Standing Against the Tides

Last time I looked at my driver’s license, it did not say J. K. Rowling. Yep, it’s just me, an unpaid and unknown aspiring writer. The characters of the Potterverse do not belong to me and I am making no money from this endeavor.

A/N: Spoilers through OotP. As I am still in denial, I refuse to acknowledge the events of HBP or DH at this point.

Unbeta’d as BabyGurl is busy with her own life.





Chapter 43 The Lion Unleashed

Madame Pomfrey decided that her patient had heard enough bad news for the time being and firmly told the two Gryffindors to leave her infirmary. Now. Before she began docking points from their House.

Cringing, the two bid the patient farewell before hastily leaving the hospital wing. One thing all the students of Hogwarts learned early on was to never cross the Medi-Witch.

Turning back to her patient, Poppy pulled out another vial and ordered the young wizard to drink it. Understanding that he would get nowhere by arguing with the witch, Harry wearily complied, grimacing as he downed the foul-tasting sleeping draught. While the Matron waved down the lights, the young Headmaster heard Hogwarts whisper in his head. Apparently the castle had also been anxious for him to awaken as it began to inform him of the condition of the wards on the school and the grounds. Harry fell asleep as the words of the castle washed over him, following him into his dreams.


Cornelius Fudge adjusted his lime green bowler and nodded at the Aurors who were assigned as his personal body guards. Without a word, the men fell into step behind the Minister as he made his way through the halls of the building and down to the Ministry’s Holding Cells.

As the Minister was immediately waved through each check point and his presence was acknowledged with a nod or sometimes with even a short bow, Cornelius felt his sense of self-importance rise just that much more. He reflected that it was good to see that there were some at least who understood his importance in their world. Yes, it was good to be the Minister.

Stopping at last in front of the cell that held one of the men who threatened his position, the Minister turned to the Auror who was standing guard duty. “You there,” Fudge announced, leaning forward to read the man’s badge. “Auror Ainsworth, is it? Yes, well. Have the prisoners been giving you any trouble?”

Standing smartly at attention, the Auror smirked. “No, sir. They are fed nutrient potions twice a day and the bodily evacuation spells do the rest. Other than that, the Secure Spells keep them nice and docile in their cells,” he replied.

“Good, good,” Fudge smiled. “I would like to speak to this Death Eater for a moment now. I thought he would like to hear what the fates hold for him. If you would be so kind as to lower the wards on the door?”

“Very well, Minister,” Auror Ainsworth answered. Clive did as instructed before turning away smiling. He was sure that Minister Fudge would have nothing good to say to that particular prisoner. Yes, Snape deserved to have the screws turned a bit more on him.

Making sure that his Aurors were nearby just in case the unthinkable happened, Cornelius stepped inside the cell. Gathering his courage and puffing out his chest, he looked down at the man who was lying restrained on the hard bed.

“Snape, you will be happy to know that your trial is set for early next week and then you will be sent to Azkaban where you will await the Dementor’s Kiss. I wish I could tell you that the outcome will be different, but you see the evidence is just too overwhelmingly against you. I’m sorry my boy, but I thought you should know,” Cornelius informed the man using his best imitation of a concerned politician. The Minister began to turn away when he stopped to add, “Oh, and Snape? Don’t worry about your young lover. We will be taking care of him as well. Good bye for now, my dear man!” And with that parting shot, Fudge left a very angry Potions Master and very much ex-Death Eater to fume helplessly in his cell.


Rita Skeeter smiled as she sat back in her chair. Running a manicured nail along the edge of her lip, the reporter could only imagine the shock waves this latest article would send throughout the Wizarding World once it hit the streets in a couple of days. Oh, she was surely going to be awarded a Golden Quill Award for this fine piece of work. Even better, perhaps she should arrange to be there and see for herself just how Cornelius Fudge will react to seeing the truth in print. What a wonderful opportunity for a follow-up story that would be…


The next time Harry woke up, it was to see a gaggle of red-heads surrounding him. Blindly reaching for his glasses, he was reassured to find them in their usual spot on the table next to his hospital bed. Once he could see, the young wizard noted that his visitors included Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny Weasley as well as Hermione.

