Chapter 9:
The Power of Love:
Meanwhile, in room 415, Severus had stopped trying to convince the woman and instead, lay comfortably on the bed in silence, his eyes closed, while she sat at a nearby desk taking notes as they waited for Harry and Harriet to return.
His eyes flew open when he heard a shout in the hall, and he jumped to his feet, frightening the already startled woman. Running to the door, he wrenched it open, knocking the woman down in his haste, to see Harry and a small, dark headed child fighting with three Ministry Aurors, another three idly standing by.
Unaware of what else was going on around him, his focus fixed on the scene before him, Severus didn't hear the witch cry out as she lost her balance. Failing to catch herself, she smacked her head on the table, knocking herself out.
The sound caught the blond's attention however, and he looked passed Harry, paling instantly. "S-Sev?" Draco asked, noticing the man standing in the doorway.
"Shut up, you prat!" Severus said angrily and the blond fell silent, cowed by the man's ominous presence.
The Minister's eyes lit up upon seeing the man standing in the doorway. "Arrest him!" Scrimgeour shouted, pointing at him.
Severus looked around as two Aurors, their hands clamping almost painfully around his arms, quickly apprehended him.
"NO!" Harry yelled, fighting harder against his captors.
"Let them go," Severus said, speaking to the others for the first time. "It's me you're after. Let them go, Rufus," Severus reiterated. "And I won't fight you. I'll come quietly."
Harry blinked at his lover's words.
"No!" Harry cried, finally wrenching out of his captors' grasp and stumbling toward him, throwing his arms around the man's neck for support as he tried to regain his footing. "No, Sev," he said breathlessly. "You can't!"
"Harry," Severus said gently. "I can't hide any more. I won't put you and our daughter in danger."
"Sev," Harry cried, tears slowly trickling down his cheeks. "You didn'tdo anything! You can't, you promised! You promised that nothing would separate us again!"
The Aurors that had held him quickly overcame the shock and pain of the young wizard's flight to freedom, and closed in once more, pulling his arms behind his back.
"I'm sorry, Harry," said Severus, hanging his head. "There's nothing I can do."
"Nothing you can do? Show them, Sev. Show them what you showed me!" Severus said nothing and merely looked defeated. "So," Harry said angrily, glaring up at him. "You're willing to take the punishment for a crime you didn't commit?"
"Didn't commit?" Scrimgeour asked, laughing in disbelief. "We have your testimony, Mister Potter. You were an eyewitness!"
"Minerva?" Remus asked when he opened the door to the stairwell, wondering why the witch had run off and saw her creeping down to the floor below.
"Shhh," Minerva said urgently, holding her finger to her lips. She waited, but hearing nothing more, turned to the man to see the Weasleys enter the stairwell behind him, all looking curious.
"What's going on?" Remus asked, walking down the stairs to confront the witch, followed quickly by the others.
Minerva waved her hands to silence him. "Arthur," she called, seeing the man had arrived in her absence and Mr. Weasley stepped forward. "Please contact the Order and tell them we have an emergency, we need them here immediately."
Arthur nodded and reached into his robes, removing what appeared to be a Galleon coin and his wand. He tapped it with his wand and the words 'St. M Emergency' appeared. Within seconds, the stairwell had filled with the sound of Apparating wizards, homing in on the emergency signal, as Tonks, Moody, and Shacklebolt appeared.
"What's wrong?" Tonks asked, looking worried. "Is it Harry? Is he okay?"
Minerva sighed impatiently, holding up her hands. "We haven't the time for lengthy explanations, I'm sorry. We need to make a citizens' arrest."
"Citizens' arrest," Moody grumbled. "And just who're we supposed to be arrestin'?"
"Draco Malfoy and Minister Scrimgeour," Minerva answered, holding her hands up to way lay any protest. "I just over heard a conversation between them. The Minister is no different than Fudge was, turning a blind eye to illegal activities so long as it puts funds into his pockets."
