OOO
Chapter 5: A Day That Finally Ends
OOO
"Lupin is missing."
Kingsley stared at the bald man in front of him. He didn't need for Robards to repeat himself, the minister had heard it clearly but that didn't mean he wanted to believe it.
"I've sent Ron to look for him; everyone else is still searching the building." Robards continued before he put his hand down in his hands. "Once we find him then we will have a lead as to who it is more than likely."
"What about the other departments?" Kingsley looked at the older man before he turned his head to look at the clock.
"We have told everyone when the bell that usually chimes every hour, the one we turned off during out search of the time department, then they will be able to go home." Robards rubbed the top of his head before he looked at the older man. "But it shouldn't be much longer until then."
"Do you have any suspects?"
"There is this witch in the floo network, she was the last person anyone saw Lupin with but no one has seen her since." Robards growled a bit. "I am assuming that she tricked him to follow her somewhere but we won't know until we find Lupin."
"We better find him then." Kingsley smiled a bit as he opened the door only to see Arthur Weasley to run by the office. "Arthur?"
"Minister?" Arthur paused for a moment. "Did you need something?"
"No I was just wondering what you are up to?" Kingsley frowned at the redhead but Arthur just eyed him in return.
"I just finished searching this floor and I'm about to do the next." Arthur took a deep breath.
"What are you looking for?"
"Lupin." Arthur stated and then added quickly. "And you better not say that I should sit down during this time, I can be of more use than poisoning my own son."
"Arthur I wasn't going to say anything." Kingsley stated before he smirked a little at Arthur. At least now he knew where Percy got his stubbornness. The redhead paused for a moment before he nodded back at the minister and took off down the hall again.
Kingsley was about to turn to Robards and tell the older man that he was going to run back to the office before he noticed brown curly hair running towards him. Hermione had tears running down her face as she grabbed onto the older man, Robards was at the door in a second before she broke down.
"He took Percy!" She growled a bit in anger as the tears rolled down her cheeks. "That bastard wanted to take me but since Percy's such an honorable git that he made the bastard take him."
"Who took him Hermione?" Kingsley grabbed onto her shoulders.
"Williamson."
OOO
Neville groaned as he realized he was sitting up. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times in the dark room he was in.
"About time you woke up." Came a bitter voice behind the young man. Neville started to turn but realized his hands were tied behind his back and groaned. His feet were against a wall and they didn't seem to be restrained as he moved them around a bit.
"Where are you?" Neville tried to move his feet to the side a bit and smirked as he hit some boxes.
At least he knew they were some sort of office.
"I'm behind you." Snape drawled out slowly and Neville tried to glare at the man behind him. "And before you ask the obvious question, my hands are tied as well."
"Excuse me for waking up after you." Neville spit out as he took a deep breath. "Where's Williamson?"
"Williamson and his cohort were already gone when I came to; I assume they have bigger plans than taking care of us at the moment." Snape said dryly.
"And they took our wands?" Neville asked sheepishly, he could here the older man roll his eyes and sighed.
They sat there for a few moments before Neville started to struggle against the rope in his hands. If he could only loosen it a little bit. He tried to pull the string but sighed before he turned slightly so that he could look at the direction Snape seemed to be in.
"Got any plans?"
"You're supposed to be the Auror." Snape retorted.
"Then can I ask you something?" Neville snapped back.
"What?"
"Can you turn around?"
It must have seemed like the oddest question in the world to ask because it took Snape a few moments to answer. Neville was about to ask again, maybe even try to explain himself before he heard the older man shuffle a bit on the floor.
"I was able to, yes." Snape said matter of factly and Neville grinned.
"Okay sit still." The younger man put his feet against the wall and kicked himself back.
If they had sat Snape in the same direction of the younger Auror then Snape should have his back to Neville now. If Neville could scoot himself over to where Snape was then maybe he would loosen the older man's ropes and afterwards Snape could untie him.
But life never really liked Neville.
The back of Neville's head smashed with Snape's face causing the older man to curse just as Neville's body slammed against the front of his. Neville found himself with his back against the older man, his body between the potions master's legs and the old man hissing in his ear.
