Title: Skeeter Chronicles
Rating: This chapter G
Author: SoLeo
Word Count: +2500
Warnings: *EWE*
Disclaimer: You know I don't own them.
Summary: In which Rita Skeeter attempts to get the exclusive of a lifetime.
AN: Wowza! As this draws to a close I want to thank all of you for reading it. This will not be the last time I share the Chronicles Universe with you. There’s so much more I want to bring to life with these two. Chapter Twenty-One
Friday morning the rumor mill has a feature on myself and Harry. Nothing explicit, but someone at the celebration shared the happy news with someone who spoke to a neighbor, or however these things start. Skeeter brought the piece to life, no pictures fortunately, with her usual flare. It’s nothing but embellishments based on half-truths but it’s enough to be racy. I can’t say that I am taken by surprise by it.
I make sure to redirect any mail from unknown persons to a secure room that isn’t currently being used. That should save me from the worst of the fall out.
My colleagues stare, but only Fadden’s gaze is overly harsh. Poor man, he probably thinks I snagged the prize from right under his nose. Narcissa and Lucius share a little smile with me. They’re just happy to have been in on the secret longer than everybody else. I can see it in their smug faces. Unfortunately Minerva is away at the moment, but I know she would be happy, maybe share a toast with me. I don’t mention the article, and no one asks me any questions although I can see their eyes brimming with them. They know how much I care for my privacy and I won’t say anything even if asked if I don’t want to.
A familiar barn owl brings me a message at lunch from Harry. He’s already taking measures to lessen the public outrage. Benjie Wallis has become his personal public relations contact. All articles he produces would be preapproved by Harry, with factual information. Lucius helped him set up the contract that morning. My clever boy.
-/-/-/-/-/-
Harry and I have dinner with the other faculty that evening. He smiles and laughs with them all sharing anecdotes and stories. They stay away from the topic of romance, in what I assume is a gesture of support, but he gets plenty of good natured pats to his shoulder. When I stand to leave, Harry makes his excuses and goes with me.
“Is your man Wallis going to have something in tomorrow’s paper?” I make my inquiry as we settle down in front of the fire, enjoying a glass of wine.
“Yes. Lucius, Benjie and I went to the editor in chief after lunch. He wouldn’t do anything about Skeeter directly, after all her article is mostly true. But once he found out that I would only be speaking through Benjie he offered him a position at the Prophet too.”
“Mr. Wallis is going up in the world.”
“Yup. He’s a nice guy and he deserved the break.” We sit in silence, each contemplating the events of the day.
“Do you think a visit to Diagon Alley together is a bit premature?” He almost chokes on his wine and has to dab at the parts that spilled out with his coughing. It’s a good thing his robes are already red.
“So, you’re done with being relegated to the shadows now?” He’s amused at my bold idea.
“I just think that we have nothing to hide any longer, and the ice cream from Fortescue’s is the best.”
“If you’re sure. I was going to review my coursework, since I have this test next week I need to pass to qualify my field placement. We can go have lunch, and talk a walk. Stay only as long as we can stand the gawking.”
“Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea.”
-/-/-/-/-/-
I am prepared for anything as we travel by floo to the Leaky Cauldron Saturday afternoon. I precede Harry, as I know how undignified his exits tend to be, and I want to save him from falling on his face. Naught even half a year ago would the idea have caused me to chuckle, strange how this world works. Tom says his hellos to us but nothing more as we exit out the back avoiding the people in the bar.
Harry moves quickly, but I grab his arm to slow him. I want us to stroll as anyone visiting Diagon Alley would. He gets my meaning and we go leisurely, arm in arm. He points out a few items in the windows we pass, little curios that catch his eye. People openly stare. I pay them no mind until someone tries to approach us. My glare intimidates them sufficiently to push the gathering crowd back.
The restaurant Ruby Slippers is fully magical and is famous for its house elf busboys, and waitresses in red shoes. I tell the hostess we’d like a seat on the patio as it is such a nice day. If I am to be stared at by passersby I don’t want to feel like I’m under a microscope through the glass. We follow the yellow path outside, now all that stands between us and the crowd we have gathered is a wrought iron fence and a shield/muffling charm. I make sure to ignore them even as they begin to shout out questions at us. Harry is staring intently at his place setting. A few others end up joining us on the patio, intent on seeing/hearing us more closely.
