After the war

Harry and Severus stood in the editors office at the Daily Prophet, watching as the first edition of the wizarding newspaper was rushed out to the people of the wizarding world. Within hours, a huge percentage of people would know what Fudge had done, the amount of blood he had on his hands from the final battle alone. The editor had been given a list of the fallen by the ministery, and Harry had had to fight tears when he read in black and white how many people would not be returning to the halls of Hogwarts, if it ever reopened.

"Not long now, and he'll start to pay for betraying everyone." Severus said softly, wrapping one arm around Harry's shoulders and holding him close.

"It's not enough though, it won't be enough while he is still breathing. Even then, unless we feed him to the Dementors, he'll be getting off lightly." Harry said bitterly.

"We will not stoop to their level Harry. When he dies, it may not be as quick and clean as he might like, but we're not going to torture him by using his own pets on him." Severus said firmly.

"I have an idea, how he can die. It will remind him of his master as his life fades away." Harry said with a cold smile.

"What do you have in mind?" Severus asked. Harry leaned close and whispered in his ear for a minute.

"Ah, yes. You are correct, that is actually very fitting." Severus agreed with a smile when Harry was done.

The door opened then, and Rita and the editor came in, the editor settling behind his desk, and Rita taking the one remaining chair.

"Well, the paper is on the way. What now?" The man asked, looking tired and old suddenly.

"We wait. We wait for the people to read the story and start to turn on him, we wait for him to try to run from justice, and then, he pays." Severus said quietly.

"And what of the memorial for the dead? The date was due to be announced tomorrow. They deserve to be recognized properly." He said.

"Yes, but they also deserve better than to have their memories sullied by the monster who helped to kill them. When Fudge has been brought down, the memorial can be done by the people who really cared for the fallen, the people who knew them, loved them. The memorial should be by the survivors." Severus said, his tone haughty and a dangerous glint in his eyes. Harry nudged him to settle down before he showed his fangs to the man.

"You two should probably head back to the school. This is the first place Fudge is going to come when he sees the story." Rita said, handing the box of original evidence back to them. They had copied it to make sure nothing was destroyed accidentaly in the printing process.

"Yes, you are probably correct." Severus agreed. He held out his hand to pull Harry to his feet, and they apparated out of there and back to the school.

When they got there, there was an owl sitting impatiently on the head of a statue near Severus's quarters. They could both see the Ministery seal on the back of the letter it carried, and Severus looked at the younger man.

"Don't touch it." He warned.

"I know." Harry said, stepping a little closer to the statue.

"Just leave it there, please." Harry said to the owl.

The bird dropped the letter, gave an amused hoot and flew away.

"Um, do you get the impression that the owl thought it was funny that we wouldn't touch the letter?" Harry asked.

"Yes. They are intelligent creatures Harry, and the ministery owls were probably aware of Fudge's betrayal long before anyone else. Where do you think Albus most likely got some of those letters from? An owl or two not returing from a message run in a time of war would not be unexpected."

"So they brought him some of the letters, then what?" Harry asked, wondering if the old man would hurt the owls that had brought him the letters.

"Well, I suspect that when the school owls and house elves are recalled, if...when...we reopen the school, there will be ones formerly from the ministery amoung the owls." Severus said as he destroyed the letter and opened the door to his quarters.

"What about house elves?"

"I have never heard of any elf other than Dobby turning on their master and warning someone of a plot. It is possible though." Severus agreed.

"How will we ever get the school reopen anyway? Most of the staff are dead, most of the students from the upper years too."

"I know, and I know it won't be easy, but we can hire more staff, Albus will probably have left lists of possibilities, and maybe even named his successor, amoung all the other school things, when we find the school documents. Albus seems to have thought of everthing else." Severus said a little sadly.

"Right." Harry said.

Dobby popped in then, his big eyes bright.

"There are people outside the ministery demanding Minister Fudge's head. One of the ministery elves told me he has fled." Dobby said in excitement.

"So, it's started, Fudge's fall." Severus said in satisfaction, pulling Harry into an impulsive kiss.

Harry didn't let the opportunity slip away, he wrapped his arms around the older man's neck and opened his mouth to the sinuous tongue, leaning into him.

They were both flushed and panting when they broke apart, and Severus felt heat rising in his cheeks. He had never been that impulsive before.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"I'm not." Harry said with a wicked grin.

"What?"

"Just becuase we agreed to wait to do anything else, doesn't mean I would have any objection to more of that." Harry said, the wicked grin getting bigger, earning an answering smile from the other man.

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More smoochies, yay!