*enters holding pina colada, Snape has opted for a tequila sunrise* I never knew he'd get such a kick from muggle cocktails. *chuckles*
Thank you all for your great encouragement! I come to reward you then with the second chapter. Let's see what the new state of affairs will bring, shall we?
*Snape makes a face but says nothing and sits*
Chapter 2 *hits play*
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THE MINISTER OF MAGIC MURDERED!
By special reporter Rita Skeeter
The wizarding world is in an uproar over the unexpected and cruel murder of our Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. The attack was done in a most mysterious way. Until now, nobody reveals what was the way of assassination, nor who the suspect is. However, the utmost secrecy and the sudden elevation in the severity of the wards in the Ministry lead the author of this article to suspect that You-Know-Who is to be held accountable.
It is therefore logical to assume that not only You-Know-Who is alive, but he is also powerful enough to infiltrate even the basest of the wizarding world's havens, even without a significant amount of his Death Eaters. As is already known, a lot of Death Eaters were caught or killed in the Hogwarts Attack before last Christmas. Several of them are currently in Azkaban. It is said that the experts that put up the wards in Gringotts bank are also now responsible for the security in Azkaban Prison. It became painfully obvious of the dangers involved using Dementors, just as Headmaster Dumbledore of Hogwarts School had time and again implied.
It is curious to realise that while many attacks against important members of our community have been averted by the Order of the Phoenix which was assembled at the start of this current year, such a prevention failed in the case of Cornelius Fudge's murder. It is quite alarming to even suspect that perhaps You-Know-Who has devised ways to avoid being detected by our protectors. Could this mean that we are, at least in some cases, defenceless? To this as well as the other details regarding the assassination of the Minister, the author cannot provide answers as the press has not been allowed much information. Which in itself is, perhaps, indication of some facts.
The article in the Daily Prophet was very carefully balanced between Rita Skeeter's usual penchant for finding foul play and marring facts about people and actually upkeeping the bargain with Hermione and not badmouth anyone in the list the girl had provided her with, which included everyone in the Hogwarts staff except Sybil Trelawney.
Hermione bit her lip as she finished reading it aloud to Ron and Harry, who was thoughtfully stroking Sasha's head as he listened. His eyes were sad and serious, the emotions even more vibrant because of the lack of movement.
"If you think about it, that woman is actually doubting the Order! The nerve!" Ron snorted and crossed his arms.
"At least she didn't say it outright. But I will owl her with a warning, just in case. We can't risk bad publicity at times like this." Hermione nodded. Then, silence ensued, and both gryffindors turned to Harry in question, because he did not contribute to their conversation. In fact, Harry had spoken little since he was properly helped to regain composure after the vision he had suffered in the class.
"What's the matter, Harry?" Hermione asked gently. Harry clenched his teeth.
"Everything is the matter. Everything is going wrong when it was supposed to be looking up!"
"I wouldn't call Fudge such a great loss" scoffed Ron.
"But we don't know who will become Minister now! I doubt it is going to be your dad!" Harry exclaimed, clutching the handle of his walking stick nervously. Then he swallowed, and added in a quieter voice: "And I had a vision in class. Don't you realise the significance!?"
Hermione paused for a while before it hit her and nodded. Ron blinked.
"Well!? Don't you!? Why are you both so silent!" Harry spoke up again, in mild distress. Hermione was quick to answer, mentally berating herself as she always did when she forgot that Harry was now blind, and non-verbal communication could not reach him easily.
"I'm sorry Harry. We understand. I didn't think of it before, but you are right."
"About what? I don't understand a thing!" Ron exclaimed.
"Ron, I had a vision in class. In front of –everyone-. Don't you think that will make an impression?"
"It doesn't mean they'll know you get visions."
"It only takes one Slytherin to report it to Voldemort, and I am certain he will make that connection." Harry said gloomily.
"We can't help that, now. In any case, you are safe in Hogwarts." Hermione offered. Harry growled.
"I am not worrying about my safety! If he knows I can see him when he does stuff or plans stuff, he will be alerted. And with Snape not spying anymore, we won't have any way of knowing what he will do!"
Hermione and Ron swallowed and looked at each other again. They couldn't answer Harry, and Harry did not push them to.
He knew that there was nothing they could do. He only hoped that it did not spell disaster.