"Longbottom." Snape said through clench teeth causing Neville to jump again causing the older man to hiss again. "Don't move."
Neville stayed perfectly still.
He closed his eyes trying to understand why that didn't work, ignoring Snape's breath against his neck before his face went red. He closed his eyes and hung his head as he just realized where his hands had hit the man.
He heard Snape make a pained noise as the older man scooted back so that Neville's hand were no longer near his crotch before Neville heard the older man shuffle again.
"Sorry." Neville tried weakly but he could feel the older man's glare on his back.
It took a little while longer this time, now that Snape was trying to recover from having his family jewels sucker punched, but Neville soon felt long thin fingers against his and got to work.
"Next time spare me some pain and explain to me what your plan is." Snape said through gritted teeth and Neville chose to remain quiet through the rest of his task.
The Auror managed to loosen Snape's rope enough for the older man to free his hands. He heard Snape move again before he felt those fingers working around his hands and smiled despite himself.
"I think we make a good team." Neville said idly but he heard Snape scoff.
"I'm still in shock to be alive after being in your care for nearly a week." The older man sighed as he pulled the rope off of Neville's hands. "Now where to?"
"We need to warn the others." Neville stated quickly as he got up to his feet before he accidentally bumped into the older man. "Sorry, it's really dark in here."
"I failed to notice." Snape stated before Neville could feel the man walking into one direction.
"I wish I had my wand." Neville stated softly before he heard Snape bump into something and sighed. He stood up for a second before he lifted his hand in the air, he had managed it twice, why not now?
"Lumos." Neville mumbled to himself as he concentrated on his hand.
"Congratulations on failing something else in your life." Snape said before Neville heard the older man wiggle something that sounded like a door handle. "Oh look, I found a door."
"Shut up." Neville groaned as Snape cracked the door and light was let into the small storage space they had been thrown in.
"After you Longbottom." Snape held the door open for the younger man and Neville just showed the older man a rude gesture as he made it out into the hallway. Snape just smirked back.
"We need to get back to the others."
OOO
Draco glanced around the small office Hermione had thrown him into. Apparently it used to be some old witch's office that no one had taken after she left.
Not that the blond could blame them.
The office was small and tacky. It was a weird shape and would take time and magic to make a normal desk to fit in here and he just figured no one wanted to bother with it. There was a ugly couch in it though and despite it's appearance it was rather comfortable.
"Unlock the door."
There was a voice outside the door to his room and Draco froze. Hermione said that she would be the one to come and get him but it would take a few hours not just a couple of minutes.
"I told you Williamson he is not on this floor. He is down stairs." Draco could make out Percy's voice and jumped off the couch and glanced around the room. He groaned to himself before he grabbed his wand and jumped into a rather small looking cabinet that he only managed to squeeze into.
He had to hold his wand at an awkward angle so that it would hex whoever opened the cabinet when he heard the door open.
"I told you he wasn't in here." Draco heard a distinctive slap and tried to hold back the urge to jump out right there. "That was uncalled for."
"Shut up and listen to me, I know you put him on this floor, I searched the lower floor before I went up to you." Williamson growled before Draco heard something get thrown against the wall. "Why are you protecting the death eater?"
"Why are you trying to kill him?" Percy choked out.
Draco closed his eyes as he prepared to jump out of the cabinet. If he had the surprise attack on his side then he might be able to knock out the man that was hurting Percy. He took a deep breath.
"Charity Burbage was my mother." The words seemed to ring in the room and Draco's eyes widened.
She had been the muggle studies professor.
He had been there when Voldemort killed her.
"Williamson we need to go!" Another voice called into the room and Draco couldn't bring himself to move as he heard the men argue with each other before the door to the room closed.
It seemed like hours before the blond was able to bring himself out of the cabinet, he suddenly felt the need to run away. Draco ran to the door and swung it open to reveal an empty hallway. He took off towards the elevator, he needed to find someone.
He turned the corner and found himself pulled against the wall, two arms wrapped tightly around him with a hand over his mouth. He was about to start yelling and kicking he felt lips against his ear.
