Hey everyone,
Well, this chapter has been bothering me for the better part of a month. I wrote the last few lines of the previous chapter at the start of September, yet couldn't find a proper way to transit from Snape being caught to Harry moving to the Garden, as I decided to call Radiant Garden from now on. In the end, I decided the best way was by bringing a little more closure to the Snape chapter.
Here it is,

Venquine1990


Chapter 31
A Meeting Of Disgust And Revenge

12th of November 1995
Grimmauld Place, London
Albus' POV

I had been quite surprised to find that Grimmauld Place was still accessible to us after calling for a new Order meeting and using our method to let everyone know we might have to meet at Hogwarts. Yet I feel even more surprised when Remus and Poppy enter the kitchen/dining area alongside everyone else. The others, however, bar Minerva and Hagrid, seem more curious about the absence of Sirius and Snape and are muttering about this with one another.
I really don't like the thought of having to relay this whole story a second time over, as I still feel like I am stuck standing in that street, looking up at the house and sensing the damage that had been done to the place. But because I know, just know, that Pepper is punishing Snape as we speak, do I feel confident that I can do my part. And the thought that she might even show up to give us some details of what she's doing makes me feel hopeful relief.

"Remus, Poppy, how wonderful to see you both. I thought that everyone bar our young Chaser friends had already left." I greet the two after everyone has sat down and while I had expected Molly to voice her concerns and confusion over this, the woman herself remains calm. This gives me the impression that she may have already been informed and Remus says: "Change of plans, Albus. Basically something similar to Alicia and co."
I nod at this and Tonks asks: "Wait, what are we missing here? And where is Sirius?""All of it is linked, Tonks. And I called you all here for that exact reason. To explain everything, including various events that happened between yesterday's Quidditch match and today's lunch." Yet at this I turn to Remus and Poppy and the woman says: "Garden." And Remus goes on: "I was adapting my lesson plan, according to the match's events."
I nod at them both, yet also feel curious as to why Poppy has returned. I sit down and while I feel sure that it's partially because of her duties as School Matron, do I start my explanation. "As some of you – or most of you – know, yesterday was the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match, the first of the season. And, as usual, it was quite the event in and of itself." At which Minerva, Poppy, Remus, Hagrid and even Molly nod in agreement.
I wonder how much the woman knows and say: "First of, young Mr. Malfoy decided to dishonor his family by following in his great-grandfather's footsteps and breaking a rule that, when the man broke it, he brought great shame upon House Malfoy. And young Draco did the same for Slytherin by initiating the entire House into singing a song that was meant to demoralize young Ronald." At this a lot of those around me look at Molly, who looks unfazed.

I feel sure that this is because she knows that Ron is now in the Garden and continue my story. "Sirius helped me put an end to this by getting a Quidditch Rule book and paging through it as the song was going and when I called for a time-out and recited the choices of punishment, Draco chose for a two-minute time-out. Understandable as the other option was him leaving the field for the rest of the game." At this some of those around me snort, yet I ignore them and continue.
"However, because it was Sirius that helped me, Draco decided to let his anger over this injustice out – on young Harry." Instantly everyone bar the ones in the know are on high alert and Alastor asks: "The lad's alright, right Albus?" At which Poppy answers for me: "Yes. While Mr. Malfoy made a direct attack on Harry's abdomen, the powers and abilities of Lea and his friends foiled this attack and kept Harry safe from a harsh fall down."
The tension leaves the room, yet I know it's only short-lived and say: "Unfortunately, Harry's fall being broken was not the end of the trouble. If anything, it was the start of, what I can now declare, were the most emotionally draining 24 hours of my life. And I truly, truly, do not mean this in any dishonoring or disparaging way, but – I would almost compare it to Halloween 1981." And this time even Remus, Poppy and Molly are on edge.

"What happened?" Remus asks, proving he really has kept to himself and the group since the match and I say: "As you know, Remus, while Lea, Sora, Riku and Kairi managed to break Harry's fall, Axel had to intercept a Bludger heading their way and Isa had to step in between Harry and Snape, because Roxas had used Ice magic to freeze Draco's broom to the ground." The man nods and says: "And both Goyle and Malfoy left the field and Harry won the match."
"After which you all celebrated and Sirius left to visit Lucius as he had demanded that further punishment to Draco be left to the Black line. And Lucius has indeed come true to this as Draco has yet to return and probably won't for some time. But, as you probably know, when Sirius came to report this to me, as well as the information provided to us by Pepper, he was confronted by Snape in my office and this conformation –."
"Led to Sirius remembering what happened between James and Lily at the start of November in '76." Remus fills in the blank for me as I had, unintentionally, fallen silent, the part of me that doesn't want to talk about this again coming up. I nod at the man and then suddenly notice a shift in the shadow behind him. And from this shadow, Pepper Pomfrey walks out, a look on her face that reminds me of what happened during lunch.

