Back at the Ministry, Snape and Harry sat down on a bench outside Mrs Steadfast’s office waiting for the judge to arrive for the questioning. Mrs Steadfast moved in and out of her office, consulting with Soundy who was as attentive and inscrutable as he had been in the early morning hours, and speaking to Fleur who looked exhausted after a hard day’s work arguing with her countrymen. Mr Weasley had come by to check on Harry and disappeared again. Harry was hot and flustered, with feverish red spots on his cheeks, breathing fast and shallow while staring at the floor in front of him.

“You can’t live in a cathedral all the same,” he muttered suddenly.

Snape frowned at him. Was he becoming delirious?

“Have you been to Paris, Professor?” asked Harry.

“No, I never had the occasion,” said Snape, still frowning.

“There’s a cathedral there. It’s called the Notre Dame de Paris, built in the Middle Ages. It’s amazing, full of magic.”

“I’ve heard about it,” said Snape.

“It’s the safest place I’ve ever been at. It’s even more protected than Hogwarts,” said Harry. “But I couldn’t hide there all my life, could I? Nor could I live at Hogwarts the rest of my days. You’d rather I had not gone to Paris, I know, but I had to. I cannot shut myself up.”

“I understand that, Harry,” murmured Snape.

“The cathedral was so beautiful,” continued Harry in a faint voice. “The walls oozed of Ancient Magic with strong protective elements. Absolutely fascinating. I deciphered some of the magic and took notes... for my work on comparing incantations, you know... I’ll show you... It was intricate and brilliant... Unless they send me to Azkaban...” he added with a shudder.

“I might join you in a couple of months. We could write the paper from there...” said Snape lightly.

Harry laughed softly at the same time as tears rose in his eyes. Snape let out a low chuckle which caused Mrs Steadfast to look reproachfully at them. Harry’s face turned sombre again.

“Are the Dementors back in Azkaban?” he asked with apprehension.

“I believe they are. The Ministry reckons they do less damage as prison guards than as outlaws in the country. Their rights have been greatly severed, though, since their collaboration with Voldemort. Those creatures are as much prisoners on that island as the criminals within the cells.”

Harry shook his head as he looked at Snape with sinking courage.

“I won’t survive at Azkaban,” he whispered. “I will die. They take your wand away. I know you used to say in DADA class that one can protect oneself from the Dementors by Occlumency, but I cannot. The only way I know to defend myself against Dementors is with a Patronus. If I don’t have my wand and cannot make a Patronus, I will succumb. When a Dementor comes near me, I hear...”

“I know what you hear, Harry,” Snape hastened to reply rather hoarsely.

Harry had first met a Dementor in his third year at Hogwarts and he had just been about to tell Snape that whenever a Dementor came near him he heard the pleas and the screams of his mother before she was killed by Voldemort and that it affected him so strongly that he had lost consciousness on several occasions.

Snape put a hand on Harry’s arm and looked him in the eyes.

“You won’t be sent to Azkaban, Harry, I can promise you that!” he said in a grim voice.

Harry nodded without being able to speak. He stared in front of him, but raised his head when a thought hit him.

“How did you know what I hear when the Dementors come near me?” he asked with a frown. “Did Lupin tell you?”

“You’d better take this potion to lower your temperature, Harry. Keep the bottle. You can use it every four hours if you need to. Now here comes the judge. It’s Tempatino,” said Snape in a hurried whisper.

The judge who was old and skinny preceded them into Mrs Steadfast’s office, peering at them almost absentmindedly over his round glasses. He did not shake hands or greet any of them, just gestured for Harry to sit down on the other side of the desk behind which the small, hunchbacked judge almost disappeared. Snape and Mrs Steadfast positioned themselves a few steps away from the short side of the desk and Soundy was by the door. The judge’s secretary sat down and conjured up a small table by the window at the further end of the room.

“We are to decide whether to comply with the demand of the French Ministry of Magic and extradite Mr Harry Potter to the Security Office in Paris for questioning on the murder of a hitherto unidentified wizard at the club Trocadero in Paris the 14th of April at 3:30 am.” Judge Tempatino spoke to the secretary more than to Harry in a rather bored voice. Then he looked directly at Harry. “You confess to the killing, but claim self defence, is that correct?”

Harry nodded.

“Yes,” he added in a low voice when the judge’s frown told him that a spoken answer was expected from him.

