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Sirius


The dratted trial is coming up. I'm to Portkey with Draco and Neville to a London safe house. We get the prepared Portkey through Anana, so we can trust it. We both pack our stuff and get ready in the classroom. When the predefined time comes we're off in a swirl and land a few minutes later in a flat which seems to be somewhere in Diagon Alley. Some people await us, Dumbledore, Arthur and several Aurors. I breathe up in relief. I had been very afraid that the Portkey had been tampered with.

"Well, hello everyone," I greet.

We get settled in and they inform us about the trial, which has already started two days before.

"Things don't look too bright for your parents, Draco," Dumbledore tells him.

"Am I not needed then?" he asks hopefully.

"Unfortunately you could be the one to swing the last doubting jurors. Even though the lawyers of your parents are to question you at the trial, they will probably not be able to discredit you."

In the evening, Draco and Neville get drilled by the prosecutor for the trial. He asks them the questions he expects and tutors them how to reply to the trickier ones.

The very next day we are brought to the court room. It's the same room where Pettigrew had been tried. We have to wait outside and then I get called inside. I'm not an important witness, I only have to testify about the meeting with Lucius when we were able to arrest him.

The prosecutor questions me to establish the facts about that 'meeting'. Then the Malfoy's lawyer tries to distract me and make me tell contradictions, but I watch out and speak only very slowly, so the assembled Wizengamot will not believe anything wrong. I make it short, stick to the facts.

"Mr. Black, who else has been in attendance with you when Mr. Malfoy was captured?"

"Myself, Remus Lupin and thirteen students in our care. Among them Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom. You will surely accept that I cannot disclose any of the other students' names, as they are currently protected in a safe house. Their names are known to the court."

"You are the only witness to testify besides Mr. Draco Malfoy and Mr. Neville Longbottom, would you care to tell us why that is so and why Mr. Lupin is not here?"

"Because this hearing is taking place on a day before the full moon rises and as everyone knows, Mr. Lupin is a werewolf. It would not have been fair to ask him to testify shortly before his transformation. And please do NOT refer to the fact THAT he is a werewolf and as such his testimony would be unreliable, as that would be rather old," I say.

There's spontaneous applause from one side of the public stands. When I look up I can see the Weasley twins and a lot of young people who I don't know personally, but I can guess it's all friends of theirs. After the applause dies down, the lawyer says crossly:

"No further questions."

I'm dismissed and take my seat among the other witnesses. Now Neville is led to the court. The lawyer for the prosecution asks him about the day he had been abducted from the Hogwarts Entrance Hall:

"Mr. Longbottom, would you please tell the court of the day you have been taken from Hogwarts?"

"It was in the evening, I was in the Entrance Hall and on the way to dinner at the Great Hall. I was just next to Draco Malfoy, when I felt something that pulled both of us right out of the Hall and past the grounds. Finally we were dropped on a clearing in what I could only guess was the Forbidden Forest. Thick forest in any case. Draco and I both had no idea what was going on, but there were three people waiting for us there. One was Mr. Malfoy."

"Are you sure it was Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes, I had seen him many times before."

"Was he not wearing his mask?"

"He wore a black cloak and had his hood up but I could still recognise him easily. He talked to Draco. Called him his son. So I was not mistaking him for someone else. I didn't know the others though, they were completely covered."

"So you did recognise Mr. Lucius Malfoy?"

"Yes, I did."

"Proceed, please. What happened then?"

"As soon as both of us were standing on our feet again he got mad, because it seems he only wanted his son out there. He asked Draco to join the Death Eaters. Draco told him he would leave these childish games to his father. He had a kind of devil may care attitude at that moment. Later he told me that he thought we were doomed for good and that he expected his father to kill us on the spot."

"But you are alive and well to tell the story."

"Yes, well, that must have been because they botched that transportation spell or something, because not only Draco and I had been transported out there, but Professor McGonagall, too, but no one actually saw her. All I saw at first was that the two Death Eaters behind Mr. Malfoy were stunned and that she stunned Mr. Malfoy last. And then she took us back to the castle and from there to a safe place."

"Thank you, Mr. Longbottom. - Your witness, Mr. Cribber," said the lawyer after that.

Cribber started to take Neville's statement apart. We had trained Neville up for this and he was not moving away from the few facts he had.

"Mr. Longbottom, how can you be so sure that you had Mr. Malfoy in front of you when you didn't see his face?"

"Duuuh, Mr. Cribber, I didn't say that I didn't see his face. I only said he had his hood up. It didn't cover his face fully. I saw AND heard Mr. Lucius Malfoy. As a full blooded wizard I had grown up knowing Mr. Malfoy."

"Did you at any time feel threatened by Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes, I did."

"When was that?"

"Right after he asked his son to join the Death Eaters. He said to Draco that he knew the consequence of this and that he was going to kill us both."

"Did he actually use the words "kill"?"

"Oh yes, he did. Plus he had already pointed his wand at me. How much threat is that?"

I have to grin. Neville doesn't let himself be used like a pawn in a game.

"This Professor McGonagall brought you both abroad, is that true?"

"Yes."

"Then she abducted you both without consent of both of your guardians, didn't she?"

"So what? My gran sent her a letter and thanked her for saving me."

"Fact remains she took you both away. I don't think Narcissa or Lucius Malfoy would have given their consent to take their son out of their custody."

"So what? It was Draco's father who threatened him after all! Who would have asked such a parent for consent to bring their children to safety?"

Now the lawyer for the prosecution objects.

"Mr. Cribber this has nothing to do with the subject, please proceed, if you have any more questions to the witness," Amelia Bones decides.

"No further questions."

Neville joins me and sits down to my right.

"Do you think I did well?" he asks shyly.

"Yes, you did, Neville, don't worry."

Draco is brought in and the attorney of the prosecution questions him. He does it very carefully, always trying to make it easiest for Draco. Apart from the encounter in the forest at Hogwarts he's asks Draco to tell the court about the repeated cases of his being put under curses, especially one or two cases of the Cruciatus curse. Draco seems quite thankful and replies to all the questions truthfully. Then it's the turn of Cribber, who again tries everything to make Draco uncomfortable. But Draco sticks with his facts. Finally Bones interferes again and demands that either the defence lawyer should finish his questioning or ask for repeated questioning under Veritaserum.

But the lawyer dismisses the witness. Draco gets up, looks across the room to his parents and glares at them, then he demonstratively comes over and sits down on my other side. I have watched Narcissa. She's showing the first signs of madness after the Dementors have taken care of her for a while. I'm fairly glad that the Death Eaters have only been able to get the Lestranges out of Azkaban, but the Dementors are still there. It's horror to think about them out anywhere else. Without their wands, not even the Malfoys can keep the Dementors at bay.

Narcissa has glared at me several times. Yes, dear cousin, I'm out and finally back to where I belong. And you'll get to be where you belong. The noble house of the Blacks. Ha!

When the court is closed for the day we get to have a short conversation with Amelia Bones. She tells Draco it's his choice to stay on and watch the rest of the trial or return home.

"I'd like to return. I don't want to see them again," he says in a fairly small voice.

"Good. Then you'll go back to your safe house and then you can Portkey back to where you are staying. Sirius, I suppose, you know how to make a Portkey?"

"I do, Amelia. Thank you. I'll accompany Neville and Draco back."

"Good. Have a pleasant evening, all of you."

We are brought back to the safe house, then we pack and get ready to Portkey back to Switzerland. We're all glad to be back in such a short time. Remus is still down in the study when I call for him.

"You're back! I'm so glad, love!" he says.

I know he doesn't like to be alone to transform. I pull him into my arms and kiss him. The moon will be up in just a few minutes, so I step back, when he finally transforms and once it's all over I walk out of the study after the playful wolf and put the light out. He trots through the kitchen and waits for me at the bottom of the stairs. Padma and Parvati are on their way over to the common room and pat him on the back.

"Good night, Remus!"

He gives them a short bark and I follow him up the stairs into our bedroom. As soon as the door is closed I undress and watch as Remus looks at the bed longingly.

"Yes, love, I'm coming!" I say and pull the duvet back.

