A/N

I am so sorry it has been so long. I wrote the first 1500 words several years ago then The world got tougher. Between Covid, wars in the world, divisiveness in our country (USA), moving (I now live in the Northeast) and everything else that is going wrong, my muse fled. I do not know if it's back or if the solo vacation I'm on allowed me to contribute some more, but here is a new chapter.

I have to reply to a couple of guest reviewers. Sometimes their reviews bug me too much and I have no way to reply directly to them

Gaius:Polyjuice laws do not allow you to turn into someone of the opposite () really should read Polyjuice 101

I am presuming the missing word is 'sex'. So he is saying you can't turn into someone of the opposite sex? So…how the heck did Hermione and Fleur turn into Harry in the flight of the seven potters? So…my answer to Gaius…READ THE BOOKS!

(review of Chapter 24) Cam:That's an old computer. You might wanna upgrade to a 2021 computer.

Eh…Cam, you do realize that Harry Potter was set in the 90s? The computer I mentioned was EXACTLY the computer that would have been used in that time frame. I know, I had one. Yes Windows 95 came out in...(drumroll)...95 but it released in August and since I said the computer was purchased when Hermione got home from Hogwarts at 4th year, that would have been late June/Early July 95...so Windows 3. Trivia fact, there was a windows 3.2 but it was for the Chinese version of windows only.

I acknowledge that the characters in this story are based JK Rowlings fictional stories, but I wholeheartedly disagree with her transsexual stance. I have very close relatives who are transsexual and I love them dearly.


Chapter 43

&&& July 30th &&&

Severus Snape was no fool. All of his time as a spy for both Voldemort and Dumbledore he had learned one of the most valuable lessons; the key to a successful plan was information. After locating the Grangers' dental facility, he had started gathering information on their habits. He had first found a spot outside the wards of the Grangers' house and out of sight where he could watch them leaving every morning. He would then apparate back to a spot he had located near their office and wait for them to arrive.

After spending a week watching the Grangers, Snape had become frustrated. They had an assigned parking spot in front of the building and there were always people about when they arrived. So, he had discounted the possibility of snatching them as they got out of their car, in what he had hoped might have been a secluded location. He had thought of and discarded several other possibilities until finally, he had decided the best plan would be to go into their office, get one alone in a room, imperious them to call for the other. Once he had both, he would stun them and utilize the portkey to a Death Eater safe house he carried. He then planned to return, pull a fire alarm and disappear again. No one would be able to determine what exactly happened to the Grangers during the commotion, giving Snape more time before their disappearance was noticed. "Even better," Snape thought to himself as he walked into the building housing the dentistry, "It will ruin Potter's birthday tomorrow."

"I believe I have an appointment," Snape said to the receptionist a few moments later.

"And your name?" The receptionist asked without even looking up. Snape sent a silent confundus at her in response. "Ah, yes you do have an appointment. I'll show you back immediately." At those words, a couple of the patrons in the waiting room looked up, annoyed at someone going back ahead of them. The greasy-haired man got a look of disgust from the people who then went back to the magazines they had been perusing.

What Snape had not noticed during his information gathering were the two house elves that were always watching and currently they were silently observing what was happening. They looked at each other with a moment of confusion then one of them popped away.

When Dobby appeared next Harry and Hermione, they turned to him and saw him pulling at his ears with a worried expression. "What is it Dobby? Has something happened to Mum and Dad?" Hermione asked.

"Professor Greasy hair is there," Dobby said in almost a whisper.

"Snape? Snape is at the Dental office?" Harry demanded.

Dobby nodded.

"What is he doing?" Hermione asked.

"Hes confounded the lady who lets people in and is being sent back," Dobby said.

"Then you get back there and if he so much as reaches for his wand, you and Winky take him down," Harry said determinedly.

"What if he's there to help?" Hermione asked as she raised her hand in a stopping motion for Dobby. "Maybe…maybe Dumbledore sent him. Maybe they're in danger?"

"Why approach them at their office instead of here? No…this isn't right, and I don't think we can take a chance." Harry argued. "Let Dobby and Winky take him out and then let Madam Bones find out why he was there. We can have the elves bring your mum and dad back here behind the wards until we have answers."

