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Emancipation	By : BadGirlgoesworse Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 14093 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Anything recognisable does not belong to me. Story is based on the books by JKR and inspired by other writers of this genre. I do not make any money with this story.

Chapter List
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FACING THE FUTURE
It was long past breakfast on Saturday morning when Harry finally woke up and stretched languidly in his and Severus’ bed in their family quarters at Hogwarts. Despite the nice lie in, he was still tired from the stressful week following the Ministry ball and would have turned to his side and went right back to sleep, if not for the incessant rambling of his empty stomach.
Severus was out cold next to him making him smile as he watched his half-covered chest rise and fall peacefully. For all his insistences that he was a very light sleeper Harry doubted even a cannon blast would be able to rouse him right now.
Slipping out from under the covers carful as to not disturb him Harry pulled his dressing gown over his nude body and shuffled into the bathroom to relieve himself and clean up, before shuffling towards the dining room just as listlessly.
Several cups of a strong tea later he was more or less back among the living and dug into his toast, eggs and sausages with gusto. It was rather nice to have devoted and unfailing personal service at his beck and call he mused, especially when one had absolutely no energy to do anything for oneself. Hermione really should rethink that stance of hers, though he seriously doubted that S.P.E.W. was anywhere on her mind at the moment.
It had been unanimously decided that the werewolf children they had found in Greyback’s cave would not be handed over to the Ministry. Instead, they would be adopted and raised by willing New Order members, since their families were either dead or did not want to have anything to do with them. The later made Harry exceptionally angry, but he refrained from doing anything about it, for now at least. He had already several adjustments to the current Child Protection Laws in mind and Merlin help those selfish, bigoted sods when he and the new Child Care Services were through with them!
Well, he would have to line up behind Hermione he supposed. She had gone absolutely ballistic hearing about it. He would not be surprised to see a completely written out preliminary draft to an entire chain of bills on his table before the week was out.
He should encourage her to study Law after Hogwarts instead of Mediwizardry she had originally in mind. She would be of more use to him in the near future as a secretary and advisor. Especially, once he had ascended the Minister of Magic’s office. Thinking further about it, he could probably sell it to her saying that she would do far more good for the people that way than by working with them directly. On the other hand, there really was nothing stopping her from studying both. She was Hermione after all and it was not like she would have to stay in the politics forever. He himself did not plan to hold more than one term, two at most, depending on how long it would take to realise all their reforms. Afterwards, he had every ambition to retire to leisurely pulling the strings behind the scenes, preferably working from home.
He smirked dreamily into his cup. Even more preferably from the bed, using Severus’ slender back as a desk. He doubted Severus would mind.
“Do I even want to know what you are smirking about?” His husband’s familiar drawl sounded from the open doorway.
“Good morning to you too, my sleeping beauty,” he stretched up to peck him on the lips ignoring the expected derisive snort. The pleased smile in Severus’ eyes whenever he used terms of endearment to address him was belying any scorn expressed about it.
Severus sat down and busied himself with a generous breakfast, obviously hungry as well, while he opened the today’s paper studiously ignoring the twenty stacks of letters next to it. Severus usually helped him with his correspondence only after he had eaten well and truly and not a second before.
The news was nothing much different from what had been covering the front page for the last couple of days. Attack on the Ministry ball, You-Know-Who was dead (in bold letters), Harry Potter saved them all once again, the body was supposedly in the Ministry’s custody, most high profile Death Eaters dead or missing, the rest being rounded up, the war was over, hail the hero and the DMLE (as an afterthought), and so on and so forth, plus a lot of rumours and speculation as to what exactly had happened.
Harry had narrated a carefully crafted overview of his duel with Voldemort and subsequent victory in front of the Minister and his cabinet, telling them that he had been kidnapped to some strongly warded place and that was why the Ministry had not been able to register any use of underage magic on his part. Then, he showed them the body, but refused to hand it over for further study. The Head of the Department of Mysteries had protested the loudest of course, though Harry had been able to silence them all by effectively pulling an Albus, saying that some knowledge was better lost forever. No one seemed to have anything to argue against that ambiguous bit of wisdom. Harry had been barely able to contain his smirk.
The statement released to the press and the following conferences had the entire wizarding world firmly convinced that Voldemort was now dead for good and his remaining Death Eaters being taken care of. And Harry had every intention to make sure that it remained that way. What they did not know could not hurt them after all.
The whole truth was known only to him and Severus.
