Heavy Snow

by welfycat

Book 8. Following the war, Rachel and Severus must navigate the world outside of Hogwarts. Adulthood comes with a series of unique challenges for Rachel, including the Wizengamot, the aurors, and living away from home.

4. The Wizengamot

Rachel and Severus arrived at Sirius' house just before lunch on Friday the thirty first. This time it wasn't a surprise that they were holding a party for her and Neville's birthdays. There were enough people in attendance that they wound up going between the kitchen and the sitting room, just so people had enough places to sit and talk.

Truthfully, it was a little overwhelming. After blowing out candles on cakes, she and Neville were loosed to roam free. Rachel decided that she'd find a quieter and more private moment later on to give Neville his birthday gift. Rachel said hello to Cedric, Cho, Heidi, and Roland. She waved to Tonks and Kingsley. Most of the Weasleys were in attendance and Rachel made certain to say hello to Mrs. Weasley and Bill as well. Sirius stopped her long enough to hug her and to push a gift into her hands. Remus reintroduced her to Emmaline Vance, who was with their group of the Order and was on the MLE Patrol, but Rachel had only met her in passing.

After enduring the chaos of the kitchen for about as long as she could manage, Rachel slipped out and went into the sitting room where most of the younger people had gathered.

"Group present from us this year, Rachel. We hope you'll like it," Hermione said.

"I'm sure I will." Her friends knew her well enough to know what she'd like to receive. The box was fairly large and Rachel carefully undid the wrapping paper to reveal a picture on the box. It was a stereo with built in speakers, radio, cassette player, and cd player. "Thank you. We're going to need a place with electricity for this to work."

"I promise, we're living somewhere with electricity," Hermione said.

Draco had come closer and was peering at the box. "It just plays music?"

"It plays music from different sources. You've seen my cassettes. This will play those. It will also play cds, which are like small records. And it gets the muggle wireless radio," Rachel explained.

"If you say so," Draco said, looking no less mystified.

"And special delivery from us," George said as he stepped forward with a small package. "Not exactly an ideal birthday present, but we were told you were looking for this."

Rachel opened the package and found a sunhat and a light lavender summer cloak with a hood. "Disguises?" she checked.

"Yes. Mostly it will just change the appearance of your face and hair. We went with a young woman with long hair, but light brown and light brown eyes, since that won't stand out. No glasses, so it will look a little odd if you adjust yours, but it shouldn't be too noticeable.

"Thank you. I should be able to go out in public again." She wasn't necessarily planning on doing so, but she was glad she had the option.

"Just don't wear them into Gringotts or into the Ministry. Won't go over well in either place," Fred said.

"Good to know," Rachel said. She dug into her pocket and passed Neville his gift from her. "From me and from Severus."

Neville opened it and stared down at it. "Thank you."

"What is it?" Millie asked.

"Designs for a greenhouse and building instructions. A greenhouse of my own," Neville said, turning one of the large pages.

"Severus is building his so I asked him if he wouldn't mind letting you see a copy of the plans with instructions on how to do it. You can make changes, of course, for what your greenhouse needs," Rachel said.

Neville nodded. "But this helps a lot. I'll have to thank him too."

The rest of the group gave their gifts to Neville as well.

"I can't believe we're eighteen now," Neville said.

Rachel nodded. It didn't feel real to her either. Somehow growing older never did.

"I still can't believe we're not going back to Hogwarts," Hermione said.

"I wish I wasn't," Ginny said, shaking her head.

"You mean it doesn't get better?" Malcolm asked.

Rachel glanced around the room, but it was Theo who answered. "It gets better. Things will get better from here."

"It really does," George said. "That's not to say that some things aren't hard, but things generally get better after you finish at Hogwarts."

"No adults telling you what to do," Fred pointed out.

"My parents still try to tell me what to do," Millie said.

"Didn't I hear rumors that you lot were looking to move out? Because that stops a lot of that, believe me," George said.

"We're trying," Draco said. "We're looking for a place."

Fred looked at Rachel. "How is Snape taking that?"

"Better than the news that I want to join the aurors," she said. That was not a subject she was planning on bringing up with Severus again until she found out if the aurors would actually accept her.

Fred and George looked at each other. "I'm sure that went down just as well as ickle Ronnikins saying that to our mother," Fred said.

"She yelled for what seemed like hours," Ron said.

"Well you shouldn't have said 'but I thought you wanted me to join the Ministry'. That really set her off," Ginny said.

Ron shrugged. "But it's true."

"She wants you safe behind a desk, like dad," George said.

"Well she doesn't know me at all if she thinks I'm going to do well at anything that involves sitting at a desk," Ron said.

"Just like my mom doesn't know me if she thinks I can actually look at someone's bloody wounds and actually heal them instead of passing out," Millie said.

"You did alright," Theo said, nudging her with his knee. "I know you don't want to do healing, and I'm not trying to say that you should, but when we were dealing with hurt people, you did alright."

Millie shook her head. "Believe me, I was very carefully not looking. I was getting people to the healers and that's it. And then I had to sit down for a while because my knees were shaking, and that wasn't from the battle."

"What are you going to do?" Rachel asked Ron.

Ron shrugged. "Join the aurors if they'll have me. You?"

"Pretty much," Rachel said, though she did feel increasingly guilty about it.

"When do the three of you have to go into the Wizengamot? Have you heard anything?" Luna asked.

"They won't send summons until after the election results are made public. We'll probably get them tomorrow for next week. They'll want the first meeting of the new Wizengamot next Saturday, if not sooner," Draco said.

"What do you think will happen at the meeting?" Rachel asked.

"There will be a vote on the Chief Warlock position. I'd be shocked if Dumbledore didn't get it. And based on the newspapers, my guess is we'll vote on extending the anti-Death Eater measures," Draco explained with a shrug.

"But not the trials yet?" she checked.

"No, that will be later," he said.

"I'm not looking forward to that," Neville said.

Rachel shook her head. She wasn't looking forward to that either.

"Well, I know I've been saying that I don't want to go back to Hogwarts, but I'd rather go back to Hogwarts than sit on the Wizengamot," Ginny said.

Rachel didn't want to go back to Hogwarts either, but between sitting on forty Death Eater trials and taking another year of classes, she might pick another year of classes.

"Exploding Snap or something? Before this conversation gets too depressing?" Millie asked.

"Yes, please," Neville said.

"Yes, let's do something fun. It's too bad there isn't electricity here. I want to hear some of the music you like when you have your stereo set up," Hermione said as they began to make a place to play cards.

"Sure, but it will probably have to wait until we have a place to live," Rachel said. She settled down between Luna and Millie and gently nudged other thoughts away. She could worry about the future again in a few hours.

---

Rachel came downstairs on the morning of the first of August feeling somewhat well rested for once. She'd taken a modified Dreamless Sleep potion last night and had slept from eleven to seven. She supposed that her real task, if she really wanted to improve sleeping potions, was to invent one that could be safely used every night. Maybe she could make that her Mastery project. She could do some of the research before she started her Mastery - to start with, she needed to do a comprehensive study of both modern and historical sleeping potions. Then she needed to determine what was making them unsafe to use consistently, and then find a way to change that so the effects of the sleeping potion remained but they were no longer addictive or had severe side effects.

It was a big project, and Rachel suspected that her first task was to make a sleeping potion that could safely be used more frequently rather than jumping straight to one that could be used every night. The project was somewhat daunting, but Rachel felt if she was going into potion inventing, then she wanted to invent something that would really help people and not just make the minor modifications for efficiency that Severus so often complained about when reading the journals.

"Election results are in," Severus said when she entered the kitchen. "And there were attacks last night. Injuries were reported, but no deaths."

Rachel nodded. She knew they'd been expecting attacks around the elections.

"I want to warn you before you see the paper," he began.

"What can they possibly be saying about me now?" She hadn't done anything. No one had even seen her in public for over a month, apart from the memorial.

"The newspaper wrote biographies of all of the Wizengamot seats. I'm afraid yours is rather comprehensive."

Rachel accepted the paper, still standing up and leaning over the table, and began to look through it. On the front page it detailed that there had been three attacks last night - it suggested there was a leak in the Ministry because the attacks were on newly elected members of the Wizengamot. All that told Rachel was that there were still Death Eater sympathizers in the Ministry - it seemed not everyone had been called to the battle that Sunday.

