"When the first trial is over, you'll return here for lunch. You can either eat in the dining room with other members of the Wizengamot or I can bring you food here in your office. The next trial will begin an hour after the first trial ends. I suspect we'll be done for the day by four," Booker explained as Rachel pulled on her Wizengamot robes. "You'll take the back lift down to level ten and enter the courtroom from the back, just follow the other members of the Wizengamot. Unfortunately I cannot accompany you."

"Okay," Rachel said. She'd planned to meet with Sirius, Draco, and Neville before going down, so it was alright that she didn't have Booker with her.

"Try to keep in mind that this is limited. The Death Eater trials will probably take around two months and then there will other be trials as they are captured. This will not be the whole of your Wizengamot experience," Booker continued, his eyes following her.

Rachel nodded. She thought she would be alright. She felt she'd lived through worse things than a series of trials, no matter how horrible the crimes the Death Eaters committed may be. "Is there anything I should have with me?"

"No, just yourself. Your only tasks are to listen, decide whether or not you believe the person is guilty, and then vote. Expect the press to be there. At this stage I would suggest declining to comment. They cannot follow you back into the private areas behind the courtroom, so I would recommend adjourning from the courtroom once the trials are finished."

She definitely didn't want to have an encounter with Rita Skeeter, or anyone else who wrote for the Daily Prophet. "Thanks for the warning. Anything else I should know?"

"Just remember that the Death Eaters are contained. They cannot hurt you or anyone else."

Rachel didn't point out that by this point she'd had a number of encounters with Death Eaters and this was the safest she'd been from them in over four years. She wasn't afraid of the Death Eaters who had been captured. "Thanks," she said again.

A knock on the door sent Booker back into her main office and Rachel followed.

"Is Rachel ready?" came Sirius' voice. Draco and Neville were standing with him.

"I believe so," Booker said, standing aside.

"I'm ready," Rachel said, thinking that they all looked a bit odd in their matching Wizengamot robes. She joined them in the hallway and let Sirius lead the way to the lift. There were other people in Wizengamot robes in the hall, all heading in the same direction. She had the realization that she didn't know how big the lift was and that she definitely didn't want to be crowded into it with a group of people. "Are there stairs?"

Sirius looked back at her. "Yes, there's stairs. It's eight flights of stairs."

"I can do that," Rachel said. After Hogwarts she was well trained for going up and down many staircases.

Sirius looked from Draco and Neville back to Rachel. "Problem with the lifts?"

"I don't really do small spaces," Rachel said, realizing that Sirius had never had the opportunity to see her in a situation where she was claustrophobic.

He nodded, almost hesitantly. "We can use the stairs. No one uses the stairs."

Rachel nodded back, though the quiet voice in the back of her mind told her it was time to do something about that. She couldn't spend the rest of her life avoiding small places. Or she probably could, but she didn't want to. It felt like that was something she might be able to have control over and it was past time that she at least tried. And maybe her life wasn't crazy enough now that she could actually try.

Sirius led the way past the lift where other members of the Wizengamot were congregating and over to another doorway. "Stairs."

"Thanks." She started down the stairs with her friends and her godfather, her mind restlessly turning things over. "Sirius, have you sat on a trial since you joined the Wizengamot?"

"A few. There have been a few Death Eater trials. And Umbridge, of course," Sirius said.

She'd forgotten about that. If the trials were like Umbridge's trial had been, she thought she could manage that. These people had all done much worse things than what Umbridge had done though.

They emerged on the tenth level into a hallway. There were MLE guards and a few more Wizengamot members making their way down the hall. They went through a door and Rachel was relieved to see that they emerged into the seating for the Wizengamot and not down into the center of the courtroom where a Dementor was standing guard by another door.

Wizengamot members filled in the concentric circles, many of them speaking quietly with each other. Rachel saw that Madam Bones and Stella were down on the bottom row with Professor Dumbledore. On an upper row, Minister Scrimgeour was speaking with two of his clerks. To one side sat Turner, Yaxley, and Macnair, all people who were associated with the Death Eaters.

"Let's sit by Linette," Sirius said, leading them down a level and over to an older woman.

The woman stood and stepped around Sirius. "Neville, how are you my dear boy?"

"I'm okay, Mrs. Thompson. How are you?" Neville asked politely.

"Oh, you know how it is. Come catch up with me," she said, pointing to a spot.

Neville obediently moved to sit next to her. Sirius sat down next to Neville and Rachel sat between Sirius and Draco.

Rachel looked around at the Wizengamot members some more. "Sirius, do you know who Ethan Davies is?"

"Sure do, look to your left and down one row. Older gentleman with black hair. That's Janice Hawthorne he's sitting with, between the two of them they generally command the guilds vote. If you look further to their left, that's Douglas Bennett, he's with the Spell Crafting guild. Next to him is Callum Fletcher, he's with the Artifacting guild. One seat down is Alexandra Campbell, she's from the Curse Breaking and Warding guild, of which Bill is a member," Sirius said.

