~~~~HP~~~~

For Harry, that last week before he started his internship was the most challenging so far, in the short time he has been home for the summer. Not surprisingly, Severus made no progress in finding a loophole for his Compulsory Military Registration and come Monday morning, before he started at the DMLE, they would be going to officially register him. He was scared, yet would never admit to it, so that only further dampened his spirits that week and in turn their household became almost a constant battleground between the inhabitants. It didn't help when they had received a letter demanding his mother also appear at the Ministry on Monday to get retagged with the trace. Harry knew little about the actual magic behind the trace; only being aware that afterwards, the Ministry would be able to not only track everywhere she went, they would also know all the spells she casted, even simple domestic ones in the house.

This put his mother constantly on guard and as a result, she and Severus were bickering almost daily over the smallest of things: what time Severus got home from work, why he took yet another commissioned Potions job when he was already working for the summer, or if he left his teacup on the sitting room table not long after left the room. None of the small infractions caused a major row, for which the Gryffindor was grateful, however it did cause an overall negative cloud to hang over each room they walked through.

Sunday night, as much as the young wizard knew he should sleep so he was well rested for whatever the day would bring, he couldn't turn his brain off from the constant thinking and worrying of what the DMLE would be like. Deep down, he wasn't even sure he wanted to be an auror, only further complicating his feelings. Earlier this year, when he was sitting in front of Professor McGonagall in her office to go over his career options, it seemed like a decent career to choose. It all sounded glamorous on paper, and his marks in his Dark Arts classes - at least in the defense side of things - were fantastic, so it made sense. That was the day he tried to explain to his Head of House that ultimately his career didn't matter in the long run; that he knew he was expected to become Marked and serve for Lord Voldemort. Never in his life would he forget how angry she'd gotten, not at him, but over the fact that he thought his own feelings on the matter weren't important. Sitting across from her lion, she told him he didn't need to listen to any other person in regards to his future and that if he didn't want to serve, he didn't have to. Of course, with the war ahead of them, that became a lie because he could be forced into service; a thought for another sleepless night, though. Now that he was facing the fact he would be voluntarily walking into the department that had killed his biological father, he was terrified. Would the person who casted the fatal spell still be in active duty? Probably not, he rationalized sometime after one o'clock in the morning; the new Ministry probably wouldn't have left those who refused to conform to the new regulations. Knowing that didn't do much to ease his mind over having had such an impactful history before he even started the job, yet it allowed him to eventually fall asleep, so he didn't continue to question it.

As the son of a Ministry worker, many people assumed Harry had been to the Ministry of Magic a countless number of times. What they thought he was doing there was always a mystery to him because it wasn't like Severus was the kind of wizard who would welcome his wife and stepson in the middle of the day. In fact, Harry was sure the man didn't talk to a soul about his family in the first place, not that they all didn't know about them since their wedding was highly reported due his mother's connection to the "infamous James Potter." Harry always rolled his eyes when his biological father was referred to by that moniker. His father may have been a hero - sacrificing his own life for his Lord's - but no one seemed to care about the wife and three-year-old son he had left behind afterwards. For the longest time, Harry was angry and he lashed out at anyone who dared to shake his hand in honor; not understanding how it looked from an outsider's perspective, only from his viewpoint, and he missed his dad. Then as he got older and he remembered the man less and less, the fresh stinging pain wasn't so bad anymore - it was just a way of life - and he started to believe his dad had died protecting the principles of their people, that he was a hero. However, when he started at Hogwarts all those principles were challenged and then shattered. He quickly became ashamed for what his father stood for, yet couldn't say it in fear of causing his mother any more grief.

Entering through the Ministry floo system - as he would be doing for however many days he spent in this internship - was similar to Diagon Alley on an Invigorating Draft. The people shuffling through the fireplaces moved at neck break speed and Harry wasn't sure if it were because of the work they were doing or because they feared retribution from being late. Based on the faces of each rushed witch or wizard, he felt confident, and nauseated, it was the latter.

"Mornin', Professor Snape," a kind witch called them over and Harry instantly noticed it was a line for 'mixed households'; those who lived with either a muggle or a Muggleborn.

Given the state of the war, Harry didn't want to even take a guess at what would soon happen to those families living with Muggles, like Hermione and Dean Thomas, or even Seamus or his own stepfather. Severus's and Seamus's fathers were - or had been in his stepfather's case - a muggle after all, what happened to families truly living in a mixed house? Would it only be Ron and him left in the sixth year dormitory with Seamus being denied entry?

