18. The Ceremony

The rest of the week went by quickly and soon it was Saturday, the dreaded Saturday for Severus, the Saturday of the ceremony and the honouring of the people who had been helping to bring Voldemort down, the awarding of the Order of Merlin.

Even though Bobbie was immensely proud of him and if he was honest with himself he was proud of what he had managed to do also, but he hated to be up on a stage and get stared at by everyone. Strangely enough he thought about Harry Potter and realized that the young man was probably thinking the same thing right now. He had to admit to himself that he had grown fond of the boy and for that matter of Longbottom as well. Who would have known that of all his former students Neville would grow up to be an especially capable adult?

He thought about the cure against the Cruciatus induced insanity and of the boy's parents who were in the Janus Thickey Ward in St Mango's because of it. He had thought about it some more a few days ago and resolved to try the cure someone had found against that mysterious disease that had popped up 70-80 years ago, where people were in an almost statue-like state. He had since found the recipe for it and his research had proven that the potion didn't have any serious side effects. If it didn't work he could always try something else. He had made several modifications though because there were some differences between the two ailments, and he had added a potion to stimulate muscles. Yes, they were getting physical therapy but that would only go so far. By lying in bed for so long he knew that their muscles had atrophied.

He would go to St Mungo's on Monday and try it. He would have to ask either Neville Longbottom or his grandmother Augusta for permission though. He was almost certain that they would be ready by now to try anything, but one never knew for certain.

Regardless, there was nothing he could do now. He had to get ready for the ceremony. If he had to go there and had to draw attention to himself he didn't want it to be for being late. He knew that Bobbie was already getting dressed. She had been lamenting the fact earlier this week that her growing baby bump didn't fit into the dress she had worn to their wedding and her birthday dinner anymore. She and Hermione Granger had gone to Madam Malkin's and had bought some dress robes for the occasion.

Severus, of course was wearing his usual black. He wore a frock coat with small silver buttons with snakes on them, and his overcoat had a turquoise clasp with a silver snake on it that Bobbie had bought for him in Canada at a Native store. He tied his hair that had grown way past his shoulders by now into a low pony tail with a black leather string.

When Bobbie came out of the bathroom she wore a wide flowing dark green silk dress with an irregular hem line and wide long sleeves. It completely concealed her belly. It had silvery lace edging around the hem, the sleeves and the low-cut neck line. She wore an intricate squash blossom necklace made of beautiful turquoise and German silver and the matching bracelet. Her hair was done in corkscrew ringlets flowing down her back like an auburn waterfall. She had also applied a little bit of makeup. To Severus she looked like a goddess.

He reverently brushed a strand of hair out of her face and kissed her softly. He whispered, "You look breathtaking, my Love."

"Thank you, so do you. I will have to fight off the competition tonight," she said and smiled. When she noticed that he was about to brush the compliment off again she put her fingers against his lips and said gently, "No Baby, I mean it. Please don't cut yourself down. I think you look very regal and elegant and with that suntan you have gotten in Canada you are very handsome." She framed his face with her hands and kissed him softly.

He smiled at her and took her hand and draped it through his elbow so it would rest on his forearm. They petted the dogs goodbye and left their quarters. On the way out they met Minerva, Filius and Poppy who were also on the way to the ceremony. They all decided to walk to the Apparition zone together even though they probably wouldn't be able to sit together because the tables would have place cards.

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When they stepped into the large ball room inside the Ministry Kingsley greeted them before he went to his place close to the stage. An usher led them to their tables. Each table seated 8 people. Severus and Bobbie sat together with Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione and Neville and Luna who had decided to be each other's escorts. The table next to them seated Minerva, Hagrid, Molly and Arthur, George with his girlfriend Angelina Johnson, Filius and Poppy.

Bobbie saw a table a little further off with Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. She was happy to see that Draco didn't have Pansy but instead Astoria Greengrass with him. She also noticed a table with a few Order members she recognized from the meeting she had attended.

When they all had been seated Hermione lightly leant across Bobbie and said to Severus, "I have already spoken to Bobbie but I also would like to say thanks to you for the beautiful Native American jacket you have brought me from Canada. I really appreciate it."

"You are welcome, Miss Granger. I am glad you like it," Severus said and inclined his head.

