Warning: More cursing from now on.

Chapter 17

Vacations end:

Harry leaned backwards into the grass with a relaxed sigh, his arms casually crossed behind his head. Lazily, he observed the clouds as they slowly went by in the blue sky above him.

"That was a great race, Harry", commented Ron, who was lying beside him in a similar pose, his words slightly slurred because of the blade of grass on which he was absently chewing.

"A race which I won," Harry reminded Ron, amused.

"Doesn't matter. I'll beat you tonight in chess as revenge."

Was it possible to hear a shrug in a voice? Because even though Harry still had his eyes directed at the sky above, he was certain that Ron had just done so. That was probably because he knew his friend so well. He smiled thankfully. Already, more than three months had passed since his Godfather had died, and even though he would not have believed it at first, Harry had found his joy of life again. Of course, thinking of Sirius and about the fact that he would never be seeing him again still hurt. Especially the first four weeks at the Dursley's. That had had him missing his Godfather to the point of pure agony.

In the first time after the murder, the O.W.L.s exams had distracted him, and the Gryffindors' general verbal attacks against the Slytherins had helped him work through the pain. With Snape's arrest and prosecution they had the perfect ammunition to shoot at the rivalling house.

In the end, after about the fifth student had landed in the hospital wing because of a fight in front of the potions classroom, Dumbledore had resignedly decided not to let the two houses share any more classes together,

The first two days after the trial, Harry and Ron had nursed loud protests about the, in their eyes, much too mild sentence. But they had let off steam by musing over all the possibilities of bad things that could occur to Snape in Azkaban. From unceasing supervising by the dementors, which would leave the former professor a drooling shadow of a man, hiding in the corner of his cell, while he was slowly loosing the last little bit of sanity, up to any possible torture, which they invented at night in their beds.

Such games did seem to appease the hurting.

Ron's presence also helped Harry immensely, since his friend's hatred for the potions master almost equalled his own. Hermione was still a good friend of course, but such things he just couldn't share with her. She wouldn't understand. She would only be upset and so they preferred to keep it all a secret.

Harry chased those thoughts for the moment and turned over on his belly. He propped his upper body up on the elbows, looking at his friend, who was enjoying the warm rays of the sun with closed eyes.

"I don't remember agreeing to a game of chess."

Ron didn't open his eyes but the corners of his mouth twitched into a half-smile. "You didn't. But if you're not willing to confront me on my strong terrain, then I will put the broom away for the rest of the vacation."

"You wouldn't dare. If I don't practice, we won't win the quidditch cup next year."

"Try me."

"That's blackmail!"

Again that bloody Ron-ish shrug.

"All right", Harry eventually conceded.

Ron opened his eyes and flashed him a toothy grin before he jumped to his feet, picking up his broom in the process. "Come on, let's go home. Mom will come and hunt you down personally, if we're late for dinner. You know how possessed she is with the idea of fattening you up."

Harry could not suppress a groan. Ron's mom was a very caring person. Almost too caring in his eyes. The woman seemed to have made it her personal affair to recompense him for all the years of neglect and absence of parental love. "One should think, that after seven children, her tendency to be a mother hen would have died down somewhat", he sighed, while coming to his feet as well.

"I think it's only getting worse with every new kid. When she picked me up from the train station last month, she honestly started to wipe about my face with her handkerchief, only because there was some dirt on my cheek. Can you imagine the disaster if Malfoy were to see that?"

Harry winced theatrical. "Ouch!"

"Exactly", Ron agreed.

"Ah, there you are. I was just about to send Ginny looking for you two."

"We've been out practicing with the brooms, mom. We're not going to get lost, don't worry", Ron said with annoyance.

"Then sit down now, boys. Dinner will be ready in a minute. I hope you have washed your hands."

"Yes Mom", Ron sighed exasperatedly.

Harry stifled a chuckle. All those little things that Ron thought to be so annoying about his home life were things that happened in every family, and which Harry had never got to live until he had met the Weasleys. Thank God, had the Dursleys finally given up trying to stop him from spending the last few weeks of his vacation with his friend's family? Harry guessed that they were only all too happy to be rid of him faster. Which was quite all right with him. He wasn't too crazy about the time he had to spend in the Dursley's household either.

"I wonder where Percy and Arthur are being held up. They usually never work so long." Molly Weasley's eyes were looking at the magical clock on the wall. The hands indicating Percy and Mr. Weasley were still hefted firmly at the place where the word 'work' was written on the face of the enchanted item.

"Maybe there was some trouble with you-know-who", Fred suggested and immediately Mrs. Weasley's mouth set into a worried thin line. "You think so? I hope not. Attacks on muggles and wizards alike have grown over those past months."