A few pages in the biographies began in alphabetical order. Most people only had a paragraph or two, though Madam Bones had several paragraphs. Professor Dumbledore had a whole page to himself and a long list of his achievements. Neville and Draco only had a short section each, and that was mostly the history of their families in the Wizengamot. Rachel supposed the newspaper simply didn't know much about them.

Rachel found her section and sighed heavily. It was three pages long and it was a full biography, starting from when she was an infant and had reflected the Killing Curse back at the Dark Lord and Professor Dumbledore's controversial decision to place her with her relatives. It then moved onto another description of the abuse Rachel had suffered at the hands of her relatives, also noting that Rachel had been mute when she'd first arrived at Hogwarts. They wrote about Leander - though Rachel was relieved to note that no one associated her with the Chamber of Secrets being opened - about her being kidnapped by Sirius, about her winning the Triwizard Tournament and being present when the Dark Lord regained his body. Rachel noted that there was no apology here either or mention of how the newspaper and Ministry had slandered her and Professor Dumbledore. From there it went on to Professor Umbridge using the Imperius Curse on her, and then her abduction and torture, though details there were sparse, thankfully. After that was the attack on Hogsmeade and speculation that she'd been the true target and then the attack on the first floor corridor at Hogwarts. And finally a recap of her dying and then killing the Dark Lord.

The only things Rachel was pleased to see was that they noted her inventions in spellcrafting and her modified potions, her team winning the Wizarding Schools Potions Championship, and her success on the Slytherin Quidditch team. They also mentioned that Rachel was an animagus, which really hadn't taken long at all to become public knowledge.

"It's been a rough couple of years," Rachel said, thinking of all the things that the paper hadn't known - her visions, her conversations with the Dark Lord, hunting the horcruxes, the students threatening them during her sixth year, the Chamber of Secrets opening, her response to the Dementors, years of therapy, and her eating disorder and mental illnesses.

"It has. It's a little daunting to see it all laid out like that," Severus said. "I feel as though my efforts to protect you were inadequate."

Rachel shook her head. "Most of that you couldn't protect me from, and you kept it from being much worse than it was. I literally couldn't have made it through all that without you."

Severus did not seem reassured. He reached for the paper and began to flip through it again. "Would you mind getting my quill? I believe I left it in the sitting room."

"Sure." Rachel retrieved his quill and brought it to him. She watched as Severus began making notes in the margins next to the biographies. There were words such as ally, use caution, enemy, and a listing of the factions.

"Some of these people I do not know and someone who was sitting on the Wizengamot will have more detailed information than I do. Your godfather may be able to add to this. Draco and Neville may have more information about some of these people as well," he said as he worked.

"Thank you. That will help," Rachel said. She watched for a moment more and then went to make herself some porridge for breakfast. She was pretty sure they still had some blueberries left, and if not, she knew there was brown sugar.

She'd just brought her bowl to the table when an owl arrived with a letter. Rachel went to it and carefully performed a few spells to check for curses and portkeys and then took the letter from the owl. The owl flew away before she could offer it anything. Rachel took a moment to pet Gladys while she looked over the envelope. It was made of thick creamy parchment and simply had her name on it in blue ink and then had the Ministry seal holding the envelope closed.

"Your summons, I presume," Severus said.

Rachel opened it and began reading the letter it contained. "I'm to go to the Wizengamot Chambers on Monday at ten to be oriented. Our first meeting is on Saturday the eighth."

Severus nodded. "The robes we bought you will do for this orientation, and then later this week we will go get you dress robes and nice clothes that will be suitable for you to wear at the Ministry."

She wasn't particularly looking forward to that, but she knew it needed to be done. She began eating her breakfast, listening to the scratching of Severus' quill as he annotated the biographies.

---

On Monday morning Rachel found Sirius, Draco, and Neville all neatly dressed in robes. Rachel had put her charmed quill in her pocket in case she needed to write anything down while she was there, but other than her wand and her jewelry, she was almost going empty handed. She had unpacked her small emergency bag and had repacked it with her invisibility cloak and her new light disguise cloak, just in case. That was in the pocket opposite of her wand.

Beneath her light blue summer robes she was wearing a skirt and her Hogwarts uniform shirt. She was also wearing her school shoes, since they were the nicest shoes she owned. She supposed she needed to add shoe shopping to the list of things she needed to do.

"Everyone ready?" Sirius asked.

"As ready as I'm going to get," Neville said.

Rachel agreed with the sentiment full heartedly.

"Good luck, come back and tell us about it," Theo said from where was sitting at the table with Malcolm and Remus.

"You'll do fine, shouldn't be too much work today," Remus told them.

"Not work, just expect some mild chaos with everyone showing up," Sirius said. "Follow me through." He tossed a handful a floo powder into the large kitchen fireplace. "Ministry, Wizengamot Chambers."

Rachel waited a moment and then stepped through after Sirius. When she stepped out at the other end she found herself in a relatively small room with a number of people in it. Two were in deep blue MLE robes and were obviously there to provide security, and there was another person with a clipboard approaching.

"Wizengamot Member Black, I hope you've had a fruitful month away from the Wizengamot," the man said.

"If you call fighting the Death Eaters fruitful, then yes I did. I have new Wizengamot Members Rachel Snow, Draco Malfoy, and Neville Longbottom with me," Sirius said.

The man looked over each of them and then made notes on his clipboard. "Very well. Let's see. I have their assigned clerks here. For Wizengamot Member Malfoy and Wizengamot Member Longbottom, you will be Mr. Archie Hipple. And Wizengamot Member Snow, your clerk is Mr. Booker Richmond. They'll show you to your offices and get you oriented. Wizengamot Member Black, I suggest you check in with your clerk at some point today. I believe they've been looking for you."

"Will do," Sirius said.

Two people from the other side of the room had come to join their group.

"Just call me Archie. You're sharing me with Macnair, but he knows his business well enough that I can focus on both of you for right now. Come with me and I'll show you your offices," the man with shoulder length brown hair told Draco and Neville.

"We'll find you again before we go home," Draco said to Rachel.

"I'll come by your offices and collect you, or you can come by mine. Just ask Archie where to find me," Sirius said.

Draco and Neville left with Archie.

"Wizengamot Member Snow, it's an honor to meet you. Viola is very fond of you, if I may say so," the other man said. "My name is Booker Richmond and I'll be your clerk at the Wizengamot."

Rachel took a moment to look him over. His skin was a slightly darker brown than Viola's but his eyes were exactly the same. "Richmond - you're Viola's father. She told me her father worked with the Wizengamot. Please tell her hello from me."

"I certainly will. She'll be glad to know that you're well. She very much wants to see you play Quidditch when you're playing for the League, but I told her that may have to wait for a bit while you get settled," he said.

"I'm not sure I'm joining the League just yet. I'm still sorting things out," she admitted. She'd received two responses for arranging tryouts, but not from the Holyhead Harpies yet and that was the team she really wanted. "Would you like me to address you as Mr. Richmond?"

He shook his head. "Booker is fine. Given that I am only clerking for you, we'll spend a fair bit of time together. Do you prefer Miss Snow?"

"Rachel. Just Rachel. And this is my godfather, Sirius," she said.

"Yes, of course," Booker said. "Would you like to see your office first or take a tour through the chambers?"

"Um, chambers first, so I know my way around."

"I'll walk with you as far as my office then, so that you know where I am," Sirius said.

"Very well. So as you can see, this is the Wizengamot Chambers floo entry. We always have a clerk on duty here, so if you have someone make an appointment to see you, make sure to let me know and I will add them to the list of people who are allowed in with an escort. We also have two guards from the MLE here and at the entrance to the chambers on the second floor. If you'll follow me, I'll bring you through the rest," Booker said, leading the way out of the room.

They stepped out into a long hallway that curved every so slightly and had many doors set on either side. The doors each had a plaque next to them with a name on it.

"The Wizengamot Chambers is set up in a loop. We have offices for those who are elected and offices for those who are holding their family seat. Both sections are in alphabetical order. We have our own tea room and we have chefs come in on weekdays for breakfast and lunch, and on Saturdays during Wizengamot meetings. Further down we have the meeting chambers, which we can take a peek into. Most Wizengamot meetings are held there, except for trials. Trials are held in the courtrooms along this level, except for those that call upon the full Wizengamot to be present. Those are held in the old courtroom on level ten," Booker continued as they walked.

