The Toad

Disclaimer: Not mine, no money (drat!)

AN: Please, please forgive me for the long wait between chapters this time. My two teenagers are not quite old enough to drive, but their many after school activities are enough to drive me crazy!! Things are winding down now, so hopefully I will not be so busy from now on.

Thanks a million to my wonderful beta JENGEORGE for all of her valuable input. She really helps to make this a better story. And a big thank-you always goes to WriterMerrin and the staff here at TPP for their diligent work on the grammar end. How did I ever make it through Freshman English without them?

Chapter 28

The Toad

"One more time, Winky, just to humor me, please." Snape tapped his foot with impatience as Winky began to count on her fingers.

"Winky is to hide under Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak and wait for Miss Skeeter to come home. Then Winky is to follow her into her house and wait for her to put her wand down. If she doesn't put it down soon, Winky is to immobilize her and then remove her wand anyway. Then Winky is to Apparate Miss Skeeter to the main room of the Gaunt house. Then Winky is to Apparate to the little room behind the magic mirror where Master Severus will be waiting. If Winky needs to speak, Winky will whisper. Winky will only refer to Master Severus as 'Number One" while Miss Skeeter is with us. When Master is finished with Miss Skeeter, Winky will Apparate back into the Gaunt main room and take Miss Skeeter back to her house where Winky will Obliviate her. Winky will then Apparate back to Spinner's End where Winky may then remove Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak.

Excellent, Winky! That was perfect."

The worried lines of Winky's face did not relax with his praise. She wrung her hands together in obvious distress.

"There's nothing to worry about, Winky. Your memory of my instructions was flawless."

"Winky does not worry about remembering Master Severus' instructions. Winky worries about being arrested and sent to Azkaban!"

Snape threw his head back and laughed heartily. "They won't send you. You're a house-elf. If we get caught – which we won't – they will know you were only following orders. They would never hold you accountable."

"But then they would arrest Master Severus and send master to Azkaban. Winky is even more afraid of that possibility. What would Winky DOOOO?!!" The stressed out little elf began to weep and wail as she threw herself on the grimy Gaunt floor and wrapped her arms around Snape's ankles.

He stooped down to pat her back in the hope of comforting her. "Winky," he crooned as he coaxed her to stand and look at him, "don't you want to help Miss Granger and Harry Potter?"

She sniffed and nodded as her tennis ball eyes finally met his.

"Nothing bad is going to happen, I promise you."

"But what if she gets away and tells someone before Winky can Obliviate her?"

Snape sighed. He hadn't realized how upset this "secret mission" of theirs had made her. "That's why you must stay under the cloak and I will stay Disillusioned the entire time. If anything out of the ordinary happens, don't remove the cloak until you are safely back at home. And be sure to keep your voice to a whisper, and under NO circumstances do you call me by name until we are safely back at Spinner's End. In fact, don't even call Miss Skeeter by name. Call her 'our guest' instead."

"Our guest... yes sir."

"Now, why don't you put the cloak on and go retrieve our guest. We may as well get this over with. She ought to be about ready to leave work now."

Winky nodded, felling much better after having her fears waylaid. She threw the cloak over herself and disappeared from view, a tell-tale pop signaling her departure.

Snape systematically put up the Anti-Apparition wards that only an elf could get through. Then he warded each of the doors and windows from a physical attempt to escape as well. He quickly took the charmed credit card from his pocket that Miss Granger had owled to him three days previously and encoded the word "friends" to appear. Once finished, he opened the door to the storage closet behind the magic mirror (which was really only a Muggle two-way mirror that he could see through from his side) and he tapped himself on top of the head, becoming invisible.

Now all he could do was wait.

*

Hermione stood in front of the mirror in her private bath at Hogwarts. The humidity during these last few days of summer wreaked havoc on her hair, and she had just begun to work some extra Sleekeazy into it when she felt the charmed credit card heat up in her robe's pocket. She pulled it out to discover the word "friends" stamped plainly on the surface. "Perfect timing," she mumbled as she made one last feeble attempt to tame her frizz.

