Severus Snape POV

'Ah good morning Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape.' Gawain Robards said, stepping neatly out of the headmistress's fireplace and wiping his feet carefully on the rag rug in front of it. 'I'm so glad you could meet with me today.' He smiled pleasantly at them both as he stepped further into the room.

Severus sniffed a little sourly and felt his lip curling of its own accord – there were a whole host of things that he would rather be doing on New Year's Eve especially since he was on corridor patrol duty that night.

'I'm sorry that I gave you so little notice. It really is good of you to meet me.'

Severus knew that the other wizard wanted to discuss something to do with the Lestrange verdict but he did not know why his presence was required. He hadn't attended any of the trial – most of it had been held during term time and even when the verdicts had been returned two days ago, he had been on patrol again. Not that he would've attended even if he had been free. He had better things to do with his time.

'Can I offer you a coffee Gawain? Or a tea?' Minerva asked. Scrutinising her out of the corner of his eye, (without appearing to do so), Severus thought that she looked exhausted. Whist her adoptive daughter had been missing, he knew that her cauldrons had been bubbling at full capacity as she did everything she could to find her. Now that Tansy Laverstock and the baby had returned, she seemed to have lost her fight and she looked fit to collapse. He wondered how she was coping with both of them. Although she had a lot of help from the school matron, Remus Lupin and the Weasleys, she was ultimately the one in charge of a mentally unstable young woman and her baby. The responsibility must be immense.

'That would be wonderful thank you Minerva. Tea please.' Gawain said sitting down on a straight-backed chair adjacent to the one that Severus sat on. Severus, whose thoughts immediately returned to the current situation, prickled with annoyance – there were several chairs to choose from and it irked him that the other man had chosen to ignore his need to for personal space.

With a flick of her wand, the headmistress conjured a tea tray out of thin air and, once again, Severus felt his lip curling of its own accord as he saw that there were three cups on it - he hated tea and he knew that Minerva knew that. Then again, she had a lot on her mind at the moment.

'Well, I'll get straight to the point,' Gawain said, picking up his cup and taking a loud, obnoxious swig. Severus restrained another unconscious lip curl with difficulty, telling himself resolutely to get over his annoyance with the other man already. He pretended to take a swig out of his own cup to spare Minerva's feelings.

'I know that you are aware that Bellatrix Lestrange's trial is over.' Gawain continued, staring into the depths of his tea, and speaking slowly, as if he was ordering his thoughts. 'She has been found guilty of more than one hundred counts of felony and is now sentenced to remain in Azkaban prison for the remainder of her life, without possibility of parole.' Both Severus and Minerva nodded and Gawain paused and took another, excessively loud, slurp of tea – neither Severus nor Minerva had attended the trial but they both took the Daily Prophet and it had been very thoroughly discussed in an article that spanned nearly five pages. Gawain looked up from his tea and looked at the two Professors levelly for a few seconds.

'A few cases remain unresolved, one of the most prevalent, of course, being her involvement in the murder of George Weasley, most particularly in the matter of whether or not she placed the Imperius curse on Weasley to manipulate his actions. His actions that ultimately provoked Miss Laverstock's attack and his subsequent death.' Gawain added, as if he needed to emphasise the point. Severus glanced at Minerva and saw that she had gone white.

'There is obviously irrefutable evidence that Lestrange manipulated the situation and she is seen torturing her daughter minutes after the attack, a crime for which she has been charged and sentenced. However, she is denying placing the Imperius curse on Weasley and is insisting instead that he was acting of his own free will.' Severus saw a look of pain flashing across Minerva's face.

'In fact,' Gawain scowled slightly, a faint flush rising in his cheeks, 'in fact, she stood on the podium and mocked the entire court.'