He jumps up and makes himself comfortable. That for him means either flopping down on his side or curling up in a tight ball. He seems to be so happy that I'm back early that he prefers to lie on his side. He whines until I climb into the bed next to him.

"There! I can do very well with this early night. Sleep well, love!"

I pull him close. That's something I can only do when he's lying on his side with his back turned to me, because those long wolf legs get in the way. But he can turn his head around almost completely without being uncomfortable. I give him a kiss on his warm, moist snout. He licks my face and a short while later we're both fast asleep.

He's still in his wolf form when I wake up. I love to see him as a wolf. I start caressing him slowly. Then I look at the clock and see it's almost time to get up. It's still a late moonset, so he remains in bed, after the alarm clock goes off. Of course he's awake before it goes off, as the wolf has an even better inner clock than Remus has.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" I say.

He whines and points his nose to the time. I laugh.

"Yes, but don't worry about that, it's my lessons today anyway, so just stay in bed. Are you okay to transform alone?"

He nods. I kiss him and give him another pat on the side, before I get up and pick up bathrobe and clothes. That's one of the great things with our system of each having two full days of teaching and the one in between being used randomly. If need be we can just switch. When I come out of the bathroom Ron and Justin wait to go in. Harry and Hermione come down the stairs. We sit down at the table and Winky brings the breakfast.

"Good morning, Winky!" Hermione says cheerfully, "Thank you!"

Harry looks over at me and asks:

"How was it yesterday?"

"Not too bad for me and Neville, a bit harder for Draco. Of course the lawyer his parents had engaged tried to discredit them where he could. He's a fool though, that case must be pretty clear cut from what I hear. Their Dark Marks alone are a dead give-away. The lawyer they hired is not exactly the brightest star in the sky, by the way. Wonder how they were able to find one at all or if the court actually appointed someone, because they are both held in Azkaban."

I've been thinking about that all night actually and if I remember the treatment I got 15 years ago then I could scream, but I have to put this all behind me. Sometimes I think I haven't really dealt with the whole thing, but then I often find that it's easier to just lock it up in some mental drawer and throw away the key. I'm living for more than the moment and I'm starting to think of a future, which is probably the better therapy than digging into it too deeply. I know what I went through and I know how badly it damaged me. So I'm working to treat the symptoms and my best doctor is always Remus. And Harry. And the whole gang of kids.

Of course I'm now very close to my students. It's a great feeling but it can become a dangerous bit, because I fear the day they leave us. I really hope they will always feel a part of this family and return to see each other. Some of them might stay together, who knows and it would just simply be lovely to see them being friends and have children growing up together. I must get a grip on myself, I'm fast becoming a terrible sap!

On the other hand we're supposed to go to Hogwarts once this is all over. Albus really wants Remus and he might want me as well, so I can get used to having a new bunch of students to like. Though I certainly won't become as close to any of them as to the ones we're taking care of now.

I finish my breakfast and go over to the study to get my stuff. It's fairly cold, so I'm wearing regular wizard robes over my trousers and turtleneck. It's nice to see that the students wear robes often as well.



Hermione


I'm working on my project a lot. Since we only have regular end of year tests to pass I take quite a lot of time for this thing, because frankly, it becomes overly fascinating.

Actually I start with those two way mirrors of Sirius and James'. Sirius showed me the enchantments they used for that. I think it's a good basis, but I need to find something that can be used as a system like the regular phone system. Something with a device that can be sold ready-made (or ready-enchanted more like) and then be registered with a name like the Floo regulation. I'm trying several communication spells. Padma is my helper for a bit, because with her I can try out the spells over a small distance.

I think, mirrors are ideal. There has to be some way that they can be enchanted to react to every other mirror and in a way that not everyone can just butt in. The next time I'm accompanying Remus to shop I buy about ten small hand-mirrors. I start building some of the spells, the first being a new communication spell to call. That will produce some sort of a signal, I decide on a small text, telling me it's giving the recipient a signal to react to my call. Then, when I get this working, there's the next, more complicated communication spell, which enables the recipient of the call to talk with me. Now I'm already working out the first flaw. Should I not enchant the mirrors but just make the spell known and everyone who has a mirror can receive calls? That would make it easier to register, as everyone would have a specific name, like a phone number. I'd call this name into my mirror and if the person called has a mirror in their pocket they would get the call. No one else would be able to get the call.

I've already tried to do a charm on a mirror and it worked, but I'd prefer the personalised version for which the mirror would only be the mediator so to speak. Hm. Let me call Padma and discuss this with her.

"Padma, can you hear me?" I call.

I wait a moment, then I can see her face in the mirror and ask her what she thinks about my idea to make a spell only on each person. A registered person would be reachable if the person has a mirror.

"That sounds ingenious, Hermione, though I think you should put something on the mirror as well. Like the communication spell for the beginning of the call."

"The mirror would only be the medium once the call started. Yes, I think you are right."

I'm working on this a bit more and I'm sure I can bring up the technology to start this in the wizarding world. Ha! I'm going to make a name of myself if I can implement this along the likes of floo calls. I'll have to think of ways to make it even better, like sending messages and an answering extension. I'll have to ask Mr. Weasley where I could register the patent for that.

In the meantime I do have to concentrate on other things. Remus and Sirius are working us quite intensively. It's good to be so immersed in our studies. The Death Eater front seems to have quieted a bit down after the Malfoys are on trial and an Auror had killed Bellatrix Lestrange. I, like all my extended family, am waiting for a verdict in the Malfoy trial. If this one goes right by law they can't but sentence them both for life. Maybe they can't prove that Narcissa Malfoy has used an Unforgivable, but it shouldn't be too difficult to catch Lucius.



Remus


It's the beginning of February now. I can hardly believe that it's just five months until the end of the school year already. But there we are, working our way happily to that goal. I'm so proud of my students, they are working hard on their chosen assignments in Charms. I'm going to gloat to Filius I think, because the first spell is finished. It's Neville's pruning spell. They have earned the thirty house points for each student in the project. It is the least complex of the projects, but they have done very well and all pruning in the greenhouse is already done with the new spell.

On the morning of the seventh Anana arrives with a letter from Dumbledore.

"Dear All,

I write to you this morning to inform you first hand about the end of the Malfoy-trial. There has been a multitude of witnesses, both for the prosecution and the defence, though it seems that the defending lawyer has had great difficulties to get witnesses to speak up for the Malfoys. That's a first result of our work against the Death Eaters, they don't dare to come and testify in favour of other Death Eaters, because they're afraid that we could get them as well.

Therefore the procedures took more than two weeks. The verdict was, of course, guilty. They were both guilty in enough points to lock them up in Azkaban for life. It's sad to see so many people vanish in there again. There is a stronger guard squad at Azkaban now, and I notice a readiness in the Wizengamot to even go as far as recommend the Dementor's Kiss as a punishment, which, in my opinion is going too far. But at least we have a stronger watch not only over the prisoners but especially on the Dementors.

In any case, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy have been sentenced for life in Azkaban and they will not have privileges. Because the verdict was that their whole possessions will be passed on to their only son, Draco, as of immediately. Even if they could get out they would run against a wall, as the goblins are already in the course of changing all of the Malfoy accounts, Gringotts as well as several Muggle bank accounts, to the name of Draco Malfoy. He will not be able to use them freely before his coming of age though, but since this will take place in April that shouldn't be a problem for the young man.

I hope, this finds you all well and will see you soon, as I need several signatures of young Mr. Malfoy.

Sincerely

Albus Dumbledore"

Well, that's the downfall of the "society lion" Lucius Malfoy. It's fifteen years late, but at least it happened. Voldemort must be beside himself, because he's already lost several of his most important followers, not to speak of those more than 150 minor Death Eaters. I'd think it should be difficult to get new recruits now. Especially with the Dark Mark being a known fact these days and unless he finds a method to conceal that mark it will be very difficult for him to get new Death Eaters faster than he loses them.



Sirius


So, I'm rid of the last of the evil cousins. Andromeda is still very much alive and happy as Tonks tells me, so is her husband Ted. I'm glad for them.

