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Through the Veil and Back Again	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 77508 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 13
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (though someone could gift me a few of the men in it and I wouldn't complain) and make no money off of this.

Chapter List
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Chapter 40

Beta'd by the amazing Tenchi, who I couldn't work without anymore. Thanks, Tenchi!

With help from Lynn who works with me when it comes to flow, continuity and other issues.

Just a reminder of what's on my profile; reviews complaining or whinging about the lack 'o sex in stories will get deleted. If you want a smut-filled romp, you need to find another story to read.

Taking a seat with a tired groan, Tom tossed a copy of the Prophet that would be sent out that morning on to the table. As it was almost four AM, it wouldn't 'take flight', as the paper called it, for another hour. Leaning back, sipping his tea, he waited for the man to look at it. Like him, Severus looked tired, but he wanted the Potion's Master filled in before this hit everywhere.
Smirking as he quickly scanned the article and headline, Severus nodded. While he didn't know Artemis DeWald personally, he knew enough about the man from what he heard that this was the one person on the Wizengamot that Fudge didn't want to take on as he wouldn't come out on top. Seeing the scathing rebuke to Fudge, and those that toed his line, including a few underhanded ones taken at the Prophet, something the head editor had to be wincing at as it went in print in his own paper, he said, smugly, “This can only help. A great deal.”
“I talked to Artemis personally about the situation and he's right irate,” Tom told him with a chuckle, stroking Nagini's head after she draped herself over his shoulders, grumbling about the early hour they were wake. “He's going to go after Fudge with everything he has, making it clear he's going to not only call for an election, but run against him. You can pass along from me that he's given me his word that Black can expect to end up cleared in under a week. From what I was told, either Fudge is going to sign those papers, something he plans to put pressure on him to do, or he's going to convene a special session of the Wizengamot to push it through that way. My informant tells me that there are more than enough votes to get that through, with plenty to spare. Sources tell me that plenty on that body are hopping mad this hasn't happened yet as the longer it drags on, the worse it makes the whole damned government look.”
“I'll pass it along,” Severus said with a pleased nod, filing that away.
Leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table, hands clasped, Tom told him, “I have some advice to pass along and something I need you prepared for.”
Honing in on that, Severus nodded, looking intent and motioned him to press on.
“First, you said that Petunia is planning on getting the papers to withdraw Harry from Hogwarts.” Seeing Severus nod, he pressed on, “Tell her to sign them, fast. What I've managed is to get with our contact on the Board. We've discussed it and he'll take the papers. Of course, as we know, they won't be valid. What he's going to do is take the papers to Albus and start howling at him. As far as the Board has always known, Petunia and Vernon were the legal guardians. Which means, they've been lied to since Harry started school. He is not at all happy about that. What he assured me is that he plans to kick that paperwork back with the real reason it's not been accepted. I'm damned sure that can only help everyone and light a fire that Albus not only doesn't want, but he'll have a hard time explaining. Couple that with Black on the cusp of being cleared, and it can only help all of you by making Albus dance so fast that he's going to make mistakes.”
Smirking at the mere thought of what could come of that, Severus gave a determined nod, “I'll pass it along and get her to sign them today. Then we'll get them off.”
“Good. Our contact on the Board also plans to get with others in the same position and let them know, plainly, that there is tomfoolery afoot with this, showing them the paperwork. That's going to get Albus pulled in another direction, one he most certainly doesn't want. Again, just more to help keep him distracted to buy time. And, honestly, it's going to help our end when the smoke from this mess starts to clear. That I want you to tell them plainly. I doubt they have issues, but I want it out there.” Tom explained, figuring Severus would get it and the why behind the whole thing.
“Consider it done,” Severus assured him. Then with a snort, lips quirking, he added, “When I'm sure everyone over there is awake, that is. I won't go at this time as I'm certain no one will function correctly and details will get lost, not to mention I'll end up on the sharp edge of several tongues. That won't help anything.”
“No, it won't,” Tom chuckled, leaning back and crossing his legs. “At your discretion, Severus.” Pressing on, he said, “Expect to stay busy until the start of term is here. I've got a few other plans in mind to keep a certain barmy old goat running to keep his focus plenty divided. We're going to turn up the heat just a tad. After the bit on Privet Drive, we've laid low. That needs to end. I'm not going for something huge or dangerous and don't want to engage with the Order, but I do want to end up seen and send out some panic. So, I've picked a few targets that we're going to turn up around. A couple of them—we might end up in a bit of a scuffle with, but I’m making it clear that we're not to cause serious bodily injury on anyone. We just want this to look good. Nothing more than that. And I want that passed along to those in the house so they understand what I'm going for. The last thing I want is for Harry upset over something that isn't an issue.”
“I'll make sure to keep feathers unruffled,” Severus told him firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. “If I can, I would like the information beforehand so that I can prepare them.”
“I'll provide that, minimally,” Tom told him honestly. “Nothing to worry about there. And I'll make sure that you have it well ahead of time so they can prepare.”
“Much appreciated,” Severus admitted.
“We're going to need some of the information you can provide us for a couple of these.” Before Severus could say anything, he held up his hand and assured him, “No injuries, at least from their end. One I'm sure we'll have a few on ours, but I want it done as it's going to look far better.”
Brow furrowed at the last part, Severus asked, tone highly wary, “Who does that involve?” As he wasn't sure on that one, he wanted to know.
“Alastor,” Tom chuckled, shaking his head. Seeing Severus' eyes widen, he explained, “We're the ones that will need to worry there. It's something I want, though, as we both know Albus is going to think it’s a huge plot if we look like we’re trying something with Alastor. That I want as it'll send him off in all kinds of areas. Let's face it, even with a group, most aren't foolish enough to attempt anything with that man. That's why I want to make a showing. We're going to save him for towards the last, though, so we can prepare. I'm also planning to be seen myself with most of these so he gets his robes in a knot over it.”
Thinking that over, Severus gave a slow nod, now understanding. Snorting, he smirked, “Everyone better have some kind of shielding charm up before you even attempt to start with Moody. I'm sure at any little noise there is anywhere around his flat and he’ll be throwing hexes before he even kicks the covers off.”
Chuckling, Tom nodded. “Oh yes, that's going to end up the tricky one. We all know that. We'll manage, though, not to worry. It's also the one that's going to send Albus scrambling the most, at least that's how I read it.”
“It should as no one in their right mind is going to try to take Alastor on,” Severus told him with a shake of his head, still looking amused.
“I'm going to call a meeting in the next couple days with a few of you so we can start hammering out what we have to do. This needs to come, fast, so we can push with all we have to help all of you. Make sure they all know that,” Tom told him pointedly.
“I'll ensure its passed today,” Severus assured him, pleased with the plans.
Settling back, the Potions Master then began asking questions. As he was here, he might as well get all he could on the matter so he could not only pass along what was needed, but prepare himself for what was coming.