After a long and thorough discussion they had decided against revealing it to anyone else. Matters of security aside, people simply needed closure. All of them, friends and strangers alike, would be able to move on with their lives far better in the absolute belief that it was now well and truly over.
Voldemort was currently held under heavy wards and the Draught of Living Death at a small cottage under Fidelius, the Secret-Keeper of which was Harry himself. The potion needed to be administered every week together with the necessary nutritional potions to keep him alive and subdued until the end of his natural lifespan. That should be unfortunately a good century from now. Overall, not the worst burden to bear though.
The celebrations still in full swing, the number of the injured fighters of the New Order at St. Mungo’s had gone unnoticed, which was a very good thing, seeing as they’d rather avoid any uncomfortable questions. It had been decided to continue to operate in the shadows, since it was more safe and convenient that way. The number of casualties on their side had been surprisingly small and blessedly none from his personal circle of friends. Despite his best planning, Harry had not expected the operations to go as well as they did. Thank Merlin and every other deity for that! And most importantly of course, Severus was alive and whole at his side by the end of day.
Harry watched him eat feeling love and happiness flutter in his stomach. He really could not even begin imagining a life without him and begged that the Fates stayed favourable in the future, so he never would have to.
xxxoooxxx
The funeral was a small and quiet affair. Draco stood by the stone slab marking the last resting place of his father’s remains at their family cemetery a while longer than the rest of the sparse yield of attendants. Even his mother did not feel the need to linger and preceded him towards the small café they had booked to hold the traditional meal in the late man’s honour. His godfather had decided to stay away for decency’s sake, seeing as he had been the one who had delivered the killing blow. Despite carrying a part of that guilt, Draco could not afford to do the same.
The body had been incinerated and put into earth in a simple wooden casket, as was customary for Malfoys, mainly to prevent its use, or abuse, for rituals of any kind. Most families did not observe that simple precaution and Draco could only marvel at their stupidity. The purebloods at least should know better.
He sighed and turned away starting to walk past the neatly arranged rows of graves towards the gate. The feelings inside him warred between relief and sadness. Relief that his father’s madness had been finally put an end to and sadness that it had been necessary in the first place.
He could clearly remember the man his father had been in his childhood days. The obvious flaws aside, Lucius Malfoy had been indeed someone who could inspire respect and admiration in children and adults alike, or at least the ones in his direct sphere of influence. The others Draco had no contact with until he had started Hogwarts, thus it was no wonder that his worldview had been so hopelessly biased. And yet he had somehow managed to obtain a bit of levelheadedness. Just enough to be able to move past the pedestal his boy-self had put both his parents on and see things for what they were and not what they were supposed to be. He had Severus to thank for that he imagined.
Severus had really done well by him, obviously taking his duty as a godfather very seriously. He shuddered to think where he would be right now if not for him.
The gate closed behind him as soon as he walked past it. There was a fireplace in the gatehouse connected to the Floo Network just for the day for the attendants’ convenience. Thus, he made his way towards it.
On a happier note, the wedding date had been set already. July the 15th. Draco smiled at the thought of a lengthy honeymoon in Greece and the prospect of family quarters at Hogwarts come September the first.
His mother was a bit jealous of the Weasley matriarch for having a daughter to marry off in all appropriate glory he could tell, though she was hiding it masterfully. As he had anticipated, she had decided to retire to her dowager manor instead of staying with them. She was still quite young though and undoubtedly very beautiful. He supposed he would not mind if she chose to remarry sometime in the near future and maybe even have that daughter she wished for, to doll up to her heart’s content.
He locked the gatehouse door securely behind him and activated the wards, before throwing a handful of glittering Floo Powder into the tall fireplace, stepping into it and disappearing with a whoosh of green flames.
xxxoooxxx
“Good evening, Headmistress. I hope you can spare a moment of time?”
Harry went up to Professor McGonagall’s new office right after dinner to discuss a bit of business he had nearly forgotten about with everything else on his mind.
“For you always, Harry,” she smiled warmly and offered him tea and a seat, the former of which he declined.
“Well, I was hoping to be able to take my N.E.W.T.s this year actually and wanted to ask, if it’s not too late to submit a formal request.”
After the second bonding his classes had been all but a breeze for him and not having the war effort to concentrate on anymore, he had no doubt that he would be bored to death sitting in them every day. The N.E.W.T. examinations took place at the end of May thankfully. Besides, he wanted to go into politics as soon as he had turned seventeen to begin laying down the groundwork for the second stage of the New Order’s agenda. He would be wasting his time staying for another year at school, both he and Severus had agreed on that.