“You killed Voldemort. That doesn’t give you the right to kill other people.” The judge stated sternly. Harry startled and looked back in surprise.

“No, of course not!” he said in a louder voice. “But I was attacked.”

“The French aren’t so sure about that. It’s what we’re to establish by this inquiry. Now, full names of all present, please, for the protocol.”

When it was Snape’s turn to introduce himself, he approached the judge and added:

“Your Honour, I’d like to point out that Mr Potter is in ill health. I have tended to him at St Mungo’s hospital, but he still suffers severe reactions from what has passed and he hasn’t been able to eat or sleep for a long time. My assessment as a healer is that he only has the strength to attend this hearing for at most half an hour and that he’s in no circumstances fit to be extradited to a foreign country.”

The judge raised an eyebrow.

“And you speak as his healer? Do you represent Mr Potter in any other way? Which is your role in this?”

“I’m his headmaster and his teacher,” answered Snape.

“And you speak for his interests, do you? I think we should note Mr Snape down as ’in loco parentis’ since I noticed that Mr Potter has no relatives and no legal assistance present,” the judge spoke to the secretary. Snape frowned.

“Mr Potter is of age. I only speak for him because I judge that he’s too weak to defend himself right now,” he said.

“That’s exactly why he should have someone on his side. He’s a student and you are his teacher. That’s what is commonly called ’in loco parentis’ in juridical terms so that’s what we will write down,” the judge spoke, slightly irritated by Snape’s objections.

“Whatever you decide, Your Honour...” said Snape resentfully. He backed off and fell silent.

“I’d like to point out that I will take all the time I need to clear this out. The law should not be rushed. It might not take long, though. There is a witness as I understand it?” said Judge Tempatino.

At this moment someone knocked on the door and when Soundy opened, Mr Weasley and Fleur appeared together with Mr Kingsley Shacklebolt who declared a personal interest in attending the hearing. The judge bowed to the Minister of Magic and with a slight frown he gestured for him to have a seat in one of Mrs Steadfast’s armchairs. Mr Weasley presented himself as the father of Harry’s girl-friend and added that he wanted to stay as support for Harry.

“You stay as the representative of your daughter. It’s risky to represent several parties in a complicated matter like this. And Mr Potter already has a spokesperson.” Judge Tempatino gestured at Snape. Mr Weasley looked surprised but acquiesced.

“Now, your daughter is the witness we were talking about. Save a lot of Muggles, there was only one French wizard at the spot, but as far as the French authorities have let us know, he’s not in a condition to be able to answer any questions due to his injuries from the attack. Therefore our British witness is extremely important. I only have a short, unsigned statement here from Miss Weasley, Mrs Steadfast?”

“I’m sorry, Your Honour. She had to leave straight away to St Mungo’s Hospital for care and her state of mind demanded that she was reunited with her mother after that. She has confirmed Mr Potter’s story about them being attacked, however.”

“Naturally, as your girl-friend, her statement will have lower credibility, but if she testifies under Veritaserum, for example, or even better, provides us with an extract of her memories that corroborates your story, Mr Potter, it will speak strongly in your favour,” said the judge.

Harry looked at the judge with a resigned expression without saying anything. Mr Weasley and Snape exchanged glances, subsequent to which Snape started to colour.

“I’m sorry, Your Honour,” Mr Weasley said uncertainly. “My daughter’s condition demanded that she receive an Obliviating treatment. I’m afraid she’ll no longer be able to testify.”

The judge stared at him then turned to Mrs Steadfast who looked just as disbelieving and who in her turn looked at Snape.

“Did you do an Obliviating treatment on Miss Weasley?” she hissed threateningly.

“One of the healers at St Mungo’s did - Mrs Schufflert to be precise. I expressed my objections - from a medical point of view that is... I confess that I didn’t consider the juridical implications...” said Snape, embarrassed and defensive.

“You should have prevented it!” Mrs Steadfast exploded at him. “Don’t you realise the consequences for Harry?” Snape looked down on the floor, disturbed.

“I couldn’t question the judgement of another healer. Moreover, Miss Ginny was determined to accept the treatment. I couldn’t overrule her wishes or her decision,” he muttered.

“Do I understand you correctly when I say that there’s no reliable witness anymore?” the judge asked.

Mrs Steadfast shook her head furiously.

“Who was the attending Auror in place at St Mungo’s?” asked the judge.

