Chapter 3
A child's cries alerted Emma and Dan that their guests had returned, both quickly headed toward the hall to greet them. Lily was barely able to keep standing yet held onto the child for dear life. James had to take a stand. "Lily, let Emma take Dudley for the moment. You need your rest."
Emma took the offered child and held him close to provide comfort, she led the group back into the living room. They all took seats and awaited news of what had happened.
James and Lily were sitting together on a sofa, he had both arms lovingly placed around his wife as he spoke to the Grangers. "I hope we can count on your help, not only now but in the years to come. I have no idea how to raise a muggle boy and I think we'll be seriously looking at the house next door when Lily recovers her strength."
Pleased as she was to hear that news, Lily had more important matters preying on her mind. "Sirius, I need to know. Please tell me and be honest."
James had hoped to have a conversation with his friend and break the news to Lily as gently as possible, he should have known better.
Sirius moved so Lily could look into his eyes and see he was telling the truth. "They used the cruciatus on her husband before killing him, obviously attempting to discover where you were. The only other thing cast on Petunia, apart from the killing curse, would appear to be a partial body bind. She was found in front of Dudley's cot, dead but otherwise untouched. Your sister must have flung herself there."
Lily was sobbing at her sister's passing but there was more than a hint of relief that Petunia wasn't tortured or sexually assaulted. She was well aware the fate females could suffer at the hands of death eaters, Lily was thankful that Petunia had at least been spared that.
Dan watched as James comforted Lily but it was to his wife holding the boy that his eyes kept returning. This probably wasn't the correct time but Dan just had to ask. "Is it really over, and are you serious about moving and needing help?"
James couldn't miss the signs of hope in the man's eyes and it convinced him even more this was the correct decision to make. "Dan, it would be unfair to raise a child without magic in a magical home. I also want Harry to be comfortable in the world that produced his mother. There is so much I need to learn and I'm hoping you can help teach me?"
Dan's eyes were now shining with unshed tears, "I think I would like that James." That was probably the understatement of his life, being asked to help raise two boys was a dream come true for both Grangers.
Lily was now quietly crying into her husband's chest as James tried to give Dan some idea of the task they faced. "Lily and Petunia were very close when they were younger, that one was magical and the other wasn't drove them apart and destroyed their relationship. I'm already determined that won't be allowed to happen with our children and we'll take all the help we can get with that task."
Emma answered for both Grangers. "You can count us in, we have a magical child and no idea of the trials we'll be facing. Knowing that we'll have your help with understanding Hermione is a fair exchange. I think we should look after Dudley tonight though, Lily looks ready to drop and probably should be in bed."
James had to agree as his wife was almost asleep as she snuggled in. "Lily's magic, along with Petunia's sacrifice, powered the ritual that saved Dudley's life. She'll be pretty weak for a day or two."
"He can sleep in our room tonight, we can dig Hermione's cot back out tomorrow."
Sirius smiled at Emma, "Could you point Remus and me in its direction? We'll have it up and ready in no time. You'll soon get used to being around people who can perform magic."
Dan watched on in amazement as the cot was floated from the garage into their bedroom before becoming spotlessly clean and assembling itself. He thought Sirius was wrong, how the hell could you ever get used to this?
Emma had the baby blankets ready before Lily practically stumbled into the room. The witch looked more dead than alive as she handed Emma a pair of magical pants before kissing Dudley goodnight on the forehead. "Thanks for this Emma, I think I do really need to lie down."
Sirius was leading Lily out the room by the arm when James appeared at the door. "I leave you for two minutes and find you on the arm of another man?"
Sirius couldn't help but continue the joke, "It's that old Black charm, what can I say?"
Lily was too tired and emotionally drained to even raise a smile, she wasn't about to let them away with anything though. "James honey, remind me when I'm feeling better that I owe Sirius a slap to the back of his head."
This raised a smile from James, whatever transpired tonight hadn't broke his wife's spirit. He led her back to their bedroom as Emma prepared to put Dudley down for what was left of the night.
Dan knew he was far too wound up to sleep so glanced toward the two remaining marauders, "You both look like you could use a drink, how about a glass or two of whiskey?"
Sirius had his arm around Dan's shoulders, "That's the best idea I've heard all night. Lead on Dan, you can be sure we will be right behind you."
As the single malt flowed, the three men chatted and laid the foundation of a bond that would only strengthen over the years. Dan finally asked the question that was at the forefront of all their minds, what happens now?
Remus tried to answer but also had to be honest, "I have no idea Dan. Our society was heading down the toilet and we've just been handed a reprieve, what we do with it is anyone's guess. One thing is sure, hell will freeze over before the purebloods will acknowledge a muggle baby saved their arses. There will still be a few factions fighting for control of our government, all pulling in different directions. What happens next will depend on who wins."
Sirius agreed, "We were getting creamed out there while these factions sat and discussed the merits of allowing aurors to match the lethal force we were being faced with. James and I were trying to stun murderers who were doing their best to kill us because the ministry feared we could end up killing family members who might also be death eaters."
Remus was nodding, "Barty Crouch was the only one with the balls to stand up and fight for what was right, he put Dumbledore in his place again this morning. James threw his full support behind him and his word carries a lot of weight. When Lord Potter speaks, people in our world sit back and listen."
Only the smoothness of the beautiful amber nectar saved Dan from choking on his single malt. "James is a lord?" He was trying not to imagine how embarrassed Emma would be at offering the Lady Potter a loan of money.
Sirius was chuckling at his discomfort. "Yeah, he rarely uses his title, or the power it gives him but it's there when he needs it. The fact he married a muggleborn witch was a proper slap in the face to the pureblood movement. You've seen them together though, James would have married her irrespective of her blood status or magical ability."
Remus was also chuckling but not at Dan. "That Lily is not only a very powerful witch but a near genius as well, you can't imagine how upset the bigots were. They were headboy and headgirl at school, Hogwarts golden couple. Lily was studying under one of the castles best professors to become a charms mistress and a full professor herself."
Sirius was also caught up in their reminiscing, "Another professor was so disappointed as he was trying to coax Lily to study potions, James could easily have studied transfiguration to the same level. We're part of a group of friends that are all either powerful, talented or influential wizards and witches that Dumbledore has been leading as part of his group. Since it appeared Lily broke his nose tonight, I'm guessing we're no longer part of that group."
Remus had no doubts or regrets, "We already have a new leader, James, with Lily by his side will do for me. Voldemort is gone, no thanks to the ministry or Dumbledore. Our world needs to change and while we still have people like the Potters, we have a chance. About the only thing Dumbledore has said that I agree with was that the Potters leaving the country would take a lot of the hope with them."