The Headmistress’ eyebrows rose impossibly high, though she had far too much dignity to start spluttering incoherently of course.
“Well,” she cleared her throat and composed herself visibly to remain professional, “it is not too late to submit a request yet, but are you sure you will be able to pass them to your satisfaction, young man?”
Her tone of voice betrayed her doubts in that regard. Though, after years of mediocrity in everything but Defence he could not blame her he supposed. She and many others were in for quite a surprise.
He smirked inside, but made sure to present nothing but calm confidence to her. “I’m pretty sure I can handle them sufficiently, Professor. I would not have asked otherwise.”
“If you are sure,” she still sounded doubtful, took out the required form and a spare quill nevertheless. “Please fill this out and sign with your magic. I will forward it to the Wizarding Examinations Authority Office for you.”
“Thank you, Professor!”
Harry was genuinely happy that she did not try to put sticks into his wheels despite her misgivings. On the other hand, he was well aware that this was actually cheating, since none of the straight O’s he undoubtedly was going to attain would be on his own merit. And even though no one outside of the New Order would know that, and Severus himself had assured him that he did not mind, his conscience demanded the debt to be settled in full, plus interest.
Harry hid the sly little smile tugging at his lips as he handed over the signed paper and the quill to the elder woman and thanked her profoundly again, before taking his leave, having an idea or two already on his mind how to go about that.
xxxoooxxx
Hermione lay awake in her husband’s arms despite the late hour and a rather pleasant exhaustion. Her over-analytical mind was giving her no respite, no matter how much she wanted it to. She sighed exasperatedly and buried herself deeper into the rhythmically rising and falling chest, stubbornly trying to escape her madly whirling thoughts into sleep. Sleep however had other ideas, thus giving her no other option but to give in.
They had sneaked into the Room of Requirement tonight, because it had been over a week since their last time together and though Theo had not said anything, she could plainly see that he was sulking and had decided to take pity on him. If she was honest with herself, she had missed him as well, and not just the sex, but also the comfort his arms and the look of undying devotion in his eyes was always giving her.
Her thoughts focused back on the series of monumental events this past week consisted of. First and foremost, the operation at the Ministry ball and the blessed result they all had been hoping for. She still had trouble believing that it was now over, that Voldemort was truly dead and will not return ever again to threaten them and their future. Though, she supposed the people who had lived through the first war had even more difficulties with the concept than her.
Next was the raid on Greyback’s cave of course. That too had yielded the much desired result, even though the cost had been much higher this time. She shuddered slightly when the memories of that early morning assaulted her inner eye. She had thought that her parents’ torture and murder had been gruesome to watch. That was actually nothing against the bloody chaos of the first rate massacre she had actually participated in. In her opinion, that she did not seem to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder was evidence enough to just how unhinged she herself had become. She and her husband must be quite a pair now. Hopefully, they would not try to give the Lestranges a run for their money anytime soon. She smirked into her chest pillow humoured despite the morbidity. Merlin, what the world had come to!
She sighed pushing any further disturbing reflections deeper into the background of her mind in the hope they would stay there forever. A vain hope, she knew that much without the slightest bit of doubt.
The week following had been a whirlwind of happiness for the survivors, anxiety for the injured, sadness for the dead, excessive celebrations and endless hours of cover-up work. The Ministry and the public had been expertly left in the dark as to what had actually transpired and how. Harry had cemented his image as the knight in shining armour and his position as everyone’s darling so firmly that he would go scot-free with anything but murder. And even that he could get away with, if he put his mind to it she supposed. The continued secrecy of the New Order had been an additional bonus that could be made use of most advantageously in the future.
All things considered, the first part of their agenda had been concluded most successfully. The reformation of the British wizarding world’s current political and social structure was up next and from there the rest of the magical world would hopefully follow, inspired by their shining example.
The later was just an idealistic dream of hers she feared, though one could never know. There was more than one example of something similar happening in the past, so one should not lose hope entirely. If anyone could make it happen, it would be definitely Harry Potter. Doubly so, with Severus Snape by his side and the rest of them in the background.
She and Theo had decided to announce their marriage this summer, mostly with the prospect of their very own family quarters in mind. This sneaking about for a shag was most bothersome indeed. They had yet to be caught by the staff, but the possibility was always there. So, why putting up with it, if there was no need anymore?
The images of their own apartment and all the possibilities it would open turned into sweet, if somewhat naughty, dreams as she finally drifted off. A happy smile was curving her lips for Theodore to wake up to in the morning, quite pleased to have been the one to put it there.
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Emancipation