“Professor Snape was with them. He’s perfectly capable of defending...” Mrs Steadfast started to say. The judge raised his eyebrows.

“Let me get this clear,” he said in a silky voice to Snape. “You were present at St Mungo’s both in your capacity as the headmaster of these young people, as a healer and as being an Auror as well?”

“I’m not an Auror, strictly speaking, but I work on Mrs Steadfast’s team,” said Snape meekly.

“My dear Mrs Steadfast, it’s clear to me that you should have placed one of your own Aurors at St Mungo’s to be in charge of security matters and to supervice the legal aspects of this affair. No wonder Mr Snape has got things mixed up. He has clearly fallen between several stools. He has acted as a healer and not as an Auror and he has given priority to the health of Miss Weasley over the legal rights of Mr Potter. You should’ve foreseen the risk of that happening, however,” the judge said sourly.

Mrs Steadfast inclined her head subdued.

“Because of this oversight, I have no other choice than to rely on my own judgement and I will need to question Mr Potter more closely,” continued the judge. ”Now, I want you to tell me everything that happened since you left Miss Weasley’s home at the place called the Burrow until you fired the unforgivable curse.”

Harry complied, speaking in a quiet, slightly breathless voice as his fever had not yet abated. He described how Ginny and he had gone to France by Muggle transport, and he accounted for their schedule in Paris. He told the judge about the spying wizard at the Eiffel Tower and Mrs Steadfast interrupted his tale to explain about the French Auror. Harry told the judge about the churchyard they had visited the same night. For some reason, he felt embarrassed when relating the story of the stone-faced widower, avoiding in particular to look at Snape when doing so, and he quickly moved on to describe the events of the second day in Paris, with the visit to the cathedral and the Picasso museum.

 The judge frowned.

“Let me get this clear,” he said. “You went back to your hotel at five o’clock in the afternoon and you went to sleep and did not wake up until just before midnight, is that correct?”

Harry looked wearily at him. “Yes, we were very tired,” he answered shortly.

“It’s a considerable space of time,” insisted the judge. Fleur stifled a chuckle. Harry looked incredulous at him. He did not find the judge’s lack of imagination remotely amusing.

“We had a shower and went to bed,” he repeated curtly.

“And when you woke up you were hungry?” the judge asked sceptically. “In the middle of the night?” Fleur let out a coughing sound again and Mrs Steadfast looked at her, one corner of her mouth twitching the least little bit, whereas Snape stayed impassive.

“Yes, we had only had some baguettes during the day.”

“Some what?”

“French sandwiches,” clarified Harry.

The judge shook his head suspiciously.

“Now back to what happened at the Trocadero club,” he said.

Harry spoke slower and gripped the edge of the desk as his head was beginning to turn. When he came to the first Avada Kedavra fired by the attacker against him, he fell silent. He directed a mute, pleading gaze at Snape.

“Please, Your Honour, the boy must have some rest. You do have a detailed statement about the fight written down by Mrs Steadfast, please don’t make Mr Potter repeat it. He’s seriously affected, physically, every time he’s reminded of the killing - which in itself is medical evidence of his lack of premeditation - and in his present precarious condition it might be detrimental to his health to have to recount it once more,” Snape pleaded with the judge.

“You have given me no alternative but to hear for myself,” Judge Tempatino answered sternly.

“But surely, you cannot jeopardise a young wizard’s health?” Snape raised his voice. Kingsley stirred uneasily in his chair.

“I need to reach a decision within the closest future what to do with this young man and I want it to be built on my own precise and fair assessment. The law is not to be bypassed, Mr Snape,” the judge enforced haughtily.

“Of course not, but the interrogation cannot be pressed on at any prize, can it?”

“Mr Potter will have to stand some discomfort, I’m afraid.”

“It’s inadmissible that you torture him with lengthy questioning when he needs to rest! His system might collapse completely,” roared Snape. “I won’t allow it!”

The judge narrowed his eyes and rose slowly behind the desk.