"What guild is Davies affiliated with?" she asked.

"Potions, he's one of the administrators and his wife is one of the seminal brewers in the guild right now."

"We've met Mistress Davies," Draco reminded her. "She was one of the judges of the Potions Championship."

"I hadn't realized they were related," Rachel said, though she supposed she should have.

"Roger Davies is their nephew," Draco said. "Wonder where he wound up. I don't think he took a Potions Mastery."

Rachel had no idea what had become of Roger after he finished at Hogwarts. Hopefully he was somewhere safe, though she knew she would have recognized his name in all of the obituaries she'd read this summer. She felt even less sure about going to Wizengamot Member Davies now and telling him about what had happened with Selwyn. She had intended to join the Potions Guild once she finished her mastery. She supposed it really didn't matter, Davies was going to hear it all during the trial anyway. It was still uncomfortable.

Madam Bones stood and looked over the gathered Wizengamot. "Let's have order. Bring in Rocco Sutton."

The Wizengamot fell silent and the door at the side of the bottom of the courtroom opened. A man was brought in by two people in MLE robes. The man was forced into the chair in the center of the room and chains immediately wrapped around him tightly. He looked dazed and fearful.

Rachel reminded herself that he was a Death Eater. She shouldn't feel compassion for a Death Eater. She shouldn't think of how terrifying it would be to be in his place.

Stella stood. "Criminal hearing on the twenty fifth of August 1998 into offenses committed under the Unforgivable Curses Act and the Death Eater Activities Act by Rocco Sutton, resident of Southward House, Birmingham. Presiding over this hearing is Madam Amelia Bones, Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Court scribe is Stella Brewerson. As required in trials on offenses committed under the Unforgivable Curses Act, the full Wizengamot is in attendance."

"Thank you, Ms. Brewerson," Madam Bones said. "We will begin with a statement from Auror Matthew Weir, who arrested and questioned Mr. Sutton."

An auror in MLE blue robes came down from the stands and stood on the other side of the room from the Dementor. Rachel couldn't blame him. She had no idea how the guards on the door stood so close to the Dementor without feeling ill. As far as she could tell, no one had cast a Patronus."

"On Sunday the twenty-first of June, 1998, there was an attack on the Ministry of Magic by the forces known as the Death Eaters," Auror Weir began. "As everyone is aware, there was a substantial loss of life from that attack at the Ministry alone, with over two hundred people killed. Following the attack, members of the MLE detained twenty eight Death Eaters who were still alive. Those Death Eaters were treated for their wounds and were arrested and placed in Ministry custody. Mr. Rocco Sutton was one of the Death Eaters who I found unconscious in the atrium of the Ministry. At the time of discovery, Mr. Sutton was wearing a Death Eater robes and mask, which have been taken into evidence along with his wand. Mr. Sutton's wand, which was found in his hand, recalled eight instances of the Killing Curse. On the second of July, myself and Auror Shacklebolt questioned Mr. Sutton. Under veritaserum, Mr. Sutton gave testimony not only to his involvement at the attack on the Ministry, but to other crimes and activities committed as a Death Eater in the past two years."

"Thank you, Auror Weir. We will continue with a reading of the transcription of the questioning of Mr. Sutton on the second of July," Madam Bones said.

Stella rose again, this time holding a long scroll and began to read.

Rachel listened quietly. The aurors first established Rocco Sutton's identity and residence. Then they questioned him about the attack on the Ministry. Sutton confessed that he had seen three people fall to curses he cast. Then the aurors questioned him about his other activities as a Death Eater and Rachel felt herself break into a cold sweat.

Sutton had tortured muggles, using the Cruciatus Curse, the Bone Breaking Curse, and the Bludgeoning Hex. He had joined other Death Eaters in acts of rape. He had murdered over a dozen people.

It felt like the reading of the interrogation went on and on. Rachel could imagine herself in the interrogation room, watching as Sutton blankly described the worst of depravities. She found that she no longer cared that Sutton looked frightened while chained to the chair in the center of the room. There was even a part of her that wanted him to relive what he'd done under the influence of the Dementors.

"Thank you, Ms. Brewerson," Madam Bones said when the reading was complete. "Mr. Sutton, do you have anything to say in your own defense?"

"They made me do it, the Dark Lord made me do it. He would have killed me," Sutton managed to get out. His eyes were wide with terror.

"Anything else, Mr. Sutton?" Madam Bones asked after a short silence.

Sutton began to cry, but didn't say anything else.

"The Wizengamot will vote," Madam Bones said. "To find Rocco Sutton guilty of violating the Unforgivable Curses Act in twenty two counts, raise your hands. To find him innocent, leave your hands unraised."

Rachel felt like a hypocrite as she raised her hand, seeing Draco, Sirius, Neville, and Linette raise their hands as well. A quick glance around the room showed that pretty much every hand was raised. She watched as Stella made a tally and wondered what she was going to do. Could she sit here and vote for people to go to Azkaban while advocating against Azkaban as an institution? She didn't know what else she could do.