Potions again. Today it's a Wakefulness potion - there are only two ingredients that haven't been treated so far in this potion. The recipe is very clear, so I can reduce the lecture to the two ingredients they haven't used yet. While I'm talking I see Snape at the door to the class room. I beckon him inside and he notices the door is open and comes in. I keep talking though. He closes the door and comes in. Since I'm almost through with the lecture part, I tell him to take a seat or go through the kitchen over to Remus. He decides to sit down on one of the armchairs next to the fireplace. We have a nice fire going, since it's quite cold outside. I finish my lecture.

"Well, that's it for the ingredients - go raid the stores..." I tell the students who file out of the class room to get the ingredients. I have some fresh ones which I'm putting on a tray for them to pick up on their way back.

"Hello, Severus - what's up?"

He looks quite shaken. Ash grey face and when he starts to talk his hands are shaking. He also shakes his head.

"I'm found out... someone must have been able to find out that I'm working for the Order, Black. I had to get away from a meeting and I couldn't go to Hogwarts, they managed to block my way somehow. It was a miracle I got out. Have to wait it out for a few days before I can go back to the castle. Can you send Anana with a message?"

"Shit, she's out with our reports. If you want it sent out right now it will have to be Hedwig. We've given her another colour, so she shouldn't be recognised. Usually Anana is back within a day... but I suppose that Albus would be worried if you're not getting back within a time frame, wouldn't he?"

"I suppose he would. Hedwig it is then, I gather, she's pretty fast?"

"Faster than Anana actually. We can charm the letter, so only Albus can read it, he knows the seal and the spell to open it. Inside we use code. Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?"

"I was lucky, I got out before Voldemort could react. Of course the Mark hurts like hell right now..."

"There's nothing you can do about that, I suppose."

"Absolutely nothing."

The students file back into the classroom and go to the brewing stations, where they pair up as usual and start their work without further encouragement from myself. But I can see them glancing at Severus with weary eyes, even the three Slytherins. I go over and check that they get the fresh ingredients correctly, then watch over the start of their brewing. They're all doing quite fine, so I tell them I'll be back.

"Come along, we'll have something fresh and more comfortable for you to wear and a bathroom... you look dead on your feet," I tell Severus.

He follows me to the kitchen. Remus sits at the table and finishes reading the Daily Prophet. He looks up.

"Severus! Has something happened?"

"Remus, can you send a short note to Albus? We need to either see him or someone else from the order. Severus will have to hide out here for a few days. Encoded and with Hedwig... she's on her perch in the classroom."

"I'll do that."

I show Snape the bathroom and fit him with towels.

"I'll get you some robes..."

Five minutes later I've placed a set of robes and some underclothes on a chair just inside the bathroom door.

"I've put the clothes on a chair, Severus..."

Then I return back to the classroom and continue supervising the kids in their work. I cut off any questions with the remark that they're still in class. I'm going through the rows of tables and look at their work, making my remarks. If I have to prevent a possible accident, I tell them bluntly what's wrong, but if I notice insecurities I get them to where they're supposed to go by asking questions.

I haven't noticed Severus returning to the classroom a while later. We're concentrating on the work and I know they need all the time they have in class for this potion, which takes a bit longer to brew. It has a cooling phase though and this will be used to interrupt the work until the next day. All of the students then pick up their stuff and head out, only Harry and Hermione stay behind. We are working on their Animagus transformation. They get a short break. We see some of the others coming back and going up to the common room or the library.

"Well, we'll continue in a moment, but I suggest we go over to the living room, okay? First I have to see that Severus gets a room."

"Okay. We'll go over already," Hermione says.

I lead Severus to the back of the house and show him the guest room on the ground floor. It's right next to the class room.

"Bathroom is right next door. You'll have to share with Ernie, Justin and Blaise though... mostly only Ernie and Blaise at the moment. Justin and Ron share with Remus and I. I'm sure Albus sees to it that you get some of your own stuff soonest."

"Thanks," he says glumly. I leave him alone and walk back to the living room, where I resume the work with the two students. Remus has sent Hedwig out. He stands in the door and asks:

"So what was that all about?"

"He's been found out. Probably just barely got away."

"Shit... that was one of our most important sources..."

"It's going to be very difficult from now on. He was important. He'll have to be hidden until the bloody snake's gone now. But he couldn't get back to Hogwarts. He's not said much, but I'll check his clothes for any tracking spells before we resume work, kids. Just had this idea that this could be helpful..."

I go over to the bathroom. He's put his clothes on a chair and I check them, then Remus checks them. There's nothing and we're very relieved.

"Phew! That's good then. I have Dobby or Winky clean this," Remus says.

I return to Harry and Hermione. They've been assigned to study on cases of Animagus transformations gone wrong and we go through the examples they've found and analyse them to find out what might have gone wrong. The second assignment was the potion needed for the initial transformation.

"There are two potions. One is to find out the animal inside. Once you're shown that you can take the second potion, but it only works in combination with a whole set of spells," Hermione says.

"That's correct, Hermione. So the next part will be to brew the potion. Think you could write the order for the ingredients?"

They look over the recipe they've found.

"We should have what we need for the first one, Siri," Harry remarks.

"Well then, there's still space on the tables over in the classroom, go and brew it."

"Can we leave it there? It will take several days, Sirius!" Hermione asks.

"Do you trust your classmates?"

"Yes, I do. Okay, come on, Harry, that's going to be a bit more difficult than today's Wakefulness potion."

They go down to the cellar to get the necessary ingredients. I ask them to calculate the necessary amounts times five and best brew it in one cauldron.

"Okay."

Twenty minutes later I go back to the classroom. They're already working at it. I see Snape coming back from his room. He sees the two and looks at me questioningly.

"They're working on the Animagus transfiguration."

"Illegally?" he asks immediately.

"Semi-illegally. I consulted Albus when I thought I could teach them, but I considered having them registered. Luckily I talked to Albus before we ordered the forms. He thought it might be better not to register them right away. There's a lot of Death Eaters in the Ministry, especially in the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, they would report that back to Voldemort in an instant. So yes, technically it's done illegally, but due to practical reasons. They'll surely be registered later."

"I see. That does make some sense. Are they up to it?"

"They are. Watch them..."

Hermione and Harry work together seamlessly. They have partnered a lot in Potions, usually together with Neville, who profited a lot from Hermione's help. She is very sure of what she does, but she's been able to convey a lot of that over to Harry, who's working with her on his own behalf, not just helping out. They study the recipe. Hermione looks up to me and says:

"We can leave it at the first cooling phase until tomorrow, okay?"

"That's fine with me. Cover it up well though. It takes three cooling phases, so expect that by Sunday evening you know what animal is inside of you."

"You have no idea how excited I am, Siri!" she says with a wide grin.

"Oh, I think I do... I felt the same, believe me!"

Now we'll know soon. I'm as thrilled as they are, because it was the most spectacular moment before I was able to transform for the first time. The three of us were huddling over the cauldron back then in our fifth year at Hogwarts, all waiting to find out what animal we would be and if it would be one that could help Remus. Severus gets closer to have a look at the recipe. He quickly scans it, then gives a short whistle.

"You'll have to have your head together for that one, Granger," he says.

"No worries, Professor, we have it. I've brewed Remus' Wolfsbane potion several times in the meantime..." she says calmly.

He looks at me.

"Is that true? I thought you did it?"

"I do. We take turns, Hermione, Ginny and I. We want to have a backup and we want to be used to brewing it. Hermione had the great idea to add some artificial sugar to make it more bearable. Since normal sugar would destroy it we thought maybe artificial sweeteners could do it. Muggles have a load of such substances. We used Aspartame and it worked just fine. Remus spent the first night using the altered potion in the cellar, but everything was alright. Same effect as before. And he says it's a lot easier to take now."

"I see."

I keep watching them as they work. I know I could let them work by themselves, but I do want to keep up the appearance that it's a proper lesson.

"If you want reading material, then you can get it up at the library or in our study, Severus. If you get anything from our study just tell us that you took the books, so we won't go looking for them. We have the whole restricted section over there and that's locked up, they have to get our permission to use the books just like in Hogwarts."