"Brought the family, I see?" The security witch continued while simultaneously collecting their wands and giving Severus a small wink. Immediately, Harry felt his face flush in discomfort from the situation for two reasons: what kind of person winked at a man standing with his wife and stepson, and how often did Severus speak about them for her to feel comfortable mentioning it so casually?

Harry almost laughed at Severus's apparent embarrassment over the encounter, until a piece of parchment popped up when his wand was scanned. Curious about what could have been notated to his own holly wand, he craned his neck to see.

"Here to register, I presume?" The security guard asked Severus; a move that got on Harry's nerves. At almost sixteen years old, he was more than capable of answering for himself.

"Yes," the Gryffindor wizard spoke up before his stepfather could. "Plus I'm starting an internship at the auror's department."

The witch across from them gave him a warm, kind smile, which eased his anxiety a little more over the whole situation and handed him his wand back. "You're free to go, just be sure to register before you leave today otherwise your wand will prohibit you from exiting. The aurors would be lucky to have you, Mr Potter, good luck today."

His smile fell a little when he realized what she'd meant; everything in his life would go back to either James Potter or Severus Snape. Why couldn't he ever be recognized for who he was as an individual? Just Harry. Not Harry James Potter, son of two Death Eaters?

His mind was lost in his own negative thoughts that he almost missed his mum's wand being scanned. Having been used to the extra measures taken with his mother, when the parchment popped up out of thin air from her wand he didn't think twice about it. The security guard looked it over, her brown eyes filling with more apprehension the further they moved down the missive. Harry's heart rate increased as they stood there waiting. He could feel his palms starting to sweat with each second that ticked by wondering if she would be able to make it into the Ministry or be turned away.

"It says here that Lily Snape has not yet been retagged," she said in an accusatory way, not at all how she sounded when Harry's own wand had a similar issue. Without making eye contact with any of them, she took hold of his mother's wand from where it was sitting on the countertop - still glowing a deep, angry red - and vanished it away.

"What are you doing?!" Harry's emerald eyes went wide when his mother's wand - the piece that to any magical person was as important as their arms - disappeared and did not immediately reappear. Instantly, he turned to Severus and asked, "Aren't you going to do anything?!"

He knew was probably making more of a scene than was warranted, which was exactly what he'd told himself he wouldn't do this morning, but he couldn't help it; he was panicking for his mother because it appeared like no one else cared that her wand had been taken. His high-and-mighty stepfather was simply standing there - his own ebony wand tucked safely back in his arm holster, a habit from his old Death Eater days - while his wife's wand had been confiscated. Without thinking, Harry brandished his own wand at Severus.

"Harry!" Lily tried to say, her face so flushed it matched her hair from all of the eyes drawn onto them. "He knew this would happen!"

"What?!" The young wizard questioned his mother. He didn't care that there had to be a logical explanation for why his mother's wand was removed and why his wand wasn't too for almost the same infraction.

"She'll get it back," Severus spoke loudly in his dark and ominous voice, his lips curling in just the right way to tell Harry if he didn't drop this, he would be in far more trouble than he already was in. From the corner of his eye, he saw two other guards pull their wands and slowly approach him from behind. Back in front of him, his stepfather had his hands raised to the two first guards, in a gesture telling them to stand down. Between the look in Severus's onyx eyes and the fact that the guards listened, Harry realized the man had far more authority than the young wizard ever gave him credit for. "They're taking it to retag it," he explained slowly and clearly, but with his jaw tight demonstrating how angry he was with the Gryffindor, "and she'll pick it up at the Improper Use of Magic Office when she gets retagged."

"It was all in the letter, sweetheart," his mum softly confirmed.

"Why didn't you tell me?" No matter how hard he tried to prevent it, Harry was sure his voice betrayed how hurt he was that they hadn't mentioned it.

"Had we known it would cause this reaction," Severus said through gritted teeth, "we would have. Now put your wand away."

The Gryffindor wizard obediently listened to the angry demand and placed his wand back into his robe pocket.

"Floor two," the guard, who was no longer smiling at him, motioned them through the doorway to the set of lifts to take them to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement floor.

"Thank you," Severus growled, coming up close behind Harry to whisper into his ear, "We'll discuss this tonight. I don't expect anything like that again from you."

Somehow the Gryffindor wizard got the feeling had a Muggleborn done what he had just done, that witch or wizard would be sitting in Azkaban faster than Harry could draw his own wand. Quickly nodding his affirmation to his stepfather, he tried not to focus on all the people around him staring at the family as they moved into the lifts. Not at all coincidentally, no one else entered with them.

