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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
- 16
- 17
- 18
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and other canon characters belong
to JKR I�m only having some fun

Sorry for the delay, I�ve been struggling to get my thoughts
into some semblance of order.

Chapter 17 Misery Loves Company

D.M.L.E. Holding Cells

Severus Snape sat and held his head in his hands and looked
back over the previous twenty-four hours, how could things go so wrong so
quickly? He surveyed his surroundings, an eight foot by six foot stone cell, a
steel door with a hatch for passing food through. The furnishings consisted of
the concrete platform with a wafer thin mattress, covered by a single woollen
blanket, on which he now sat, the pillow was as thin as the mattress. The only
other item of �furniture� was a metal bucket with a lid.

He started to reach into his pocket when he realised he
didn�t have one, he had been stripped of his clothes and dressed in a hospital
style gown. Feelings of despair started to overcome him, but with great effort
he raised his Occlumency shields and calmed his thoughts.

When he was calm he summed up his situation, the Aurors had
him, and neither of his masters would raise a finger to save him. Voldemort was
angry with him and he wasn�t held in enough esteem to be considered for rescue,
Dumbledore had warned him that he would have to distance himself from him until
the storm in a teacup, as he was calling the accusations made against him, blew
over.

What was puzzling him was why he had been arrested,
Dumbledore had assured him that his leaving Hogwarts would be the end of the
issue, he had been cleared of the Death Eater charges years before and couldn�t
be tried on that issue again, not unless he was actually caught wearing Death
Eater robes, then it hit him, he had been wearing Death Eater robes,
that must be it, but how had they known, was there a spy in the Dark Lord�s
ranks?

He broke from his reverie as he heard the hatch on the door
open, he saw eyes looking through the hatch and heard a voice say.

�Prisoner Snape, please stand and face the wall, now spread
your arms out with the backs of your hands against the wall.�

He complied with the instruction, the next thing he felt was
a cold metal bracelet tighten round one wrist, as it did he felt all resistance
drain from his body. Soon both hands were cuffed behind his back and he was led
from his cell.

Headmasters Office, Hogwarts.

Dumbledore sat in his office, the reports back from the
portraits were truly disturbing, Costello and his friends had been fair in
their statements but they had been damning, a curse out of nowhere had struck
Costello causing a nasty cut to his arm. Potter had arrived and put a temporary
dressing on the wound and sent them off to Madame Pomfrey. But worse than that,
every sixth year from the Defence Class had spoken of what had taken place, even
the Slytherins had to admit to the curse being fired without provocation, and
many of them had spoken about the animosity shown towards Harry Potter right
from his first Potions lesson by the former Hogwarts Professor.

Most disturbing of all was the fact that the portraits had
been silenced by Potter and Granger while they gave their statements, he didn�t
know what they had said, he�d need to try and get information from another
source, maybe the Creep, no Creevey brothers would overhear something in the Gryffindor
common room.

As he was contemplating this the gargoyle informed him that
he was about to receive a visitor, and not one he particularly wanted to speak
to, Amelia Bones.

�Ahh, Amelia,� he started

�Director Bones,� she corrected.

�Director Bones, I trust your visit has went well?� he
asked.

�Yes, it has, as I�m sure the portraits have informed you.�
She replied.

If her statement surprised him he didn�t show it.

She looked him straight in the eye, daring him to try and
use Legilimency on her and continued. �It is my duty to inform you that your
former Professor, Severus Snape, is going to be arrested for the assault on Mr.
Costello. There have been other allegations made against him of which I will
inform the Board of Governors, they may wish to take matters further.�

�Can I inquire to what allegations have been made against
Professor Snape, and by whom?� asked the now slightly nervous Dumbledore.

