Prince Consort

Chapter 31

Severus perched himself on the side of the bed, watching his mate sleep, feeling a smidgen of guilt for having to wake him up. Harry had been training a whole lot these past months, with nothing better to do, he'd been taking up a great deal of Alfred and the more dedicated of their vampires time. It wasn't going to waste, Harry was no slouch at defense, but in these past months, he had improved with strength and vigor. Normally he would have suggested that Harry slow down, but if he was completely honest he preferred this. To know that Harry could defend himself against more than one enemy was a relief from the constant worry on his mind.

"Harry? It's time to get up, otherwise, we will be late," Severus' fingers trailed from Harry's forehead to his neck, his lips twitching into a fond smile at the little grumble of discontent leaving Harry's lips as his face scrunched up in displeasure. "Come on, up, go shower,"

Harry's brows furrowed, "Whazzit, tired, lemme sleep," he slurred utterly sleep deprived.

Severus chuckled in amusement, his thumb stroking over his Adam's apple, "You can stay and miss Dumbledore's trial if you so wish, just don't blame me after its over."

Harry's eyes snapped open when the words penetrated his fuzzy mind, "It's today?" he'd completely forgotten, too wrapped up in making his way through all the books from Godric's Hollow. With training, he wasn't reading quite as much as he wanted to. Then there was the unlimited supply from the library and vaults that he wanted to devour. "Is there enough time for a shower?" he asked, leaning into the caress, his eyes half-lidded as he stretched out, enjoying the contact between them.

"A quick one," Severus agreed, inhaling sharply, feeling the stirring scent of his mates' arousal along with quite sated contentment. Leaning down, he kissed and nibbled his way up against Harry's neck, layering his scent deeply within him, declaring Harry as his mate as if the bite wasn't enough. He had to fight with himself, he had a selfish desire to continue what he had started, but he refrained, pulling back, removing his hands from Harry completely, nudging his side, "Go, on," he urged, standing up so that Harry could move.

"Alright," Harry said, before sighing softly, there was no way he'd get back to sleep now. One glance at the time made him want to curse. He'd been asleep for only two hours, he'd stayed up to just after five am reading, unable to put the riveting book down, it was now seven o'clock. "Why do we need to be there so soon anyway?" he asked as he entered the bathroom, putting the shower on as he removed his pajamas listening for Severus' reply.

"You are a material witness in the case," Severus answered, the sliding of material giving away that he was currently getting dressed. "You will be called up to give evidence,"

"What the fuck?" Harry muttered shaking his head causing the water to slash everywhere. "Why haven't I received any mail about it?"

"You have, it came last week, it's still unopened on the desk," Severus informed Harry, the cupboard door closed with a snick after he finished dressing.

"Then how do you know?" Harry complained as he cleaned himself as hastily as possible. Not just because there wasn't time, he actually wanted to be face to face while he talked to his mate about this. So much so that he jumped out of the shower and began drying before realizing he hadn't put the shower off, "Bugger!" hastily shutting it off.

"The lawyer, Jason Macmillan is an acquaintance, and has sworn an oath to serve me," Severus explained, already watching the door as Harry opened it to come out, steam billowing out in his wake.

"Any relation to Ernie Macmillan?" Harry queried curiously, there was a Hufflepuff by that name at Hogwarts.

"Jason Macmillan is Scottish, he has roots going back to the twelfth century, as he so proudly boasts." Severus replied, he often proudly wore his tartan, "He could be related to him but very distantly, many families were torn apart by the rebellion, from what Jason says, some family took part, others did not, he explained that many family members were transported to the Caribbean without trial. Many could have made their way back at some point."

Alexander MacMillan of Dumore, Deputy Keeper of the Signet, an important legal post in Edinburgh, died in July 1770. He designated his heir as his cousin's son, Duncan MacMillan, a lawyer. This line was known as the Lagalgrave Macmillan's and allegedly did not have a full appreciation of their standing as clan chiefs, although they served their country well. Duncan's brother was William MacMillan who served as a captain of the marines under Admiral Nelson on his flagship HMS Victory. Jason proudly continued his families legacy and became a lawyer. He wasn't the first of the Macmillan's to swear loyalty to the Prince Clan and he would not be the last, as Jason had a desire for his son Alexander MacMillan to swear loyalty as well. Many people were quite adept at hiding their magic in plain sight throughout the years, it was and still could be dangerous times to have magic exposed.