"Severus-" Harry sheepishly started once the doors were closed, but the Potion Master held up his hand, stopping him.

"Don't... say a thing," the other wizard replied in a low, dark voice. "We will discuss this at home tonight."

Giving a large sigh, Harry shifted his weight between his feet while they waited in a deafening, awkward silence on their way to the second floor where all three offices they needed were located: the Auror's office, the Department of Magical Military Corps, and the Improper Use of Magic office.

"I'm sorry, mum," Harry mumbled towards his mother.

"Can you not follow a simple instruction?" His stepfather bellowed at him. "I said we will talk about it tonight."

The emphasis on the last four words told Harry he wasn't getting off easy, but he didn't know what his reaction at the security desk was going to do to his mother, physically and mentally, and he wanted to apologize to her. Picking up on her son's consternation over the whole situation, Lily reached over and gave Harry a hug.

When the lift opened to the second level, the noise flooding towards them was almost deafening and Harry wasn't sure if this was the normal bustling for the busy floor or if it was still a reaction to the announcement over the war. He'd only been to this floor once before, to register his wand after receiving it when he was eleven years old; his stepfather opting to do it directly at the Ministry instead of having Olivander do it for them. The floor was split into two sections: the left side was dominated by the Magical Military Corps offices, while on the right was the Auror's office - and where all of the noise was coming from, much to Harry's disappointment - with another small section at the end of the corridor dedicated to the Improper Use of Magic. The Snape Family would basically be floating from one of these sections to the next until Harry was left at the auror's office for the day, his mum went home, and Severus went to the DME for his own day of work.

Starting on the left, with the Magical Military Corps, Harry was immediately on guard when the door separating this section from the rest of the corridor closed behind him and it went strangely quiet due to an extremely strong privacy ward keeping the outside noise pollution away and the inside conversations completely private. The office was as cleaned and streamlined as Harry would have expected from the military division. The floors were white marble and the walls a pristine grey with exquisite wooden moulding lining the ceiling. Along the right wall was a set of moving pictures of the Death Eaters in battle - how real they were instead of staged, Harry could only guess - depicting their history. The left wall was adorned with pictures of the Dark Mark and its own evolution throughout the years, starting with the one his stepfather and biological biological father bore, meaning they were part of Lord Voldemort's inner circle before he gained power, all the way to the four used today to designate the different levels of service: top ranking generals and lieutenants, mid-ranked officers, junior officers, and then the infantry level. And while the incoming registrants for the Compulsory Service wouldn't be marked immediately, at some point they would have to be and that meant Harry would see that ugly Mark on his own forearm someday. Walking into the reception area, the people in the open cubicles around him were all speaking vibrantly, yet no sounds were heard. In this part of the floor, any overheard conversation could be detrimental to the Wizarding World's security and therefore it made sense that it was protected with the utmost privacy. Without actually silencing a person, Harry didn't even know the spells to create this much privacy and still still be able to hold a conversation without any noise whatsoever. If nothing else, it was an impressive display of what was possible.

For as big of a deal as registering for the Compulsory Military Service was - after all, it could be the very thing that sent him into battle - it was oddly simply to do. The wizard in charge of his registration didn't look much older than Harry, which was more than a little unnerving, and had large protruding ears with a face full of painful looking pimples making him appear far more innocent than he probably was, even as a low-level Death Eater. The wizard introduced himself as Stanley Shunpike before he brought Harry, with his parents in tow, into one of the far offices.

The young wizard tried hard not to appear nervous, but as he sat in the hard chair between his parents, his leg continuously bounced up and down causing at least two scornful looks from Severus. He couldn't help it, though; if he didn't move somehow, he was sure he would explode from the pent up nervous energy building inside of him. As for the actual registration, it was nothing more than a quick diagnostic scan - of which he was sure Stanley wasn't qualified to do - and then taking his wand and scanning it, and his unique magical signature, into the registry so he could be identified if his "ticket" was called. During the wand scanning, he was sure he'd heard his mum sniffle, but he was too afraid to look over and see her distraught face, so he focused on watching his wand hoping when he was able to use it again come September, he wouldn't notice anything different.