�The allegations against Mr. Snape are mainly about his
treatment of those students not in Slytherin. While most of them are school
related, and will be dealt with by the Board of Governors, taken as a whole it
seems he has systematically abused students over his years as a member of
Hogwarts� staff.�

�But, Director Bones,� he began �Snape had to abuse non
Slytherins to keep up appearances with his ex-Death Eater colleagues, otherwise
they would have suspected him of being a traitor.�

�Nonsense, Dumbledore, you know as well as I do that there
were as many Death Eaters from the other Houses as from Slytherin, how did him
persecuting the children of the other Houses make any difference, that and he
has cost us a generation of Potion Makers, did you know we have had to start
importing some of the more intricate potions as there are too few people available
in this country to brew them in sufficient quantity? You�ve really let him
screw things up, with the statements given by other Students his abuse of Lord
Potter has been most vindictive.�

�Well Severus had a feud with Mr. Potter�s father, he seemed
to carry it forward to the son.�

Director Bones interrupted him, �And you let it continue,
you let an adult persecute a child, and now you want to employ someone else who
has a grudge against Lord Potter, that�s if the Board ratify Shacklebolt's
appointment, did you forget they could review your choice of staff just because
they haven�t done so recently?�

Dumbledore paled, he�d forgotten that the Board could veto
staff appointments, in all his years at Hogwarts he�d only known it to happen
once, he�d need to act fast if he wanted to keep his new Defence Professor, but
how?

He started to wish that Fawkes was here, the phoenix had
disappeared before, but never for so long and had always returned when he
needed him. He really missed the calming influence of the bird�s song.

D.M.L.E. Interrogation Area

Severus Snape looked at his jailers and tried to raise his
Occlumency shields to hide his deepest secrets, and found he couldn�t, what he
didn�t know was that the handcuffs he now wore were the latest development from
the Unspeakables, they were charmed to lower the magical abilities of whoever
wore them. Visually they were identical to the ordinary cuffs used by Aurors,
the only people aware of their hidden powers were Amelia Bones and her two
Deputies all of whom had been questioned while wearing them to ensure their
loyalties.

His interrogator�s face was hidden by an obscuring charm as
was standard when questioning Death Eater suspects, too many Death Eater
suspects and sympathisers had got off on technicalities during and after the
last war and many of the interrogation staff had turned up dead soon
afterwards.

The interrogator as standard procedure dosed his prisoner
with Veritaserum not knowing the potion was actually just water and started his
interrogation, �Interview with Prisoner Severus Snape, former Potions and
D.A.D.A. Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Prisoner, do
you understand why you have been arrested?�

�No,� replied Snape, �I was stunned without warning and when
I recovered I was in what I assume is a holding cell, stripped of my
possessions. Where is my legal representative?�

�As Gringotts have frozen your accounts you can�t afford
representation, however a member of the Wizengamot is monitoring these
procedures and will step in on your behalf. Their identity is being kept secret
to protect them.�

�So you admit that the Death Eater robes and Mask you were
found with are yours?�

�Yes.�

�Are you a Death Eater?�

�Yes.�

�How long have you been a Death Eater?�

�Nineteen years, two months, five days, twelve hours, six
minutes and twenty-three, no twenty-four, no twenty-five.�

�Quiet!�

�Damn bracelets not
always helpful!�

�Are you a spy for Albus Dumbledore?�

�No but he thinks I am.�

�Elaborate!�

�My Lord sent me to spy on Dumbledore, I passed information
about Death Eater attacks to him, but always just too late or vague for it to
be useful, or if it was accurate about Death Eaters that my Master wanted rid
of.�

�What information did you pass to You-Know-Who?�

�Everything I could lay my hands on, but my Master was
careful to only use information that could come from anyone within Dumbledore�s
Order.�

�Prisoner Snape, on your own admission, you are now charged
with being a member of a banned organisation and will be sentenced accordingly
at the next meeting of the Wizengamot. Describe in your own words the incident
with Lord Potter.�

�Which one?�

�Explain what you mean.�

�Which Lord Potter, James or Harry?�

�Lord Harry Potter.�

�There have been many incidents, the first one was during
the Welcoming Feast of his first year when I used Legilimency on him to find
out how I could humiliate him in class.�

�The latest one.�

�Dumbledore appointed me as Defence Professor to see if I
could curb Potter as he was getting too powerful and knowledgeable for him to
control, my Master was pleased and requested that I test the brat to see how
powerful he was. I had heard rumours that he had been training with his friends
last year, but that he was no better than average, my Godson had informed me
that Potter had been pampered by previous Defence Professors.�

