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Independence Day	By : Tumshie Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Harry/Hermione Views: 41288 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and other canon characters belong
to JKR I�m only having some fun

Chapter 16 Retribution.

Snape Cottage, Spinners End.

From the outside the cottage looked perfectly ordinary, it
blended with it�s neighbours as it had to. Snape had inherited it from his
Muggleborn father, it still hurt him that although he was the eldest male
grandchild, that the Prince Manor had passed to a Pureblood half cousin. The
Princes despised Halfbloods and Muggleborns even more than the Malfoys. Fortunately
for him, there was an old Pureblood family called Snape, so no one in Slytherin
took any notice of his surname. Lucius certainly wouldn�t have named him as
Draco�s Godfather had he known.

Severus Snape looked round his study with a measured eye and
took in the luxurious furnishings. He had planned this room meticulously using
the best both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds could supply. His favourite
armchair, a Lay-Z-boy recliner was to one side of the fireplace, on the other
side was another recliner. He had charmed both of them to recline automatically
and had replaced the Lay-Z-boy�s phone with a view screen that showed him
anyone approaching his front door.

The walls were lined with dark oak bookcases which were
filled with books of all descriptions, some of them he had never read, they had
been bought to fill space, but they weren�t just any old books, they were
Special Editions, First Editions and Rare Books. The books he was proudest of
owning were his Potions Books, he doubted that anyone had a more extensive
collection. A lot of the potions listed were lost to the modern Wizarding
world, some were still spoken about in hushed tones but many others had passed
beyond myth and legend.

�One day,� he thought �One day I�ll �reinvent�
some of these and be recognised for the genius I am, all I have to do is make
sure none of them are registered at the Patent Office.�

He sat and contemplated things, he had invested well over
the years, had put some money into a Potion Ingredients company, which he had
then recommended to be the sole supplier to Hogwarts, but most of the money had
been spent on his book collection. He had enough money put by to not have to
worry about work in the immediate future, and when money did become an issue he
could always �invent� some new potion or other.

As he thought about his fall from grace, an unseen bell
chimed letting him know an owl had arrived with the morning�s mail. With some
trepidation he approached the owl which bore the Gringotts Crest and removed
the attached scroll. He looked nervously at the scroll which bore the seal of
Gringotts and opened it.

Dear Mr. Snape,

(that really rankled, as he no longer taught at Hogwarts he
could no longer use the honorific of Professor.)

When you took your position on the Board of the Potter
Trust, you signed an oath that you would do nothing that would harm the Trust
or anyone of the Potter line.

Your recent actions in firing a harmful spell at Mr.
Harry Potter, means that you are in breach of this section of the contract, as
such, all monies received by yourself in payment for your services to the
Potter Trust are now forfeit.

Please arrange for the transfer of these funds at your
earliest convenience. If this transfer is not completed within five days of you
receiving this letter, your Gringotts account will be frozen and the money will
be reclaimed through the Wizarding Courts.

Please note: This letter is Charmed to inform the Head of
the Potter Trust when it is opened.

Griphook

Account Manager

Gringotts Bank.

As his anger overcame him, he tore the parchment to shreds
and threw it into the air. He looked on in astonishment as the tiny pieces of
paper landed on the table and reformed into the single page of the letter, an
extra line of writing appeared on the page. �This letter is written on
guaranteed indestructible parchment, available from Flourish & Blotts and
all other good outlets.�

The wail of anguish from the cottage sent the local dogs and
cats scurrying for shelter and several homing pigeons flying overhead took an extra
three days to reach their destinations.

Severus Snape slumped into one of the kitchen chairs and
held his head in his hands, he didn�t have 150,000 Galleons to hand, he
couldn�t even raise the money quickly enough by selling his books and shares.
His liquid assets were around 50,000 Galleons, he thought of his options, and
being fond of his skin decided to empty his account and disappear to mainland
Europe.

D.M.L.E.