As much as the young wizard wanted to accompany his mother to the Improper Use of Magic office, the stern glare from Severus told him not to even think of asking. This was one of those times he was sure his stepfather could read his mind, or at least his surface thoughts, but asking that pointed question would do him no good; if the Slytherin could read them, he wasn't going to tell Harry, so any answer couldn't be trusted. And so he stayed quiet as they made their way across the corridor to the Auror side of the floor.

Unlike the Military Corps side, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was not only loud, but was also bustling with activity from every single area of the office. The entire far wall was dedicated to a board covered in blank parchment. It seemed rather odd to the young wizard until Severus explained that they were charmed only to show information to those working in the department. This way they could keep track of ongoing investigations without worrying about wandering eyes from people visiting from other floors. Most of the room was filled with desks, which had more aurors occupying them than Harry would have expected, all of them trying to speak over one another with what sounded like the latest gossip instead of any relevant information.

Shouldn't they be out protecting people? He thought to himself as they approached the desk of Tonks - the auror who led them to the disapparation point at the gala and handed off his note from Hermione - and Kingsley Shacklebolt; both of whom gave Harry a wave as he passed by with his parents.

In the far left corner of the room, where their direct trajectory was headed, was a large office belonging to Corban Yaxley, the head of the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement. If Harry thought he was nervous signing up for the Military Compulsory Service, it was nothing compared to how he felt approaching Yaxley's office. From the outside, he couldn't see much besides the large enchanted window lining the wall parallel to the door currently depicting an industrial alleyway Harry didn't recognize, nevertheless assumed it had some importance to the Death Eater. The closer they got to the office, the slower Harry's strides became until eventually he was a full two meters behind his parents.

"Yaxley?" Severus called at the same time he casually knocked on the door with the back of his knuckles; a move Harry could never see himself feeling comfortable enough to pull off. "Is now a good time?"

"Of course, come in," Harry heard the unenthusiastic voice of Corban Yaxley call from inside the office. Somehow this felt like an insanely awful idea and he was hating his mother for arranging it with Narcissa.

Harry's emerald eyes widened at the room around him as he stepped into it. Following the same theme from the main area, Yaxley's office was pure chaos. There were files and parchment littering almost every square centimeter; on his desk, on the chairs in front of his desk, and on the bookshelves on the wall flush with the door. He may not have been as up-to-date with the Daily Prophet as Severus, but he had to assume if this much was happening in the Auror's office, there would be some kind of news coverage.

"Take a seat, Mr Potter," the head of the department commanded. Harry looked around for a place to sit and conveniently the stack of parchment on the chair to the right of the desk lifted and moved to the left side chair where it continued to hover over the files already seated there. Promptly, the Gryffindor sat in the offered chair. "Would you like me to deliver him to your office when we're done today?"

There was a sarcasm in his voice Harry didn't like. Based on the interactions he'd seen of Severus with his fellow Ministry employees and Death Eaters, he could never really tell where his stepfather fell in the ranks. On the one hand, the man didn't really like people in general, so the fact that they all shared a common employer didn't mean much to him, however the way Yaxley spoke, it gave the impression he was being mocked.

"No," Severus flatly replied, "I'll come collect him when the day is up."

"Very well," Yaxley answered, almost uninterested in the exchange.

Harry glanced over his shoulder and furrowed his brows at the sight of his mother staring down at the floor; the same reaction Hermione, as a Muggleborn witch, had grown into whenever she spoke to Severus or anyone with the Dark Mark. Obviously, his mum didn't act like that with her husband, and seeing it now made him angry inside at the injustice of it all over again. This wasn't the time, and it wasn't the place to say anything though, so he clenched his jaw tight as the two Slytherins exchanged salutations and the young wizard was then left alone with the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Let's get everything out in the open right now, Potter," the blonde wizard said. The crassness in his voice put Harry in a defensive mood and he pressed his lips into a fine line waiting for what was to come next. "You are only here as a favor to the Minister and nothing more. I'm going to have you process paperwork-" he motioned with his hand around the room, "-which should keep you busy most of your time this summer and out of my hair."

The Gryffindor audibly gulped at the sheer number of parchment sitting around the room. Had the older wizard literally emptied his entire files in preparation for his assignment here? It definitely appeared that way and sudden the young wizard had this strong urge to prove himself in this role.

"You'll be reporting up to Auror Williamson," Yaxley explained, walking ominously behind the chair Harry was seated in, "and you are only to enter this office under my explicit approval. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Harry clearly answered, unwilling to be intimidated by the wizard circling him.