Madam Bones stood again. "Rocco Sutton is hereby found guilty. He is sentenced to life in Azkaban. This court is adjourned for one hour."

Sutton was dragged from the room, moaning and pleading.

Rachel watched, sitting with the idea that she was going to see this over and over again for the next two months.

"I'm glad my parents are dead," Draco said quietly. "Better than watching their trials. Better than Azkaban."

She nodded absently. She agreed with Draco on that - death was far preferable to Azkaban. Even after everything she just heard, she found she stood by the belief that no one deserved to be in Azkaban.

"Come on, let's go get lunch while we can," Sirius said.

Rachel didn't think she could eat, but she rose with her friends. She didn't want to be in the courtroom any longer than necessary.


On Wednesday afternoon Rachel was back in Anglesey Stadium, this time wearing the main team uniform even though she wouldn't be playing. This was the first Harpies game since she had joined the team and the reserve team generally attended all of the games unless they had a scheduling conflict.

The team was gathered together in a sitting area that Rachel had learned they used for strategy meetings. Gwendolyn and Valmai were talking to each other in the back of the room in low voices, but their folded arms meant they were arguing. Rachel had learned quickly that the sisters did not get along all that well.

"Hey," Cadie said, coming up to Rachel.

"Hey," Rachel said back. She was still getting to know her new team, but she'd already learned that Cadie was fairly direct in saying what she thought.

"Just so you're not surprised, the crowd can be fairly raucous. I know you're not playing yet, but I think there's a fair possibility that you'll still get some attention," Cadie said.

Rachel nodded. "That does tend to happen when I go out in public. Usually I wear a disguise, but that's not really an option here."

Cadie looked mildly amused. "I thought Glynnis and Gwenog's fanbases were intense, but they're going to be all over you."

Unfortunately Rachel suspected that was true. If she could just play Quidditch to play and avoid the audience, she would.

Seren entered the room and clapped her hands. "We're just about ready. Everyone knows what they're doing?"

This got nods and murmurs from around the room and Gwenog stood. "It's the Cannons, no problem there. With me," she said.

Valmai walked away from Gwendolyn, leaving her shaking her head.

"The rest of you with me," Seren said.

"Where are we going to be?" Rachel asked Cadie.

"Team box. Mostly it will be us and Seren, but there will be about a dozen people who pay to sit with the reserve team during the game. Basically just be polite to them," Cadie said.

Rachel nodded, though she was a little uncertain about that. She knew how to be polite, but she didn't want to spend the afternoon rehashing what had happened with the Dark Lord either.

Seren led them through a back passage in the stadium and they emerged ten minutes later into an area of seating set aside for the team. Everything was done up in dark green and gold.

"It's true then? The Girl-Who-Lived is playing for the Harpies?" a man asked.

"I'd like to be the first to introduce you to the Holyhead Harpies new reserve Seeker, Rachel Snow," Seren told the gathered group.

People gathered around Rachel and Rachel took a step back.

"Thank you. Thank you for what you did. You saved all of us," a woman said, bowing to Rachel.

"Yes, thank you. You're a hero," a man said, reaching forward to shake Rachel's hand.

"Can we get your autograph?" a woman asked, pushing a game program and a quill in Rachel's direction.

Rachel signed autographs for everyone and decided she needed to start carrying one of her charmed quills in her pocket because her signature was nearly illegible.

"Let's take our seats, the game is about to begin," Seren directed. "You'll all have a chance to speak with the reserve team."

Rachel quickly sat between Cadie and Alwene and exhaled. The idea of doing that at every game she attended was a little overwhelming.

"That happen everywhere you go?" Alwene asked.

"Usually I'm in disguise when I go out," Rachel said. If anything, now she was even more convinced that she needed to go in disguise wherever she went. Maybe she needed to ask Fred and George if she could pay them to make her a variety of disguises, that way no one caught on that a particular disguise was her.

"Probably not a bad idea," Annika said from a seat over. "How is it with the Wizengamot?"

Aware that everyone in box was listening to this conversation, Rachel sought the right words so that she sounded appropriately responsible. "Everyone is very respectful. Right now the Wizengamot is mostly focused on the Death Eater trials before they move onto other legislation."

"Miss Snow, do you have legislation that you intend to propose?" someone asked.

"I have some ideas of things that I'd like to do, but everything is in a research stage right now," she said evasively. Right now was not the time to introduce her Azkaban ideas.

"How are you balancing the League and the Wizengamot?" a woman asked.

"Neither of them are full time jobs, I have plenty of time for both," Rachel said, wondering how long it would take for people to learn that she had also joined the aurors. She'd written her letter to Emlyn this morning, telling her that she was joining the auror team with the intention of doing her Mastery with her as soon as the Death Eater problem was taken care of. That just left telling Severus.

"How long will it be before you take the main team's Seeking position?" another person asked.

"Glynnis still has a few years before she wants to retire. We should see Rachel playing in games in the spring," Seren answered for her.

"How long have you been a Seeker?"

