Harry squirmed under the blankets that he had cocooned himself in overnight. It was so warm and comfortable that he did not want to fully wake up. He’d been blissfully asleep, no nightmares or dreams thanks to his dad’s potions, and he was putting off having to get up until the last possible minute. His body had been exhausted after his explosion and subsequent rebuilding of his Occlumens last night, and to tell the truth he hadn’t gotten much sleep in the last few weeks, so he just wanted to let the feeling of safety and warmth – knowing his family was there for him, no matter what – persist forever and he could tell the rest of the universe to sod off. Unfortunately, his bladder hadn’t received the memo that he was due for lie-in. If he didn’t move soon...

He gave in, reluctantly, and finally cracked his eye open, to be jerked awake even more by the sight of his father’s chief Elf, Runeskin, hovering mid-air - in full meditation pose - over Harry’s stomach. He looked like an elfin Buddha dressed in his loose exercise pants with his eyes closed; a peaceful visage to his face and the runes that he wore on his green tinted skin, the blessings and wishes of his clan, lazily moving over his skin in time to his steady breathing. Harry must have made some noise at the discovery as Runeskin slowly opened his eyes and focused on his young charge.

A smile, much resembling that of a Cheshire cat, transformed the wizened face and before Harry could even raise a hand in protest, the elf winked out of sight. Grumbling loudly, Harry threw back the covers and minced across the cold flag stones to the loo where he could take care of his most urgent needs.

Once there he decided to strip off his pyjamas and take a well-deserved shower. After last night, he felt the need to cleanse himself almost ritualistically to remove the psychic stench that seemed to cling to him after discovering Voldemort’s presence in his mind and Umbridge’s torture still aching across his healing hand.

Under the hot water he looked at the bandage that still swathed his left hand, gleaming pale green in the light. The shower water sheeted off the spell that surrounded the wrap, fascinating the still sleepy boy in its function. He shook himself awake and quickly loosened his long hair from its confining queue, scrubbing the shampoo into its length, digging his fingernails into his scalp to massage the soap into the roots and leaning back under the spray, letting the water rinse the suds away down the drain. He then grabbed his flannel and proceeded to scrub himself nearly raw in his attempt to get clean, revelling in the sting of the water as it dug into his irritated skin.

The showers at Hogwarts were magically heated, and never went cold – unless you specifically wanted them to - so Harry did not have that small reminder that it was time to get out. He just let the water continue to cascade down his body, relaxing tense muscles that still ached even after a night of peaceful sleep. As he relaxed, his emotions seemed to let go as well and a shuddered breath turned into an outright sob and he let the tears fall as he leaned against the warm wall, steam and running water washing him clean.

A discrete cough on the other side of the curtains caused him to startle and splutter under the sluice and he stuck his head around the edge of the curtain to discover his father standing there holding a towel out for him. He ducked back to turn off the water and dash the water out of his face. He held out his arm for the towel which he slung around his hips after towelling himself dry, before pushing the curtains back and stepping out into the steam-filled room.

“Thanks, Dad,” he said sheepishly, running his hand through his damp locks. “Uhmmm, how long was I in there?”

“About forty minutes,” the man replied. He raised an eyebrow. “Feel better?” he asked, spying the reddened eyes. When the first emotional release had occurred, he’d felt the tug on his bond with his son – but it hadn’t been urgent and he knew Harry would be better for the purge under the shower.

Harry nodded quickly and reached for his hairbrush, starting in on the ends of his hair and slowly working up its length.

“My hand still aches, but it is a more of a healing ache than infection. Kind of like it’s been overused?” he described, wriggling the affected fingers for the man.

Severus nodded after a cursory look. “That is to be expected. How about your Occlumens?”

“Tighter than before. I’m definitely calmer. I don’t have the urge to attack you any longer,” he pointed out, reaching behind to divide his hair into thirds and began to quickly plait it, summoning a Muggle elastic band to tie off the end. Hermione kept him in supply whenever she visited her parents.

