Disclaimer: I own nothing, but my thoughts of AU and OC, the rest all belong to J K Rowling. Moonvale continues to swish her wand over the chapter and make the story worthy to read. Thank you dear Beta. 😊

Chapter 12

The Minister of Magic and Head Auror, Amelia Bones and Kingsley Shacklebolt, left soon after the meeting was adjourned. Draco, Blaise, Neville, and Seamus opted to start hunting for answers at the library. Minerva had gone ahead of them to inform Madam Pince of the sudden crisis. The extensive collection of ancient tomes and reference guides in the esteemed library had helped the students, apprentices, and professors to churn out the finest of studies of their own.

Seamus Finnigan jested simply to lift up the dampened spirit of the group.

* "Because that's what Hermione does…When in doubt, go to the library." *

"Hey, Harry! Wasn't that what Ron would say? I meant to ask before, where's our Quidditch player?" he turned to Potter and glanced at him from over his shoulder while going up the moving stairs.

Blaise elbowed him and supplied, "Weasley's Our King, Finnigan. He got himself shipped to America and is married and a daddy. I say, Potter, that was quite a surprise, all in a month?"

Neville being truly surprised, pressed, "Harry, that's quite a drivel. Ron was too into Hermione. That must be those fans spouting nonsense like always…I just thought he was away because he managed to grab a place in some American Quidditch team...I happened to overhear the last bit at The Three Broomsticks some time back. There were some folks arguing about the Prophet story..."

Finnigan snorted, "Longbottom, the Prophet is always printing false stories! You can't hold an argument based on that hogwash! But yeah, our dearies Lav Lav and Won Won were quite a thing but in our school days. Maybe those frustrated reporters fished out the old articles and made the rest up."

Draco was not aware of how Weasley got himself hooked and saddled with a baby so quickly but he did notice Potter growing uncomfortable with the topic and the growing volleys of questions. Just like he expected, Potter made a silly excuse about "need some fresh air" and made his way back downstairs.

Seamus asked Neville, bewildered, "What's with him?"

"Give the man some space Finnigan, isn't it quite clear… he is manning the ship all by himself?"

The Irishman was quite taken aback with Malfoy defending Potter. But he had seen both of them becoming civil with each other and most of their arguments were nothing but meaningless bickering. Blaise raised an eyebrow and a hint of a smile ghosted on his lips.

"Finnigan, when you fight for the same cause, that purpose brings you together no matter how much you started with hating each other."

The innuendo was not lost on Draco, who flicked his gaze and found an all-knowing Zabini wink back at him.

"Well, the Deputy Headmistress never liked tardiness so we better get to the library as fast as we can. She must have got those special permissions already from Madam Pince. Oh! Here's real gossip: even the 'Headmaster gets chucked out of her library if he dallies with a book'- not my words, they were purely Madam Pince…" Neville laughed gruffly at his own joke, succeeding at steering the other's interest away from the mystery of the disbanding of the Golden Trio.

Professors Sprout and Flitwick had gone back to their quarters. Professor Slughorn had initially been present in the meeting but was excused within minutes due to his failing health. He had gone to the infirmary where Poppy Pomfrey had made sure he got his required rest. She had returned from her holidays after receiving an urgent owl from Minerva. The mediwitch couldn't attend the high profile meeting because Horace's weak heart needed her to be constantly by his side. Hagrid was not back either. The half-giant was away only for a three day break. Meanwhile, Severus had volunteered to take care of his magical creatures on his behalf. The trusted gamekeeper of Hogwarts was expected to come back before nightfall.

Since many of the former students decided to stay back until the second meeting; Professor Lupin, the Gryffindor Head of House, took up the task of instructing the house elves to arrange the guest quarters for them.

Healer Norman had insisted upon the presence of the Headmaster while she was briefing Miss Lovegood on Miss Granger's present state. Snape was listening through the Healer's update but his mind was trying to find a link between all that had transpired in the meeting a while ago. "Stopper- Bottle", "Glory Death", "Horcruxes still laying around", "but not Voldemort's" and finally "Goblin's coming to Hogwarts"?

They were having their quiet discussion near the entrance of the Great Hall when they were rudely interrupted by an agitated Potter rushing past and out of the giant doors of the castle, right into the evening air. Luna had called after him, but in vain.

Severus knitted his brows and assured the others, "Wait here. I will return with him shortly," and had left the two women at the entrance.