“Severus Snape... I recognise you, because - believe it or not - I have your act on my desk in my office. And as a subscriber of the Daily Prophet, your person has not escaped my notice this winter. You were the right hand of Voldemort and regardless of your present position you face serious offences. Your inquiry will not be delayed yet another time. The Minister of Magic has - with reason - a limited influence on the magical juridical system and yet Mr Shacklebolt has been more than tolerably interfering in your case. I recommend that you check your temper, Mr Snape.” The judge spoke threateningly. “The deliberate killing of another human being is a serious act of violence. It’s an extreme measure, the most serious criminal offence you can be charged with and regardless of the circumstances it should be thoroughly penetrated.” The judge turned to Mrs Steadfast. “And I must say that I’m surprised that you collaborate so closely with this man, Mrs Steadfast, and allow him such authority. By Merlin’s beard, he’s a Death Eater!”

The room fell silent.

“Professor Snape hasn’t been a Death Eater for nineteen years...” Harry intervened in a weak, but stubborn tone of voice. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

“It doesn’t matter, Harry...” Snape hastened to say. “It doesn’t matter. Save your forces.”

The judge grunted. “Continue!” he commanded Harry. Harry took a deep breath, gripped the desk harder with trembling fingers, raised his feverish gaze and looked straight into the judge’s eyes as he went on. He stuttered as he described the course of the fight and the curses fired. The judge started to be alarmed by Harry’s deathly pale face and shaking arms and shot Snape a quick glance.

“Hem...” he interrupted. “Do we have an examination parchment of Mr Potter’s wand? It might corroborate what you say. Relax a moment, Mr Potter.”

The judge directed his gaze at Mrs Steadfast as Harry closed his eyes and sank back in his chair. Mrs Steadfast fidgeted.

“They spent an inordinate amount of time at the hospital, Your Honour, and I’ve been busy with holding off the press and sorting out the complications in contact with the French Security Office and... I haven’t...”

“It seems to me, Mrs Steadfast, that you have laid too much focus on the diplomatic implications of this case and omitted your Auror’s duties. Now, had you sent an Auror with Mr Potter to the hospital, he or she could very well have performed the wand examination while Mr Potter received the care he needed. It doesn’t crave the cooperation of the owner and is easily performed. Well, no damage done. I’ll perform it myself...” he muttered with irritation.

Mrs Steadfast blushed.

“Your wand please, Mr Potter. And Mrs Steadfast, do try to get hold of the corresponding list of the other wizard’s spells for me, from France.”

Soundy left the room to attend to the judge’s demand. Fleur followed him out of the office. The judge pointed his own wand at the tip of Harry’s wand and murmured “Prior Incantato” which made spell after spell come out of Harry’s wand in the form of miniature symbols and spell words in translucent smoke. They soon filled the major part of the room in neat rows. The judge started to sort them by flicking at them with his wand.

“A lot of healing spells, have you been trying to cure yourself?”

“Anti-nausea spells - not very effective ones, you need to repeat them constantly,” replied Harry.

“I can see that.” The judge threw the spells away and continued. “A strong Mind-modifyer - I guess that’s when you escaped from the head of the Security Office in France and Apparated back to Britain. I’ve heard about it. Astute of you, yet a tactical error, of course. More Mind-modifyers - what are those?”

“The Muggles wanted to take my wand away from me all the time.”

“Won’t be a problem then, anyone would understand - a valid reason for every wizard.  Now here is the Avada Kedavra. Strong and clear. No hesitation.” The judge placed the miniature spell that was gleaming with a poisonous green light close at hand to his right.

“Why, once you have decided, there’s no point in hesitating - it won’t work otherwise,” said Harry, breathing faster, closing his eyes harder.

“Stunnings, and a Sectumsempra – what’s that? Oh, I’ve heard of it, I think. Not a very nice spell, no. Dark Art involved there.” The judge put it beside the Avada Kedavra spell.

“I had tried almost everything by then,” Harry answered weakly.

“Yes, I can see that: more Stunnings, Petrifyings, Expelliarmus, Protego spells. Short Apparitions. No transfigurations. Did you not try to escape, to hide?”

“No, there were no means of getting out of the room as it was filled with magma. I tried to keep in sight because if I had disappeared he would have aimed at my girl-friend or searched me among the Muggles at the risk of killing others. Like this he focused on me.” Judge Tempatino narrowed his eyes and scrutinised Harry’s face.

“This record corroborates your story of a fierce fight. And only one Avada that comes at the very end. Seems straight-forward to me. Did you get them all? Do you have the entire list?” the judge asked his secretary who nodded. Harry was given his wand back.

Soundy entered the room again with a communication stone in his hand that he showed Judge Tempatino. The judge waved his wand over it, peered at it, widened his eyes and stared at Harry. At last he spoke.