***
Snape joined Lupin and Black in Dumbledore's office. They were the closest Order members to the Order Leader, something like his immediate advisors. Indeed, they combined everything Dumbledore would hope for in a group: Spontaneity from Sirius, logistics from Severus, as well as a darker slant to interpretation of happenings, deductive reasoning from Remus, and brilliant intelligence from all three.
They also argued against each other with a menace, thereby allowing Dumbledore to oversee and decide which idea, decision or method under discussion would be the best. Dumbledore considered himself quite lucky.
"The new Minister of Magic will be announced to the press tomorrow morning." Dumbledore said. Snape frowned. There was not too much alarm in the headmaster's voice, but there was certainly no pleasure either. Lupin seemed to have noticed as well, because he cautiously asked:
"It is anyone that is going to endanger us?"
"I am not sure." Dumbledore sighed.
"Why don't you let us know and spare us the suspence, then?" Snape sneered and sat down with a flourish. Dumbledore nodded and the other two wizards did the same.
"The new minister will be Ludo Bagman." Dumbledore said.
"That loser!?" Sirius exclaimed in unpleasant surprise.
"Perhaps he will be better than Fudge," Remus tried to be somewhat optimistic. Snape snorted as he brushed imaginary crumbs from his lap.
"That… person is unable to have the intelligence of avoiding messing with trouble he cannot handle. He can't be better than Fudge."
"Why not? You messed with the wrong crowd yet here you are being a member of the Order with a Merlin second class!" Sirius quipped sarcastically.
"Please, please. We do not have time for unnecessary dispute." Dumbledore said in his calm yet ordering manner. Snape and Black stopped, but continued glaring at each other.
"Harry had mentioned that Bagman had some trouble with goblins he couldn't take care of. I doubt they would appoint Minister someone with shady characters chasing him." Remus said calmly.
"Oh, he is not in any kind of trouble. He is completely clean."
"The only way goblins end their accounts is either with money or the owner's head." Snape said, not without some satisfaction in his voice.
"Apparently, he gave them money and saved his head," Dumbledore said tiredly. "In any case, this is the new state of affairs. Tomorrow the new Minister will swear in and take up his duties. That means that the Order has to meet him."
"Not all of it." Sirius said, making a face.
"Just everyone in this room." Dumbledore announced with a smile, and sat back to enjoy the show.
***
Blaise Zambini was not a hot-shot Slytherin. Which was just the way her family had taught her. Or rather, her mother, who had the misfortune of being married to a Death Eater of the inner circle. Blaise did not like being home, simply because she had to play act, put up a front to both her parents. To dad, she had to pretend she hated muggles- in truth, she couldn't give a rat's ass about them. To mom, she had to prove every day that she had no bloodthirsty instincts, which included not having urges to kill insects crawling on the table, kick at garden gnomes and glare at anything frustrating. Which was what every perfectly normal, non-murderous teenager would do unheeded, but Blaise's mother had reason to be afraid.
Blaise didn't blame her. She just felt that with all the role-playing, she didn't know who she was anymore. And that irritated her to no end. Especially now that her father was reported missing. Which was not good, but definitely not bad either, as she was being hunted down for Azkaban. She frowned as she played with her breakfast.
Blaise wondered if anything in her life would ever be definite. She almost didn't notice the owl dropping a letter right into her porridge.
***
Harry tapped ahead to go towards the quidditch pitch, where he had arranged to meet his friends after his daily practice with Professor Snape—who seemed oddly angered, even for the potion master's standards. Harry knew better than to out-right ask. He would try Sirius later.
Provided he could locate the man. Sirius never was around to answer questions, lately.
Harry's cane met resistance when it shouldn't have.
"Was that on purpose, Potter?" the snide words and voice were unmistakable.
"No, Draco." Harry said simply. He and Draco did not talk much, but at least they had stopped fighting in any way when they accidentally crossed paths.
"The quidditch pitch is empty." Draco said, not really knowing what else to say. It still was very difficult to talk to the Boy Who Lived.
"Yes, I know." Harry said, standing almost still, listening to the silver haired Slytherin fidget. The sound was miniscule, but there. Harry wondered with a smile, if Draco even realised he was fidgeting.
"I'll get out of your stick's way then." Draco mumbled and started to leave. Then Harry asked, still not moving from his position:
"How are you holding up?"