Hermione sat on the edge of the bed and held her friend’s hand as he waited to hear what news they had brought him this time. Smiling reassuringly at the young man, she leaned forward to brush her lips against his forehead.

“Hello, Harry,” Fred said, grinning at his adopted brother’s blushing face.

George chipped in from the other side of the bed, “Glad to see…”

“That you’re back…,” Fred added.

“Among the living once again,” George finished, causing poor Harry’s head to swivel back and forth.

Chuckling, Charlie cut in before his brothers could further torment their adopted brother, “That’s enough, you two. Give the poor guy a chance to recover his balance.”

Watching the young man for a minute, the dragon handler let Harry do just that before he got to the reason they were there. “Harry, I’m sure that you know about Professor Snape’s predicament by now,” Charlie started. Seeing the young Headmaster tense at the mention of his soul mate, the ginger-haired man went on, “We’ve been working on discrediting Fudge and countering the lies that he has been spreading about you and Snape. I think you’ll be happy to hear that we’ve put your old friend Rita Skeeter to use once again. The newspaper article she wrote for us is due to hit the stands first thing tomorrow morning and we thought you might like the chance to personally deliver Fudge his copy.”

“Is it that good? Can we trust Skeeter to have told the truth?” Harry asked.

“I believe so,” Charlie assured the young man. “We had her give us an advance copy of the article so we could approve it before it hit the presses. She really was quite cooperative.”

“Oi, Harry. That reminds me, you might want to see what the article says before we go see Fudge tomorrow,” Ron spoke up, holding out a parchment for his best mate to read.

Nodding, Harry took the article with his free hand, and set it down on the table. Sighing, the wizard decided that Hermione wasn’t going to be letting him have his other hand back any time soon. The girl had a death grip on the poor appendage.

“Thanks, Ron. I’ll read it later. What else do I need to know?” he asked, looking back at Charlie, who seemed to be in charge of things at the moment.

Smiling, the dragon handler conjured a chair before sitting down. “I thought you’d never ask. First, you should know that Mum wants to be there as well and I expect that both she and Hermione will have a few choice words for the Minister. I know from experience that it’s best to stay out of the way when Mum is fired up about something, and from what Ron was saying about Hermione’s reaction to Fudge’s behavior, I think that goes ditto for her. We might as well just stand back and watch the fireworks. And I’m sure that you remember that Ginny throws a mean Bat Bogey Hex. Also, Rita Skeeter has asked to be present when we confront the Minister. Now I know that she has her own personal reasons for wanting to be there, but I think we can use this to our advantage, Harry,” Charlie finished.

Madame Pomfrey had quietly joined the group surrounding her patient while they talked and she now spoke, “I too shall be going with you, Mr. Potter. I hesitate to think what shape Professor Snape is in after being in the care of the Ministry’s Healers.” Seeing the look of distress on the young Headmaster’s face at the mention of his soul mate’s state of being, the Medi-Witch hastened to reassure her patient, “Now don’t you worry, Mr. Potter. The Ministry knows better than to actually mistreat their prisoners. But that is not to say that your mate won’t be better off here rather than there.”

The dragon handler chuckled again. “See, Harry? With five witches on our side Fudge doesn’t stand a chance. Tomorrow promises to be an eventful day. So I think we should let you get some rest now.” With that, the young man herded the other red-heads and Hermione Granger out of the Hospital Wing so the Headmaster would be ready for the confrontation with the Minister.

Sighing as he watched his visitors leave, Harry glanced over to the copy of the article that they had left for him to read. Deciding that he wouldn’t be able to rest just yet, he figured he might as well see what the witch Skeeter had written. Unrolling the parchment, the young man settled back and began reading.


Minister of Magic Misuses Power!

By Special Correspondent Rita Skeeter

This reporter was shocked to learn that we have been lied to by our Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Minister Fudge has lied to the press in an attempt to taint Harry Potter’s good name and has falsely imprisoned the Chosen One’s soul mate. To be sure, these are serious allegations. However, I have been able to uncover ample evidence of Minister Fudge’s many wrong doings.