The castle came alive with excitement as its grand front door opened and students began to pour in. Today happened to be September first, and she was due in the Great Hall for the start-of-term feast. She would have plenty of friends to testify as to her whereabouts for the next couple of hours.

*

Having seen his older children safely to the Hogwarts Express that morning, Harry had stayed late at work to make up for the lost time. He was just finishing the last of his paper-work when he felt the credit card burn in his pocket. He hastily pulled it out and discovered the message. He knew that Ginny's company might not be a good enough alibi, and Ron had already gone to pick up Hugo at his mum's. So he quickly sent a Patronus off to Ginny, requesting that she bring Lily and meet him for dinner at Salicia's Diner. Daylight would last for at least another hour. If he was lucky, someone might even ask him for an autograph.

*

After what seemed like an eternity but was in reality only about fifteen minutes, a loud pop focused Snape's attention to the mirror. In the next room he could see a very disoriented Rita Skeeter. Apparently, Winky had kept his earlier instructions under advisement, and she had immobilized the witch so she could remove her wand before transport. She still suffered the spell, and he feared she would fall over onto the floor, so he silently cast Wingardium Leviosa to ensure her safety.

Another pop signaled Wink's arrival by his side. "Number Two has brought our guest, sir," she whispered hoarsely.

"Excellent work, Number Two. But could you please remove the immobilization spell that you used on her? She needs to be able to move."

"Yes, sir."

No sooner had the words been whispered then Rita began to flail. Her disoriented look was instantly replaced by anger. Snape silently lowered her to the ground and released the spell then sat back on his tall stool to watch the show.

"Who are you?" Rita screeched. "Where am I?"

She turned on the spot to Disapparate but to no avail. "What do you want from me?" She began to try the doors and the only dirty window. When nothing would open, she rubbed at the glass in hopes of cleaning it and looking outside to discern her location. But her toil was for naught since an even thicker layer of grime coated the outside, and the bushes had become so overgrown that she wouldn't have been able to see past them anyway.

She growled in frustration and turned away from the window to survey the rest of the room. "Show yourself, you COWARD!" When no one appeared and silence endured, she beat her fist on the closet door. "What do you WANT??!!" She kicked the door with her pointy high-heel shoe so hard that the impact threw her off balance and she landed with an undignified thud on her bum. A cloud of dust filled the air. Winky cringed, but Snape snickered silently. The woman was working herself into a tizzy, hair now out of place and make-up running from tears of anger and frustration. Rita was suffering a melt-down right before his eyes. Such an entertaining spectacle. After all the pain and suffering she had caused, she deserved it.

Rita pushed her hair back out of her face and sighed in a huff. Her breath drew heavy as she clutched at her chest. Then her breathing slowed, and her fingers fanned out on her sternum as she visibly calmed herself. Snape was almost impressed by her self-control. She picked herself up, dusted the grime off her bum, and she began to explore the room as well as her options, since no help or explanation seemed forthcoming. She ran her fingers across the dusty mantle piece, then she stooped to inspect the large masonry fireplace beneath it. The mortar holding the bricks in place had begun to crumble. A pile of ashes still lay in the center of the rusty grate, all covered with a thick layer of dust. She could tell that this place had not felt the warmth of a fire for at least a decade, perhaps many more. Snape was surprised to see her inspect the shoe-print patterns on the floor. He knew she would be able to tell that someone had disturbed the dirt collected there, but she would have no idea what they had been doing, or how many had been there.

He had glamoured the mirror to look cracked and dirty so it would seem to belong in the room like the rest of its dilapidated contents, but he knew that, given enough time, her vanity would draw her to it like flies to a carcass in the sun. And when she began to preen, he would immobilize her again so he could use Legilimency on her and peruse her memories at his leisure. Somewhere in that bees' nest, he was bound to find something useful to the blackmail case.

Finally, she noticed the mirror and took a few steps closer. But her eyes focused first on the ornately carved frame of ancient oak burl. He had mounted it with a Permanent Sticking Charm over the hole he had cut through earlier in the week, so he knew she couldn't pull it off the wall, but he feared for a moment that she might try.