�When Potter and his whore entered the classroom I fired a
cutting curse at him, he dodged the spell and then left the classroom as he had
heard someone cry out when my curse hit them. When the arrogant boy returned he
somehow persuaded the entire class except my Slytherins that dodging spells was
as effective as using shields. To prove the brat wrong I set up a demonstration
between him and Nott, I had primed Nott to expect this the night before and
asked Zabini to interfere if he thought Potter would win.�

�Potter won, I later found out that three Gryffindors had
stopped Zabini from interfering after they saw him block Potters first attack.�

�So you did not intend to hit Mr. Costello?�

�No.�

�What damage would your curse have done to Lord Potter had
it hit him?�

�It would have gutted him like a fish, the Potters would
have finally been out of my misery.�

�Prisoner Snape, you are now charged with causing Actual
Bodily Harm to Mr. Costello and with the Attempted Murder of Lord Harry Potter
and/or Ms. Hermione Granger as witnesses state they can�t be certain which of
them you aimed at.�

�Was Headmaster Dumbledore aware of your abuse of Lord
Potter?�

�Yes, he told me before Potter came to Hogwarts that he was
an arrogant child who was spoiled by his relatives and had everything handed to
him on a plate, he wanted the arrogance drawn out of him. The Headmaster wanted
to be sure that Potter would see him as the only person in the Wizarding world
who would defend him. It would have worked if it hadn�t been for that pesky
kid.� (acknowledgement to Hannah-Barberra)

�Explain!�

�The Granger bint, she kept Potter in line and encouraged
him.�

�Okay, what about other students?�

�The Headmaster told me to humiliate and intimidate as many
students from the other Houses as possible, he also asked me to sow dissent
among the other staff by accusing them of being biased against each other�s
Houses, it was working right up to yesterday.�

�What happened?�

�The Deputy Headmistress got to the points recording book
and announced what I�d done to the other Heads of House before the Headmaster
had a chance to Obliviate her as he usually did when she complained about my
bias, the others bonded against me, he would have put it right by the end of
the week but I was asked to resign before that.�

�Why were you asked to resign?�

�The Headmaster didn�t want the Board or the Education
Authority to investigate, and he somehow had lost his influence on The Prophet
and had no influence on the wireless news, especially as Costello�s father
works for them.�

�Interview ends.�

In the shadows, a figure grimaced and quickly disappeared to
report to his superior, and the member of the Wizengamot went off to report on
what their Chief Wizard had been up to.

Amelia Bones Office

Amelia Bones, Professor Tofty and Hogwarts� Board member
Clearwater read over the copies of the statements from the students and staff
of Hogwarts, to say that they were shocked would have been an understatement.

Bones had heard much from her favourite niece about that
�horrible Professor Snape� but as she could remember some of her own Professors
from her time at Hogwarts had put it down to the usual youthful moaning about
an disliked teacher.

Clearwater was equally shocked, his granddaughter had
mentioned Snape from time to time but again he�d dismissed it as schoolgirl
gossip.

Tofty just sat and shook his head, he had seen things
slipping over the years but hadn�t been anything able to do anything about it,
his Department worked at arm�s length from the school, and every time he�d
tried to raise it with Dumbledore he�d been dismissed and Lucius Malfoy had
blocked his attempts to raise it with the Governors, maybe it was time to change
things.

As they were about to finish their meeting, Bones� secretary
knocked and entered and passed a copy of the notes from Snape�s interrogation,
her face took on a frown, then a glower and finally a glare that had the people
in her office gazing at her wondering what could make her angrier than reading
the Hogwarts� statements had.

Malfoy Manor

A non-descript owl arrived at Malfoy Manor and was relieved
of it�s message by a battered looking house-elf. The elf took the message to
it�s former mistress, Ms. Narcissa, and left before she could be cursed or
forced to punished herself, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wasn�t the only person
in� the house who was liable to shoot
the messenger.

