I own nothing you recognize. I simply play in JKR's universe for fun.

Still working on it, Droxy!

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Conversations

"I know we have dinner and there are a lot of people around who are waiting to talk to you," said Ron. "Could we talk later?"

Severus moved quietly to Hermione's side. She reached over to Severus and took his arm.

"Weasley," he said.

"Snape," replied Ron.

Hannah joined her husband and put her arm around his waist. The two little girls followed and hid shyly behind her skirts. A pair of seven year old boys strolled up and stood confidently beside their father. Introductions were made and the children scampered off to play.

"We can talk later," said Hermione.

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The crowd had thinned. There were promises to keep in touch, now that friends knew where to contact Hermione. Fewer promises of that sort were made to Severus. That was fine with him. He only cared about staying in touch with Minerva, Draco and the Weasleys.

Arthur and Draco were filling Severus in on the political situation in Britain. Minerva and Crookshanks had left earlier to wander around the castle.

"Pureblood status is actually more of a detriment than a benefit right now," said Draco. "The Rookwoods, Averys, Notts, and Fudge foolishly tried to revive the old Knights of Walpurgis."

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"What would possess them to try and bring back an organization that stood as precursor to the Death Eaters?" asked Severus, shaking his head.

"Too much reminiscing about the good old days," said Arthur. "They may have been defeated during the Voldemort wars, but never really changed their beliefs. The coalition of liberal minded purebloods, mixed bloods, and muggleborns that I represent are hoping to do away with those designations. We promote the belief that a wizard is a wizard, no matter what their circumstances of birth. If Riddle had a better childhood, he might not have turned into Voldemort."

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"Did you ever think you would see the day when the Malfoys and Weasleys would be political allies?" laughed Draco. "The Malfoy name still has some influence and I put whatever I had into supporting the Unity Party."

"So did the Parkinsons, Vances, and Bones families," added Arthur. "What really made the difference was when Mrs. Longbottom announced her support, followed by the Shacklebolts and the Diggorys. The war hero and martyrdom factors held more power than you might think."

"Are people still fighting the war even after twenty-five years?" asked Severus. "One would think they could let it go."

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"The most important point we make is that there is room for all wizards," explained Arthur. "The means to do that is to provide a good magical education for all children. Any magical child who is living with muggles who despise them is given an option for adoption into a wizarding family. The muggle families are usually willing to give them up without an argument."

"We hope that will prevent situations like Riddle having to live in a muggle orphanage or Harry Potter sleeping in a cupboard," said Draco. "Those are vivid examples and hard for anyone to argue with."

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"This still leaves me with a difficult decision about whether or not to allow Emily come to Hogwarts," said Severus. "If she comes, Jonathan will want to follow. If I cannot be certain that they will be safe, I will not allow it."

"A reasonable set of concerns for any parent," observed Arthur, with Draco nodding in agreement.

"There are people out there with long memories," continued Arthur, "Any number of books and Wizarding Wireless shows have re-enacted events of the war. It is an accepted fact that you were a spy and that Albus' death was his own choice."

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"You've read the most prominent books," said Draco. "There is disagreement on the talk shows about whether or not Potter had to die. One theory says that had Voldemort died first, the soul in that body would have reunited with the soul in Potter's scar. In Ernie McMillan's book and later in Davinia Pettit's, the argument is made that Potter's personality was strong enough to win the war for his body."

"They were not there to see that Potter was losing the battle for his body with one piece of soul in it," said Severus. "Two pieces would have won."

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"Voldemort's plan may have been to take over Potter's body and dispense with his own," explained Severus. "It would have given him a young, healthy body and a famous face. That might have accomplished more for Voldemort's cause than Potter's death. Not only Voldemort have defeated his prophesized enemy, he would have become the Boy Who Lived."

"That would have been the ultimate demoralizing factor in the war," said Arthur, shaking his head. "I cannot even begin to say how grateful I am that we are only talking about possibilities and not things that actually happened. Voldemort would have won."

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"We would be living in unbelievably Dark times," commented Draco. He looked at his two companions. "None of us would be alive. Voldemort would have done away with the whole Weasley clan. He would have discovered Severus' and my true loyalties sooner or later and we would be dead. The argument could be made that no one who was here tonight would be alive."

"None of us or our children," said Severus. "Speaking of which, we are back to the discussion of whether or not Emily would be safe attending Hogwarts this autumn."

"The key is the Pensieve," declared Arthur.