Instead, she finally began to inspect her own reflection, putting curls back in place and wiping away an errant smear of makeup.

This was Snape's chance. He slid the stool over so he could lower himself to look her in the eyes without stooping, but the stool caught on a warped floorboard and slipped from his hands, falling with a loud clatter to the floor. Snape cursed under his breath as he reached down to retrieve the stool. When he looked up, Rita's face no long peered into the mirror. The noise must have spooked her. A string of quiet expletives escaped his lips. Merlin only knew how long it would take for her to come back to inspect her reflection.

As he settled himself once again and gave the mirror's view his full attention, however, Rita was nowhere to be found. He glared through it at every possible angle, even pushing his face against it in an attempt to see the floor beneath. He eventually concluded that she figured out that she was being observed through it, and she must be crouched on the floor directly below since that was the only blind spot in the room.

Snape's Disillusioned face distorted into a scowl. "Number Two." His irritation managed to seep into his gruff whisper.

"Yes, Number One, sir?"

"I believe our guest is crouching on the floor in the outer room. Could you please go silently convince her to at least stand up?"

"Yes, Number One, sir."

Snape heard Winky's exit pop. Then a minute later, another pop signaled her return.

"Win...Number Two could not find our guest, Number One. Number Two is afraid."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Number Two searched everywhere. It is a small room. Our guest is gone." Winky's voice trembled with apprehension.

"No need for alarm, Number Two. I'll find her." Snape knew – he just knew – that there was no way humanly possible to get out of that room.

But when he slipped through the door to inspect the outer room, he could not find her. He searched every inch of the floor. He cast detection spells to see if she had somehow Disillusioned herself without her wand. Nothing.

Rita Skeeter was gone.

*

After erasing all traces of their activities, Snape took Winky's hand and they Apparated home. It was only then that he felt safe enough to remove his Disillusionment Charm and allow her to remove Potter's Invisibility Cloak.

Winky was still trembling. "What if Miss Skeeter tells someone? What will we do? Winky had a premonition that something would not go right." She continued to ramble on fretfully until Snape finally had to gently admonish her.

"Winky, please be reasonable. We will not get caught. She has no idea who abducted her."

With the word "abducted," Winky shuddered.

"She was not injured in any way. When she gets back home, she will find her wand intact. And I assure you that there is no way any of the magic used would be traceable back to me. No harm done, really."

"Winky kidnapped a witch. Winky broke wizarding law."

"Winky," he pleaded, trying to calm her nerves and make her see reason, "you are already a free elf. What more could they do to you?"

Winky bowed her head in shame. "Master Severus could order Winky away."

"What? I would never do that. Why would you say such a thing?"

Winky looked, if possible, even guiltier than before. "Because Winky doesn't ever want to kidnap anyone ever again. Even if Master Severus orders me to, Winky will refuse." At that point, Winky threw herself on the floor and began to hit her head against the side of the coffee table, crying and wailing as she did so.

"Winky!" Snape lunged for her and pulled her away from the table. "Winky, look at me!" He turned her towards him as he stooped on the floor so she could look him directly in the eye. "You are a free elf. You work for me because you want to. I do not give you orders, I request things of you. You are free to refuse if you wish. The only condition of your continued employment is to keep my secrets. If you ever betray my trust, I will ask you to leave, but," he stared with great compassion into her huge, tennis ball eyes, "I hope that day never comes."

Winky straightened herself up to her full height and squared her tiny shoulders. She seemed fortified by Snape's admission. "Then master should know in advance that Winky will refuse to do anything illegal that master may ask of me."

Snape couldn't stop the smirk that smeared its way across his face as he returned to his feet. "Then I apologize. I should never have involved you in the first place."

"Apology accepted." She gave him a deep bow which, to her delight, he returned.

"So I guess that means that I have no further use for Potter's Invisibility Cloak then?"

"Not for Winky, sir."

