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CHAPTER EIGHTY EIGHT:

My life is a rollercoaster ride, Harry thought mirthlessly, absently knowing the irony of him calling his life that when he'd never been on a rollercoaster before.

However, fact was that the day before he had basically proposed to his lover, and today he was escorting his former/future wife and her sister to the Ministry of Magic. The first trial of the day would be of their parents, and Daphne didn't hide her apprehension well.

"Relax," Harry told both girls gently just before they flooed to the Ministry. "The trials really are fair, and I'm sure that you'll be able to spend the rest of the day with your parents in your own home, so don't worry. Chin up, shoulders back – ready?" Daphne took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before nodding, accepting a pinch of Floo powder from the tin he held out to her. Astoria did her best to emulate her sister, but her fear was easy to see.

Not a half hour later Harry regretted those words as he saw the girl he had once loved sitting with tears streaming down her cheeks, staring uncomprehendingly at the people she called Mum and Dad. The silencing barrier around her seat had needed to be raised as her initial reaction had been far from numb silence, but she hadn't been the only one shocked to find that the Greengrasses were not, in fact, as neutral as they had always seemed.

They had hidden it well even from their daughters, but their hatred for Muggles, half-bloods, and non-human beings was on the same level as Bellatrix Lestrange, and Harry for one was horrified to find clear comparisons between the insane Death Eater and his one-time wife's parents. He knew that neither of the Greengrass girls was at all like their parents, but he could see others eyeing them warily and knew that he'd have to make a public stance to give their moral integrity any credibility.

Harry's heart hurt for the two girls as their parents confessed with obvious satisfaction to having supplied Voldemort with anything he desired, including torture instruments and illegal potions that sounded absolutely horrifying; they had never killed anyone themselves, but only because their Lord had commanded them to keep a low profile and appear politically neutral so that they could support him without garnering any attention. Even knowing how much it must be hurting the girls to hear such things from their parents' own mouths, Harry knew that had they simply read it in the newspaper they might not have believed it; this way they knew it was the complete and utter truth.

The trial ended as it must: With lifelong incarceration for the two Purebloods. By that time Astoria was in Daphne's arms, crying into her robes while Daphne's tears had run dry. When the Aurors came to take away the elder Greengrasses, however, Daphne set Astoria aside and stood.

"Wait, please," she said, her voice somewhat hoarse and just loud enough that the Aurors heard and stopped, giving her curious looks. Daphne carefully made her way around the table she sat behind and approached her parents, giving the nearest Auror a nod as she passed him.

Her parents, now no longer under the effects of Veritaserum, tried pleading with her that they hadn't done all that, that it had been lies and they loved her, and Harry saw Daphne visibly steel herself – before slapping her father across the face with all her strength.

"How could you," she whispered, repeating the words she had screamed out earlier during the trial. "How dare you…" With tears in her eyes she turned to her mother, Harry saw the precise moment something in her broke, and he stood up as she clutched at her mother's robes and shook her, sobbing at her that how could she have been such a monster but so loving to her and Astoria, that it wasn't fair and she hated her – and then Harry was there, gently pulling her off the woman with soft words, not even sure what he was saying but abruptly Daphne was clutching to his robes instead and sobbing into his shoulder, his arms automatically coming up around her reassuringly. He continued whispering to her as her parents were led away, and a quick look at Astoria had the younger girl clambering right over the table to rush over, slamming into the two of them with her own tears.

"I'm sorry," Harry found himself saying repeatedly, not entirely sure what he was sorry for except that they'd had to hear that and that it was true to begin with. He didn't know what else to say; Daphne already knew that they'd have a home with him, but that was hollow reassurance, and not something he thought would be appropriate to mention at this point in time.

Then Augusta Longbottom was calling for order and Harry carefully detangled himself from the girls, righting them and telling them that he was sorry but they had to try to stop crying for now, giving them again the advice of "Chin up, shoulders back," with a little grimace for the echo. Both girls somehow managed to swallow their tears, though Astoria had the hiccups, and Harry raised his eyes to catch Madam Longbottom's gaze.

"Permission to escort them back to Hogwarts?"

"Please do, Lord Potter-Black," the Chief Warlock replied, a hint of compassion in her eyes for the young girls. Daphne however pulled herself together and turned to the woman herself.

"Chief Warlock Longbottom, Minister Bones, thank you for inviting us to attend this trial," she said, her voice wavering and hoarse but her words carefully enunciated. "I would like to reassure the court that neither I nor my sister share the opinions of our- our parents," she forced out, "in any way. Had we known that they had those opinions, we would have turned them in ourselves; we always believed that they had been forced into You-Kn- into Voldemort's service against their wills." She swallowed and bowed deeply. "We thank you for delivering justice appropriately." Behind her Astoria mimicked her bow, and Harry smiled sadly. He should have known that Daphne wouldn't need him to prove her moral integrity.

"It is this court's duty to serve the law, Miss Greengrass," Madam Longbottom replied with an inclination of the head. "You have my regret and condolences for the revelations of this morning, and my gratitude for your understanding. Lord Potter-Black will escort you and your sister back to Hogwarts so that you may grieve in private."

