Second Place - Romance

With Christmas safely behind, the principals were then faced with the disquieting dilemma of Percy Weasley and other possible conspirators within the Ministry. As an interested party, Harry, along with Severus was allowed to watch as Percy was administered a dose of Veritaserum and questioned. Harry had snorted when he had heard himself referred to as �an interested party.' That made it sound like he and Percy had been having a nice little get-together. Then, Harry realized that he must be spending too much time around Severus as he was starting to act and think like the potions master. He laughed outright when he felt the indignation filtering through the bond from his mate. Sighing, Harry was surprised how such a small gesture could help to relieve the tension from the official proceedings.

Harry, Severus and Albus joined with the Weasley clan in a special room next to the interrogation room. From here they would be able to observe the occupants of the next room without being seen or heard. A young Auror had been assigned to wait with the family and he was doing his best to stay out of the way. Light grey eyes flicked over each person in the room as the young man attended to his assignment. The sturdy form of one of the members of the Weasley clan caused his eyes to pause as the Auror silently appreciated the red head. Carefully listening to the quiet conversations he was finally able to determine that the man in question was Charlie Weasley. He would definitely have to file that information away for later, he thought, before returning his mind to his duty.

Molly was nervously wringing her hands around a badly abused handkerchief as she waited for her wayward son to be brought up from the holding cell. One of her worries that he would end up like Auror Brighton Smythe had been eased when Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks had assured her that they would personally watch over Percy.

The newly engaged members of the Weasley family had been allowed to have their fianc�s present as a source of comfort. Bill sighed as he began to realize that he had been thinking that he would very much like to add Cissa to that group. But the reality was that he wasn't sure the woman was ready to settle down again after finally gaining her freedom from Lucius Malfoy. Increasingly the eldest Weasley offspring was finding it difficult to keep things casual, but he knew that his heart had already made the decision. He was in love and he wanted the incredibly beautiful woman in his life. He just wasn't sure how serious she was about him. He had easily recognized a woman on the prowl when they had first gotten together at the Ministry Ball, and truthfully he was somewhat surprised that she had hung around this long.

Hermione, Remus and Draco hung back slightly in deference to the family's turmoil. Draco glanced over to see the familiar frown on his godfather's face. It hadn't been till Draco was much older that the boy had even realized that the man had more than one expression available to him. Smiling at the memories, Draco was surprised to see that Harry was watching him intently. Catching the ebony haired boy's eye, Draco nodded and understood that they were both officially brothers-in-arms now. Odd how it had taken his getting engaged to the ersatz sister of Harry Snape-Potter for them to truly cement their relationship.

Kingsley and Tonks brought Percy into the interrogation room from another door and directed the young man to sit in the provided chair. Stepping back, they watched as a Ministry worker carefully administered the proscribed dosage of Veritaserum.

Leaning into his husband's side, Harry sent the question, ~Sev, how do we know if that potion is any good?~

Harry felt as well as saw the smirk out of the corner of his eye. ~Simple, Harry; it is one of my own. Or weren't you aware that I make all of the Ministry's supply?~

~Git.~ Harry sent back through the bond, amusement in his mind.

The potion began its work and Percy sat expectantly as he waited for the questioning to begin. He had not long to wait.

"What is your full name?" Kingsley asked while the Ministry scribe waited to record the answer.

"Percy Ignatius Weasley," came the quiet answer.

"Why did you go to the Burrow on Christmas Eve?"

"To get close to Harry Potter and Professor Snape."

"Why?"

"So I could have the opportunity to kill them." The matter-of-fact tone belied the seriousness of the situation.

Kingsley took a moment to regroup and then continued. "Did you attempt to murder Harry Snape-Potter?"

"No," came the surprising answer.

Several gasps could be heard in the adjacent chamber at the last response.

Kingsley tried again. "You were caught with a deadly poison, standing over Harry Snape-Potter. How can you say that you did not try to kill him?"

"He is not Harry Snape-Potter," came the disinterested answer.

"Then who is he?" asked the astonished Auror.

"He is Harry Potter. His marriage is not recognized by my master."