“The examination of the dead wizard’s wand shows that he fired thirty three Avada Kedavras at you. Nothing but Avada Kedavras… In a closed room… I’m surprised to see you alive in front of me, young man,” he said. Mr Weasley and the secretary gasped, whereas Snape and Mrs Steadfast exchanged a glance.

“Well...” the judge started to say, when suddenly someone knocked at the door once again and Fleur appeared with another communication stone in her hands. She hesitated whether to give it to Mrs Steadfast when the judge reached out and intercepted it.

“Identifica-tioun of zze unknown wizard,” said Fleur. “Zzey seem to sink...” she looked excited, but did not dare continue. Judge Tempatino let out an exclamation and handed the stone over to Mrs Steadfast who read it with Soundy and Snape looking over her shoulders. A broad smile and an expression of relief spread over Mrs Steadfast’s face.

Suddenly everybody were talking at the same time and patting each other’s shoulders. Harry rose from his chair on swaying legs, strain and exhaustion written on his face, an inquiring crease between his eyebrows. The judge went up to him and shook his hand. Harry looked blankly at him.

“Congratulations, Mr Potter, you won’t be extradited and you probably won’t even face a trial in France for your offence. The wizard who attacked you has been identified as Machivato, a well-known Dark Wizard of British origin, but active in the south of France and Italy. He has performed a number of terror attacks and is the suspect of several murders around the Mediterranean. Machivato was spoken of as Voldemort’s apprentice in southern Europe. He had not been heard of since the death of Voldemort. He has been known as an extremely skilled and ruthless wizard, the most powerful Metamorphmagus known of, impossible hitherto to catch because of his changing appearance. I believe the French are grateful to you for what you have done.”

Harry looked puzzled at him.

“Do you... Do you mean he wasn’t human?” he asked uncertainly.

Judge Tempatino was taken aback by the question.

“Of course he was human, why do you...”

“Because you said earlier that killing another human being is the worst criminal offence, regardless of the circumstances, and you seemed prepared to let me suffer quite a lot to get your answers. But now you all want to congratulate me and seem to mean we should... celebrate or something...”

Harry looked at them all with reserve and with undertones of anger and disgust in his voice.

“I still killed another human being tonight...” he muttered and looked down. The room had fallen completely silent. “I’d like to know if he had a family. If you find out, I’d be grateful if you told me,” said Harry in a slightly trembling voice, addressing Mrs Steadfast who looked at him with a mixture of pity and guilt, and Soundy who inclined his head with respect. “Am I free to go?” Harry asked the judge who nodded back curtly. “I’ll wait for you in your office, if that’s okay, Mr Weasley. I’d like to be alone for a while,” Harry said wearily as he walked with uncertain steps to the door without looking at anyone.

Conversations started anew when Harry left the room and a lot of to-dos followed. Eventually they all split up, hurrying away on different errands.

***

Snape walked slowly alone down the corridor from the Auror’s office when he heard dawdling footsteps coming towards him and raised his head. He drew his wand quicker than a gnome spits and directed it at Lucius Malfoy who stopped dead only fifty feet away. They stared at each other for a while, Snape looking grim with bared teeth. Finally Lucius said with a lofty, but not altogether secure air:

“I don’t think the Ministry would trivialise the event, were you to attack me again, Severus... not within their own premises.”

Snape lowered his wand and straightened his back.

“You seem to have recovered, Lucius, from the little lesson I gave you,” he said.

“I deplore, Severus, that it had to come to that. We were always such great friends.”

“What did you expect? You sold me out to the press. Set the bait at me. Let them hunt me with their ridiculous stories.”

“I told them it was an absurd slant, but that was the way they wanted to play it. I know people who really believed it might be true that you were Voldemort’s son. I told them it was ridiculous - that Severus Snape was no one but a poor Muggle’s son. The journalists misunderstood me, Severus. I never meant to harm you.”

“No? Tell me then, what was the purpose, what was your motivation to speak to the Daily Prophet under the cover of anonymous Death Eater? Who made you do it? And what was in it for you?” Snape had taken a threatening step towards Lucius Malfoy.

“I cannot tell you, Severus. But you know as well as I do that there are a lot of comrades from the old gang out there who wonders who you really are.”

“I’m the same as I have always been.” Snape’s countenance changed form aggressive to cautious.