"Cool," Harry said eyes gleaming thirstily for information.

"Indeed," Severus said wryly, "I'm sure you'll be regaled on the tales he has to share one day." somehow he had a feeling Harry wouldn't be merely indulging him, but truly curious about everything he'd learn.

"I can't wait," Harry revealed, as he moved further into the room, grabbing the clothes Severus must have put on the bed for him, and began to dress, not seeing the look of fond amusement his mate shot him.

"Are you sure you weren't meant to be in Ravenclaw?" Severus asked dryly, blatantly watching Harry dress, who could blame him really? His mate was a delectable morsel and his completely.

"Isn't one of the most important mottos of Slytherin 'Knowledge is power?'," Harry teased, his voice slightly muffled as he put his jumper on, black, like most other things he was wearing today due to the fact they were about to go to court. "Plus I wasn't quite so determined to learn everything when I got sorted, I didn't realize how different it would be…it sounds stupid I know…but the magical world was so different from all I knew…"

"I see," Severus replied thoughtfully, while he had grown up in the Muggle world, he had known every single little thing there was to know about the magical world. From Quidditch to Azkaban and the Dementors. He had pined for the magical world for as long as he understood that there was a school he could go to. Lily had learned everything from him when she learned from him what she actually was. Lily and he had been prepared for the magical world, so he couldn't really say how it would have felt for Harry. "When did you become determined to learn everything you could instead of learning as you go, attending classes and such?" gesturing for Harry to follow him, sitting down to eat a small breakfast.

"The same night," Harry explained as he put his sausage, egg, and bacon onto a toasted sandwich. Taking a bite out of it, seeing Severus' enquiring look, he licked his lips and swallowed the bite of food before answering, "I was being asked about Gringotts, my vaults, and I had no answer for them, it was humiliating, so the second I could I devoured every single book I could get my hands on between classes."

"And Blaise and Theo were understanding?" Severus asked, hiding his doubt about such a thing being possible. Picking bits of bacon up and eating it absently.

"I think it was my name to begin with, but when they realized I was determined to immerse myself in the magical world completely and learned what the Dursley's were like…they wanted to help me." Harry admitted, "I doubt I would have been alive to return for my second year without Remus and Blaise."

Severus was startled to hear that, not something he even wanted to contemplate. "Want to elaborate on that?"

Harry shrugged, swallowing the last of his breakfast, "It wasn't as if I'd be able to go back to the Dursley's, I stole money of them to get to Hogwarts…being on the streets of London isn't exactly safe, I probably would have gone back to them with my tail between my legs eventually." and boy did it hurt his pride to admit that. "Not sure what would have happened but I can guarantee they would have either stopped me going back…or eventually killed me and I doubt Dumbledore would have cared to find out what was going on. At least not until he found a use for me…and by then it would have probably been too late."

Severus' nostrils flared just thinking of potential past outcomes. He wished he had known that Harry was his mate from the beginning. He wouldn't have raised him, but he would have made sure who did raise him did so right. A happy childhood, without worries or fears, that was his greatest wish. Regretfully nothing short of a bloody miracle of being bodily thrown back in time would accomplish that.

"I don't like talking or thinking about them," Harry admitted with a scowl, nudging his plate away from him before drinking down some orange juice thirstily.

"You understand that the Dursley's will be brought up during the trial?" Severus said cautiously. "They will ask a lot of uncomfortable questions, they know he is directly responsible for your placement there. They will uncover everything in order to give him the best sentence they can."

Harry's lips twisted into a visceral sneer, his fingers clutching the table causing it to splinter in his grip reducing where he had gripped it to sawdust. A few seconds later, the table's crack went across until it was caving in the middle now in two broken parts, with plates, breakfast, and beverages soaking the rug in coffee and remnants of orange juice.

