Severus eagerly approached the holding room that Bill and Tallis had withdrawn to when Tallis had been dismissed from the trial. The Auror standing guard over the room acknowledged him with a nod and stepped aside for him to enter.
He pushed the door open eagerly, just in time to catch a blushing Tallis button his trousers and a flushed Bill straightening his hair again as he stood up.
Severus rolled his eyes. "You are at the trial of the century and you couldn't wait until you got home?"
Tallis blushed even darker but didn't comment.
"So, what happened after we left?" Bill asked, once again taking a seat at the small table.
"The Head examiner was livid," Severus said as he helped himself to a cup of tea from the side table. "She threatened to strip the Legal Wizard of his right to practice Legal Magic and obliviate him of the entire trial."
Tallis' jaw dropped. "Are you serious? Just for asking me a few questions?"
Severus nearly slammed his cup down on the table, tea slopping over the edge in his haste. "A few questions? Tallis, I don't believe you understand how massively offensive he was."
"Of course I do!" Tallis objected. "Of course I was offended. He had no right, no right at all to ask me some of those things. But that was what we had been expecting, wasn't it? I mean, that's his job…to ask me whatever questions necessary to prove his theory?"
Bill tugged his boyfriend's chair closer to him and slid his arm around his shoulders. "Tallie…I think this must be another difference between muggles and wizards." He paused for a moment, trying to find the proper way to explain it. "Rape is incredibly rare among magical people…not even Voldemort or the Death Eaters endorse raping their victims, regardless of whether they are wizards or muggles."
Tallis stared at him blankly.
"It's just not something that people ask in polite society. Not in bad society either, really," Bill said.
"Hermione asked me…back when we were testing some serums," Tallis pointed out.
"She is a muggle born and while she didn't quite understand the full implications until Ron explained everything to her. She knew that wizards wouldn't really ask such questions but she didn't yet understand the full reason why."
"Well why?"
"You just don't. Its not that we want to push rape under the rugs and pretend it doesn't exist—it does and everyone is aware of that. It is just so rare that it happens and that both the victim and the rapist survive the attack that no one usually lives to press charges…or else there is no one alive to press charges against. We aren't forcibly silencing the victims…there just is never a situation in which they would be able to bring it to light."
Tallis still looked confused.
Severus sighed. "What Bill is trying to explain is that rape is so rare that asking someone of it so casually and in such a public situation—never mind one in which the person was under the influence of a powerful truth serum—would be something akin to asking a muggle if he had ever engaged in necrophilia or something equally distasteful."
Tallis scrunched his nose in distaste. "It's that rare?"
"Most wizards and witches go their entire lifetime without ever meeting a single person who was raped. I understand that it is shockingly common among muggles though."
Tallis nodded absently as he thought about the new information. "So when he asked me if I had been…raped he was accusing me of deviant behavior?"
"No, not at all," Bill reassured him. "Severus used necrophilia as an example for how rare rape is, not for how the victims of rape are viewed. No one would ever dare blame the victim. It is rather the rapists who are viewed with that level of disgust and horror."
"But I still don't understand why it was so horrible from a legal standpoint for him to ask that."
"Rape happens so rarely because witches and wizards' magic reactions are so volatile to such a threat. Sex Magic is an extremely old Magic that we no longer understand. When threatened with such an attack, the victim's magic may turn to the attacker and kill them instantly or give them some fate worse than death. Likewise, the magic may turn inward and kill the victim. Whatever happens, the victim's magic is forever changed," Severus explained.
Bill picked up the explanation. "A wizard's magic and his core are incredibly private topics. Sexual trauma twists both the momentarily available magic of the wizard as well as his magical core. Asking to look more closely at your magical signature and core was rude enough—he saw that with the in depth medical scan," he quickly explained, seeing Tallis' confusion. "Asking you about rape would be essentially demanding to know if your core had always been like that or if it had mutated."
"I have a mutated core?" Tallis asked in horror.
"No, no," Severus said quickly. "Damn it, this isn't coming out right Tallis. He didn't mean mutated as a derogatory word at all, he simply meant that it had changed some. Just know that there are cultural differences between wizards and muggles so great that his asking you that question, even in a courtroom setting, even in a quest for the truth, was about as offensive and inappropriate as asking a muggle in the middle of a fancy dinner party if he enjoyed bestiality."
Tallis nodded but it was clear that he still didn't understand fully. "So what happened after we left though?"
"The Legal Wizard was horrified and apologized profusely. He was utterly humiliated. The Wizengamot was holding a quick meeting to discuss where the trial needs to move after this. Dumbledore's accusations that Harry Potter still lives have clearly been disproved but the accusations that brought him to trial in the first place have not yet been answered."
"What exactly are the accusations?"
"That he not only knew what was happening in the Dursley house but that he endorsed it both directly and indirectly but refusing to offer assistance. In brief—aiding and abetting criminal neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse as well as active reinforcement of the abusive situation by forcing Harry to return to the house every year after he had definitive proof of what was happening. As such, he is considered to be more of an accessory to the abuse than the young Dursley boy who at least has the excuse of being a child, and a rather stupid one at that."