Severus nodded, 'yes, I believe she told them to 'prove it' when they accused her of cursing Weasley.' He paused, and then went on. 'But surely Mr Robards, er Gawain, we can assume that George Weasley was being compelled? We have heard evidence from Draco Malfoy suggesting that Weasley was cursed; he overheard that conversation between his father and Lestrange, discussing it. He even submitted his mother's letter as evidence, in which she specifically mentions that Weasley was cursed.'

'I'm afraid that the Imperius curse was never specified the conversation that Draco Malfoy overheard and Narcissa uses the words 'cursed and killed' in her letter, thus not specifying the curse either.' Gawain said, sighing heavily. 'In fact, if you recall, until, er, the new evidence came to light, Mr Malfoy was convinced that Miss Laverstock had been put under the Imperius curse herself and that Lestrange had forced her to murder him.'

'Indeed,' Severus said, nodding.

'So how are you going to prove that George Weasley was not acting of his own free will when he attacked Tansy?' Minerva asked, a barely concealed note of desperation in her voice. Severus looked worriedly at her, wondering how much more stress she could take.

'And that brings me to my reason for being here today.' Gawain said, looking at Severus, in a way that made Severus nervous. 'We were actually wondering if you could use Legilimency to remove a memory of the event from Lestrange?' It is not a method we would usually allow but it is something that we've been considering trialling in court, on, er, guilty parties.' This time Severus was unable to hide his disgusted expression and the other wizard hastened to reassure him. 'Someone who is irrefutably guilty you know, not just under trial. We are aware that it might be considered, er, morally wrong…' He trailed off. He seemed to realise just how far past 'too far' he had already gone. Trying not to seem too rude, Severus shook his head.

'That certainly seems very unethical Gawain. Anyway, Bellatrix Lestrange is an extremely strong Occlumens and an even stronger Legilimens. I'm talking extremely strong. Merlin, this woman even succeeded in sending her own daughter nightmares from hundreds of miles away using only the power of her mind and a little blood magic.' Severus shuddered internally as he remembered the state of Tansy Laverstock's mind when he had been forced to teach her Occlumency in her fifth year. 'I would be unable to remove a memory against Lestrange's will without causing irreversible damage to her mind.' He frowned suddenly, wanting to make himself very clear. 'Something I am unwilling to do even to that woman.'

Gawain looked faintly disappointed by Severus's reply but he was nodding. Minerva, however, looked slightly nauseated at the idea.

'No, I agree that would be too unethical Severus, even where that woman is concerned.' Gawain sighed, 'well, it was worth a shot. In that case, I am out of ideas. Lestrange will be forced to spend the rest of her life behind bars as it is. I just wanted to bring closure to the Weasleys. They've been through so much.'

'Are you sure that the muggle video footage of the attack isn't proof enough?' Minerva asked, wincing perceptively.

'I'm afraid that the quality is too poor, Minerva. Laverstock's words are also not proof although they make it clear that she believes that he was under the influence of the Imperius curse.'

'Which of course does nothing to show her in good light considering what happened next.' Severus murmured.

Gawain nodded, 'we would need Bellatrix's memory of her actually placing the Imperius curse upon him. Or even just a closer look at his eyes. Sometimes it is possible to see evidence of the curse there, if the victim is truly fighting. Not always but sometimes.'

Severus saw that Minerva had shut her eyes. She raised a hand to cover her face as if she was warding off a great light. She seemed to be fighting with herself. After a few seconds, during which both wizards looked at her in concern, she lowered her hand, opened her eyes and looked straight a Gawain.

'What about Tansy's memory of the event? Would that be enough?' Severus recoiled sharply at her words, anticipating what was coming next.

'Well yes, that might work. She would recall how Weasley's eyes looked… if there was anything to see.' Gawain said awkwardly. 'I didn't suggest it because I thought that it would be too…'

'You would make Miss Laverstock relive that?' Severus interrupted in disbelief; his eyes locked on Minerva. 'Your own daughter!' He stood up abruptly because he suddenly realised where this was headed. 'And I suppose that I am the one who you want to perform Legilimancy on her and extract the memory?' Before he could lose his temper completely, he turned and swept over to the door, pushing it open with one, hard fist. He turned and looked Minerva straight in the eyes.

