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sua_layAuthor: Rimau Sua Lay
Rating: overall NC-17, Angst, Drama, Action/Adventure, First Time
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings: Harry/Snape, Ron/Draco, (Sirius/Remus)
Date: December 2002 - May 2007
Disclaimers: Not mine, borrowed without permission, am not making any money. Please don't sue. Sherbet Lemon?
Summary for Book Five: - It's time to try to save the world. Fools and idiots may be the wizards' only hope. Revenge does indeed taste strange. Kinda furry.
Warning: This part contains deaths, gore, total stupidity, explicit sex between men, disturbing themes and angst.
The earlier parts of the fic can be found here.
There was only one meeting in the meeting hall that day.
It didn't take long for the story of what had happened spread throughout the Headquarters, and for once people read their glorious leader correctly and didn't even try to approach him.
Harry didn't say anything about the incident as he returned to the reports with Ron and Draco almost as his shadows, except when he offered his thanks to Blaise Zabini.
The whispers became even more excited when Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Minerva McGonagall joined the small group, all looking angry enough to hex someone. None of them really said anything, simply sat there and pretended to be busy with reports.
Waiting.
It was almost lunch time when the waiting finally ended with a group of redheaded men arriving in the Headquarters. Arthur Weasley barely stopped to greet Harry Potter before going to see to his youngest son, ignoring his protests that he was fine and pulling him into a hug.
That was a clear hint of how their new Minister felt about the earlier incident.
Announcing that there would be a meeting right after lunch, Harry guided Arthur Weasley as his guest to the mess hall and spent most of the lunch hour concentrating on his food instead of the worried looks that were thrown at their way.
Harry didn't like telling Mr. Weasley what to do, but right now, he didn't think it would be wise to confront the Aurors himself. Technically, they could still be considered to be under the Ministry's jurisdiction.
To his surprise, Arthur Weasley had nodded, looking slightly uncomfortable at the power he wielded, but prepared to deal with any problem he faced.
It shouldn't have been as big a surprise as it was, Harry thought, managing the first genuine smile in hours.
Even though the announcement had specifically mentioned 'Ministry officials, the Aurors and all those who had nothing better to do', the meeting hall was packed with people. Murmuring quietly, the Order members looked around to spot familiar faces, waiting to see Harry appear next to the Acting Minister any time now.
Harry stood just outside the door, hidden in shadows.
He wasn't prepared to face anyone right now, not wanting to be the one to tell these people to stop fighting amongst themselves as if he was the greatest authority here.
Watching quietly from the crack between the door and the stone wall, he focused his gaze on Arthur Weasley who was talking quietly to Dumbledore. He wondered if his reluctance to leave completely was because deep inside he knew he would be needed. Most likely. He was a realist, and only the most idiotic optimist would think this meeting would go well.
He had to force himself not to push the door open as he saw Snape appear in the meeting hall, his arm in a sling.
They were all in there; his friends and family, his Order and the Ministry, all ready to sit down and talk and still they were waiting for something more.
Well, if they were waiting for him, they'd have to wait for a lot longer.
Eventually Arthur Weasley stood up and raised his hand. "All right then." There was enough steel in his voice to make everyone quiet down.
Harry was impressed.
"I would like to know exactly what happened earlier today." Casting a look at the group of Aurors sitting close by, Arthur prompted, "Now."
One of the men that had been most enthusiastic about the attack stood up and gave a short but precise account of the fight as if he was used to reporting battles. He probably was.
"At the beginning of the meeting about training, Yabbersmith questioned the use of Unforgivables and other curses. There was a slight disagreement during which Mr. Lupin made a comment about things not being as black and white as some people wished to think."
There was excited babble and most people turned to stare at Remus who sat there with a carefully crafted nonexpression on his face.
The Auror cleared his throat. "There was some... heated discussion about the morality of teaching, followed by some questions about the teachers themselves."
This time the babble was just as excited, but the looks were aimed at Snape.
"Yes, professor Snape was the target of most such comments, and if I may say so, justifiably so!" the Auror added.
"No, I don't think you may say so, Mr. Purvis." Arthur Weasley shook his head slightly. "Go on."
A bit flustered, Purvis took a moment before continuing his story. "Er... Yes, sir. It was at that point that we noticed Mr. Malfoy in the room. Things got out of hand soon after that."