"Don't move you idiot."
Draco relaxed immediately in Ron's arms before he glance at the redhead that was now trying to peak down the hall. The other man sighed before he turned to Draco and grabbed the blond by the shoulders. "What were you thinking you idiot?"
"They have your brother!" Draco started but Ron just started to pull him down the hall in the direction the blond had been running.
"I heard them but I didn't see who was with them." Ron stated bitterly before he walked into the lift pulling Draco with him. "We are supposed to be meeting everyone in the lobby."
Draco just nodded though the blond honestly felt like he had no idea what was going on.
OOO
Lupin realized two things when he reached consciousness.
One being that his head hurt.
Two being that someone was on top of him yelling.
And that two did not help one.
Lupin growled as he opened his eyes to see someone, he tensed as he remembered what happened in the hallway and grabbed the body over him spinning over so that he was now pinning them to the ground. The room around him spun for bit as he tried to open his eyes fully before he took a deep breath.
"Remus, it's okay." Lupin finally focused on the blue eyes that were now staring up at him before he let go of Arthur's arms.
Lupin felt arms wrap around his neck before he registers the older man kissing him gently on the lips. They parted a second after and Lupin felt his head ache lighten a little as he got used to the light in the room. "Where am I?"
He glanced around the room to see that he was in an empty office. He groaned a bit before he looked down at Arthur was now moving out from under him.
"You've been missing for a few hours now." Arthur helped the younger man up as he tried to explain. "Everyone's been looking for you."
"It's the witch in the floo network and Williamson." Lupin state quickly as he held onto Arthur's shoulder while he tried to stable himself.
"Kingsley's patronus just came by and said that we are all meeting in the lobby." Arthur waited for Lupin to start walking on his own before he followed the younger man. "Are you alright?"
"He stunned me with his wand on my neck." Lupin growled as he made his way out of the room and into the hallway. Arthur was right beside him as they made their way to the elevator. "Anything else I should know?"
"We'll find out when we get to the lobby." Arthur stated as he wrapped his fingers around Lupin's when the elevator doors closed. It didn't take long to get to the lobby and Lupin wanted to hold onto Arthur's hand for a little longer but let the older man slipped away as they made there was to the group of the people in the lobby.
Lupin glance around the unusually empty lobby before the looked over at the Minister who stood over the crowd, Ron and Draco were currently talking to him. Draco seemed to be a bit paler but as Lupin looked around he felt as if more people were missing than what needed to be.
"There you are!" Lupin turned to see Neville running up behind him, Snape seemed to walking a bit stiffer than usually but the other man just sighed as he approached the group.
Neville was now talking animatedly to the minister and Lupin made his way over.
"It's Williamson." Neville stated bitterly before Kingsley nodded.
"And the witch in the floo office." Lupin added causing people to look over at him as if they hadn't seen him.
"I guess my dad found you." Ron stated with a smirk before he looked over at the minister. "There is another wizard with him too but I wasn't able to get a look at him."
"I need you all to pay attention." Kingsley's voice silenced any side conversations that were going on. "I sent my patronus to Williamson asking him to meet us here. He should be here any moment but before he gets here I need you to know he has a hostage."
"Hostage?" Arthur asked sounding miffed.
"Bloody coward." Ron added in his father's anger but Kingsley closed his eyes before he continued.
"It's Percy Weasley."
Draco had somehow managed to get to Snape during the moment of shock that followed that statement before he grabbed onto his godfather's robe. Snape looked at the blond in mild shock as Draco tightened his grip and just shook his head hoping his godfather wouldn't ask any questions just yet.
He still couldn't get the image of the body rotating in the air above his family's dinner table out of his mind.
There was a loud bang before glass shattered on the other side of the lobby. The witch who had tricked Lupin at the Floo department came out with and older looking wizard as they walked into the lobby and paused a good distance from the group on the other side. Williamson came out next with the struggling form of Percy Weasley cursing at the man.
Percy's glasses were gone, most likely broken like his nose. The redhead had a swollen cheek and his robes were tussled about as if he had just gotten in a fist fight with the Auror that was dragging him into the lobby.