Sirius agreed but was looking at those events with different eyes. "He appealed to James's sense of duty and emotionally blackmailed Lily into agreeing. Harry's life was on the line and the old man didn't give a shit, or perhaps that was his plan from the start. All I know is I'll never be able to trust the old man again."
Dan was beginning to see there was a lot more to learn about this magical world than he first thought. He couldn't think of better teachers than the ones he had now.
-oOoOo-
The staff of the Daily Prophet found themselves not only working all night but being given the rollicking off their lives by the paper's editor. Peter White was laying down the law. "I don't give a shit who killed him, the goblins will give away free gold before the Daily Prophet prints that a muggle was responsible for his downfall! The owners would skin us all alive and pin our hides above the entrance. Lose this muggle-who-lived crap and come at it from a different angle. You're supposed to be journalists, go and write me something I can put on the front page of our paper!"
Peter was getting into his stride, "If I was a follower of the dark lord I would be shitting myself about now, all-powerful wizard my arse! A muggle baby may have killed him but I want people to remember it was the Prophet that buried the bastard! Dig out all the information you can on him and his followers, we'll see how these arseholes like reading about themselves instead of spending their evenings placing dark marks over peoples houses. Their leader is not only dead but humiliated, let's put the boot into these sick bastards while they're down."
The staff couldn't believe what they were hearing, it appeared the Prophet was declaring war on the death eaters.
"From now on we print the name, no more of this you-know-who nonsense. The prick got taken out by a muggle toddler, the Daily Prophet is done cowering in fear of retaliation. Get going and start tearing these bastards down, we've a deadline to meet."
There was a mad rush as the Prophet workers were probably the first to realise that the morning would bring a new dawn to their world in ways never imagined before.
-oOoOo-
That mornings Prophet should really have come with a ministerial health warning, quite a few readers almost choked on their breakfast because of it. The banner headline proclaimed the unthinkable in more ways than one.
YOU-KNOW-VOLDEMORT?
HE'S DEAD!
Even printing the dark lord's name the day before would have been a death sentence. These bold headlines stated that not only was it over, there was nothing more to fear.
The story itself was a masterpiece of the Daily Prophet's art. Take a few known facts and fabricate whatever story you wanted to fit them. Everyone was aware Voldemort had delved into the darkest of rituals, it was also known that the Potters had eluded him again since the photograph of their wrecked cottage had appeared in yesterday's edition. When you then highlighted the fact that the house he died in belonged to the Potters muggle relatives, the fiction that would become the established story of what transpired that night was born.
Voldemort had travelled there to perform a dark ritual designed to provide him with access to the Potters. Something went badly wrong and the magical backlash left only the muggle toddler and an accompanying death eater still alive. The Prophet promised more news when the death eater, Hogwarts new head of Slytherin Severus Snape, regained consciousness from his substantial injuries.
Peter White felt there was more than enough truth in the story that it would stand any questioning, there was probably more truth there than most of their stories. Any new information that surfaced to contradict their sanitised view of the event could either be altered or conveniently lost and forgotten. The muggle baby would be consigned to become just that, a muggle baby that was lucky to survive and instantly ignored by their world as inconsequential. The Prophet didn't even print names of any of the three Dursley's who were involved. Peter figured that in the magical context of the story, muggles were irrelevant.
-oOoOo-
Barty Crouch loved the story. It stuck it to the death eaters, especially Dumbledore's boy, and totally ignored the role of the muggle child. Barty thought if he played this just right, he could even imply to Lord Potter that he personally had played a role in keeping the child's name and involvement out of the paper. The only thing that could make this morning any better would be viewing Dumbledore's reactions as he read this morning's paper. Barty would pay good gold for that because he was sure it would be memorable.
-oOoOo-
Barty wouldn't have been disappointed. Albus currently had bits of scrambled egg dripping out the side of his mouth and sledging down his beard. Poppy was beginning to worry the old wizard may have suffered a stroke while her friend Minerva was fighting a losing battle trying to regain control of the great hall. She was struggling because the students were going nuts in their celebrations.
Not only was Voldemort gone but so was the man that had become the most hated professor inside Hogwarts. This was quite an achievement considering Snape had only been teaching in the castle for a couple of months.
Albus hadn't suffered from a stroke, he was currently surfing through his mind for the stroke of genius it would take to get Severus out from under this catastrophe. He was also more than a bit peeved that the paper hadn't contacted him before printing any of this. Albus would have to add a visit to their office to his already busy schedule for today. He had anticipated a couple of days grace to swing Barty around to his way of thinking, at the very least where it concerned Severus. Now he would be forced to use the direct approach if he was to have any chance of saving his handsome young potions professor.
The headmaster could only imagine the joy that must be sweeping the country at this moment, he though had no intention of celebrating just yet. For one thing, Albus was almost certain the dark lord would return. He was also now denied a weapon to fight against Voldemort with. A muggle child was probably useless and well out of reach under the protection of the Potters. With the prophecy stripped of all its credibility, all that remained was the alcohol-induced ramblings of a sceptical seer. The Potters were lost to him forever and would use their influence to ensure the Longbottoms followed the same path. Albus Dumbledore wasn't too worried, they would all come running back when Voldemort returned.
-oOoOo-
Breakfast in the Malfoy family home was fairly typical of those who currently had a specific tattoo imprinted onto their arm. The Prophet headline proclaiming their master was no more also destroyed their appetite. They would all need to prepare themselves for walking the tightrope of getting themselves declared innocent without decrying their lord enough to end their life when the master returned. There was also the question of how much gold it was going to cost each of them, dodging a stay in Azkaban wouldn't come cheap.
At no point did any of them consider they might be in serious trouble here. Their family name, status and gold had allowed these privileged purebloods to literally get away with murder for generations, surely nothing was going to change that? Also at no point did any of them consider they might have seen the last of their lord. He'd told them many times he was immortal and they all believed every word he said.
-oOoOo-
The spirit that, until a few hours ago, had been the most feared being in Britain was rapidly trying to leave the country. Trying being the operative word as by no sense of the meaning could its progress be called rapid, the spirit felt as if it still had a body and was trying to wade through waist deep three day old porridge. The spirit sensed something familiar approaching at a very fast rate of knots and was bowled over when this thing crashed into it.
