Further Developments

Disclaimer: Except for an OC, the characters here and the world they live in are the creation and property of JK Rowling.

A/N: There is definite egg on my face, here. This is actually chapter four and the previous chapter is five. They will be switched around as soon as I can do so. If anyone is wondering how Katherine's job was affected by the changes at the Ministry, here is the answer.

Minister Scrimgeour was in a terrible mood. The case against Snape was going nowhere. He had finally given the order that it didn't matter whether there was sufficient evidence to convict Snape; they would arrest him and deal with the evidence later. A shamefaced Dawlish and Proudfoot came back from Snape's home and reported that he was not there. What's more, the house was dusty enough to indicate that it had been empty for at least two weeks.

Two nights after the botched arrest attempt, Harry Potter was moved, without Ministry knowledge, in a fiasco that resulted in the death of one the best Aurors that Scrimgeour had ever known. The boy arrived at his destination safely, but it was quite costly if just measured in the life of Alastor Moody. The Minister would have to meet with Potter as soon as he could, even over Arthur Weasley's dead body if need be. The release of Dumbledore's will from probate would be a good pretext. In the meanwhile, there must be a way to figure out what all of the whispers in the hallways meant. The Minister had been getting odd looks from Yaxley, lately.

Several evenings later, Katherine was out of the office, walking through the school grounds. Half of her staff were attending a wedding. It would give her a chance to look things over in a light more like that on the night of the murder and without extraneous comments. Minerva McGonagall came running up the Astronomy tower staircase when the word came: the Ministry had fallen to the Death Eaters, and Scrimgeour, for better or for worse, had been killed. Katherine patted the professor's arm and put away her notebook. It was time to go back to her London flat to see what reception she would receive.

Kingsley was in a doorway of the dark alley where she Apparated.

"What's the news?" she asked quietly.

"I'm out. They know I'm in the Order. I've watched your doorway. They fastened a scroll to your door but left. I haven't seen any magical people at all around here since. I think that means you're still in."

"Do you remember my old address?"

He thought for a moment. "Yes."

"You can stay there if it's safe, although you'll fit in better if you look like a stevedore. I'll try to meet you there this weekend."

"Right. Watch your back until then."

"You stay safe, yourself."

The note from the Ministry was an order to come for a meeting with Pius Thicknesse and Gawain Robards. Having experience in such matters, Katherine arrived a full hour early. When she was shown into the meeting room, she found that Dolores Umbridge was also there.

"Ms. Stanton, the Ministry would like to keep you here, as long as we are clear about your duties." It was clear the statement was supposed to be from Thicknesse, but Umbridge did the talking.

"In my discussions with the previous Minister, it was clear that I am to find and apprehend the person responsible for Dumbledore's death. Is that still the case?"

"Very good. Yes. What leads do you have?" Umbridge was leaning over the table they sat around, looking eager.

"At the moment, our leads indicating that the person responsible is Severus Snape have dried up. I had hoped to speak with Harry Potter..."

"He's quite the person of interest, isn't he? In fact, based on information that has come through my office, we suspect that he was the person to have done the deed and has cast suspicion on a well-respected teacher to try to get out of it."

"That's definitely a theory of the case." Katherine was glad she had years of experience in controlling herself. In the back of her mind, her eyes were rolling just about out of their sockets.

"In fact, Minister Thicknesse is going to strengthen the Ministry. We're going to capture more of these undesirable hooligans that have made things so unstable in order to bring some peace to Magical England."

Katherine wondered who was defining the term undesirable hooligan. "A worthy goal, to be sure."

"So we understand each other!" Dolores almost squealed with delight. "Minister, I told you that Ms. Stanton is just the person to help us locate Undesirable Number One." She held up a poster of Harry Potter.

Katherine nodded her head. "I'll do all in my power to complete the task for which I was hired, Minister." She held out her hand and Umbridge gave her a clammy, soft shake, Robards shook firmly, and the Minister shook as if he didn't know what he was doing.

Katherine Stanton, in a previous life, had lived with her husband in an upstairs flat in a coastal port city. It was in a dirty section of town where very little magic had ever been known, and it was doubtful the Ministry currently had a record of it unless one perused the records very deeply indeed. When Cyrus had died, Katherine had kept the flat as a useful place to hide when necessary. It was to this place that she had sent Kingsley.

When she first arrived, they simply hugged each other, clinging together as refugees from the madness that had destroyed their world. Then they silently had coffee and breakfast together. After a while, Kingsley told Katherine of the night the fighting had broken out at the Ministry.

"It was very strange. I was guarding the Minister when Yaxley came to his office. Suddenly Thicknesse was there, saying the oddest things. They murdered poor Rufus before I could get my wand out. While they searched through his office, I ran down to the MLE office, where I quickly incinerated a drawer full of files I didn't want them to get. Then I fought all the way to the fireplaces and Flooed to King's Cross and from there Apparated around until I was sure I had lost them. Then I waited by your flat until you came."

Katherine described the changes at work. "The Ministry is silent these days. No one speaks unless discussing a specific work issue and then barely above a whisper. There's a trace on the Tedious One's name so that anyone who says it will be tracked down by some group of thugs turned policemen. Thicknesse is clearly under Imperius Curse and our dear friend Dolores is running just about everything at will. She's looking for Potter, and I don't think she intends to protect him."

"She has always looked for a reason to incarcerate him."

"I get the feeling she would like to incinerate him."

"How are you proceeding with your case?"

"Umbridge is having the Prophet publish a series of articles implicating Harry Potter in the Murder..." Katherine held up her hand to still Kingsley's spluttered comment. "And I think this will fit into our activities. If, as we think, it's possible that Snape is still, somehow, working for Dumbledore, we need to keep attention off of him. The few whispers I've heard say that he's going to be named Headmaster of the school next week."

Kingsley leaned back and let out a big sigh. "What is in our good list for him, again?"

"He didn't kill or kidnap Harry when he had the chance, he's always been closer to Dumbledore than almost anyone else, and he's half Muggle."

"The bad list contains?"

"His mother believed in pure-blood supremacy, he belonged to Slytherin, his Muggle father was an abusive SOB, and he killed Dumbledore, which has put him high among the Tedious One's followers."

"Murder would tend to eliminate him as one of Dumbledore's friends..."

"I know I'm missing something. An event, a relative, a friend... Do you have any idea what it could be?"

"I have sweet F.A. on that one, love."

"Oh, great. I suggested you look like a stevedore. You don't have to sound like one."

Kingsley chuckled and they made plans for meeting again and ways they could contact each other if they had news. Katherine's flat would be a good safehouse, but they didn't want to overuse it and attract attention. It was also unclear at what point someone at the Ministry would uncover the long-archived files that her married address was listed within.

"Watch yourself, girl," Kingsley directed as they parted.

"What are you talking about?" asked Katherine.

"You have a softer look in your eye when we discuss Snape. I can tell you want him to be on the right side. Don't fall for him."

"Don't worry. Getting him to fall for me is part of how I do my job."

"How far do you get them to fall, and what do you have to do to get them there?"

"I don't particularly care for the insinuation, Kingsley."

"I'm just worried. Don't get yourself into anything you can't get out of."

"I know what I'm doing."

A/N: this story is beta read by Trickie Woo.