Hermione slowly nodded. "That…that works." She turned to the house-elf. "If Snape pulls out a wand without a very apparent threat happening or appears threatening in any way then stop him and then bring mum and dad here. We'll contact Madam Bones to pick him up if needed."

Dobby nodded with a clear sign of relief. He popped away back to the dental clinic.

"There must have been a mistake, Mr…" Jean Granger said as she entered the treatment room looking down at her notes. "The receptionist didn't leave any records so it will be a few…." A motion or reflection off of the equipment caught her eye and she looked up at the individual in question. In an instant she notice the person had very greasy hair, a hooked nose, a sneer on his face and….was pulling out what could only be a wand.

"Imper…." The man started to say, but instantly two house elves popped into the room on either side of Snape and plunged the Epipens into the wizard's thighs. The pain the two separate injections caused broke his concentration as his attempt to imperious Hermione's mother failed. The hooked-nose Potion Master looked down, ready to curse whatever caused the pain and then he felt it.

Severus Snape had a secret. There was a reason he kept his hair greasy even after he became an adult. His childhood feature provided a prominent defense for his adult life. At the tips of his hair that could reach his mouth were greasy drops of ultra pure potions that provided antidotes to Veritaserum as well as several other potions including the Drought of Living Death and even a restorative to combat the effects of the Cruciatus curse. If someone was trying to force a potion down his throat, he knew shaking his head in an attempt to prevent it was normal enough reaction to not warrant careful examination, but just a small amount of his hair in his mouth and a quick suck on it and he knew he would be protected.

As a Potion Master who was also a spy for two sides, he had tested the effects of all of the expected potions he was defending himself from. He knew the exact time between ingesting the liquid, even the highest potency potion, and when the effects would take place. Snape could tell the exact potion he was given by the taste or even lack of taste or failing that, the initial effects were also well known to him, but that was all based on an oral administration of the potion. He had never considered the possibility of a different method.

As he brought his wand up to curse the diminutive figures for attacking him, he felt the initial effects and knew instantly there was a problem, "Drought of Living Death," He thought as he recognized the effects taking hold of him. "Too fast…how?" Snape thought as he desperately brought his hand up to his hair for the antidote. He grabbed his hair and tried to get it in his mouth but it was too late; darkness overtook him, and he collapsed on the floor.

Because it had only taken a few seconds between the time she had opened the door and for Snape to be lying on the floor appearing to be dead, Jean Granger had not even had time to panic or even feel fear, but now as she realized that someone had attempted to harm her, possibly even kill her, she collapsed in a chair. As she sat there stunned, staring at the man…wizard who had wanted to harm her, she couldn't help but replay what had just happened in the last minute in her mind. What seemed strange to her was something that seemed ridiculous but also true…she could have sworn as the man was starting to collapse, he was trying to eat his greasy hair.

"Master and Mistress said we need to bring you home," Dobby said as Jean continued to stare at the man on the floor. "Theys be concerned for you."

"But our patients…" Jean started and then stopped as the events caught up to her and swallowed and just nodded.

Dobby and Winky quickly took Snape and Jean back to the Granger house and Dobby brought Hermione back to the office to notify her father about what had happened and figure out a way to clear the office of staff and patients. It took several minutes to explain the situation to Richard but soon the office was cleared.

'Ma'am," Tonks said as she rushed into Madam's Bones office several minutes later. "There is or was an issue with Harry and Hermione…well her parents. It was Snape. He…he tried to do something to them. Kidnap them or something."

Amelia was already rising from her chair and shouting "Get me the rapid response team and…."

"Ma'am….it's alright. They stopped him. Or at least their elves did," Tonks explained as she tried to calm her boss down. "They have Snape dosed up with Draught of Living Death and have both Grangers back home under protection. They then contacted me to ask me for you to either come over or send someone to deal with the garbage."

Snape's return to the conscious world was a struggle even after the antidote was administered. The double dose and potency of the potion as well as having it delivered directly into his leg muscles caused the antidote to work more slowly than normal.

"Hello Severus Snape," A Female's voice said. Snape was sure he recognized the voice, but in his recovering muddled mental state, he could not place it. "Finally caught being your Death-Eater self it seems," The voice continued. "I've been waiting a long time to have a conversation with you."

As Snape's vision cleared and his brain began to become more alert, he looked around to try to determine where he was. He could tell he was sitting at a table in a darkened room with multiple bright lights all focused on him directly on him. On his wrists were iron manacles with intricate runes engraved on them.