"Just leave the rest to me, Albus. You've done enough for one day. Also, he's in pain. And what's even better, he's trying to fight the protocol, which just causes him even more pain." This makes a lot of those around me look between me and her, a lot of their eyes widening when they see the look and smile of satisfaction on my face. "Good, thank you, Pepper." I say before motioning her to take the stage. The Unspeakable goes to stand on the other head of the table, but before she can speak, does Alastor stand up and ask:
"Let me guess, you're the Unspeakable Potter spoke to? The one that is now tasked with helping us end that bastard?" To which the woman actually stares him down and says: "Your chances of doing so, and we have done several weeks of calculations and research on this, is only guaranteed if you take another two years and 7 months. And even then you'd still have a 42% chance of failure. We're already 87% of the way there."
And when Alastor wants to open his mouth to argue this, does Pepper snap her fingers, causing for lines upon lines to fill the entire room, the lines on the right of me being white colored and the ones on the left of me being bright red colored. "Look at these for yourself and then decide what you think of my statement. Though please do so quietly, I don't want to stress Albus out more than I need to." Alastor gives her a look of hesitant respect and does as said, actually casting a spell to silence his wooden leg as he does.

"Anyway, the attack on Harry and his baby, and the fact that it happened so openly and publicly, convinced him that he needed to move to the Garden. Radiant Garden, to be precise, where Lea lived before he came here. And, being the loyal friends that they are, most of Harry's gang decided they would come with him, something Remus told Molly about during lunch yesterday, which is why she's been so calm this whole time."
The larger portion of the Order turns to the woman in question and she says: "I don't like the idea of my babies being a whole world away from me, but I have gotten to know Lea and the others over the last few months and know that they are basically guides/bodyguards, keeping my children safe. Also Remus assured me that I could come over and spend Christmas there with them and that's all that matters to me, really."

"Wait, how long is Potter planning to stay there?" One of the newer members suddenly asks, who I remember also has a son going to Hogwarts and Poppy is this time the one to speak up. "The original plan was for Harry to stay just until he gave birth, which we expected to be somewhere around May and maybe have him return for his OWLs in June. However, upon his arrival at the Garden, Harry proved himself a Potter through and through."
This truly intrigues me and Remus smirks as he says: "Charlus told Sirius and me about this when we were young, just before he and Dorea were diagnosed with Dragon Pox. Apparently, over all the generations that the Potters have been alive, they only went on holiday to other countries, when invited by friends or other families. Otherwise, they always stayed in the country they lived in, even if that country was war-torn or ravaged by revolutions.
However, if a Potter did go to another country on holiday, it often happened that they would fall in love with said country and move there – and the same, apparently, happened to Harry upon him arriving in the Garden earlier this morning." And while I feel very elated to see Poppy nod to confirm this, does something happen that I didn't expect. "So that's it? Potter's just going to ditch us? He found some new digs and now we no longer matter to him? He seriously thinks that –."

One of the younger men at the table starts to rant, but he quickly falls silent when seeing the raging anger in the eyes of Minerva, Hagrid, Molly, Remus, Poppy, myself and even Pepper, who – while she doesn't have her wand out like the rest of us – has a look on her face that proves she doesn't need one to look threatening and prove her ability to display her anger through magic. And this further proves to me why she chose to be an Unspeakable.
"Moody?" The woman coldly asks and the man snorts and grunts before he says: "I got news for you, Lasiter. The Unspeakables actually have measured and calculated each of our chances of beating that monster – whether in teams or by ourselves. You may think Potter is being selfish, but his chances and those of his friends are here as well – and they're higher than yours by a long shot.""You can't be serious!" The man yells and Moody retorts:
"See for yourself." And after he shares a glance with Pepper, who nods in acceptance, does he wave his wand, causing for several names and numbers to light up. Molly shows a look of great concern when seeing her kids' names, but her eyes also widen when she sees that most of them have percentages of 70 and higher. I personally feel quite amazed to see that, when in teams, their chances are all between 87 and 100%, even if it will take them all a year to longer.