“Ah, so that’s why you’ve been avoiding me all month,” his father correctly guessed. His son raised an apologetic face to him, sitting down dejectedly on the closed commode lid.

“I’m really sorry, Dad. I should have realized it was Voldemort guiding those dreams from the start. I don’t know how he got in...” he started, only to stop as his father rested a hand on his shoulder.

“He just needed to find one small chink in your armour; then Umbridge’s detentions did not help you at all, making that crack just that much larger,” Severus explained calmly.

Harry contemplated this, arms folded over his bare chest. “I guess you’re right,” he conceded.

Severus snorted in amusement. “Of course I’m right, I’m your father; it goes with the job description.” The quip managed to put a slight grin on his son’s face and he counted it a job well done. The boy was too serious at times. (Although he’d never admit that to his dogfather!) “Now get dressed and join us for breakfast. The Heads of House will be here in a few minutes; we have much to discuss. We’ll re-wrap your arm afterwards, if needed. I’m sure they will all want to see the wounds for themselves in any case.” He opened up the bathroom door, letting out the steamy air and admitting the colder variety so that Harry squeaked in indignation.

“Get dressed and you won’t have to worry about the cool air!” Severus flung back as he exited the room and headed back to the main parlour. He had several things he still had to do before eight o’clock and his colleagues arrived. He smirked to himself knowing his son had just playfully stuck his tongue out at him, behind his back. At least Harry could still be a teenager when warranted.

)O-O(

Harry finally came out to the sitting area, joining his family in setting out a breakfast buffet for their guests. Runeskin was directing the Prince Manor elves in placement of food, drink, plates and silverware, setting heating charms on the chafing dishes and making sure that everything sparkled. Harry accepted a welcome cup of tea from Draco after assuring his brother he was much better. He retreated to his favourite spot on the divan, curling into the corner, saucer on one knee and a plate of breakfast hovering over his other one. Despite feeling better than he had in three weeks, he wasn’t really all that hungry and picked at his food, preferring his tea this morning over everything else.

Instead, he watched as his father set a sheaf of notes on the coffee table, tapping them into some sort of order; watched his brother take his time choosing his morning meal before joining Harry on the couch and smirked when, as the first knock came on the solid oak door, Runeskin clapped his hands and all the Manor elves disappeared with barely a whisper of displaced air. He really wanted to learn how to Apparate like elves did! The common snap of displaced air that most Wizards and Witches created could give you away in a fight.

As the smell of cooked breakfast meats suffused the area, Silicia wound her way up the side of the divan and over Harry’s shoulder, tasting the air with her tongue and hissing contentedly. Harry grinned over at the head bobbing and weaving next to his own and held up some titbits for his familiar to delicately take and eat. Somehow she always managed to find her way to him even when he’d left her in the Gryffindor Common Room the day before. He smirked at his brother who was watching the exchange closely - and with fear filled eyes - as the poisonous fangs closed in on the meat, close to Harry’s fingers.

“She’s not going to bite me, Draco,” Harry chided, amusedly offering another bite to Silicia as the other three heads of house filled their plates and chose seats around the crackling flames in the Floo.

“So you say,” Draco muttered before shuddering and deliberately looking away.

Harry chuckled, feeding his cobra one last bite before she yawned and coiled up on his lap, her tongue scenting the room every so often in contentment as her eyes remained half-hooded. His own Head of House snorted in amusement as she sat in a chair between him and his father’s wing-back – lending visible support to the family.

“All right there, Potter-Snape?” she asked quietly.

“Better than yesterday, Professor,” he assured her. She laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder, squeezing once, before taking a deep sip from her own tea-cup.

“Don’t worry – we’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. I’m so sorry, Harry. We should have been more vigilant of her activities.”

“Nah, you and Dad warned me off – I was too stubborn. Matter of pride,” he explained sheepishly.