"Thank you, Chief Warlock," Daphne said, swallowing once more. "I believe the incarceration of my parents passes on the title of Lady Greengrass to me."

"That is correct," Madam Longbottom agreed gravely. "It is a great responsibility, and I suggest you visit Gringotts in the near future to secure your parents' business – the more legal aspects of it, at least."

"I will do so as soon as possible," Daphne responded, though she had paled at the mention of her parents' business, no doubt remembering the parts that had included horrifying potions and instruments. "Thank you again." She bowed once more and looked to Harry, following him mutely when he put his arm around Astoria's shoulders and led the way out of the chamber.

"That was very well said," he said softly when they were outside the chamber, leading the two girls towards the elevators. "Would you like to visit Gringotts now, or perhaps another time? I couldn't accompany you now, but I'm sure Peter Oakley – you might recognize him as the man taking care of the younger children – would be happy to accompany you."

"Not today," Daphne said, her voice just barely steady. "Please just take us to Hogwarts."

Harry just nodded and accompanied them the entire way to Hogwarts – the long way, since they couldn't floo back – only leaving again once he had seen them safely to their common room. It was with a heavy heart that he made his way back to the Ministry, figuring that none of the other trials could be as heart wrenching as the one that had just taken place. What he didn't know was that the next trial, while not heart wrenching, would be just as surprising as the Greengrass trial.

OoOoO

The world must have turned upside down, Harry thought numbly as he made his way to Hogwarts once more. The Greengrasses are evil and crazy, and the Parkinsons are secretly Muggle-lovers that became Death Eaters due to peer pressure. Maybe I'll wake up and find this was all just a crazy dream…

Alright, so the Parkinsons weren't precisely Muggle-lovers, but they were at least neutral towards Muggles – perhaps in the way people thought of people from an allied country. They were alright, had done some good and bad things, but weren't really interesting enough to learn more about.

Certainly the Parkinsons had never been aligned with Voldemort's views, and had indeed never hurt or killed anyone under his order or otherwise, and had clearly hidden their true views just as well as the Greengrasses had, for Pansy was horrified by the revelations of the trial. Her parents went free at the end of the trial, but Pansy refused to leave with them, publicly decrying them for believing in the wrong thing and accusing them of being Muggle-lovers. Her parents had exchanged a look.

"I knew it was a bad idea to go along with Malfoy's idea of a betrothal between his son and our daughter," Lord Parkinson had said, and his wife had simply looked away with a sigh.

"Pansy," she had tried to appeal to her daughter, "Come, let us go home and discuss this in private. This is not the appropriate venue for such a talk." Pansy had of course refused, declaring that she'd live with Draco and running out, leaving her parents looking more resigned than anything.

They had also tried to have a quick talk with Harry about returning their vaults and possessions, including their house elves, and Harry had politely but firmly denied them, informing them that they would be receiving the same monthly sum as all other former Death Eaters – only two others had gone free so far – and could hire out house elves from him if they wanted help around the house but would have to contact him for the details at a later time. They had not been pleased, though were clearly aware that they had only escaped Azkaban because of his strong stance demanding fair trials, and conceded the point surprisingly easily.

Really, they had been surprisingly pleasant, if a bit stiff, and Harry wondered at the differences between them and the Greengrasses, who had seemed perfectly pleasant until it had turned out that they wanted to see all Muggles dead and considered Muggle children "animals" even while they were doting parents to Daphne and Astoria. Small wonder Harry was half-hoping that it had just been a dream.

When he reached Severus's rooms, however, he found a tense Head of House waiting for him.

"What happened today?" the man asked, walking towards Harry as soon as he stepped into the room. "The two Greengrass girls are distraught, and could only tell me that they were orphans now. Was there an assassination at the trial?"

Harry actually flinched. "I wish," he said, and couldn't even feel sorry for feeling that way despite Severus's incredulous look. With a sigh he raised his wand and used Legilimency to simply show Severus the day's trials, feeling the shock his lover couldn't hide at the revelations.

It was rare to see the Potions Master speechless, but Severus was quite clearly numb with shock as he turned and went to pour them each a glass of brandy with suspiciously steady hands. Harry thought he was most likely concentrating only on the act of pouring, trying to restore a sense of calm to his mind. Then the man downed his drink, pouring himself another before moving back to where Harry still stood and pressing the glass into his hand.

"I see," was all he said, and Harry simply nodded.

"Yes," he said, and threw back the glass, a movement Severus echoed.

Exhaling deeply, Severus looked down at the glass in his hands. "I didn't know," he admitted, and Harry realized it was less a confession and more an attempt at reassurance. Reassurance that he hadn't hidden such a thing from his lover.

"I know," Harry said. "You would have told me had you known."

Severus looked back up. "I would have."

Harry simply nodded and took Severus's glass from him, moving to put both glasses back on the table where they belonged. "I'm going to go to Gringotts to find out about the Greengrass business," he said. "I doubt I got it by right of conquest, but I owe it to Daphne. She's in no shape to deal with it herself."

"I will accompany you," Severus said, and then he was behind Harry, laying one of his cold hands on the nape of Harry's neck.

"Thank you," Harry smiled slightly, turning to give his lover a lingering kiss. "Let's go."