And then I spot Lasiter's chances, including those with other Order members, and all of them are between forty-seven and sixty-one percent. "You've got to be kidding me! How could a bunch of brats have a higher survival chance than me? What have they done that makes them have such high chances compared to me?" Lasiter asks and to this Arthur actually coldly asks: "Quick question, what year is your kid in, Lasiter?"
"His third, why?" Lasiter asks and Arthur growls: "Simple. That explains why you don't know. Your son wasn't around – when Harry saved my daughter's life from the Chamber of Secrets." Lasiter looks shocked at this and Minerva continues where Arthur left off. "What did Mister Potter do, you ask? I'll tell you, Lasiter. Potter has been risking his life, neck and magic to keep Hogwarts open two years in a row, allowing your son to even have an education in the first place."
And while there is clear pride resounding through her voice, do I also notice the same hint of guilt and remorse that sounds through her voice, proving that Minerva still feels bad that Harry had to do this when he could and should have been able to rely on her to do so. I smile at the woman, who has luckily enough managed to find a much better Mind Healer and has made a lot of progress since and Pepper draws the attention back to herself.

"I will just finish this little debate with a few final questions and this is to all those who think they can argue Harry deciding to live elsewhere. Are you really going to tell me that a fifteen year old o-r-p-h-a-n should not do everything he can to keep his family safe, if given the chance? What is wrong with anyone wanting something like that? Do you really think yourself more important than Harry's own family? Are those who feel like this for real here?"
And the fact that there are actually a few faces who are looking guilty really annoys me. Yet before Pepper can continue, does Remus cough and say: "I'm going to be speaking in name of Harry, Sirius, James and Lily when I say this. Just because their sacrifice saved our lives all those years ago, does not mean we should expect them to make the same sacrifice this time round. We have a surefire solution to take Voldemort out, end of story."
Pepper nods in agreement to this and to my elation Alastor returns to his seat and mutters: "You're darn right we do. Those chances are insane." He turns to Pepper and says: "I know you don't really need it, seeing the 139, but still – good luck." And while this new percentage number intrigues and amazes me, does Pepper nod and turn to me as she says: "If you want, Albus, you and Minerva can leave. I really don't want you to hurt more today than you need to."

I smile at the woman for this, easily able to see the relation between her and Poppy, but Minerva says: "Thank you, Pepper, but we can take this. Just please, make it quick." The woman nods and says: "Right, back to the actual reason we've been called here. Harry decided that he would move to the Garden after the Gryffindor victory party to celebrate their win. Him doing so allowed the other Lions to accept the planned move.
Anyway, after hearing Sirius talk about the memory that he remembered during his confrontation with Snape, Harry went for the will that Amelia Bones gave him on the day he became pregnant. Through this, he managed to find the one bit of evidence that Lily Potter asked her husband to burry, so she could, truly, keep the secret until after her death. A copy of this evidence was then made for Albus' sake and the next morning, some of them decided to move."

At which Remus and Poppy nod and Remus says: "At first, all of us wanted to just go and leave, but there were several of us who realized that doing so would be counterproductive and could cause a bit too much ill will to grow with the others, which could cause conflict upon our return. However, all of us decided we would eventually join Harry, preferably between now and Christmas. I myself will be leaving later tonight and Poppy and I will be switching placed every so often."
"I myself will only remain until I have found a proper replacement for the Hospital Wing and I also only returned, because, as Regent of House Potter, I now need to make sure that everything that belongs to House Potter can be moved to the Garden. The Goblins might not like to lose that many vaults, but it sure isn't the last time that happened – and it's not like they'll have a choice in the matter, either." At this William cringes and mutter:
"They might not see it that way." Yet to this Pepper smirks and says: "No, my sister is actually right. You see, most vaults are indeed created into the caves by the Goblins, but there are a rare few, like the Potters, the Peverells and the vaults of the Founders, that were already in existence when Gringotts was founded and that were only moved into the caves. Therefore, they are still 100% property of the family that moved them there."

This really astounds all of us, even William and he mutters: "I – I had no idea." But then a very short look that Pepper aims my way makes me know that the time for pleasant conversations and shocking distractions is over. "While that was going on, Albus was also dealing with the realization of what Snape actually did and it got him to think – a lot. As was said before, Sirius remembered something that happened between his friends in November 1976.
This was Lily losing her parents, crying over it in the Hogwarts Pity Corner for a couple of days and confiding in James that her parents hadn't just been killed; they had been betrayed – by Snape. Yes, this is the secret that Lily and James took to their graves, the secret that was shown on one bit of evidence that James hid on Lily's request, that young Harry was able to find late last night after reading his parents' will.
And before any of you even so much as think to turn to Albus about this, let me make repeat myself one last time. Lily and James – took this secret – to their graves. Albus did not know about this until last night. And you need only look at the facts that he now too calls Snape by his last name and that Snape isn't here right now as proof of this." And to my relief are all the looks that are send my way at this filled with understanding and respect.