Snape isn't exactly talkative, but he doesn't sneer either. He seems badly subdued and keeps holding his left arm with the Dark Mark tattoo. I feel sorry for him. I really do. After all that was I'm the lucky one right now. But he's found out and now Dumbledore will have to keep him at Hogwarts at all times, which won't make him happy, but he'll be out of the danger.

Dobby brings his clothes over and asks, which room I've given to Snape.

"Just next door here, Dobby," I say.

"I is cleaning your robes, sir, do you wish me to bring them to your room?" Dobby asks Snape.

"I'll take them, Dobby, thank you."

Severus picks up his clothes and takes them back to his room. We see nothing of him until dinner. We give him the head of the table again. He looks around and notices several changes in last year's sitting order. Mandy's still at the head of the table, but she's now next to Blaise, while Padma sits next to Remus. Draco, Parvati and Morag sit to my right. Opposite of Parvati sits Neville, then Justin, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ernie and Ginny follow. Even Neville notices how subdued Snape is.

The conversations at dinner aren't as lively as usual. I expect they won't be as long as Snape shares our family table. He remains silent though. We don't expect him to talk much beyond answering questions, of which there aren't many. By the end of dinner I can see Hedwig is back. She carries a letter. Remus lets her in and takes the letter from her leg.

"Thank you, dear! You've been quick! Here, have this! Then go and rest!" he tells her while he feeds her some of his meat.

Hedwig lifts off from his shoulder again and flies over to the classroom, where she probably sits down on her perch again, next to Neptune, her companion.

"Well, Albus only says he'll be here as soon as he can. At the latest tomorrow morning," Remus tells us.

"Good," is all Snape comments.

After dinner Remus and I invite him over to the living room. Remus asks:

"Would you care for a game of chess, Severus?"

"Yes, I think I would..." he says.

Remus summons the board and the chessmen. They set it up and start playing. They seem to match quite well, as the game goes on for more than an hour and ends in a stalemate. They have been quite silent through it, but with offering chess Remus has offered Severus a possibility to remain silent. I have finished grading an essay, put it back on my desk and get up.

"I'm going to bed, Remus. Since I have lessons tomorrow..."

He looks up. I bend down and place a soft kiss on his mouth, then he wishes me a good night.

"I'll be up soon, love," he says.

"Take your time, love. You can sleep in after all..."

"Sleep well..."

I walk through the kitchen to the bath, then go up the stairs to our bedroom. Once in bed I notice that falling asleep isn't as easy as next to Remus. I'm missing him. Gosh, I find myself longing for him after only fifteen minutes! I am pretty pathetic. But after about an hour of tossing and turning I fall asleep.



Remus


Sirius leaves the room and I concentrate on the game. Severus plays well and I think I'm just above average. I've managed a stalemate before, but this time I think he's getting me. He's looked down on the board while Sirius kissed me. I know how lonely he must be, to see Siri and I so happy must be hard for him. But maybe this current situation will help him some. He's in desperate need of getting himself back on the track with his social skills. But I know how quickly he'll lock himself in if I mention anything directly. So I just watch him direct his chess pieces. After he actually wins the game I tell him:

"You should play with Ron rather than with me. None of us has managed to beat him for several months. He's started to play with some people over the computer and they all think he's a prodigy. We're no match for him."

He stares at me to let me know silently what he thinks of that. Well, have it your way, Severus! We call it a night and he goes back to his room. I shake my head, then go to the bathroom and up to my bedroom. I quietly open the door and close it carefully when I see that Siri is asleep. I can see that his sleep is restless. I undress quickly and crawl into the bed. Once I place a calming hand on his chest he goes back to sleep the way I've seen him in the past year. But I'm wondering if he has had a nightmare again. I know he doesn't like to go to sleep alone. I'm sure he's still got a lot of issues in his head. I get closer to him and bury my head on his shoulder, then I know nothing until he gets up in the morning.

I open my eyes, as he stirs. The radio has started as it does every morning. I yawn and rub my eyes. He turns to me and kisses me.

"Morning, sweetheart," he says.

"Mo-hoorning!" I yawn again.

While I start to stretch he looks at me and says:

"You can stay in bed for another while, love..."

"No, it's alright, we didn't go to bed very late last night. I'm getting up with you. - You were sleeping very restlessly when I came up, love."

"Was I? Took me a long time to find sleep without you in my arms, Moony."

I smile. Maybe he just missed me. What a good feeling.

"I missed you, too. Not that I don't appreciate silence, but Severus is like a graveyard!"

He laughs. We get up and go to take our shower and get dressed. We're usually among the first to get to breakfast. Ron's coming down a bit earlier now that he's together with Justin who wakes him up and throws him out of bed in time. I enjoy my third cup of tea when I see Albus coming to the door. I open it for him and he comes inside.

"Good morning, Albus!" Sirius and I greet him.

"Good morning, everyone. Is Severus not up yet?" Albus asks.

"We haven't seen him yet," Sirius replies.

"I've brought him a week's worth of clothes and I'm arranging for a substitute teacher. He shouldn't try to come back before I tell him to."

"He's welcome to stay here. He seemed fairly shaken yesterday. Didn't even criticise my teaching Potions," Sirius says.

"Well, it can't be fun, Siri. And I'm sure Voldemort lets him feel it through the Dark Mark on his arm," I respond.

"Yes, and that's a thing that really worries me. He'll suffer a lot from that until Voldemort can be vanquished, I think," Albus confirms. We invite him to sit down and immediately Winky brings him tea and some breakfast. He thanks her and pours the tea. The students come in one by one and respectfully greet Dumbledore. He smiles at them. Sirius looks at the time, gets up and goes to gather his books in the study. He also brings the graded essays.

"If you guys want your marks for your Transfiguration essays you'd better lift your behinds in the direction of the classroom," he says.

They grin and follow him in short order. I'm left behind with Albus. We move over to the living room, where we wait for Severus to turn up. He finally comes in an hour later. He looks dreadful, like he's had a night of no sleep at all. Albus gives him the package containing his things. It's a smallish trunk, which he had reduced in size.

"Oh, good, thank you, headmaster. I'm going to burn that cloak and mask!"

"Make a bonfire out of it, Severus. Leave this all behind. We'll protect you as well as we possibly can. For the moment stay here for a few days, your classes will be covered by Arabella. Remus, please check the map very closely in the next days."

"We will, Albus. We already checked Severus' clothes yesterday but there was no tracking or locator spell on them, and we didn't find any talisman or something either."

"I'm glad for that, I didn't have the time to do it myself," Severus says.

"Well, you had to get out of there in the first place. Sorry you've been betrayed..."

"It had to happen sooner or later, Lupin. I knew I was living on dangerous grounds. I was lucky to get out alive. He was just getting ready to hit me with Cruciatus. He'd probably killed me with it, if he had been able to start at all."

"Shit! Well, you'll be safe here."

He looks down at his feet, but I'm sure I've heard a little sigh.

"I know it's certainly not your favourite place to be, but we'll get you back to Hogwarts as soon as possible."

At that moment, Morag comes to the room. She is pale and tells us that there are about a dozen Death Eaters coming close.

"And You-Know-Who is among them!" she says.

We get up and hurry over to the classroom. The Aurors in the house are already up and get ready to fight. We place ourselves along the windows of the house and peek out. Nobody is visible yet, they're probably still working on the wards. We go over to the class room. We check the map. All of the Death Eaters including Voldemort are outside the wards in one single place.

"How stupid can you get, they should spread out to be of anything worth. We can go out and chase them away and they can't even fire a spell at us the way the wards are set," Sirius says.

"Well, then let's do that," says one of the three Aurors.

"Wait, we have a little time to plan this. Can we get to that barn there unseen?" Albus asks and points to the barn.

"Yes, if we take the door to the other side of the classroom," I reply.

"Good. All of us go there right now, summon your cloaks!"

We all get dressed in warm cloaks and go through to the other side of the house. I have the small map with me and check the names of the Death Eaters, the Lestrange brothers are there as well as Macnair, Avery and Nott. I'm also sending out Anana with a tiny note to Minerva and Hedwig with another to the Auror Headquarters, addressed to Kingsley.

"Can Voldemort see through Invisibility Cloaks?" asks Harry.

"I don't think so," Albus replies.