"You broke my bloody wand!" Percy hit the man in the back of the head but apparently it wasn't that hard because Williamson just kept going as if he hadn't felt it.
Kingsley's jaw set at the appearance of his undersecretary and Ron had to place a hand on his father's shoulder to keep the older man back from attacking the three wizards. Kingsley was about to say something but Williamson held up his hand to silence the man before he looked at his watch. His finger's counted down from five before there were two loud cracks and suddenly two blond figures were standing between the two groups.
"Mother….Father?" Draco asked as he let go of his grip on Snape and walked forward.
Lucius glared over at Williamson then over at Kingsley before Narcissa Malfoy ran over to there son. Lucius stood still in the center as he glanced around himself as if to identify the situation.
"We got a message that you were seriously injured!" Narcissa pulled Draco into a small hug before she looked at the men around her. "What is going on?"
"Sorry dear." Lucius sighed as he pulled out his wand. "I think we were tricked into coming here."
"I needed all the pieces." Williamson stated coldly before he forced Percy on his knees, the redhead swearing as he caught himself on his hands. "I want the lives of the death eaters or I will kill this man."
"WHAT?" Percy's voice seemed to be the loudest in the room at the moment as he went on. "You should have at least gotten more hostages for that, I mean I'm one person!"
"Shut up!" Williamson kicked Percy as the redhead coughed a bit before steadying himself on his hands. "I want all your wands down or I will kill him."
"You have mine!" Neville yelled at the man and took a few steps out letting Lucius make it to the group without turning his back on the enemy.
"This is poorly planned." Kingsley stated causing Williamson to growl. "Why don't you hand Mr. Weasley back over and then me and you can talk."
The next thing that happened was a surprise to both teams.
The chime of the bell resounded loudly in the lobby and Neville looked over at Lupin to see the older man was pointing at it from behind Kingsley. Within seconds it was pure madness in the ministry. Workers that were glad they were finally being released were now pouring into the lobby to now surround the groups and staring.
Williamson had raised his wand at the Minister before Percy knocked the man over. The redhead proceeded to punch at the Auror only to be thrown off by a hex. The strands of light were now flying everywhere. No one knew who was on what side so they tried to guess which resulted in some of the ministry workers getting knocked out.
Neville heard Ron shouting before he was suddenly pulled back out of the way of a chunk of the roof. He looked at Snape who was holding onto his robe as the older man started to yell at him. It was hard to hear with all the screaming that was around him he made out the gist of it.
Neither of them had wands.
The sandy haired Auror pulled out of Snape's grip as he went back into the mess. He gave the man an apologetic smile before he turned and ran back in. Just because he didn't have a wand didn't mean he was useless. The young man turned just in time to see Ron pull Draco away from a hex before the redhead grabbed onto Narcissa Malfoy and started to drag them away from the battle.
Lucius was being helped off the ground by Arthur as the redhead continued to move towards Percy but Neville couldn't see the redhead anymore.
Kingsley and Williamson were already dueling.
It was confusing.
Neville felt his world spin as he saw another witch throw a hex at Lupin and felt his stomach drop as he realized why some of the ministry officials seemed to be confused on what side they were on.
They weren't confused at all.
When Lupin rang the bell he had inadvertently also called Williamson's back up. Lupin threw back the witch with ease before the werewolf turned to continue fighting whoever was attacking the good guys. Neville turned around again to find Snape but as he scanned over the people running around behind him he didn't see any black robes.
There was a scream and Neville turned to see the monument break.
The monument was falling in huge chunks towards the people on the ground and Neville felt his heart sink when he finally saw black robes. Snape had apparently been pulled into the battle by a wizard that was now pointing his wand at the older man. Neville felt his heart pound as he threw out his hand in front of him, it was as if his body already knew what he was planning on doing before his mind caught up. He had barely thought of the spell when the wizard was thrown back.
Neville gasped as he watched the monument continue to crumble.
He had to think of something before the chunks hurt anyone.
