Auror’s report, 15th August 1980, 9:25am

On the evening of 14th August 1980, at around five-thirty pm, a call came through about a disturbance in and around the village of Godric’s Hollow, set in the West Country.

Myself and my team apparated to the village, and discovered a group of what appeared to be Death Eaters (the individuals were wearing long black cloaks and smooth white masks over their faces) battling with suspended Auror James Potter and junior Auror Sirius Black.

Witness reports (gathered via house-to-house enquiries after the altercation was over at around seven-thirty pm) indicate that the apparent Death Eaters arrived in the village at roughly four o’clock; however, they did nothing more than “create a lot of loud bangs and bright lights” (Mr V Thompson, 47 The Green, Godric’s Hollow). Junior Auror Sirius Black arrived after approximately ten minutes, only for the individuals to apparate away.

According to other witnesses, the group appears to have done nothing but appear at various points around the village, wait for either junior Auror Sirius Black or suspended Auror James Potter to arrive, whilst causing a minor nuisance, and then apparate away again to another spot in the village.

After over an hour of this, it seems that suspended Auror James Potter became very frustrated, and began taunting them, “using the sort of language that, if I’d been his mother, I’d have washed his mouth out with soap for – and then an after-serving of bleach, just for good measure!” (Miss A Rottergarn, 15 Midcairn Way, Godric’s Hollow).

At around five-fifteen pm, the group appeared en-mass in the village centre and began firing spells, although nothing more serious than jinxes and hexes. After collecting a rough tally, the spells most often used were the Impediment Jinx, the Jelly-Legs Jinx, the Stinging Hex, the Bedazzling Hex, and the Trip Jinx.

When junior Auror Sirius Black and suspended Auror James Potter arrived, they immediately took cover in one of the village shops and began returning fire, primarily using the Body-Bind Curse, the Blasting Curse and the Disarming Spell.

One of the individuals used a Protego, which reflected suspended Auror James Potter’s Blasting Curse back at himself and junior Auror Sirius Black, and caused damage to the shop they were taking cover in. At this point, we received the call about the disturbance.

My team and I began exchanging fire with the individuals, although we, too, were subjected to nothing more harmful than the previously mentioned hexes and jinxes.

At some point, suspended Auror James Potter cast a Flagrante Curse. Unfortunately, the previously mentioned Protego was still up, and so the Curse was deflected yet again back into the shop, causing more damage to the interior.

Seeing several of the individuals apparate away – presumably with their task, whatever it may have been, completed – suspended Auror James Potter completely lost his temper, and began casting Entrail-Expelling Curses and Fiendfyre.

One of the individuals cast a Backfiring Jinx upon suspended Auror James Potter, at which point he became beyond furious and attempted to cast a Crucio (Cruciatus Curse) at the individual. He was only interrupted by the shop where he had moved to bursting into flames from the Fiendfyre.

By around six-thirty pm, all of the apparent Death Eaters had apparated away to location(s) unknown. Myself and my team would have attempted to follow, but as the Fiendfyre looked to run rampant throughout the village, we stayed put and began to help corral the Fiendfyre.

Suspended Auror James Potter was apparently very frustrated at losing the individuals, and began randomly aiming Blasting Curses at anything that could be construed as cover. Unfortunately, several children had been in and around the village square (being still on holiday from school), and had been hiding as best they could.

When it appeared that suspended Auror James Potter was about to cast another Blasting Curse at a clump of bushes where three young girls (Clara Haggerty [6], Gretchen deLancy [9] and Maria Turloim [5]) were hiding, a middle-aged woman (later revealed to be Mrs Druella Black, nee Rosier [50]) ran from her hiding place to either stop suspended Auror James Potter or to attempt to shield the children.

It is unclear as to whether suspended Auror James Potter could not stop his spell-casting in time, or if he just didn’t care that his spell was not aimed at an inanimate object.

At around seven o’clock, Mrs Druella Black, nee Rosier, was unfortunately hit by a Blasting Curse, cast by suspended Auror James Potter. Although emergency healers from St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries were summoned immediately, they were unable to help the victim, and pronounced her dead at the scene.

Ted, Lucius, Lily and Severus were all gathered with the children at one end of the Tonks’ living room, whilst a storm of weeping and threats came from the three women huddled at the other end. The threats mostly came from Bellatrix – although Narcissa was throwing in suggestions, too – and were all against James Potter.

