Beneath the Covers / DRAMIONE (COMPLETE)

Tempers and Tedium

Severus would have to admit that he was extremely bored. In true immature, Gryffindor fashion, Remus had actually nodded off on his shoulder and was, thankfully, only emitting very quiet snores.

Hogwarts staff meetings weren't renowned for being tedious. Usually Albus welcomed them all and then Minerva took over but today they had a surprise visit from the minister. Now, Cornelius Fudge was never a welcome presence, but, on a day they'd just defeated Voldemort once and for all, a break from the watchful eye of the ministry would be nice for once.

"So you see?" Fudge said earnestly, looking around at them all as he finished his monologue.
Severus hadn't been tuned into a word the idiot had said but it would be a good idea to wake Remus up before Fudge actually got offended. As a result, he quickly nudged Remus and the werewolf fell forwards. Luckily, he regained consciousness in a matter of seconds and sat back in a casual manner. Severus attempted to stifle a smirk but Minnie saw him and they had a short battle of who could keep themselves from snorting for the longest time.

"Yes, Minister," Dumbledore replied seriously, "We do see."
He gave his colleagues all a very stern look which, if it had been vocalised, would have been a strict admonition to behave and not act like toddlers.
"Now, the important part," Minnie stated purposefully. "Professor Snape's Order of Merlin."

Fudge looked up at Minerva's expectant face and faltered.
"Well, you see, Minerva," he hesitated, gazing anywhere but at Severus himself, "The ministry is unwilling to, erm, acknowledge any known Death Eaters_"
"Ex-Death Eater," Severus growled.

"Who, let it be said," Remus remarked airily, "Killed his supposed 'master', otherwise known as the lord of all Death Eaters, Voldemort."
Well, erm, the situation is a tiny bit tricky," Fudge cleared his throat, shuddering at the mention of Voldemort's name. "Umbridge has tied my hands."
He waved his hands for dramatic effect and only succeeded in knocking over a mug of tea which Minerva quickly sorted out.

"Umbridge!" Severus exclaimed, choking on his tongue and getting violently thumped on the back by Remus. "The centaurs took her! She was in St. Mungo's for months! I checked!"
He had a furious look on his face and Fudge visibly recoiled.
"She is my assistant," he coughed. "And she is, erm, rather dedicated."

"So?" Minerva questioned angrily. "Umbridge is your assistant. Fire her. Or I will be forced to face her myself," she threatened.
"She did stun you the last time you met," Severus commented, always up for starting a fight.
"It was five against one!"
Sadly for Severus, no fight did break out but Minerva didn't stop glaring at him for ten immensely long minutes.

*

Hermione and Draco sat by the Black Lake, holding hands. The day had been full of shocks, surprise and misery, and Hermione just wanted everything to calm down. Most of the teachers had emerged from their meeting in a bad mood, with McGonagall glaring at Snape, Snape rolling his eyes, Dumbledore sighing and Remus yawning, and Fudge had hightailed it out of the building before anyone could speak to him. Harry was busy getting the attention of a few doting Hufflepuff girls and Ginny was painting her nails with Hermione's aquamarine nail varnish a short way off, ready to intervene when the attention-seeking became less harmless and more harmful.

"Ready for summer?" Hermione asked, leaning against his shoulder.
"I'm ready for anything away from this place," he admitted.
"It's been a bit crazy," she commented. "What with Ron and Voldemort."
"I bet Ronnikins is delighted that his villainy is equal to that of the Dark Lord's," he grinned, looking down at her.

Hermione huffed.
"Madam Pomfrey can't tell whether he's still got memory loss or whether he's recovered his memory and is scared to approach any of us."
"Probably the latter," Draco stated. "The entire school hates him, it's not a secret. I would hide if I were him."

"Oh well."
She snuggled closer to him.
"Tired, 'Mione?"
"Relieved," she murmured. "No Voldemort, no Ron..."

"Just schoolwork," Ginny completed, plopping herself next to them.
Harry joined her, scowling. The Hufflepuffs had been successfully scared off by Ginny.
"Snape had better not give me homework," he moaned.
"I think he's too busy trying to get an Order of Merlin," Draco pointed out. "So he might forget about homework."

"Forget about homework?" Hermione gasped, devastated.
"Hermione, consider the whole picture," Ginny told her. "Snape wants his Order of Merlin and he wants it first class. He's hardly going to be setting homework when he could be annoying Fudge instead."
"True," Hermione accepted. "Anyway, what's going on?"

Ginny prepared herself to give a detailed account.
"Well, Voldemort's dead, Harry is upset that I got him away from some second year Hufflepuffs and Dumbledore is going to arrange some sort of celebration next week. After the memorial service, of course."
"They were fourth years!"

"And people are dead," Ginny reminded him. "You're not giving off a great example."
"Has he ever?" Draco muttered.
Ginny glared at him.
"Right, okay. Dead people. Got it."

*****

A.N. So, yeah, another chapter. I would say I'm on a roll but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Everyone's a tiny bit stir crazy inside Hogwarts and I've depicted Harry as a horrible person - you're welcome, Emilia_Severus_Snape. *Bows*

Thank you so much for reading, stay tuned and PLEASE COMMENT AS ALWAYS!!! :)