Draco blinked. Had Harry Potter just asked him how he was doing? Harry smirked a little sadly.
"Are you going to answer or just stand there?" he asked in that soft undertone voice he usually used, and Draco found himself just gaping, yet somehow replying.
"It's ok, somewhat."
"If… stuff goes wrong, go to Dumbledore again." Harry said.
"Why? Did anything happen?" Draco asked quickly, worriedly.
"I… am not sure. Perhaps. Later." Harry said, and seemed too eager to walk away. Draco stood and watched, wondering if this seemingly meaningless chit-chat was actually Potter's way of giving him a heads up.
If that was the case, Draco Malfoy did not mean not to heed it.
***
At 3 am of that night, the castle was seemingly full of sleeping people and prowling ghosts. Yet, some were not following the general norm.
Snape was tossing and turning, his Dark Mark burning as if a burning iron was being rammed through his forearm. He gritted his teeth, mumbled, swore in several languages including Sanskrit, rolled in his bed, banged his head against the bedpost. No potion could bypass the feeling of the mark. Snape didn't bother. He only hoped it would end soon.
Harry was screaming in his sound-warded prefect room, his eyes jerking left and right, seeing what Voldemort was doing, savouring every single sensation, in a morbid parody of what he was missing mixed with what he hated. The pain erupted in his mind as the victim of Voldemort's malice screamed and screamed and screamed until Harry could hear nothing but her soul still wailing in anguish, begging for death to come.
Draco blinked awake. He frowned. Why was he not asleep? He was certain something woke him up. But what?
For a while, he stayed curled up under his covers in the room he shared with two other Slytherin 5th years, blinking in the darkness, trying to understand just what the reason was he woke. No bad dreams; hopping white owls qualified as weird on his list, not bad. No alarm; everyone else was sleeping but him…
…no wait. There was that faint sniffling sound coming from the empty, slightly echoing common room. Draco got up carefully and padded over near the fireplace, where he heard the muffled sobs. He blinked in surprise when he realised who it was.
"Blaise!?"
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and that's it! I am just out of a midterm… and to write further would ruin the next chapter. I hope this was not too much too soon. *Snape eases back for a break* Next chapter: Bagman for Minister, letter remains and little slythies!
As for my reviewers:
Ophite68: Thanks! I hope this pleases!
scrantongirl: thanks!
lovechilde: hee hee. when starting, start with a bang, Voldy says.
excessivelyperky: your wish is my command!
Toby Kincaid: wow! Hope this chapter doesn't change your conviction.
Prairie Flower617: Here I am, updating!
StarGazer: ok!
ratgirl: the e-mails telling me to continue were starting to be sooo…. *sighs* compelling. And an idea struck me, anyway.
jaycee: can't calm down! *chuckles* I am still nervous.
Elendil Snape: well, it will be hardball… I can promise you that, Voldy told me in person.
shortySC22: thanks! I'll try to upkeep the quality then.
Kaat Shadowlover: *accepts and shares with Snape* thanks! And I think I like making words, AND showing how Fudge can be a moron. hehe.
Mikee: you're welcome. I hope you are not disappointed.
nightingale: No, I won't take the weasley way out. *he he* And yes, Harry is not rid of his visions more than Snape is of his mark. *wink* As for the worth it statement, the answer is, both. I like writing it, but I like to see people enjoy it. It gratifies me. J
emma: what's the point of showing the coping without a good plot behind it?
rayvern: *bows*
griff-star2000:you are welcome ;)
catchfire: I'm going, I'm going! *laughs*
athenakitty: what's to pop a clog??
LovinsomeElrond: I hope the second chapter elates you as much as the first. ;)
RaginSilence22: *pretends she wasn't listening to your plans* what was that? *chuckles*
Spectre: you'd be surprised how much respect Voldmort can command via fear… which is why he is launching the campaign described here. As for Draco, I doubt he is altruistic enough to get the Mark for spying purposes.
Yusuf: Arthur would be far too good a turn, wouldn't it?
rhapsodian: you really ARE lucky!
Melissa Jooty: Indeed, I totally agree with you.
JaimynsFire: yes, I think they are! And I haven't written them in yet, really! wooohooo!
Celelorien: I love big reviews! And I am glad you like my Harry. I hope you like this one.