In that moment an elegantly dressed witch walked up on stage and held her wand to her throat and cast a Sonorus and said, "Hello everyone!" Everybody in the room started clapping. When the applause died down somewhat she continued, "Everyone knows why we are here tonight and now that most of the remnants of the war have been removed, be it by rebuilding or chasing down most of You-Know-Who's minions, it is about time to honour those who have worked so hard to reinstate our safety." Again there was another round of applause and a few calls of affirmation.

"I hope everyone is comfortable and has a complimentary glass of champagne because we decided we will do things a little differently today and reward our heroes with their Order of Merlin before the feast. This way we won't have to break up conversations you folks will no doubt have started by then. Without further ado I present you with the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt."

This time there was a roaring applause and some people even got up on their feet to honour the new Minister of Magic.

Kingsley who also cast a Sonorus Charm on his throat said, "Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen!" He bowed to the audience. "Thank you very much! I am delighted to see everyone here tonight for this joyous occasion. Unfortunately we did lose some good people who will not be able to receive their honour, not to mention the countless others who helped win the war and of some of whom we will never know their names. For these brave souls I want to ask you all for a moment of silence."

Everyone inside the room went still for one minute and then Kingsley continued, "Now, I will ask each person to please come up here to receive their Order of Merlin and then stay up here with me until we move to the next class. We will do this in Alphabetical order of the first names. Without further ado let's get this show on the road because this time we have a lot of recipients for the award. For the Order of Merlin, Third Class please welcome Mrs Arabella Figg to the stage. She was the person who had kept an eye on Mr Potter for 15 long years, making sure he was safe in the Muggle World and pulling some strings or interfering if he wasn't. She was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

First there were only a few tentative claps here and there because Mrs Figg was known to be a Squib but when people noticed that known 'heroes' like Harry Potter and Professor Snape and also the Headmistress of Hogwarts were enthusiastically giving applause, they eventually came around and joined in.

Mrs Figg held her head high and walked up the stage and stopped right next to Kingsley who shook her hand and pinned a white ribbon to her robes. She thanked Kingsley for the award and bowed to the audience before leaving the stage when Kingsley announced that it was time for the Order of Merlin, Second Class.

"Now to the recipients of the Order of Merlin, Second Class. Please welcome Arthur Weasley for his work in the Order of the Phoenix, making his home available for order meetings after the first Headquarters was compromised and also for joining the fight."

Arthur marched up to the stage with people clapping all the way and some even good-naturedly slapping him on the shoulder while he walked by them. Arthur smiled and nodded to some people in greeting. When he finally made it, Kingsley shook his hand and pinned a purple ribbon onto his robes.

The next in line was Filius Flitwick who marched up there much the same way Arthur had done. His award was for helping to keep Hogwarts safe with his extensive wards and being in the thick of the fight.

"Our next recipient will be George Weasley who has together with his brother Fred supplied us with many useful tools to win this war in addition to being fierce fighters in the Battle of Hogwarts."

There was roaring applause when George made his way to the stage while having a big grin on his face, shaking some hands and there were even a few 'high fives' here and there.

Kingsley shook his hands when he made it up there and pinned the purple ribbon to his robes. He handed him a second one which was posthumously for Fred. At first George appeared a little choked up but then held up his brother's ribbon and there was more roaring applause.

Kingsley grinned and said after it looked like the applause didn't want to stop, "Alright people, if we don't get on with this we will still be here tomorrow morning." Finally things quieted down enough for him to continue.

"Now, I would like to ask Miss Ginevra Weasley to come up. Miss Weasley was one of the students who decided it was imperative to keep the DA going. I'm sure you have all read in the newspaper what the DA was and I don't have to get into it. She, together with two others actually taught Defence Against the Dark Arts in a secret location in Hogwarts and helped immensely to get everybody fit for the battle. She also participated in the battle, side by side with everyone else."

The next one in line was Hagrid for his merits of infiltrating the giants at great risk to himself and talking most of them into not helping Voldemort.

Then Kingsley asked Luna to the stage for her help in co-leading the DA and keeping it going, for her fighting in the battle and helping Harry to figure out how to find the last Horcrux.

Finally the last one was Molly Weasley who had for a while broken out into tears when Kingsley awarded the Order of Merlin to Fred posthumously. By now she had pulled herself together and accepted her award for her participation in the battle and keeping everyone in line and fed during Order meetings.

After a round of applause they all went back to their seats to make room for the recipients of the Order of Merlin, First Class.

