The "Harry Potter" characters belong to JK Rowling, her associates and affiliates. CPT Holdings Inc. and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment own "Bewitched" and "Tabitha". For entertainment purposes only. There. I have spoken.
The day of Tabitha's interview with Scrimgeour arrived and she woke up with butterflies in her stomach. He was a powerful man, and she was openly challenging him in wartime. But when she remembered Sirius, the Longbottoms, and her own recent attack, she pushed aside her own fear and resolved not to shrink from asking the tough questions.
Just the same, she fretted about it all day beforehand. She wandered aimlessly from room to room, did her housework haphazardly, had trouble concentrating. Tonks told her she couldn't wait until Tabitha left because she was making her so nervous.
Tabitha was not pleased to see that Scrimgeour had arrived at the station before she had. It felt as if her territory had been invaded. Nevertheless, she greeted him cordially and showed him to his chair. She sat in the chair next to him and her producer brought a pot of tea and a tray of biscuits and placed it on a table between them. As they chatted, he asked her kindly, "Are you nervous young lady?"
His voice was kindly, but his attitude reeked of condescension. At the same time he was pretending to put her at ease by asking how she felt, he was trying to establish himself as the stronger, more experienced personality. Tabitha longed to rise to the bait and let him know what type of woman he was dealing with, but she controlled herself. She didn't want him on the defense before the show even started.
Covering her irritation, she looked at him demurely, a little shyly. "I suppose I am nervous," she almost simpered.
He patted her shoulder with the air of an older uncle humoring a little child. "When you've done as many interviews as I have you'll gain more confidence...but just remember--a little nervousness is a good thing--it keeps you on your toes."
She gave him a look as if he were the cleverest wizard on earth.
"You're on in five, four, three..." Her producer broke in. Tabitha turned her attention to her show.
"Greetings, dear listeners and welcome to a special presentation of Overnight with Tabitha. Tonight's special guest is known to all of you as the Minister of Magic. Allow me to introduce Rufus Scrimgeour."
"Thank you Mrs. Thurston, or may I call you Tabitha?"
"Why of course you may," she replied with a smile in her voice. Then she began, still smiling. "Why wasn't the wizarding populace warned when the stories about You Know Who's return started to circulate five years ago?"
"Because they weren't stories, they were rumors. Merely unsubstantiated rumors," he answered confidently.
"Well now, not all the incidents were unsubstantiated, were they? What about the theft from Gringotts a few years back? That was reported thoroughly by the Daily Prophet, am I correct? We could hardly call that unsubstantiated. Then major incidents started happening at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at a rate of approximately one a year." She still affected the tone of innocent inquiry.
"The theft at Gringotts could not be definitively tied to Dark activity. Furthermore, we didn't know where You Know Who was and we didn't want to cause panic among the general populace." Scrimgeour's smile was fading and he was peering at her closely.
She laced her fingers and leaned forward. "So instead you chose to leave the general populace vulnerable."
"Please elaborate on what you mean by vulnerable," Scrimgeour had a warning note in his voice.
"Because the average wizard or witch didn't know to take extra precautions, wouldn't you say that left them vulnerable to attack? Vulnerable to the Imperious Curse?"
"Now see here, Tabitha, based on what we knew at the time, we believed that the ordinary, everyday precautions that prudent people take would be sufficient."
She observed his glowering face and despite his low, controlled voice, she was well aware he was furious. It occured to her that he would make a powerful enemy, but she couldn't allow herself to be intimidated. She took a deep breath and continued.
"What about the death of Cedric Diggory? Didn't the Ministry try to hush up the real cause of that poor Triwizard contestant's death?"
Scrimgeour struggled to keep his mastery of himself. "What the public must understand is that sometimes those of us in authority need to weigh and balance the public's right to know against the risk of widespread panic--or worse."
"But it was already a known fact that there were practicing Death Eaters again because of the incident at the Quidditch World Cup--which occurred only a few months before."