"Very well. Since I can always Disillusion myself if need be, I don't require it either." Snape looked at the clock on the wall. It had gotten late, so he opted to wait until the next day to return the cloak to Potter.

*****

The following evening found Snape standing in the middle of Harry Potter's living room, attempting to return his Invisibility Cloak. For some reason that Snape could not fathom, Potter was resisting.

"As I said, I feel honored that you would allow me to borrow this unique and valuable magical artifact, but I have no further use for it."

"But it didn't help you to gather any new information?"

Snape shrugged. "Unfortunately, no."

"Perhaps your surveillance techniques need some modernizing. We have a book on the latest methods..."

"It wasn't a matter of surveillance. I was attempting to interrogate someone."

"Oh, well then, what did you need the cloak for?"

"I didn't wish them to know who was interrogating them, obviously."

"Ah, so did you learn anything that could help us?"

Snape swallowed hard and gazed out the nearest window. "Must I keep repeating myself?"

"I take that as a 'no,' then. So, what happened? What went wrong?"

"I do not wish to discuss it further. The less you know the better." Truth be told, he was embarrassed that someone, especially the likes of Rita Skeeter, would be able to defeat his wards. The last thing he wanted to do was let an upstart like Potter help him analyze his mistakes.

"But perhaps, if you tell me what happened, I can make some sug –"

"What part of NO do you not understand?!" Snape's patience had come to an end.

"Sorry." A space of awkward silence stretched between them. Snape pursed his lips. He had never been good at small talk, so he turned toward the door.

"Err... Gin and I were hoping that you'd stay for dinner. I won't bring it up again. I promise.

Snape turned back toward Potter. "I do not wish to seem ungrateful, Mr. Potter, but Winky is rather upset by this whole ordeal, and I shouldn't leave her alone for too long." Snape knew that, although Winky had indeed been upset the night before, she was over it now. He just didn't feel like Potter's company this evening.

"I understand, sir. Well, in that case, I have something for you. Kingsley Shacklebolt asked me to give this to you." Harry reached into his pocket and fished out a small envelope with Kingsley's personal seal stamped into Ravenclaw blue wax on the back.

"Do you know what this is about?"

"He didn't tell me, but I'm assuming it's about the restaurant he wants to open. I though Hermione mentioned it to you."

"She did, but I didn't want to presume anything." Snape stashed the object in question into his robe's pocket and bowed slightly. "Mr. Potter, give my regrets to your lovely wife."

"She'll be disappointed."

"Right." Snape's tone dripped with sarcasm.

"No, really. She hasn't seen you in years, and Hermione and I keep telling her how much you've changed. She is looking forward to getting to know you all over again."

Snape raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Sorry, Mr. Potter. Perhaps another time."

"Oh, and in future, I would prefer that you call me Harry."

Snape's look softened. Potter had consistently extended the hand of friendship over these last few months, and his efforts had not gone unnoticed. But... "I appreciate the gesture, Mr. Potter, but I don't think I'm ready for that just yet. You see, I still refer to Her... Hermione," he stumbled over her given name, "as Miss Granger. It helps me to keep her at arm's length. And I'm afraid that it would lead to some rather awkward moments if I continued to call her Miss Granger while referring to you as Harry."

"Right. I understand, sir. I hope with all my heart that someday that can change."

"As do I." Snape wistfully brought to mind the events of his most recent ethereal encounter just a few nights before. He had kept them a secret for months, and they were only becoming more real, more tantalizing. He had almost begun to hope that he would never wake up. "If my recent dreams are any indication, perhaps someday our situation will change for the better," he admitted with a shy smile.

"So you've been having dreams about Hermione? Do you think they're prophetic?"

"I'm no authority on dreams, but these seem different. They are so real, and when I awake, I recall every last detail. It's as if I am recalling a real-life event."

Harry grinned and wagged his eyebrows. "Anything you'd like to talk about?"

A rather prudish look crossed Snape's face. "Most of them are of a personal nature, but the most recent involved you."