In fact, Bellatrix was starting to scare Lily and Severus. Much as they both loathed James Potter, they really hoped that he wouldn’t cross Bellatrix’s path any time soon. He wouldn’t much like it if he did . . . and the two of them would rather not have to explain to Harrison why they were having to go visit Mama Trix in Azkaban Prison.

“Perhaps some Calming Draught might not go amiss?” Lucius suggested in an undertone, as the wailing went up a notch again.

“We tried that before we left our house, once Trix came to,” Lily said, softly.

“She almost blew our heads off – literally,” Severus added. He rested a hand over the second wand that was tucked into a pocket. “That’s why I’ve got her wand.”

“Dromeda should take some,” Ted said, worriedly. “All this can’t be good for the babies, surely.”

“She’s past the first trimester, isn’t she?” Lucius asked. “That’s usually the most dangerous time.”

“I should think any kind of shock or trauma is dangerous enough at any point,” Lily said. She glanced round at the other men. “The question is, who wants to get close enough to give it to Andromeda?”

There was a deafening silence.

Finally, after several moments of glancing at each other, Lucius shook his head. He held his hand out, imperiously. “Calming Draught,” he declared, wriggling his fingers. Severus rummaged in another pocket and pulled out a small vial. He examined it briefly before dropping it into Lucius’ hand.

With a smirk at them all, Lucius crouched down in front of his niece. “Nymph, go and give this to your mother,” he instructed, softly. When the little girl looked doubtfully at where the three women were still sobbing, Lucius gently touched her cheek. “It’s okay,” he soothed. “Mummy will stop crying once you give her this.” He patted her on the shoulder and stood up, adding under his breath, “And if Trix takes it too, so much the better for us all!”

With varying degrees of admiration, the others watched Nymphadora clutch the vial tightly to her chest and careen at a near run to her mother. Andromeda grabbed her daughter into a tight hug, before noticing what she held in her hands. With a few sniffles, and a tearfully grateful look at where the others were standing, Andromeda downed the potion, and within seconds, her tears slowed.

“One down, two to go,” Severus muttered to Lily.

“It would have been easier if we’d managed to dose Trix first,” she murmured back.

Severus rummaged through his pocket again and produced another vial, then bent down to Draco’s level, where the boy was clinging tightly to his leg. “Here, Draco,” he said, softly, aware that the storm of weeping from his mother had scared the boy. “Take this to Mummy.”

“Ma?” Draco looked at the vial, then over at Narcissa, and his lower lip trembled. “Ma!”

“Yes, Ma,” Severus agreed, and pressed the potion vial into the little hand. “Keep hold of this.”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake!” Bellatrix stomped her way over to them, and prised the Calming Draught from her nephew’s hand and gulping it down in one go. She scowled at the small group. “There! Happy now?” And then she sighed, as the Draught worked its magic, and her temper cooled.

“Maybe not happy, but less afraid of getting hexed,” Lily teased, gently, wrapping her arm around Bellatrix’s shoulders and steering her back to where her sisters were still sitting. The men – and children – reluctantly followed.

“What are we going to do now?” Andromeda asked, gripping one of Ted’s hands tightly as he sat beside her.

“There’ll be an enquiry,” Lucius said, heavily, sitting on the arm of Narcissa’s chair and running a hand down her hair. “Potter won’t get away with just being suspended this time.”

“I hope he rots in Azkaban!” said Bellatrix through gritted teeth.

“At least Dumbledore won’t be able to clear him,” said Severus. “Not if he wants to hang on to any chance with the election. People won’t even consider a Minister who flagrantly pardons his own people, especially for something like murder.” He immediately winced at his choice of words.

“A bit . . . blunt,” Lucius decided, “but, yes, in essence, that’s true. Whether the old fool will take that into consideration, though—”

“What, you think he’d believe he’s so loved by everyone that he could get away with anything?” Narcissa demanded, sitting up straight and staring at her husband.

“It’s a fair point, actually,” Lily mused. “Sort of like his behaviour, and McGonagall’s, when we sat our OWLs and NEWTs. The way they trashed all the grades but acted like it was our fault.”

“Whether he thinks that way or not, it won’t happen again,” Bellatrix vowed, her hands clenching into fists as she sat forward, her eyes hard and shining. “Because we won’t let it.”

“No,” Andromeda and Narcissa agreed as one. “We won’t.”

“It’s ridiculous! Outrageous!” James Potter kicked the leg of the heavy wooden desk in a surge of temper. “I should be out there hunting down those treacherous Slytherins. Who cares if there’s one less in the world?”