First and foremost, despite the claims made by the Minister himself, I have learned that Cornelius Fudge was in fact hiding in the bowels of the Ministry during the time of the Great Battle of Hogwarts.

“Minister Fudge was acting irrationally and ordered the Ministry on lock-down,” a Ministry employee spoke on condition of anonymity as he feared retribution from the Minister. Indeed, this reporter found that many Ministry workers seemed to fear angering Cornelius Fudge. Could this fear be based in the very real threat of a mad man?

Further investigation did indeed back up that Ministry employee’s claim that Fudge had ordered a lock-down, thus preventing anyone from entering or leaving the Ministry during that time. As such, the Minister’s bold claims that he was personally present at the Great Battle of Hogwarts and thus instrumental in the victory against You-Know-Who are seriously in doubt.

This reporter also learned that when the Minister and his Aurors did finally show up at Hogwarts after the battle had ended, his first order was to have his Aurors attack a wizard from behind. Now this must be rated as cowardice in any circumstances, but what makes this truly apprehensible is that this particular wizard had just finished fighting bravely alongside the Chosen One and had been hailed a hero for his bravery and loyalty to the Light by all who were actually present during the Great Battle.

To add insult to injury, Cornelius Fudge then ordered that this war hero be taken immediately into custody along with the Death Eaters. The Minister refused to listen to reason and actually threatened the Deputy-Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall, and several students with imprisonment if they did not stand aside and allow the Aurors to take the unconscious man.

Now, I know that my dear readers are wondering just who this man was that Fudge was so desperate to arrest. It is none other than Severus Snape, Potions Master and esteemed Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Severus Snape is also, as you may recall, the soul mate of Harry Potter, and though the Professor was in the distant past a Death Eater, he has been a devoted spy for the Light for many years and in fact no longer bears the Dark Mark.

Just why is the Minister holding Potions Master Snape in custody if he does not bear the Dark Mark? What does Cornelius Fudge fear about this man? This reporter has to wonder if the real reason behind Severus Snape’s arrest has more to do with his soul mate than with his Death Eater past. It has been a very ill-kept secret that Minister Fudge has wished to get Harry Potter under his control for some time now. Certainly holding the Chosen One’s soul mate hostage in the Ministry Holding Cells would be a huge bargaining chip for the paranoid and seemingly out-of-control Minister.

One also has to wonder just what the Minister intends to do regarding Harry Potter. If Minister Fudge has gone to all this effort to detain an innocent man, what will he be willing to do to our Chosen One? Cornelius Fudge’s actions point to a man who is very clearly afraid of the power and popularity wielded by Harry Potter.

This reporter must ask if it is time that Minister Cornelius Fudge is removed from office. His actions as of late have shown him to only have his best interests at heart rather than those of the people. Perhaps it is time for the Wizarding World to stand up for our Chosen One and his mate. After all that they have done to rid our world of the great evil that was He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, we surely owe them that much.

For a true accounting of the Great Battle of Hogwarts from those who were actually there, turn to page 2.


Putting the parchment aside, Harry breathed out. From what he had read here, it was fairly easy to piece together at least some of the lies that Fudge had been spreading about Severus and him. Sighing in relief that Charlie had been right in his assessment of Rita’s article, Harry held a little more hope that tomorrow’s confrontation would end in their favor and he would have his soul mate back where he belonged.

Just then a House Elf popped in with a tray of food and the young Headmaster dutifully ate a bit before he pushed the tray aside. Taking off his glasses, the tired wizard resigned himself to a long, restless night.


Harry woke early the next morning, despite having spent much of the night tossing and turning in the small hospital bed. What little sleep he had managed to get had been punctuated with dreams of a laughing Cornelius Fudge perched on the bodies of Dementor-kissed Death Eaters while Severus was locked in a cell that was composed of copies of The Daily Prophet. Shaking his head to clear it of the remaining cobwebs, Harry was just getting ready to get out of bed when Madame Pomfrey came into the room.