"Me?" An image of the three of them in bed together flashed across Harry's mind, and his face involuntarily contorted as his body shuddered. It's not that I'd mind doing it with Hermione so much, he thought to himself, but Sn...

"What's the matter?" Snape yanked him out of his reverie.

Harry's face began to glow beet red. "Nnn... nothing," he stammered. "Just an overactive imagination."

Snape looked puzzled for a split second, but then comprehension dawned. He clucked his tongue as his head moved slowly back and forth. "Mind out of the gutter, Mr. Potter."

"Right. Sorry, sir."

"If you must know, Hugo and your daughter, Lily, had just graduated from Hogwarts, and you had decided to run for Minister of Magic."

Harry's eyes grew wide. Was that fear that Snape just saw? Or perhaps amazement?

"That's weird, Professor. Did Hermione tell you?"

"Tell me what? Are you running for Minister?"

"Oh, no." Harry shook his head vigorously. "Kingsley just asked me to run a few weeks ago when he gave Hermione and me the heads up that he was stepping down."

"She didn't mention it, so I had no idea. What was your reply?"

"This is the weird part. I told him that the kids were too young, but I might consider it after they were all grown and out of the house."

"Indeed! What a coincidence." Snape was astonished by Potter's admission.

"Perhaps there is something to this fortune telling after all," Harry offered.

"I wouldn't go quite that far," Snape insisted.

But as he and Potter parted ways, he couldn't help but hope that his dreams did depict some shred of truth about what the future held for himself and Miss Granger.

*****

On Friday morning, after her usual breakfast in the Great Hall, Hermione headed to the Ministry of Magic to spend another day in the Records Office. But as she entered the lift, she didn't realize that her life was about to get much more difficult. She was alone when she stepped into the lift, but on the very next floor, the door opened, and in stepped the pink toad with former Minister Fudge in her wake. The witch was in top form with clipboard in hand and chiffon bow attached to the top of a hideous 1950's hairdo.

"Well, well, if it isn't one third of the Golden Trio. I thought you were now teaching our young people at Hogwarts," commented Fudge politely.

"Yes," added Umbridge, "Setting a good example for all of those Muggle-borns out there?"

"Good morning, Madam Secretary, Minister Fudge." Hermione's skin began to crawl.

"And what do they have you teaching these days? House-elf rights?" Fudge began to snicker at his back-handed question.

"How to make friends with the Giants and still keep you head – in more ways that one?" Umbridge added her two knuts' worth and they both started to laugh outright.

"Charms, actually. I took Filius Flitwick's place."

"Charms..." Hermione knew what Fudge would say next. She gritted her teeth. "How charming." The imbecile was soooo predictable. The pair began to giggle disgustingly, like school-age children.

Hermione thought she might be sick. But the perfect come-back flashed through her mind, and the words escaped before she had time to lose her nerve. "I took a walk in the Forbidden Forest yesterday and happened upon the Centaur herd. Bane and Magorian send their regards." The mortified look that erupted on Umbridge's face almost made the elevator ride worthwhile until she heard the horrid woman's next question.

"And if you are indeed Hogwarts' newest teacher, then why in Merlin's name are you here on a school day?"

"Errr... Headmistress McGonagall was kind enough to let me have Fridays off so that I could spend more time with Hugo until he starts at Hogwarts next fall."

"So where is the boy?" Fudge asked with a chuckle. "Or does the Ministry teach primary school these days?"

"Of course not." Hermione could feel her face heating up. She knew that the nosy old farts would dig until they uncovered some version of the truth. She figured that if she told the truth straight out, it would diffuse Umbridge's need to snoop and perhaps Hermione could keep her real mission a secret for just a bit longer. "I am also helping the Aurors' office with a bit of research. You know those field officers," she said with a nonchalant wave of her hand, "always ready for action, but they wouldn't know how to look up a number in a Muggle phonebook." Hermione's attempt at humor fell flat as the pair in front of her stared, nonplussed.

"What, pray tell, is a foam-book, Miss Granger?" asked the toad.