Albus Dumbledore hummed a note of agreement, but didn’t look up from the paperwork he was perusing.

“It’s not fair!” James exploded, turning to kick at his chair and sending it skidding across the room until it hit the far wall. “How dare they kick me out of the Aurors!”

“It’s not a permanent expulsion, James,” Albus said, absently, shuffling aside another paper.

“Just until I attend an anger management course. Bah!” James spat, looking for something else he could kick. “As if I need anger management! My anger is fine – I know exactly who it’s supposed to be aimed at!” He turned and looked at Albus. “Can’t you do something? What good am I to the Order if I have to sit on the sidelines?”

“Hmm?” Albus peered over the top of his spectacles at James. “Oh. No, I’m sorry, dear boy, but until my position as Minister is secure, I dare not interfere over much with the Auror Corp. Patience, my boy; all will be righted eventually.”

“And just how much will those dirty snakes get away with?” James hissed. “We know Lucius Malfoy is up to something! Those Death Eaters weren’t in Godric’s Hollow for nothing.”

“Of course they weren’t,” confirmed Albus. “Not when a group of them appeared outside Hogwarts at the same time. No, they were only a cover, meant to distract us while Voldemort was elsewhere.”

“And I can’t do anything!” growled James, and he kicked the desk again, this time hard enough to make it move the tiniest bit.

Albus looked up at him and folded his hands together over the papers. “My dear James,” he said, patiently, “just because you are not an Auror right now, why in Merlin’s name should that mean you can’t do anything?”

“Ish, ish no’ righ’,” James repeated, drunkenly, to his friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Sirius nodded enthusiastically, even though James had repeated this sentiment over a dozen times now. Remus had his head propped up by his hand and his eyes had glazed over. Whether that was from the drink or James’ words was impossible to say.

Sirius suddenly perked up. “Bub, bub,” he started, fully as sloshed as James was, “means ya don’ hav ta follow any rules and reggu – rebug – relap . . . don’ hav no rules,” he finally managed.

James instantly straightened, his eyes going wide with delight. “Thash righ’!” he exclaimed. “Don’t have no rules anymo’e!” His chuckle descended into an outright cackle. “Can give dem slimy traitors wha’for,” he slurred, and then suddenly fell off his chair to land on the floor, where he began snoring loudly.

“Wha’ ya doin’ down dere, Jamie?” Sirius asked, glancing down with a puzzled frown, but then his head slowly lowered until it reached the table, and he, too, began snoring loudly, smacking his lips every so often.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Harry, I am not blowing up my laboratory for your amusement,” Severus said, as sternly as he could through the amusement.

Harrison pouted at him as Severus swung the boy up onto his hip. “Boom, boom!” he protested, smacking his hands together in emphasis.

“Not today,” Severus assured him. “We’re going to the park today, remember?”

“Pa’k?” Harrison asked, his expression smoothing out as he thought about it. “Pa’k go boom?”

“I’d be very worried if it did,” said Severus. Harrison stuck out his lower lip and dropped his head to Severus’ shoulder, prepared to start sulking.

Severus had no idea why Harrison was so enamoured of explosions this morning, but the boy was out of luck – with Lily away in France for her first day teaching there, and Bellatrix busy dealing with solicitors regarding her mother’s estate, then Severus was the Imp’s caretaker for the day, and he’d decided a walk in the park was just what they needed. Hopefully with nothing blowing up.

“Hold tight,” he warned Harrison, and the boy threw his arms tightly around Severus’ neck as he apparated them both.

They appeared at the edge of a fairly large park and Severus began making his way round to a wooded patch, where it would be easier to set up Notice-Me-Not and Muggle Repelling Charms. Harrison was too young to have much control over his magic yet.

“Excuse me?”

The unfamiliar voice pulled Severus’ head round. A young lady was standing three feet to his left, giving him an exasperatedly polite smile. Her accent – a hard American one – as well as the well-worn paper clutched in her left hand told him why.

“I’m looking for—” she double-checked the paper she held “—Delonie Street?”

“Delonie Street? I’m afraid I don’t—” Severus ran her words through his mind and tried to remove her accent. “Oh, I think you mean Delaney Street,” he realised. Shifting Harrison more securely to one side, he freed his other hand to point with. “Follow that street over there, second street on the left, then first on the right straight after.”

“I knew I should have checked the route out before my appointment,” the girl said. She smiled at both Severus and Harrison and then turned to head for the street Severus had pointed out. “Thanks!”