Harry calmly summons his Cloak and after a short discussion with Albus, who can make himself invisible, they set off to meet the Death Eaters on their own at first, while the rest of us stay behind, covered under Disillusionment charms. We can't see them getting close to the group of Death Eaters in the distance but I go to the edge of the house to spy and be ready to tell the others to follow in case we're needed.



Albus


"I will give you a one time shot at Voldemort. You know the incantation. If it works, good, if it does not, we move away as fast as we can. Say it forceful, but in a low voice. We will try to get as close as possible, Harry. To make it work you must really want it, very strongly want it, which I know you do. I will support you and cast the curse with you."

"Okay."

Then we do not speak anymore. I do not have much hope, but it is possible that Harry's power has developed fast enough for this. I can help make it stronger. We can see the Death Eaters struggling with the wards. Voldemort himself is working on them. Once we are in hearing distance we can hear him cursing.

"That damn werewolf and his wards! We should have known he would be hard to crack! It was stupid to come in the early morning."

Well, Tom, there you are, there are some things you cannot just reduce to nothing. Most people do underestimate Remus J. Lupin. You are at least aware of his power. I hold Harry back, maybe we can hear something interesting still.

"But at least we found them, my Lord! And if it weren't for the wards we'd have them already. I bet, Snape didn't think of the fact that we could trace him through the Dark Mark! It was good we were able to cut off his return to Hogwarts," one of the Death Eaters remarks. I recognise Rabastan Lestrange's voice.

"Yes, that's something I haven't made known very well. I tracked Karkaroff down through it, too... now get going with these wards! If they're Lupin's work that means it's the safe house we've been looking for these past two years. Potter must be here. I want him even more than Snape!"

You are in for a little surprise, Tom! If all goes well you won't leave this place alive. And we shall all get to breathe again back home in Britain!

"They're complex, my Lord! I haven't ever met any like them."

Yes, you go on trying a little longer. It is very good to know about that so far unknown feature of the Dark Mark, as we could track down some other Death Eaters through Severus' Mark... we will have to see if the procedure can be found out. Now we have to take them down first. I only want to kill Voldemort, of course, but there are twelve Death Eaters around and it would be better to... then I have an idea:

"Harry, let us take some of the Death Eaters first. Stun them... low voice, just whisper your stunners, but one after the other, do not dwell on them. And when I say 'now' we'll take on Voldemort," I tell Harry.

"Okay."

We quietly pick our goals and manage to stun six of the Death Eaters before they even notice something wrong. They look around and cannot see us and then we can see that they are getting scared. Even Voldemort looks around confused. I whisper:

"Now, Harry, aim at him, on the count of three! One, two three - Avada Kedavra!" I whisper.

Harry whispers it at the same time and the green flashes shoot from both our wands. They hit Voldemort square in the chest and on the head. He breaks down. Now the rest of the students, the Aurors and Sirius come running, to support us in casting stunners. I can just see that Voldemort's spirit tries to escape again, but I am ready and cast the ghost killing spell:

"Spirito mortificarum!"

There is a puff of smoke as the spirit burns up with a terrible shriek in a small ball of fire. I can see Harry shed the cloak, I can see the Aurors finishing the remaining Death Eaters off. They are all bound tightly with ropes and all of us just fall on the ground, we are so relieved. I know that I am making myself visible again and then we look at each other. This is really, really a very positive outcome of Severus' bad luck. Harry jumps up again and starts to hop around in a victory dance.

Harry

"We did it! We did it! We did it! We did it!!!!" I cry out.

Then I jump up and pull up Hermione. We start to dance around and in no time the others are following us, laughing and crying and singing at the same time. Only after about ten minutes am I ready to see the reaction of the adults. Siri and Remy are quietly holding each other, Remus' face buried deep in Siri's cloak. Dumbledore has taken hold of Snape and keeps him close. We can't believe that we've killed Voldemort. When I look at the headmaster he gives me the brightest smile I've ever seen from him. I could cry out again in relief. Hermione holds me tightly and she actually does cry. I just keep kissing her and pulling her even closer. The nightmare is over. It's unbelievable. And we're all alive! None of us is the least bit hurt! I hope I'll never ever have to use that spell again though.

Sirius and Remus come closer and we quietly hug. They hold Hermione and me close and Siri says in a low voice:

"You're both free now! You're free to live a long and happy life, the life your parents should have had, Harry. This is amazing. You really did it, the two of you really killed him!"

By the time Kingsley and a team of fifty Aurors come in we have half a dozen Death Eaters who are awake, but bound so tightly they can't move, the other half dozen still stunned and the corpse of Voldemort is still lying on the ground. We're back inside and all of a sudden Ernie asks:

"Do we come back to Hogwarts now, Professor Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore shakes his head.

"I am afraid that we first have to clean up some of the mess with all those remaining Death Eaters. There will be many who will be out for revenge, some of them may be students at Hogwarts. It may take quite a while still. Does that mean you'd like to leave here?"

"Actually it means that I'd rather stay here until the end of my seventh year," Ernie says in a low voice.

Sirius and Remus stare at him. I think that Ernie has just said what probably most of us are thinking. It's easy to understand, of course, since we're all so used to this tightly knit group by now that we would have a hard time to return to our respective houses. And I'd be back with my nightmares without Hermione.

"Maybe not that long, Mr. McMillan, but I expect the Aurors will have a bit of work of tracking down the remaining Death Eaters. They will certainly try to hide, but due to the fact that we have caught Voldemort's most important helpers there is a big mass of people who are less conspicuous, but who will be found out. I expect this will take a long time still. So for the time being you will all stay here. - Severus, that doesn't go for you, you can actually return to Hogwarts."

"I'd like to resign to the end of the school year, headmaster," Snape says.

"I expected that. I will accept your resignation, but I would be relieved if you would not leave the castle until the end of the year, we do not know if there aren't any Death Eaters who get the idea that you could have something to do with this," Dumbledore asks him.

"Inadvertently I did, headmaster. We found no tracking spell or device, but they must have followed me somehow."

"Through your Dark Mark, we've overheard them talking for a while. It seems that Voldemort has added one more feature into this. A tracking spell. They have met their match now."

"Very well, I shall not leave the castle then," Snape concedes.

"You might be called as a crown witness more than once, Severus. Will you be ready to testify? You have nothing to fear in any case, as you have been working for the Order all the time. You've given us invaluable information. And you will be an invaluable witness, too."

"Yes, headmaster, I will do that."

"Thank you, Severus. For everything you've done. I think, it will be rewarded for sure."

Then the Aurors come to the house. Kingsley comes inside and brings a few of them in. He smiles and hugs most of us and then beams and says:

"Well done! You're incredible! We've just seen the corpse! What an ugly git. Oh dear, I still can't believe it! We were prepared to find you all dead or cursed into next year, instead we find his corpse! Wow!"

Then he and Moody calmly take over the Death Eaters who are quickly brought back to England. Sirius watches them leave the house, then casually turns to us and says:

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, back to work, you've missed three periods of classes! We have some work to do still!"

"Siri!!!" the girls protest.

"Come on! It's lunch time!" the boys whine.

"Well, that's right and you know what that means. You've got a potion to finish after lunch!" he teases, while he sets up a longer table in the classroom. He calls for Dobby to lay it in here and include six more people. Dumbledore stays for the meal.

But the meal is one of the happiest we've spent in this house. We're all so happy, that even Snape loses some of his stiffness. I sit next to Hermione and she leans closer and whispers:

"You know, I hope it really takes a long time to clear everything up. I'm thinking like Ernie, I'd really like to remain here and be taught by Siri and Remus alone... am I an egotistical bitch?"

"No, you've just learned to love them as I do, love," I say.

She smiles.

"We're going to celebrate this weekend! Only the Animagus potion to call us from our bed, love!"

"And once we're through school we're getting married! You know we can actually choose a real career, we won't have to fight!

"That's true. Do you have an idea?" she wants to know.

"I was thinking wizarding law..." I say.

Now she looks at me with adoration. She smiles and replies:

"Oh, Harry, that's what I wanted to do, too! Let's work in that direction. Who knows, maybe together we'll be able to bring better standards of law to this world."