Amelia Bones lifted the pile of mail her secretary had
sorted for her, the pair had established a good working relationship over the
years and the post was always handed to her with the important letters on the
top. What surprised her this morning was a letter with the Hogwarts Crest
sitting on top of the pile, a quick scan to the signature at the bottom
revealed it was from her niece, Susan.

This intrigued her, normally Susan sent her correspondence
to her home, and if for any reason she did write to her at her office, it would
have been placed on the bottom of the pile. Adjusting her monocle, she read the
letter.

Dear Aunt Amelia,

I know I don�t normally write to you at your office but I
have some urgent news for you.

Yesterday at the start of the 6^th year
N.E.W.T. Defence Class, Professor Snape fired a silent Diffindo Curse at Harry
Potter and Hermione Granger. It was only Harry�s quick reflexes that saved him
or Hermione from injury. Unfortunately a 3^rd year Hufflepuff student
who was down the corridor wasn�t as lucky. Lou Costello was hit by the curse
and sustained a nasty cut to his arm.

Rumour has it that Professor Snape was dismissed from his
post due to this and for terrorising other students in his classes. Auror
Shacklebolt has apparently been appointed as our new Defence Professor although
I assume you already know this.

I�ll write again soon,

Susan.

Amelia Bones removed her monocle as she did when she was
contemplating things and polished it slowly as she sorted out her thoughts. She
put the letter from Susan in her �action� tray and started on the second.

Dear Director Bones,

It is with deep regret I tender my� resignation from the Auror Corp. I would
have worked the normal four weeks notice but the Personnel Department tell me I
am due four weeks leave, therefore please find enclosed my Identification Badge
and Warrant Card.

Yours sincerely,

Kingsley Shacklebolt.

The next letter had her reaching for a
stress relieving potion.

Dear Director Bones,

The W.E.A. is deeply concerned with recent happenings at
Hogwarts and at the request of the Board of Directors would ask you to conduct
an inquiry into the recent conduct of Madame Delores Umbridge, ex-Professor
Snape and Professor Dumbledore.

Yours sincerely

Professor Tofty

W.E.A.

The following one had her wishing the potion was stronger.

Report into the Conduct of Auror Shacklebolt at 12
Grimmauld Place.

As per your request we have investigated the conduct of
Auror Shacklebolt during the incident where he was injured while at 12
Grimmauld Place. We interviewed all those present at this time. Our findings
are as follows:
1. Auror
  Shacklebolt was at 12 Grimmauld Place in company with the organisation
  known as The Order of the Phoenix, he was supposed to be patrolling
  Hogsmeade Village at this time. His patrol partner was unaware of Auror
  Shacklebolt�s absence as they had split up to patrol opposite ends of the
  village.
2. Auror
  Shacklebolt used aggressive language toward the owner of the property and
  drew his wand without due reason.
3. Auror
  Shacklebolt was injured by the owner of the property. The action the owner
  took has been deemed to be justified and within the parameters of minimal
  force. No magic was used by the owner of the property.
After taking these points into consideration and
reviewing Auror Shacklebolt�s disciplinary record, we recommend that Auror
Shacklebolt is put on administrative duties with immediate effect and not
allowed to return to frontline duties without an extensive period of
retraining. We also recommend that Auror Shacklebolt remains in his current
grade for a minimum of three years before he is considered for advancement.

Rufus Scrimgeour,

Disciplinary Panel.

The remainder of her mail was the customary
interdepartmental memos flagging up areas that may be of interest, budgetary
restrictions and the many other pieces of information that it was deemed necessary
to the running of the Wizarding Civil Service.

She quickly briefed her secretary and asked her to set up a
meeting with Dumbledore at Hogwarts and left to speak with Tofty.

Headmaster�s Office, Hogwarts

Albus Dumbledore was going over the events of the previous
day, he�d been forced into dismissing Snape by his Senior Staff who, in spite
of his efforts to sow distrust, seemed to be working together, he couldn�t
understand why he was losing his grip on things.