“Are you alright Harry? We can try this again another time.” I tell him.
“No. I mean yes. Yes I’m alright. We aren’t going to hide anymore, and they’ll just have to deal with it.” He is of course correct. We are both powerful wizards and war heroes with no need to hide in the shadows. We aren’t doing anything improper. He grabs my hand on top of the table. “You aren’t a dirty little secret that I should be ashamed of.” He’s smiling at me when the waitress arrives for our order.
The blonde bimbo tries to flirt with Harry. She apparently doesn’t know how to read, since we are front page news. “Could I just get my food? I really don’t want your contact info.” Harry is polite, but firm. She doesn’t look put out, but I know the look she gives him is predatory.
We usually don’t have trouble coming up with conversation, or comfortable silence, but with our audience we just sit there staring at each other awkwardly.
It’s quite the relief when the food is brought. Before the waitress can move away, I stop Harry from taking a bite. “Did you put something in this food?”
“No… I would never.” She is properly outraged. Perhaps she didn’t know.
“Then I suggest you find out who did. I will not eat something that has been tainted by an unknown substance.” Harry’s fork and knife hit the plate as he drops them making a loud clanking sound in the silence my words produced. “Get your manager.” She scurries away. “The auror program does teach you how to check your food for poisons, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, I just…”
“You need to make it a habit to check, like I have.” I know he’s using the spell now as he pushes the plate further away.
“I almost ate that.”
“I know.”
“What is it supposed to do?”
“Not sure, I’d have to run some tests to find out. Which I don’t think is necessary, I suspect it’s something humorous.”
The manager and waitress approach quickly, and speak quietly. “I do apologize about the inconvenience, what seems to have happened here?” The manager is an older lady with black hair, skin enchanted to be green. I see the family resemblance between her and the waitress, their noses are exactly the same.
“This food seems to have been tampered with. I want you to personally supervise the preparation of a replacement. If it comes back incorrectly, Auror Potter and I will know.” My glare does not lack any of the venom I am known for.
“Or course, sirs. It will only be a moment, let me get these plates.” She sounds frightened, but it doesn’t stop her from scurrying away. It’s good to know I haven’t lost my touch.
“Do you think this will happen every time we try to eat out now?”
“No, people will lose interest eventually.” I grab his hand again and begin rubbing our thumbs together, playfully. The smile he lost at discovering his food had been poisoned returns.
“Thank you.”
-/-/-/-/-/
After the debacle at the restaurant we continue through Diagon Alley. I promised Harry some ice cream, and I plan on delivering. A normal afternoon crowd is there, children getting messy, couples sharing a float. I get us each a single cone, Hazelnut Pecan for Harry and I have the Hibiscus Beet Sorbet. We sit again on the patio, enjoying the pleasant weather and company.
“I could get used to this.” He is enjoying his ice cream and some has even made it to his chin.
It takes only moments for the calm to be shattered as a blue beetle lands on Harry’s shoulder and transforms into Rita Skeeter. It has been a while since I had last seen her, and she has fallen far. Her hair is in disarray, dark marks shadow her eyes, and her makeup is slapped into place. I have seen the eyes of those who have nothing left to loose, and her eyes are just as wild as them. She grabs Harry’s arm, dislodging his ice cream which plops on the ground.
“You need to come with me, my angel. I am your voice to the people.”
“You’ve gone crazy Skeeter. I’m not going anywhere with you!” I have drawn my wand and am pleased to see that Harry has also. The crowd pushes away forming a circle around us, none wanting to leave and miss the spectacle.
“You’re supposed to be my muse, my inspiration. I can write anything with you by my side.” She goes to cast some sort of spell, but my shield stops it easily. I spot several aurors trying to make their way through the mob. “You should have eaten the food, you would have come willingly then, and I need you Harry.”
“You need to visit St. Mungo’s.” Harry’s incarcerous spell binds her securely as the aurors breech the masses and reach us. She falls over, landing on Harry’s dropped cone.