“Oh, you’re up already, Headmaster. Good,” she said as she handed him a pile of his clothing. “No time to dawdle. Go get cleaned up and changed and meet me back here in fifteen minutes.”

Well used to the brusque but kind manner of the Medi-Witch, Harry hastened to follow her instructions. Feeling remarkably refreshed after his shower and much more comfortable in his own clothing, Harry returned to find that the witch had set up a table with breakfast laid out on it for him. Smiling his thanks, he sat down to eat while Madame Pomfrey continued to move about, filling her bag with potions and medical supplies. Gulping as the implication of just why she might need those supplies hit him, Harry pushed the remainder of his food away. Kind blue eyes met his troubled ones and the older woman smiled tightly.

“I’m sure these will prove to be unnecessary, my dear. However, I would be remiss if I were not prepared. Severus is a strong wizard, Harry. He will be fine, you’ll see,” the Medi-Witch assured the worried young man.


The two were soon ready to leave and as planned met the others in the entrance hall of the castle. Minerva stood by, her lips drawn tightly as she attempted to control her emotions.

“Take care, Headmaster. Remember, if anything goes wrong, call on Fawkes. He will come to you,” the older witch advised her young employer. “Now be off with you and bring back our Potions Master,” she finished gruffly, turning to hide her tears.

“I promise, Professor,” Harry said quietly, before he too turned and trudged down the hill to the gates of the school. Steadfastly ignoring the fact that the last time he had been out here was when he and the others had faced old snake-face, the young wizard instead focused on getting to the Ministry so he could get his mate back.


Cornelius Fudge nodded absently at his secretary as he stepped into his office. Taking off his bowler, he placed the hat in its customary place on the walnut coat rack behind the door. The Minister sat down and ran his hands over the supple dragon hide-covered chair. Breathing in deeply the rich aromas of the expensive dragon hide upholstery and the antique walnut furniture, he smiled at his good fortune. All around him were several one-of-a-kind and expensive pieces of art, appropriately signifying that this office held an important person. Cornelius allowed himself to appreciate for a moment the perks of being the most powerful wizard in Great Britain.


Harry grumbled as he gingerly picked himself out of the tangled pile of Weasleys, having been dumped unceremoniously on the ground by the Portkey. Merlin, how he hated those things! He glared at the Medi-Witch and the Weasley matriarch, both who had managed to arrive upright and were now snickering at the unfortunate youth lying about on the ground. Untangling himself from the others, Harry stood and waited for his family and friends to do the same. Once straightened out, the members of the group made their way to the entrance of the Ministry building. Harry saw that Rita Skeeter was waiting with a photographer, who promptly snapped a picture of him as they reached the reporter.

“Well, Harry, are you ready to face the Minister of Magic and put him in his place?” Rita asked, Quick Quotes Quill at the ready.

Harry scowled, but reminded himself that they needed the woman’s help if they were going to get Severus out of here. “I’m ready to remind the Minister that he works for the Wizarding public and not for his own glory,” he corrected the reporter.

Rita smiled at the answer while her quill scribbled furiously. This meeting promised to be quite a spectacle and no doubt worthy of yet another front page story in The Daily Prophet.

Now two people stronger, the group passed through the security check-point, getting their wands checked before entering one of the lifts. Several inter-office memos flew in after them, hovering over their heads as they rode the lift to the level housing the Minister of Magic’s office.

The lift door opened and Harry was surprised to see Kingsley Shacklebolt waiting for them to step out.

“Headmaster, good day,” the tall Auror greeted him, while nodding to the rest of his companions. “Mr. Weasley thought it might be prudent for me to accompany you on your visit to see my boss.”

Harry smiled his thanks to the Auror and made a mental note to himself to remember to thank the Weasley patriarch later for his thoughtfulness. Feeling all that more confident, the young wizard strode down the hallway with his odd entourage following closely behind.