"Will I be called upon to sit on many trials? Ones that aren't with the full Wizengamot?" Rachel asked.

"Doubtful and certainly not at this stage. There is a subset of the Wizengamot that are associated with the MLE that handle most of the day to day trials, though sometimes other Wizengamot members will ask to sit on a particular trial if there is a personal interest, or they will fill in if one of our regular members is unavailable," he explained.

That was a relief. Rachel preferred to sit on as few trials as possible.

"Here are the chambers where the Wizengamot will be meeting. We can take a quick look inside," Booker said, coming to a stop in front of an ornate door.

Rachel peered in and found a circular room with desks set in concentric circles. Each of the desks had a name on the front, high enough that it could be seen by everyone except for the people directly on either side. "We just come in on Saturday?" she asked.

"Yes. You'll come to your office first and put on your Wizengamot robes. The only place you need to wear those is in the chamber during meetings and in the courtrooms for trials. It's considered somewhat gauche to wear them under other circumstances. Always change before going to the tearoom, even if you'll be going straight back in to continue the meeting," Booker explained.

"Good to know." She was glad she had someone to tell her this sort of thing.

"Let's continue on. We've reached the side of the Wizengamot where the offices for the family seats are. I believe we will leave Wizengamot Member Black here." Booker came to a stop next to a door marked 'Wizengamot Member Sirius Black'.

"You alright?" Sirius asked.

"Fine. I'll come here when I'm done," she said.

"Good. Now to see what my clerk wanted," Sirius said, disappearing into his office.

"Do most people share clerks?" Rachel asked as they continued down the hall.

"Depends on the workload of the Wizengamot member. Professor Dumbledore has a clerk to himself. Madam Bones has three clerks between here and the MLE. The Minster has a great number of clerks, but has two specifically for Wizengamot issues. Given the amount of mail you receive and the number of people who are clamoring to ask things of you, it made sense for you to have your own clerk. I also wish to let you know that I received an Outstanding on my Defense NEWT and I have two years of MLE training. Should there be a security breach, I am prepared to defend you."

"I appreciate that, and I am in a pretty good position to defend myself as well. I also received an Outstanding on my Defense NEWT and I just finished a year of training to defend myself against Death Eaters," Rachel said, not wanting him to think that she was helpless.

"Training other than your Defense club at school?" he asked, looking down at her as they walked.

"Yes. The purpose of our Defense club wasn't to train people to fight Death Eaters. Our goal was for students to pass their exams, get more practical experience, and to be able to defend themselves well enough to retreat should they find themselves in a dangerous situation. In addition to running our Defense club, I had a year of training with the aurors specifically on defending and fighting against Death Eaters as they were targeting me," Rachel explained.

"Under the circumstances, that training was probably necessary for you. The Wizengamot chambers were never breached during the war, but that is no reason to lower our guard. Madam Bones has briefed me that you are still an active target and that you have an auror assigned to you as well. The aurors are on this level as well, so getting Auror Tonks here quickly should not be a problem. Our standard operating procedure at the moment is for us to lock down the Wizengamot chambers if there is a breach anywhere in the Ministry," Booker said.

Rachel took note of Neville and Draco's offices as they walked and thought of how funny it was that they had offices in the first place. A month ago they'd still been students.

They arrived shortly after that at a door that had a sign next to it proclaiming 'Wizengamot Member Rachel Snow'.

"This office hasn't been occupied since before the end of the first war. We cleaned it up for you. The wards should recognize you by your blood. Go ahead see if the door will open for you," Booker said.

Rachel felt a small zap of what nearly seemed like electricity when she put her hand on the brass doorknob. The knob turned easily in her hand and she pushed open the door.

"Good. Currently you, myself, and Auror Tonks are the only people the door will open for. Under most circumstances it would be just you and your clerk, but we wished for Auror Tonks to be able to reach you if you had an emergency. Do you have any problems with that?"

"No, that's fine." Rachel trusted Tonks.

"Good. That means that if you want someone else to enter your office one of us will need to open the door for them," he said. "Let's go in."

Rachel went inside and found a space a little bigger than her bedroom at home. There was a small table with four chairs around it, a desk with two chairs in front of it and a chair behind it, two bookshelves already with books on them, and a large rug covering the floor. There was another door behind the desk and there was a large portrait on one of the walls and two windows that overlooked London that were obviously charmed since they were underground.

"Could it be? After all this time? A Snow has come to take our seat?" the portrait asked.

"Rachel, this is your grandfather, Fleamont Snow," Booker said.

"Monty, call me Monty. Come over here, let's take a look at you. I didn't live long enough to see you born, unfortunately, so this is my first look at my only grandchild."

Rachel stepped closer and looked at the portrait. Monty was in his plum colored Wizengamot robes. His hair had gone white, but it was still rather wild around his head, and he had a pair of wire frames around his eyes. She supposed given the fact that her dad had also worn glasses that she'd gotten her nearsightedness from this side of the family. "Hello," she said, not entirely sure what the right thing to say was upon meeting a portrait of a family member.

"Rachel," he said, smiling down at her. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. How old are you now?"

"I just turned eighteen. I finished at Hogwarts a month ago."

"Wonderful, though no one should be forced into taking their family's seat at eighteen. I know James wouldn't have been much older than you are now when it was his time to take the seat, but circumstances had forced the Wizengamot into hiding at that point. The war, you know."

Rachel nodded. She did know. She knew far too well.

"Family portraits typically function as advisors to their seat, but if you would prefer a family member other than your grandfather we have a gallery of Wizengamot members back to the founding of the Wizengamot," Booker said.

"I'll keep my grandfather," she began.

"That's my girl," Monty interrupted.

"But it might be nice to meet some of my other ancestors, if that's possible," she continued.

"I should be able to arrange a tour of the Wizengamot portrait gallery under the circumstances," Booker said. "Now, beyond your public office you have your private office. Most of your meetings will take place out here, but if you're working and don't want to be bothered, you can go into your private office."

Rachel went to the door behind the desk and opened it, finding another office within. This one had a desk, but with no chairs on the visitors side, a small sofa, a small wardrobe, a bookcase, and another door. Curious, Rachel opened that door and found a small bathroom with a toilet and sink.

"There is a bell on each of your desks. That connects directly with me in the clerks' offices. Just ring and I'll be here. We have a few more things to take care of. First, your mail. Professor Dumbledore has transferred management of your mail over to us since you are no longer a student at Hogwarts. I will need a list of people that you want sent directly to you rather than being sorted by us and another list of people whose mail you do want to receive, but you wish for us to check it first. We do recommend that you let owl order purchases be screened by us, as you never know who might be handling things in a shop."

"What sort of mail am I getting?" Rachel asked.

"Right now a good portion of it is fan mail and thanks for killing You-Know-Who. If you want to see that, we can arrange to have that sent here to your office, but for the moment we are sending replies of thanks from your office in the Wizengamot," Booker explained.

She shook her head. "I don't want to see fan mail unless there's something about it that is important."

"For the most part it is just general gratitude and questions. When people are sending requests for help, we make certain those get routed to the appropriate places to find help. We've had a handful of young people writing to tell us that they are in situations similar to your upbringing, and we always make sure the MLE and Family Services respond to those immediately."

Rachel looked at him. "Kids are writing to say that they're being abused?"

"A few, we've received three of those letters so far, though all of them were while you were still at Hogwarts. They learned that you were adopted to protect you from being further abused and were hoping that something similar could happen for them. Family Services and the MLE handled all of those cases, and will continue to if we receive anything else like that," Booker said.

"That's good." If anything good came out of her childhood being publicized, then she was glad it had actually caused some kids realize that they could get help.

"You will also receive requests from people asking you to do certain things as a Wizengamot member. Some of those things are simply impossible and we will respond for you. For things that need your eye to make a decision on what you'd like to do, I will bring them to you. If you have questions - and I do urge you to have questions - about what to do with any of it, simply ask me and I will let you know what the procedure is," Booker continued. "The package on your desk is your Wizengamot robes. Given your stature I believe you will need to have them refitted as the standard robes are designed to accommodate the taller male members of the Wizengamot. Also on your desk, you'll find the August schedule for the Wizengamot, a book on Wizengamot procedures, which I suggest you take the time to read before the meeting on Saturday. Expect September and October to be busy with the Death Eater trials. I will also need to know what floo address to contact you at to alert you of emergency meetings."

