Severus Snape: OneShots

(9) Uncle Severus

Still holding the boxed-up pieces of Dumbledore's pensieve in his left arm, Harry made his way down the narrow, curved hallway leading to the Minister of Magic's office. It was the lunch hour, and the dark-brick halls usually filled with bustling witches and wizards now seemed eerily empty to Harry. Of course, it could have been Hermione's note playing on his nerves.

"Emergency. Norbert. Come to the Minister's office now."

Norbert was the codename he, Ron and Hermione had been using for the past 19 years to refer to Corban Yaxley, a high ranking Death Eater who had disappeared after the Battle of Hogwarts. Since before Harry had become an auror, finding Yaxley had been at the top of the department's priority list. Outside of the office, the trio also worked on the case, lacing together any clues they could round up over the years. Obviously, Hermione now had a lead on Yaxley. Harry felt a surge of adrenaline at the thought of finally putting the murdering bastard in Azkaban. As he approached the office door, Harry attempted to calm himself, not knowing exactly what information Hermione had. He knocked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to any lingering ministry staff who could be in the hallways.

"S'Harry," he said quietly, face close to the door.

Swinging backward, the door quickly opened to reveal a frazzled looking Hermione, who ushered him past gold leafed pillars flaking the door and into the office. Harry waited to make sure the door was closed behind them before talking.

"Should I cast a Muffliato," he asked, looking around. "Or, should we wait for Ron?"

"I haven't heard from him yet," she said, biting her lip nervously. "It always takes the owls a bit to get to Azkaban."

Every auror was expected to take at least one shift at Azkaban a week, with Harry and Ron serving as shift commanders for longer, 24-hour shifts since they had been promoted to high-ranking positions in the department. Unfortunately, it meant they didn't often get to work at the dank, depressing facility together. Even with the dementors gone it was not a pleasant place to be.

"Right," he said comfortingly. "I'll bet we'll be hearing from him any minute."

"I'll have to get you updated though. We could have very little time," Hermione said as she steered Harry towards the Minister Shacklebolt's desk, which was covered with parchment, including what looked like datebooks, journals and personal letters.

"Merlin, Hermione, is this-" Harry sputtered out as he placed the pensieve on a plush red velvet armchair facing the desk.

"Believe me, it was necessary," Hermione said, scanning the piles. "Here," she said, selecting a letter and handing it to Harry. Pulling his gaze from the minister's usually pristine mahogany desk, Harry read over the letter, his green eyes growing wider as he went.

"So this person claims to know where...Norbert...was this whole time and Kingsley never told us? Did he tell you?" asked Harry.

"Didn't say a thing. Now, when I came across it, I though surely he must have vetted it out. It could have just been someone looking for attention..."

"I guess," said Harry, frowning.

"But look at the postmark." Harry turned the letter in his hands and looked up to Hermione in confusion.

"Majorca? Do you think this has something to do with the minister's vacations?"

"Absolutely. I started looking through his correspondence today, because we had the strangest floo conversation. Harry, I could swear there was someone there with him, someone controll-"

At that moment there was a loud bang and green fire erupted from the minister's fireplace, causing Harry and Hermione to jump to their feet.

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