Lydia Berkshire tapped her wand to her nails, setting the color before holding her hands out. The witch was interrupted in the admiration of her work by a large group bursting through the door. Scowling, Lydia gasped when she recognized the Man-who-Lived-to-Save-Them-All leading the assemblage. Dumbfounded, she could only stare as he said, “We are here to see Minister Fudge.”

The stunned woman simply sat there for a few moments, mouth open wide as she attempted to process why Harry Potter would be here in her office. A few snickers from a pair of look-alike redheads finally snapped her out of her stupor. “Uh, do you have an appointment with the Minister?” she asked as she flipped hurriedly through the day’s list of meetings.

“No, but he will see us,” the young man replied confidently, his green eyes flashing defiantly as the air seemed to crackle and spark around him.

Shivering, the young witch realized just why both You-Know-Who and her boss feared this young wizard. Merlin knew she didn’t get paid enough to stand up to the likes of him, so Lydia simply nodded and pointed to the door to the Minister’s office. Let him face the Savior of the Wizarding World, she decided shakily.

Harry smiled winningly at the young woman before putting his game face back on. He had a wayward mate to rescue after all.

Not bothering to knock, Harry pushed the door to Fudge’s office open. Startled, Cornelius looked up and yelled, “Potter! What is the meaning of this?”

The young man in question glared at the pompous fool and spoke slowly just to make sure he was understood, “You have something that belongs to me, Minister.”

“What are you talking about, Potter?” Cornelius made to stand, but an irate Molly Weasley thrust a copy of The Daily Prophet at his chest, effectively knocking him back into his chair.

Chuckling, Harry replied, “I suggest you take a look at your morning paper that was just hand delivered to you. Perhaps the lead article might help to clear things up for you, Minister.”

Ignoring the young man’s insulting tone when he used his much deserved title, Minister Fudge reluctantly opened the paper to see his own face scowling back at him with the headline, ”Minister of Magic Misuses Power!” emblazoned below the Wizarding photo.

His face turning red, the rotund politician clenched the offending paper in his hands and opened his mouth to speak. However, before he could get any words out he was cut off.

“If you know what is best for you, Cornelius Fudge, you will sit right there and finish reading that article,” Molly Weasley screeched in his ear.

Remembering just how volatile the woman could be, the Minister meekly did as he was told while he wondered just how worse this day could get. Reading the inflammatory words before him, Cornelius realized with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that things could indeed get worse. Much, much worse. His mind went into overdrive as he continued to read, trying to imagine just what favors he could call in from his various contacts. If he was going to save his career, the former Hufflepuff would have to borrow a bit of Slytherin cunning. Unfortunately, it seemed that the young man standing before him had him severely outclassed in that department.

Standing off to the side of the group, Rita Skeeter watched the emotions play across the politician’s face as he read the words that would surely end his career. Her Quick Quotes Quill was busily scratching away on the enchanted notepad, recording the events as those assembled waited for the Minister to finish reading the article. She smiled as her photographer made sure to get some good shots of Fudge’s enraged face for her next article.

Molly and Hermione were just itching to pounce on the man who had dared to threaten one of their own and his mate. If he thought they would just stand by and allow him to get away with it then the pompous wind bag had another think coming.

Cornelius was shaking by the time he reached the end of the damning article. How was he going to talk his way out of this one? And what was going to happen when the Wizarding public saw this article? What could he possibly say to counteract these truths? Bloody hell, but this was a rotten time for Lucius Malfoy to have been shown to be a Death Eater.

Clearing his throat, the Minister began the useless task of trying to talk his way out of this mess. “Erm, now I can see how this might look to you, but I can assure you that there has been nothing irregular or out of the ordinary done here. All the standard procedures were followed,” he stated a bit shakily.

“Nothing irregular!” Molly shrieked. “If this is standard operating procedure then we are in a world of trouble. And the trouble begins and ends with you,” she proclaimed, poking her finger in his chest to emphasize each word.