“Too often a Gryffindor failing and source of strength,” she noted. “My word, what a spread the castle elves put out for us this morning! I wonder why Albus can’t get them to do this for our staff meetings?” she commented, gazing appreciatively at the fully loaded sideboard.

“Because it wasn’t the castle elves, Minerva,” Snape told her as he took his own seat on her other side. “I didn’t want Albus to get wind of this discussion as we are already at loggerheads after last year. The castle elves are bound to the castle through him; they are duty bound to let him know if asked. Mine, on the other hand, are loyal to me and know when to keep their mouths shut.”

She nodded in understanding as the Filius and Pomona finished filling their plates and grabbed their favourite morning caffeine boost before seating themselves in the remaining two chairs.

“I’m sure you two are wondering why we are having this impromptu meeting this morning,” Severus began. “It came to our attention last night that Umbridge was over-stepping her bounds – more than we previously believed,” he began ominously.

“How so?” Flitwick asked, curiously gazing at the two students in their midst.

“Last night, at the end of prefect rounds, Draco and Miss Granger discovered Harry had been suffering in silence after two weeks of detention with the High Inquisitor. Now, we all knew Harry had been given those detentions and, when asked, he only said he was doing lines. I’ll let him explain and show you how he performed those lines,” Severus said darkly. He looked over at where Harry was sitting very still in the corner of the couch. “Harry, it is time to take the bandage off,” he gently said. Harry had tucked the affected hand down amongst the cushions, rolling his sleeve over it. He pulled it out now, reluctantly.

“Bandage?” Pomona asked quietly.

Minerva just pursed her lips. “You’ll see,” she muttered.

Harry handed his plates over to his brother - who set them on the coffee table - and began to unwind the now-dry wrappings around his left hand. He wriggled his fingers and wrist around to work the stiffness out of them before he sneaked a look at the back of his hand.

Where last night the hand had been raw, infected and oozing pus and blood, today only a thin red scar, just like on his forehead, remained – but the words were clear: I must not tell lies.

He sighed – he’d been hoping nothing would remain, but then he supposed it wouldn’t be a proper cursed dark object if that had been the case. He held his hand tilted down so that everyone could see and nearly smiled when Professor Flitwick squeaked in indignation.

“That is from a Blood Quill!” he protested, floating off his cushioned seat in a rare show of accidental magic. Pomona reached a hand out and patted him back into his seat.

“What is that torture device doing here?” she glowered, staring at the scar on Harry’s hand before he quickly stuffed it away. He’d had it out long enough for everyone to look at.

“Umbridge apparently obtained one from the Ministry or on the black market,” Severus intoned. “I don’t particularly care right now, other than the fact that she has it and used it nightly on my son for two weeks!” He nearly shouted the last words in his frustration. He gazed down for a moment, breathing deeply to regain his composure while Harry and Draco opened their eyes wide in amazement; their father rarely was that close to losing the plot.

“In any case,” he finally continued; his voice calmer if not less intense, “this is the last straw. I warned Albus at the end of last year that if anything else harmed Harry or Draco I would take matters into my own hand. I nearly had dis-enrolled the boys after last term, but they convinced me to let them return, wanting to stay with their friends.”

His sons looked up quickly at his words, staring at him in disbelief. “Dad -” Draco started.

Severus raised a hand to stall him. “No, I’m not going to take you out of school at this point. However, I am going to put an end to this mismanagement. He has taken too many risks with your brother and placed the rest of the students at risk as well over these last few years. He has gone too far with Madam Umbridge.”

“What do you intend to do, Severus?” Pomona asked.