Disorientation ruled supreme for a while until Tom felt another approaching, the impact felt smaller but the spirit suddenly understood what was happening. It now recognised these occurrences as the parts of its soul that he had ripped off and stored inside containers, this wasn't supposed to happen? Any remaining doubts vanished with the arrival of the third piece, the impact may have felt less severe but the effect was electrifying. With no body, magic or wand, the terrified spirit of Tom Riddle's only available options appeared to be hiding or fleeing. Since it was slower now than earlier, the spirit would need to find a cave or something to seek shelter.
The spirit was currently making its way through a small wooded area and was considering the possibility of hiding below some exposed tree roots when the fourth horcrux soul piece slapped into him. There was only one left, how was this possible?
Tom was thinking back over forty years ago when he had first discovered the spell. He had studied it meticulously and could swear he performed it perfectly all five times. He was of course correct, yet it was difficult to remember two small lines of warning within three pages of complicated and complex instructions read over four decades ago by a then young boy.
The ancients who concocted the horcrux ritual had understood they were snubbing their noses at Mother Nature and daren't give her any weapon to fight back with. Therefore there was one day of the year when the ritual shouldn't be performed and, after creating soul containers, it was really not advisable to get killed on this day either. November the second was the day of the dead or more commonly known as all souls day now, not a good day to die if you had parts of your soul stashed about the country.
The day's origin was shrouded in the mists of time but its function was reconciliation for souls that, for whatever reason, hadn't been able to cross over. On the ancient's calendar, this day counted as an amnesty and was celebrated by surviving family members.
Since the ritual that ended his life was one of love and sacrifice, this provided Mother Nature with the opening she needed. As the final piece of soul joined its brothers, the spirit began to be pulled into the ground. The frantic shrieks being emitted by the spirit had every bird within a mile radius taking to the wing, those creatures on four legs all fled in the opposite direction from this abomination. Tom Marvolo Riddle was struggling, screaming and cursing at the top of his voice over this unjust treatment of the greatest wizard the world had ever known. He passed away eventually, unnoticed, unmourned and Tom Marvolo Riddle would never walk the earth again.
-oOoOo-
Harry and Hermione were surprised to find a third child being placed at 'their' table for breakfast. On hearing that this was Harry's cousin who would be staying with them, Hermione introduced herself as she'd been taught. "Hello Dudley, I'm Hermione Jane Granger. Pleased to meet you." Hermione lent over and kissed him on the cheek.
Dudley didn't know who this strange creature was, he just knew she had come between him and his breakfast bowl. The toddler also couldn't resist the wavy brown locks that were now easily within his reach, Dudley grabbed a good handful and pulled.
Hermione let out a yell so Dudley pulled it again, only to find himself dumped out his chair and wearing three breakfasts. A crying Harry was clutching a crying Hermione while staring at his now crying cousin. Harry's "No hurt Hermi!" left no one in any doubt about what had happened here. In a matter of seconds, breakfast had turned into a war zone. A burst of accidental magic had left Dudley lying on the floor and covered with three plastic bowls worth of porridge, leaving the adults to deal with three crying children.
Lily's wand quickly had everything cleared up and she placed Dudley back into his chair before speaking to the child, Dudley Dursley was about to learn some new words. "Dudley, that was bad! It's wrong to pull hair, say sorry to Hermione."
Dudley was having trouble comprehending what was expected of him, words like bad, wrong and sorry were alien to the child. Lily switched her attention to Harry, hoping to set an example. "Harry, it was wrong to do that to Dudley. Say you're sorry."
Harry though was in a belligerent mood, "No hurt Hermi!"
Lily could only smile at her son, he was so like his father it was scary. "Yes darling and Dudley won't do it again. I need you not to do that again either, please say you're sorry."
Harry stared at the newcomer and decided to do what his mother asked. "Sorry!"
Dudley saw a new breakfast being set down by Emma to these two and quickly made the connection. He shouted "sorry!" to the whole house and a bowl appeared in front of him, everything else was forgotten for the moment.
Dan cleared his throat before speaking, "These two are very protective of each other, aren't they? Emma, I think we may have to reconsider sending Hermione to nursery school after Christmas. We can't really have other kids being blasted across the classroom if Hermione gets upset."
Lily was left to explain to the three marauders how Hermione had wrecked the clock while the wheels in her head were spinning with an idea. "Emma, I have three friends who all have children about the same age as Hermione and Harry. Our original plan was to share looking after the kids and allow us all the opportunity to work at least part time while they were growing up. If we included you and Hermione into the plan, it could be perfect."
Emma liked where this idea was going but wanted to be sure she understood. "Are you saying we each take a day per week to watch over all the children? It sounds good but only if we didn't have to drive over half the country dropping off and picking up kids."
Lily could only smile at her new friend, "Emma, we won't be driving anywhere. You've seen how we travel, James and I could take Hermione and the other mothers would drop their kids off when it was your turn. Alice has a son Neville who's exactly the same age as Harry, my friend Mary's daughter, also called Mary, is a couple of months older. Maia's daughter Luna is the youngest, she had her first birthday last month. It has always been my intention that Harry would attend primary school and this would get him used to other children, hopefully help with controlling his accidental magic as well."
Dan asked an obvious question, "Don't magical children go to primary school?"
James shook his head, "Most children are at least ten before their magic starts to settle down, therefore they go to school at eleven. Before that, it's usually homeschooling to prepare them for Hogwarts."
Dan thought the idea of having half-a-dozen children running about the house was wonderful and was trying to figure out if they could financially afford for him to take that day off as well.
Lily was now trying to keep Dudley from snatching the other two bowls, he'd finished first and obviously wanted more. She popped a piece of banana into his hand and he happily munched away at that. The boy was going to find a lot more fruit and a lot fewer biscuits and cakes in his diet from now on. Petunia apparently had given him whatever he wanted, this was something else she was going to have to wean Dudley off.
It didn't take Dan and Emma long to concur that both thought this daycare arrangement was way better than sending their daughter to a nursery. They were keen to meet the other children, and their parents.
Sirius and Remus headed out to search for news and discover if Augusta had answered their message. The Grangers and Potters would be staying close to home while they tried to integrate their new family member. Emma also pointed out that they were friends with the Jenkins who would be only too happy to let them look around their home if they were interested in buying.
They were currently having some play-time with the children before considering a visit for the afternoon. James was thinking that the muggle neighbourhood had kept his family safe while the dark lord was hunting for them, it would do now he'd been banished. He was also thinking that Harry going to primary school with Hermione would be highly desirable, in two days the kids had practically become inseparable. He imagined that there would have to be a room for her in their new house for Hermione, these two were really 'bestist' friends.