"What are you talking about, Minerva?" Molly asked, laughing uneasily.
"It seems that Draco is attempting to take Abbey from Harry and has Scrimgeour helping him."
There was a collective gasp and a disbelieving 'No' came from Molly and Tonks.
"Come on," Minerva said, calling for their attention once more. "We have to hurry."
The door at the end of the ward opened, but no one noticed as the Weasleys, Tonks, Moody, Shacklebolt, Remus and Minerva entered, halting in shock at what they saw.
Draco stepped toward Harry and trailed a finger down the young man's jaw, watching him jerk back, glaring at him angrily. "I've changed my mind, Scrimgeour," he said, his eyes sparkling. "I do like a challenge. Take Severus, but leave Harry and Abbey with me. But before you do," he continued after a brief pause. "I want Severus to witness this."
"Very well, Mister Malfoy," Scrimgeour said and turned his back a moment to speak with one of the Aurors.
Draco jerked Harry's arm forward and Severus watched fearfully as the blond mashed the young man's hand until his fingers splayed. "You know, Harry," Draco said. "I really do love you."
"Yeah, right," Harry returned sarcastically. "You know nothing of love. I never loved you, Malfoy, and I never will."
"We'll see," Draco said, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing the bonding ring.
"If you put that on me," Harry said with a growl as he felt the hands of his captor tighten around his arms. "You'd better be prepared to lose it."
"Oh," Draco said in a nonchalant tone. "I don't think I'll be losing anything."
"Are you sure about that?" Harry asked and his only answer was Draco's malevolent smile as he slid the ring on his finger.
"No!" Severus cried as his captors tried to force him away and Harry gasped as the first of the binding magic touched him.
"You see, Harry," Draco said with smirk. "Seeing as how you were able to remove the ring last time, I added some additional spells to the binding magic." As they watched though, Harry reacted in a way that no one expected – he laughed. "What is this?" Draco asked, looking at the dark headed wizard in disbelief as he continued to laugh.
"I told you, Draco," Harry said, glaring at him. "If you wish this ring to remain in your family, you'd better remove it now, or lose it forever." Harry could feel the magic of the ring spreading through him with a pulsating flow and ever so slowly, the anger was welling inside of him, slowing its progress.
Draco smirked, seeing the unmistakable signs of someone fighting the bond… and losing. "I don't think I'll be losing anything, Harry."
"Oh, really?" Harry asked curiously, anger edging his voice. "Look at it, Draco," he said. "Look at your precious family heirloom and see."
His comment was so startling that he caught the attention of the Aurors holding Severus, Abbey, and himself, and it was not just Severus and Draco who did as he'd said, their eyes flying to the ring. As they watched, beginning dimly at first, the ring began to glow. Slowly, it grew brighter, more substantial, until it was nearly blinding. Then, as they watched, the ring suddenly shattered into thousands of pieces with a loud crack, sounding of glass.
Silence reigned in the hall, all eyes on Harry, who stood with a victorious smile on his face, even Scrimgeour turned from his talk with the other Auror at the sound.
"What?" Draco asked dumbly. "What happened? How could you-?"
"You're forgetting, Draco," Harry said in a dangerously low tone, his eyes sparkling with hatred. "That I defeated one of the greatest wizards of all time. I doubt there is much you could do to cage me if I didn't allow it."
Awed and fearful silence settled once more over the hall for a long moment as Draco and Harry glared at each other.
"Minister Scrimgeour," Harry said finally, breaking the silence, and looked up at the man, who blinked dumbly as though just waking up from a dream. "If you are going to arrest this man," he said, nodding toward Severus. "Then, you'll have to arrest me, too."
"Harry, no!" Severus said urgently.
"On – on what charges?" Scrimgeour asked.
"Providing false testimony, of course," Harry answered.
