Ok my wonderful readers and reviewers (hint hint). Here is the chapter several of you have been dying for. It is a twist of the original, however I hope you enjoy it the same, if not more. It's a rather short chapter for me, however I hope to get the next up sooner. Thanks for reading!

Also, a HUGE thanks goes out to my betas, I would be lost without you guys! Draeconin, Sumer Sunrise, and Supergirl3684, they have saved you guys from reading all my errors and mistakes!

Disclaimer: As you should know by now, I own nothing that you recognize. All that you recognize is property of JK Rowling and all of the copyrighted companies in charge of the Harry Potter world.

The Aftermath

The group of Weasley's, along with Harry, Hermione and Professor Snape, made their way, amongst the commotion of celebration, back to their tent at the campsite. They passed so many groups of drunken Irish people that were celebrating after the dominating win against Bulgaria.

"Sure am glad I'm not working tonight. I'd hate to have to be the one to tell all those Irish chaps that they have to ease up on their celebrations!" stated Arthur with a look of relief upon his face.

The group made their way back through the trees, all of them chatting excitedly about the match. It seemed that the celebrating mood was quite contagious.

"Now boys, don't you go blowing all of that money at once, and don't tell your mother, either. She'd have my head if she knew I allowed you boys to gamble." Mr. Weasley gave his twin sons a pointed look.

"Oh, no worries, Dad," began George.

"We have wonderful plans," continued Fred.

"...for these winnings."

"We wouldn't bother..."

"...wasting it on something..."

"...petty with the plans we have," finished Fred.

"I don't think I want to know what these plan entail; just make sure you are careful, and don't let your mother know I had any clues as to any of it," Arthur conceded.

They passed many more parties of Irish supporters. Many were drinking and shooting sparks with their wands, or doing simple tricks such as making banners float and change colors. Many of the heavy drinkers were singing the Irish national anthem, and were horribly loud and off key. (Harry suspected that some of them had been drinking since 'way before the match.)

They eventually made it back to their campsite and went into their tent. Everyone put their purchases in their duffel bags. They gathered and continued talking over nice steaming cups of tea, and chilled bottles of butterbeer.

Severus made sure to keep an eye on Harry. He was content with watching the boy smiling and laughing with his friends while they played exploding snap. He figured this outing was doing the boy some good. He did have a rough last few years, and from the sounds of the way the boy had been acting and what he witnessed when he found the child a rough life altogether.

The group decided to forego any type of meal; they were each stuffed from snacking 

during the match. The adults who didn't snack as much as the children, each ate one of the individually-sized mince pies that Molly had sent along.

"I believe it is time for us to turn in as it is getting well past midnight," stated Severus. "Not to mention that I have promised the headmaster to have Mr. Potter back by lunchtime tomorrow."

"Right you are, Severus. I think it's time for our lot to turn in as well," replied the Weasley senior. "Off you all go; get ready, and into those beds. Girls, you have first use of the restroom since there are only the two of you. However, do keep in mind that there are several of us waiting for our turn, so be hasty." He nodded to the girls.

As the girls gathered their things and went into the bathroom to change and proceed with their nightly duties, the boys changed in the main rooms beside their bunks.

Just after everyone had gotten dressed in their pajamas, taken their turn in the restroom and were climbing into bed, there was a great commotion outside.

"Bill, Charlie, come with us; the rest of you stay here!" yelled Arthur Weasley as he gave a short, pointed look at each of the school aged children.

They exited the front of the tent to see the one sight they had hoped to avoid for a long, long time: preferably forever, if they could. There was a group of about 10 men dressed in Death Eater garb. They were walking along laughing and pointing. Four of the men had the campsite attendant and his family floating in the air with looks of horror on their faces, gagged and bound. The man and woman were both bloodied up some, but were alive. The children were evidently silencioed, because they were silently crying and screaming. There was a sign magically floating over their heads reading "Filthy Muggle Waste".