She'll always keep some of her idealism. And that's what I love about her, she'll always fight to make things better.

"Yes, Hermione, I think that's a good idea."

Then I look up and see the headmaster who sits opposite us. He seems to have heard our short conversation, because he says:

"I apologise, I have just overheard your plans. Harry, Hermione, I would like to say that you have just given me a lot of hope. Hopes I had for your parents, Harry, because they walked on a similar path. All they really had after leaving Hogwarts was fighting. An ugly business. They still decided to start a family to enjoy what little time they had. And now I feel like you are fulfilling their own goals and plans. I wish you both luck."

"Thank you, Professor. I know that I will work hard to get my degree in record time and start working for it," says Hermione.

"And I have a feeling, that you will exceed all expectations, Miss Granger."

After all the excitement of the morning Sirius clears away the table and tells everyone to either be quiet or leave the classroom.

"They are still at school and have a started potion to finish. Off you go, kids! Back to work!"

"Slave driver!" Ron moans.

We all snicker. Sirius can be quite strict if he thinks it's needed. Maybe he thinks we calm down best if we have to concentrate on the potion. It does take our minds away from the day's events. Though we still talk about it, we do it quietly.

After the regular class Hermione and I continue to work on the Animagus potion. Sirius is close by for help if we need it. But he wants us to do it on our own as much as possible. We have done everything to the second cooling phase a while after the others had dinner. But we're both determined to get this potion right, so we go back to the kitchen and wash our hands to get our belated dinner. Sirius is still with us and sits down at his usual place. We're on the other side of the table. He tells us that the potion looks good.

"Exactly what it's supposed to look like. You're both doing well. Did you make the list for the second potion?"

"We started on it. I think we'll get through it tomorrow."

"Good. I've started you on the potion on a Thursday because the third part is the longest, as you might have seen. You'll have to be prepared, read it very carefully tonight and maybe once more tomorrow, so that you remember as much as possible, then follow the recipe closely tomorrow. If you botch it, you'll have to start again next week."

"We won't, Siri," I say.

I'm sure we won't. My outstanding Potions OWL has given me a great extra confidence that I can master this subject fairly well. And this potion is important to me. As it is to Hermione, we'll keep watch over each other while we work on it. When we go to bed later on we start to discuss what we so far avoided to discuss.

"Do you have a feeling about what's inside of you?" I ask Hermione.

"Not the slightest. I know what I'd like to be though."

"Who knows, maybe that's what you'll become? Inner animal giving you a hint," I say.

"That would be nice. But whatever it is I'll take it. I'd only be very disappointed if I'd turn out as a rat."

I shudder. But then I have to admit that this horrible thought has crossed my mind while we started studying.

"So, what does the book say will happen once we've taken the potion? Do you think we'll transform?"

"No, I don't think so. The actual potion for the transformation is much more complex and uses several ingredients more. It will take us almost a week to make, Harry! I think there will be some kind of reflection or maybe a dusty image or so... we'll see."

In any case we get to work on it again the next day. We're both eager and we have the company of the others for a while here and there. They are equally curious. After breakfast though we're of course occupied reading the Daily Prophet special edition, which has the headline in thick fonts across the page:

Voldemort killed by Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore!

The article is mostly the official Ministry statement, fuelled by the Aurors. There is a photo of Voldemort's corpse. There are photos of all Death Eaters captured and there are several stories about me, mostly a lot of crap. Before I can get too worked up about it, Sirius sends Hermione and I over to work on the potion. That does distract me. He's with us for most of the time, watching out that we're not making mistakes. And when it's cooling down in the evening he says:

"Well done! That leaves you with the third cooling phase tonight and another session tomorrow, but it will be slightly shorter. You can let it rest now."

We do so, cover the cauldron and pick up the books to determine the final list of ingredients for the second potion. This we hand over to Siri before we go to bed.

"I'll send it into the apothecary next week. You've still some work on those spells before we can start."

"Okay. But we'll know what we become, that will be a really good boost!" Hermione says.

"Oh, sure, you'll see that you'll get it done soon, I'm quite sure about it."

We finish the potion on Sunday afternoon. It has to cool for three hours, so Sirius promises:

"You can take it after dinner."

We're both very excited. We can hardly wait for the dishes to vanish and then Sirius goes over to the classroom and comes back with two small vials. He gives them to us and says:

"Ladies first, Hermione! Off you go!"

Everyone is still around the table. They all know about the potion and want to see what animals we'll become. Hermione looks at the vial, gulps a little and then knocks it down. We wait for a moment, then I see a small bit of smoke like a cloud slowly coming out of her ears. It forms above her head and finally becomes almost solid. It's dark grey and looks more and more like - a wolf! Hermione is going to be a wolf! Remus sees it and bites his lips. Sirius and I stare in awe. Wow, she'll be a wolf. That's amazing!

"I can't believe it... I'll be a wolf!" she whispers.

"Oh dear... that will be hard for Moony," Remus mutters.

"Or he may enjoy it, love," Sirius contradicts.

"Hopefully! He's usually curious enough..."

"Now you, Harry!"

I shake a little when I take the potion. It's not unpleasant though, just burns the tongue a little. Now I already know what I have to await and so we all look at the smoky form that descends on the table. It's another dog! If the form is anywhere close then I'll be somewhat smaller than Padfoot, but still a similar dog. I smile. Sirius beams. He slaps my shoulder and says:

"Hey mate! That says we'll be good together!"

"I think so, too, Siri..." I manage to say.

"Wolf and dog! How fitting," Remus remarks.

"Now listen, everyone, there's enough potion for all of you if you are curious as to what your inner animal might be... who wants to take a peek?" Sirius offers.

All of a sudden they all start to grin and Ron and Justin come forth the first. Then Ginny, Parvati, Draco... Sirius goes over and fills a bunch of vials. He levitates them over and everyone grabs one. There's one left after all the students have taken one and Siri directs it in front of Remus. He looks up.

"Me? I know what's inside of me, Sirius..."

"Yes, so do I. I'm just curious whether it would also be your Animagus form, Remy."

"Oh. Well, let's feed that curiosity."

And he picks the vial up and drinks it. The smoky form solidifies after a while and of course he's becoming a wolf, too. Sirius grins.

"That's not really a surprise though..." Remus says.

"Well, now you know."

The others now try it - the twins turn out to be the same as Animagi, both would become owls. Ron amuses me, his cloud turns out to be a fox. Ginny's is an eagle. Justin, Mandy, Draco and Ernie have a cat. Neville, Blaise and Morag are dogs as well.

"Now that you know what's inside of you... is there anyone who'd like to work on it?" Sirius asks with a cheeky grin.

"It's hard, isn't it?" asks Neville.

"Yes, it's not easy, but once you know how to do it, it's really great fun, believe me!" Sirius assures him.

"I want to do it," says Draco.

"Good. That's one. Anyone else?"

"Me," says Ginny.

That doesn't surprise me. She'll be good at it, as she's good at everything. And since Ginny wants to, Ron wants to learn it, too. Then there's Justin and Ernie. And finally Neville decides to try it, too. Sirius makes a small list and when he already wants to say something else about it, Parvati comes forth and asks to be added.

"Fine. That will be nine of you. Now Harry and Hermione have already studied quite a lot of the theory, so you're behind, but you'll start on that immediately. I won't let the two of them wait though, once they have their spells for the initial transformation down they can attempt it. The rest of you will have to work on it for a while still. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Fine. Can you make copies of your books, Harry?"

"Sure."

I do that as soon as I get to my room. There are enough copies for everyone who wants to try it. When I bring them back to Sirius, he's in the study and tries to convince Remus to attempt it, too.

"But I don't know if I can even attempt it, Siri," he reasons.

"Then try! We'll know soon enough whether you're able to do it or not. Just think about it, Remy, you could transform before you have to on the full moon nights. No pain!" Sirius insists.

"It's awfully tempting, Siri... maybe I should really do it."

That's when I decide to enter and give Sirius the material I've copied.

"One more copy then?" I ask.

Sirius nods, I make it and hand it to Remus. He grins and takes it.

"Well, I will try it. But I'm really not sure..."