"I started as Slytherin's Seeker in my second year at Hogwarts. In my fourth year I played Chaser for a year while Viktor Krum took our Seeker position. I started as captain of the Slytherin team that same year, and then the rest of the years I played as a Seeker," Rachel explained. "Slytherin took the Quidditch Cup every year I was at Hogwarts."

This got a round of approving murmurs.

"If I'm not mistaken, you won every game you played," Gwendolyn said, with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"That's true. The only game Slytherin lost while I was at Hogwarts was a game I didn't play in," Rachel said reluctantly. "I had an excellent team."

There were more murmurs at that.

Rachel focused her eyes on the game that was taking place. The Harpies were up forty points already, which wasn't exactly a surprise. The Cannons were consistently the worst team in the league.

"What do you see for the future of the Harpies?" someone asked Seren.

Rachel absently listened to Seren's plan, which involved letting some of the team retire when they were ready and continuing to recruit the best female players that came out of Hogwarts and the youth leagues. They weren't in a position to win the League Cup this year, but Seren was hopeful about next year.

"Alright?" Cadie asked quietly.

"Yeah," Rachel said. As long as people weren't asking questions about what it had been like to die or to kill the Dark Lord, she was alright.


Mid-morning on Thursday found Rachel and her friends in Brighton on the beach. They had decided on a muggle beach; Hermione wishing to further their friends' exposure to muggles and muggle culture, and Rachel not wanting to spend the day hiding in a disguise. Rachel thought that her request had been more persuasive with their friends because when she explained why she didn't want to go to a magical beach right now. After explaining what had happened at the Quidditch game, they had immediately agreed.

When they had arrived, they'd spent a little while gawking at everything there was to see. The roadside along the beach was filled with tourist attractions. There were plenty of shops selling fish and chips, which Rachel intended to get for lunch, there were a lot of tall hotels for tourists along the beachfront, and a large white ferris wheel. Rachel had never seen one of those in person before and had stared at it for a while along with her friends.

After they'd finished looking around - Rachel and Hermione answering questions about muggles in hushed tones - they found a place to set up on the sand a fair distance from a large pier. Rachel was surprised to see that the beach close to the water was filled with pebbles - she had expected sand to be everywhere. Everyone had applied a topic potion to prevent sunburn before they left, though Rachel had only applied it to her hands and her face as she didn't anticipate taking off her clothes. She was actually glad that she'd worn long sleeves and trousers because the breeze off the ocean felt somewhat chilly.

They set blankets down on the sand, along with a large umbrella for shade, and then split up for a while. Hermione and Ginny stripped down to their bathing suits and went for the water. Rachel thought they were nuts. It was way too cold to swim, even though there were a fair number of people in the water already. Millie, Neville, and Luna decided to go for a walk along the beach to see what they could see. And Rachel, Theo, and Draco decided to stay put on the blankets for a while. They decided they'd reconvene in two hours for lunch.

Rachel leaned back on her elbows and forearms and just watched the ocean and the people around her and listened to the waves and the shouts of children playing in the water and the sand. It was nice to take a break and it was nice to be outside. The only real downside to their home in London was that they barely had a garden, though Neville had already been out there trying to grow things and to make it a nice place to sit.

"What the hell is that?" Draco asked quietly, pointing to some sort of wooden structure in the water.

"No idea," Rachel said after looking at it for a bit. It looked like an extension to a pier, but it wasn't connected to anything that she could see from where they were.

"What's on the pier?" Theo asked.

"Also no idea, but it's not too far. We could walk down there after lunch if you want," Rachel said.

Draco leaned closer. "Why are the women in barely more than their knickers?" he asked softly after a pair of women walked in front of their blankets.

Rachel repressed a smile as best she could. "They don't have bikinis in the magical world?"

"Not like that," Theo said, and when Rachel looked, she saw that he was slightly flushed and it definitely wasn't from the sun.

She thought back to her own swimming lessons and realized that all of the girls and women she'd seen there had been in bathing suits that had covered their stomachs and that had done substantially more to cover their breasts. She'd always assumed that everyone's more modest standards of dress than might be found in the muggle world was because they were at school, but now that she thought about it she realized she'd never seen anyone in a short skirt or a revealing blouse in Diagon Alley or the Ministry, and she never even seen men or boys wearing shorts. "I guess magical fashion is a bit more modest than what's currently popular in muggle apparel," she said.

"Well, they don't wear robes," Draco said, smoothing his own trousers uncomfortably. "That's just weird."

"I assure you, muggles would think that wearing robes is weird. It goes both ways." She'd been on this with them ever since she'd started outlining ideas for her books. Both cultures were foreign to each other and they both had the opportunity to learn about each other. Well, muggles and muggleborns who knew about magic at least - there wasn't anything that could be done about muggles in general.

A little further down the beach someone turned on their radio and music joined the sounds of voices and the waves.

Draco looked at her, his eyes wide. "They do play music outside!"

Rachel nodded. "Batteries, just like my Walkman, except their stereo has bigger speakers so more people can listen."