The rest of the Death Eaters were walking along, torching tents and sending hexes at anyone and everyone that dared get in their way. At the moment there were about four tents down. Within the next few minutes the Death Eaters would be at their tent, hexing anyone who got in their way and burning the tent. They had to evacuate.

"Everyone up and out! NOW! You have to make it back to the forest and use your 

portkeys. Death Eaters are out and causing trouble. Stay calm, but keep your heads low and your wits about you."

"Bill, Charlie, come with me. The ministry is gathering people to put an end to their fun. Be careful!"

"Severus, you are welcome to join us or go with the children," Arthur stated in a rush, barely pausing to breathe between sentences.

After a quick look towards Harry who gave a slight nod of his head, he turned to Arthur. "I will join you," he stated.

"Let's go, everyone. Kids, circle around behind the tents; it's the best chance you have at not being seen: especially you, Harry. Be careful, kids, and stick together!" Mr. Weasley told them one last time, before each child grabbed their duffel and made their way out of the tent behind the adults.

The children circled around behind the tents as told to do, trying to avoid the main ruckus where the Death Eaters were. They attempted to stick with their partners; however, it seemed that other people had the same idea. Before they knew it they were running along in a crowd of people. Harry was tripped, but quickly regained his footing. Unfortunately, in the couple of seconds it took him to trip and regain his balance, he had already lost Ron and the others.

Harry looked behind him and noticed that the offending Death Eaters were several tents back. It should be safe to go back around now. He made his way around to the other side of the tents, where the Death Eaters had been. He had just started jogging forward when he noticed someone off a few meters from him.

It was so dark that Harry could barely see the person. They were wearing a black cloak with the hood all the way up, so he couldn't make out who they were, even if they were a man or woman, much less if they were friend or foe. He tried to slowly back away, but it was useless, the person saw him and started to walk menacingly towards him. Harry went to reach for his wand, only to notice...it wasn't there. 'Uh-oh,' he thought. 'This is definitely not good.'

"Ah ah ah...Stay where you are, Mr. Potter. You've been a naughty, naughty boy, haven't 

you?" came the voice of the person. It was a woman's voice. Harry knew it sounded familiar, but for the life of him couldn't think of where he had heard it before; and at the moment, 'for the life of him' seemed to be a literal phrase.

The two stared hearing voices several meters away; the opposing person growled, raised their wand up in the air and shouted "Morsmordre!" and disappeared with a 'pop'.

Harry watched as a green, smoke-like substance rose out of the person's wand and up into the air before they disappeared. The smoke rose higher and higher until Harry was sure that it could be seen from kilometers around. It then formed into a grotesque looking skull, not unlike that of the Muggle Jolly Roger, but it somehow looked even more frightening. The skull had its mouth open, and a whisp of green smoke protruded in the form of a snake in the place of where a tongue would be.

Within seconds of the woman disappearing, there were several sounds of apparition all around Harry. His seeker reflexes came in handy at this point. He ducked and flew to the ground on instinct, just as there were about fifteen shouts of "Stupefy!"

"STOP! That's Harry Potter!" someone shouted from within the group. Harry had never been so glad to have been the Boy-Who-Lived. It's not every day, after all, that just being well known stops people from trying to hex you unconscious. Not to mention that he had a feeling that if he hadn't ducked, he'd be spending a good bit of time in St. Mungo's. There was no telling what kind of damage fifteen stunners would have caused to a fourteen year old boy.

"Drop your wand, boy!" he heard Mr. Crouch yell from somewhere to his left.

Harry turned towards the man with his hands slightly raised in the air. "I don't have my wand, sir."

"What do you mean you don't have your wand Mr. Potter?" Harry paled when he heard that voice. He knew it meant trouble. It was Severus.

"Well... uh, sir. You see...I um...can't find It." he replied sheepishly.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself young man? Don't you know what that is? You 

of all people should be wary!" questioned someone else out of the group. They were pointing up to the green smoke skull in the sky. Harry didn't know who the person was, but he could see others in the group nodding their agreement.