Draco smiled, stepping closer to Abbey, who squirmed in her captor's grasp, trying to avoid him. "You heard him, Scrimgeour. Arrest him."
"Not so fast, Malfoy," Harry said in a soft, threatening voice. "That doesn't open the door for you to claim Abbey."
"Indeed it doesn't," said the condescending voice of Minerva McGonagall, making them start.
"I hope we're not interrupting," Remus said, levelling his wand on the blond.
"What?" Scrimgeour sputtered indignantly, looking around to see the Weasley family including Arthur, and Minerva and Remus Lupin surrounding them, accompanied by Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Themeaning of this," Minerva said coldly. "I would think, would be quite clear. We are here making a citizen's arrest."
"A citizen's arrest?" Scrimgeour asked, looking bewildered. "As you can see, Minerva, we've already captured Snape."
"She's not talking about Severus," Arthur informed him as the group advanced on them. "Now, release them," he said, motioning to Harry, Abbey and Severus with his wand.
"Are you kidding, Weasley?" Scrimgeour asked, turning red with anger. "I'll have your job for this!"
"Oh, I don't think so, Minister," Minerva said. "You see; we heard you talking with Malfoy in the stairwell. You're just like Fudge, willing to ignore illegal actions so long as it puts money in the Ministry's – or should I say your pockets. Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, arrest Malfoy, the Minister and the other Aurors, if you would, please."
"Gladly," Kingsley answered and moved to apprehend the Minister while Moody accosted Malfoy with a leer.
"What is the meaning of this?" Draco asked as Moody grabbed him. "You can't do this to me!"
"On the contrary," Moody growled. "You'll find that I can do a lot of things!"
"Moody!" Remus snapped. "That's enough!"
"Yes, quite," Minerva said. "You will not sink to their level, nothing illegal will happen any longer. We've had quite enough of that over the years. It's time it was stopped and justice returned to the Wizarding world once more."
"Justice!" Scrimgeour spat. "Is it justice to release a murderer on them?"
"Severus Snape is no murderer," Harry yelled angrily. "He didn't doanything!"
"Yeah?" Scrimgeour asked. "Well, I hope you can prove it!"
"Oh, don't worry," said Minerva. "We can. The question is; can you prove that you haven't allowed illegal activity to happen under your nose by accepting bribes?"
Harry ran to Severus, throwing his arms around his neck and kissing him once Remus and Tonks had corralled the Aurors working for Scrimgeour, tears rolling down his cheeks. Severus held him for a moment, relief flooding him as Harry calmed himself and turned to scoop Abbey into his arms while the others looked on with emotions ranging from anger to confusion and happiness.
"Abbey," Harry said in a voice choked with emotion. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, Daddy," the little girl said, hugging him tightly.
"Harry?" Minerva asked and he looked up at her, his eyes shining with tears. "We'll wait for you downstairs. We'll leave whenever you're ready." Harry nodded and turned his attention back to the child in his arms as Remus, Tonks, Moody, Shacklebolt, Minerva, and the Weasleys escorted the Minister, the Aurors, and an irate Draco Malfoy down to the lobby.
Harry walked over, and with a sigh, sat down on the bench, feeling numb with relief as he closed his eyes. "Daddy?" Abbey asked in a small, trembling voice.
"Yeah, baby?" Harry asked, opening his eyes, taking in her fearful expression and following her gaze to Severus.
"Who's that man?"
Harry smiled and hugged her tightly, his gaze flitting from her to Severus and back. "That's your papa, sweetie," he said gently and combed his fingers through her hair before kissing her temple. "This is who I wanted you to meet."
Severus moved warily as he sat down slowly next to the younger man and the little girl. "Hello," he said; his gaze flit to Harry and he saw him mouth the name, Abbey. He arched a curious brow and Harry shook his head. "Hello, Abbey."
