Sirius already knew that Snape was kept free for certain reasons - something that added to their somewhat strained relations. Though Sirius didn't know the elephant in the room, or he would outright murder Snape, something Dumbledore didn't want, as it would get Sirius straight to Azkaban.
Also, Horace's behavior was strange. He seemed way too happy that Voldemort had seemingly died. Happiness would be understandable, but there was too much of it. He had however not asked Slughorn about it, feeling it could cause the man to make a snap decision. Still, learning he would lose one of his longest-serving teachers would occupy him for some time.
I hope this goes smoothly, Dumbledore thought, while addressing Slughorn.
"Well, Horace, I already have a young man in mind who could take over." Part of him felt that he was making a serious error.
It had happened too fast for them to react.
Sure, they'd known of the aftermath of the war. Numerous Death Eaters claimed to have been under the Imperius Curse - most prominently men like Lucius Malfoy, Nott and Avery - and thus they claimed the now faded mark on their arms had been given to them against their will and was no proof of their allegiance. It proved next to impossible to disprove that claim and everyone knew that money had been involved in these people 'washing off' the sins they claimed were not theirs.
That did not sit well with parts of the public, and this failure would plant the seeds for a growing rift in society, but many just wanted to move on and not look back. Magical society had an even shorter memory than the normal one, as impossible as that sounded.
However, other Death Eaters, who clearly stood firm to their allegiance, were still at large and dangerous. The traitor Pettigrew had vanished from the face of the planet, as did some others who couldn't be found, while other Death Eaters were intent to cause as much mayhem as possible before going down - which due to a lack of organization was thankfully not too much. Sadly, the two of them right now were confronted with the most dangerous of these remnants.
Frank and Alice Longbottom had decided to take a little walk before returning home. Months in hiding had worn them down, but now that Voldemort was dead and the Death Eaters were collapsing, they felt that they on their own were safe enough while Frank's parents were watching over their son Neville. However, it turned out that had been a big error.
Having three Death Eaters suddenly stun you out of nowhere, only to wake up restrained in the ruins of a Muggle factory was not good. Worse - one of the three was the notorious Bellatrix Lestrange. Lestrange was notorious due to not only being incredibly brutal and sadistic, but also for her reputation as being the Death Eater most fanatically devoted to Voldemort. With his seeming demise, this was a bad combination.
Their captors watched them from a distance.
"Just look at them; like two little piggies ready for the slaughterhouse," Bellatrix said with dark glee when looking at the magically bound Longbottoms.
"Where's Barty? I thought he would love being present for this?" her husband Rodolphus asked his wife.
"As devoted as little Barty is to the cause, this is something I think should stay in the family. He's outside, standing guard," Bellatrix told her husband.
"Ah, yes, don't want junior to be here when things get down and dirty," Rodolphus, agreed.
To be honest, he held no illusions about his marriage. It had been a purely political thing and she had made it clear right from the start that the only man she felt worthy of bedding her was the Dark Lord himself, and the Dark Lord certainly held her in high esteem. That explained why despite being nominally married, he'd not once seen her naked. Rodolphus however was not unhappy with these arrangements, since Bellatrix very much approved of his use of mistresses to satisfy his needs.
"Well, enough talk..." With a sadistic glint in her eyes, she approached their captives.
Cripes! If I only could move a little bit, then I could break it, and... Frank Longbotom knew they were in trouble, but he did have an ace in the hole.
"Alright, now to business! What really happened to the Dark Lord? Talk!" Bellatrix questioned them, all hints of - naturally dark - humor having left her.
"Don't you read the newspaper?" Alice Longbottom snarked to win time.
-smack!- That only served to anger Bellatrix and she slapped her hard, causing Alice to bleed from her mouth. "Watch your mouth, blood-traitor! I only have little patience!" Bellatrix hissed, an angry glint appearing in her eyes.
"What makes you think we even know anything?!" Frank hissed in anger when seeing his wife being hurt, barely holding back an added 'bitch'.
"You think we are stupid?" Rodolphus called from the side. "The Dark Lord wanted to go after your brat next for some reason. That, and you are high-ranking Aurors. You do know something and you will tell us."
Alice spat out some blood. "Even if let's say we do know something, there is no way we would tell anything to the likes of you."
Bellatrix' eyes narrowed and she slowly pulled out her wand, causing Rodolphus and Rabastan to do the same. "And that's your last word?" Silence greeted her and her features transformed into a truly psychotic nightmare. "So be it. Don't say we didn't give you a fair chance to get an easy death."
Outside of the ruins, Barty Crouch Junior was standing guard.