Lily hadn't been raised in the magical world or she would have understood the bonds that can form between magical children. Harry and Hermione would probably always be close and having them mixing with other children was something he wanted to do as soon as possible. James didn't want Dudley becoming an outsider and a bigger group would lessen the reliance Harry and Hermione were placing on each other.
James expected tears and tantrums of spectacular proportions when they eventually left the Grangers' home, hopefully moving next door would lessen the effect. He didn't think Lily would be returning to working for her charms mastery anytime soon, nothing against Professor Flitwick but neither Potter was ready to go anywhere near Hogwarts, or more specifically Dumbledore, for the foreseeable future.
-oOoOo-
The Prophet's editor peered up from his desk to see the outlandish figure of Albus Dumbledore standing there. "Funny, I could have sworn I told my secretary I didn't want to see anyone today? How did you get in here?"
Albus looked down at the little bald man with the middle-age spread and thought this would be easy. "Ah, Mr White. As I explained to your secretary, I am not just anyone."
Peter was not impressed by this old git's appearance, reputation or attitude. "I have no wish to shatter your self-delusion of grandeur but I certainly would include you in my description of anyone. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am a busy man."
Albus chose to ignore the less than subtle hints at a dismissal and carry on with his mission. "As am I Mr White. This is why I'm sure we can reach agreement very quickly on a matter I wish to raise. I need you to print a retraction to your paper's description of Severus Snape as a death eater. There are extenuating circumstances that I am unable to reveal at this time but it is imperative that this happen without delay."
Peter thought it was time someone explained the facts of life to this old fart. "Mr Dumbledore, if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck – it's a pretty safe bet to call it a duck! Your boy Snape was found in full death eater regalia, a dark mark ingrained into his arm, in the company of Voldemort at the scene of two murders. You can call him any pet names you like, to me and the Prophet, Severus Snape is a death eater. You can claim extenuating circumstances but we will continue to class him as a death eater until the court tells us otherwise, a public trial is what's required here. Since you are currently standing in my office without an auror accompaniment, I will assume the Prophet has broken no laws and carry-on as normal."
Albus was beginning to lose his patience with this little prick, didn't he know the word of Albus Dumbledore was not to be questioned but mindlessly obeyed? "I am well aware off the laws since I helped draft a fair few of them, what we are dealing with here is a matter of social responsibility. Your irresponsible writing could incite the public into acts of retribution and riot, our society doesn't need vigilantes at the moment."
With timing any comedian would have been proud of, a reporter stuck his head through the doorway and interrupted their discussion. "Sorry to interrupt boss but there's a mob forming at the ministry. They've brought a rope and are demanding that the death eater be handed over to them. It looks like it could get ugly."
Albus thought this proved his point brilliantly but Peter had other ideas. "Then what are you doing still standing there? Get your arse over to the ministry and take a photographer with you. This will be tomorrows front page! Be sure to tell the photographer that, should they hang Snape, I need a picture I can print that won't scare the readers away. Horrific facial expressions and eyeballs almost popping out are not good images, we need something a bit more tasteful than that."
The reporter nodded before racing away, Albus was dumbfounded. "Does a man's life mean so little to you?"
Peter was affronted, "How dare you say that? If that mob hangs your boy, a good picture of them doing the deed could put as much as twenty percent onto our total sales tomorrow. That's not little!"
He was through listening to Dumbledore's brand of bullshit, social responsibilities my arse! The old wizard just wanted to manipulate the media to his own ends, that was the job of the Prophet's editor. "We in the media don't make the news, we just report on it. That's our job and mine is to make sure the public read it, I need to sell papers." Peter thought that sounded so good, he almost believed it himself. "That's my job and I'm good at it, I suggest you leave and do yours. With your head of Slytherin about to be hanged, I would have thought you would have more pressing needs on your time than standing there annoying me?"
Albus hated the smug look this arsehole was wearing so decided to burst his bubble. "You are of course aware that they never found a body, you also know Voldemort performed many dark rituals on himself. The only logical conclusion left to draw is that he's not gone and will return. You might want to take that possibility under consideration when writing your headlines."
Albus had hoped to install a measure of fear in this little man, instead he suddenly became all business like. Peter was firing off questions quicker than a machine gun spat out bullets. "Can the Prophet quote you on this? Is there any indication of a timetable to his return? Don't you think it makes more sense to rid our community of his followers before he returns?"
The editor understood nothing sold papers like a campaign against something or someone that the public totally agreed with, this idea could be a goldmine! Peter was thinking out loud now, practically writing his editorial as he spoke. "We should also build-up the Auror Corps to be ready for him, confiscating the required funds from convicted death eaters could easily pay for it. Thank you for dropping by Mr Dumbledore, you have given me a lot to think on. If your boy doesn't get hanged today, we might just lead with that tomorrow."
It was a totally flummoxed Albus Dumbledore who left the Prophet building heading for the ministry, hoping he had better luck there. Dashing in to save the day, and the lovely Severus, was just what he needed to cheer himself up.
-oOoOo-
Barty had given the Wizarding Wireless Network's reporter time to set up while the Prophet snapper took photographs of the baying crowd before the head of the DMLE made his move. He conjured a platform before stepping up on it and raising his hands for silence. This was Barty's moment, when his life changed forever. This was not only throwing his hat into the ring for the soon to be vacant minister's job, Barty intended to blast any and all competitors away at the same time.
"Witches and wizards of Britain, could I have your attention please? I need to speak with you for a moment about what we hope to achieve here today."
A member of the crowd was quick to shout back, "We hope to put an end to a cowardly murdering bastard, surely you agree with that Barty?"
The crowd cheered madly before falling silent to hear Barty's answer. He kept them waiting, letting the tension build before giving his unexpected and unwelcome one word answer. "No!"
He let them rant, rave and vent for a few moments before holding up his hands for silence. "Let me clarify my position here. I don't want to put a permanent end to one cowardly murdering bastard, I want to permanently wipe out all the cowardly murdering bastards!"
A tumultuous cheer greeted this news as Barty began to play the crowd like a fine instrument, the tune they performed was music to his ears. "If we take this one death eater out and hang him then yes, we have permanently ended one threat. What about all the others? I will have this man leaking truth serum from his ears while we discover all the other death eaters he knows about. They will then be arrested and undergo the same treatment. All the trials will be public and their punishments dispensed in accordance with our laws. We've lived under the death eater's yoke of terror for too long, it's time to rid ourselves of this plague on our community. If that means facing up to hard choices, I for one am prepared to make them."
