats in the Hall and dinner had been served.
"I love weekend roasts," Ginny commented, picking up her cutlery. "Mum does roast dinners on weekends as well. Maybe she got the idea from her days as a student here," she noted thoughtfully.
"I wonder where our guests are," Albus observed. "Ah, here they are now," he noted as he stood to welcome his five guests from the Ministry who had been shown to the Hall by Professor Sinistra.
Harry watched each of them for a moment before he stood up and quickly drew his wand.
"Stupefy!" he cried, pointing his wand at Minister Fudge.
Everybody in the hall fell silent. They couldn't believe that Harry had actually stunned the Minister of Magic.
"Jason!" Albus rebuked.
"You go for it! I don't like him either," Ron whispered to his friend.
"Ron! That's the Minister!" Hermione exclaimed in a loud voice, grabbing Harry's wand from his hand.
"No, it's not," Harry told them firmly.