"Perfect. Let me introduce you to Auror Williamson and he'll get you… settled."

Harry went to stand, but was harshly pushed back down from Yaxley's hand pressing into his right shoulder. The moment he fell back into the chair with a hard thump, the Death Eater leaned into the young wizard's left side and spoke into his ear, sending a shiver down his spine, "And don't think you'll get any special treatment because of who your father is… either of them."

That lit the fire back into Harry's core. "Good," the Gryffindor said with his chin lifted high into the air as he could, "I wouldn't want it any other way."

With his message heard loud and clear, Harry pushed his chair back - the blonde with it - and stood tall, waiting for his superior to lead the way, fully anticipating the Department Head to take off so quickly his latest intern would have a difficult time keeping up. What he didn't expect was Yaxley to give him a good once over - as if sizing him up for some kind of duty - before turning on his heels and walking out of his office without muttering a single word, Harry just knowing to follow.

Now that the nerve-wracking introduction was over, the Gryffindor walked with a little more pride in his step going back through the office. Again, he refused to let any of them walk over him either for the favor he was receiving or for who his father and stepfather were. He was determined to show them all that he was fully competent on his own and didn't require any outside help to get through this summer; even if he was only doing menial filing. In Yaxley's presence, the office atmosphere calmed down, and while the talking didn't completely cease, it lessened dramatically, allowing Harry to focus on the room around him. Each desk was filled with files, parchment, and personal mementos signifying they were occupied by an Auror already. In fact, looking around the room, he didn't see any available space for where he would be spending hours pouring through documents and files for the foreseeable future: every desk was taken and the space between the desks were filled with filing cabinets that - based on the amount of parchment on each aurors desk - had to be close to empty or at least had to have a really strong extension charm on them.

Following in Yaxley's wake, Harry listened to him pointing out places of interest throughout the space; like the lavatories, break room, and a small plant in the corner he would be responsible to keep alive this summer. The poor thing looked half dead already and he made a mental note to ask his mum what he could do - without magic - to try to revive it and then keep it alive. Once he went back to Hogwarts in September, the thing could die for all he cared, but he was going to make sure it was so healthy Professor Sprout would be proud of him.

"Auror Williamson," Yaxley called out to a wizard in red robes with his long blonde hair tied at the nape of his neck. He looked to be in his mid 20's, telling Harry just how menial of the work he would be doing this summer, and as with the rest of the office around him, his desk was covered with files he was working on. "This is Harry Potter. He'll be your responsibility this summer. Keep him busy and out of everyone else's way."

"Yes, sir," the auror gave a swift nod before Yaxley finally took his leave. The two wizards stared at one another before the auror stood and held his hand out for Harry to shake. "I'm Damien Williamson, nice to meet you."

"Same," Harry replied, trying to hide the surprise in his voice that at least one person sounded friendly and excited he was there.

"You're Snape's kid, right?" The other wizard asked, and before Harry could grudgingly answer, he added, "I had him as a professor for all seven years at Hogwarts and couldn't imagine living with the man."

The second half of that proclamation was whispered, likely because he had been scarred by the fact that Severus could hear almost anything said about him. Even with his current animosity towards his stepfather, Harry still thought back to the times the harsh professor had just been his dad: reading to him before tucking him into bed every night, taking him for ice cream, or making a snowman on Christmas Day. The wizard in front of him only knew the man as the harsh authoritarian behind a desk and Harry knew better than to allude to anything different from his school and work persona.

"Yeah, he can be a total git sometimes," the young Gryffindor decided to answer with. "So… Erm… where's my desk?"

Damien's blue eyes shifted and his eyebrows shot up, as if he didn't realize his intern wasn't about to stand for his whole miserable summer working there.

"You're beside me," he finally said, pointing to what Harry assumed was a non-existent spot; almost an extension of the messy desk top of his supervisor's own space.

Upon closer examination, Harry noticed that the area Damien pointed to was different from all the other desk areas in the room. Where there should have been a cabinet separating the two full sized work stations - the other belonging to John Dawlish - instead sat a rickety old chair in front of what Harry could only assume was his desk. The space itself was wedged between the auror partners' areas and fully covered in files; literally, there was not a centimeter of the splintery wood surface visible. He wanted to complain, not because he thought he deserved something better, but because it would be damn near impossible to work in this space comfortably for how many hours per day he'd be forced to stay.

Taking a cleansing breath, he nodded and carefully pulled the chair back and sat down. Overwhelmed by the disorganized mess in front of him, he asked, "So what do I do with all of this?"