Abbey looked at him uncertainly, before turning a questioning gaze to Harry, who smiled at her encouragingly. Turning back to the man before her, she looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "A-are you really my Papa?" Abbey asked, her voice trembling slightly, and neither Harry nor Severus could tell if it was from fear or hope.
Severus looked up to Harry a moment, and smiled before returning his gaze to the child in his lover's lap, looking at her seriously. "So I have been told," he answered. "But if you don't-"
"Papa!" Abbey cried, cutting him off and flinging herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a fierce hug. Startled by the girl's actions, it was a moment before Severus wrapped his arms around her and glanced up at Harry, who was smiling at them. Abbey pulled back after a moment, meeting his onyx gaze. "Papa?" Abbey asked, looking at him curiously. "Why were those men trying to take you away?" Severus started to speak, but then paused, sighing heavily. He looked to Harry for help, unsure what to tell her.
"Abbey," Harry said gently, drawing her attention. "Do you remember me telling you about the war I fought in before you were born?" Abbey nodded and Severus wondered just how freely he'd shared information with the girl. "Well, your papa was fighting too, but only a few people knew he was on our side. Those men, they where here to take him away because they thought he was on the other side."
Abbey nodded for a moment, and then looked at him curiously. "But, Daddy," she said quietly. "Minster Scrigor said they had your testmony about Papa."
Harry smiled at his daughter for a moment before looking at her seriously once more. "Yes, sweetie," he said sadly. "They did. You see; I didn't know that the man I saw kill Professor Dumbledore wasn't your Papa. In fact, I didn't know of his innocence until he found me this morning. Come on, we shouldn't keep them waiting." Severus nodded and with Abbey still in his arms, he rose to his feet. "Hey, wait a minute," Harry said. "Where's Healer Strout?"
A groan emanated from the room Severus had exited and they looked at each other in alarm before rushing inside. Harry slid to a halt inside the doorway, seeing the witch pushing herself into a sitting position, looking dazed, with a gash on her forehead. Severus sidestepped him and lowered Abbey to her feet, but she wouldn't let go. "Abbey," he said softly. "I need to help this lady with your Daddy. I'll be right back." She nodded and reluctantly let him go.
Harry had moved to the witch's side and was helping her to her feet when Severus came up beside her. "Here," Harry said, pulling out his wand.
"No!" Healer Strout said, panicking. "I won't tell anyone! Please, don't!"
"Shhh," Harry murmured. "I'm not going to hurt you. You've got a nasty cut," he explained, not noticing as Severus slipped his hands into the witch's robe pockets, removing something and slipping it into his own. "I just want to help." The witch nodded, eyeing Severus as he walked back toward the little girl and picked her up, turning to watch as Harry waved his wand, healing the cut on the witch's forehead.
"Harry," Severus said, picking up the Invisibility Cloak. "We should get going."
"Y-you're not staying?" Healer Strout asked. "But I thought," she trailed off when Harry shook his head.
"It seems that you were knocked out," Harry answered. "Draco Malfoy was alerted to my presence here and brought the Ministry looking for Severus," he explained hurriedly. "He tried to take our daughter from us. If it hadn't been for the members of the Order, we wouldn't be here now. They're all waiting for us downstairs; we must go now. We, that is Severus, the Order and I are going to clear his name before the Minister is arrested."
"Arrested?" Healer Strout asked in surprise.
"Yes," Harry answered, "for taking bribes to look the other way when someone committed a crime. Now," he said. "We must go. We will return once Severus has been cleared." Without waiting for her reply, he turned and walked over to Severus, who was holding their daughter in his arms. "You won't need that," he whispered softly, taking the Invisibility Cloak and folding it carefully, stuck it in the pocket of his robes. "Come on," he murmured and took one of the man's hands, leading him from the room.
"Fools! You won't get away with this!" Draco seethed downstairs in the lobby, straining against the hold Moody still had on him. "I'm a pure-blood!"