“Potter, what’s going on here?” Robarts isn’t much taller than Harry, but his greying hair shows his years of experience. Two others grab Skeeter, and pull her up, supporting her between them.
“There’s something wrong with her, sir. I’ve never seen her so unhinged. She said something about me being her muse and wanting to take me away. There’s loads of witnesses.” He points out the crowd still surrounding us.
“Yes, I can see that. I’d like you to stop by the ministry and give a statement.” Harry looks over at me in apology.
“I’ll meet you back at Hogwarts later Harry.” He nods. I toss the remains of my ice cream in the bin and then make my way to a clear spot to apparate back to the gates of Hogwarts.
-/-/-/-/-/-
It is a few hours later when Harry joins me. He looks tired, and he leans against me on the sofa when I put my book away. “I don’t know what happened to her. I’ve never seen her so… crazed.”
“She became obsessed with you, which lead to her downfall.”
“I had to make sure, so I had them run a full scan for any compulsion spells and there was nothing. I just can’t help feeling that this was my fault somehow.”
“Don’t be ridiculous Harry.”
“Then we ran a test for potions. She had a few, but they were mostly benign, beauty products I’ve been told.”
“She needed all the help she could get.”
“She’s going to be in St. Mungo’s for a while. Nobody thought she was stable enough to be sent to Azkaban.”
“A wise decision.” He’s snuggling, with his head on my shoulder. He fits so perfectly there.
“What does Aphrodite’s Elixir do anyways? They found some in her bathroom. Pretty strong stuff.”
“It’s an anti-aging cream, although there are some side effects. Paranoia is amongst them, but only in high doses.”
“I wonder where she got such a strong dose then.” I stiffen minutely, Harry notices and pulls away. “You don’t happen to know where she got it, do you?”
“Perhaps.”
“I can’t believe you would do that Severus.” He’s upset and stands, I follow him.
“Humiliate the worst offender and the rest will leave you alone. Do you not recall me saying that?”
“Yes, but we’ve ruined her life.” His outrage is forced, based on what he should feel and I can see it crumbling away.
“Does that make you unhappy?”
“Yes… No. I should be furious with you. Why am I not furious?” He’s shouting at me, but the anger just isn’t there. I should know, I’ve heard him shout at me plenty of times.
“Because she was a hag, the worst kind of pariah, that makes people miserable. We haven’t taken her life, she still has a chance to do something with herself. Writing isn’t going to be one of those things.”
“And that makes this justifiable?”
“I only enhanced her emotions Harry, I didn’t create them. I knew she was a narcissistic bitch that wanted to use you to get to the top. I didn’t even do anything illegal. She received an anonymous beauty cream designed to bring out her youthful skin and desires. Hers was just undiluted. It will wear off eventually.”
“I don’t know what to do with you. I’m going to go for a ride around the Quidditch pitch and then I’ll be back.” So he leaves, grabbing his broom on the way out. I set by the window so that I could see him out there circling, backlit by the setting sun. It’s full dark before he comes back inside. I haven’t moved from my position by the window.
“Are you going to do something like this again?” There’s some grass in his hair, some twigs too, mud on his robes. I remember that day we met at the Hog’s Head when this began.
“There should be no need.”
“I’d like a simple yes or no, Severus.”
“I only wanted to protect you, to help…” He glares at me, ready to shout again. “No. You don’t need my protection.” I am not sulking about the idea that he doesn’t want my assistance.
“That’s not the problem, because I like it when you protect me. I’m happy to know you’d go to such lengths. I just think that the moral high ground is something we need to strive for. I don’t want you to do something that could land you in Azkaban. I need you.” He grabs my hand from my lap and entwines our fingers together. “I need you.”
I know I won’t do anything that would risk this. That would end with me being taken away from him. Because I need him, maybe more than he needs me; but now is not the time for debate, not when he is kissing me so thoroughly, with such tender emotion.
The End
Post AN: Thank you again to everyone who read this story in its entirety. This will not be the last you hear from me, so I hope you support me with my next work as well.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
