Punish me, Professor, I dare you.

Chapter 18: Golden Cage

Snape wasn't a man who could say he was easily dumbfounded. Yet now, he stands behind my back, with his frowning face betraying his loss for words upon hearing Fudge's accusation. My eyes franticly run between the teachers; I'm praying for someone to say something, anything, to get me out of this hellish nightmare. McGonagall is giving me a nasty judging look, while the others are just either confused or pity me. I feel like I'm about to burst out sobbing at any second, and in my hopeless seconds, I address the bat in my head with a desperate voice,

"Severus, help me, please! I don't want to be locked up!" I wail in my headspace.

"Calm yourself, there's no need for panic. Ellgar was a Death Eater, I knew him, we can play that card in your defense. Let me and Dumbledore talk to Fudge first, we're not letting them take you away." his voice reflects the austere mood surrounding us, and the words only manage to whittle down an inch from my horror.

"What evidence are we discussing here?" Snape finally breaks the silence, addressing his question to the minister in pinstripe robe.

"When Mr. Ellgar failed to show up to work, the next day Mrs. Ellgar came to the ministry in search for her husband, saying Mr. Ellgar didn't return home the day before. We set out a team of Aurors to find the head secretary, and Mr. Ellgar's wand was found in the Forest next to a pile of ashes, which we later managed to identify as his remains." Fudge explains maintaining the high-nosed diplomatic tone, and Rohan looks at me with such a fake pained expression, that I almost scoff at his pathetic act. I understand that I literally killed his father, but he's putting up a show! His mother too. Her look of disdain makes me feel really small in the room, and I feel that if she could, she would just step on me like I was some cockroach.

"Pardon me Cornelius, but how is this exactly pointing at the young witch here?" Dumbledore interjects raising his hands in a questioning style, and thank Merlin he does, because I'm also very curious how in the world did they know about what happened in the Forest.

"We have a witness, Dumbledore. I shall not reveal who it is for the time being, but it is with utmost certainty that this individual was there when the murder took place." Fudge straightens his back proudly.

"Let me clarify minister, that I happened to be the person who was attacked by Mr. Ellgar that night. A group of Death Eaters laid siege on the castle; I was dueling this man. If the young miss hadn't intervened, I would have lost my life. Two professors here can testify, I was on the brink of death when she brought me back from the Forest." Snape states with icy calm, but Minerva explodes with outrage once he finishes.

"Severus, are you saying she was with you in the forest, dueling one of the Death Eaters!?" asks the witch with wide eyes, switching between me and the potioneer.

"No, Minerva, she didn't engage in the battle, she only stepped in after I lost my consciousness. Delivered the final blow, if you will. I wasn't aware of her presence all along." the master explains, but now it's my blood pressure that raises to the sky in fear.

"What are you doing!? You just told them I was guilty!" I'm almost hyperventilating in the headspace. I can't take this pressure, what the hell is Snape doing???

"Shush and trust me." he answers simply and sternly, and I almost break my own fingers I'm clasping them together so hard.

"Are you saying there are Death Eaters working at the Ministry!?" Fudge asks with a hot temper. "Moreover, you just confirmed that the student was present at the crime scene!"

There's a smaller pause between everyone, at this point I'm holding my breath praying that I won't sleep in Azkaban tonight. The teachers await Snape's answer, Dumbledore is silently observing the heated conversation with his hands behind his back. I swear, there's no room in my lungs for any air as I stand in the middle of the office, surrounded by many watching eyes. I feel like a lab experiment with this much attention on my every move. I squeeze my eyes in stress and bite my lower lip.