Snape could sense the female who had spoken was directly in front of him. He could also sense more people in the room but could not make them out. What he could see was the bottle of Veritaserum sitting on the table in front of him. The label was from a potioneer who made potions for the Ministry; not the highest quality, but effective.

Silence. Outside of minor movements by the people in the darkness, nothing was said. Seconds, stretched into a minute and that turned into two. Snape knew what they were attempting to do; they were trying to get him to become unnerved and start talking but he knew it would not work. He started to bring up his occlumency. He knew he could wait anyone out with the right mindset. Just as Snape was delving into a relaxed state, pain ripped through his body. Pain, not like the needles of a cruciatus curse, but more like he had been dunked in boiling liquid. After a few seconds it disappeared.

"Severus, were you attempting to use Occlumency?" The voice asked with a slight hint of amusement. The person leaned into the light and Snape could see it was Amelia Bones; Head of the DMLE.

"Bones? Why am I here?" Snape demanded. "I was attacked and you are torturing ME?" He blustered. "I demand to talk to Dumbledore. You know he will not allow this."

"You were caught attempting an unforgivable on Hermione Potter's mother," Amelia replied as she leaned back into the darkness, becoming just a voice again. At the name Potter, Snape gave a slight hint of confusion, but it disappeared quickly. "So you hadn't heard that Harry and Hermione are married?"

"No, but you have no proof of anything that you're accusing me of," Snape argued. "I was checking in on her parents so I could prove that there was weakness in their defense. It was a mission from Albus Dumbledore. Ask him!" Snape was sure Dumbledore would use that excuse to get him out custody. If for no other reason than preventing his secrets from being revealed.

Amelia reached for the small bottle of Truth Serum that sat on the table. "Well, if that's the case, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about after a few drops of this."

"You can't use that," Snape sneered. "You have no proof of any wrongdoing on my part. Without evidence, that law is quite clear on the use of truth serums."

"Your wand's last spell was a confundus," Amelia said. "Obviously on the receptionist at their office."

"And as I said, I was proving a weakness in their defense," Snape argued. He had regained his composure and knew he would be walking out of the room soon. He could tell Amelia was bluffing. "Besides, it was just a muggle. You think the Wizengamot cares if some muggle gets confounded? You have a whole department who go around changing muggle's minds all the time. Who's going to care that I confounded a woman. She wasn't harmed."

"Again, we shall see what comes out in the questioning under this," Amelia once again picked up the small bottle.

"You know you can't use that on me," Snape scoffed. "in fact just putting these," He raised his hands to show the manacles, "on me is going to get you in trouble."

"For a Death Eater, you sure believe in laws," Amelia said quietly, "Did Yaxley give lessons on it? Tell you and your fellow scum how to 'work the system'?" Amelia set the bottle down. "You might have been right, IF we were in the Ministry," Amelia agreed.

Suddenly Snape felt an emptiness in is stomach but continued his bluster. "Where else would we be? Did you take me out of the country? Then the ICW would be involved."

Amelia leaned back into the light and shook her head. "Again you are wrong. You see, when we had the Goblins build and run the new entry system for the Ministry, we failed to clarify whose territory it would be. After a bit of negotiations earlier, we decided that on the entry side, or the where you go into the building beside Gringotts, it would be Goblin territory, subject to their laws and on the other side, Ministry land. Now guess what side of entry we are currently? I'll give you a hint; that is Goblin iron on your wrists. They designed those to interrogate thieves who seek to hind behind mind magics to prevent revealing the truth. Here, you are subject to Goblin law, and as a Wizard you have about as many rights as that muggle you confunded would have in the Wizengamot. Actually far, far less."

The sneer that had been on Snape's face faltered.

"Now shall we begin?" Madam Bones asked as she picked up the bottle once more and removed the stopper.

"No, you can't do this," Snape cried out as he immediately shook his head, catching the end of his hair in his mouth and sucked quickly on it knowing he was protecting himself from the liquid. But as he did, he knew something was wrong. What he tasted wasn't his antidote/preventative; it was an extremely sour and disgusting taste. Unfortunately, Snape knew that taste.