Theo looked in her direction as well. "We should do this more often. We've been shut in forever, since before the war even. There have to be other places we can go."

"I'm sure there are," she said, though she wasn't at all sure what their options were or even how to find out. He was right though. This was a nice break. It was nice to be somewhere people didn't have expectations of her, or were looking at her, or thanking her for killing the Dark Lord. Out here, on this beach, she was just a random person that no one would look at twice. Also, the world was a large place and she'd barely seen anything. Now that she had the opportunity, she wanted to see all sorts of things, even if she didn't know what they were yet. "We'll think of something. Since we can apparate, we can go pretty much anywhere without worrying about trains and all that."

Hermione and Ginny returned, soaking wet and shivering as they grabbed towels.

"Is the water freezing?" Rachel asked.

"Pretty cold," Ginny said, wrapping her towel around her. "Definitely colder than the pond at home, but the waves are good."

"It's fun though, you should come in," Hermione said, rubbing herself dry before wrapping her towel around her hair.

"Not for me," Theo said, shaking his head.

"Nor me. I'm cold enough just sitting here," Rachel said.

"Were there fish?" Draco asked.

"Not this close to shore," Hermione said. "Too many people here for fish."

Draco looked around. "There are a lot of people here. Do muggles just come to the beach all the time?"

"No, but it's summer holidays and no one is in school yet, so it's a good time to go to the beach. This is a pretty popular tourist spot too," Hermione explained. "There are places we can go where there's not so many people. You have to remember that magical people aren't even a percentage point of the population of Britain."

"It's a little weird to think of it that way," Ginny said. "Like I know there are a lot of muggles, but you'd think there would be more of us."

Hermione shook her head. "We could fit the entire population of magical Britain in a medium sized town and no one would know the difference."

"Might be good though to have a town like that. There aren't very many magical majority towns in Britain," Draco said.

Theo looked thoughtful. "You'd think that the muggles there would notice something wasn't right."

"Maybe, but probably not. Here we're talking about magic out in the open and no one is giving us a second look. Besides, me being magic never crossed my parents' minds until Professor McGonagall showed up with my Hogwarts letter. Muggles just don't ever consider magic a possibility. It would be like believing that aliens are abducting people or believing in flying saucers."

Theo, Draco, and Ginny looked at Hermione blankly.

Hermione sighed. "There is no evidence of beings from another planet coming to Earth in flying saucers or anything else. It's fiction."

"Good. That's good," Draco said after a moment.

Rachel smiled and decided they needed to find some science fiction books for their friends to read.

Millie, Neville, and Luna rejoined them at the blankets, each carrying their shoes and the bottoms of Millie and Neville's trousers were wet.

"There aren't very many seashells," Luna said as they sat down.

"Too many people," Hermione said again. "We'll pick another beach next time."

"Is anyone going to notice if I dry my trousers?" Millie asked, looking around.

"I don't think so," Rachel said. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business.

Millie discreetly pulled out her wand and performed the drying charm, Neville doing so a moment later.

"What do we want to do?" Hermione asked.

"We talked about maybe walking down to the pier to see what's there," Rachel suggested.

"Maybe just walking along the shops to see what's in them?" Luna asked.

"We can do that. Why don't we do the shops and get lunch here and then we can walk to the pier?" Hermione suggested. "We'll probably want to get lunch early to beat the rush."

"I'm open to pretty much anything," Theo said.

Rachel nodded. She didn't particularly mind what they did. She was just glad for a break.


"Severus?"

"Down here," he called, looking up briefly from his cauldrons. He was brewing three cases of Draught of Peace for a local apothecary. It was milder than the Calming Draught and also a mild sedative. If it weren't for the sedative effects he would have recommended it to Rachel while she was struggling with sleep and anxiety. "I wasn't expecting you until Sunday," he said when he heard her footsteps finish coming down the stairs.

"You don't mind if I just drop by, do you?" she asked.

Severus paused in brewing and got a good look at her. She was in nice clothing, which meant she had been at the Wizengamot for trials today. "I don't mind at all. You're welcome to be here anytime you want to be here. Give me a moment and then I can give you my full attention.

"Okay," she said, moving closer and peering into one of the cauldrons. "Why do you need so much Draught of Peace?"

"An apothecary ordered them, I imagine they've been going through these and Calming Draughts a great deal during the war. I'm brewing for them on a trial basis for the time being," he explained. He had decided against taking a brewing position at St. Mungo's or the Ministry, and had declined a position in the Potions Guild for the time being. He wanted to choose his own working conditions and to be able to set aside projects to invent as ideas came to him.

"Oh, that's good. It's what you want to be doing?"

"For the time being, I'm mostly taking things as they come at the moment." He had a decent savings built up - his expenses while living at Hogwarts had been very few. For now he had the freedom to choose what he was going to do, for the very first time in his life. It was taking some getting used to. "How are things at your new home?"