"Oh, we don't have a floo," Rachel said. "Could you send me a Patronus message instead? Or someone could tell Sirius, or Draco, or Neville, and they can tell me."

"I can do that, though I recommend that you consider connecting your home to the floo network. We also have a group of warders contracted to ensure the safety of Wizengamot members' homes. I can schedule you an appointment with them, if you'd like."

"Not necessary, our home is very thoroughly warded. If the Death Eaters couldn't find it during the war, they're not going to be able to find it now either."

"Very good. Now, I will let you write your lists, and then I will take you to the MLE to have your wand registered. I will tell you up front, there are monitoring charms all throughout the Ministry, so if you plan on casting spells you don't want the Ministry to know about, don't do it here."

"Good to know, though generally I don't cast anything I'd need to hide," Rachel said, sitting down and pulling her quill out of her pocket so that she could write her lists.

"Do you have a preferred quill type?" Booker asked, his gaze straying to the quills set out on Rachel's desk for her.

"I need quills that are charmed with the steady charm and that are charmed with a handwriting charm. I have tremors, so I can't write without something guiding my quill," she explained as she began her list.

"I see. I'll make sure you have the appropriate quills placed at your desks and in the Wizengamot chamber. Are there other things like that we should have on hand?"

"Well, I'm not going to be brewing potions or writing and etching runes here, so I think I'll be okay with everything else," Rachel said.

Booker nodded. "If there is something, just ask and I will acquire it for you."

"Thank you." Rachel got to work trying to come up with a list of everyone she trusted to send her mail. It was a much longer list than she was expecting, which was kind of nice.

After a quick trip to the MLE, where they registered Rachel's wand, Rachel went to Sirius' office and found Draco and Neville already waiting.

"Wizengamot robes for you too?" Draco asked, nodding to the parcel and book Rachel was carrying.

"Yes, apparently I'll need them resized because they're intended for tall men."

Sirius laughed. "Easier to make a garment smaller than bigger. Are we all done for the day?"

"I think so," Neville said. "I had to have my Gran's portrait taken down from my office. She kept yelling at us."

"They had my grandfather up too. I'm going to go through the gallery later and see if I can find an actually decent family member to put in my office," Draco said.

"It might take some doing, but you'll find someone. This is my great great uncle Lycoris, who's father I'm named after. Lycoris defied the family and refused to marry and have children, thus passing the Wizengamot seat on to my grandfather when he died," Sirius said, gesturing to a portrait of a tall man with long black hair and a more than passing resemblance to Sirius.

"Right you are. After years of watching those idiots run the family, we finally have someone half-decent in charge. Of what's left of the family, at least," Lycoris said.

Sirius turned to them and shrugged. "I'll take what I can get. Let's go home and have lunch." He led the way back to the room with the fireplace and they flooed back to Grimmauld Place.

"How was it?" Theo asked as soon as they stepped into the kitchen.

"Boring, just telling us where everything is and what we have to do. We barely met anyone," Draco said.

"You have books," Hermione said, coming to look at the book on top of the package that Rachel had just set down on the table.

"You can borrow ours, but they'll be fairly dry. It's just Wizengamot procedure; who speaks, under what circumstances, how to introduce proposals, all that," Draco said.

"I think those are good things to know," Hermione said, already looking at the table of contents.

"It was alright?" Malcolm asked Rachel.

"Not too bad. Apparently I'm getting fan mail, but thankfully I don't have to deal with it."

"I can only imagine what people are saying to you. You should have them bring you some so we can see," Draco said.

Rachel shook her head. She preferred not to deal with that at all.

"Thank you, oh mighty Rachel, for slaying the darkest of Dark Lords," Draco continued, getting laughs from the others.

She felt herself blushing. "Shut up. I'm sure they don't say that at all."

"How do you know if you don't read it?" he teased.

"I know. I know enough," she said firmly. "Are we having lunch here?"

"Sure, what do you kids want? Pizza? Chinese? Indian?" Sirius asked.

"Fish and chips?" Rachel asked. It was her favorite of the take-away food in the area.

"Fish and chips," he agreed. "Who's coming with me to get it?"

"I could use a walk," Hermione said. "Let me just tell my parents I'm going."

"Let me put stuff away, I'll come too," Neville said.

"I'll come," Rachel said. It would be nice to be out in a place where she didn't have to worry about people recognizing her.

"Might as well," Theo said, looking at Draco.

"Oh fine," Draco said.

"I'll even let you handle the muggle money," Sirius said with a smile.

Draco shook his head. "I don't think I'm going that far yet."

Rachel smiled. There was still time.

---

"Mail for you, I think it's what you're waiting for," Severus said when Rachel came into the kitchen on Wednesday morning.

Rachel felt her heart jump when she saw that the seal had the Holyhead Harpies logo. She thought she knew what the letter was going to say - after all, they had invited her to try out for the team - but still. They could have changed their minds.

She quickly opened the letter and skimmed through it. "I've been invited to try out for the reserve Seeker position. Next week!"

"Which is what you wanted, I believe? The Harpies?"

"Yes, definitely." She closed her eyes for a moment and imagined herself playing in a League stadium. It was simultaneously terrifying and exciting, except the terrifying part was more about not making an idiot of herself in front of all those people. Seeker competition would be much tougher in the League than it had been at Hogwarts.

"More so than your aspiration to join the aurors?" he asked, bringing her back to reality.

Rachel opened her eyes and rescanned the letter. "I can do both."

"Let me see if I have this right. You want to serve on the Wizengamot, play Quidditch for the League, and be an auror on the Death Eater response team?" Both of his eyebrows were raised now, which historically was not a good sign. "Which isn't even bringing your Mastery into the equation."

"If the aurors will take me, I'll defer my Mastery for a year or until we're done with the Death Eaters."

"And the rest? You cannot have three jobs."

"Why not? It's physically impossible for me to be any busier than I was during my last year of school," she said, going to the fridge so that she could start cooking some eggs.

"You weren't sleeping at school," he pointed out.

"I'm not sleeping now, what difference does that make?" she said, collecting two eggs and the bottle of milk.

"Maybe if you stop overloading yourself with responsibilities and tasks, you would sleep and give yourself time to recover. I see I was remiss to allow you to schedule yourself this way while you were at Hogwarts. It seems I'm learning a great deal of things in hindsight."

Rachel glanced back at him as she put the frying pan on the stove. "Torey didn't have a problem with my schedule. If she had, she would have said something."

"Torey is not your father. Did you ever tell Torey what your schedule looked like last year? I'm certain she wouldn't have thought it was wise if she had known."

Rachel turned back to the stove and rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure if I talked to Torey about my schedule. We usually had more important things to talk about."

Severus made a sound that was somewhere between annoyance and dismissal and Rachel decided to stop pushing him. "If I can't manage it, I'll drop something," she offered.

"That's what you said about your classes."

"And I could handle it. I thought you were pleased with my grades?" She used her wand in a stirring motion to cook her eggs, watching them closely so that she could leave the yokes slightly runny.

"I would be more pleased if I had taught you to take better care of yourself," he said.

"I am taking care of myself. I eat. I lay down to sleep at the appropriate times. I'm tidy. I take a sleeping potion when I need it. And I still see Torey on a regular basis, even though I am a bit old for it now."

"No one is too old to see a Mind Healer. And I don't mean take care of yourself in those ways, though I do appreciate you eating and sleeping on a somewhat normal schedule. I mean you overburden yourself with tasks so that you don't have to think or remember. I know you do because I do the same thing, and I don't want that for you."

Rachel bit back her first few responses, served her eggs onto a plate, and poured herself a glass of orange juice. "I meant Torey usually sees children. I'm eighteen."

"Torey also sees young adults who have been her patients while they were children. It makes sense for you to still see her for a year or two while you're in transition."

"I feel like I'm never going to be able to leave therapy." Rachel sat down at the table and stared at her eggs. She hadn't exactly meant to say that.

"There is no shame in needing or having support. Are you having difficulties with Torey?" he asked, trying to catch her eye.

"No, I'm not. I'd just like to be self-sufficient."

"No one is truly self-sufficient. We all need each other. If Torey is helping you, I think it makes sense to continue to see her. When you and she agree that you've done what you can together, you can discuss if it makes sense for you to see another Mind Healer at that time or if you want to take a break from it. There's no reason that you can't take a break and then return at a later time in your life." He was watching her now, his eyes focused like he was evaluating a troublesome potion.