~~~~SS~~~~

Getting Lily retagged with the trace was nowhere near as easy as registering Harry for the Compulsory Service. The letter they had received last week dictating them to come to the office that day made it sound as if she would simply have her wand tagged - which admittedly, they should have warned Harry about it getting taken upon arrival, but never did they expect the young wizard to have such a caustic reaction. The letter did not prepare them for the interrogation his wife was subjected to and the Legilimency performed on her - twice for good measure - to be sure she wasn't hiding anything regarding her muggle relatives. Anger filled him up inside over the fact that Petunia Evans, now Dursley, could still cause so much pain and anguish to someone as innocent as Lily. She didn't ask for any of this, it was simply something she was born with and Severus would have given up his own magical world to live with her in the muggle world - where her life would have been far less complicated - if she would have simply agreed to it. But Harry, she'd once told him, deserved to live in the world where the young wizard belonged; that he deserved everything magic could offer to him and while Severus didn't necessarily disagree with her sentiment, he simply gave her more credit for her own comfort than she did.

Between the painful screams from his wife earlier that morning - to which he was eventually detained for threatening to go rescue her - and the thought of Harry's day at the DMLE, Severus was lucky he'd been able to focus on half of the work he faced when he made it to his own desk. He was stuck in an impossible situation and he would give just about anything to rectify it.

Lost in his own turbulent thoughts, he completely missed the commotion in the office around him until it was already nearing three in o'clock in the afternoon. He'd already made it through the curriculum changes for the incoming first years. The first years were always the top priority for every course, since their supply list was required to be sent to the Headmaster no later than the 10th of July so it could be incorporated into the upcoming new students' supply list that went out with their official invitation. The other classes wouldn't be needed until the 25th of July as their lists were sent after the new student invitations, offering him a bit more time to compile it. With the urgent matters out of the way - never one to wait until the last minute as he would likely end up making changes between now and his internal deadline - he leaned back in his uncomfortable chair and it was only then he realized how loud their normally somber office had become.