Potter was running towards the Quidditch grounds. Severus, out of habit, first thought to tackle the young man with a jinx. But then the young man suddenly stopped, bent over his knees and started heaving. Finally catching up with the Wonder Boy, he stood a couple of paces away, waiting.

Harry could see the edges of the Headmaster's black cloak and growled, "Go away!"

But the black cloak remained.

He quickly turned and aimed his wand at the stoic man. He was surprised to find Snape had not disarmed him already. The Headmaster had his arms crossed over his chest and his wand still tucked inside his holster. In the fading light of the day, one could still make out that one of his eyebrows was arched, asking both a plain question and simultaneously throwing a challenge.

Harry's hand shook and slowly he pocketed his wand. But the very next moment he knelt down, crying to himself, burying his face in his palms. "I can't do this alone; I am trying but…"

A baritone voice full of remorse surprised him. "This has hit close to home". He felt a hand gripping his shoulder and the voice grew more soft, "Come along Potter."

Harry allowed himself to be led on as the unlikely duo settled themselves up in the stands of the empty arena. The sun had set and the moon was casting a gloomy sheen over the expanse of the Hogwarts grounds. Severus waited for the man to collect himself.

After a while, when Harry heaved a long sigh, the Headmaster stated the glaringly obvious question. The one that Miss Lovegood had at the end of the meeting pointed out. "Where is Mr. Weasley? Are not both of you her very close friends?"

Harry heaved a long sigh once again. "Honestly, those two weren't really together. It was this on and off thing…" he lowered his head and ran his fingers through his ever-disheveled black hair.

"Has Mr. Weasley finally worked up his diminutive courage and proposed marriage to the girl? Or…"

Surprised that Potter had the ability not to rise to his bait, the potion master's interest piqued.

"No, Ron did not propose to her as we had once expected. The war, its victory and the sudden fame of being a celebrity went to his head. I don't blame him either. He was never good at dealing with too much attention. He got married to a very pregnant Lavender Brown six weeks ago."

"So the Prophet did get parts of it right?" Snape mused.

Harry snorted, catching the underlying mockery, "Yeah, just those bits and pieces. Apparently, Ron had told his family that Hermione was making him feel insignificant and suffocating him with her sense of superiority in every aspect of life. I might have gone ahead with believing all that but Ginny informed me that Ron had tried to force himself upon Hermione at the Anniversary Ball in remembrance of all who had fallen. And if not for Draco Malfoy, he might have succeeded in molesting her. "

"Mr. Weasley was never adequately intelligent. I find it quite strange how he ended up making good strategies. Hot tempers run wild in that family but such lecherous tendencies!" Snape clenched his jaw and said nothing else.

Heaving a sigh and nodding at his former Potions Professor, Harry continued, "Molly never believed in Ron's accusations. She does not even approve of Lavender. Therefore, the couple is no longer living at the Borrow. In fact, Lavender has contacts at the American Magical settlement in Salem. They have relocated there. That would be two weeks ago. The prophet couldn't manage to get wind of all this because the couple chose to honeymoon in a very discreet location."

Then, as if not thinking much about who was sitting beside him, Harry went on, "Ginny is pregnant and the healers tell me there are complications. She is staying with Molly and Arthur. They are still grieving over Fred's death. George has moved out after marrying Angelina. And Percy coming back to his senses has come back to his family. They are still working things out. With Ron out of the picture, Ginny not well, and Grimmauld Place still giving me the creeps, and now Hermione…I feel lost. "

Suddenly, surprised at himself, he chuckled and added, "Ironic! I mean, all of this is quite unexpected. This! You and I, sitting together, side by side while I am blabbering about my problems."

"Potter, you will find me as quite a seasoned listener. My Slytherins might have put up a strong front in front of the other houses, but they were as broken within as each one of you were."

After a while, Potter whispered, "Thank you, Sir."

Not a person to accept gratitude lightly, he offered, "If you like, you can grab a spare broom from the broom stands and give it a couple of laps."

Harry thought it truly was an exceptional day. Still, he declined, "No, I feel just fine."

"Then I guess, good evening Mr. Potter. Though I might add, leaving behind a pregnant wife worrying is a mistake and leaving a pregnant 'She Weasley' in the dark is a colossal blunder."

Satisfied at the sight of a gaping Potter, Severus made his way down the stands. He half turned to throw back a final tip to the young man, "You look like a trout fish, Potter. Well, I am sure you remember where the Owlery is."

Whatever is in between *-* is written by JKR, I have just borrowed them.