“P’etty lady,” Harrison murmured as she disappeared around the corner.

Severus looked down at the toddler and laughed. “Going to be a ladies’ man, huh?” he asked, as they continued onwards towards the edge of the woods. Once they’d reached a spot that was relatively out of the way, Severus charmed an area, almost like a playpen, for Harrison, large enough for the boy to run around to his heart’s content, but not so large that Severus risked losing sight of him.

“Kitty!” Harrison exclaimed as Severus was rummaging through the bag he’d brought for Harrison’s toys.

Severus raised his head, and followed Harrison’s line of sight to the nearby trees. Perched in the shadows of the upper branches was something that appeared to shimmer gently as the dappled sunlight sparkled off it. Puzzled, Severus moved to pull out his wand, just as Harrison lifted his hands up towards whatever it was that was crouching in the shelter of the tree’s trunk.

“Kitty!” Harrison called again, louder and more firmly this time.

Before Severus could call out – a warning, or a stern refusal – there was a loud yowl from the tree, and the sound of the branches being heavily clawed. The animal did not want to come down, but it appeared that it was coming, whether it liked it or not.

A large ball of fur landed in Harrison’s outstretched arms, pushing the boy over. He landed on his bottom with an, “Oof!” but didn’t seem to be harmed at all.

Of course, Severus reflected, that might change once his ‘kitty’ recovered from the abrupt accio Harrison had just subjected it to.

With a quick wave of his wand, the animal was asleep, and Severus could examine it more closely.

“Harry, what have we told you about just taking things?” he scolded as he crouched down and pried the fuzzy ball from the toddler’s arms. “What if you’d hurt the poor thing?”

“Kitty!” Harrison protested, large tears welling in his eyes. “My Kitty!”

“It is not your kitty,” Severus informed him, firmly. “It could belong to somebody else. Taking things – and that includes pets, Harrison – without asking is rude.”

“My Kitty,” Harrison repeated, dolefully. “Kitty called to me!”

Severus raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. “It called to you?” he repeated. Harrison nodded enthusiastically. “Hmm,” he hummed, doubtfully. “Still, it’s not nice to just grab things like that, Harry.” He glanced down at the furball in front of him. It was a shimmery golden colour, with white stripes running down its back and flanks, almost like reversed tiger stripes, all done in miniature. The tail, which ended in a large sandy-brown tuft, was twitching towards Harrison. “It’s a kneazle,” said Severus, in some surprise, sitting back on his heels.

“Kcnee-zel,” Harrison attempted, never having tried the word before. He did not see much of Lily’s Tabernacle, who preferred to roam the neighbourhood.

“Close enough.” Severus gave a soft chuckle, then sobered to look sternly at Harrison. “You were very lucky this wasn’t an ordinary muggle cat, Harry. If it had been, you might have hurt it – or it might have hurt you,” he pointed out.

“Kitty called!” the boy protested again.

“And how many times have we told you not to talk to strangers?” asked Severus, raising an eyebrow again. Harrison’s face fell. “That includes strange animals, too.”

“I punished?” Harrison asked, softly.

“No dessert tonight,” Severus decided. It was a mild enough punishment, since they’d only really covered danger from strange humans, not animals, but no doubt Harrison would object enough that he’d be more careful next time.

Harrison’s face fell even further with dismay. Then he brightened again as he leaned forward to pat the kneazle. “My Kitty?” he asked, hopefully.

“Hmm.” Severus ran his wand over the kneazle. They tended to take on the magical signature of whatever witch or wizard – or other magical creature – they belonged to. This one surprisingly, considering it wasn’t a kitten, hadn’t bonded with anyone yet. “Maybe,” he said to Harrison. “But only if it wants to be yours,” he admonished, just as Harrison opened his mouth to squeal with delight. The boy’s mouth snapped shut again. “Which means no magic to keep it with you.”

“Kitty!” Harrison cooed, and pounced enthusiastically on the still-sleeping kneazle in a way that was sure to end badly if he tried it when the feline was awake.

The sound of someone apparating nearby brought Severus’ head up again. Bellatrix was standing on the spot where Harrison and Severus had arrived. She cast a brief look around the park before striding across to them.

“It went as well as can be expected,” she said, before Severus could even open his mouth to ask. “Bequests to all three of us, small gifts to you and Lily, too – don’t even think it, Sev,” she continued, holding up a hand to stop a protest that Severus hadn’t made yet. “You and Lil are – were – like her own children; of course she’d acknowledge that. The house has gone to Andromeda, but she and Ted prefer the house they have now, and they don’t want to move whilst she’s pregnant, nor while dealing with newborn twins, so they’re going to hold it in trust for one of the children, or grandchildren possibly.”