The curly haired man suddenly remembered his duel with Flitwick and started to run towards the huge monument. He heard Lupin yelling at him, Snape was yelling too but he didn't quite hear as he threw his hand at the large monument and whispered the incantation.
OOO
The first thing Arthur noticed as he pulled Percy off the ground was the fact that Lucius Malfoy was helping him pick his son off the ground.
The second thing was that it was raining inside the Ministry.
The older man glanced around the room so see that everyone was stopping at the sight in the center of the lobby. Neville Longbottom had a hand in the air and seemed to be in shock as the young Auror swayed a bit on his feet. Snape caught the young man and Arthur took this time to look around the room.
Lupin was lining up a group of about six witches and wizards who now had their hands on their heads.
"Are you okay?" Arthur turned to see Lucius put his wand to Percy's head and heal the small wound on the young man's forehead.
Arthur just smirked as he saw his son talk to Lucius before he turned to see Kingsley standing over the fallen form of Williamson. The man's eyes scanning the crowd as if searching for the next opponent and it sent chills down the older man's back. Kingsley paused as he caught sight of Arthur, Lucius, and Percy and the Minister put his wand up as he ran over to them.
Percy put his hand up to the Minister as if telling the man not to do anything rash while Lucius was healing a cut on his arm. His son's blue eyes glaring a bit unfocused at the minister and Arthur laughed a bit before he conjured up a pair of glasses and placed them gently on his son's face.
His son blinked up at him and smile a bit embarrassed before he took a deep breath.
"You're bloody insane!" Hermione ran over to them and pulled Percy up into a hug as she continued to yell at him. "And they broke your wand! What if they had just decided to kill you?"
Percy seemed to find it awkward that Hermione was hugging him as he held his arms away from her but the slowly brought one down to pat her on the back. "I'm okay."
Arthur tried to listen to Lucius and the Minister as they started to talk about what had happened but instead continued to look around the room. Ron was now walking back into the room with Draco and Narcissa with a hand print of his face. Narcissa rubbing her hand as she made her way over to her husband and Draco smirking at Ron while the redhead grumbled.
He turned to see Lupin had lined up more people in the line and was now giving them over to Robards who was now ordering another Auror that was next to him. Arthur turned away from the group and started to walk towards the werewolf when he noticed Lupin point over beside him. He glanced over to see Snape sitting on the ground petting an unconscious Neville's hair.
"Is he okay?" Arthur asked softly as the rain finally stopped soaking into his cloths and came to a stop in the room.
Snape nodded with a sigh as he brushed some of the sandy curls out of Neville's face and then looked up at Arthur. "I think he just over did it."
"I passed out a few times when I tried wandless magic." Lupin put his arm around Arthur and smiled at the sleeping form. "He just needs a good nights sleep."
"That was amazing." Arthur laughed a bit before he looked up at the now destroyed monument.
"I'm going make sure it gets repaired tomorrow." Percy stated as he walked up to his father's side and pushed the glasses up his nose a bit. "And I am supposed to let you two know that you have tomorrow off."
"Do we now?" Lupin grinned as he turned to Arthur with a smirk. "I think I know what I want to do with my day off."
"Do you?" Arthur asked in fake disinterest. "I plan to sleep all day."
"Will you two stop flirting and help me lift this?" Arthur blushed as he looked down as Snape who was pointing at Neville. "I believe he should find a more proper bed than my lap."
"I don't think he minds." Draco smirked as he put his arm around Percy causing the redhead to tense. "Looks like he is having a nice dream."
Arthur looked down to Neville and sure enough the young man was smirking slightly as Snape's hand continued to idly play with his hair. Snape just glared at the blond making Draco back off before Arthur and Lupin helped carry Neville over to on of the stretcher's that the witches from St. Mungo's had brought over.
Arthur looked around at the destruction and felt a smile tug at his lips when rough finger's wrap around his own and he turned to the young werewolf that was looking around at the wreckage as well.
"Want to go get something to eat?" Arthur asked and felt his neck heat up a bit when Lupin smiled at him.
"I'm famished."
OOO
The press conference was surprisingly subdued.
Rita Skeeter had apparently been absent due to business elsewhere with the Quidditch teams announcing the trade off with Viktor Krum now playing for the Chudley Cannons.