I let out a huge breath and mutter: "Just tell them, Pepper. Please, I know this is hypocritical of me, but – please don't elongate this anymore than necessary." The woman nods and says: "This morning, Albus told the Great Hall of the Potter move, after which Snape tried to make him believe that he was angry that he lost his chance to apologize for his betrayal. Needless to say, Albus no longer bought this bogus. Instead, he told Snape to go apologize to the person who truly deserved his apology. Only Snape decided to take that order the wrong way – beyond wrong."
This makes me cringe and close my eyes, only for me to open them again right away as the memory of what James' body looked like appears behind my closed eyelids. I try to suppress a shudder at this and listen to Pepper going on. "I decided to join him as Snape trying to make it look like he was determined to apologize made me just as suspicious of the man as Albus. We went to Godric's Hollow, paid the privacy price and entered the graveyard.
Albus hid himself near the small patch of trees that are to the right back of the Potter graves and I went to stand behind him. We both sensed Snape actually Confunding the graveyard's owner and then he went a step further and cast all kinds of privacy and secrecy charms as he approached the graves himself. And these spells were so efficient, they basically hid both him and the graves from sight – entirely. They made it look as if the graves were never there."

Instantly I turn to Remus, who is tense like a board made of steel and while I really wish the werewolf had gone to sit beside either me or Minerva, does Pepper herself move over to where the man is seated and she uses a little magic to seat herself between the man and her sister. She grabs both their hands and gives both a warning, yet supportive squeeze and continues her tale: "Instantly both Albus and I made sure we could see through these spells – and only better we did.
Snape had pulled Lily's grave from the ground and, just when we stopped him, when Albus stopped him by cursing him away from the grave – he had vanished all of Lily's cloths; including her underwear." The woman stops here and utter silence greets her for several minutes before Remus takes a deep breath and asks: "Poppy?" The woman nods and says: "Even gave me one, Remus." At which Remus stands up, his body just radiating intense anger.
But at this Pepper pulls him back down and says: "I'm sorry, no. If you leave for that realm now, you will turn into a Heartless upon arrival. Do not do that, not to yourself and not to Harry. Sit down, hear me out and you will see evidence that Snape is suffering and being punished." And while Remus clearly wants to object, does Pepper turn to her sister and say: "I activated Protocol #4444."
The woman's eyes widen and she turns to Remus and says: "He's being punished, Remus. That's one of the worst kinds of punishment protocols that Unspeakables can unleash upon their prisoners and they usually only do so on prisoner who are labelled Target #32, aka Dead Man Walking. Plus, if the protocol isn't accepted by magic, magic takes the Unspeakable and erases them from existence. Unspeakables are beyond careful if they want to activate this protocol."

This calms down both Remus and, as I suddenly notice, various others who had been just as furious over this knowledge. Yet at this I turn to Minerva, who looks back at me with a look that I just know is similar to my own. And this is only the beginning. Is a thought that I am sure is on both our minds. "Albus had also asked Minerva to call on Madam Bones before he left for the Hollow and just after he knocked Snape out of the field of spells, she arrived.
At this point in time, Albus had questioned Snape, who seems to have temporarily snapped as he started laughing and even admitting some of his crimes. Amelia knocked Snape out and I erased the field of spells before we decided to check out the damage that Snape admitted he had caused to James' body. Just to give you an example of how bad his damage was; Albus lost his breakfast after seeing it all and Amelia handed the case over to the DoM."
And even though my eyes are wide open this time around, do I still see an image of that horrible memory flash before my eyes. I shake my head and feel beyond glad that I took a Stomach relief potion and spent a few minutes listening to Fawkes' reassuring tunes before coming here as I otherwise would have experienced a repeat of earlier this morning. And this is clearly visible to everyone who looks at me at this, many of them turning white with horror.
"And I really, really, really hate to make a bad situation worse, but – when we went to check out Potter's home, we found it in pretty much a similar state. The whole house did still have the Ministerial Perimeter ward around it, though upon closer inspection that has been moved several times over the years, but it was also covered in damage of all kinds of nature – and Glamour charms. Way too many Glamour and hiding charms. However, onto the good news."