Watching Lucius walk Petunia through the signing of papers for Harry's homeschooling, Sirius asked, “How long is it going to take for them to reject this? And won't it seem odd that she's not signing Dudley's as well? After all, that's what she told the old man.”
Answering the second question first, Lucius said, “I say we just go with that she wants Harry's through first before she signs Dudley's so she's assured there's no shenanigans over it.” Seeing nods and hearing agreements that it would work, he then smirked hugely, “And this will reject tomorrow. It's an automated spell, but it'll alert the one member on the Board that is handling them this year. As that's someone the Dark Lord talked about, it'll be taken care of quickly.”
“Perfect,” Sirius grinned, sipping his tea. “That's going to just add to the pressure the old man is under.”
“Let me ask this,” Remus started, looking around as he held out his hand. “Will Petunia know the reason for the rejection or just that it has been denied?”
“Oh yes,” Lucius assured him. Straightening up after Petunia was going good with the papers, he explained, “Most times the rejection is for a simple reason, such as they forgot to sign, fill something out, whatever. If they're given the reason, they will correct it when they start filling out the paperwork again. So, she'll get a notice, along with the rejected paperwork, just why it was rejected. And that can 'set her off'. I do say we contact Albus when she gets it so he can come over and be forced to explain why she's not Harry's legal guardian.”
“Which should prove to be a riot to watch him not only dance around it, but her go off on him,” Sirius grinned evilly, giving the chuckling Harry a nudge.
“Trust me, I won't have any problem at all giving him a right chewing,” Petunia assured him, looking plenty determined. “You do not get to play with people the way he's done us! That's all there is to it. I don't care what reasons he has behind this, it comes down to it's not right.”
“You will get no arguments from any of us around this table,” Narcissa assured her, giving her hand a pat.
“We just need to prepare for this and everything else that is coming,” Remus told everyone, taking a sip of his tea. “I'm sure that we're going to end up bombarded with all that we know is in the works. Probably more than we've dealt with up to this point, which means that we need to stay alert for who might be around. Especially when it comes to some of what we're dealing with when it comes to Harry. None of us are sure how much he's going to end up imparting, so we need to concern ourselves with that. And set up a way to get him away from anyone that is in the house.”
“We've got Sir Hiss planning to help, as we all know, but we've got other issues, like what happened with Cissy yesterday. Cissy and Petunia, both, said the minute it started, his scar and eyes changed. I don't know how we can get him out of here that fast if it triggers,” Sirius explained, looking around.
“Sir Hiss told us that there is no way to give fair warning on that one,” Lucius sighed, shaking his head. “He'll do his best, but if it's a trigger to pass information to someone, there's no stopping it and he won't get much warning.”
“Narcissa and I talked about this, once it was brought up, since we saw it. What we thought was to see if it's possible for Harry to shut his eyes and drop his head once he gets that feeling. From what was described to us, the pull was there seconds before he took her hand. Is that possible?” Petunia asked, looking at Harry.
Seeing everyone look at him, Harry sighed and shook his head. Glancing around, he admitted, “I really don't know. All I can do is try. If it's someone triggering it that isn't in this house, it's going to get out because I can't stop it.”
Putting a hand on Harry's back and rubbing it, Sirius admitted, “That's a concern, no one will tell you otherwise, but if it's among us or an object, give it a shot. Then try to get with me or Lucius through the link who or what it is. That way we can get them or it out of the room with you.” Groaning, he admitted, “We might want to go back to what we did with Albus; hide Harry the best we can. If we hear someone come in, just have him vanish. I say with Dudley and Draco. That way it won't look odd and everyone will assume they're off goofing around. That won't look strange, honestly.”
“Let me see what we can do to put something up that will signal when someone is coming in. That wasn't a concern earlier as Harry could tell.” Lucius said, already trying to come up with a spell that might work for that.
“I'm sure we can come up with something,” Remus smiled. “Plenty use those, so they are common. We're just going to have to worry about it playing nice with the wards, nothing more.”
Huffing as she looked at the mass of paperwork, Petunia shook her head. “They don't make this easy on you, do they?”
Chuckling dryly, Lucius told her, “No, they don't. It's for a reason, obviously, but that doesn't make it any less daunting.” Leaning over, he looked at where she was then asked, “What's giving you issues?”
Pointing to the section about details when it came to Harry at school, she shook her head, “I don't know much of this, obviously, so I'm rather lost.”
“Never fear, we'll get you through it,” Lucius told her then began going line by line what she needed to do.