Harry could well imagine. No matter how much he liked Draco, he could be a smug bastard at times, and it was clear that simply looking into his face was too much for some people. It didn't make it right, but it explained some things.
"So you threatened Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes." Purvis shrugged. "But he made some very nasty comments back, and then things got heated and..." He made a shrugging gesture. "There were curses."
Arthur Weasley nodded. "I see." He tapped his fingers against the table before asking, "Who threw the first curse? And do be truthful, Mr. Purvis. We can do a Priori Incantatem on your wands as you well know."
Before Purvis could say anything, another Auror got to his feet. "I did, sir."
The man's confession caused yet another wave of shocked exclamations. In a battle between the Aurors and the son of Malfoy and a former Death Eater, it had been an Auror who cast the first curse? It sounded rather unbelievable.
Harry could hear words about Auror instincts and he shook his head slightly, glad that no one could see his expression. It was one thing to act instinctively in the field, where hesitation could kill you. Attacking people without a good reason led to murder.
He hated the fact that Mr. Weasley would have to spell it out to the Aurors and tell them not to harass people. Their job was protecting and saving people, hunting things that harmed. Fudge's death and the attacks the day before had probably brought forth old fears and grudges, but no one should lash out like this.
"Mr. Yabbersmith." Arthur acknowledged the Auror. "You cast a curse at Mr. Malfoy. Then what happened?"
Glaring at Yabbersmith, Purvis turned back at the Minister. "Mr. Malfoy grabbed his wand and professor Snape followed his lead. It all became a bit rushed at that point."
"I see."
It was clear that Purvis could read Mr. Weasley's tone correctly, squirming as he forced the words out, "And then others joined the fight."
There was a silence as everyone stared at Arthur Weasley. It wasn't hard to guess what was coming next.
"Tell me, Mr. Purvis. When you saw Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black, Miss Granger and my sons stand up to defend both Mr. Malfoy and professor Snape... Did it ever occur to you that you might be doing something wrong?"
There was a slight commotion and then Moody stood up. "If I may, sir?" He waited for the nod before continuing. "Sometimes when facing Dark Curses, like these men did today, there is no time for second guessing."
Purvis nodded. "Yes. I... I mean, we know it was wrong to bring the civilians into the fight, but it was..."
"Wrong?" Arthur Weasley suggested. There was no trace of the usual jolly man in the hard look he cast at the Aurors.
"Yes, sir. We are prepared to apologize to Misters Black, Lupin, Weasleys and Miss Granger." Purvis cast a look at the ones he was naming, giving each and every one of them a small bow. After a moment, he added, "And to Mr. Malfoy of course."
The way the Aurors around him glared made it clear they hadn't actually reached a consensus on that.
"Malfoy is a backstabbing basta....aaagh!" Yabbersmith groaned and grabbed his left foot as Moody's cane slammed against it with considerable force.
Harry felt waves of relief as most of the Order people started defending Draco, noticing how Ron was nodding at the words even though he said nothing himself.
He chose to see that as a good sign.
"Like I said," Purvis yelled over the commotion, "We are prepared to apologize, in written statements if necessary." He looked genuinely sorry.
It was however unclear if his remorse was due to the fact that he acknowledged that he'd been wrong or if it had dawned on the Aurors that drawing wands at the Minister's sons was a very bad career move.
Arthur Weasley nodded. "You may issue such apologies, but they may not be accepted." His tone indicated that he was not going to accept or forget any time soon. "You said Mr. Malfoy. What about professor Snape?"
No one said a word.
Harry closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the cold stone wall. He hated this, absolutely hated a scene like this. He could only imagine how it would be for Snape; to sit there and listen to this and not be able to really do anything.
Yabbersmith let go of his foot and glared. "Snape is a Death Eater."
He didn't need to worry about anyone smashing his other foot. It was obvious that none of his colleagues would argue with that.
Dumbledore muttered, "Former Death Eater."
It was as if he hadn't said a word. Moody nodded. "You can't trust him! Ever!" His eye spun around wildly and then focused on Snape.
Minerva McGonagall stood up, casting a freezing look at Moody. "He saved my life, Alastor. I trust him."
Harry muttered the words quietly as well, glad that he wasn't the only one. He'd expected the way Draco nodded, but the hesitant way Ron seemed to agree with the former part of McGonagall's declaration made him swallow. Ron might not like Snape, but he wasn't an utter moron.