“Several things. The first of which was notifying the other heads of house. We need to maintain a united front. As I told Minerva last evening, the other teachers will follow our lead. In the meantime, in honour of the upcoming season, we are going to let the twins declare an all-out prank war on the Madam. They will be having some help from outside sources, which shall remain nameless at this point. While this is going on, I have drafted missives to the Board of Governors. I am sure that they are unaware of what is occurring. Because Dumbledore and I are not seeing eye-to-eye, I felt that letting the BoG know what was happening and enlisting their help in confronting Albus was preferential.”

“Was anyone else tortured?” Pomona darkly enquired.

Minerva coughed to gain their attention. “After last night’s occurrence, I quietly checked the detention logs to see who else had been assigned detention with her. Apparently many of the students are all part of Severus and Bill Weasley’s defence group.”

“Bloody Hell...” Harry muttered, before clapping a hand over his mouth in contrition. It was measure of how strong everyone else felt about the news that no-one chided him.

“I’ve already sent owls to those students asking them to meet me later this morning. I intend to have Poppy there as well. Hopefully the rest won’t be as bad, but we just don’t know yet.”

“I’ve already sent Pomfrey several jars of murtlap and scaradicate, just in case,” Severus chimed in. “I wish the scaradicate worked better on curse scars, but it does mitigate most of the damage.”

“So, if I’m to understand you correctly – we are to let the Weasley twins prank the pink menace until the BoG makes their decision known?” Flitwick asked.

“Correct. I will handle any disciplinary action necessary for them to make it look legitimate, but they will be stepping up their antics. Hallowe’en is a perfect cover.”

A gleam came to Filius’ eye as he said, “Indeed it is. If you will excuse me, I believe I shall go consult with our budding entrepreneurs. Minerva, please provide me a list at your earliest convenience of all the students affected in my house,” he requested as he hopped down from his seat.

“You’ll have it before lunch; all of you will,” she promised. That seemed to be the signal for the other teachers to depart, which they did quickly.

)O-O(

“Fifteen students in all were tortured by that – woman!” Minerva told Severus that night when she stopped by for a night-cap. “All of them were members of the defence group and had been present at the meeting she crashed in September,” she clarified.

“I suspected that was the case. And I noticed that where there were siblings, only one received the punishment. Draco wasn’t touched,” he gave as an example. “Most only had to endure one session and because she fed on their insecurities, they all kept quiet about it. Not a single one would admit to it unless outright told we knew this was happening and would they show us their non-dominant hand.” He grimaced before sipping on his own small glass of elf-wine. Narcissa, sitting next to him, placed a placating hand on his knee for a moment. Calista and she had Flooed over that afternoon after receiving Severus’ owl. She had to make sure for herself that her sons were all right.

“Yes, the others found the same. They’ve all been treated now and I have it set up so that any further detentions assigned to her to oversee are distributed to the heads of house instead. Simple charm work on the detention log,” she explained; a self-satisfied smirk on her face as she buried her lips into her liberally fire-whiskey laced tea-cup before continuing.

“Remus and Sirius met the twins, Bill and Filius in Hogsmeade this afternoon. I don’t even want to know what they are planning,” she gave a world-weary sigh.

“I do know, but only because I had to pre-set their punishments. I will just say that she will have a time of it next week,” he hinted, dark humour glinting in his black eyes. “I’ve heard back from some of the governors; there will be an emergency secret meeting next weekend. We need to get as much proof as possible to present to them. I’m expecting Albus will be called to task, as well as Madam Umbridge?” he looked at Narcissa for confirmation.

“Yes, I can guarantee that both will be taken to task,” she agreed. “And I will need as much evidence as we can procure to convince some of the older members of the Board. I need to ask you, Minerva, if we sack Albus – are you ready to take on the mantle of the wards?” As Lucius’ widow it was her right to claim first refusal to his seat on any Board he had sat on. She chose to retain most of those privileges – only declining those seats belonging to corporations she considered shady or of little interest to her, and she had promptly sold off whatever shares Lucius had held in those enterprises, not wanting to associate the Malfoy fortune with them any longer.