“Dudley will end up making a wonderful Beater,” Remus observed, watching Dudley and Draco swat balls around.
At the moment, the three teens were outside to get some fresh air. Remus was there to keep watch over the three in case of mishaps. Harry was taking a break at the moment, sitting with him and having a butterbeer.
“He will because he loves it,” Harry grinned. “From what he said, he likes it better than boxing.” Lowering his voice, he added, “And it's safer, even he said that.”
Chuckling, Remus agreed, “Oh, yes. No need to worry about getting punched. I can't say I see why anyone would take up that sport, from what I know of it. It must be a Muggle thing.”
“I tend to agree with you, honestly,” Harry snickered, shaking his head. Looking at Remus, he then glanced at the two in the air. Good, they were far enough away that they wouldn’t hear what he had to say. “She's already fallen for you, you know.” Seeing the startled look, he said, softly, “It's not one of those bits, I swear, just what came through when I said it to her. It's mutual, trust me. Nothing to worry about.”
Sighing, Remus told him gently, “It's not that easy, Harry. What I am--.” That's where he was cut off.
“And that's worse than what she had with Regulus?” Harry asked, not understanding how one was worse than the other. Shrugging, he said, “I don't see it that way. If it's working, go with it. It sure can't be worse than me, Lucius and Sirius. You know how people are going to react when they hear that one.” Looking up at Draco, he added, “I think it would do Draco good to have you in his life. We know what he was like when you taught, of course, but its different now. He seems to like talking with you since you both adore reading. He's even gotten with me about some book titles on a topic you discussed with him as he's interested. I don't see how that's horrible, do you? I mean, those two know what you are and just what it means. It's not like they'll end up blindsided by it.”
“There is that,” Remus admitted, glancing up to where Draco was, smiling just a tad. Draco was a tad hard to take when he taught, but since being in the house he was fine. Honestly, he liked talking to the young man when they were researching and both of them had more than a few laughs at some of what they found. It rather built from there.
Petting Sir Hiss on the head as the snake quietly encouraged him to keep going, Harry told him, “If you don't, you're probably going to regret it, Remus.” Grinning a tad, he then observed, “Well, honestly, I don't think she's going to allow you to pull that with her. Narcissa is a bit—determined on some areas. I think you might fall into that category. So, you might just make it easier on yourself to give in now and save her focusing all that in your direction.”
That smile growing bigger, Remus tore his eyes away from the two in the air and looked at Harry. “There is that line of thought. I remember what she was like in school.”
“And I'm sure she'd have no problem recruiting Lucius to help her either,” Harry added, grinning bigger. “Sirius might end up involved too as I'm getting the feeling that he likes the idea. I don't see where you're going to be allowed to wiggle out when they gang up on you.”
Snorting at that, grinning himself, Remus shook his head then said, “No, I wouldn't win if that happened.” Softly, he said, “I think I'll sit down and have a talk with her then see what she says. We'll go from there.”
“Good idea, because you do not want her and Aunt Petunia starting to plot together, trust me! If they do, you are in real trouble.”
Reaching out and putting a hand on Harry's shoulder, giving it a squeeze, his own shoulders shaking, Remus assured him, “I'll make sure I get with her soon to see what we think on the topic. Then we'll go from there.” That though—well, he liked it. And he adored the idea. Yes, he wanted Narcissa in his life and not just as a friend. If the foot was in the door, he might just have to shove aside so much and see what they could make of it. He just wanted her well aware of what she was getting into when it came to the lycanthropy. Nothing more than that.