Kingsley continued, "Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with the recipients of the Order of Merlin, First Class. The first one is Harry Potter who has finally succeeded in what many have tried and have paid for with their lives. Voldemort is no more thanks to Mr Potter's relentless work toward this goal."

Harry walked to the stage with every person in the room giving him a standing ovation. Kingsley shook his hand and pinned a green ribbon on his robe.

"Our next candidate is Miss Hermione Granger who fought side by side with Mr Potter and helped with retrieval and ultimately the destruction of the Horcruxes." Hermione also got roaring applause on her way to the stage. She wore a beautiful gown that Bobbie had helped picking out. Bobbie noticed an expression of pride on Ron's face when he watched his future wife making her way to the stage.

"Now to our next recipient, the Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall." Kingsley announced.

Minerva walked up to the stage with the dignified gait of a queen and a smile on her face. Kingsley praised her with her work in the Order of the Phoenix and her relentless endeavor of fighting off the enemy and keeping the casualties to a minimum with her strategies and by warding the school.

"Our next candidate in line is Neville Longbottom. Mr Longbottom was one of the three people to keep the DA going and teaching the students Defence Against the Dark Arts. He was also instrumental in smuggling Mr Potter into the school before the battle and he was the one who slayed Voldemort's pet snake Nagini, which turned out to be the final Horcrux."

Neville got up and made his way to the stage with an air of courage and self esteem. Severus watched him and again had to admit that the once bumbling dunderhead had grown into a courageous young man who would be well respected.

"Once more we will award an Order of Merlin posthumously." Kingsley continued. "This time it will go to Remus Lupin who was an outstanding member of the Order of the Phoenix and who infiltrated the werewolves and kept all but a handful of them from associating themselves with Voldemort."

Kingsley walked up to Harry and said, "Mr Potter, I was hoping you would be able to extend this Order of Merlin to Mr Lupin's son when he is a little older." He gave the ribbon to Harry and then went on with the awards.

"The next person I will ask to come to the stage is Mr Potter's best friend Ronald Weasley. Mr Weasley fought side by side with Mr Potter and just like Miss Granger was instrumental in the destruction of the Horcruxes." Kingsley shook Ron's hand and pinned the green ribbon to his robes.

"I am happy to say that our last Order of Merlin is going to a man who I respect like no other and consider a good friend of mine. Not only is he one of the best Potion Masters in the world he is also the only person I know who could have deceived Voldemort for decades and be a spy for the light side while making Voldemort believe he was spying for him. I present to you Professor Severus Snape."

Severus walked up to the stage in his graceful, regal stride that Bobbie loved so much about him. He inclined his head to a few people he recognized on the way. During the applause Severus received on his way to the stage Ginny leant over to Bobbie and said with a grin, "I can't believe how much Professor Snape has changed. He looks so good. Some of the girls in our year are going nuts over him. I was telling Mum the other day and she said it is because he is happy now and takes better care of himself."

Bobbie smiled at her and said, "You know what, I think I'll take that as a compliment."

Ginny smiled and said, "You should."

The next thing Bobbie heard was Severus amplified voice. "I know I told my friend Kingsley I wouldn't make a speech today and quite frankly I won't bore everyone for too long. I suspect everybody is ready for the feast and I could have sworn I heard a few stomachs growling already. I only wanted to say thank you to my beautiful wife who was instrumental in relaying the information I gathered to the Order of the Phoenix when I was undercover."

Then she heard Harry, "The same here. I wasn't up for a speech but I would like to say thank you to everyone who helped in the destruction of Voldemort and didn't get an award today. We couldn't have done it without you."

Kingsley said, "Interesting, that those two who insisted against a speech are actually the only ones who ended up making one." He grinned and then continued, "Now, I hope you will all enjoy your meal."

With that the room erupted into a roaring standing ovation with cheers and whoops of joy released from the long oppression that had finally been vanquished by those represented and present on stage.

When Severus came back to the table Bobbie asked him, "What made you change your mind and say something up there?"

"One thing is I thought you deserved some thanks and second is that I think that when this cure is made public I may have to say a few words also, so I thought I might as well get used to it," he answered.

"All the women will start swooning over your beautiful voice." Bobbie grinned.

He smiled at her and said, "As long as you like it that is enough for me."