"Well you see, Ron and I were going to the forest like you told us, sir," he began talking to Severus, since he was the only one that he could see and the only one he really knew: well, besides the Weasleys. "We were mixed in with the crowd of people, and somehow I tripped. By the time I caught my balance I had lost sight of the others. So, knowing that the Death Eaters were being handled and were a ways back, I came over to this side where it's not so crowded to try to catch up and find Ron and the others."

"When I got over here I walked a little ways and noticed a figure in a black cloak with their hood up just over there." he told the group while pointing over to the position where he last saw the woman. "The person started coming towards me and she said something like 'Ah, ah, ah... Stay where you are, Mr. Potter. You've been a naughty, naughty boy, haven't you?'" Harry shivered at the memory. There was just something about the way she said that which gave him the creeps, and made him shiver. "Then we heard a commotion back that way, and the person looked up and growled, and yelled something while pointing their wand in the air. Then some green smoke stuff came out and rose up, then it turned into that," he finished, pointing at the mark in the sky.

"Don't you know what that is boy?" yelled someone else in the group.

"No," said Harry, quite confused. How could a simple picture in the air seem to upset so many people?

"That, Harry, is the Dark Mark. It was You-Know-Who's mark. Years ago, before you stopped him, it was everyone's worst fear to come home and find that just hanging over their house. The Death Eaters and You-Know-Who always left it over any dwelling they attacked. The likelihood of finding survivors after these attacks were almost nonexistent," Mr. Weasley explained. "Could you recognize the person that conjured it?" he asked.

"No, sir; it was dark, and they were wearing a dark cloak with their hood up. All I know was that it was a woman's voice that spoke," Harry sadly informed the group.



"Search him for a wand!" roared Crouch.

Two men strode up to Harry from the group. Following along behind them was Percy Weasley. The two men began to search Harry for a wand, and upon finding none, turned to Crouch and shrugged. "He was telling the truth; he has no wand;" one of the men replied.

"We will have to take him to the ministry for further interrogation. Moody! Shacklebolt! You know what to do," stated Crouch again.

Just as the two men strode forward, neither looking too happy to be basically arresting The Harry Potter, a woman from the back of the crowd spoke up. "Don't you have to contact his guardians first, Barty? He is underage after all, and is therefore allowed his guardians or a solicitor before being taken in for anything, even questioning," she informed the man with a stern look of disapproval. She didn't seem to like them just taking him in without him having someone to help him.

"Actually Mrs. Tonks, being that his guardians are muggle, and not understanding of or involved in legal proceedings, then no, the law clearly states that he is to be taken in and questioned until all doubt is cleared and only then is the suspect free to go. As for a solicitor, Mr. Potter is, as you said, 'underage,' and unable to properly provide one at his age." Fudge finished up for Crouch who was standing with a smug look on his face, as well as Percy, despite his father's openly disapproving looks.

"Actually, Barty, I have a bit of information for you on that subject. Information that would best be kept private, if you don't mind," Mr. Weasley informed the man, with a pointed look at the rest of the people gathered.

Mr. Crouch nodded his consent, and Mr. Weasley gestured for Severus to join him over by the man.

"I thought you said this was private, Arthur," Crouch said, while looking at Severus with something akin to utter hatred.

"Seeing that this is more Severus' business than mine, I thought it best that he be involved as well," Mr. Weasley replied back shortly. He knew that Crouch and Severus were not 

fond of each other.

When Severus was first imprisoned in Azkaban, it took none other than Dumbledore himself to vouch for Severus' character as a spy for the Light. Even then, Crouch had not been happy to let a 'known Death Eater roam free'. Ever since that day Crouch had been disgruntled, and did not trust Severus. The two were constantly wary of each other.

Severus put up silencing, privacy, and eavesdropping charms around them. "So what is this important information that you have for me, Arthur?" Crouch attempted to sneer, but was doing nowhere near as well as the Potions Master.