The cheering now was incredible. The masses were experiencing freedom from terror for the first time in years. That Barty Crouch wanted to make this freedom a permanent fixture in their lives was definitely something they wanted to hear, and would vote for.
Barty continued his speech, "Severus Snape is still unconscious from the injuries he received and will remain so for at least the next twenty four hours. Only when he recovers can we begin to reclaim our society from these evil people who need to hide behind masks. Go back to your homes or places of work, place your trust in the ministry to take care of the death eater problem. You have my promise I won't let you down!"
There was cheering and clapping before the crowd slowly began to disperse, many taking the time to greet Barty and shake his hand. A few words with the WWN reporter and some questions from the Prophet hack rounded his morning off nicely. That was until he noticed a fuming Dumbledore waiting on him, it would appear his speech didn't please everybody?
-oOoOo-
James currently held an excited Hermione in his arms, Lily had Dudley while Padfoot carried Harry. This left Remus free to look after Dan and Emma on their first trip via portkey. Frank and Alice had not only answered, with Voldemort gone they sent their location and a portkey so they could all visit. Neither of the young couples hadn't handled the isolation too well and were desperate to see each other again, Alice and Lily also couldn't wait to hug their godsons now this was all over.
James was doing everything in his power to keep his wife's mind on the positive, their visit to next door had definitely done that. They'd liked Bill and Tracy from the off but they fell in love with their home. The Victorian house was everything they could want in a home with bedrooms to spare, a massive back garden also made it perfect for raising a young family. James had already contacted the Potter lawyers to purchase the house as soon as possible, since the Jennings had already bought their dream cottage by the coast things should move quickly.
The same lawyers were already working on wrapping up the Dursley estate and putting the proceedings into a trust fund for Dudley, James had instantly decided to put the exact same amount away for Harry. He was consciously trying to make both of them as equal as he could from the very start. Vernon's sister had apparently made a claim for the money and custody of Dudley but his lawyers were totally confident it wouldn't reach court. The woman was unmarried with no experience of raising children, she was also financially inept with only handouts from her now dead brother keeping her head above water for years. Worse case scenario was pay a few thousand pounds compensation to have her drop the case, a price James would gladly pay to save Lily the trauma of appearing in court.
The lawyers were also handling all the Dursley funeral arrangements, that would be traumatic enough for her. Like so many of their friends both Potters had lost almost all their family in this war, these wounds weren't going to heal overnight.
Introducing some new friends to their old friends was a small step in the healing process. With a quick check to see everyone was holding on to the portkey and ready, James used his wand to activate the piece of rope.
The group of three toddlers, two dentists, a witch and the marauders found themselves reappearing in the middle of a fierce battle that had spells flying everywhere.
Chapter 4
Barty felt as if his soul was becoming lost while staring into the smoky liquid that was swirling around in the bottom of his glass, perhaps it was just wishful thinking since he knew that becoming lost was simply not an option available to him at the moment. Barty was struggling to reconcile not only what he'd done but what he'd become, it was incredible to think that two conversations could turn your entire world on its head.
Dumbledore had started the ball rolling when he demanded a word somewhere they couldn't be overheard, they had no sooner made Barty's office when an angry Dumbledore got straight to the point. He wanted Severus Snape released into his care and all thoughts of questioning under Veritaserum dropped immediately. Barty was about to refuse this out of hand, brushing off the old man's claims that Severus was his spy, when the bombshell dropped. The words were imprinted on Barty's brain. 'When you grant this accommodation, I will support your claim that your son filled the same role for you. What? Surely you were aware that Bartemius Junior is a death eater?'
Barty wanted to punch the smirk of the old bastards face, instead he was forced to listen as Dumbledore twisted the knife. 'I will of course also support your bid for the upcoming Minister of Magic post, one must always look after their friends! I shall be here to collect my boy in the morning, that will give you a chance to have a chat with your son. After all, we'll need to get our stories straight.'
Barty couldn't even think straight, far less arrange stories to corroborate with each other. He also couldn't wait to get home and discover the truth from his son's lips, the vial of truth serum in his pocket would ensure the truth was what he got.
Barty now believed the truth to be a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with caution. No one but he could ever learn of it. His son was not just a death eater, he was a psychotic follower of the dark lord who refused to believe his master was dead. That he was eagerly anticipating taking part in his first death eater raid tonight told Barty all he needed to know. Memory charms could deal with specific events but would not handle changing someone's attitude, that took professional healers and months of work. Neither of these options were available to Barty at the moment, they weren't provided in Azkaban either. Azkaban would be where his son would be heading the instant the Wizengamot heard his tirades against everyone not a death eater.
Barty tried to console himself with the fact that his actions were not purely driven by the detrimental effect this discovery would have on his career, his son being sent to Azkaban would finish his very ill wife. He could not allow that to happen, Victoria had given him the best years of her life, she shouldn't have to spend her final months worrying about her son rotting in Azkaban. For this he was prepared to cast an unforgivable on his son, he just couldn't see any other alternative within the time constraints he was being forced to work under.
His wife would undoubtedly be broken hearted but at least it would be a clean break. Far better that than the pain associated from the realisation she had given birth to a monster. Barty would do anything to ease his wife's pain. His plan would also have the added benefit of getting him out from under Dumbledore's control, Severus Snape was going down hard!
Barty already knew how he was going to play the incident as he sat with his untouched glass of firewhisky, he needed a clear head tonight. He was expecting the floo call at any moment, then he would have the odious task of breaking the tragic news to Victoria. Only after that would he be able to drink the liquid oblivion he was currently nursing in his hand.
-oOoOo-
Tom saw the young man arrive by floo and his hand automatically reached for a glass, it was a requirement of his job to know his customers preferences. "The usual Barty?"
"Sorry Tom, can't stop tonight. Got somewhere I need to be."
Tom's wide leering grin might have looked better with a few more teeth in his mouth, though if the new teeth were white, the grin would more resemble a piano's keyboard than a mouth. "Hot date eh? Do I know the lucky girl?"
The young man shook his head as he made his way toward the muggle exit of the Leaky Cauldron. "Now Tom, you know a gentleman never tells."
The bartender was still smiling to himself about young Barty's parting quip when he heard the loud commotion emanating from the muggle side of his pub. He carefully stuck his head around the pub door to discover some young man had walked right in front of a London bus and was now under it. Even from here Tom could tell that this was a non-survivable accident, once again he was amazed that the muggles could build these machines but not charm them to avoid running into each other or anyone else. Ernie Prang could hardly see further than the end of his nose yet the knight bus had never had an accident.