Tonks sighed. She was so glad that her partner was handling this. Hearing the latest, she was glad they were finally getting somewhere.

"Who is your master?" Kingsley pressed.

"Lucius Malfoy."

Draco's breath caught in his throat. Yes, he had suspected that his father was behind this, but still, he had hoped to be proven wrong in this instance. Closing his eyes, he was surprised by a gentle hand on his shoulder. Opening them again, Draco looked into the emerald eyes of his former adversary. Smiling in silent encouragement, Harry tried to let the blonde know that he was not being blamed by simply being related to Lucius. Draco smiled back. He knew that if anyone understood what it was like to be judged by one's relatives, it was Harry. Out of the corner of his eye, Draco absently noted his godfather's nod of approval at their actions.

Back in the interrogation room, the questioning continued with some names being revealed. No one was truly surprised when Dolores Umbridge was named as a crony of the senior Malfoy, but some of the other names came as a complete surprise. Several heretofore highly respected Ministry officials were named, as well as a few recent arrivals.

The manner in which Lucius Malfoy was managing to influence people and events while incarcerated in Azkaban was still a mystery. That was one of the things that the Aurors would need to discover in the course of their investigation.

Throughout the interrogation, Percy remained calm as he didn't have the internal fortitude to resist the powerful potion. Aside from the information being gleaned from the questioning, Severus was intrigued as always by the dynamics of the situation. Each person responded differently to the potion, and those differences were important in how the interrogators needed to treat the prisoner. Though Severus shuddered at the idea of having been born a muggle, he had often thought that if that unfortunate event had occurred, he would probably have been a scientist. Harry had certainly teased him often enough about his meticulous observations and note-taking habits.

Molly cried quietly as she heard the evidence that her darling Percy was indeed involved with malicious characters. Even up until this point, she had been holding out hope that this had all been some terrible mistake. But now, she was faced with his own admission that he was guilty of attempted murder.

Arthur frowned as he listened to the questioning of his third-born son. Once again he wondered if they could have done better with Percy, or if the problem was Percy himself. That was probably the question a myriad of heart-broken parents had asked over the years. Unfortunately, as long as there had been children, parents had been subject to the bitter disappointment of a child gone wrong. Silently he accepted the show of support from Albus as the older wizard gently placed a hand on the troubled father's shoulder.

Kingsley wrapped up the questioning as he realized that the Veritaserum was quickly wearing off. They had gotten all the information the young man had to offer anyway. It was obvious that Percy was a lower ranking person in the network. As such, he probably had never been trusted with too much information. Tonks stepped forward and took an arm of the prisoner while Kingsley grabbed the other. Together they marched him out of the room and led him back down to his cell.

Harry was infinitely glad for his mate's silent support. He didn't know if he could have done this without Severus there for him. Harry intellectually knew that this problem was not of his making, but that didn't stop the troubled young man from trying to find a way to blame himself anyway. Sighing gently, he leaned gratefully into the strong arms surrounding him. Harry had originally been surprised that his stoic and private husband had been willing to be seen comforting him in public, but Harry was still coming to terms with the fact that he was only now getting to meet and know the real Severus Snape-Potter.

Arthur turned the care of his wife over to his two oldest sons and left with Albus to help start the clean up of the mess they had uncovered in the Ministry ranks. Unfortunately the seasoned Ministry official knew that this meant plenty of overtime for the foreseeable future. Albus wondered what it would take to get the Ministry to begin to see what was happening under their very noses.

The young Auror assigned to stay with the family watched as his charges left. Charlie and his brother were supporting their aggrieved mother with the two girls following behind. While the others filed out of the room, the young man contemplated his instant attraction to the muscular Weasley son. He would have to find a reason to see the object of his desire again, Andrew Clive-Parker thought determinedly.

Auror Malus Bestian had silently stood in the corner as Percy Weasley was questioned. Fortunately his involvement in the matter was still undetected and he was free to continue his master's work. As the poor schmuck was led away, the young Auror smirked in amusement. After a couple of minutes he followed, whistling a jaunty tune and planning his next move.

The Flipside of Sanity - Chapter 32

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