"You see, Barty, at the beginning of the summer, a change was made regarding the guardianship of Harry James Potter. He is no longer a ward of Petunia and Vernon Dursley, but the charge of none other than Severus Snape," Arthur informed the man.

"That's preposterous!" yelled an irritated Crouch "Why would the ministry allow someone...such as...you...guardianship of The-Boy-Who-Lived?"

"Because I am the only one capable, and I am able to understand Mr. Potter's needs: emotionally, physically, and mentally! If you have doubts, then you need to ask Albus himself. Until that time, much to your disappointment, it is I who will escort Mr. Potter to the ministry, and it is I who will be present during all of the interrogation. I'll warn you now, if you or your goons put so much as one toe out of line regarding Mr. Potter, I will notify the Daily Prophet of exactly how you treated their precious savior. Understood, Crouch?" Severus snarled in the man's face. Crouch was getting an up close and personal example of why the Potions Master and Professor was considered the 'evil greasy bat of the dungeons'.

With that, the potions master spun around on his heel away from the man, and out of the range of the charms he cast, promptly disabling them. He immediately walked over to his son...no, his charge. Damn Crouch for getting him all worked up about the boy, and damn Potter for getting himself into this situation!

He grabbed the boy by his elbow. "We will meet you at the MLE office in fifteen minutes ...wizard's promise," he stated to Moody and Shacklebolt, before using his portkey to send 

both Harry and himself to Dumbledore's office.

Even being well past midnight, he figured the old headmaster would still be up; he was not disappointed. They immediately appeared in the middle of Dumbledore's office, to find the man sitting at his desk in his night clothes working on paperwork.

Upon seeing the two materialize before his tired eyes, the Headmaster jumped up from his desk with the agility of a young man. "My word, Severus, Harry: is everything alright?" he asked, practically running around his desk.

"No. It seems that the Death Eaters that are still free became a bit inebriated and restless, and decided to stir up some trouble. Someone conjured the Dark Mark in the vicinity of Mr. Potter, who was separated from the others and alone at the time. Crouch wants him interrogated. I must have him at the ministry MLE offices in ten minutes. Mr. Potter's wand is also missing," Severus told the Headmaster.

"Oh my," was the only reply Dumbledore gave as he processed the information.

"Tell the Headmaster what happened to you, Potter," Severus told Harry.

Harry told Dumbledore what happened from the time he and the others made their way out of the tent with their duffel bags, to the time the group of people came and assumed he conjured the Dark Mark. Just then the floo flared green, and Arthur Weasley's head appeared in the flames.

"Albus, we have a problem!" he told the man without wasting any time on pleasantries. "Oh, they're there. Um, never mind, then. I see they decided to stop by and tell you themselves. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Thank you, Arthur; I believe we have the situation under control. We will call you if we need anything though, dear boy," Albus replied.

"Mr. Weasley, are the others alright? Did everyone make it back to the Burrow okay?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry, they are all fine. They were extremely worried about you, though. Molly almost had a heart attack when they arrived and realized you were missing. She thought she would have to stupefy 

Ron and Ginny to keep them from going back after you. Don't know how they thought they were going to do that, though." He smiled reassuringly at the boy.

Harry sighed in relief. There was nothing to worry about now...he hoped. All he had to do now was go to the ministry and be officially interrogated to prove he wasn't the one that conjured the Dark Mark. He suddenly had butterflies all in his stomach. 'Oh no! Why do I have the feeling that this isn't going to be anywhere near as simple as it sounds?' he thought to himself.

"Well, allow me to change into a more presentable outfit, and I believe I shall join you," Albus informed them as he turned and headed for his chambers.

"Oh, and yes, thank you, Arthur. Please tell Molly and the children that everything will be fine. I'll floo you in the morning and let you know how everything went."

Arthur knew a dismissal when he heard it, and was frankly eager to end the call; his knees were starting to ache. So with a quick nod in the direction of Harry and Severus, he withdrew from the flames.