Tom went back to tending his bar and would only later discover that he was the very last person to speak with Bartemius Crouch Jr. before the young man had his terrible accident.
-oOoOo-
"C'mon Roddy, the little shit isn't gonna show. Told you he didn't have the balls for a real raid, he's all talk that one."
Rodolphus could only shake his head at his wife's eagerness. "Bella dearest, content yourself. We'll get there soon enough. Just try savouring the anticipation of tonight, it will make it so much better for you when we get there."
Rabastan smiled at his sister-in-law, thinking once more that Roddy sure picked himself a wild one. "Yeah Bella, think about it. Even if the kid doesn't have what it takes, it gives the Longbottoms another target to aim at. If they're firing curses at him then it gives us a better shot at taking them down."
Bella wasn't in the mood to wait any longer. "Three Lestranges are more than a match for anything waiting for us in that house. I vote we go now and then deal with that coward Junior later."
Rodolphus only required a glance to see his wife was really on the edge, he still had to show her who was in charge though. "Easy there my lovely Bellatrix. We will allow five more minutes for our young friend to appear before we commence with tonight's operation. You can then vent your frustrations on people worthy of your ire."
Bella nodded, she would wait but only for five minutes. Her lord was supposedly gone and she wanted some answers. She also wanted someone to pay, that someone was going to be the Longbottoms.
-oOoOo-
Frank wasn't overly concerned when the ward's tingled at a portkey entering them, the dark lord was no more and they were expecting company. They were not expecting a trio of death eaters bursting in with wands already firing spells. Alice was on the floor playing with their son when Bellatrix hit her with the cruciatus curse, her screams of pain reverberated off the walls. Frank had his hands full fighting off Rodolphus and Rabastan, his wife's screams were driving him insane but he couldn't get to her aid without suffering the same fate. These three death eaters were all very experienced at this and Frank's attacks were becoming more and more desperate as spells were now flying everywhere.
It was into this scene that their friends arrived and immediately burst into action.
James was the only one with his wand in his hand since he'd activated the portkey, he also had Hermione in his other arm but didn't hesitate for a second. The safety of everyone here could only be guaranteed by putting these three down as quickly as possible, with four children here this was not the time for stunners or wasted calls of 'aurors - surrender your wands'. A curse into the back of the nearest death eater was immediately followed by tossing Hermione to her thankfully alert and waiting father.
Sirius was standing next to Emma and the woman practically ripped Harry from his arms, allowing the auror to join the fight. Remus was busy transfiguring furniture into walls and neither Granger needed to be told what to do next, both were soon behind the walls and trying to protect the children with their bodies. Lily and Dudley soon joined them before she used her wand to summon her godson. With Dudley and Neville quickly passed to the Grangers and safely hidden behind the transfigured walls, the young witch took over the defensive duties thus freeing Remus to join the fight.
Sirius had started firing curses at his cousin the instant his wand was in his hand, with Remus joining him it was only stray or deflected curses Lily had to be on her guard for now. Neither of the two remaining death eaters had any time to waste firing curses in the children's direction, they were far too busy fighting for their very lives. As Bella came under the combined onslaught of Remus and Sirius, she was being forced further and further back as she dodged spells.
Sirius wanted to ensure Bellatrix kept her full attention on him and Remus, there were currently four kids, two muggles and a witch lying on the floor that were all defenceless. This called for a little taunting. "Hello cousin, up to your old tricks again I see! What master are you following now that shit for brains Voldemort got his arse handed to him?"
"Don't you dare speak my master's name! A blood traitor like you is unworthy of having that pass your lips."
Sirius knew what buttons to press with Bella and could see it was working so kept it up. "I don't even want to think about where your lips have been cuz, never figured a Black would ever be an ass-kisser. Then again, when you marry into scum I suppose a sharp fall in standards has to be expected. At least your sister Cissi manages to keep her nose up in the air while living with filth, thank Merlin for Andi!"
Bella was now solely focused on killing this blood traitor of the Black name, so focused that she totally missed the real danger. Alice lay there forgotten and not as defenceless as Sirius thought, she'd managed to draw her wand. Her limbs were shaking so bad though that firing a curse might miss this bitch and hit one of her friends. The death eater was getting closer and Alice judged her moment well, as Bella dodged a spell from Remus she was now almost within touching distance of the witch lying shaking on the floor. Alice could hardly miss as she fired a reducto curse into the back of Bellatrix's left knee, blowing the leg right off and putting the crazy bitch down. A stunner from Sirius made sure she stayed there as he raced over to defend Alice and cast a protective shield. Remus now joined the fight on the remaining death eater still standing.
The first indication Rodolphus got that the tide had turned was when his brother took a bludgeoning hex to his unprotected back. It was only seconds later that he found himself heavily outnumbered. Tactics and common sense dictated he should apparate out of there, only this wasn't just two other death eaters that were down but his wife and brother. This caused him to hesitate and, with three powerful wizards now firing curses at him, his hesitation proved very costly. As he dodged a curse from James, Remus and Frank both caught him and the fight was over.
Rodolphus had hardy hit the floor before Lily was racing toward her injured friend, Alice was barely hanging onto consciousness but refused to give in until she knew her boy was safe. "Neville, my Neville, where's my baby?"
Lily was trying to comfort her friend but it was only when Emma brought Neville over for Alice to see he was alright that Alice settled down. Emma was looking on in horror. "What kind of magic does that to a person?"
Lily had her friend's head in her lap and running her hand over her brow. "The darkest kind of magic there is. It's a torture curse that causes every nerve ending in the body to fire off messages of pain to the brain. You can go insane from the unbelievable agony after just a few minutes exposure to this vile piece of magic, you'll be dead after ten. It's classed as an unforgivable and is a one-way ticket to prison. You'll notice that we're in no hurry to heal the bitch that cast it."
Frank was currently taking Neville from Emma and kneeling beside his wife, "I'm so sorry love, I kept trying to get to you but they were firing curse after curse to stop me."
Alice held up her shaking hand to touch both her boys on the cheek, "Our baby is ok, nothing else matters next to that." Alice turned to the unknown woman, "Thank you for looking after my boy for me."
Lily handled the introductions, "Emma, this is Frank and Alice Longbottom, my godson Neville you've already met. Her husband Dan is keeping the other three kids safe behind the barrier Remus came up with. This is not the introduction I intended but we live in dangerous times!"
Emma was watching in astonishment as the unconscious female death eater joined the other two in being enveloped in magical ropes by Sirius and James while Remus stopped her from bleeding to death by magically sealing her stump.