Severus stood, grasping a hold of Harry, guiding him away from the mess, "You really haven't dealt with what they did to you, have you?" Severus sighed softly, bringing his mate in for a hug, unsurprised when he was clutched desperately - as if Harry feared he would disappear.

Harry remained unnaturally silent, not giving a reply.

"I can ask Jason to prevent as much of the questioning as possible…or I can inform the Ministry that you are not sound of mind," Severus suggested.

"I'm not insane!" Harry protested quite angrily.

"No, but I do not think you're capable of discussing the Dursley's rationally, especially not in front of the Wizengamot and everyone who will be in the chamber to witness the trial," Severus admitted, squeezing Harry's neck in comfort.

Harry swallowed thickly, "I have to," he said, his spine stiffening defiantly. "I'm not letting him win,"

"Not attending isn't the same as letting him win, your statement, whatever you make it will still be heard," Severus stated, since Harry was technically underage, it was doable.

"No," Harry retorted sharply, "I'm going, I'll just take a calming draught before I go in," hopefully that would stop him from screwing up.

Severus pursed his lips, "Very well, I'll give Jason a few calming draughts so you can get one just before you go on." he wouldn't imply Harry was weak by continuing to ask him if he was alright to go or not. He was a Slytherin, getting revenge was always going to take priority over almost everything except family.

Harry nodded, his nose wrinkling as he removed it from Severus' neck, the repugnant smell he'd caused with the food and drink was distasteful.

"The House-Elves will clear it up, we have to go now or risk being late," Severus stated, never removing his hand from where it was around Harry's neck. Together both of them left the room, closing the door behind them. "Have a House-Elf clear up inside, remove a table from one of the unused guest rooms and situate it within."

"Yes, My Lord, it will be done." Storm stated immediately, bowing briefly, showing her neck before standing straight. "Everyone is waiting at the entrance ready to leave." with that Storm left her position to give instructions to the House-Elves, all the while wondering what had happened but not stupid enough to ask.

Once she had informed the Head House-Elf she immediately made her way to the entrance hall, stepping into formation with the others, the Portkey immediately transported them directly to the Ministry of magic per Jason's demands for the safety and security of the group.

Only certain people would realize though that Severus Snape/Prince was Lord Prince, leader of one of the largest coven of vampires in the world. Albus Dumbledore was one of those people.

Not that was the most important thing, sending Dumbledore down was.

He was finally going to pay for what he had done to his mate, and perhaps this would help Harry out in the long run, he had been burying it for so long and still continued to, dealing with it only when he must.

"Ah, you made it on time, come with me!" Jason called after Severus, refraining from calling him 'My Lord' in public setting, and they were, Aurors, civilians, and reporters all making their way to courtroom three for the trial of Albus Dumbledore, which was due to begin in ten minutes. The Aurors were trying to prevent a stamped and were doing quite successfully. Jason moved towards the first available conference room. He couldn't use the witness room, which it already had a few people in there that was due to testify against Dumbledore.

Leaving the door open, letting the vampires enter, he placed his bag on the table.

"My Lords," Jason said respectfully, "As you know last week Dumbledore appeared for his Arraignment hearing, despite the evidence, and the continued in the pouring of evidence we're continuing to amass he pled not guilty to all the charges put before him."

"Will Veritaserum be used?" Harry asked, a deep loathing on his face.

Jason swallowed at the look the vampire currently supported, quite frankly if looks could kill he suspected he'd be six foot under already. Given the evidence of what he had done to his Lord's consort, he knew instinctively that it was Dumbledore who Harry was thinking of to cause that look plastered on his face.

"I am going to argue the use of it, but whether I will succeed or not remains to be seen, My Lord," Jason explained, "Nine times out of ten, Veritaserum is successfully negated, it's perhaps best if nobody holds their breath." a dissatisfied gleam in his eyes.

