Whatever pleasure Severus had felt at witnessing the Ministry having to apologize to one of the more prominent of the Wizarding World promptly died when some idiot had the gall to call on his ward. 
“Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter! What is you reaction to the Ministry clearing your godfather? Do you believe his innocence? Do you truly believe he had nothing to do with betraying your parents to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?”
As per his Gryffindor traits, Harry had stormed over to the podium, hell-bent on defending his godfather’s good name. Severus was only given the chance to hiss quietly to himself and fix his godson with a glare that vanished the boy’s predatory smirk as quickly as it had appeared. Sirius shot the crowd a wicked smirk as he stepped away fro m the podium, pausing only to run a hand through his godson’s hair as the shorter teen passed him. 
“First off, I don’t appreciate you trying to spread doubt about my godfather’s innocence. Peter Pettigrew was captured and confessed under Veritaserum that he was my parent’s Secret Keeper and framed Sirius Black for murder,” Harry snapped, eyes flashing. “In answer to your questions, I’m glad the Ministry finally attempted to make amends, but I don’t think that anything they could ever do would ever be enough. My godfather lost twelve years of his life because everyone was willing to assume the worst instead of taking the time to search for the facts.  I understand that those were perilous times, but you people have magic. Determining whether or not someone is guilty of something should be as easy as casting a spell, or dousing them with a potion, or something.
And I know Sirius didn’t serve Voldemort. The man I know would rather pelt the thing with dung bombs than serve him.” At the world ‘Voldemort’, the entire assembly of wizards flinched and shivered, and some outright screamed. Harry frowned, looking out over the assembled wizards with a exasperated look in his eyes. “Voldemort!” he bellowed. There was more screaming, and flinching, and Harry shook his head. “It’s only a word, you know,” he said, bemused. “He’s not going to appear out of thin air and start shooting curses. And even if he does, so what? There are at least one hundred of you here, all of you fully trained witches and wizards. Voldemort, no matter how powerful, is only one person. And the word ‘Voldemort’ has no meaning. It’s just a made up word from the letters of his name.” 
Ignoring the mutterings from the floor below, Harry pulled his wand, and reenacted the scene from his second year. IN a moment ‘Tom Marvolo Riddle’ hung in the air in giant red letters. With a flick of his wrist, the letters rearranged themselves into ‘I Am Lord Voldemort’. The hall was silent. 

“When I was twelve, I ventured into the Chamber of Secrets to save a classmate from Slytherin’s monster.” He shot Severus a sheepish look, and continued. “There was a bit of him left over in his old diary from fifty years ago when he had opened the Chamber. Now, fifty years before I was twelve, he was sixteen.” He started counting on his fingers, and Severus could just make out Nerissa mumbling about the boy being cute. “Sixteen and fifty is sixty-six, and add the three years since then and that’d make him nearly seventy, or seventy-one, depending on his birthday…” For a moment Harry stood there, looking absolutely perplexed. “Geez, I know wizards live to be hundreds of years and everything, but that really old!”
Severus brought his slim program up before his face in a bid to hide his grin. He’d give the boy chocolate frogs for the rest of the term! Calling the Dark Lord ‘old‘. He snickered. “An old fogey hiding behind a boogie-man mask and hyphenated nicknames” was the next part of Harry’s speech he heard. Severus snorted. Minerva sent him a stern look from where she stood further down the platform, which he dutifully ignored as he tried unsuccessfully to straighten his expression.
“Why any pureblood” Severus noticed Harry exaggerated the word,” would want to kiss some old half-blood’s butt when they think anyone whose blood isn‘t as pure as theirs is beneath them, I don’t think I will ever understand.” Shocked gasps and exclamations rocked the chamber. “What?” Harry was genuinely confused. Severus felt a twinge of worry. The majority of the Wizarding World did not know the truth of the megalomaniac’s blood status, but was it necessarily a bad thing for them to find out? Whether it was or not, Harry was continuing, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. 