"And that idiot of Fudge is still refuting the reappearance of the-one-whose-name-sounds-like-a-brand-of-crackers", George provided, lightly.

"George Weasley! I do not tolerate such a language at my table!"

Ron and Harry chuckled both at the new calling of the dark lord, ignoring Mrs. Weasley's indignant outburst completely.

"But Mom, his name really sound like this", George said, doing his best imitation of an innocent kid.

"That's not what I meant George. I'm talking about the way you called the minister."

"Why? His name is Fudge, isn't it?" Fred replied, looking no less innocent than his brother.

Even Ginny was giggling now. Only Fred and George managed to look completely serious.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head in exasperation. "I give up. You two are incorrigible."

She started to dish up all different kind of bowls and told them to start eating, since it was not easy to tell when her husband and Percy would be showing up.

When the front door finally opened and the voices of them two filed in, the rest of the family had indeed almost finished dinner.

"That Skeeter is a real plague. I wonder wow much she will pull this one out of proportions again."

"Father, no matter what she'll be writing, she just can't make it any worse than it already is. It's an absolute catastrophe. That's already the second time something like this is happening. The ministry will look like a bunch of incompetent imbeciles. Not to speak of the public trust, which is placed into us to protect the wizarding world of such criminals."

"Be quiet now, Percy. It's not necessary that the others be informed by overhearing us arguing. Especially Harry."

Harry instantly straightened up. What were they talking about? And what did it have to do with him?

Percy and Mr. Weasley stepped through the doorframe and instantly became aware of the worried and expecting faces turned towards them. Percy's eyes narrowed and Mr. Weasley's face fell slightly. Harry didn't miss the short sideways glance Ron's father threw in his direction, and an enormous hand seemed to grip his chest and squeeze it to the point that even breathing became difficult. Something was very wrong, and his instinct told him that it had something to do with him.

"You heard us." It was no question.

"What happened, dear?" Molly Weasley asked nervously. "Have there been more murders?"

Mr. Weasley shook his head in denial and let himself fall into a vacant chair by the table. "No, that's not it. Nobody has been hurt but something happened, which might turn out to be much worse, even if not directly."

"What happened?" Ron pressed.

"There has been another jail-break at Azkaban", Percy answered darkly. "The first time it happened was already bad enough for the reputation of the prison. But a second time in such a short period will significantly put its security into question."

The hand around Harry's chest squeezed even harder and suddenly the short sideways glance of Mr. Weasley made sense. He already knew the answer to his next question, yet he still heard it leave his mouth. "Who broke out?"

Mr. Weasley fixed him with his eyes and forced a smile on his face, failing miserably in putting confidence into his expression. "Severus Snape."

"Bloody fucking hell!"

A small, dusty fountain whirled up, as the stone, which Harry had been throwing away in anger, hit the dry dirt of the ground.

"Harry, please calm down."

"I don't want to calm down, Ron. That blasted son of a bitch is out. Sirius' murderer is on the loose again." Harry was mad like hell, and he wanted to rant. Right after Mr. Weasley's announcement he had stormed out, not trusting himself in his fury for the safety of the Weasley's furniture. So he contented himself to throw pebbles at grass, bushes and other equally offensive things.

Snape had escaped his penalty. Just now, as Harry had started to befriend the thought that Snape may be punished worse by prison than by the kiss.

"Malfoy has testified, to have gotten an owl with the papers for Snape's temporary transfer into the ministry prison cells for further questioning, together with the plea of taking the affair into his hands. He had further told the officials that he had handed Snape over to a couple of Aurors, once back in London. He said that it was not the first time that he had gotten such mail. Before, his good name had been helpful to handle delicate situations fast and without public uproar. He had only thought that the ministry wouldn't want for any reporters to get wind of the transfer. Snape's case was at the moment of high interest in the public eye", Arthur Weasley, who had followed the boys outside, said.

Ron's disparaging snort showed perfectly what he held of this excuse.

"Malfoy, of course, doesn't remember the names of the Aurors, who took Snape from him", Mr. Weasley growled.

"Voldemort got Snape out of Azkaban", Harry insisted.

"But why should he do such a thing?" Ron asked. "He never cared a bit about the deatheaters who were rotting away in Azkaban and the greasy Git wasn't even loyal to him. Surely Voldemort has found out by now that Snape spied for Dumbledore."

"Maybe, maybe not – wouldn't surprise me in any case. Yet, Snape knows a lot of secrets about the headmaster and the order. That alone is reason enough to free him, only to get a hold on that knowledge. Besides, Snape seems to hate Dumbledore as much as Voldemort does, after the headmaster turned him over to the ministry. I don't doubt for a minute that he will spill that knowledge."

T.B.C.