The last few minutes had been something else for the two dentists. "Dangerous times? I honestly believed you when you told me, I could have done without the practical demonstration!"
Lily smiled at her new friend, Emma was made of the right stuff. James gestured over to the Longbottoms, "Frank, Alice needs to get to St. Mungo's as quickly as possible. Don't worry about Neville, we'll take care of him until she gets back home."
Sirius interrupted and handed Frank a scrap of parchment, "My crazy cousin had this in her pocket, I thought you might be interested in it?"
Frank recognised the significance at once, it was their address written in his mother's handwriting. "There were only two of these made and Remus got the other one from mother earlier today."
The wizard in question took his piece of parchment from his pocket and it was a perfect match. James had finished searching and securing the other two death eaters, when he saw the two pieces of parchment, their fears appeared to have been justified. "Let me guess who you gave the other one to, Albus Dumbledore?"
Frank could only nod as he held his wife and son, the realisation of what almost happened beginning to sink in. Emma couldn't understand why that scrap of parchment was so important but recognised this wasn't the time to ask. Dan was keeping the other three kids behind the barriers so they didn't see the devastation that was out here. The room was wrecked and there was a lot of blood from the missing limb. Seeing that Frank was struggling with his emotions, James took command of the situation.
"Frank, you get Alice to the hospital. Neville will be well taken care of. Sirius and I will drop these animals off at the ministry before contacting your mother, we'll see she gets to St Mungo's. Remus and Lily can get everyone else back to the house, we'll be back as soon as we can."
Lily definitely wanted to get the kids out of there as soon as possible so kissed her husband before taking Neville from Frank. Alice attempted to smile at her but it came across as a grimace. "Take care of my baby!"
"You know I will, just take care of yourself and we'll bring him to see you tomorrow."
Remus reset the rope portkey for the Grangers home as Emma picked up Dudley, Dan had Hermione and Harry cuddling into him with neither child looking like letting go any time soon. Remus made sure Lily and Emma were holding on tightly before he placed his hand clutching the portkey on Dan's shoulder and activated it.
It was a relief for the remaining adults to know the children were now safe. Sirius quickly made a portkey for St Mungo's, sending Frank and Alice on their way.
They had no sooner left when Sirius asked James the all-important question, "So how did the death eaters get a hold of that?"
"You know as well as me it would only happen if Dumbledore wanted it to, I hardly think he would leave it lying about. The old man may play up on his eccentricities yet he's anything but stupid. There's a reason behind everything he does, the reason might only make sense to him but you can be sure he'll have one."
Sirius then noticed Bella's leg lying amongst the carnage, "My mother has a troll's leg she uses as an umbrella stand, I wonder if she'd want her favourite niece's to make a pair?"
The adrenalin was leaving their systems now and joking about was the way they handled it. "Well I think it's a safe bet Alice won't want to hang it above the mantelpiece, you're welcome to it!" Both aurors were chuckling as the tension from the unexpected battle left. "They were very lucky we arrived Padfoot, Alice was down and Frank was about to join her. Even five minutes later could have been too late!"
That was a bit too serious for Sirius at the moment, he was still in his jokey stage. "You know Prancer, I don't think we'll be getting anything for Christmas this year. With the luck we've been carrying lately, I think we would have a pure cheek to ask for anything more."
James could only shake his head, he'd been Prongs since he was fifteen and now a two-year-old had changed it. The fact that his wife, Remus and Sirius thought it was bloody hilarious kind off sealed his fate. "Let's get these three to the ministry and then we can deal with the rest of our business. I won't settle until we're back at the Grangers."
-oOoOo-
Barty finally got a floo call from the ministry, just not the one he was expecting. "Barty, the three Lestranges attacked the Longbottoms tonight. Luckily Frank and Alice were expecting company and they arrived in time to make the difference. James Potter and Sirius Black brought them in."
The head of the DMLE's professionalism kicked-in. "Was anyone injured and what condition are the prisoners in?"
"Alice Longbottom is in St Mungo's being treated for exposure to the cruciatus and everyone else is unharmed. As to the Lestranges', there were apparently four kids in the house so the death eaters were put down hard. They won't be fit to go dancing this weekend but we should still be able to ram some truth serum down their throats."
That was all Barty needed to hear, "I'll be right there!"
-oOoOo-
It was a pretty rattled group that made it back to the Grangers. Since it contained four crying toddlers and they were all leaving the scene of a battle, they really couldn't be anything else but rattled. Dan sat on the sofa with Harry and Hermione drawing comfort from each other on his lap. Emma and her toddler headed straight for the kitchen, with Dudley this upset nothing but food would calm the child down. Lily sat with Neville on her knee as she used her most calming voice on her godson while holding him close, he snuggled in and his sobs began to abate.
Emma returned with a now content Dudley, the bowl of melon pieces calming him quicker than words ever could. She plonked him, and his tightly clutched bowl, onto Remus's lap before heading back to the kitchen. She returned with a tray containing three more bowls as she attempted to coax Neville to speak. "Hello Neville, I'm Emma. That's my little girl over there with Harry and you can see by how quickly Dudley is polishing his melon off that this is good. Would you like some?"
Hermione wasn't forgetting her manners, it was her experience from the last time that made her reluctant to do that again. Harry though jumped down off her father's knee and led her over to the new boy by the hand. Harry remembered this boy though hadn't seen him for a while. He attempted to copy his best friend but didn't yet posses the necessary vocabulary skills to pull it off. Still, it got the job done. "Nev, Hermi! He Dud, sit?'
Harry and Hermione then helped him off Lily's knee as her wand created another chair at the kids' table for her godson. Emma placed the bowls down and helped the kids to sit, she then sat Dudley at the table and had a quiet word in his ear. "Be a good boy and Aunty Em will give you more when you're finished."
Dudley was well acquainted with the word 'more' so was on his best behaviour.
Dan casually asked Remus a question, the adrenalin was still coursing through his body but he didn't want the kids becoming upset again. They would all have to keep their behaviour nice and calm for now. "I take it those three were some of these terrorists we've heard so much about? Did I hear Sirius saying he was related to one of them?"
"Yes, those were death eaters. Some of the most fanatical actually, the woman is his cousin and without question one of the worst of them. She kills and tortures for fun!"
Emma was struggling to understand this whole concept of death eaters yet was careful to keep her voice at a conversational level and tone. "I find it hard to believe Sirius could be related to someone like that, he seems the exact opposite!"