"Good. It's not really that different from being in the dorms except we don't share bedrooms. Kreacher and Dobby are a little wary of each other, but as far as I can tell they're managing to get along so far. I'm working on getting them to eat with us at the dining table, but they both act like I'm suggesting that they murder someone when I ask them."

Severus felt the corner of his mouth tip up. For all of Rachel's experience in the magical world, she was still missing some of the basics. "To most House Elves, eating with their family would be a horrific breach in conduct. They'd see it as the height of ill manners. House Elves don't wish to be humans. They have their own social rules. It would be like asking a centaur to dine at a table."

Rachel was quiet for a long moment. "I just realized. I never saw Professor Firenze eat at the staff table. Not once."

"Firenze took his meals in private. Centaurs generally only eat among themselves and they view sharing a meal to be an act of family and close friends," he explained.

"What about merpeople?" she asked.

"I'm not familiar with the dining habits of merpeople," he said, moving from cauldron to cauldron to put the finishing touches on them.

"So House Elves eating separately isn't something that humans forced onto them, it's part of their culture?"

"House Elf culture has been intertwined with human culture for so long it's difficult to say what has influenced what. What you need to take into account is what their culture is now. There's nothing wrong with inviting them to dine with you, but you should also respect them when they decline," he said, turning off the heat on each of the cauldrons.

"I do. I'd never force them to do anything. I just want them to be comfortable and well cared for. I want them to feel like they're allowed to do the things they want to do, but so far the things they want to do seem to be to cook and to clean," she said.

"That's not surprising. House Elves value work. It's a point of pride to them to keep things clean and their people well fed. Let's go upstairs," he said, using a spell to cleanse his hands.

"I don't want to treat them like they're slaves. Having them do all the work feels like that."

"And I can assure you that your House Elves will feel very offended if they find you cleaning. They will feel like they have not done a good enough job," he warned her as they went up the stairs.

Rachel sighed. "I need to include a section on House Elves in my book for muggleborns, but I'm not at all sure how to write it. It's wrong to keep anyone as a slave. But I don't want to hurt the House Elves either and from what I can tell, it would hurt most House Elves to free them. I want to do something to protect them in the Wizengamot, but I'm not at all sure what that would be yet other than making sure people aren't allowed to hurt them and that House Elves can leave if they want to. Even my Azkaban project has become super complicated, and that's only made worse by the trials." She sat down on the sofa, pulled off her shoes and pulled her feet and her legs up with her in a posture that Severus was very familiar with. It was clear she was stressed about something.

"How are the trials making it worse?" he asked as he assessed her. She had dark smudges under her eyes, which suggested that her sleep was as poor as ever. Other than her posture she seemed relatively calm.

"I'm voting to send people to Azkaban when I don't agree with the institution of Azkaban at all. How can I do that?"

"Just because you are saying that you believe they are guilty of the crimes they are accused of does not mean you support the institution of Azkaban. The law sets the sentence, not the Wizengamot during the trial. If you were voting on a specific sentence, that would be different."

"It doesn't feel different. And…"

"And?" he prompted when she didn't continue after a moment.

"Some of these people have done really horrible things. I'm not saying I think they deserve to be in Azkaban, I still don't think anyone deserves to be tortured. But after hearing what they've done, I don't feel comfortable with them being free either," she said, shrugging and looking uncomfortable.

"That's perfectly reasonable. And, if I'm not mistaken, your goal is to have a prison where the prisoners are not being guarded by Dementors. Presumably the people who are being sent to Azkaban now would be transferred to such a prison, if one was made available," he pointed out, though he did wish she wasn't sitting on the trials and hearing all of these things. It was bad enough that she'd seen so much during the war through her visions.

"Yes, definitely. I just…I worry that it's not going to happen. Do you really think I can do this?"

"I don't know. You have a better chance of it with this Wizengamot than the last one. Also, this is going to be a project that takes years. You're going to need a proposal, which includes a reasonable alternative for Azkaban, you'll have the proposal voted on so it can be moved for further discussion. After that you'll help redraft documents and laws so that sentences are given to a new prison. Then there is the building and the staffing of a new prison. It's possible that this will take the next decade of your life," he said, wanting her to know what she was signing up for.

"I'm okay with that. This is really important to me. What's the point of being on the Wizengamot if I'm not doing things to help people?" she asked, still looking fairly grim.

Severus knew that most people's purpose for being on the Wizengamot was to gain personal power. "I'm glad you want to help people, but in order to do that, you must also take care of yourself."

She nodded. "I am. There's actually something I need to tell you."

"Alright," he said, raising his eyebrows. He never knew what to expect from Rachel when she said those words.

"I was accepted for the auror team. I'm going to join. I've told Emlyn that I want to do a Mastery with her, but I needed time to help stop the Death Eaters first. She says that's okay and that she understands and I should just keep her up to date." She was watching him now, her lips pressed together as if she was anticipating that he was going to be upset.

It was true that he wasn't pleased, but he had accepted that this was what Rachel was intent on doing. "I trust you will use all possible precautions while you are doing this."

"I will, I promise. And if it turns out that this is something I can't do, then I'll leave. I checked the contract and there's nothing saying that I have to stay once I sign up."