Rachel supposed that was true. She began eating her breakfast.

"If one of the other teams offers you a position but the Harpies do not, what are you planning to do?" he asked.

"I don't know yet. I really had my heart set on the Harpies, but it would be silly to turn down any position playing for the League."

"You have your tryouts with the Harpies next week; what about the other two?"

"The Kestrals and the Tornados are both the week after that," she said. She was going to have to tell the coaches up front about scheduling conflicts with the Wizengamot. She hoped that wasn't going to be a problem. She'd much rather be a Quidditch player than on the Wizengamot, however selfish that was.

"Then you have some time to think about it. I suspect they won't make an offer to you until at least a week or two after that," he said.

Rachel nodded and continued to eat. She hadn't felt up to toast this morning, but the eggs would be enough to last her until lunch.

"What are your plans for today?"

"I was going to go over to Sirius'. I told him about what you were writing on those newspaper biographies and he said he'd have time today to look over it and add what he knows. Neville, Draco, and I are going to read over that so that we have a good idea of who everyone is before the meeting on Saturday, and I'm going to finish that book on Wizengamot procedures," she said. She'd read about half of the book yesterday. It was informative, though a bit dry. At least now she felt she had a better understanding of what might happen in a meeting. The next part of the book was on trial procedure. She was sure she would need to know that in short order as well.

Severus nodded. "Shall we plan to do your clothes shopping tomorrow so we can get your Wizengamot robes fitted and get you decent clothes to wear under them and in between meetings?"

"Probably a good idea. I'm going to need shoes too. I can't exactly wear my trainers to the Wizengamot and my school shoes are the best shoes I have."

"We'll add them to the list. I'm sure we can find a pair that are both sensible and comfortable."

"What are you doing today?" she asked.

"Continue to work on building the greenhouse and work on my plans for the cellar. Next week I'll have a meeting with an apothecary about a brewing contract, so I'd like for at least some of the space expansion in the cellar to be done before then," he said.

"Can you teach me the spell for expanding space like that?" she asked.

"Certainly. Let's try to do that on Friday or Sunday then."

Rachel stood, her plate and glass empty, and brought them over to the sink and grabbed the frying pan now that it was cool as well. It was simple spell work to clean everything, a drying charm finished off the job and she put everything back where she'd found it.

"I'll probably stay for lunch at Sirius', but I'll be home before dinner," she said.

"That's fine. Try to be here an hour before dinner with some idea of what you'd like to eat given what we have in the house. We need to fit a trip to the grocer somewhere in our schedule this week," he said, returning the newspaper that was sitting next to him.

Rachel paused. "More attacks?"

"One, on one of the newly elected Wizengamot members. They survived, one of the Death Eaters involved in the attack did not."

"What are they even trying to accomplish? They lost. What do they think they're going to gain by this?" she asked, realizing that she had no idea why the attacks were still happening other than the fact that was what Death Eaters did.

"Likely someone has set up a crude coordination of the remaining Death Eaters and is trying to follow in the Dark Lord's footsteps. It will fall apart in the next few months. The Dark Lord's rule among the Death Eaters was absolute. Left alone without him for long enough, they'll tear themselves apart," Severus said, shaking his head. "It's just a matter of stopping them from killing more people while they do it. The smart ones who survived have already backed away. If their identities were known, they fled Britain, if not, they're keeping quiet."

That was troubling in its own way. A Death Eater was a Death Eater, no matter how quiet they were. She had no idea what to do about the Death Eaters they did know about, let alone the ones they didn't.

"I will get you a new portkey. One that brings you back here instead of one that takes you to Hogwarts," he said abruptly.

Rachel reached under her hair and managed to unfasten the chain that held her portkey necklace. "Can you recharm this one? I'm rather attached to it. Or, better yet, teach me how to do it?"

"I will charm this one, but I will teach you on other objects," he said. "This is a spell, like some of the combat spells I've taught you, that is technically illegal and should not be used without a very good purpose and always in secrecy. The incantation is very simple, it is simply the word 'portus' and you tap your wand to the object you are enchanting. We will go over the theory later." Severus took about a minute working over the necklace and handed it back to her. "The trigger keyphrase is the same, hold the charm in your hand and say 'take me home'."

"Thank you," she said, putting it back around her neck. She would have to ask Professor Dumbledore next time she saw him if he wanted her to return the phoenix pendant. For now, she was still wearing it. "I'll see you in a few hours. Send your Patronus if you need me for something and I'll come back," she offered, feeling oddly worried about leaving him alone.

"I will be fine. I will wait until you are here before I conjure the glass panes for the greenhouse or before I expand the space in the cellar, since both are magically draining. I trust you will take similar precautions in your own wand work."

"I will," Rachel promised. She went upstairs and found the newspaper with the biographies that Severus had begun annotating for her and her Wizengamot procedures book and placed those in her bag along with her disguise cloak and her charmed quill. She apparated directly from her bedroom to Sirius' doorstep and let herself inside.

She found Kreacher in the kitchen, who seemed to be cleaning up from breakfast by pointing his fingers or snapping or occasionally holding out the flat of his hand. She watched from the doorway, impressed by the wandless magic - even Severus didn't use his wandless magic like that. That was something else she wanted to learn at least the basics of over the next few months. She was certain Hermione had found a book on it when they'd talked about it during the school year.

"Miss is wanting some breakfast?" Kreacher asked.

"No, thank you. I already ate. You're very good at magic, better than most witches and wizards I've seen."

"House Elf magic is different from human magic. Kreacher can do things humans can't do, but there are many things humans can do with wands that Kreacher can't."

"Like what?" Rachel asked. If she was thinking of living with a House Elf, she should know more about them.

"Kreacher makes things come and go with just his hands and his mind. Kreacher does not need specific spells, they simply come and go." He held out his hands and a stack of plates appeared in them. A moment later the plates were stacked neatly in the open cupboard.

"I don't know any spells that can make things appear and disappear like that, other than apparition. And I know House Elves can apparate too," she said.

"Kreacher does not apparate the way that humans apparate. Kreacher is one place. He opens his eyes somewhere else." Kreacher disappeared and reappeared a few feet away from Rachel with no signature pop of air displacement that happened when humans apparated.

"Which means you can apparate through wards."

"Some wards. Some wards are designed against House Elves. Kreacher has the token for this house, so Kreacher can appear within. Other House Elves cannot appear within."

Rachel nodded, remembering that Severus had said that Professor Dumbledore had protected Headquarters and Hogwarts in that way. "What about spells we can do that you can't?"

"House Elves don't cast spells, Miss, they do magic. Miss can do dozens of different spells to fight another wizard, but Kreacher knocks the wizard back or knocks the wizard out."

"Why don't House Elves have wands? Could a House Elf do the spells we do if they had a wand?"

"It is illegal for magical beings who aren't human to have wands in magical Britain. That has been the case for many many generations. Kreacher would never touch a wand, Miss. Never. Kreacher is a good House Elf."

"You are a good House Elf," she quickly reassured him. "I wasn't trying to say that you should, I just wanted to know why."

"House Elves have magic plenty without wands. Kreacher be able to do everything Kreacher needs to do," he insisted.

"And no one can ever take that magic from you, the way someone might take away your wand," Rachel said, thinking that was a very good advantage. At the very least she wanted to be able to learn the Summoning charm wandlessly, so she could get her wand back if someone tried to take it from her again. She'd have to ask Hermione for that book recommendation. "Do you know where Sirius is?"

"Master Sirius is on the first floor, speaking to Young Master Malcolm," Kreacher said.

"Thank you. Are you alright?" she checked.

"Kreacher is Kreacher, Miss, just as he always is."

"Alright. Let me know if you need something or if something isn't okay," she told him.

"Kreacher will do as Miss says." Kreacher bobbed his head and went back to sending things around the kitchen.

Rachel went upstairs and found Sirius in the hallway, but no sign of Malcolm. "Everything alright?" she asked.

"Fair enough, just sorting stuff out. Didn't expect you so early," Sirius said. "What's going on?"

"You said you'd help me with the biographies of Wizengamot members today. Oh, I got a letter from the Holyhead Harpies. They're letting me try out."