"What's going on?" He asked, to the crowd who had gathered in the middle of the room.

"Where have you been, Snape?" Carlton Cygnet replied in astonishment. "Take a look at this."

The file from his desk levitated over to Severus and he grabbed it from the air with more aggression than was likely necessary. There was nothing from the outside of the plain brown file telling him what the inside would contain, so curiously he opened it up to reveal an official Ministry of Magic notice to the Department of Magical Education and what looked to be a series of curriculum notes beneath it. Picking up the notice on top, he decided it was worth a full reading instead scanning it as he would normally do for these official looking documents.

Effective in the 1996-1997 school year, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will reinstate the previously cancelled Muggle Studies courses for all student years. This single-leveled course will be required by all students without exception and will focus on the following, high-priority topics:

History of the Wizarding and Muggle Dark Ages

Restoring Wizarding Pride

Muggleborn Safety

Modern Wizarding Culture

The course will be split into two classes per year, sorted by house, and will be instructed by the Head of the Muggleborn Registration Commission, Dolores Umbridge.

This missive serves as the official notification to the Department of Magical Education and no further approval is required. Please adjust the class schedules as needed to accommodate one two-hour Muggle Studies class per week for each student.

Faithfully,

Lucius Malfoy

Minister for Magic

Pureblood

"Dammit!" Severus uncharacteristically cursed when he completed the notification. They couldn't even appeal the bloody class which was guaranteed to be full of nothing but anti-muggle propaganda.

"Told you guys he'd handle it well," Carlton declared, as knuts and sickles were exchanged between his fellow co-workers.

Ignoring the fact that his co-workers wagered on his reaction, Severus gave the notification another read through. This time coming to the conclusion that he wasn't sure which was worse: the fact that the course existed in the first place - with topics having nothing to do with traditional Muggle Studies - or the person who was designated to run it, Madam Umbridge. Even to the most conforming Ministry employees, and Death Eaters alike, Dolores Umbridge was a thorn in everyone's side who they'd all love to see escorted out of the Ministry. She was Slytherin to the core, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but the way she went about getting her way was too cunning; something Severus never thought possible until he had a run-in with the witch early on in her position with the Muggleborn Registration Commission. Once he'd married Lily, he petitioned to have his and Harry's Halfblood status, combined with James's Pureblood status, erase her from the registry and he'd almost gotten away with it. James's posthumous honors had just been officially awarded and it was really the perfect time to act - which may or may not have also impacted the timeframe they had gotten married - and had the toadlike witch not gotten involved, most of the other commissioners would have likely turned a deaf ear to her erased entry. She was new to the position, as was the registry in general, and managed to convince the Wizengamot that an exception as large as this one would set a 'deadly precedent' they couldn't afford. Since then, he went out of his way to make her life miserable. Admittedly, however, they didn't cross paths nearly as much to do any real damage. Nevertheless, her presence at Hogwarts, as well as this fabricated course, was significant and would impact the entirety of the student body negatively.

"Can they do that?" Evert childishly asked. "As the Department of Magical Education, shouldn't they need our approval?"

The Potions Master resisted the urge to roll his eyes and answered, "Of course they can, they're the Ministry, and while we certainly make recommendations and approve changes, Lucius can supersede our entire department."

He was met with silence as each of the witches and wizards in their small corner of the fifth floor contemplated the meaning behind his statement. Lucius was an extension of Lord Voldemort and therefore - as they all knew by now - he had power to do whatever he felt was needed to "keep the wizarding world safe in the time of war", such as mandating all magical children in Britain attend Hogwarts and mandating they take this ridiculous course. Once Harry sat through one of these classes, the last five years of his righteous antics would look trivial.

The decision not to tell Harry and Lily about the new Muggle Studies course was not one Severus made lightly. He was cognizant of the fact that he was keeping more and more things from his wife and son, and it was something he certainly was not proud of. The fact that the Ministry - more specifically this War on Muggles - was driving a wedge between his family concerned him greatly, yet he felt as if he had few other options.