“The same? I doubt it. My former friend would never have attacked me treacherously like that.”

“It was a fair duel, Lucius. You just lost.”

“I bet the reason you’re at the Ministry right now is to look after that boy.” Lucius changed the subject. ”I heard about the attack on the news. Harry Potter seems to have survived once again. His main and single merit, right?”

“Oh, he might have one of two more strings to his bow,” muttered Snape.  “Harry Potter’s not a boy any longer, Lucius. He has grown up and is not to be underestimated. Convey that message to your allies.”

“Draco tells me how you have managed to turn his opinion about you to your favour, chit-chatting with him after classes, being friendly, right? I wonder how you do that. It does impress me, Severus. You used to hate him,” said Lucius.

“As I told you, Harry Potter is a wizard with rising powers to take into account,” Snape replied stiffly. ”I just check my former dislike for him. I’m not foolish enough to let personal feelings stand in the way of my career.”

“You’ve come out of this war much better than I have so far. But is the boy really so naive that he trusts you just because you pined after his mother when you were a teenager? When our Dark Lord inquired about that affair, I answered him that your so-called passion for a Mudblood had more to do with your rivalry with James Potter than real feelings for Lily Evans... But I guess you know how to play your cards, Severus.”

“Yes, I play well,” Snape said coolly. “And so I am Headmaster of Hogwarts.”

“So you are, my dear friend, so you are. For how long, though, that’s the question? Your inquiry is coming up soon, right? Why don’t you let Potter testify for you, if you have managed to get into his good opinions?”

“How do you know I won’t have him testify?”

“Hm, you are, are you?” Lucius raised an eyebrow. ”The question is: what are your long-term aims? You don’t fit in a regular society, Severus. Kingsley’s ideas of reconciliation and peaceful mixing of wizards of different origins are nauseating. And do you really want to live the rest of your life indebted to Harry Potter, your rival’s son?”

Snape narrowed his eyes and stepped close up to Lucius.

“You know perfectly well that I’ll never forgive what James Potter did to me,” he spat out with hatred in his voice. Lucius looked satisfied as he continued.

“There are people who admire you out there, Severus. There are others who are wary of you, with reason, but there’s undoubtedly a role for you on the pure side. Start to negotiate your way back. There might be reticence to start with but, being your friend, I can make sure that you’re welcomed back eventually.”

“Have you negotiated your way back? Is that what you have done, Lucius?”

“We are needed. There are youngsters coming up, you know, and we have to balance their inexperienced fervour. Why, the missed attack tonight is proof of their...”

Snape gripped Lucius arm.

“What do you know about it?” he asked, slightly too eagerly and Lucius recoiled.

“That’s what your new lady friend is undoubtedly going to ask me at the Auror’s office,” he said coolly. “I’ve been called in for questioning. They insist on molesting us former Death Eaters at the least pretext. As soon as something happens, wham, we take the blame for it, however farfetched.” The aristocrat was visibly annoyed, but still spoke with his usual measured irony. “I bet that she checked you out, too, though, the Steady Lady, didn’t she?” Lucius rose his eyebrows.

There was only a flicker of uncertainty in Snape’s eyes, but it was sufficient for Lucius Malfoy to smile gleefully.

”Of course she did. Draco tells me that she comes to Hogwarts at all odd times of the day. She’s keeping her eyes on you, Severus. You weren’t imagining that anyone from the established magical world would start trusting you, were you? She’s probably doing it on Kingsley’s orders, too. You are and will forever be a Death Eater, my dear friend, because we’ll never become anything but Voldemort’s lackeys in some people’s eyes. You’ll never be free in the world of this regime. I told you, Severus - you don’t belong here.”

Snape stayed mute in response to this, his hand still loosely on his former friends arm.

”Now, about the attack on the precious hero of the wizard world - of course I had nothing to do with it,” continued Lucius dryly. ”I’d better be off - I must not be late for the Steady Lady.” Lucius disengaged from Snape and turned his back to walk away.

“My compliments to Narcissa,” Snape muttered automatically after him and was surprised to see Lucius Malfoy swirl round - for the first time during their conversation truly thrown off balance - and hiss at him menacingly:

“Have you seen her?”

The perplexed look on Snape’s face was enough for an answer and Lucius swirled back with a murderous scowl and continued down the corridor.

At the same moment he disappeared, hurried footsteps were heard from the other end of the corridor and Mr Weasley turned up.