It was Lily who answered, "That's probably because he is. The Blacks are what's considered a dark family, defiantly no pun intended. They all, bar a few buy into these beliefs that purebloods are better than everyone else. We have a perfect example of why this is a load of crap sitting right in front of us. Neville is a pureblood wizard, though the Longbottoms are like the Potters and considered light. My Harry is a half blood, your Hermione is a muggle born while Dudley is a muggle. The kids certainly don't know any different and won't unless someone teaches them otherwise."
The four in question were sitting around the small table, eating their melon and chatting as only children of that age can. They were totally unaware that they were now the centre of attention and the scene was heart warming for the watching adults.
Dan was now struggling to keep his voice at the required level. "Differentiating between children like that is absurd, appalling and many other names I can't say in case the kids pick them up. You might as well have people feeling superior because they have blood type O, it makes no sense!"
Lily couldn't help but chuckle at that analogy, "Actually that would make more sense, at least blood type is a physical thing you can measure. Apart from Dudley being non-magical, there is no physical test to tell the difference between the other three's blood status. That maybe down to the fact that there is no difference. To a death eater, three of the children sitting there don't deserve to live. Actually, make that all four of them since they class the Longbottoms as blood traitors."
Dan was struggling to come to terms with a society that considered his daughter a lesser being, one not fit to live. "Man has been fighting with each other since they first walked upright on the earth, whether it was over land, religion or the best mate to breed with. I suppose it was too much to ask that witches and wizards would be any different, they could at least have came up with something a bit more substantial to fight over."
Emma remembered something from earlier and wanted to ask for an explanation. "What was the significance of that slip of paper, it appeared to be very important but for the life of me I couldn't understand why."
Remus took out his scrap of parchment and handed it to Dan. "Try and copy what's written there."
Dan was sure he was being pranked, that was until he realised he couldn't do it. Every attempt he had at it provided him with a different address, not the one on the paper though.
Remus explained the phenomenon. "Only the secret keeper can write that address down, you won't be able to copy it or tell anyone else about it. That's why it was so important, only someone shown that bit of paper could have found the Longbottoms."
Lily was nodding in agreement, "Apparently Frank's mother made only two of these, the other one was in the possession of Albus Dumbledore. You can bet your life she will be asking Dumbledore for an explanation of how it came to be in the possession of three of the most vicious death eaters there is. We made a mistake in our choice of secret keeper, Frank and Alice didn't. There is not one shred of doubt in anyone's mind that Augusta Longbottom would have chosen death rather than betray her family!"
Lily and Remus suddenly had their wands in their hands as the sound of apparition was heard. A shout of 'It's me darling.' coming from the hall in James's voice saw them relax. He entered the room, kissed his wife and then sat down with the kids.
"Sirius is staying at St Mungo's just in case any more death eaters show up, Barty sent over a couple of aurors but Frank and Alice still feel better knowing he's there. I think Augusta is hoping a few death eaters do decide to pay her family another visit, she's ready to wipe the floor with them. I thought we were going to have to magically restrain the old battleaxe when Sirius showed her that slip of paper we took from Bellatrix, she was all for heading straight to Hogwarts the instant she saw her family was ok. Only Frank saying he wanted both him and Alice to be there delayed the inevitable."
"How long will Alice be in the hospital?" Emma asked.
"She may get out tomorrow or, at most, the day after. I hope you don't mind if Neville stays here until then?"
Emma could see how her original question could be misconstrued and sought to reassure. "Of course not, he's very welcome. I just hope that when we get to meet Mia and Mary we don't end up in the middle of a battle again!'
The four kids stopped eating and chatting just long enough to stare at all the adults laughing – grown-ups were such strange creatures!
-oOoOo-
This was the part Barty was dreading, it was never easy telling a mother they'd lost a child. When the mother in question was your wife and you had personally orchestrated your son's death, there wasn't really a word strong enough to describe how he was feeling. The story he was going to tell his wife was the one that he had already laid the foundation for earlier tonight. He would keep the department so busy that their son's case would soon be forgotten amongst the carnage they were going to create, the story he spun would soon become fact in the eyes of everyone who mattered.
They had started their interrogations with the two brothers and both had quickly mentioned Barty Junior as being a death eater, he'd calmly written out the arrest order for his son along with the others named. Within the hour word had come back that his son was dead, the muggle aurors were writing it up as a suicide. The department held its collective breath as Barty finally spoke.
"It would seem my son, like many young men before him, made a grave mistake that he clearly deeply regretted. Faced with the prospect of being forced to take part in his first death eater attack, he would appear to have taken his own life instead. From what we've learned so far, his level of involvement as a death eater would probably have seen him spend some months in Azkaban before being free to continue with his life. Instead he's now lying in a muggle mortuary."
Barty was no longer acting as his emotions shone through his mask of untouchability. "I feel as if I've failed my son in that he couldn't come to me for help, I now have to go home and tell his mother her only son is gone. Please continue arresting those death eaters named by the Lestrange brothers and we'll get truth serum into Bellatrix and Snape as soon as the healers allow us. I shall return tomorrow."
With that he had left, knowing that all the high profile arrests they were going to make would see his son's death relegated to a mere footnote in history. Barty entered their bedroom, "Hello love, I'm sorry but I've got some bad news."
-oOoOo-
Albus had many friends inside the ministry and news of the death eater purge soon reached his ears, he was about to floo to the ministry in an attempt to curtail the damage being done to their society when Barty Crouch Junior's unfortunate fate was mentioned. He quickly checked with another two sources before believing the rumour to be true.
Albus almost wrecked his office as his temper knew no bounds, he had been sure the situation had been well taken care of and now he was left exposed. He'd known Barty Crouch senior could be a ruthless bastard but this action took that ruthlessness to a new extreme. Albus didn't even consider the possibility that the young Barty could have taken his own life, his father was somehow responsible for his untimly death. Not only that, Barty Senior was sure to blame Albus for forcing the parent into his decision, useing Severus to take his revenge was a foregon conclusion.
There was also no doubting the harm that Severus answering questions under veritaserum could do to one Albus Dumbledore, he would be lucky to dodge a dementor's kiss and end up in Azkaban. No, Albus was being forced into making the same decision as Barty had. someone he loved was going to have to be sacrificed for the greater good. The young man known as Severus Snape was tragically going to suffer heart failure before regaining consciousness, it was also going to happen tonight.
With all the extra activity at the ministry, it should be a piece of cake for Albus to slip in there while invisible and cast the obscure spell that would stop his potion master's heart. Albus knew he couldn't be turning dark because his heart was breaking at his decision, and there was no spell to help with that. As long as he could cry tears of sorrow and regret his actions then his soul was safe, he was certainly crying now.