Kingsley explained about the radical group that had been threatening the ministry recently, how they had made sixteen arrests of ministry officials and were planning on starting the trials the following week.
Williamson had lost his mother to death eaters and had been trying to get revenge but Kingsley explained to the public that all the death eaters had been punished. Severus Snape and the Malfoys were no more guilty now then anyone else in the crowed. The minister said he would allow the press to interview the radical group if the members agreed to be interviewed.
He explained that he shut down the Ministry for a day to take the time to purge the building, he hoped now that the ministry would be viewed positively by the public and if there were any problems then to please voice them to him so that he could have it taken care of.
No one died in the fiasco yesterday and Kingsley thanked all the wizard and witches who had participated in it for not taking a life.
The minister sat back in his chair as he rubbed his eyes. It had been a long morning but he felt that the whole incident had been wrapped up rather well.
He heard the soft clanging of glass and opened his eyes to see Percy pouring him a glass of tea. He smiled despite himself at the sight of the younger man pouring a cup before the redhead brought it up to him.
"I'm not sure if I will be in the mood for tea for a while." Kingsley admitted as he held his hand out for the cup.
Percy just smirked before he took a sip of the cup and then placed it into the older man's hands. "Just in case."
Kingsley took the cup and placed it on the table next to his chair before he grabbed onto Percy's hand. The redhead bowed a little so that he could bring the minister's hand to his lips and smirked after he placed a kiss on it.
"You are doing a great job."
"I know." Kingsley stated a bit smugly before he pulled Percy over so that he could kiss the redhead. He pressed his lips gently against the redhead's and he could feel Percy climb slightly on his lap in the chair so that they could deepen the kiss.
Percy sucked on the older man's tongue for a second before he felt a strong hand rubbed down his clothed chest. He parted a bit as he stared down at the brown eyes that were regarding him. He felt a smile tug at his lips before he pressed another kiss on the older man before sliding off the chair and straightening his robes a bit.
"Do you want to go to dinner?"
Percy paused before he looked over at the older man who was smiling at him from the chair he still sat in. Percy felt the back of his neck heat up a bit before he mumbled something which caused the minister to put a hand by his ear.
"I didn't quite catch that?"
"I said if we must." Percy stated before he pushed his glasses up on his nose and turned to head out of the office.
Kingsley just smiled as he sat back in the chair and hummed lightly as he traced his own lips. So he had managed to get a date out of the redhead and all it took was a radical group hostage situation.
Fair enough.
OOO
Ron groaned as he entered his new apartment, shutting the door behind him. When Robards had promised him a mountain of paperwork Ron had hoped the old man had just been exaggerating.
He had to get Hermione to fix his hand so that he could let go of the quill before he left work.
He had managed to get a new apartment rather quickly, thanks to the minister, but while this one was newer, bigger, and for the most part just a better place to live. Ron missed the old one.
He threw his robes down on the maroon couch Fred and George had sent him earlier that day and groaned as he made his way to the bed room. His dad had managed to move his new bed in since the older man had the day off today and Ron smiled happily as he plopped down on the covers.
Onto something hard.
"I am trying to sleep." An angry voice stated and Ron pulled back the covers in surprise to see Draco Malfoy curled up against one of the pillows. "Can I help you?"
"What are you doing in my apartment?" Ron yelled as he threw the covers back down and sighed.
"I thought you would be happy to see me." Draco stated in mock hurt before he curled over so that he wasn't facing the redhead. "You could have at least let me explain myself."
"Last time I let you explain yourself your mother slapped me!" Ron shoved the blond off the bed and smirked down at the blond who was glaring up at him from the floor. "She asked you what was going on and you had to tell her that I used you as bait for the madmen attacking the ministry."
"You almost blew me up!" Draco countered as he grabbed onto the sheets and pulled himself up so that he was face to face with Ron.
"Why are you here?" Ron stated directly hoping the blond actually had a reason so be there. "I hope it isn't for entertainment."
"I like entertainment." Draco smirked as he pressed his forehead against Ron's but the redhead just frowned at him.