“That took longer than expected,” he panted. “I had to accompany Fleur back to her office and have a word with her boss. Have you been checking on Harry?”

Snape looked puzzled.

“He’s still in my office, I suppose.” Mr Weasely gestured towards a door that stood ajar. Snape blemished, but shook his head.

“I didn’t…” he said, but interrupted himself. “I’ll come by the Burrow tomorrow and check on them both,” he continued. “My compliments to Molly, Arthur.”

“If she breathes long enough between her telling-offs to allow me to convey the message, I’ll give them to her... Thank you for your help, Severus. It has been one of the most dreadful days in my life.” Mr Weasley walked into his office and from the corridor Snape heard him say: “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Harry. Let’s get you home right now and put you to bed. Here’s your flo-powder.” After a soft roar of flames, the office went silent.

“Something wrong, Severus?” Mrs Steadfast was on her way back to her office and stopped in front of Snape who was still parked outside Mr Weasley’s office. “Are they gone? Did you speak to him again before he went?”

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t realise he was still in the room… I think he might have overheard...” Snape knitted his eyebrows as if thinking intensely.

“Mr Weasley was delayed at the Department of International Magical Cooperation,” said Mrs Steadfast with a frown. “What did Harry overhear?”

Snape shook his head.

“Nothing of importance. Maybe it’s for the best...” He looked slightly disheartened.

“What was the matter with Harry anyway?” asked Mrs Steadfast who did not seem at peace with herself. “Accusing us of... seeming to accuse us all of... of being morally indecent or something... He seemed disappointed in us, somehow... I hate that...”

“Oh, I think that maybe he felt let down once or twice too often today...” Snape replied vaguely.

“Let down!?” Mrs Steadfast exploded at him. “I have roughed it all day for his sake! Been up since 4:30. Quarrelled with people, threatened people to save him from being sent back to France. Feels let down, does he? And what would you know about how he feels anyway? You two only yell at each other!” Mrs Steadfast finished moodily.

Snape stayed silent and looked down on the floor.

“I hate that teenager’s righteousness thing!” continued Mrs Steadfast. “Think themselves morally superior to ordinary adults. As if they’re capable of fully appreciating the extent of the complications and the nuances of things... Makes you feel lousy compared to them! Why my own children used to... Oh, by all the calamities of Capricorn! I guess you’re right - I made a complete fool of myself! And I failed him. The judge put his finger on it. I should simply have left the diplomacy to others and proceeded with my real job. But it seemed so important to save him from being sent back to France that all my priorities were directed at that task.”

“I failed him, too... We’ll just have to start anew, Audrey,” said Snape quietly. “Try to find out who ordered the attack.”

“You do care for him more than you like to acknowledge, don’t you, Severus?” asked Mrs Steadfast gently. Snape frowned.

“I don’t care about him,” he answered grumpily. “I just don’t want him to die... nor be in bad health...” Mrs Steadfast raised her eyebrows.

“And why do you care for his health?” she said.

Snape turned away with a stubborn look on his face.

“I’ll visit the Burrow tomorrow to check on Miss Ginny and Harry,” he said after a pause. “They’ll need some more treatments to recover fully. Shall we meet there? I suppose you’re going to interrogate them again? Or do you want to follow the judge’s advice and have me out of your investigation?”

Mrs Steadfast sighed.

“No, Severus, no. I trust you. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I do.”

Snape lifted an eyebrow sceptically.

”I do,” insisted Mrs Steadfast.

”You checked me out this morning,” Snape stated calmly. ”You wanted to observe my reaction when you mentioned Paris.” Mrs Steadfast coloured a little.

”There are others who don’t trust you, within my own group of Aurors. I was only doing my job, you must see that, in order to be able to defend you against those who are more suspicious of you than I am. Personally, I find myself strangely convinced of your loyalty.” Mrs Steadfast shook her head at herself.

Snape looked slightly hurt and contrite at the same time.

”I’ll not have you sit in when I interrogate your old friends, though,” said Mrs Steadfast. ”Lucius Malfoy is first. This day is not over yet.”

“I’d better not,” agreed Snape. ”I met him just before you came.”

“He’s still in one piece, I hope?” Mrs Steadfast looked sternly at Snape who gave her a quick, tired smile before he turned his back on her to walk away.

“See you tomorrow,” he said, raising one hand in the air for good-bye.