“He is!” Harry exclaimed over the muttering that was becoming louder by the second. “Voldemort’s real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, son of a rich Muggle named Tom Riddle and  Merope Gaunt, last in the line of descendants of Salazar Slytherin.” Whisperings ricocheted off the walls and then silenced. Harry had the room’s full attention. “For whatever reason, maybe he found out she was a witch, I don’t know, Tom Riddle abandoned his family before his son was born, and Merope died in child birth. Tom Riddle, who we know as Voldie, grew up in a Muggle orphanage up to and throughout his years at Hogwarts.” The teenager paused, looking down and fidgeting with his fingers. A wave of anxiety washed through him, and before he knew it Severus had walked over. A warm, bubbly feeling coursed through him at that. The man didn’t even have to touch him; his very presence seemed to give him enough strength to find his voice.
“This may be a bit off topic, but it’s my personal opinion that the Wizarding World is incredibly irresponsible when it comes to magical children. Of any kind of blood,” he amended fiercely as some murmurings rose high enough to reach his ears. Raking his glare across the crowd once more for good measure, Harry continued. “I’m not sure who’s jurisdiction this comes under, but who looks out for those kids who don’t know anything about magic or aren’t living in wholesome environments? And how do they tell? I know pureblood kids who don’t want to go home for the holidays because of how bad it is there. Doesn’t anyone check? It may not have been the deciding factor, but I bet Tom grew up feeling like crap, an outcast where he grew up, confused about the strange things he could do and not being able to explain any of it. And then what about the older kids and adults who thought he was a - a freak?” 
Harry’s voice cracked, and Severus stepped closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. A smallish hand fisted in the fabric of Severus’ robes, and despite the childish gesture, he did not care. The vulnerable aura promptly squashed any annoyance that may have been building within him. When Harry looked up again, his eyes were sad and guarded, but there was a fierce, determined light there that belied his tone when he next spoke. 
“Don’t freak out, but I’m speaking from experience.” Ron and Draco walked up and stood behind him and his guardian, and Severus could not help but feel a bit smug within himself. There was a feel of solidarity and support rolling off those two, and the reporters were all taking note. Severus knew he had chosen correctly. With those two by his side, and the Granger clucking at them all the while, Harry’s success was all but sculpted in the tomes of history. ‘And that, he thought wickedly, won’t take too much effort to rectify…..’ 
“I lived with my mother’s sister and her husband and their son till about a week ago,” Harry continued. “My guardian, Severus Snape, found me on Platform 9 ¾, still sporting souvenirs from the summer. It was…really bad. Since then he has gotten custody of me, and I’ve got all my fingers crossed the adoption goes through. I don’t know if the people at the orphanage treated him as badly as my relatives treated me, but I maybe if Tom had had someone, anyone looking out for him and his best interests, he wouldn’t have turned out to be an evil twit.” The crowd was silent. Harry shrugged a small shoulder. “It’s a thought, anyway.” 
Harry was visibly weary, and Severus figured that that was enough ground-breaking revelations for one night. Just as he turned to lead Harry from the podium, a reporter stood up, intent on asking a question. 
Severus glared.
The slightly balding man’s kindly looking face contorted into an apologetic grimace. “Forgive me, sirs, but I have only one question. Albus Dubledore oversees the living arrangements for displaced students of Hogwarts, muggleborns and halfbloods, should they need it, as per a law he pushed through some forty years ago. Are you publicly claiming the most powerful wizard of our time in incapable of ensuring adequate, safe housing for the Wizarding World’s children?”
Severus’ glare increased tenfold with every sentence the man uttered. How dare this idiot put HIS boy in this position! How dare he? While he tried to persuade the man to spontaneously combust on the spot with his eyes, Harry straightened from where he had rested his head on Severus’ shoulder.