"I think you've gotten enough entertainment from me." The redhead stated sounding a bit miffed as he sat back and turned as that his back as to the blond. "Now go away I'm tired."
Draco sat there for second not really sure at how to respond to that. He paused before he crawled back onto the bed and laid down so that his back was touching Ron's and stared idly at the window. He sighed then ran his hand through his hair before he turned over so that he was spooning the redhead. He wrapped his arms firmly around Ron and placed a small kiss on the back of the redhead's neck.
He still needed to tell Ron the big news anyway.
"How about exercise?" Draco mumbled into the redhead's neck and he felt Ron move a little so that the blue eyes could see him.
"Exercise?" Ron raised an eyebrow as Draco just smirked.
"It's like entertainment." Draco ran one of his hands down Ron's side. "Except I live here and you don't get mad at me for turning your spare bedroom into my closet since the closets in this place are so unnaturally small."
"You what?"
"I knew you would understand!" Draco pulled Ron over so that he was sitting on top of the young man. He smirked down at the redhead who was now glaring up at him before he started to unbutton the redhead's robes.
Ron just sighed before a thought came to him. "So you were here when my dad was moving everything in?"
"Yes." Draco smirked as he placed a kiss on the redhead's pale chest. "After he saw my stuff it was his idea to turn the guest room into my closet."
"Glad he helped."
Ron sighed as he pulled Draco up. The blond gave him a confused look before Ron placed a quick kiss on the blonde's lips before Ron shoved him off and turned over so that he could go to sleep.
"So no exercise?"
"No." Ron stated before he grabbed the blanket that had been pushed aside and pulled it over himself.
Draco just pouted before smirk formed on his lips. He pulled the redhead against him and ignored the grumpy murmur from Ron before he closed his eyes.
Sleep wasn't so overrated anyway.
OOO
Neville sighed as he walked out of the hospital of St. Mungos's. His Gran had decided to stay and talk to his parents for a little longer but Neville had some things he had to take care of today.
He made his way over to the Ministry hoping that Robards wouldn't mind him coming in a few minutes late.
It was Christmas after all.
It had been a few months since the fiasco at the Ministry not that Neville really remembered what happened afterwards since he had been sleeping in a bed at St. Mungo's. He had slept for three days.
Three days and when he had woken up Professor Sprout had been sitting by his bed with a smile on her face as if she had known exactly when he was going to wake up. She had told him that Snape had visited a few times but the man never stayed long. They had a great discussion about Herbology and Neville realized how much he missed the plants, it wasn't like he was able to properly take care of them with his crazy schedule as an Auror.
Professor Sprout asked him to join her at the school.
She wanted to retire at the end of the year and thought that he would be the best replacement.
Apparently McGonagall approved of Neville taking over the position as long as he trained under Sprout for the remainder of the year.
Neville smiled as he entered the Auror office to see Lupin talking to Harry while Ron kept getting to Teddy to change his hair colors. Lupin had been hanging around the Auror office more since the fiasco and Neville couldn't decide if it was because Robards needed the extra help or if it was because the office was conveniently closer to a certain someone's office.
"Hey Neville!" Neville waved at Ron with a smirk on his face.
He wondered if the redhead had even noticed that Lupin and his father were together. Lupin had been nice enough to give Neville lessons on wandless magic so the sandy haired Auror would get a better grasp at it without straining himself so much so Neville had eventually realized that Lupin and Arthur were in a relationship. But since the older men weren't exactly obvious about their relationship Neville had a suspicion that Ron had no idea.
"Remus, are you ready to go?" Neville turned to see Arthur at the door, he was bundled up with a coat and a scarf.
"Yeah." Lupin smiled happily as he took Teddy away from Ron.
"Me and Harry should be there in a few hours." Ron stifled a yawn before he gave his father a small wave. Arthur was about to turn and leave before the redhead paused and looked over at his son.
"Is Draco coming too?"
Ron went beet red as he glared at his father. Arthur just smiled before he shook his head and left the office being followed by a happy Lupin and a laughing Teddy. Harry had a smirk on his face as if he was about to say something but then Robards walked into the room and paused when he saw Neville.