"Good. I trust you will keep track of yourself and make a decision that is in your best interests." He didn't believe that, actually. Rachel had historically been rather poor at making decisions in her own best interests.

"I will. I really think I can do this," she said, nodding as if trying to convince him.

"How are you balancing this with your other obligations?"

"Quidditch stuff is in the afternoon, so it won't interfere with auror stuff. Auror stuff is in the mornings and then we're on call on certain nights. Both Seren and Robards know I have Wizengamot stuff that has to take first priority on my schedule. I think it will work."

Severus thought that once again she was going to be ridiculously busy. He supposed he should be glad she was not trying to do her Mastery at the same time as all of this. "Do you know if Draco was accepted onto the auror team as well?"

"Yes, he was. Ron too. I guess the training we did last year really worked."

He nodded. If their training had been enough that they were qualified to join the auror team, then it had done exactly what he'd been hoping for. He knew that Bones and Robards would have sent them away if they'd felt any of them were not competent enough to defend themselves.

"I can't believe we have two more months of these trials. It's…it's harder than I expected," she said after a moment.

"As you've said, they've done some terrible things and it's not surprising that it's difficult to hear what they've done. Know that there is an end in sight. And you can always talk to me or Torey about what you hear there."

She sighed again. "I think the thing that scares me the most is that these are just the Death Eaters that were caught. What about the ones that are still out there? If they were skilled enough to not get caught, that must mean that what they've done is even worse, doesn't it?"

"Not necessarily. Sometimes luck plays a role. In the field of combat it can be very chaotic. You can't control who gets hit with a spell or what spell. From what I've heard of the battle at the Ministry, it was absolute chaos. They captured who they could capture and many more were killed. Skill plays a role, but in a situation like that, luck is just as powerful of a force," he explained.

"They won't be able to do that again, will they? There's not enough Death Eaters left free to attack like that again?"

"No. It would be absolutely foolish of them to stage an attack like that with the numbers they have now. I'm not sure who is currently in charge, but my guess would be Crouch Junior, unless he's fled. Maybe Rookwood. Right now their goals seem to be revenge rather than a continuation of the war." Their goals firmly put Rachel very high on their target list, but that was nothing new.

"The attacks will stop though, after we've captured more of them. Right?" she asked, almost plaintively.

"Yes. Once they no longer have the structure within the Death Eaters to function, those who are wanted Death Eaters will flee, and those who were never discovered will resume their normal lives. The attacks will stop, just like they did after the first war," he promised.

"Good." Her shoulders relaxed a little as she sank against the cushions.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" he asked.

"Sure, I can do that. Let me just send a message so people know not to expect me."

He watched her summon her Patronus, which seemed to be responding to her more readily these days. He took that as a sign that she was in better control of her emotional state than she had been these past two years. As with everything, he would watch closely and hope for the best.


Rachel came back home after staying for a while after dinner with Severus and found the house mostly quiet. Hermione and Millie were reading in the sitting room, Crookshanks and Midnight draped across their laps.

"Where is everyone?" Rachel asked.

"Having an early night, I think. Draco and Neville were pretty exhausted after the trials. Last I checked Theo was in the library making some notes," Hermione said.

"How was dinner with Professor Snape?" Millie asked, marking her place with her finger.

"Good. You know, he's not a professor anymore, and you're not students. I think you can call him Severus," Rachel said.

"I think I'll wait for an invitation from him to use his given name before I call him Severus," Millie said with a rueful smile.

"Me too, though I suppose Master Snape is now his correct title, given that he's a Potions Master?" Hermione asked.

"That's right. And technically I'm Wizengamot Member Snow," Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

Millie giggled. "I should start calling you and Draco and Neville by your titles, just for fun. 'How was your dinner, Wizengamot Member Snow?'"

Hermione laughed too and Rachel shook her head but smiled. "When do you have to go back?" Hermione asked when they were done being silly.

"Tuesday again, so I have a few days away from the trials. I've got auror training on Monday morning, then Quidditch in the evening, but at least I have the weekend off," she said, digging her upcoming schedule out of her mind.

"We're having everyone over tomorrow night, I think," Hermione said. "I want to rent a movie and do popcorn and muggle sweets. We really should go to a cinema, but I figure maybe we should try the small screen first."

Rachel had never been to a cinema either, though she had a good idea of how it worked. "Let's try here first. We can do the cinema another time when there is something playing that we want to see. I think I'm going up too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Millie said.

"Goodnight," Hermione said, returning her attention to her book.

Rachel went upstairs and then paused at the end of the staircase before going up to the second floor. Draco and Neville's doors were both shut but Theo's door was open and there was light spilling into the hallway. She stepped into the doorway and peered inside. Theo was sitting at his desk, some parchment spread out in front of him along with an open book. Rachel knocked on his door frame and he looked up and smiled.

"Dinner with Professor Snape go alright?" he asked.

"Yes, it was fine. How are things here?"