“You have illegally arrested an innocent man, who I might add is widely regarded as a war hero, and are even now holding him in Ministry custody all because of your own private agenda, Minister,” Hermione cut in before the man could even think of rebutting the fiery redheaded woman. “As per The Stamford Legal Reformations of 1843, section seven, paragraph five, ‘no person shall be arrested without due process, first determining whether said person is in fact a threat to society.’ And further, paragraph eight, ‘no person shall be detained without proper cause and shall not be held for an unreasonable length of time without a fair trial to determine innocence or guilt.’ As you can see, you have failed miserably on both counts,” the young witch scolded the man.

As the women continued to verbally flay the Minister, Charlie took the time to watch the others in the room. He could see that Harry was enjoying the discomfort the man was suffering at the hands of his friend and erstwhile mother. Looking back to the corner, the dragon handler had to stifle a laugh when he caught sight of the twins. The two had conjured a bucket of popcorn and were happily tossing the popped kernels into each other’s mouths. Charlie also noticed that they were surreptitiously placing some of their prank products in various nooks and crannies around the office. Shaking his head, he decided against saying anything. As far as he was concerned, Fudge deserved all the trouble the twins could dish out.

After several long, loud moments, Harry raised a hand, effectively silencing the women. “Well, Minister,” Harry prodded, “what will it be? Are you going to be reasonable and release Severus Snape? Or should I let these women continue to harangue you?”

“No, no, please call off your hell hounds,” Cornelius begged, earning himself a sharp thwack across the head for his comment.

“Ginerva Weasley, was that necessary?” Molly demanded of her daughter as the girl wiped her hand on her jeans.

Shrugging, Ginny replied, “He should really know better than to call a lady such names, Mum.”

“True, but a lady shouldn’t stoop to physical violence to make her point. Next time just use your Bat Bogey Hex instead,” Molly advised, throwing a glare at the offending wizard.

Harry cut in, once again addressing the wayward Minister. “As you can see, they have no intention of stopping. Unless, of course, you are willing to do the right thing for once,” he remarked.

His face now quite red, Cornelius suddenly realized that he did indeed have a trump card up his sleeve. Grimly smiling, the Minister replied, “What I can do is call security and have the lot of you arrested for harassment and threatening a public official.”

Looking around, he was surprised to see that his threat had not seemed to upset the intruders. Indeed, they were all smiling at him.

“You think I am joking? Just wait until the Aurors come in here and you will see that you can’t get away with this sort of thing!” he fairly screeched.

Stepping out of the corner where he had been positioned, Kingsley pushed his way to the front of the group. “No need to call the Aurors, Minister,” he told his boss, his deep voice reverberating in the cramped room. “Not unless you wish them to come here and arrest you for gross misconduct and abuse of power. I think I have heard enough to warrant calling a full investigation into your actions as Minister.”

The smile slid from Cornelius’ face as the implications of the senior Auror’s words hit him. “But, but I’m the Minister!” he protested. “You have no right to investigate me! It’s these hooligans who are the ones at fault. And it’s this young man,” he claimed, pointing at Harry, “who should be locked up in Azkaban! He is a danger to us all, I tell you!”

“What I can see is that you have been mounting a campaign to ruin this young wizard’s good name,” Kingsley rejoined. “And he has a valid claim that you are holding his soul mate without due cause. I have been in to see Severus Snape and I have personally checked his left arm. He does not bear the Dark Mark and is not a Death Eater.”

Cornelius gasped, “No, that can’t be! He is a Death Eater. He showed me the Dark Mark on his arm a few years ago. This is utter nonsense!”

“Well, that fact is easily established, Minister,” Kingsley answered. “I would say that a little trip down to the Ministry Holding Cells is in order so that you can see for yourself that you are holding an innocent man along with the real Death Eaters.”

Cornelius took out a handkerchief and nervously wiped his brow. If Shacklebolt said that there was no mark on Snape’s arm, then there was no mark. What was he to do now? Perhaps it was time to back down and focus on damage control?

“Very well, Auror Shacklebolt. If you can absolutely verify that Snape does not bear the Dark Mark anywhere on his body, then we must release him. However, I am making you personally responsible for the outcome,” Fudge reluctantly capitulated.

Harry smiled as the twins cheered in the background. He was getting his mate back.