Amelia, still in the light, smiled. "Do you know when your life is in danger, you remember the most peculiar things?" She asked. "When we questioned Mrs. Granger, she repeated several times how she thought you were trying to eat your hair. Strange thing to remember, but it did make her daughter very curious and she examined your hair. Very clever and it might have worked. But your solution was washed out of your hair and an extremely powerful laxative potion was used to replace it. Now…" Amelia looked at her watch, "you are going to need a bathroom in about 58 minutes. I hope you are cooperative enough to be finished with your questioning by then or you will make quite a mess in that chair. A mess, I guarantee the goblins will make you clean up, probably without a mop or bucket."

Fifty-five minutes later Snape was escorted to a bathroom after giving every detail he knew about Death Eaters and every crime he had committed. He had struggled at first. He had once again tried occlumency as the Veritaserum has been administered, and once again suffered from the burning like sensation that prevented him from protecting his mind. In the end, the drug took effect and the answers had flowed. Amelia knew the location of every safe house Snape knew about, every cache of supplies and the identities of numerous other active Death Eaters. She also had enough dirt on Dumbledore that she could have him removed from all of his positions and ruin his reputation for good. Information she would definitely use at his trial as soon as Voldemort was eradicated for good.

"Are you really sure you're okay?" Hermione asked her parents for the tenth time since they had been brought back home.

"We're fine dear," Her mother replied. "Really we are. Your father never knew anything was happening and I barely had time to register anything was amiss before Dobby and Winky had that person incapacitated. "Though I won't say that the thought of what could have happened isn't unnerving, especially if you're saying he was going to put that control spell on me."

"The imperious curse is one of the three curses that are called unforgivables and are completely against the law. Just casting it on an unwilling person will get you a lifetime in prison." Hermione explained. "It gives the caster complete control over their victim. And I do mean complete. The other two unforgivable are the torture curse and the killing curse. Harry has had the unfortunate fate of having to suffer all three of them and survive."

"And you?" Her father asked. "Have you ever had one cast at you?"

"Only in a classroom setting," Hermione replied. "A professor demonstrated the effects of that control curse on us so we'd know what it feels like. Harry was the only one who could fight it off by the end of the first class." She was not about to mention that particular professor was not really a professor but in fact a Death Eater.

"Ma'am, sir," Harry said, he had been sitting out most of the conversations about what happened. "Now that it's possible that Voldemort might know where you work, we need to figure out if there's a better way to protect you. Dobby and Winky are great, but I'm worried that more than one death eater will show up. I'm sure they can deal with one or two but it might be a challenge if several show up. Death Eaters might just unleash Fiendfyre on the entire building."

"What do you suggest? We can't just stay home all the time," Jean said.

"Can you take several months off from work?" Harry asked.

"We have junior partners who can take over our workload, but I'm not going to sit at home for months."

"I know you like to travel," Harry said. "Go travel the world for 6 months or even a year."

Jean looked at her husband, "What do you think Richard?"

"Before you decide, please understand it would be our treat," Harry said. "Hermione and I were provided money by Miranda and my Godfather turned it into a lot more. So you can have a luxury vacation."

"He's right mum," Hermione added. "We can setup an account and you can draw off of it or we can deposit it directly into your account."

"We would not want to take your money," Jean said. "You will need it someday."

"Mum, you can travel the world first class and we wouldn't notice a drop in the account balance," Hermione said.

"How much is a 'lot more'," Richard asked.

"Half of 22 million and the going exchange rate is 5 pounds to a galleon…fifty-five million pounds," Hermione replied.

"You are telling us that you have fifty million pounds?" Richard asked. "How…no…as long as it wasn't illegal, I probably don't want to know. But I still am not sure we can take your money."

"Sir, you'd be doing us a favor," Harry explained. "We do not know if Snape told Voldemort where you are working or not, but even if he didn't, it will be logical target for him to try to discover." He glanced at Hermione. "You are in danger because of me, and by removing the ability of Voldemort to use you against us, it would be helpful. I also need Hermione to be her sharpest. If she's worried about you, it will distract her and me."

"We'll take a few days off at least and think about it," Jean said. "It is a lovely idea. I've always wanted to do an African Safari and maybe…"

"Mum, don't tell us," Hermione said. "If you go, we do not want to know where you are. Tell us all about everything you do when you get back but we can't know until you get back where you are or going. We don't want it to slip accidentally where you are and have someone find you."


Posted May 6th 2024

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