Wiping his sweaty face after Artemis left, Cornelius leaned back in his chair and looked at the slightly shaken Percy. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he said, “I think, perhaps, we might have to rethink the stance I've taken on the Sirius Black matter. It will look plenty bad if the Wizengamot steps in.”
Picking up the relevant papers when it came to that matter off the Minister's desk, Percy let out a slightly trembling breath as he flipped through them. Then he picked up the Prophet. Quickly scanning the article, Percy shook his head. “We can try to draw them up and get them through, but it'll be a race against time to see if we can manage before the Wizengamot does. If Artemis is doing just what he says, we only have a matter of hours before they not only clear Black, but they might get the official call for elections through. I don't know, sir. It's—this is going to take time, all of it, as we need plenty to get them official. An official pardon hasn't been issued in well over a hundred years. We would actually have to hunt to find the template for that or it wouldn't be legal.”
Leaning forward, trying to focus on what they had to do now that he knew there was a limited amount of time to tend to the matter, Cornelius told him, “Percy, you get on finding that template. While you do that, I'll start to work on how to word this. Once we get the template, we'll get it filled out and officially filed. After that, I'll call in a couple reporters and make it as official as I can.”
“I would suggest that you do the signing with plenty of witnesses here,” Percy tossed in there. “It might take a little more time to get that accomplished, but it's going to look far better to the public if you do it that way. And you might want to see about getting Black's solicitor in as well, so he can be there when you do. That will only help your image.”
“Yes, very good suggestions!” Cornelius told him, quite pleased. Though Percy could be plenty annoying with this boot licking, he was quite good at helping him put the best face on what he needed. Some of his better photo-ops and press conferences were laid out by Percy to show him in the best light. So, he always took that into consideration anymore.
“If you can, you might want to get Thomas Mannon in here. You know how good he is at wording your speeches. In this case, it's going to end up plenty delicate to dance around some of what's come out of this office since Pettigrew was caught. We don't want you accidentally tripping over your own words or seeming like you're backing away from some statements you already made.” Percy suggested gently. What they had already released in the press was going to end up something they needed to worry about. If elections were called, he didn't want that out there coming back to haunt the Minister in any way if he could at all help it.
Once more, that was an excellent suggestion and he would take it. It would take time to get Thomas here, of course, but it was well worth it. Looking plenty determined, Cornelius looked around his desk then made a shooing motion at Percy, as he said, “You find that template and I'll get on the rest. We don't have much time to do this, so it's going to end up tight.”
Nodding to the Minister, Percy swept out, planning to go to the archives and find the template as fast as he could.
Summoning his secretary, Cornelius began barking orders about who and what he needed. Yes, this would show him to be the efficient, hands on Minister the public elected. That he needed to remind them of. And this would do that once more.
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Through the Veil and Back Again