At this Scrimgeour dropped all pretense of politeness. "You speak as if you have vast knowledge of our affairs. But you weren't here during the Quidditch World Cup. You were still in America and married to a muggle. In fact, you weren't even using magic then, either--too busy playing up to your muggle friends while those of us living here were actually facing these threats."
Tabitha sat back, taken by surprise. It was true--Paul was still alive then, but she didn't know how he knew that. Was her life that much of an open book?
"So," she said, deciding to ignore Scrimgeour's rude remark about her playing up to her muggle friends. "You acknowledge there was a threat."
He was cornered now. He glared at her openly, and Tabitha's boss looked as if he would pass out. "The Ministry of Magic has always acted in the best interest of the wizarding populace to the best of our knowledge," Scrimgeour said gravely.
"I see," Tabitha replied, unimpressed. "Well, now that we all acknowledge that there actually is a threat, what are the Ministry's plans for the protection of the people?"
"I don't mind telling you we have increased the number of Aurors on the payroll, and we have been taking immediate action against those who seem to be a threat."
"When you refer to 'taking immediate action' do you mean investigation? Or arrest? What safeguards are in place to avoid violating the civil rights of the accused?"
"You seem to want quite a bit, Tabitha. You want to be kept safe, and you want the Ministry to never make a mistake while keeping you safe."
"The establishment of reasonable safeguards against unjust imprisonment is hardly 'quite a bit'."
"Every possible measure is being taken to simultaneously protect the
public while safeguarding the civil rights of wizards," he replied through gritted teeth...
oOoOoOo
Severus met up with her after her show despite the late hour and that he had to teach class the next day. He looked strained and was frowning, but Tabitha didn't seem to notice as she paced up and down the parlor at Grimmauld Place. In the immediate aftermath of everything she said to Scrimgeour and everything he said to her, she was shaking violently with nervousness. Suddenly she stopped and confronted Severus.
"Do you think I did the right thing?" She asked, wringing her hands. "Now that the show's over, I'm starting to doubt myself. Did I go too far with my questions or was it okay?"
"I'm not convinced this interview was the right thing to do," he said quietly.
"What?"
"You've run the risk of making yourself too visible. Most of us in the Order are trying to avoid notice."
"But--but--that's not true--Dumbledore is the most famous wizard alive today!"
"Yes he is, but you're forgetting that he was famous even before the Order."
"So you think I was wrong to do this interview?"
He strode up to her and put his arms around her. He said in a strange voice, "I'm afraid you shouldn't have been so outspoken. You might draw the wrong kind of attention to yourself."
She looked up at him suddenly, but he was avoiding her eyes. Although he refused to talk about his mission for the Order, she was positive now that he was involved in spying on the Death Eaters. But she resisted the idea that she was in any danger. After all, the idea was so silly--imagine Voldemort listening to the radio! Severus was just being overly protective.
"How could I not be outspoken?" She demanded. "Ordinary people are afraid for their safety. Not everybody belongs to the Order like you and me, you know. The ordinary person on the street needs to know that these threats exist and that there are steps they could take to defend themselves."
She hoped that her friends in the Order would approve of what she had done. But to her dismay, Dumbledore was of a similar opinion as Severus. She went up to Hogwarts a couple days later to see Aunt Minerva and she was able to catch him in his office. He looked at her kindly as he expressed his concerns.
"Don't forget, Mrs. Thurston, we don't know who all the Death Eaters were from before. Some slipped by undetected. And not all of Voldemort's followers are full-fledged Death Eaters, either. I'm afraid you may be putting yourself in danger from them, and I'm also afraid you've made enemies in the Ministry."
"So do you believe I should have kept quiet and not called Scrimgeour to account for the Ministry's actions? In other words, are you telling me I shouldn't rock the boat?"
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled a moment. "My dear, I've been rocking the boat my whole life. However--and I'm not trying to be immodest--my life has been much longer than yours and I'm in a much better position to defend myself than you are."
Tabitha's eyes strayed to the older man's injured hand and back to his face ironically, but he only shrugged and smiled at her.
