Bones

Chapter 18

        "Shocking business... shocking... miracle none of them died... never heard the like... by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape..."

        "Thank you, Minister."

        "Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"

        "Thank you very much indeed, Minister."

        "Nasty cut you've got there... Black's work, I suppose?"

        "As a matter of fact, it was Potter, Cunnington, Weasley, and Granger, Minister..."

        "No!"

        "Black had bewitched them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by their behavior. They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape... They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single-handed. They've got away with a great deal before now... I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves... and of course Potter has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of license by the headmaster --"

        "Ah, well, Snape... Harry Potter, you know... we've all got a bit of a blind spot where he's concerned."

        "And yet -- is it good for him to be given so much special treatment? Personally, I try and treat him like any other student. And any other student would be suspended -- at the very least -- for leading his friends into such danger. Consider, Minister -- against all school rules -- after all the precautions put in place for his protection -- out-of-bounds, at night, consorting with a werewolf and a murderer -- and I have reason to believe he and Miss Cunnington have been visiting Hogsmeade illegally too --"

        "Well, well... we shall see, Snape, we shall see... The boy has undoubtedly been foolish...."

        I laid listening with my eyes tight shut. I felt very groggy. The words I was hearing seemed to be traveling very slowly from my ears to my brain, so that it was difficult to understand.... My limbs felt like lead; my eyelids too heavy to lift.... I wanted to lie here, on this comfortable bed, forever....

        "What amazes me most is the behavior of the Dementors... you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?"

        "No, Minister... by the time I had come 'round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances...."

        "Extraordinary. And yet Black, and Harry, and the girls --"

        "All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight back to the castle."

        There was a pause. my brain seemed to be moving a little faster, and as it did, a gnawing sensation grew in the pit of my stomach....

        My opened my eyes.

        I was lying in the dark hospital wing. At the very end of the ward, I could make out Madam Pomfrey with her back to me, bending over a bed. I squinted. Ron's red hair was visible beneath Madam Pomfrey's arm.

        I moved my head over on the pillow. In the beds to my right lay Harry and Hermione. Moonlight was falling across their beds. Their eyes were open too. Hermione and Harry looked petrified, and when they saw that me was awake, pressed a finger to their lips, then pointed to the hospital wing door. It was ajar, and the voices of Cornelius Fudge and Snape were coming through it from the corridor outside.