"Came in to give me the news then?" The old man asked and Neville tried not to seem so surprised. "I was at Hogwarts earlier today lad, don't worry."
"What news?" Harry asked as he sat on Ron's desk ignoring the redhead's mumbling.
"Well I-"
"Mr. Longbottom is leaving us." Robards sighed as he cut Neville off. "Quite a shame."
"You're leaving?" Ron seemed to be the only one that was truly surprised and Neville mentally thanked the redhead. Though this only confirmed Neville's thought that Ron didn't know about his father's relationship, probably just thought they were really good friends.
Really, really good friends.
"I was offered a job to go teach Herbology at Hogwarts." Neville looked over at Robards. "And I plan to finish all my work here before I leave so don't worry about getting someone to cover for me."
"Wouldn't expect any less." Robards nodded before he held out his hand.
Neville was taken back by this but quickly grasped the hand and shook it. The older man smiled before he patted Neville on the back and shook his head before heading towards his office mumbling 'such a waste, a good kid but still such a waste'.
It didn't take long to finish his paperwork since there hadn't been as many missions recently. Ron and Harry left before he had managed to clean out his desk and by the time he was sure he had everything squared away he realized he was the only one in the office.
He grabbed the small box that contained all his stuff and smiled as he closed to office door behind him. The ministry seemed to be completely empty and it reminded him of when they had come here during his fifth year. He sighed again as the elevator doors opened only to reveal an annoyed looking Snape and an airy looking Luna Lovegood.
"What are you guys doing here?" Neville asked as he stepped into the lift.
"I came to tell you we were expected at the Weasley dinner." Luna's light voice spoke softly and Neville couldn't help but smile at her. It had been a while since they had seen each other since he was busy with the Auror business and she had been traveling around the world trying to discover new species.
"If you must know I was forced to escort Miss Lovegood to your office." Snape said dryly.
"Forced?" Neville tried not to sound amused.
"Draco Malfoy made a scene in the street." Luna smiled as she tilted her head in remembrance. "It was quite funny."
"Hilarious." Snape stated though Neville noticed the light pink twinge on his cheeks.
"Are you joining us for dinner then?" Neville tried not to sound excited about the idea, he knew Snape would probably prefer a Christmas to himself instead at Arthur's apartment.
Snape just gave Neville a small glare and Neville smiled happily at the older man. The curly haired Auror was about to say something to the potions master when his eyes widened as he looked over at Luna.
"I heard you asked Harry to marry you?" Neville asked and this even caught Snape's attention and Luna nodded her head.
"Finally going to make an honest man out of him?" Neville was slightly surprised to see Snape smirk and Luna smiled gently at the older man.
"I hope you both attend." She then looked at Neville. "Ginny is going to be my maid of honor, I wanted you to be one of my bride's maids but Harry insisted on you being a groom's men. I hope you don't mind."
Neville hoped his face hadn't flushed as much as it felt like it had. "I will be happy to be a groom's men."
The door opened to the elevator and Neville stepped out being followed by the two of them. They stepped out into the snow filled streets of the city and Neville couldn't help but smile as he turned to Snape. The older man seemed to notice Neville looking at him and turned to give the younger man a confused glance.
"I'm going to be teaching at Hogwarts."
"I heard." Snape said shortly.
Neville heard Luna apparate more than he really saw as he continued to stare at the dark haired man. Snape stared back before a slight smirk showed on the older man's lips and Neville found himself admiring it.
Things were definitely looking up.
Yeah.
Next year was going to be fun.
Snape rolled his eyes before he turned to apparate and Neville smiled before he did the same.
Definitely looking up.
OOO
The End…..For now….
I'm working on the sequel for this story, I was hoping to be done with it before I finished posting this one but I got distracted with Star Trek…..and now I'm working on a Scotty/McCoy story lol.
Thank you everyone who reviewed for this story! It has been a wonderful ride and I really hope you enjoyed it.
Keep an eye out for the sequel! (Which will be titled something along the lines of 'Trouble in Paradise'.)