"We won't need it," Severus stated, but it was more of a warning to Jason not to screw up. Squeezing Harry's hand in comfort,

"Indeed not," Jason replied immediately, "It's a sure thing," in fact this was one of the most open and shut cases he'd ever had in his career. And that was saying something since he had defended many wizards and witches during the course of his very successful career.

"The case of Albus Dumbledore Versus the Ministry of Magic is now being called into session," the magically enhanced voice Amelia Bones called throughout the halls.

"Follow me, My Lord," Jason said, speaking to Harry, "I will call upon you first, so that you may sit with Severus for the remainder of the trial once you've given your testimony."

"Alright," Harry replied, unsurprised that Storm and Cenric followed immediately behind him, refusing to leave his side. Jason, a smart man, didn't say anything regarding the fact they technically shouldn't be entering the same room as the witnesses, nobody got to interact with them before the trial, mostly to ensure they weren't coerced into doing anything or threatened.

"Harry!" Sirius blurted out, blinking at the sight of him, surprised to see him but within a few moments, he realized that Harry probably had the biggest right to be here, him being secondary when it came to wanting to ensure Dumbledore went down. "I…er…how are you doing?" glancing sideways as a vampire left the room - Cenric - before returning a few seconds later, vampire speed man, it was annoying. What was more annoying was that he was getting used to it. They were treating his mate right, he felt no prejudice in Prince Castle, and that meant more to Sirius than anything else in this world.

"I'm fine," Harry replied, he wasn't really, he felt so much anger and anxiety within him ready to just burst out. He wasn't sure how the hell he would remain calm while facing Dumbledore. Jason was already gone, and Harry could hear the beginning of Dumbledore's trial down the hall in the Courtroom, the list of crimes he was being charged with.

"What do you hear?" Sirius asked, vaguely surprised he could hear anything, he'd assumed the courtrooms would be sealed tight even against eavesdropping vampires. Not that it could be counted as eavesdropping since they couldn't help but overhear what they did.

"The list of charges brought against him," Harry's tone was cold and harsh, it made Sirius flinch, he'd never heard Harry sounding like that even when Harry professed that he hated him that time when he'd been in a drugged haze.

"Now he's getting the opportunity to enter a plea bargain, but he's gone with the 'Not guilty' routine," Harry muttered bitterly.

"Drink this," Cenric said demurely, making sure he didn't make it sound like an order, when it most certainly wasn't, at least not from him anyway.

Harry cocked his head to the side, a slight smirk on his face, shaking his head absently, he plucked the calming draught, ignoring Sirius' sound of concern, as he downed it in one go. Relaxing immediately afterward, the calming draught was definitely from Severus' stock, it was too potent to be anything but.

"Relax Black, it's a calming draught," Cenric retorted in annoyance as if he would do anything to hurt Harry after swearing to protect him. There was more chance of Black hurting him.

"Mr. Potter? You're up," a stern blonde haired Auror stated, the name of his badge identified him as Auror Smith, and Harry would bet he was related to the same Smith in Hogwarts with him. He was a spoiled fucked up idiot, he couldn't stand him. He was a Dumbledore supporter through and through. This Auror was probably the same. "I've got it," he added to Storm and Cenric, smug arrogance radiating from him.

"I really don't care if you've 'got it'," Storm purred, eyes flashing dangerously. "He doesn't leave our sight, 'get it'."

"I wouldn't fight her on it," Cenric chuckled darkly, up close in Smith's face, relishing the fear he could smell emanating from the Auror.

"Whatever," he scowled, turning on his heel and walking out of the room, not even bothering to see if they were following him.

Cenric and Storm remained with Harry until he stepped through the door and into the courtroom, listening intently as the swiftly made their way to the other entrance and entered. They made no attempt at sitting down, they stood at the doorway, their eyes roaming over the crowd, keeping an eye out for any and all movement. They were there to protect both Harry and Severus, their Lords and would go to any length to ensure their safety.

Who would you like to see next chapters point of view from? Dumbledore himself? Severus? Harry? or perhaps them all? well that's the next chapter done, next ones the trial and then next one will probably be the treaty, it may take a while since I'm not sure what to have in the treaty :D but I'll definitely think of something! R&R please