"You'll see! No need to fret about it before. You're pretty good at transfiguration, you should be able to do it. Remember that Pettigrew managed."

"True."



Bill


I have to meet Moody several days after Voldemort's death. He calls me inside of his office and tells me:

"Weasley, get some of your colleagues, no more than ten, and report to Hogwarts. Albus has some job for you. Calculate about a week for the job."

"Will do. Right now, I suppose? Or yesterday?"

He growls, then grins.

"Would have been better, but I don't like the idea of you fumbling around with a time-turner! Dismissed!"

"I'm gone!"

It's great, that Moody always appreciates a joke or two. I gather some of my best colleagues from the Order including a certain pink- no, purple, oh shucks, now it's emerald-haired Auror and we head out to apparate to the Hogwarts gates. We all have a broom to ride, so we arrive at the main door fairly soon. Since we don't know the password for Albus' office we look for Professor McGonagall first. I knock on her office door and she calls us inside.

"Oh, Mr. Weasley, good afternoon. I think, Albus waits for your group, would you like to accompany me to his office?" she greets me.

"Hi, Professor, thanks, that would be what we were going to ask you!"

A while later we all sit in the headmaster's office and he tells us of his plan.

"Tonight we have to look through the members of Slytherin House and make a rough search for any students who have the Dark Mark. Severus has brewed a rather large batch of Veritaserum for the questioning of those who don't have the Mark. All of the ones who have the Mark already will have to leave Hogwarts. Their names will be registered in a ministry file and they will be monitored closely. Others who are sympathisers will be able to stay at Hogwarts, but they will also be monitored and told they are on probation and that any actions threatening peace will lead to their immediate expulsion and inclusion in above mentioned list. So - we need some help to get hold of them. We'll gather them all in the Great Hall tonight. I'm not going to do this with Slytherin students only, all other houses will be sieved through as well. The unexpected dangerous ones always come from another house but Slytherin."

Good idea. It's hard to believe that any of the current Gryffindor students should be sympathisers or even Death Eaters, but we can't exempt them. We don't know when Pettigrew became a follower of Voldemort's after all, it could well have been during his school years already.

When the dinner is over, all students from Slytherin are asked to stay behind. Severus checks that all of them are in the room and nods to Dumbledore. Then Dumbledore waves his wand and there is a tent-like installation which covers the door to the Entrance Hall. He looks at us and says in a whispered voice:

"William, would you please go through the small corridor and enter the second door to the left. Take half of your colleagues with you. You will be responsible to hold the students with the Mark. It's silencing charmed, so the students can't hear on this side what takes place on the other side of the curtain. Severus will be with me, while I'd like Tonks and Hestia to take over sending the students in one by one on my command. Finally, suspicious students will be held by Kingsley and three more of you in the middle compartment. First door to the left."

"Good, we'll do that."

I move into the tent and then to the right, where we see a partition being separated with another curtain. When I touch what looks like fabric I find it to be solid. Dumbledore is a genius, I think. We open the flap and find a few rows of benches. We spread on them and wait for the things to come.



Severus


This will be a painful process. I know it has to be done and I'm glad that Dumbledore has decided it would not only be done with my own house, but all others as well. I do hope he will not be disappointed and that only members of my own house will be found carrying the Mark. In fact, I have a list of suspects. I know I failed him in this regard, but he has never criticised me for it. It was impossible to really remain openly on his side while having to act the Death Eater I had to pretend to be.

We set up a table and place a handful of small goblets on them, filled with a few gulps of water. I add three drops of Veritaserum to each and then we wait for the first student. We have given Tonks and Hestia a list of the students per year and they're asked to send in the first years first. I don't think, any of them have anything to do with all. And then the first girl comes through the flap. It's Pansy Parkinson's youngest sister Violet. Albus tells her to sit down and show us her left arm. She does it, calmly, and when we ask her to empty the goblet in front of her she does that, too. Albus has prepared three questions, which she all answers to our satisfaction.

"You may go back to your common room, Parkinson," I tell her.

She leaves through the door to the Entrance Hall, which is hidden from the other students. The next one comes in, Violet's friend Mariah Malfoy, a second cousin of Draco's. As expected she has no Dark Mark, but she has been prepared to serve the Dark Lord.

"Thank you. Please go through the corridor there and enter the first door to the left. Wait there, please," Dumbledore advises her.

She looks at me, I nod and she leaves without further questions. The next few are all clear, then there's a second year who has to follow Mariah's path. There's no one suspicious in the third years and the fourth years are clean but for two students. They are sent to wait with the other two. Now we get to the fifth years and I'm getting more nervous. We have the younger sisters of Marcus Flint and Gregory Goyle in this class and a brother of Adrian Pucey. All three of them actually have the Mark. I'm not surprised, but still find myself shocked. The first one to come in is the younger Pucey. Dumbledore asks him to show his left forearm. He looks up surprised and then looks at me.

"Please follow your headmaster's order, Pucey," I emphasise.

He pulls back the sleeve of his robe and when Dumbledore turns his hand around there is the Mark. I sigh. Then Dumbledore says:

"I am afraid I have to keep you behind, Mr. Pucey. Please go through the corridor and enter the second door to the left."

Pucey rises and follows the order. Then there are three who all go to the first room. Miss Goyle is next. She's sent to follow Pucey and gets company just a moment later from Miss Flint. The next group are the sixth years who are practically all suspect from the beginning. Every last of Draco's classmates has the Mark. I had already known about Crabbe and Goyle, but I was a bit surprised that Nott, Parkinson and Bulstrode had joined already. Finally we get to the seventh years. Here we have four out of seven who are contaminated, three who have the Dark Mark. When all of them have vanished through their respective doors, Tonks and Hestia come to our room.

"Well, that was the last," Tonks says.

"Good. I have to speak to them. The suspects first," Dumbledore says.

He beckons me to enter the room first, then follows me inside. The eleven students look up.

"I am afraid that I will have some uncomfortable news for you all, but first I have the antidote to the Veritaserum for you all, please consume it immediately."

We hand out the antidote and they sit down again.

"Now. As you were probably able to conclude from our short questioning we wanted to find out if any of you have been influenced by the Death Eaters and Voldemort. You have been found to have been at least asked to join or convinced of their views. I will do nothing to change your political views, they are yours alone. But I will have to tell you that any such activity in this school will not be tolerated and punished with immediate expulsion from Hogwarts. You are all here on probation until you leave this school at the end of your seventh year. That is all and you may now leave to your common room."

We watch them as they leave the room and the Great Hall. Then we have to see the rest of them with the information that they are being expelled from the school. They will be held in here until the morning, when they will be accompanied to their dormitories to gather their things and be put on the train to London. We enter the room. The Aurors watch over the eleven students in it and they sit there without saying one word. They all know they're in trouble. Dumbledore asks them to sit down and tells them:

"You all know why you are here. I am terribly sorry you have been misguided to take that mark on your arms. I cannot but feel responsible for it and I know I have failed you. But if this is your real belief then I am not in a position to change your attitude. You have decided to become Death Eaters. You know that we are prosecuting everyone who has become a Death Eater and therefore we cannot keep you here at Hogwarts. We have to expel you all. You will be guided to London on a special train tomorrow and held at the Ministry for further investigation. You will be tried as we prosecute all of your adult fellow Death Eaters and if you have committed any crimes you will be punished. Tonight we will hold you in the back room of the Great Hall, tomorrow morning you will be guided to your dormitories individually to gather all of your things and pack."

The students obviously didn't expect this consequence. Some of them look at Dumbledore furiously like Parkinson and Pucey, others are shocked. We leave the room and the Aurors guide the students to the back room which has been fitted with mattresses and sleeping bags. I sigh. And I can't but wonder how it will be when we look through the rest of the houses.



Albus


What a sad evening. I guide Severus out of the Great Hall after I have let the improvised rooms vanish. The Aurors find their quarters in the centre of the castle. I think, I will have to stay with Severus for a while, because I know he blames himself for this.

"Severus, you must know that this is certainly not your fault. You have done what you could. And when you leave us, remember that you have done the best for your house. It will be difficult for your successor as head of Slytherin, but I can understand your wish to leave us. Under no circumstances do I want you to stay here if you do not wish to stay here. You could do really well in research. And you also know that whenever you need a reference you can count on me."