'I won't do it. I won't violate her mind in that way. Not even if it's the only way to clear Weasley's name.' His voice was low and hard but he knew they could both hear him. 'George Weasley is dead. The verdict doesn't matter to him anymore. You have an extremely traumatised young woman in your care, Minerva. A girl who has been through more than any of us can even imagine, a girl who is continuously fighting to remain in control of her own sanity, a girl with a history of self harm and suicidal tendencies. Would you really make her relive the attack? Is it worth it?'

His dramatic sweep down the staircase was somewhat spoiled by the four students standing on the landing, listening to every word.

Tansy's POV

It had been a relief when she was finally allowed to leave the hospital wing, the morning after she'd woken up. Tansy found it hard to rest there – in spite of the screens erected around her bed, she was still convinced that people were staring in at her. The fact that the doors weren't locked also didn't help – anyone who had access to the castle also had access to the hospital wing. Tansy knew that it was her anxiety speaking but she couldn't deny that she felt more comfortable up in the headmistress's tower where everyone who entered had to know the password.

That morning, after a quick once over from Madam Pomfrey who had informed Tansy that she would be 'checking up on her', Tansy and Hope had returned to their old bedroom in Minerva's small flat. Not long after Tansy's friends had arrived, settling down in the small living space, clearly intending to spend the morning with Tansy and Hope, and Kreacher had brought them a selection of cream cakes and a cafetiere of strong coffee.

'She's so much more focused than she was. I mean look how she's trying to grab that teddy.' The five of them stared down at the blanket on the floor in front of them where Hope, clad only in a nappy and a vest was lying, surrounded by toys. Both the boys made muffled noises of agreement, their mouths stuffed with cake. Hermione slid down off the sofa, joining Ginny on the rug, and started dandling the teddy about in front of the baby's face, smiling as the baby's uncoordinated hands tried to grasp the moving object. Tansy stared down at the baby, not really seeing her, and feeling slightly overwhelmed. She knew that she had things to say to her friends and she wanted to talk freely with them but something had clammed up inside her and she was finding it hard to get the words out.

'She's still tiny though,' Ginny continued, smiling over at Tansy. 'I swear the Tedster is three times her size.' Tansy sighed and smiled back. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth.

'She's like me, I guess. I've resigned myself to being small. I suppose she will have to learn to live with it too.' Her voice was low but it was there and the atmosphere in the room suddenly relaxed.

'She looks so much like you, Tan.' Ron said indistinctly through a large mouthful of cream bun. He looked between mother and daughter and gave a huge swallow. 'Her face is like yours in miniature. You've both got the same eyes too – I've never seen that deep blue colour before anywhere else. I bet you looked like that as a baby.'

'Except her hair; she's got…' Harry trailed off, appeared to shake himself, and then continued firmly. '…George's hair. She's definitely got the Weasley hair.' He finished resolutely.

Tansy felt the familiar lancing pain as George's name was spoken. She stared down at her daughter's auburn fuzz, wondering if she would ever be able to hear his name without feeling as though someone had stabbed her through the heart with a needle. She struggled against the rising fog.

'Tansy?' She heard Harry's voice, gentle now, and felt his hand on her shoulder. 'Are you okay? I'm sorry… it's just…' He paused, looking for the right words. 'It's just that we all feel that it's better for him to be talked about and remembered. I know it's hard for you. It was hard for us to say his name at first.'

'We won't say his name if it's too painful,' Ginny said, scooting over to Tansy and putting a hand on her knee.

With an enormous effort, Tansy looked up and met her eyes.

'I… I… I don't want to forget him either.' She could feel her eyes brimming with tears. 'But it's hard hearing his name.' She grasped involuntarily at the place where the needle of pain had stabbed her and turned to Harry, suddenly wanting to be honest. 'It hurts. I don't know if it will ever stop hurting.' A single tear over spilled and ran down her cheek and she felt his hand tighten on her shoulder.