"Come in," Theo said, closing his book and standing up. "Things here were fine, Kreacher and Dobby made pot roast."

Rachel stepped inside Theo's room and glanced around. Their bedrooms were very similar, though Theo had his bed under his window instead of his desk, but he also had two bookshelves. "That's good. Can I shut the door?"

"That kind of conversation?" Theo asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Maybe, if you want to have that kind of conversation, but it can wait," Rachel said. She'd been trying to get herself to do this for a while now, but it had never seemed to be the right moment.

Theo nodded and moved so he was sitting on the end of his bed.

Rachel closed the door and sat down on the end of his bed, leaving a little space between them. "You know that I'm responsible for Alfred Selwyn being arrested, right?" she said, searching for a place to begin.

"Yes, I know. Did something happen?"

"Not exactly. But in order to have him arrested, I showed Madam Bones and Head Auror Robards my memory of that night," she said, knowing he would know what night she meant. "And I'm not exactly sure what is going to be said at the trial and I'm possibly speaking at the trial, maybe Draco too, and I'm not sure what we're saying yet."

"Alright," Theo said after a moment. "Do you want some help figuring out what you want to say?"

She shook her head. "The victim's advocate is helping me figure out the right thing to say, but he also recommended that I speak with the people in my life about this so they're not taken by surprise when the Daily Prophet reports on the trial. I wanted to talk with you privately and ask if you wanted to know about what happened that night with your father."

Theo let out an unsteady breath and bowed his head. "I suppose I should," he finally said.

"There's no should. Only what you want. And it doesn't have to be tonight. I'm not even sure what happened with your father will be brought up at the trial, I just want you to be prepared in case it is." A not insignificant part of her wanted Theo to say that he didn't want to know.

He sat for what felt like a long time, but finally nodded. "I do want to know. But only if you're ready to speak about it. I don't want to put pressure on you either."

Rachel pressed her lips together and bit down on the insides. "I'm never sure what to say," she finally said. "I suppose you know the general idea. That the Death Eaters tortured me using the Cruciatus Curse. The curse specialist who checked on me about a month later told me that if they hadn't done it in the short repetitive bursts that they did, I would have had brain damage."

Theo nodded again. "How many Death Eaters were there?"

"Nearly fifty, but not all of them used the Cruciatus Curse. The Lestranges were there. Pettigrew. Crouch Junior. Selwyn, of course. Pansy's parents. Draco's parents. Crabbe and Goyle's fathers."

"And my father."

"Yes." Rachel paused again, wondering if she should just tell him what his father had done or what he'd said as well. She didn't want Theo to feel responsible for what his father had done.

"He used the Cruciatus Curse on you?" Theo asked, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

"No. He used the Flaming Whip curse on me." She shivered, remembering Ignatius Nott standing over her and brandishing his wand. She was grateful that Theo did not look a great deal like his father. She suspected he must have gotten most of his features from his mother.

"Why him? Do you know?" he asked after a long silence had stretched between them.

"He asked for permission to take vengeance. He blamed me for you leaving him. Said that I had seduced you." Rachel carefully focused on taking a few slow breaths. Her chest and throat were hurting a little bit, but so far it was manageable.

Theo shook his head. "I don't know why he would believe that. I almost never spoke about you when I was home for the summer. Only when he asked me about you. He knows what he did. He knows why I left."

"I don't think it had anything to do with you," she began.

"You don't?" Theo asked, his voice raising slightly.

"No, I don't. I think he wanted an excuse and you made a convenient excuse. My relatives used to do that. If they wanted to hurt me, they'd find a reason, it didn't have to make sense. I think your father wanted to hurt me, the same way he wanted to hurt you, and he had a convenient reason. If your father really doesn't understand the reason you left, that says something about him, not about you."

Theo swallowed audibly. "He never…He never understood. He felt he was right. All the time. Whatever he did to me, it was because he was right."

Rachel nodded. She understood that very well from her relatives.

"He didn't- He wasn't abusing me in the way that you were being abused."

"I don't think anyone is abused the way other people are abused. I think it's different for everyone," she said. That was true from what she'd seen of other people who'd been hurt by their families.

He exhaled heavily. "I was always a disappointment to him. And I tried hard to hide the things that were disappointing to him, but it never really worked. My mother…she hid me from him. The best that she could, at least. When she died, I lost my protector."

Rachel reached over and Theo took her hand and squeezed.

"I don't understand my father. And now I never will. I can never ask him how he thought it was okay to do those things."

"I don't think there is an explanation. I think some people just think it's okay to hurt other people. Some people like hurting other people. It makes them feel powerful," she said, knowing it was true, but not understanding it herself. She felt sick at the idea of hurting someone on purpose.

"Maybe," he said, squeezing her hand again. "I'm glad we're safe from him, but I wish he'd faced justice for what he's done."

Rachel shook her head slightly. There was no justice. She didn't believe that more suffering made someone's suffering better. She wasn't pursuing Selwyn because she wanted justice. She just wanted him to be far away from her and unable to hurt anyone else.