They all knew that getting the Hogwarts Board of Governors to move any faster than treacle was a feat in and of itself. Lucius had perpetuated this as it meant he could get the Board to stall on any measures that were not favourable to him or his interests. Narcissa was a breath of fresh-air in a room full of stodgy aristocratic men. With her smile and oh, so sweet words she was able to manoeuvre them into agreeing with her agendas and in a timely manner, too. The Board never knew what hit them.

Minerva was quiet for a moment, thinking about the responsibility if it was suddenly thrust upon her shoulders. “If it is asked of me, of course I will agree. It is up to Fawkes, though, isn’t it? He always chooses the Headmaster. It might be a sign of the situation, but Fawkes hasn’t been present a lot this term. More often than not when I’m meeting with Albus, the Phoenix is not there.”

Severus and Narcissa shared a knowing look. “That is very telling indeed,” Narcissa agreed. “Fawkes apparently does not agree with Albus’ tactics and his decisions. If he totally repudiates him, the castle’s wards will also leave him. I can’t believe that it is just the hiring of Umbridge or his attempts to manipulate Harry that are causing this. What else is going on?” she asked, looking at the Deputy Headmistress shrewdly.

“To be honest, I don’t know. Ever since Albus was released from Crouch’s imprisonment he has seemed changed. Granted, he’d already put Harry’s name in to the cup before Crouch waylaid him – and that was heinous on its own level – but lately he has just...” She waved a hand to indicate her frustration. “Hiring Dolores was his idea – she wasn’t foisted on us by the Ministry, like a lot of people think – he asked for her. What does that indicate to you?” she aimed back at the Board Governor.

“I think he is trying to gear up for something – or test the mettle of his saviour. Do you think he authorized the use of the Quill?” Narcissa asked McGonagall point blank.

“Very possibly. At this point I wouldn’t put it past him. I really think since Severus flat out told him to stay away from Harry that he is using this as a way to further test Harry – keeping his hands clean, so to say. He’s using Dolores and her bigotry to his own advantage. She is his perfect stooge. We shall just have to wait until she is brought before the Board to find out for sure, I suppose.”

“Just get me as much evidence as you can. What about this ‘Inquisitorial Squad’ the children were telling me about this afternoon? Is there any way we can get it disbanded? It just smacks of the Inquisition. This whole situation is reminiscent of it.”

Severus shook his head. “Not until we get Umbridge removed. At that point anything instituted by her will be suspect and can be stopped. However, I’m sure the twins will be targeting the members of that group just as specifically. They need to spread around the pranks to make it less noticeable at first. They have it well in hand, however.”

Minerva nodded in agreement. “And how are Harry and Draco today? Did they enjoy having you and Calista coming over?”

“Callie succeeded in getting Harry to smile and laugh. That child has her brothers wound around her little finger,” Severus chimed in, chuckling. “She’s asleep in there now – the boys put the beds together and requested that we make one King Size bed for the night. She wanted to sleep between them both and wouldn’t choose which bed.” He shrugged – it had been a small request and he’d been happy to fulfil it.

“Hmm, and apparently you too, I’d wager,” Minerva waggled her own finger in his direction. Narcissa chuckled as well at the expression on Severus’ face.

“Guilty,” he admitted. “In any case, the boys will be back in circulation tomorrow after breakfast. Their friends all stopped by today and convinced them it would be better to be seen as not affected than to let her tactics take precedence. Smart children,” he mused.

 “Well, thank Merlin for that. I think I’m going to enjoy watching Dolores being pranked this week. Cheers, Severus!” She clinked her cup with his wine glass and then with Narcissa’s. “And hang onto this girl – she’s good for you!” She winked at Narcissa causing her to break out in a sparkling laugh.

“I have no idea what you are insinuating, you old cat!” he smirked back before they all broke out in laughter.

“Can you keep it down out there, we’re trying to sleep!” the boys yelled in tandem from their room, only causing the three to laugh harder.