"You could read to me out of the phone book or the dictionary and I would hang on every word," she said while grabbing and squeezing his hand under the table.

Severus smiled at her and squeezed her hand in return before they started eating their meal. As soon as they were done Neville got up and said his goodbyes. When Harry asked him why he was leaving so early he told him he needed to get his grandmother home because they wanted to get up early and visit his parents in St Mungo's. When Severus heard Neville say that he asked, "May I have a word with you and your grandmother in private?"

"Sure, she is sitting right over there." Neville pointed to a table not far away.

The two men walked over there and Severus helped Augusta Longbottom out of her chair. They walked to the cloakroom where they retrieved their cloaks and then they walked outside into the hallway. Severus walked with them and then asked, "I was wondering if you would allow me to try a new potion I have developed on Frank or Alice. I have been working on it for a long time but was never able to do anything with it because Voldemort would have had my head if I would have healed his enemies. Now that he is gone and I have also made a few changes to the potion I would like to see if it works. I was hoping you would give me your consent."

Neville was the first one to respond, "You think you found something to wake them up from their plight?"

"I don't know for sure. That is why I need your approval," Severus answered.

"I don't know...," Augusta said. "What if it makes it worse by giving them pain, or some other predicament?"

Neville, who thought about the cure against lycanthropy and how well it worked said, "Grandmother I think it would be worth it. Professor Snape wouldn't do anything if he thought it would make things worse. I trust him and how much worse can it get than it already is?"

Augusta thought about it for a moment and then said, "Very well! You are right my boy, it can't really get much worse."

Severus assured them that the potion would not result in any more pain. The only thing that could happen was that it wouldn't work at all. After hearing that they decided that Severus would go with them in the morning. Since it would be a Sunday he had no classes to teach and would be free to do so.

When Severus got back to the table he saw Draco sitting in his chair talking with Bobbie and Hermione. When Bobbie saw him she got up and said she was going to the restroom. Severus sat down in Bobbie's chair and asked, "Draco, how do you do?"

"Thank you, I am well. How was Canada?" Draco asked.

"Well, let me just say this much, it was both fun and stressful," Severus said.

"Oh, when Bobbie's grandfather was sick...," Hermione said.

"No, Miss Granger. I am talking about the time my wife decided to take off on her cousin's motorcycle and later felt the need to jump out of an airplane," Severus sighed.

"Seriously?" Hermione asked. "You mean skydiving?"

"That is exactly what I am referring to. If she and her cousin Geronimo are together there is always some chaos going on. I don't even know how they made it this far without killing themselves." Severus shook his head.

Hermione, Draco and also Ron looked at each other and grinned. Then Hermione said, "Sounds like that cousin of hers is living up to his name."

"Well, and so is my wife. Her parents were wishing for a boy and they got more than they bargained for. At least that is what her aunt is telling me," Severus said with mock indignation.

"Did you go with her ...doing that sky diving thing...?" Draco wanted to know.

"No, I decided to watch just in case one of them needed a Levitation Charm cast on them. I did ride that motorcycle though," Severus said and actually had a smile on his face.

By that time Bobbie had made it back. Everybody grinned at her and she asked, "What's going on? Have you been talking about me? Should I be worried?"

Harry who by now had joined the conversation winked and said with a grin, "We just heard about all your adventures in Canada from Professor Snape."

"Oh, did he tell you about the dogs we brought back, Bella and Benton?" she asked.

"Bella?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow and then burst out laughing. "You named your dog Bella? I don't think my dear and beloved late aunt would have approved." Draco rolled his eyes when he said the word 'beloved'.

"I named that dog waaay before I knew anything about Bellatrix Lestrange," Bobbie said with a chuckle.

"Do you really think I would let my wife name her dog Bella after what I know about Bellatrix? That would be an insult to that poor dog," Severus growled and now the whole table was roaring with laughter.

Then Draco sighed and said, "I better get back to my table. Poor Astoria is by herself with my parents." He rolled his eyes.

"How is that going for you?" Bobbie wanted to know.

"It makes for some tense dinner conversations. Astoria and her parents have nothing against Muggles, Muggle-borns or Halfbloods, unlike mine," he said.

"I can only imagine. You have my full sympathy, Draco," Severus said with a somewhat feigned sympathetic expression. Then he looked at his pocket watch and said to Bobbie, "We better go. I will be meeting with the Longbottoms early tomorrow morning."