Tallis finally smiled faintly. "No matter how different wizards may be from muggles, there is no way that 'stupidity' can be a valid excuse for anyone."
Severus snorted. "Not stupidity perhaps but the whale will probably receive a lesser sentence because of his youth and his general incompetence."
Tallis shrugged indifferently. He no longer cared what happened to them all, so long as he never had to look at any of them again. "So what happens now?"
"We have to wait for three members of the Wizengamot to come and place the security spells on you."
"Why not on you two also?"
"The benches that we and the jury sit on are already seeped in privacy and security spells. We couldn't reveal anything that happened here even if we tried," Bill explained.
"But doesn't Remus tell Dad some of what happened at the trial?" The older wizards thought that Tallis was completely clueless about that but he was fully aware of what was going on. His father's ever growing irritation and exhaustion were obvious to even the most unobservant of people, and when coupled with his godfather's nightly visits, the meaning was quite clear.
Severus still looked startled. He thought they had been sneaky. He finally sighed and explained the situation.
"As a werewolf he is better able to dodge the spells and work around them. Werewolves' inherent ability to twist spells is one of many reasons that they are so thoroughly distrusted by the Ministry. That is why no one who has any magical creature blood can serve as a member of the jury for any closed trial. It is also why two members of the Wizengamot are missing from this trial. They had to absent themselves in order to guarantee Harry Potter's privacy," Severus explained.
Tallis decided to change the subject. "Classes begin Monday, don't they?"
"Yes. Is there anything else you needed to do over the holiday? We could perhaps chance a visit to Diagon Alley."
"Too risky. I'm fine. I just want to go home and relax a bit more. I can't believe how quickly the hols have passed."
Severus was about to respond when the door opened once more, this time admitting the Head examiner, the older woman who had performed the test on Poppy to determine if any Dark spells had been used on her and an elderly man.
"How are you doing, Apprentice Snape?" the Head examiner asked anxiously. She was fully aware that if the young Apprentice wished to press charges that she herself would stand for trial alongside the Legal Wizard. As the Head of the trial in which the offense had taken place, she was legally and magically bound to protect the witnesses in every way possible. With a family as powerful as the Snape family, she knew that she wouldn't stand a chance and would be stripped of every single title she held, should they choose to pursue the case.
"Well enough," Tallis said with a lopsided smile.
The Head examiner breathed a quick sigh of relief and chanced a glance over at Lord Snape, relieved to note that he looked irritated but not infuriated as she had fully expected. "I am so sorry for what happened. If I had any idea he would attempt such an underhanded attack I would have never allowed him to question you at all. Please accept the Wizengamot's apology."
Tallis nodded, still slightly shocked by the whole thing. Sure, it was unnecessary and irritating that the man had asked him about his sexual history like that but he certainly didn't find it so horrifically offensive that he would have ever asked the entire Wizengamot to apologize to him.
"Lord Snape," the Head examiner said nervously, "I cannot begin to make an appropriate apology. I had no idea that the man would ask such a thing, particularly while your son was under a truth serum. It was completely unheard of. I know it does little to rectify the matter, but I vow to take a firmer hand on examinations in future. I will not allow another witch or wizard to be abused in such a way, particularly after such a demonstration of trust as your son made, by taking the Veritaserum when he was not required to by law. I will work to protect witches and wizards from such a mistake ever happening again."
"See that you do," Severus said icily.
"It is clear to all of us that Headmaster Dumbledore has lost his mind entirely and has unfortunately pulled his Legal Wizard into the mess as well through his outlandish demands. How we all missed his descent into madness is beyond me."
"The Legal Wizard should have known better," Severus snapped. "Mad or not, his duty to his client only extends so far."
"You are right, he should have known better. I have no excuses for him and will make none. He has been reprimanded and will be under a close watch for five years. If he makes another such slip he will be adequately punished."
Severus nodded and his eyes glinted menacingly.
Still pale, she turned back to Tallis. "Has the Veritaserum run its course yet?"
Tallis shrugged and then nodded. "I believe so. I'm not nearly so dizzy now." He hadn't ever been very dizzy, what with the counter effects of the potion he took before the trial to protect himself from the truth serum, but the Wizengamot certainly didn't know that.
"Very well. Do I have you permission to perform the binding spells on you now young man?" the older gentlemen asked, sliding his wand out of his sleeve.
"Yes sir," Tallis said, knowing that his acquiescence was entirely unnecessary. Asking his permission was merely a formality granted him because they evidently respected him. Even if he had said 'no' they would be spelling him to protect the information about the trial. A closed trial was closed for everyone—period. No one escaped the binding spells.
The man quickly performed the requisite spells and turned to leave, along with the two women.
The Head examiner turned back to him. "There's quite a brigade of Weasleys waiting for you outside, Apprentice. Madam Weasley looks quite anxious. It seems that she counts you as one of her own, now. Don't keep her waiting long," she said kindly, smiling one last time before leaving.
"Are you ready to go?" Bill asked.
"Yeah. Let's get out of here," Tallis said, looking around for his cloak.