"I'm not saying you've put the Order in any jeopardy, my dear, and Severus can be a bit forceful about his own opinions. I won't tell you not to wrangle with the Ministry, but I will give you some friendly advice--try to avoid the spotlight if you can, while things are so...dangerous."
oOoOoOo
"Do you think Severus and Dumbledore are right?" Tabitha cornered Tonks at dinner that night. Tonks had been unusually quiet the last couple days. Tabitha was worried about her friend, but she also wanted to know her opinion.
Tonks folded her napkin and placed it in her lap. "I think you should listen to Dumbledore. And as for Severus--he's in a position to know if you're being watched by...hostile elements."
Tabitha stared at her, a shiver going down her spine at the idea of being watched by people who wanted to do her harm.
Tonks picked up her napkin and twisted it nervously. "Tabitha, what do you really know about Severus Snape?"
"If you're trying to ask if I know he used to be a Death Eater, yes, I know all about it. I also know that Dumbledore trusts him."
Tonks hesitated before she said quietly, "Did you ever hear Sirius say that nobody ever stops being a Death Eater?"
"I know Severus will bear the Dark Mark forever on his arm," answered Tabitha, as quiet as she. "I also know he did...terrible things...in those days."
"Does he ever talk about those days to you? About what it was like in the time before?"
"No, but that's not his way. Don't you believe people can change?"
"Of course people can change. And I--along with the rest of the Order--we have all pledged to stand by each other--against You Know Who--Snape pledged with us, too. However," she paused, looking fearfully at Tabitha. "I knew him briefly as a teacher at Hogwarts, you know, and well...if Dumbledore didn't trust him...I'm not sure I would." This last part was said in a whisper.
The two women stared at each other unhappily. Tabitha's first impulse was to be angry and defensive. Who was Tonks to criticize Severus? Tonks, who was crazy in love with a werewolf! Granted, Tonks' werewolf had never been a criminal, but still...
With an effort she forced back the angry retort that rose to her lips and took a deep breath.
"It must have been very hard for you to say that, Tonks." Tabitha strove to speak calmly but her voice trembled somewhat.
The other woman nodded, looking sad and a little fearful of what Tabitha would say. She wrung her hands for a moment. "I don't want us to stop being friends. If you want to be with Snape, that's entirely your decision."
"Yes, Tonks it is. My decision and mine alone," she replied, quietly but firmly.
"Do you love him?"
Tabitha laughed wearily. "Love? We only started seeing each other a few weeks ago."
"I'm not seeing Remus, but I know I love him."
"I don't know, Tonks. I haven't really thought about it."
"You may have to decide sooner rather than later. I don't know where this war is taking us or what will happen by the end of it, but you may have to make some painful decisions. And if you love Severus, you'll have to take him into consideration when you make those decisions."
Tabitha passed her hand over her eyes. It was too early to think about making decisions that involved Snape. It all seemed to be moving too fast.
"Why don't we change the subject?" Tabitha tried to keep her tone light.
Tonks picked up her fork and started eating again, but she kept giving Tabitha sideways glances.
oOoOoOo
Remus Lupin dropped in after dinner that night. Tabitha was in a funk--she, who always tried to get along with people, seemed to have drawn everybody's disapproval on herself; Scrimgeour, her boss, Severus, Dumbledore and finally Tonks.
So, it was half-jokingly that she asked him, "Is there something you want to say to me too? Have I done something you disapprove of lately? Want to criticize my show?"
"Not at all," he replied. "I thought your show was well done."
Tabitha burst out laughing and put her face in her hands. "Thank goodness somebody is with me," she mumbled...
To her relief, and the relief of her long-suffering boss, that show drew the highest audience in the history of WWN and ensured her continued job security. She remembered her training in mortal television, and sent a lovely thank-you note to Scrimgeour the next day that was gracefully received by the skilled and experienced politician, but she knew they would never be friends. She also knew she would be under scrutiny by his office, but as long as she had the support of the listeners, the Ministry would be reluctant to cut her funding. It was a precarious position to be in.
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