"Thank you, headmaster. I'd like to retire to my chambers, if I may."

"But certainly, Severus, I will only need your signature under the forms. And if you'd like to come up to my office for a good whisky you're welcome, too."

"No, thank you. Not tonight. I'll be there to sign the forms. That was very hard to stomach."

I nod. He's right, of course.

"I understand that, Severus. I just want to say once more that Hogwarts will always be open to you."

He sighs. Then he asks:

"Do you know of someone you will hire for my job?"

"Not yet. I may ask Arabella Figg to stand in for a while, until I find a good teacher. She's competent, she's been in Slytherin, but unfortunately she also feels too old."

"Ask Black to do it," Severus says.

I can frankly say that I have not been shocked very often in the past fifty years of my life, but I am now. Severus wants his most hated enemy to take over his work?

"Sirius Black? Would you care to enlighten me, why you find him suitable?"

"He's a natural at teaching. He can do it. The students will love him."

I consider this. What better reference can someone get if not the reference from their best hated schoolmate. I nod.

"Thank you for the hint, Severus, I will surely consider this. I know that the children in his care thoroughly like him. Thank you indeed. I wish you a good night, Severus."

"Good night to you, too, headmaster."

We part. I walk back to my office to think about the evening's events. We have to expel eleven students. I have to write out all of the paperwork. Minerva waits for me to do this. She has already prepared several forms. When I enter the office she asks:

"How many?"

"Eleven," I say with a sigh.

She gasps.

"That's more than I expected," she says.

"Here is the list, Minerva. It is painful and I really detest having to do it. But there is no other way. Fudge has demanded that we check them through and the school governors have agreed, so we have to go through it. They will all eleven be taken to the Ministry tomorrow. I hope they have the decency to contact the parents."

Looking over the list, Minerva remarks: "Well, for some it will be a bit difficult. The Parkinsons and the Notts are already at Azkaban. The Puceys are highly suspected Death Eaters. I'd be astonished if any of them will help their children. And that's just examples."

"I still think we should give those second chances here at the school who will be able to prove that they have not committed any crimes yet. We have not asked any of them. That is another thing Fudge wanted to have done at the Ministry only. At least the Ministry is fairly clean by now. Amelia Bones has two more fair judges and they will not send children to Azkaban if they do not really deserve it."

"I don't think so either, Albus."

We prepare all the paperwork, letters to parents and guardians with the information that they will need to contact their children through the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It is going to be a late night. I have to call Severus up to the office again to sign the expulsion forms, as he needs to sign them as well, since he is the head of their house.



Bill


Tonks and I have the watch over the expelled students just before we have to wake them. We talk quietly close to the door, where we've set up one of the sofas. We have seen a lot of each other in the last year since I had changed from Gringotts to the Aurors. I have taken unpaid leave from the bank until the mess is cleaned up and they have granted it. Amazingly. So there have been loads of raids on Death Eaters, even a few fights, but all in all it has been an interesting time. Then Tonks asks:

"Have you heard from that French girl again, that Ron and the twins mentioned? What was her name again? Ah yes, Fleur..."

Oh dear, one more who asks about Fleur! Actually I have heard from Fleur. We've met once or twice and she's turned out to be a very intelligent and nice young woman. At first I felt a bit old for her, but she's given me that look that says, I think you're cool more than once. I sigh a bit.

"Yes, we've met once or twice since I've seen her before that third task at the Triwizard Tournament. She's a part Veela unfortunately, so it's a bit hard to find out if she is just turning on the Veela charm or if she's actually sincere. That's why I've kept it a bit at distance."

"So you like her?"

"I do. At the moment we just write letters. She's studying experimental Charms in France. She's consulted me once or twice on the subject of curse breaking."

"Good. You shouldn't let the contact die down then, she might be really interested in you. And you're one hell of a great guy, you know!"

"Thanks, Tonks. You're making me blush!"

She just grins. Then I look at the time and we have to wake the whole bunch. I organise with Kingsley that each of us accompanies one of the students. They lead us down to the Slytherin common room and from there one of us goes with one of the students to their dormitories. I follow the Parkinson girl. She doesn't say one word, packs all of her stuff into her trunk and gets dressed. Then we go back to the Entrance Hall. I'm amazed that they all follow the orders so disciplined. We have to wait for a while, then Snape and Dumbledore check them and open the main door. Outside are eleven carriages which we mount, again one Auror, one student. We're transported to the station where we board the train to bring them to the Ministry.

Once they're in Ministry holding quarters we return to Hogwarts. The same procedure as yesterday takes place after dinner, but this time with the Ravenclaws. Flitwick is there with us this night. His face looks sorrowful and Kingsley, himself an old Ravenclaw, tells him:

"Don't worry too much, Professor Flitwick, we don't expect many of your students to be Death Eaters."

"Thank you, Mr. Shacklebolt, but remember that Barty Crouch, Jr was a Death Eater and he was one of the brightest students in my house ever."

"We'll see how it goes."



Filius Flitwick


I'm still a bit scared. I am quite convinced that the majority of my house are clean, but I tremble to think I have harboured some who have been caught in the web of Voldemort. The first years are all clean, as are the second, third and fourth years. Not one who is even a suspect. I'm relieved about that. All of them get the antidote and leave through the Entrance Hall to their common room. Then there are the fifth years. Two students suspicious. We tell them to wait in the first room. The sixth years. One suspicious and one with the Mark! I feel ashamed to see this. And I'm truly shocked. It's the son of one of our most respected Ravenclaw families, Ewan Calahan. He's sent to the second room. And finally the seventh years, all of which are clean again. Three out of 75 students. One who is actually a Death Eater, two who have been contacted. The two are returning to the common room with the strictest warning and Calahan is kept back to be sent back to the Ministry the next day. I am relieved it's not worse. I'm glad it's only one, even though it's been a surprise for me who it turned out to be. When it's all over and Albus guides me out of the Great Hall he smiles:

"I am sorry for that one student, Filius. I wish I could do something to convince him of the right path to follow."

"I know what you mean, Albus. It saddens me to no end."

He nods and we go up to his office, where I sign the expulsion form.



Albus


The next two evenings we proceed in the same way, first with the Gryffindors who, much to Minerva's pride, are all clean. And then finally with the Hufflepuffs who are also clean, much to Edith's joy. She is cheerful about it and knows beforehand that her students are uncontaminated.

"The safe houses can be dismissed now, Albus, can't they?"

"Soon. Though I suppose that our Swiss contingent will not be too happy to return here. They are probably too well used to their little family by now," I say with a smile.

"Oh, I could imagine! On the other hand their OWLS have all been good enough to know that they have good teachers."

"And are taught well, that's right. But I would like to see all of the Hogwarts students profit from their quality as teachers, Edith."

She smiles.

"They should like to have Remus Lupin back. And might be pleased to find Sirius Black a very amusing teacher."

"We could certainly use a few good laughs, Edith, as annoying as the two of them might be. Having two Marauders back at the school might prove trying."

She laughs now. Then she shrugs her shoulder and replies:

"You know, I couldn't complain. They really did make me laugh once or twice. I think, Poppy would be most happy to see them return, too, not to speak of Filius. But what subject would you give Sirius to teach?"

"Can you believe that Severus Snape actually recommended Sirius to replace him?"

"No, I couldn't say I'd believe that. He didn't, did he?"

"He did."

"Then Sirius must be really good."

"I think, he is. Compare the OWL results of his students with those who were taught by Severus. Sirius' hold the first six places. Even Neville is in the first twenty. Since the exams are graded by the Ministry examiners they are really objective."

"That's impressive. See to it that you can secure him then."

"I probably will get him, because Remus does want to come back. But I might wait for another year and hire Arabella Figg in the meantime. She would do it for a year, I am sure. That is if the students really want to stay in their cosy house. Which I expect. It would be hard on them to come back to their respective houses."

"You could put them in two dormitories together. There's surely enough free space in the Gryffindor tower," Edith says.

"That is what I intend to offer them. I will have to speak with them at some time soon."