“Albus Dumbledore is very powerful, true, and no doubt his strategic prowess is a great asset to this war. However, I believe that no man is an island, and no one is above mistakes. For years, children have been being hurt by those who were supposed to protect them. These hurting children then turn into bitter, hurting adults. Outside the idealic mirage of Hogwarts, these adults are preyed upon by a madman, who latched onto their hurts and fears and whispered sweet promises to them, promises of acceptance, glory and power. While these may not be the majority of his recruits, they certainly are there, following orders in blind hope for the love they never had, or with bitter resignation that yet another parental figure has strung them along only to dash their hopes to pieces.” Fierce green eyes gazed out into the crowd, and Severus didn’t know if he should feel pride or something far darker. He had been one of those children, one of those adults, after all.
“Because he took this responsibility on himself without making proper provisions for event when he could not handle all of his various duties alone, Albus Dumbledore has failed. I don’t doubt he had the best of intentions when he passed that law. Perhaps he really did try. Perhaps he simply tried to take on a little too much. Whatever happened, I can plainly say it didn’t work.” He looked behind him, locking gazes with the prominent ministry officials who all looked as if they wanted to be just about anywhere else at the moment. “Someone else should have taken over from him a long, long time ago, and because none of you ever did, I will.”
Severus watched from slightly behind his young ward as Harry spun back to grace the assembled press with his flinty emerald gaze. He could almost burst with pride; the boy had mastered his flinty gaze from simple observation! “I Harry James Potter-Lupin-Black-soon-to-be-Snape, will in the coming weeks establish seven committees independent from the Ministry of Magic and working closely in conjunction with Wizarding Family Services to find, place and care for kids who can’t care for themselves and need someone. No one else will be hurt like I was.” Severus could hear the lump in Harry’s throat, and squeezed the boy’s arm in comfort. Something warm and discernable rose up within him, something he wouldn’t realize till later was pure, true pride. “No one else will end up like Tom.”
The hall broke out on deafening applause. Harry blushed crimson, much to everyone’s amusement, and retreated to press himself against Severus’ side. Not that the taller man minded at all. The closer Harry was to him, the farther away he was from those poach- er reporters. 
A good ten minutes of maneuvering away later, and he finally felt it was safe enough to let the boy go. 
They were in an alcove hidden behind a thick, heavy tapestry. Severus had already liberally doused the space in every privacy and concealment spell he knew. Paranoid. Much.
Oddly enough the boy looked nervous. Severus rolled his eyes and huffed. Hadn’t they gotten over that ‘Snape-is-a-vampire-AAAHHH!-don’t-eat-me!’ phase?
“Are you going to tell me what is the matter or shall I pry it from your brain, child?”
Harry shifted, and peered out at the man from under his fringe. “You’re not mad?” He asked, voice curiously lacking all traces of mature, cultivated coldness it had wielded minutes before.
“Should I be?” Severus asked, just as softly.
“I spilled a lot of secrets, didn’t I? About Voldie, and-and I talked about Dumbledore like he was an idiot or something and I told them you were my guardian, and you may not have wanted them to know that….”
“Firstly, child,” Severus intoned, drawing closer to his ward and rescuing the fabric of the boy’s robes he seemed intent on ruining with his nervous fingers. “Firstly, I shall only ever be angry with you for spilling secrets that are not your own if you’ve made a commitment not to reveal them. Now, is that the case here?”
Harry shifted again, and reached for one of Severus’ shiny silver buttons. Severus just sighed. “Um…well…that stuff about Tom, that wasn’t mine to say, he told me that in the Chamber……But he didn’t make me promise to keep it secret…”
‘Probably had more to do with the fact that he was planning on killing you, I believe.’
“Very good. As for speaking about Headmaster Dumbledore, there have been many who think that he has often spread himself too thin; you are no different. You simply said what many have been afraid to. You’ve also given the masses much to think about, even as you urged them to think for themselves in the first place.” He trapped twisting fingers in his own hands and drew the boy closer. “As it is, I must say how impressed I am with the way you handled yourself.” Green eyes gazed up at him, and for once, Severus didn’t think of Lily. “For someone only fifteen years of age who has tried his best to stay out of the public eye, especially after last year, you did very well.”
Harry swallowed, and found he couldn’t look at his guardian any more. “I’m sorry about the other day, with the snake.”