Severus rolled his eyes and simply helped Tallis into the cloak he had been carrying for a few hours now. Tallis had never noticed when he removed it from his shoulders outside the courtroom. He had been too nervous to do anything more taxing than remain standing.
"Thanks, dad," Tallis said, smiling.
Severus inclined his head and opened the door for the two younger men. They were greeted by the entire Weasley clan and Hermione. Remus was waiting for them at the Burrow. It would have been slightly conspicuous if he had waited with them, having no true claim on Tallis Snape. The Weasleys' presence would go unquestioned given that Tallis had been dating their oldest son for over two years.
Molly rushed forward immediately, barely resisting her urge to throw her arms around him and make sure he was all right. She settled for merely straightening his cloak once more and squeezing his hand quickly. "Ready to go to the Burrow now, dear?"
Tallis looked hesitantly at the family and bit back a sigh. He hated that they knew so much about his life with the Dursleys now. They hadn't heard anything too terrible in the trial yet he was sure, but all the same…it just made him uncomfortable, knowing that they knew so much.
He finally nodded and allowed himself to be led to the fireplace to floo back to the Burrow.
They all tumbled out into the kitchen one by one.
Remus already had tea ready and sat at the large table waiting for them. He gave a shaky smile when he caught sight of Tallis, barely restraining himself from grabbing him and hugging him tightly. "How did it go?" he asked softly.
"Well enough. I think they're a bit scared of dad though."
"As well they should be young man," Molly said, guiding him to a chair and fixing him a cup of tea. "Your father, by rights, could sue them all. They could wind up in Azkaban for allowing that man," she spat, "to ask you such a question."
"And he has the power money to completely obliterate anyone who stands in his way," Fred muttered, helping himself to a biscuit.
Tallis looked nervously at his father. "You won't, will you? You wouldn't make us have another trial?"
"They deserve no less," Severus said irritably.
"Well I just won't press charges then," Tallis said firmly.
"It doesn't really matter what you want, Tallie," Hermione said, fixing a plate for him. She knew he likely hadn't eaten at all today, given his nerves before the trial. "As Lord of his family he holds the right to make the decisions in matters such as these."
"What? That's ridiculous! I'm of age now."
Ron shrugged. "It's just the way it is, mate."
Severus sighed. "I will not be pressing charges, although I should. You're right. I do not wish to endure a second trial so hard upon the first."
Tallis nodded, still trying to decide if his father was telling the truth or not about the possibility of a second trial. Surely he wouldn't lie to him about it and press charges after promising to drop the matter.
"Eat up, mate," Ron said, tapping the plate that Hermione had prepared for Tallis to remind him to eat.
Tallis sighed and picked up a sandwich, not even remotely hungry.
"So what did you all find out?" George asked.
"They're quite certain Dumbledore is mad," Tallis said softly. After a brief pause he spoke again, this time almost in a whisper. "Do you ever feel bad for what we are doing?"
"Tallie, love, he is mad. No one who is remotely sane would have ever done what he has done. We just fabricated the situation in which his madness could be exposed," Bill said, watching Tallis closely to see if he understood and agreed.
Charlie stepped in. "Let's go for a walk Tallis."
Tallis looked up, doubt still clear in his eyes. He finally nodded and slipped out of his chair, walking around the table to join Charlie.
The two walked side by side out the door, Tallis nervously toying with his hair while Charlie exuded a sort of serenity and calming influence to help Tallis to listen and think about it rationally.
The group in the kitchen exhaled almost simultaneously. "Thank Merlin for Charlie," Ginny said.
Severus found himself thinking the same thing. In the past few weeks he had come to find himself grateful for the second Weasley boy. He had an amazing influence over Tallis and he had stopped by the Manor a few times to keep him calm throughout all of the excitement. Charlie alone was able to stop his son's descent into self-recrimination that was usually brought on by the Dursleys.
Charlie and Tallis sat side by side on a small bench, Charlie's large frame easily dwarfing the smaller young man's. They sat in silence, just relaxing together for a few moments and getting in sync.
Charlie finally spoke. "You know he's mad, don't you?" he said softly, not so much a question as a statement.
Tallis started to shake his head and stopped himself. "Yes," he said with a sigh. "He must be. I…I can't see any other way…"
"Tallis," he said, stopping the younger man. "What's done is done. This trial isn't about getting revenge; it is about preventing him from hurting anyone else. His list of victims is too long by half. He needed to be stopped."
Tallis nodded slowly.
"You've done well to stop him through the means you have, rather than just killing him. Many would say he deserves no less."
Tallis nodded again.
"You did what you had to do to ensure the safety of your family…to protect Severus."
Tallis let out a shaky breath.
When it got down to it, this was the real reason he had agreed to everything in the first place. He would do whatever it took to protect his father and his family. Yes, he had a sort of abstract concern over the faceless future possible victims of the old Headmaster but his true worry had been whether the old man could still harm his father. He would do what he had to do to protect him.
"You did well today," Charlie finally said, seeing that Tallis had understood and accepted his last words. He had long known and understood his friend's true motivation but he knew that Tallis had not been ready to accept everything until now.
The two young men slipped into silence once more, simply enjoying the comfort of the other's presence without needing to speak.