It was as if the Aurors couldn't even hear the protests, so locked in their hatred. "It's no crime attacking a Death Eater! It's justice!" Moody called out.
"Wild justice!" Arabella Figg yelled at him, "Attacking someone like that, it's not justice at all!"
Moody scoffed. "You don't believe that yourself!" Turning away from her, he addressed Snape directly. "No one's protecting your Death Eater hide anymore, Snape. The only thing that's kept you alive so far is Dumbledore's support and he's not the leader of the Order anymore." The fact made his wild eye roll in glee.
"No, but I am." It was the first time Harry said that out loud without feeling absurd need to laugh.
People swiveled to look at him march into the room.
Harry hadn't planned this, it had just happened; the moment Moody threatened Snape his legs had carried him here with no clear command from his mind. He wasn't going to interfere with stupidity, but he had no doubt the Aurors wouldn't try something after such a threat.
The desire to throw a few hexes at the Aurors was almost overwhelming.
He wanted to walk to Snape and say lots of things about friendship and trust out loud and maybe then Snape would just hex him for being a total idiot. No matter how amusing Harry found Snape's protests about his silly declarations, he knew there was nothing funny in a situation like this.
"And I'm telling you, any and all threats against the members of my Order -- any member of my Order -- will be a threat against me. It doesn't matter if you don't trust them, it doesn't matter what they're called or what they used to do. They are the Order of the Phoenix, fighting Voldemort. If you have problems with that, go and join his fight."
There was an absolute silence.
Harry stared at Moody until he looked away. Then he did the same with the other Aurors, noticing it got easier with each and every one.
"I will not make speeches about working together. We all know what we're doing and why. If you choose to help Voldemort by squabbling with each other, it's your loss." Harry could see the words hit the Aurors hard.
"There's no way in hell I'd join the Dark Lord..." Purvis muttered, squeezing his hand into a fist.
His sentiments were clearly shared by everyone.
Arthur Weasley was the one to voice it out loud. "No one wants that. What happened today... won't happen again."
"No, it won't." Harry agreed.
His calm words were even worse than angry threats, making it clear that the matter was not up for discussion.
People were nodding, some reluctantly and some with anger in their eyes, but no one seemed to wish to argue with Harry Potter.
"Then that seems to be it. Meeting dismissed."
The strangely anti-climatic ending of the meeting made some grumble, but a glance at Harry made sure none of the complaints were actually said out loud.
"Oh, and before you go... I would like you to apologize for your actions in person." Harry took a step towards Snape, barely resisting the urge to put his hand on his shoulder. "My friends deserve that."
There was a shocked buzz at his words.
Since it was clear that Harry had said that to the Aurors only, people kept walking out of the door. To the Aurors' relief, their leader seemed to be willing to wait until the door closed after the crowd, leaving only a few people in the meeting hall.
"Harry..." Shaking his head, Arthur Weasley got up and walked to Harry. "I truly am..."
"Please, Mr. Weasley." Harry smiled, knowing exactly how absurd it was to have this man try to apologize.
Seeing the knowing look in Mr. Weasley's eyes, Harry wondered about the insanity of this all. Here they were, the most powerful men in their world; one a young man who just wanted to live in peace away from the maddening crowd and the other a family man who would probably be most content polishing his plugs.
"This really won't happen again." Arthur would make sure it wouldn't.
Harry agreed. "I know. And who knows, maybe now they will try harder to work together." All such efforts would be needed when the time for real fights came.
He listened to the apologies half heartedly, relaxing slightly as Purvis continued to Snape after a few stilted but polite words to Draco and repeated his apology. Not wishing to humiliate anyone, he looked away only to meet Dumbledore's knowing gaze.
For a moment it looked like the old man could read his thoughts.
Harry had to wonder what would have happened if he'd just said out loud the thoughts that had been running through his head, that he trusted both Draco and Snape, that he had feelings for Snape. That if the Aurors had indeed managed to kill Snape, their great leader would have packed his trunk and left them without a word.
It would have caused unnecessary panic, but Harry knew beyond a doubt that he couldn't have stayed and played this part if Snape was gone. He would have left, probably after doing something horrible, and life beyond that was too awful to even contemplate.
He glanced at Snape, smiling a little at the way he was nodding at the Aurors with a haughty look on his face, and knew he'd been right when he had curbed all the declarations he'd wanted to make.
Turning away, he missed the very familiar twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes.