Just at that his fireplace roared into life and a woman�s
head appeared. �Message for Headmaster Dumbledore from Director Bones� the head
said. �Director Bones will be visiting you to talk about ex-Professor Snape at
11:00 this morning. Please ensure the following students are available. Mr.
Costello and those who were with him when he was injured, Mr. Potter and Ms.
Granger. She will also require to speak to the remainder of the 6^th
year Defence class along with Madame Pomfrey, Professors McGonagall, Sprout and
Flitwick.�

He recognised Amelia�s secretary and replied, �I�m sorry,
this is an internal matter, it is not under the jurisdiction of the D.M.L.E.
please inform Madame Bones that her visit is quite unnecessary.�

�I�m sorry, Professor Dumbledore, but the W.E.A. has
requested that the D.M.L.E. should look into the allegations against your
former Potions Professor, several other complaints have been lodged against him
in the past twenty-four hours. Director Bones will be with you at eleven a.m.�

As soon as the secretary�s head disappeared from his
fireplace, Dumbledore felt that now familiar tic starting in his left eye. He
sat in the Lotus position and tried to clear his mind and calm himself down, he
wasn�t successful as an owl carrying the written confirmation of the
investigation into Severus Snape arrived from the Board of Directors.

Revisiting the Dursleys.

Dudley Dursley was in a world of pain, his �owner,� Razor,
had been moved to an adult prison and in the following power struggle he�d
tried to cash in on Razor�s reputation, but none of Razor�s gang would have
anything to do with him, no one was willing to follow a �ponce.�

The outcome of it all was that in a mass brawl he had been
deliberately targeted and his genitals had been crushed by the many kicks and
punches he had received. He had tried to get into the good books of the Warders
by turning grass, but as he was incapable of subtlety, he had been overheard
and had had to be held in protective custody.

Vernon on the other hand was in a world of bliss, the
taunting of Tonks and Hestia Jones had driven him right over the edge. The
final straw had been when Tonks had appeared as a floating head while morphed
to look like Harry.

As Vernon screeched �FREEEEAAAAK, THE FREAKS HERE, THE
FREAKS HERES, LOOK, LOOK, THE FREAKS HERE, THE FREAKS HERE, THE FREAKS HERES,
THE FREAKS HERE.� An already overstrained blood vessel in his brain burst. The
resultant brain damage left drooling as the only thing he could do without any
assistance.

Petunia had given up on Little Whinging, she had sold the
house and moved to live with Marge, who took her in out of pity (and the large
sum of money she paid for rent.) Her perfect life was ruined, she spent her day
helping clean out the dogs and drinking gin. Her �pretty� dresses had been
replaced by work clothes and the local people thought she was Marge�s live-in
lover. The truth was the opposite, the two women could hardly stand to be in
the same house let alone the same room as each other.

W.E.A. Professor Tofty�s Office.

Professor Tofty welcomed his old friend Amelia Bones into
his office and gestured to one of the armchair�s circling a coffee table. With
a wave of his wand, a selection of cakes and biscuits and two cups of tea
appeared on the table.

�Orange Peko alright for you?� he asked

�That�s fine, anything�s better than the Earl Grey
Dumbledore serves.� She replied, �Now talking of Dumbledore, what�s going on?�

�Well a Mr. Costello, filed a complaint against Severus
Snape with the Board of Directors. From what we can gather, his son was hit by
a badly aimed spell fired through an open classroom door. While that is a
concern, our main problem is that if the spell had hit it�s intended target the
results could have been fatal. The fact that Dumbledore dismissed Snape before
the Board could investigate is giving us great cause for concern, normal
practice would have been to suspend him pending an investigation by the Board.�

�I�ll take Aurors Tonks and Jones with me, both are young
enough to relate easier to the student age group. Now I have information for
you, ex-Auror Shacklebolt has been hired to replace Snape, he was recently in
front of a disciplinary panel due to an alleged misuse of power. If he hadn�t
resigned, he was due to be removed from frontline duties. I�m not sure if he�s
the right person to be teaching.�

�So you wouldn�t have recommended him then?� asked Tofty.