Sirius grinned. "Good for you, you give them hell. Why don't you rustle up Draco and Neville and we'll take a look at our colleagues and I'll give you the dirt on them."

"Sounds good," Rachel said. "Where are we meeting?"

"Sitting room is probably our best bet for a quiet conversation this time of day. Remus is upstairs coordinating people who want to move out. We're saying wait a week or two for the attacks to die down, but people will do what they do."

Rachel nodded. "I suppose that's true. I'll see you there in a few minutes." She set out to find the others and to hopefully learn more about the current Wizengamot. Maybe by the time the meeting came on Saturday she'd actually feel prepared.

---

It was two in the afternoon when they arrived at Twifitt and Tattings on the southern end of Diagon Alley. They'd done their muggle clothes shopping earlier in the day, though Rachel had lamented about the difficulty of getting professional looking clothes in her size. Severus had told her that if she needed to get something slightly too big for her they could alter it with tailoring charms.

Severus had waited patiently, offering his opinion when Rachel asked for it, and quietly worrying about what the future would bring. Like it or not, Rachel was a young woman now and was an adult in most of the ways that mattered. She still had some growing and maturing to do, but no parent who was paying attention expected their eighteen year old to be fully mature.

In the shoe shop they'd found a pair of simple black shoes that Rachel said were comfortable enough and Severus agreed looked nice enough that she could wear them with her Wizengamot robes. They wouldn't be sufficient if she was invited to a ball, which Severus expected she would be invited to the annual Wizengamot Christmas ball at the very least, but he decided they would approach that when the time came. She also bought a new pair of trainers as hers were rather ragged despite the mending charms they'd used on them.

He'd already taken her to buy some everyday robes that she could wear casually, but now it was time for dress robes that she could wear at the Ministry and to formal dinners. The shop was empty of customers when they arrived and Severus was glad he'd chosen a shop that saw people by appointment on most days.

Rachel waited until they were inside before she lowered the hood of her summer disguise cloak. She had refused to go into Diagon Alley as herself and Severus thought that was probably wise, just in case someone recognized her. Diagon Alley hadn't been revitalized yet - there were still many shuttered stores - but there was far more foot traffic and people meeting openly than there had been only six months ago. Severus expected it would take less than a year for Diagon Alley to fully reopen. For most people the war was over and the threat had passed.

A woman came out of the back of the shop at the sound of the bell on the door. "Master Snape and Wizengamot Member Snow, correct?" she asked.

"Yes, that's us." It was going to take some getting used to hearing Master Snape instead of Professor Snape.

"Very good. I am Ms. Abilene and I'll be assisting you today. Can you tell me what you're looking for?"

"I need some robes that are appropriate for wearing in the Wizengamot chambers between sessions and I need my Wizengamot robes fitted for me, they're way too big," Rachel said.

"We can do that. I expect you'll need robes for formal dinners as well, as those tend to come along with being a Wizengamot member," Ms. Abilene checked.

"That would be ideal," Severus agreed.

"How many pairs of robes are you looking for all together?"

Rachel looked at Severus.

"Given that she'll likely be in the Wizengamot chambers at least once a week, I think five pairs of robes would be a good place to start," Severus answered for her. It wouldn't do for Rachel to wear the same set of robes every time. She needed to make a good impression on the people she needed to influence in the coming years.

"Let's begin then. Given your complexion, I think we need mostly lighter colors. If we go for blacks and dark colors it will wash out your features. You are still very young and we do not want you to appear severe before your time. There will be time later for you to have the appearance of age and conviction. For now, you are in the flush of youth and you should appear so. Come with me and we'll look at styles and fabric," Ms. Abilene said, leading them further into the shop.

Severus followed them, but he trusted that Ms. Abilene knew far more about how Rachel should appear in civilized society than he did. He reminded himself that Rachel needed her hair trimmed as the bottoms were getting unruly. Or perhaps it was time he took her to a hairdresser so her hair could be cut professionally. He wasn't sure his method of using the kitchen scissors to trim her hair even was exactly what was called for any longer.

He watched from a distance as Mr. Abilene held robes up to Rachel, both of them discussing the fabrics and the styles and what should be worn underneath them. Most of these robes were closed, unlike the open robes that went with the Hogwarts uniform. Open robes were usually considered more casual, though that hadn't always been the case. Hogwarts had been using open robes for centuries, ever since they'd implemented a uniform, though the uniform worn beneath the robes had changed with the times.

After what seemed like a very long time, they went back into the main shop area and Rachel stood on a platform and tried the robes on. When she'd picked five, Ms. Abilene worked with her wand to adjust them to fit Rachel's frame and figure. Rachel still looked several years younger than she was, something she had indicated on multiple occasions was a source of frustration to her. Part of it was that she was short in stature and it seemed she'd reached her full height. Part of it was that she was slender and when she wore her hair loose, her curls drew more attention than her features. At this point she would fit in unnoticed with the incoming fifth years, though she was still on the short side for a fifteen year old girl.

Having her dressed in formal robes helped with that a little bit, and Severus expected that if she wore her hair back that would help her look a little older as well. It was already going to be somewhat difficult for her to command respect as an eighteen year old on the Wizengamot - Severus couldn't remember the last time that there had been an eighteen year old on the Wizengamot, let alone three of them - but it would help if she at least looked as old as she was.

Draco and Neville had both grown over the past few years. Draco remained thin and with narrow shoulders, but he was tall. Neville was broader but had also changed in appearance over the last two years so that he looked like a well built young man instead of a child whose body was not quite in proportion yet. All three of them would face the challenge of being seen in the Wizengamot as their own people and not just another tally in Albus' faction.

At the end of the fitting, Rachel put on her Wizengamot robes. She was practically drowning in them. Ms. Abilene got to work, bringing up the hem over a foot so that Rachel's shoes could be seen, bringing in the shoulders and the sleeves so she could use her hands, and then adjusting the fit of the robes overall so they looked like they had been intended for someone of her size. She then repeated the process on the other two sets of Wizengamot robes.

Severus paid for the robes, as he had told Rachel he would do, over her protests that she was an adult and had her own money. "Thank you," he told Ms. Abilene.

"Yes, thank you," Rachel said.

Ms. Abilene stepped forward and took Rachel's hand. "No, thank you. Thank you. You saved us all. Thank you."

Rachel shook her head slightly, looking a little frightened.

"We appreciate that," Severus answered for her. "If you'll excuse us, we have a few other errands to run."

"Of course, of course. Please come back any time. You'll need a gown for the Wizengamot Christmas ball and I'd be happy to be of service," Ms. Abilene said, bowing slightly as she let go of Rachel's hand.

Rachel pulled the hood of her disguise cloak back up and they stepped out into Diagon Alley.

"Are there other errands that we need to do while we're out?" he asked as he scanned the alley. "We could stop by the sweet shop or the bookstore if you'd like."

"No, I want to go home," she said.

"I'll meet you there," he said, waiting until she'd apparated away before he followed her.

He arrived back in their sitting room and Rachel had set her shopping back on the sofa and was sitting down.

Severus pulled out the rest of their shopping and unshrank it, bringing it to Rachel's side.

"That keeps happening. They thank me. Or they say it's an honor to meet me. And they grab my hand."

"I'm afraid that will continue to happen. People view you as the person who saved them from the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters. They are grateful," he said, taking a seat in his armchair.

Rachel shook her head again. "I really didn't do much of anything. I snuck up on the Dark Lord and used the Killing Curse. That's it. If it wasn't for the prophecy, anyone could have done it."

"You did a great deal for the war effort besides that," he said. "Locating the horcruxes, for one. Warning us of attacks. Communicating with the Dark Lord to discover his intentions. Sacrificing yourself for the lives of your classmates." His stomach twisted when he said the last one and once again he was struck by the guilt that he hadn't taken her away from all of this at the beginning of the war.

"I guess I don't feel like I did what people are thanking me for. A lot of people fought the Death Eaters. A lot of people died."

"That's true. But the reason we are not still fighting the Death Eaters now, or, worse, having fled to set up a Ministry in exile, is because you killed the Dark Lord. That is the truth."

"I just wish they wouldn't grab me while they were thanking me," she said, her mouth twisting.

"Maybe keep your hands in a more inaccessible area as a matter of due course," he suggested.

Rachel nodded.

"Is there anything else you can think of that you need before your meeting on Saturday?" he checked.