“We’ve been over this, child,” Severus sighed. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
Harry bit his lip and nodded, knowing he couldn’t push the issue for much longer before Snape got irritated with him. A soothing wave of comfort washed through the link they shared, and he closed his eyes, willing to bask in the feeling, even if he didn’t fully, completely believe that Severus had forgiven him so easily. Besides, he was sure the Mark still hurt like hell, no matter how much of that stuff Severus made to put on it. Sometimes he could practically feel it radiating evil. 
Severus squeezed his shoulder. “Come, before Neil decides I've been hogging you for too  long.” cancelling the enchantments, he led them out to the general ball area, only to walk right into a grinning Neil. 
“Severus,” the man said, smiling mischievously.
Harry watched his guardian's eyes narrow. “What do you want, Cornelius?” he snapped. 
“Now, now, young chap, that's not the way for a proper gentleman to behave, now, is it?” 
Severus stared at him with flashing eyes, Neil only grinned, and continued. “And you are a proper gentleman, aren't you? Only, one wouldn't know that, would one, if one saw like I did the way you left your date all alone. Did you know, dear Severus, that Malcolm Albie from the Department of Games and Sports has a rather strong fondness for the color blue?” Neil prattled on, ignoring the way his brother's face darkened with his every word. “Quite right, he does. He's telling your Ms. Ettheridge all about it as we speak, you know.”
“She is not my Ms. Ettheridge, you dunce,” Severus snapped, drawing himself up to his full height. “Nonetheless, one mustn't expect a lady to put up with such bumbling neanderthals as Malcolm Albie.” He turned to his ward. “Harry, mind your Uncle.” Harry nodded, and Severus swept away, cutting a path through the throngs of people with the ease of a hot knife through butter. Harry turned and found the Minister smiling after his brother with a self-satisfied expression on his face. 
“He likes her, doesn't he?” Harry asked. 
“That he does, Harry. That he does.” He moved to wrap an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders. “Not that the idiot can admit it, you realize. Even to himself.”
Harry frowned, and pulled at his collar. If that were true, then Severus wouldn't ever get past 'dating' Nerissa. And she was nice, Harry thought. He liked her. He didn't know how well she and Severus would go together, but everyone deserved a shot, right?
“Is that why you set them up?” he asked. 
Neil looked at him and smiled. “Well I had to do something, didn't I? I'm getting along in years, lad. Need some nieces and nephews to make me feel young again, don't I?” he chuckled, and ruffled Harry's hair. “Especially with you making me feel so old.”
“I didn't mean to, honest!” Harry said earnestly. 
“Of course you didn't.” Neil ran a hand through his hair again, and smiled. “Now, any questions you want to ask your old uncle before the dungeon bat gets back?”
Harry grinned. “You call him that?”
“Of course,” Neil scoffed. “I'm the one who made it up!”
“So you went to Hogwarts, too?” Harry asked. If Neil had been at Hogwarts, and had been the one to come up with 'dungeon bat', did that mean he teased his brother too?
“Yes, I did. But I had finished Hogwarts a whole three years before I knew Severus had been born.” Harry looked up at him curiously. “We are, Severus and I, half-brothers. Same mother, different fathers. After my tenth year, my father decided that living with my mother simply wasn't conducive to healthy development, so he took me to live with him.” The man turned thoughtful. “I admit, I wasn't very upset about this; my mother was a dreadfully unpleasant woman, to my memory.”
“So you never saw her again?”
“Oh, no, I did. Shortly after Severus was born I heard news of it. Old pureblood family gossips, they amaze me to this very day. I had to track her down, since she had remarried and moved since I'd last seen her. I didn't like what I found at all.”
Harry nodded, knowing from the few of Severus' memories he had that the man's childhood was about as unpleasant as his own. “So you took him with you?” he asked innocently. 
“Oh, heaven's no, child,” Neil said, straightening and turning to find a pair of seats. “I wanted to, though, when I saw how they were living. But mother was, mother was an incredible witch when she wanted to be, and then that uncivilized idiot showed up....” he sighed, and Harry felt bad. 