'What do you want us to do, Tan? How can we help?' Ron asked quietly. Tansy was just going to shrug in reply when Harry spoke.

'Say his name Tansy; say George's name. You said it before on the castle drive. You can do it again.' He ignored Hermione's warning and continued. 'We need to say his name so often and speak about him so much that it stops hurting you. What happened to both of you was horrendous but it wasn't your fault. It was that bitch Bellatrix's fault, not yours. Say George's name Tansy.' Tansy took a deep breath and fought with herself. The silence stretched. All her friends seemed to be holding their breaths.

'George.' It hurt but there was a sense of drawing out, like poison leaching from a wound. 'George.' Her voice was a little stronger this time. 'It hurts to remember but I don't want to forget him.'

'That's right, Tansy.' Harry hugged her fiercely. 'What happened was horrible but we don't want to forget it. We don't want to forget him. He's too important for that.'

Tansy nodded and returned his hug with as much strength as she could muster. Then she slipped off the sofa onto her knees so that she wouldn't have to look at anyone. She focused instead on her daughter's soft little head. She let the silence in the room linger.

'There's something I need to say.' She finally said, her voice low but urgent. The silence from her friends told her that they were listening. She could imagine them giving each other concerned glances.

'I'm sorry…' She paused, waiting for an interruption, but it didn't come. 'I'm sorry for… for running away, I suppose. It was…' She paused again, this time searching for the right words but not finding them. 'It seemed like the right choice but I was wrong. It was… weak. I'm so sorry.' The words weren't right; they didn't convey the depths of meaning she had wanted to and she twisted her fingers together, feeling her anxiety building.

'Tansy,' Ron began, but Tansy hadn't finished and she cut across him, still talking in such a quiet voice that her friends were forced to lean in to hear her.

'It seemed like the only option left to me but… but I hurt you all even more. I forgot that I had people who care about me.' Her eyes burned with more unshed tears but she looked up at last, staring at each of her four friends in turn and waiting for them to say something.

They seemed to be at a loss for words.

'Tan, we're sorry too.' Hermione said eventually. 'Obviously we had no idea…' She trailed off.

'It's true you ran but you came back eventually.' Harry said softly.

'It must've been awful keeping a secret like that.' Ginny said, in a low voice. Tansy swallowed hard and nodded.

'I thought that you would all hate me if I told the truth. I hated myself for… for what I did. I thought…' She corrected herself. '…I still think that they're going to take Hope away from me and put me in prison.' Her heart clenched at the thought and she suddenly scooped her daughter up off the play-mat, cradling her close. The baby squeaked at the abrupt movement and then nuzzled into her neck.

'Tansy, no one is taking Hope anywhere.' Harry said reassuringly, sliding down off the sofa and putting his arm around her again.

'And you're not going anywhere either.' Ron said, joining them so that all five of them were on the floor.

'Can you imagine anyone getting past McGonagall?' Ginny asked lightly. 'Or us! We aren't letting you go anywhere.'

Tansy nodded, suddenly feeling exhausted and dizzy. She remembered that Madam Pomfrey had warned her that this would happen without warning. She swayed slightly.

'I… I need to lie down.'

'Are you okay?' Harry asked, helping her to her feet and steadying her as she nearly lost her balance. Hermione got up swiftly and peered keenly at Tansy.

'Madam Pomfrey said this might happen for a few days until your magic levels are back to normal. You'll be fine after a nap. We'll look after Hope for you. Come on.'

Supported on both sides, Tansy allowed them to lead her into her bedroom and settle her on the four-poster. Harry removed her shoes and then pulled the covers up to her chin. Tansy's last thought before she fell asleep was that she had the most amazing friends in the world.

I'm back! Tansy is getting there slowly; she will have some set backs but she is learning to ask for help.