Minerva looked at him sternly, having had enough of this nonsense. "You will find, Mister Malfoy," she said, her voice laced with irritation and addressing him as though he were but a wayward student, still under her care. "That the purity of one's blood no longer matters."
Draco screamed with rage and strained against Moody once more. Tonks rolled her eyes and asked, "Can't we gag him, Minerva?"
"I have a better idea," Harry's voice rang out from behind them and they turned to see him approach, Severus at his side with Abbey in his arms. Harry waved his hand and Draco suddenly fell silent under the power of the wandlessly cast spell. Realizing no one could hear him, the blond glared at him and Harry smirked. "Ah," he said with a smile. "That's much better."
Severus was becoming a bit annoyed with the man himself, he sighed, perhaps his lover didn't realize that he was making him feel bad; after all, he was a wizard. Using magic was second nature to him now, and he had told the young man that it wasn't his fault that he was a Squib. Besides, he had risked everything to help him rebuild his magical system today, even the loss of their daughter and his own freedom. He shook his head, ridding himself of these thoughts. No, Harry wouldn't purposely flaunt his ability where others were lacking.
"Papa?" Abbey asked, looking at him curiously. "Are you okay?"
Abbey's words drew everyone's attention and Severus smiled at her uneasily. "Yes, Abbey," he said quietly. "I'm fine."
"Sev?" Harry asked, looking at the man in concern, moving closer and caressing his face.
"I'm fine, Harry," he reiterated. "We should get going."
"He's right," Minerva interjected. "We have an appointment with the Wizengamot. Harry," she said, drawing the young man's attention. "I assume that you have some sort of tangible proof of Severus' innocence."
Harry swallowed nervously and looked to Severus. "We have to show them, Sev," he murmured. Severus gave him a curt nod. "Yes," he answered, turning to her once more before lowering his gaze.
"All right," Minerva said. "I assume that you don't have it with you." Harry nodded in confirmation. "Okay then, you go and get it and we'll meet you at Hogwarts." Harry nodded once more before the witch turned her attention to the man beside him. "Severus, I have to ask you to come with us," she continued and Harry looked up in alarm. "I'm sure you'll understand."
"Yes, of course," Severus answered and reached out, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder when he was about to protest. "It's all right, Harry," he said softly. "She said that they weren't there to arrest me." Harry swallowed nervously as he watched the man lower Abbey to the ground. "I need both hands for a moment, little one," he said quietly.
Abbey nodded, and let him go, but never strayed from his side as he rose once more, looking to Harry with a penetrating gaze. "Here," he murmured and removed a silver ring with a large, square centrepiece and a thin slate of onyx over which lay a silver 'S', handing it to Harry. "You'll need this to get past the wards." Harry nodded numbly, clutching the ring in his hand tightly as Severus bent and picked up Abbey once more.
"Daddy?" Abbey asked, looking at him in concern when Severus rose once more. "Can I go with Papa?"
Harry took a shaky breath, fighting back his tears. "Yeah, baby," he said softly and smiled at her as he reached out and combed his fingers through her hair, kissing her forehead. "Yeah, you can go."
"Harry," Severus murmured, drawing his attention. "Everything will be fine." Harry nodded, exhaling heavily and trying to smile. "You remember how to get to the study?"
"Yeah," Harry replied shakily.
"All right," Severus said, sighing in relief. "Don't bother messing with bottles, just bring the Pensieve and hurry back." Harry nodded. "My wand is there, too."
"All right," Harry answered and hugged him tightly. Pulling back, he kissed him gently and squeezing Abbey's arm reassuringly, murmured, "I'll be back soon." He turned to Minerva before continuing, "Is the Wizengamot meeting at Hogwarts?"
"No," Minerva answered. "I'll contact the Ministry once we arrive. We'll wait for you at Hogwarts; it will be easier to retain Mister Malfoy and Minister Scrimgeour there. We'll leave together once you get there."
"All right," Harry said and with one last look to Abbey and Severus, he disapparated.