�Certainly not, he has an attitude problem and sails too
close to the edge, he has had more complaints against him than any other Auror
in the past ten years. That and he�s a part of Dumbledore�s not so secret
organisation.�

�Fine, deal with the Snape situation first, if you can get
any more evidence against Umbridge, please do so, leave Shacklebolt for the
time being, if what you say about him is true, he�ll trip himself up.�

Amelia returned to her office and contacted Scrimgeour.
�Rufus, you�re in charge for the time being, in an emergency contact me at
Hogwarts, I�ll have Aurors Tonks and Jones with me. Put a watch on Severus
Snape, he�s under investigation for an alleged assault at Hogwarts, the details
are in the file on my desk.�

Main Gates Hogwarts

Amelia Bones, with her Auror escort were met at the School
Gate by Hagrid. As per his instructions from Dumbledore he led them up to the
school. But as we all know Hagrid isn�t exactly the most discreet person on the
planet and he supplied them with the latest gossip.

�They say Snape was trying to kill Harry Potter yesterday,
he�s always had it in for Harry and his friends, always picking on anyone who
wasn�t a Slytherin, especially Gryffindors, why he even accused Harry of
helping Sirius Black escape when Harry was locked in the Infirmary. That
Umbridge was a nasty piece of work too, had Aurors fire stunners at Professor
McGonagall when she objected to them trying to arrest me.�

The three women tuned out most of Hagrid�s ramblings, only
taking notice when he said anything of consequence. The thing that Amelia took
most notice of was.

�Now Harry Potter, what a great kid, I took him to his
Aunt�s house that night, Dumbledore�s orders. Sirius wanted to take him as he
was his Godfather, but Dumbledore said Harry was to go to his Aunt. Don�t
reckon Sirius would have chased Pettigrew if he�d had Harry to care for.�

Headmaster�s Office

Dumbledore sucked on a lemon drop as he watched the group
walk up from the gates, once they had entered the front door the portraits kept
him informed of their progress through the school. He�d met with his Professors
and Madame Pomfrey and informed them of the investigation, he asked them to do
what was best for the school and hoped that his hint would be taken, oh how
wrong he was.

The Interviews.

The first people interviewed were the Professors and Madame
Pomfrey, Madame Pomfrey testified about the injury to Mr. Costello and how
lucky he was to have sustained such a light injury. Professor McGonagall gave
testimony about how she�d been confronted by an angry delegation of 6^th
years complaining about how Professor Snape had attacked a student without
warning and had tried to belittle Harry and Hermione in front of the whole
class.

�Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger made no complaint?� asked
Hestia.

�No, it�s sad to say but experience would have taught him
that it was useless to complain against Professor Snape�

�Why is that?� asked Tonks.

�You�ll need to ask our esteemed Headmaster about that.�
Replied McGonagall.

None of the investigators missed the sarcastic emphasis the
Professor put on the word esteemed. They all found it interesting, in the past
Minerva McGonagall would have said nothing derogatory about Dumbledore.

Professor Flitwick told about his two students who had been
so intimidated by Snape they had fainted, he also mentioned about Colin�s
accident in class.

Harry and Hermione were interviewed separately, both of them
surprised the Aurors by casting silencing spells on the portrait in the room
and the door. When Hermione did it they knew why, but they had questioned Harry
about it.

His reply was, �I don�t trust Dumbledore�

Harry told them of how they had walked into the Defence class
with about five minutes to spare when he had sensed something wrong, he
described watching as the spell flew toward himself and Hermione as he pushed
her and rolled himself out of the way. He told them of going down the corridor
and finding the injured student and of how he had sent him and his friends to
the infirmary.

Other than the premonition of the attack, Hermione�s story
differed very little, the only detail she added was Zabini�s attempted
interference in the duel between Nott and Harry and the punishment handed out
to Neville for snapping Zabini�s wand.

After all the interviews had been finished, Amelia and
Hestia made their way back to Dumbledore�s office to tell him the bad news.
Tonks meantime had made her way to the gates of the school to send a message to
Scrimgeour to put out an arrest warrant for Severus Snape.