As the headmaster left to go change, Harry sat down heavily in one of the stuffed arm chairs in front of the desk. With his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, he stated, "Great. Just what I need: the ministry thinking that I'm the one who conjured the mark of the man who murdered my parents."

Severus came over and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, making him flinch slightly at the sudden contact. "It is nothing to worry about; you did nothing wrong, except for maybe leaving the crowd. This is merely Fudge and Crouch's way of showing the public that they are trying, however incompetent this solution may seem, to find the suspect. They are unknowingly slitting their own throats, so to say, by suspecting The-Boy-Who-Lived."

"What does that matter?"

"When the public realizes that the ministry is interrogating the one person who put an end to this mess before, Fudge and Crouch will likely lose a majority of the pull they have on the public. Therefore, they are, as the muggles say, 'hanging themselves'," Severus tried to explain.

"Oh yeah, and things went really well for me with the public in second year when everyone thought that I must be the Dark Heir of Slytherin, who was out to kill all of the 

muggleborns and half-bloods, all just because I can talk to snakes," Harry dead panned.

"That was not necessarily the public, just a bunch of dunderhead teenage students, that don't know a dark person from a hole in the ground."

"Ok, but still, I don't think I like this too much. It just seems that at every turn Fudge and his ministry goons are out to get me." Harry complained.

"Do not dwell on it; everything will be fine. In the end they will understand that you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then they will try to cover this whole mess up to ensure their own careers," Severus said, attempting to calm his charge.

Neither of the two room's occupants noticed when Dumbledore silently entered the room wearing bright purple robes and a pointed wizard's hat, both of which shimmered with twinkling gold stars and silver moons. "He is correct, my boy; Cornelius and Barty are just trying to soothe the public, but are doing the opposite by targeting you. It will come back around to bite them. You shall see," he stated, startling the other two occupants when he spoke.

"Well, I believe we have less than five minutes to meet Moody and Shacklebolt at the MLE office. We'd best be going," Severus told the others.

Severus took a handful of floo powder, stepped into the fireplace, and then while throwing the powder down, shouted, "Ministry of Magic: MLE Department," and was gone in a whirl of green flames.

He was then followed by Harry, who stepped through moments before Dumbledore.

Harry watched as an older man, older than Severus but much younger than the Headmaster, made his way over to them. He was not by any means an 'ordinary' looking man, however. He had shoulder length graying hair, his face was extremely scarred, and it seemed that a good chunk of his nose was missing. One of the man's eyes was normal, while the other was slightly larger and seemed to be able to turn in all directions. The 'creepy eye' as Harry deemed it, was currently trained solely on him. He had the sudden feeling that it was not looking at him, but through him.

The man also had a very telling limp to his step. Harry decided from the look and sound that the man must have a wooden leg. One of Uncle Vernon's clients, who had been invited 

over to dinner once, had told Dudley of his time fighting in World War II, and about how he lost his leg while fighting. Harry had been nine at the time. He had watched and listened to the man from the vent in his cupboard. This man here had the same sound and limp to his walk as Uncle Vernon's client.

"Moody" Severus greeted.

"Snape, Albus." Moody nodded back.

"Ah, Alastor, how nice to see you again!" Dumbledore exclaimed, extending his hand to the man.

"Let's head to the interrogation room; we'll have a couple of minutes before we are joined," grunted Moody.

"Who else will be joining us?" Severus sneered at the man.

"Best not to discuss things where they can be easily overheard, Snape," Moody grumbled to the man, looking around pointedly down the corridor where the other offices were.

Harry gulped nervously and followed the others into the room that had a gold plaque on the door that read 'interrogation'.

Ok, for those of you who may be a tad bit confused:

Mrs. Tonks is referring to Andromeda not her daughter, her daughter would be referred to as 'Auror Tonks'.

MLE for those of you who don't know is the Magical Law Enforcement

I hope to post the next chapter in a 'timely' manner. Reviews always help me to do that! I am just shy of 200 Reviews people!! I need that 200 so PLEASE review! Thank you!