"No, I think I'm pretty ready. Ready as I'm going to be without having seen a meeting firsthand."

"We should trim your hair. Would you like to go to a hairdresser? We should be able to make you an emergency appointment," he offered.

Rachel's brow furrowed. "You don't want to cut my hair anymore?"

"I don't mind cutting your hair, I just thought you might want it to be done professionally. They will be able to do with it things that I do not know how to do," he explained.

"I'd really just rather you did it, if that's okay?"

"That's fine. If that's what you want." He wasn't going to push her on the matter.

"I'm going to hang these up in my wardrobe. Thank you for taking me shopping," she said as she stood.

Severus nodded. He suspected that once she moved out he wasn't going to be able to do that with her any longer. "I was glad to."

---

"Remember, if you're called on to speak, touch your wand to the metal panel on the right side of your desk, that will project your voice to allow everyone in the room to hear you," Booker said.

Rachel smoothed down her Wizengamot robes again and looked in the mirror that was on the inside of the wardrobe door. She'd worn her hair neatly pulled back, she was in a dark grey dress beneath her Wizengamot robes. She was wearing her new shoes. And she was nervous as hell. "Do you think they're going to ask me to speak?"

"From what I've been hearing from the other clerks, I think it's likely that you'll be nominated for the Chief Warlock position. You'll have to speak to either accept or decline the nomination," Booker said.

She thought she could handle speaking to decline a nomination. "What am I supposed to say to decline?"

"Thank the person that nominated you and say that you respectfully decline the nomination as you'd like more experience with the Wizengamot before taking such a prestigious role. Address people by the title 'Wizengamot member' unless they have a more specific title, such as Madam Bones or Professor Dumbledore."

Rachel nodded and closed the wardrobe door. "Do you think they're going to question me about the battle at Hogwarts?" she asked as she looked at Booker.

"I haven't heard anything from the other clerks suggesting that they will, at least not at this meeting. If the Wizengamot launches any investigations into the battles that took place at the Ministry, St. Mungo's, and Hogwarts, you will likely be asked to speak, but I don't think that's likely at this stage," Booker said, glancing at his watch. "Time for you to go be seated before the chime calls the start to the meeting."

"Okay. Thank you." Rachel took a steadying breath and then led the way out of the inner office.

"Give them hell, kid," Monty said, looking down at her.

"I don't think there is any hell giving necessary at the moment," she told him.

"Even so. This is the first time a Snow has sat on the Wizengamot for twenty years. I know you'll make us proud," he said.

"I'll do my best," she promised. She rather expected that if her dad was watching her at the moment, he was glad that he'd never had to do this. She had a hard time picturing James as he was described to her sitting on the government. Then again, she had a hard time picturing herself sitting on the government and yet here she was.

"I'll meet you back here after the meeting and we'll go over if there was anything you needed to follow up on from it," Booker told her.

"Okay." She mostly didn't expect the Wizengamot to assign her to do anything. It wasn't like they gave homework assignments.

They left her outer office and Rachel joined the steady stream of people wearing Wizengamot robes as they moved toward the Wizengamot chambers.

Inside the Wizengamot chambers people were taking their seats or standing in small groups chatting. Rachel saw Draco and Neville at their desks. They were seated near each other a level down and further down the circle than her desk. Rachel made her way to her desk, looking down the names that she passed. She needed to look over the cheat sheet that Severus and Sirius had put together. By now she recognized most of the names, but she hadn't matched them all with their factions and their politics yet. The desk to her left belonged to Ansel Turner, who from her notes suggested would vote against anything she voted for. The desk to her right belonged to Alfred Selwyn, who was on the Order's list of Death Eaters. She supposed he hadn't been caught doing anything or the MLE would have arrested him by now.

She sat down at her own desk, noted the small metal panel that Booker had told her about, and glanced around the room. With most of the Wizengamot assembled it was easy to see that the vast majority of them were much older than she was. There was a close to even split between men and women, and Rachel saw Professor Dumbledore taking his seat. Sirius was sitting next to Madam Bones a little further down their circle. Minister Scrimgeour had his own desk at the apex of the room.

Hearing approaching footsteps, Rachel turned to her right and felt a rush of cold wash over her. For a split second she was back in Malfoy Manor with a man standing over her and his wand pointed at her. That man. That was Alfred Selwyn.

Carefully she looked away and stared blankly out at the Wizengamot, though she felt badly rattled. The man sitting next to her had tortured her. Sure, he was about one of forty people who had, but still, didn't that mean something?

Why had no one told her?

After a moment she realized that was a stupid question. She hadn't let anyone see her memory so they had no way of knowing that Alfred Selwyn had done that.

She felt sick, but she had no idea what she was supposed to do. She rather expected she was supposed to sit there until the meeting was over. She glanced at him, but thankfully he was looking in the other direction.

For the moment she needed to just ignore him. She could figure out what she was supposed to do once she could get out of this room safely.

The chime calling the Wizengamot to order sounded and Minister Scrimgeour stood.

"We now commence the five hundred and fifty fourth year of the meeting of the Wizengamot. Our first order of business is electing a new Chief Warlock. Do we have nominations?" Minister Scrimgeour asked.

Several hands went into the air and Minister Scrimgeour said. "I call on Wizengamot Member Jenkins."

A man stood. "I nominate Professor Albus Dumbledore for the hallowed position of Chief Warlock."

A woman stood. "I second the nomination of Professor Albus Dumbledore."

"Does Professor Albus Dumbledore accept the nomination?" Minister Scrimgeour asked.

It was Professor Dumbledore's turn to stand. "With heartfelt gratitude, I accept the nomination."

"Additional nominations?" Minister Scrimgeour called. "I call on Madam Harkness."

"I nominate Wizengamot Member Rachel Snow for the hallowed position of Chief Warlock," a woman said as she stood.

"I second the nomination of Wizengamot Member Rachel Snow," a man whose name plate read Nathan Wright said.

"Does Wizengamot Member Rachel Snow accept the nomination?" Minister Scrimgeour asked.

Rachel stood and touched her wand tip to the small metal panel. "With gratitude to Madam Harkness and Wizengamot Member Wright, I respectfully decline the nomination at this time. I would like to have more experience in the Wizengamot before accepting such a prestigious position." She sat down, grateful that part was over with and hoped she wouldn't have to say anything else.

Nominations continued and a woman named Janice Hawthorne accepted a nomination as did a man named Darius Yaxley. Rachel knew that Hawthorne was with the guilds, but otherwise didn't know anything about her. Yaxley had a family member who was a Death Eater.

When it came time for voting, Rachel raised her hand for Professor Dumbledore, who won the nomination with thirty five votes. She was unsurprised that both Selwyn and Turner had voted for Yaxley. Yaxley had received only ten of the votes and Rachel had taken note of who had raised their hands for him.

"I now yield the floor to our forty sixth Chief Warlock, Professor Albus Dumbledore," Minister Scrimgeour said, and then sat down.

Professor Dumbledore stood and looked around the room. "Thank you, for the trust that you have shown in me. For our first matter, I ask for a moment of silence for the fallen who died defending these chambers on the twenty first of June of this year." He bowed his head and everyone followed suit.

"Thank you," Professor Dumbledore said again after about two minutes had passed. "For our second matter of business, now that the war has been declared over, we need to address the provisions that were put in place to allow the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to more effectively counter the Death Eater threat. Those provisions were due to expire at the end of the war or at the time the threat has passed. While the war is over, it can be argued that the threat from the Death Eaters has not yet passed. To lead the discussion of whether or not we will allow these provisions to remain in place, and to what end, I give the floor to Madam Bones."

Madam Bones stood and began to speak.

Rachel listened while the specific provisions were outlined, which included things like being able to use Veritaserum on suspected Death Eaters without their consent, indefinite holding times before trials for Death Eaters who had provided testimony or evidence of their crimes, and allowing the aurors to use the Killing Curse in battles with Death Eaters.

The conversation went back and forth for quite some time, with Madam Bones saying that all of the provisions were still needed while the Death Eaters were attacking - she also pointed out that Wizengamot members were still being targeted - and people like Turner and Macnair argued that the provisions had done what they were supposed to do and that now that the war was over those methods were an egregious overstep of the MLE.

After about two hours of arguing - though no one was shouting or saying mean things, it was definitely arguing - it was put to a vote.