“Look!” Harrison chirped as soon as Bellatrix paused for breath. “My Kitty!” He held up the slumbering kneazle as well as he was able, which meant that most of it was left on the ground.

Bellatrix gaped at it, then raised her eyebrows at Severus. “Wha—?” she started, then shook her head. “Lily won’t be happy with you, Sev! What in Merlin’s name possessed you to get him a kneazle?”

“I got him nothing,” retorted Severus, indignantly, scowling at her. “Harrison summoned it down from a tree over there.” He gestured with his head. “Says it called to him.”

“Kitty call,” the toddler agreed, beaming at Bellatrix and hugging the kneazle so tightly she thought it might suffocate. Then, with an even bigger grin, Harrison abruptly dropped the kneazle back to the ground. “B’oom!” he demanded of Severus, reaching for his toy bag himself. “Play b’oom!”

Severus sighed, and reached out to adjust the feline’s position so it didn’t wake up any grumpier than Harrison’s antics might have already made it. “There’s no point looking in there, Harry. I didn’t bring your broom.”

“No b’oom?” Harrison’s lower lip trembled as he looked up at Severus with wide eyes. “Wanna play b’oom!” he protested.

“Uh-oh,” Bellatrix murmured to Severus. “Now you’ve done it, Sev.”

“Harry, you know perfectly well that you’re not allowed your broom out in public places like this where muggles could see you,” Severus said, sternly, fixing Harrison with a mild glare. Harrison instantly deflated, and sat down with a thump to rummage through the bag.

“T’ains!” he exclaimed, triumphantly, a few moments later, and eagerly scattered them on the ground. Within minutes, half a dozen trains had come off their ‘rails’ and were lying about in the aftermath of what was apparently a devastating smash.

“Hmm,” said Bellatrix, amusedly, watching him. “I still say he’ll go into demolition of some kind when he grows up.”

“He certainly has the knack for it,” Severus agreed, wincing as two more trains collided head-on.

Bellatrix opened her mouth to say something else, but what it was, Severus never found out, for at that precise moment, screams erupted on the far side of the park. Both adults shot to their feet, wands instantly drawn and ready, straining to see what had caused the ruckus.

“Merlin’s beard!” Severus gasped as he finally saw what was going on.

Two wizards were flat out duelling in the middle of the park. Muggles were screaming and yelling and diving for cover. One of them had obviously tried to intervene prior to the noise starting, as a body was lying prone between them. Severus couldn’t tell from this distance whether the muggle had just been knocked out, or hit with something worse.

One wizard was hampered by the fact he was trying to protect a woman and two children. His spells were obviously strong, but heavily defensive. His opponent obviously had no such worries, and was dancing around, firing off spells with barely a pause in between.

“Sev, is that . . . is that James Potter?!” Bellatrix gasped, clutching at Severus’ non-wand arm.

“Oh, fuck!” Severus swore, as he, too, recognised the rapidly-moving wizard. He winced and automatically pointed a finger in Harrison’s direction. “Don’t you dare repeat that, Harrison Orion! Ever! Especially not to your mother – Lily will kill me!” he added to himself. His situation, however, warranted a bit of swearing, he thought. On the one hand, it didn’t look as though Potter was going to bring his duel over to where they were. On the other, he had a Bellatrix who was rapidly gearing up for an explosion, and he couldn’t stop her because he figured it would take two hands at least to remove her, and he had Harrison and their things to consider.

It was unfortunate, he reflected, ruefully, that they’d discovered their bond didn’t allow them to cast spells considered remotely offensive on each other, otherwise he could have just petrified Bellatrix.

With an internal sigh, Severus realised his only other course of action. “Trix, look after the Imp!” he ordered, and ran towards the duelling pair before she could say or do anything to stop him. He heard her frustrated shriek as he went, but didn’t dare stop to look back.

As Severus got closer, he realised he vaguely knew the wizard that was on the defensive. He’d been a Hufflepuff, Severus thought, a few years ahead of the trio. And his wife, Severus belatedly realised, had been a Slytherin two years ahead of them. He suddenly had a pretty good idea of why James Potter had attacked this family.

The father had been reduced to constantly casting protego, but compared to the blasting, flagrante and redactor curses Potter was sending at it, it wasn’t going to hold up for much longer.