And just by looking around, do I know that everyone is just dying to hear this. "As I said, I activated Protocol #4444, which is a protocol that is seriously only used on Targets classified as #32 and even then we need to be extremely careful or suffer the consequences. Though Snape's own actions sure helped me get magical permission to activate this protocol. Now, here's an example of what that protocol entails."
And to the confusion of many, the woman pulls out a fine-looking book. Yet I myself instantly figure out the little mystery the woman presents us with and a gleeful smirk grows to adorn my face as I turn to the woman and ask: "His magic?" And the woman grins back maliciously as she says: "His magic, intent – and a little spell that Voldemort had decided to implement into his Dark Mark. And the more he resists, the more that the DoM punishes him for it.
The more precious little Snapey tries to keep his damage from being undone, the more he will feel a burning sensation all throughout his form as his magic isn't just ripped from his core, but from every place on his body that he, as a Death Eater and a spy, ever had to use magic to heal. And to be honest, I can even make it so that, every time he resists, I will make him feel the pain he felt when he received said injuries. He won't actually regain the injuries, just the sensation of pain."

At this I turn to Remus, noticing and not even feeling bad for the fact that everyone between him and myself are smirking, grinning and smiling in gleeful and malicious delight as I truly cannot personally think of a more appropriate punishment for the bastard of a liar and Remus asks: "You will kill him, right?" At which Pepper reassures him: "Target #32 is called Dead Man Walking for a reason, though not before the protocol has been considered completed."
Yet this concerns me and I ask: "You really think Snape has enough magic for that?" And the woman smirks as she says: "That's just it. The minute he entered the DoM, its magic cast a regeneration spell on his core. And every time we let him rest, even if it's only for a minute, the spell activates. And if we really feel like it, we can even make that sensation be painful. We just don't, because we want him conscious when he restores the property." And at this many nod in understanding and agreement.

Pepper then turns to me and I feel like blessing the kind and gentle soul as she suddenly changes the subject and says: "Speaking of the DoM, why in the name of Magic are your Order members still guarding our place? You know that the prophesy no longer concerns Potter, so why keep that up?" And I happily and gently answer: "To keep Voldemort from realizing that we have something else that is more important now.
He may know that Harry is pregnant, but by continuing – and even doubling the amount of Order members guarding the prophesy and the Department, we gave Tom the impression that we now consider the prophesy, in his hands, even more dangerous, therefore keeping his focus on that. I do know that this risks the secrecy of your actions against him, but –." But at this Pepper scoffs and says: "Not really, we're using the hidden rooms for that. Rooms that don't have doors, so to say.
Plus, we already suspected such a thing, considering the strategy master that you are. I just brought it up, so I could ask you and your members a quick question." I nod at her and she makes my night, and that of many who have been assigned this now useless task as she asks: "Would you mind if we Unspeakables spoke with your members from time to time? You know, keep you company during the nights that Voldemort doesn't try to get in."
I shake my head and the woman smiles before she says: "Oh, and I got you guys another spy, though he works for us, not you. Sorry." But the idea that, in the last 24 hours, Pepper got Lucius his Mark removed, helped me capture Snape, started to punish him most justly, had time to keep an eye on both her sister and me and got the DoM a spy to work against Voldemort just astounds me too much to really feel offended over this.


Yeah, that happened.
So yeah, I now had to go through the whole Snape destroyed the Potter home and defiled the Potter graves not once, not twice, but three times. And it almost made me rewrite this chapter three times over. In the end, I only deleted the original text, which had Harry and the others leave for the Garden, Poppy return and then Remus taking her to London for the meeting, but I still feel like I could have used a different opening.
Anyway, yes, Lucius is the reason that I decided to raise the number from 123 to 139. I might go deeper into why one person could increase the chances so much, but I don't think I really need to, seeing who Lucius' persona is and what kind of person he portrays himself as in the canon. And I'm sure we all remember the "explanation" he gave Voldemort in GoF the movie. "That is my real mask." Anyone? Yeah, you know what I mean.
Anyway, next chapter is probably going to be in Remus' POV, though I am not entirely sure about this. I might do it in either his POV or Poppy's. I want to do his, so I can finally start on the Garden, but that might make me have to relive the whole Snape thing a fourth time over and I REALLY don't want to bore you guys with that.
Not again,

Venquine1990