After the war

Harry woke up the next morning, sleepily aware of the warm body at his side. He opened his eyes and was startled by the close proximity of obsidian eyes to his own.

"I trust you slept well?" Severus asked, his smooth voice laced with amusement.

"Yes, thank you." Harry said with a faint blush. He looked around the room briefly, but with no windows and no clock, it was impossible to judge what time it was.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"Time we were up. Dobby is bringing breakfast before he goes down to the shack to look for Rita Skeeter. He also brought your trunk down from the tower, so you should have all your clothes."

"Great." Harry said, spotting it in the corner of the room. He slipped out from under the warm covers, shivering in the chill air of the dungeons, and they both headed through to the much warmer living room.
Dobby popped in minutes later with a tray bearing tea and toast, and a bunch of different jam pots.

"Dobby will go to wait for Rita Skeeter now Sirs."

"It is a little early yet." Severus said.

"Dobby must make sure no one is hiding there to follow Dobby and Rita Skeeter."

"Very good Dobby, well thought out. Be careful, and you do remember what to do if there is someone other than Skeeter there?"

"Yes Sirs. Dobby must petrify them and come to fetch Sirs so that you may deal with them."

"Good." Severus said, and Dobby nodded once, popping out of sight.

Dobby had checked the area as soon as he arrived to make sure no one had come through early and hidden themselves, then he settled down out of the cold wind to wait for the reporter.
Exactly at the appointed hour, there was the familiar crack of apparition, and Rita Skeeter stood there, huddled inside a very warm coat, her massive bag slung over her shoulder. She was nervously fingering her wand in her pocket, half suspecting a trap laid by Fudge to get her out of the way. She knew that he had to be livid about her story on the dissapearance of the wizarding worlds young hero after the defeat of Voldemort, and her speculation on who could possibly have the power to hide someone who was so powerful.

"Miss Rita Skeeter." A voice said right behind her, and she shreiked in shock, spinning and fumbling her wand as she pulled it out of her pocket, hearing it clattering to the floor. The little house elf looked at her with big eyes, and picked up the wand without comment, politely handing it back to her.

"Miss Rita Skeeter will follow Dobby now. You are expected." He said.

He led her into the shack and into the tunnels that ran from there to the school. She shuddered at the filthy, cold tunnels, hearing soft skittering sounds that she was reluctant to even guess the causes of.

"Where are we going?" She demanded after stumbling along for ten minutes.

"Hogwarts." Dobby answered, pressing the knot of wood to freeze the whomping willow and leading her out, away from the tree, before using a long stick to unfreeze the willow.

"What are we doing here?" She asked as he led her inside.

"You are here because you want the story of a life time." A dark, smooth voice said. She spun and found herself face to face with Severus Snape.

"Oh God. Fudge said all the death eaters were dead. Are you going to kill me now?"

"We have no intention of killing you Ms. Skeeter. We are simply offering you the biggest story you are ever likely to come across in your carreer."

"We?" She asked.

"Severus and I." Another voice said, Harry Potter stepping up beside the dark potions master.

"Harry Potter. I thought you were being held prisoner. Is Snape working for Fudge now instead of Voldemort, holding you here against your will?"

"Oh, don't be so bloody melodramatic. One, I just told you that Severus and I had brought you here to offer you this story, and two, Severus is not a fucking death eater. He risked life and limb to spy on Mouldyshorts, gathering the information that helped make sure the bastard fell, and if you are just going to make the same assumptions as everyone else, then you are not the open minded person we need to give this to, in which case, we will obliviate you right now, and someone else can break this story."

"No, I'm open minded, I really am. What is this story?"

"We have proof that Fudge was in league with Voldemort." Severus said bluntly, smirking as she dropped her large handbag in shock.
She snapped her mouth shut and looked from one to the other of them.

"You're serious." She breathed.

"Very." Harry confirmed as they led her into the dungeons.

They reached the potion masters rooms and showed her inside, guiding her to a seat at the table, then Severus went to get the box Albus had given them.

The only sound in the room for the next hour and a half was the crackle of the fire, and the whisper of pages being turned over. When she was done, she put everything neatly back in the box and looked from one to the other of them.

"Will you use this to expose Fudge?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes." She said, her voice trembling slightly. She looked up at them, her eyes wide.

"I knew he was selfish, greedy and power hungry, but to betray his own people, the people who trusted him, he has to be brought down." She said, her voice firmer now.

"Will your editor publish? Go against Fudge?" Severus asked.

"Yes. The owner's son was on that battlefield, one of those who died because Fudge wouldn't send the aurors in. He'll publish."

"So the question is, when?" She asked.

"Soon, before the memorial. We can't allow him to stand up there and sully their memories with his lies." Harry said firmly.

"If we're quick, we can have it running tomorrow." She told them, reaching into her bag for her notepad.

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Sorry, the lure of Torchwood still holds me in its thrall.