“Honestly, Potter, aren’t you in enough trouble already?” Severus called out as he got closer. Potter whirled in surprise, allowing his opponent to shepherd his family further away from the hot-head. “Quite surprised you’re not in Azkaban, but I suppose it’s only a matter of time,” Severus continued, coming to a halt.

Potter’s face twisted into a grimace of hatred. “Oh, look,” he sneered, idly moving his wand. Recognising that for the feint it was, Severus kept his attention on Potter’s torso, knowing his move would be telegraphed that way. “More slimy snakes. Never have just one, do you? Cowards, the lot of you!”

“And which of us is the one attacking a family – with children,” said Severus, pointedly. “Much better attacking the young and the old, isn’t it. That way your victory figures look so much better.”

“You dirty, rotten snakes aren’t helpless – don’t make out as if you are!” Potter bellowed, his face turning a dull brick-red with rage. “Traitors, all of you! Need to be exterminated like the vermin you are!”

“Hmm, did Dumbledore think of that for you?” Severus taunted. “Since we all know Gryffindors never think things through for themselves.”

“You – how dare – lousy – you just watch – slimy – you’ll see—” Potter spluttered, apparently too enraged to even get a complete sentence out.

“Would that be before or after Dumbledore sets up his dictatorship?” Severus enquired, sweetly. Luckily, he was prepared for the blasting curse that Potter immediately cast at him, and dived out of the way. “Temper, temper,” he laughed, derisively. “You’ll never get back into the Aurors that way.”

“I don’t need the Aurors anymore!” Potter shouted in return, sending a barrage of heavy-damage curses at Severus. “I’ve got something much better now!”

“Slipped the leash, have we?” Severus sent a non-verbal spell at Potter, that caused him to flip head over heels and land flat on his back. “Tut, tut. Bad Potter!” He swiftly cast expelliarmus, followed by an incarcerous.

Leaving Potter there yelling curses – and casting an absent-minded silencio over him for good measure – Severus straightened up and surveyed the scene around him. The Hufflepuff had moved his family a great distance away, and they were all huddled together, seemingly unharmed. Some other muggles had managed to collect the one who’d been injured in the duel, and were performing first aid on him. Someone was running towards a row of houses that bordered the park, obviously going for a phone to call for either an ambulance or the authorities.

Checking over his shoulder, Severus could see that Bellatrix had at least stayed put. The bag, with all the toys presumably in it again, had been slung over her shoulder. Harrison was perched on one hip, his wide green eyes avidly taking everything in, although the thumb stuck in his mouth suggested he hadn’t been too happy about something. The kneazle was curled up between Bellatrix and Harrison, although Severus couldn’t tell if it was awake yet or not.

“Excuse me?”

Severus looked round, and discovered the Hufflepuff wizard standing behind him.

“Nathan Abbott,” the wizard said, sticking out a hand.

“Severus Snape,” Severus replied, and reached out his own hand to shake Abbott’s.

“I just wanted to say thanks,” Abbott started, glancing over at the prone Potter, who was squirming to try and wriggle out of his bonds. “Merlin only knows what that idiot would have done to my children . . .”

“Don’t mention it,” Severus waved it off. “It was my sincere pleasure to take him down. Are your wife and children injured at all?”

“Not a scratch,” Abbott said, sighing with relief. His shoulders slumped. “I have no idea what happened. We were just sitting there, when he comes up to us out of nowhere, yelling . . . something, and suddenly spells are flying everywhere.”

“He’s mentally unstable,” Severus lied, smoothly. “Hopefully the Aurors will lock him away before he does someone real harm—” His voice trailed off as he remembered Druella. “Mmm, well, too late for that, maybe,” he added, sotto voce. He blinked and refocused on Abbott. “Just ensure your family is safe and well,” he finished.

“Oh, I will, believe me,” Abbott said. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “We’re expecting another daughter at the beginning of next year, otherwise my wife would have showed that maniac a thing or two!”

“A pity she couldn’t,” agreed Severus. He glanced over his own shoulder again to where Bellatrix was pacing anxiously. He looked back at Abbott. “My sister,” he explained. “She’s got an explosive temper of her own.”

“Always fun to watch that sort go off, as long as it’s on someone else,” observed Abbott, and chortled. His wife called his name, and he waved an acknowledgement at her. “She wants to take the kids and leave,” he said. He stuck out his hand again, and pumped Severus’ briskly. “Thank you, once again.”