Dinner the first night after Harry's internship was quieter than usual. Naturally, they had asked the young wizard all about his internship and the most they got from him was that he liked his supervisor - Damien Williamson, a Halfblood Severus remembered by name only - and the work was tedious, but not difficult. The last claim had Severus narrowing his eyes at the Gryffindor because very little of the work the Aurors did could be classified as 'not difficult'; even the smallest of jobs. This told him either his son absolutely hated what he was doing or he wasn't doing anything. The former he could handle, but if Harry spent his summer literally doing nothing, then Severus would have to step in. Having a person like Harry - determined to right every last wrong in the world - sitting in the Auror's office bored would not end well for the teen. It could be what Lucius was betting on, and that observation alone scared him more than he would ever admit.

He waited until it was almost bedtime to approach his son's bedroom and try to ascertain some answers. Lily had told him she doubted the Gryffindor would give him any additional information, however she wasn't a Slytherin and therefore wouldn't inherently notice the value of his plan to go about getting it.

Entering the room, the Potions Master immediately felt the tension radiating from the young wizard who was sitting upon his bed. Harry was dressed in a pair of red flannel pyjamas and based on his messier-than-normal hair, he had most likely been almost asleep before Severus knocked on the door.

"Did I wake you?" Severus asked, taking his first tentative step in the hostile room.

"Not really," Harry lied and fumbled with his glasses as he placed them back on his face; a clear sign he'd been going to sleep. "Everything alright, Severus?"

"Harry," he sat down at the foot of Harry's bed feeling too much deja vu from when the room was his own at almost sixteen, then he decided to start with, "there's something we need to talk about."

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his bed and sadly asked, "About my actions at the Ministry this morning?"

"That depends on how you answer my next question," Severus cryptically offered. He watched his son consider what had been said, his emerald eyes slightly brightening at the recognition that he may not get punished for his hostility in the last place he should have pulled a stunt like that. But it would cost him, and the professor could see the Gryffindor weighing his options. Eventually - and far longer than it would have taken a Slytherin - the young wizard nodded his head. "Good choice, now tell me what they have you doing in the DMLE."

Harry should have been prepared for the request - it wasn't like Severus hid his intentions - and yet he still tensed up and scowled.

"I'm filing paperwork," he mumbled, not as embarrassed as Severus would have anticipated if that was the reason he didn't want to tell them in the first place. "That's what they're going to have me do all summer long, from my half a desk they managed to wedge in between my supervisor's desk and his partner's."

Taking a moment to think before speaking his next very important words - having given up Harry's punishment from the Ministry debacle for this lackluster news - his instincts told him the Gryffindor may have a little more cunning to him than he gave the young wizard credit for.

"What kind of paperwork are you filing?"

A pregnant pause enveloped the father and son. Unlike Harry, Severus could withstand the awkward silence that became almost deafening. Over the years, he had quickly learned being able to keep his patience in an uncomfortable silence was beneficial to gaining information. People crumbled in the silence, and therefore with his expert Occlumency training, he could thrive in their discomfort. Once again, he was rewarded by his patience.

"Erm…" Harry stuttered, "I don't know, I didn't really read any of it."

To that, Severus raised a single eyebrow, knowing the young wizard was lying and making it clear to him - without words - that unless he told the truth, he would be rescinding his previous offer.

"Fine," Harry eventually conceded. He wasn't angry as Severus would have expected and for a split second he worried he'd been the one played over in this deal, "It's reports from the raids done throughout the years."

"And…" he prompted.

"And more than half of them are completely rubbish!" The young wizard practically yelled. "People being treated like animals because of some bogus accusation to allow the Ministry into their homes, and it's just going to get worse when they start targeting muggles this time around!"

"Harry-"

"I know," the Gryffindor bravely interrupted him, "keep my temper in check and my head down. That's why I didn't say anything tonight."

It was his turn to nod his agreement with his son, something that rarely happened between them, especially as of late, but even the professor could admit to Harry's maturity in the situation. Unfortunately, being subjected to that environment daily would wear him down, far more than either of them could ever prepare for.