“You don't have to talk about this, you know,” he offered. “We can talk about something else, like, like, h-how to set up those committees I mentioned. I haven't a clue how, really. And I said I would, so I should, you know - “
“Harry, hush.” Neil gave him an indulgent look and shook his head. “I have no problem sharing a bit of our family history  with you. It will be, after all, your family history shortly, will it not?” He waved a hand when Harry moved to speak. “Besides, it's not as if Severus is going to tell you. He's a bit tightfisted when it comes to personal details, no?”
Harry had to admit, the man was right. Even with the link they shared, Harry wasn't able to find out much about Severus. Not that he had really tried in the past few days...... A tingle of guilt attached itself to his stomach, and he picked at his collar again. 
“Harry,” Neil said,” It’s fine. Really.”
A streak of purple light raced over Neil’s head, colliding with a pillar of marble in the corner and causing a massive explosion. People screamed, and more jets of light lit the air. Neil drew his wand and covered them with a shield from the scattering shrapanel. “Let’s have this talk later, hmm?”
Harry barely had time to reply before Neil had dropped the shield and was tugging him along as he intently searched for something. Half a second later they were surrounded by Aurors, and Cornelius was being herded away from him. 
“Wait a minute! What is this?” The Minister tightened his grip of Harry’s arm, pointing his wand at the Auror nearest him. “You can’t separate us!”
“Our orders are to protect you, Minister Fudge,” the Auror said. “In all situations of national security, our highest priority is to keep you safe.”
“I understand that, but does your call of duty really mean you must manhandle me away from an innocent citizen? A child?” Neil gestured at Harry, angry lines carved into his face. “I thought you’re first duty as Aurors was the protection and safety of all citizens of Magical Britain? I am just one citizen, there are hundreds of others in this very Hall. Do the job the Ministry pays you for and protect them!”
The lead Auror hesitated, then barked out orders. Soon, Neil only had two guards flanking him and Harry, and was headed for the Apparition point. Harry’s head was buzzing, the connection to Severus drowning out most other sounds as the man shot hexes and curses at the event’s disrupters. He wondered if Severus could hear Neil through him, because he suddenly threw up shield after shield, turning his back to the fights around him.
Neil yanked him around a corner, and Harry flailed, slipping on the floor and twisting his ankle. Like the year before, he ran through the pain, fingers hooked into the fabric of his uncle’s robes. They dashed towards the door, passing a phalanx of Aurors that was shielding while another pair was providing defense. The cool night air washed across his skin, and Harry gasped at the sight in front of him. 
Draco moved, wand extended and casting faster than Harry could blink, battling against an equally invested Lucius Malfoy. The elder blonde looked nothing short of enraged, the curses from his wand each  covered with a sick neon glow. Around them, people ran too and fro, some stopping to shoot curses at the small group of party crashers, others casting shields as people fled the scene. 
A black blur shot out of the crowd, skirting around terrified witches before breaking into the circle of flashing lights. The black shape resolved itself into a large black dog, before shifting again into one Sirius Black. Harry’s heart launched into his throat, and only Neil’s iron grip on his arm kept him from sprinting forward. 
He tried to keep his eyes on the fight as Neil dragged him away, towards the apparition point. He saw Sirius exchange a round of curses with the elder Malfoy, wrap his arm around Draco and then disappear, before Neil had him in an iron hold, and he was forced through time and space.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Hogwarts gates were the first thing Harry laid eyes on as he reappeared with Neil’s arm still clamped around his chest. Sirius and Draco stood just behind those gates, in much the same position. Before Harry and Neil could move, there was another ‘pop’ behind them. Neil spun, pushing Harry down behind him, whipping his wand out and casting a speedy “Expelliarmus!”
Severus sidestepped the spell, his arm still wrapped around a wide eyed Ms. Ettheridge. His other hand had been attached to Ron, who was striding towards the school’s gates. 
“I think we should get inside,” he said. “We may have gotten away from them, but Lucius Malfoy will be back, I’m sure.”