"No, no. It's a phone book. Oh, this is my floor. Sorry, I'll have to explain another time." She slipped through the double doors just before they closed. It was the Auror Office floor. Even though she didn't really need to see Harry first, she just had to get out of that elevator, and she didn't want them to know her real destination. With luck, the kitten-obsessed toad would not find out the true nature of her research until it was too late.

Hermione leaned up against the wall and sighed in relief. After taking a moment to compose herself, she decided a quick visit to check in with Harry wasn't a bad idea after all.

After exchanging the usual pleasantries with his office mates, she and Harry sequestered themselves in his office for some privacy.

"Where's Ron this morning?"

"Dunno. He'll probably breeze in here in a few minutes. The man 'll be late for his own funeral."

Hermione laughed lightly. Then she relayed the conversation from her elevator ride. Harry took a deep and apprehensive breath then let it out in a bluster. "Oh boy. Now the fun begins."

Just then, a knock came on Harry's door and a tussle of red hair appeared. "G'morning, Harry. Just thought I should check in. Oh, hi, Hermione. Fancy meeting you here." Ron stepped in the rest of the way and closed the door. "Hey, are you really doing research for our department now?"

Hermione glanced at Harry out of the corner of her eye then looked warily back at her ex-husband. "Who told you that?"

"I was up in Dad's office before I came here, and I ran into Umbridge along the way. She said she had seen you and she wondered which case you were researching for us."

This time it was Harry's turn to look worried. "And what did you tell her, exactly?"

Ron tilted his head to the side. "Said I didn't know."

"And what did she say to that?" asked Hermione as her teeth worried her lower lip.

"She mumbled something like, 'that's odd.'" Ron raised his voice and scrunched up his face in an attempt to imitate the toad. "And then she scribbled something on her clipboard and walked away."

"Well, if she, or anyone else, happens to ask, just tell them that Hermione is doing general research. Many of our cases need background information that can be found in both Ministry and Muggle records offices, and she's the perfect person to do it since she knows how both systems work."

Ron may not have been as smart as Hermione, but he knew Harry well enough to spot a cover-up answer when he heard one. He smirked. "So what are you really doing here?"

Hermione smirked back. Then she glanced at Harry, not sure just how much they should be telling Ron about the blackmail case.

"We can't tell you. It's for Kingsley, and it's top secret."

"Sorry, Ron."

"It's alright." He shrugged nonchalantly. "You'll let me know if I can help with anything?"

Hermione nodded.

"Will do," replied Harry.

Ron disappeared back through the door.

"Merlin, you two are so much better off without each other."

"You have no idea," Hermione admitted. "So, has Professor Snape brought your cloak back yet?" she asked anxiously after Harry put a Muffliato Spell on the door.

"Yeah, he brought it back yesterday. I tried to get him to stay for dinner, but he said he didn't want to leave Winky alone."

"But he leaves Winky alone all the time. Why would last night have been any different?"

"Something went wrong, and he had said that she was pretty upset about it, so he didn't want to leave her alone for too long."

Concern spread across Hermione's face. "What happened?"

"Dunno. He wouldn't tell me. Said I was better off not knowing."

"Did he find out anything?"

"Nope."

"Damn. Now what do we do?"

"Well, I guess the next step for him will be to do a background-check on each person who has immigrated here and claimed to be a pure-blood. I will continue to interview all of the Muggle-borns who have been discovered and left town. Perhaps you can follow the money trail somehow."

"What do you mean? We can't get access to anyone's bank records without a unanimous vote from the Wizengamot. There's not much I can do."

"But don't you remember? All of the people we have interviewed so far have said that the payment demands went up as they began to make more money. So the blackmailer must have had access to each business' income records."

"Of course. Business income records are available to most of the mid-level Ministry officials, and each business must file a quarterly income statement with the required minimum estimated income tax."

Harry's face morphed into a fiendish grin. "And to look at a record book you must first..."

"... sign it out!" They both chanted in unison. Hermione returned his smile.

"Well, what are you sitting around here for?"

Hermione stood and reached for the door. "Later, boss!"