If she had known that her logic was the same as a
house-elf�s Narcissa No-name would have cursed the elf out of humiliation, but
she didn�t know, so she picked on the first Death Eater she saw and commanded
that he take the message she had received to their Lord.

Greg Goyle Snr. was as bright as his son (think 40W bulb) and
gratefully accepted the message and hurried off to present it to his Lord and
Master. He knocked the door to the throne room and waited until he was asked to
enter, it had taken a few times, but he had learned better than to rush in, he
again waited until he was motioned forward to the throne (another hard learned
lesson) and passed the message to his Master. Proving he hadn�t the sense of a
house-elf he waited as his Master read the missive from his spy in the D.M.L.E.

My Lord,

Snape has been arrested and questioned under Veritaserum,
he has admitted being one of your followers and spying on the Muggle loving
fool (the writer knew better than to even write Dumbledore�s name if he didn�t
want to be cursed) for you.

He is scheduled to appear before the next session of the
Wizengamot and is facing charges pertaining to an incident at Hogwarts and has
also been charged with being one of your followers, he couldn�t deny it he was
caught wearing his robes and with his mask in his pocket while returning from your
exalted presence.

I await your instructions.

Your obedient servant

As he read the message Voldemort�s ire rose, his eye caught
the only fool, er, follower in his private chamber and he lashed out �Crucio.�
Goyle writhed under the curse and as he did his IQ fell another few points,
not that anyone would really notice. As for Goyle, he actually found it quite
arousing, now if only he could remember what to do!

Voldemort reached out and grabbed Goyle by the arm and
pushed up his sleeve pressing on Dark Mark. He concentrated on the treacherous
Snape quietly burned out his brain, those fools hadn�t asked about where he�d
been, little did he know that Snape had been seen entering Malfoy Manor and
that even now surveillance was being set up.

D.M.L.E. Holding Cells

In the duty office klaxons started blaring and lights
started flashing, every member of the Custody Staff on duty rushed to the only
occupied cell, there on the floor lay their prisoner. They looked at each other
and the Team Leader started issuing orders. He sent his deputy to contact the
Aurors, St. Mungo�s and MoM Security, three others he ordered to start checking
the detection wards and to lock down the facility, while he and the others
checked their prisoner.

As they cast the basic diagnostic charms the results they
were getting were not good, Snape was breathing and his heart was beating, but
his limbs were loose, by the stench and the puddle on the floor they knew his
bowels and bladder had emptied, it was going to be a long night.

They noted that where the Dark Mark once was there was now
only a dark splodge, their first and only clue to what had happened.

When the Aurors had finally finished checking, double and
then triple checking everything, the staff of the Custody Suite had been cleared.
The Mediwizard sent from St. Mungo�s confirmed that Snape showed all the signs
of over exposure to the Cruciatus Curse but they came to the conclusion that
somehow Voldemort had used his Dark Mark to inflict the damage.

Headmaster�s Office Hogwarts

Albus Dumbledore�s head jerked round as the fire roared to
life and a head appeared and a voice asked, �Can I come through, Professor?�

�Certainly Auror Gold, how can I help you?� he asked as one
of his informants stepped from the fire.

�Professor, I�ve just come from the Holding Cells, Snape has
been transferred to the Long-term Care Ward at St. Mungo�s, somehow
You-Know-Who has wiped his brain. Unfortunately he had already given a
statement and admitted being a Death Eater, the scuttlebutt says he confessed
to always being a spy for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.�

Phineas Nigellus faked sleep in his frame while he took note
of everything that was being said and Phyllis Derwent rushed of to St. Mungo�s
to check out the new patient and reported back to Dumbledore within minutes
that it was as Gold said.

Thanks to all who have stayed faithful and welcome to all
new readers, thank you for your reviews and encouragement.
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Independence Day

Chapter 17 Misery Loves Company

D.M.L.E. Holding Cells

D.M.L.E. Interrogation Area

�Damn bracelets notalways helpful!�

Amelia Bones Office

Malfoy Manor

D.M.L.E. Holding Cells

Headmaster�s Office Hogwarts

�Damn bracelets not
always helpful!