Dumbledore was not a happy teddy bear, his attempt to
prevent Severus getting into serious trouble had failed. Although his place on
the Wizengamot was fairly secure, he could still be in difficulty with the
Board, some of them were very unhappy with the events over the past few years,
and had indicated to him privately that they weren�t happy he had been
reinstated after the Umbridge fiasco.

He�d be even more unhappy the following day when four
letters of resignation from the Order of the Phoenix landed on his desk. Aurors
Tonks and Jones had spoken to their boss about their membership, their original
reasons for joining, and their growing disquiet with being with an organisation
who�s leader seemed to want to bend the Laws they were being paid to uphold.

The other two letters were from Remus Lupin and Professor
McGonagall respectively, both quoting a conflict of interest between their wish
to see Voldemort defeated and the way The Order was being operated. Neither
mentioned it but the main reason for them resigning was Dumbledore�s attempted
theft of Harry�s inheritance from Sirius.

Back at Spinners End

Severus Snape clutched at his arm as his Dark Mark flared
into the pain that meant only one thing, a summons from his true Master.
Quickly gathering his Death Eater uniform from a hidden closet he went through
the motions of making multiple Apparations until he finally reached Malfoy
Manor, the current hideout of Voldemort.

The Auror trailing him kept a discreet distance and when he
saw where he was heading, Disapparated back to the D.M.L.E. to report in. As he
made his report an urgent message arrived from Tonks upgrading Snape�s status
from �watch� to �apprehend on sight,� a capture team was formed and returned to
keep a watch on Snape�s cottage, no Auror was foolhardy enough to walk into
Malfoy Manor, even when they knew the owner was safely incarcerated in Azkaban.

Malfoy Manor

Snape did a discreet headcount when he walked into the
meeting room in Malfoy Manor, he knew it didn�t hold a candle to the Prince
Manor, but it outshone his cottage. A flurry of house-elves served drinks under
the command of the command of the former mistress of the house and disappeared
back to wherever they hid.

The Dark Lord was sitting in a stylised throne, it was like
something from a Muggle comic book, all dark wood carved with skulls and snakes
and grotesques, it may have frightened the feeble-minded but in reality Snape
found it rather camp, right up to when his Master spoke.

�Severus, what new developments from Hogwarts? Is the brat
more skilled than he was? Share the news please.� Hissed Voldemort.

�Well, My Lord, he and Dumbledore are at odds, there has
been a falling out and he no longer trusts the old fool. He has taken up with
the Mudblood Granger. I tried to goad him, but he remains calm, his Occlumency
skills remain pathetic. He is fast on his feet but no more skilled than the
average 6^th year student. Zabini and Nott should be able to deal
with him quite easily.�

�And you Severus? How will you deal with him when you have
been forced from the school, don�t forget there are students who willingly
follow and keep their Master informed.�

�It was a set up, My Lord, Dumbledore was forced to make me
resign, but I�ll get him on the first Hogsmeade weekend, no one will suspect
me.�

�Very good Severus, now before you go �Crucio� do not
lie to me again, you are pathetic, you let your petty jealousy of a dead man
cloud your judgement again. If you fail me again, you will die, now get back to
your pathetic life.�

As he Apparated to the front door of his cottage something
warned him that not all was right, but before he could react he was Stunned,
disarmed, incarcerated with ropes, Stunned again and had a set of
anti-Apparation manacles fitted to his wrists. When he regained consciousness
he realised that he was in a cell at the D.M.L.E. life was rapidly turning to
crap.

This is the last of the pre-written chapters, I hope to get
the next one written soon.
- 15
- 16
- 17
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Independence Day

Snape Cottage, Spinners End.

The next letter had her reaching for astress relieving potion.

Headmaster�s Office, Hogwarts

Main Gates Hogwarts

Headmaster�s Office

Back at Spinners End

Malfoy Manor

The next letter had her reaching for a
stress relieving potion.