Forty eight members of the Wizengamot voted to extend all of the provisions for a year, or before that time if the MLE judged that the threat had passed.

After this they were told that they were planning the beginning of the Death Eater trials in three weeks and that they should all plan to keep an open schedule as these would be full Wizengamot trials. They were reminded that they were meeting again in two weeks and were finally dismissed.

Rachel waited at her seat for a moment, glancing in Selwyn's direction again, and this time found him looking back. Their gazes connected and Rachel felt a squeezing in her chest. Did he recognize her? Surely he did. Was he thinking about that night at the Malfoy Manor too? Impossible to say, but she thought he was.

Finally Alfred Selwyn turned and left, moving to speak with Yaxley as he left the room.

Rachel exhaled and stood. Draco and Neville were making their way to her.

"I can't believe it. The Wizengamot is more boring than school," Draco said quietly.

"What were you expecting?" Neville asked.

Draco shrugged. "I don't know. They're talking about fighting Death Eaters. Shouldn't that be exciting?"

Rachel shook her head. She was pretty sure government and politics was never going to be exciting. "If it takes them two hours to vote on something that simple, how long will it take for them to vote on something actually controversial?"

"Days. Days and days," Neville said grimly.

"We're going back to Sirius'. Hermione said she wanted to hear all about it. Are you coming?" Draco asked.

"I'm going home," she said. She needed to talk with someone about what had just happened and right now the only person she trusted with that was Severus.

"Alright. Are you okay?" Neville asked.

Rachel nodded, though she didn't feel very okay. She was going to get out of these robes, then she was going to go home, and then she was going to ask Severus what to do, because she had no ideas whatsoever.

---

Rachel apparated directly into her bedroom. She had rather unprofessionally let Booker know that she hadn't been given anything to do and that she was currently done for the day and had left immediately after changing out of her Wizengamot robes. At the moment she was wearing light blue robes over her new grey dress and she hesitated for a moment before deciding that she'd feel more like herself if she changed into her regular clothes. Five minutes later she was wearing jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt and just stocking feet instead of her nice shoes.

She wasn't sure she felt better. She eyed her broom, considering going outside and flying fast until her mind reordered itself, but she knew she couldn't run away from this. She wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it until she came to a decision about what she was going to do about it. That meant figuring out what her options were and so far the only one that came to mind was resigning her seat on the Wizengamot and hiding in Severus' house.

Hoping that Severus would have some ideas, and that he wouldn't be busy at the moment, she went downstairs and found Severus in his armchair with a cup of tea and some books and parchment that he was working on.

"When did you get back?" he asked as he looked up from his work.

"Just now." Rachel came and sat on the sofa, wishing she felt more like a capable adult and less like a child running to her parent to fix things for her.

Severus looked her up and down. "Did something happen?"

"Not exactly. Nothing new has happened," she hedged.

"You look upset. Did someone say something to you?" he tried.

Rachel shook her head, trying to order her thoughts so that they'd make sense to Severus when she told him. "Alfred Selwyn was there. His seat is next to mine."

"And he said something?"

She shook her head again. "He looked at me and…" This wasn't coming out right at all. "Alfred Selwyn shouldn't be there. He's a Death Eater. I didn't know he was going to be there."

"His name was on the list of biographies, I'm sure I marked for you to use caution around him," Severus said, his brow furrowing briefly.

"No. I mean, you did, I'm sure. But I didn't realize who he was."

"What do you mean?"

Rachel pressed her lips together. "I didn't know who he was until I saw his face. I'd heard the name Alfred Selwyn before, and you said he was a Death Eater, but I didn't know who he was."

"I'm sure I pointed him out to you at the memorial service for Neville's grandmother," Severus said.

"You pointed out the Selwyns, but I only ever saw the back of his head. I think he was avoiding me." She thought about that for a moment, but decided she wasn't sure about that. If he'd been avoiding her then, he certainly wasn't now.

"Can you tell me why this is upsetting you? Is it just the fact that he's a Death Eater?"

She bit down on the inside of her lips as she willed herself to just say it. "I recognize him because he was there that night at Malfoy Manor."

Severus sat straighter. "Selwyn was one of the people who tortured you."

She nodded, glad that she didn't have to say it. "Why hasn't the MLE done something? Don't they know he's a Death Eater?"

"Alfred Selwyn was on the list of suspected Death Eaters that Albus gave to the MLE after your abduction and recovery. Draco wrote a list of the Death Eaters he recognized, though he didn't differentiate between those who were at the dinner and those who participated in the torture. Unfortunately, without a witness or a victim, the MLE cannot bring in Selwyn for questioning. Draco was not willing to provide testimony to the MLE, and I didn't bring it up with you because it was clear to me that you were not willing to speak of it at that stage in your recovery."

Rachel understood why Draco wasn't willing to testify. If the Death Eaters had wanted him dead before, they would have then gone out of their way to make sure Draco was tortured and killed if he'd identified Death Eaters to the MLE. As for her, Rachel also understood why Severus hadn't asked and she was glad he hadn't. Even a few months ago she would have balked at the idea of going to the MLE and talking about this.

"Frankly, I'm shocked that Selwyn was willing to appear there unmasked. Were none of them wearing masks?" Severus asked.

"No. I think they were certain I wouldn't live to tell about it." And in a sense, they were right. She hadn't told anyone about what had happened there. "What would the MLE do if I told them?"

"If they were sufficiently convinced of Selwyn's guilt, they would take him into custody and question him as a Death Eater. I assume the Wizengamot voted today to extend those measures until the attacks stop?"

She nodded. "It took like two hours for them to even call a vote. It seemed like everyone felt they had to say something about it, and most of it was just long winded ways of saying they agreed or disagreed."

"That's the government for you, bureaucracy at its finest," Severus said, his mouth twisting slightly as he shook his head.

"Teachers would never let a discussion go like that in class."

"That's because teachers are actually trying to get something accomplished and have the ability to reign in their classroom if need be. Most Wizengamot members feel quite above being told they have to stop speaking." Severus paused for a moment, his gaze resting on her. "If you go to the MLE, you will have to tell them what occurred that night. You will have to be specific. Is that something you feel you are ready to do?"

Rachel sat with the idea. Could she actually put into words what had happened? She'd never really tried, beyond the basics of the fact that she'd been tortured. Only Draco knew the details of what had happened that night, and that was because he'd been there. As far as she knew, he hadn't spoken of it to anyone either. "I don't know. Who do you think I have to talk to?"

"I would start with Tonks. She has the capacity to take a victim's statement in her role as an auror, though I suspect this will wind up going through Bones and Robards. Rachel, it is alright if you can't do this," he began.

"It's not alright," she said, shaking her head again. "I can't be on the Wizengamot with him. I can't go into that room and just sit next to him like nothing happened. I can't walk through those halls knowing he might show up at any point."

"That's understandable. That's entirely understandable. You also have the option of resigning your seat, if that's the direction you want to go. I have to tell you, the Selwyns have an enormous amount of influence in magical Britain, well beyond the influence Lucius Malfoy held at the height of his power. It's entirely possible that the MLE will proceed with the case and he will be found not guilty." Severus now looked deeply worried, his eyes still fixed on her.

Rachel exhaled shakily. Could she go through all of this just to have him released? "Is this something I have to decide right now?"

"No, it's not. When are you next scheduled to meet with the Wizengamot?" he asked.

"Two weeks from today."

Severus nodded. "That gives you some time to decide what you'd like to do. I am here to support you with whatever you decide. If you want me to come with you to see the MLE, I will. If you decide not to, that is alright too. This is entirely your choice."

Rachel leaned back against the sofa and tried to relax her muscles so that she wasn't feeling a line of pain from her shoulders to her jaw. She had to make a decision, because she wouldn't be able to think clearly until she figured out what to do.

"Have you had lunch?" he asked.

"Not yet. I need a little bit before I eat. I think I'm going to sit outside for a while," Rachel said.

"Alright. I'll come check on you in an hour or so."

Grateful that she was being given privacy, Rachel went back upstairs, grabbed her Walkman without checking what cassette was inside, and then went into the back garden. She found a shaded place beneath some of the trees and slipped her headphones on. It wasn't necessarily that she wanted to listen to music, but she sometimes found she could think better if she had familiar sounds blocking out everything else. She hit play and closed her eyes, reaching for whatever voice inside of her that would tell her what to do.