Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

It was just after 11 o'clock on the 4th August and Harry Potter was sitting, chained down in Courtroom 10 at the Ministry of Magic. Looking down upon him was Cornelius Fudge, with a smug look written upon his face.

"Charges are as follows." He bellowed, "Harry James Potter has been found guilty of the murder of his three Muggle relatives, using the Unforgivable Killing Curse." Addressing Harry he then spoke; "You are hear-by sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban."

The Wizengamot looked on as the chains around Potters arms were released and two Dementors moved forward to lead him away.

Harry was livid. The injustice of the current situation was unbelievable. If the auror teams that showed up at 4 Privet Drive two nights ago had even bothered to check for magical signatures, then they would know that it wasn't him that committed the crimes he had been charged with. His requests for questioning under veritaserum were denied claiming the cost of such an action was too high. Of course Harry knew that it was actually because Fudge was desperate to get Harry out of the picture, he had been ever since the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Now, Voldemort was still out there, and the Chosen One was going to shortly be behind bars.

However, Harry's anger at Fudge and his botched 'trial' was a drop in the ocean compared to the hatred he felt towards his former friends. Both had testified against Harry stating that they had seen him reading books on dark magic. The response to this from Harry was that since nobody seemed to be aiding him in training for the prophesised meeting between Harry and the Dark Lord, he had to take matters into his own hands. The only person that had expressed any interest in training Harry was Sirius, but since he was a wanted criminal, nothing had really come together. His 'friends' then went on to say how they had witnessed Harry slaughtering the Dursleys. How this was possible he didn't know, since he was enjoying himself in Muggle London with an attractive bar-maid at the time. Both Ron and Hermione had claimed to the court that they were truly concerned for Harry and expressed the disappointment that he had swayed to the Dark.

Harry wasn't buying any of it.

The sentence was read out by Fudge but Harry wasn't listening, he was gazing across the courtroom towards where Hermione and Ron were seated. Ron was sporting a triumphant smirk that even Malfoy would have been proud of, whilst Hermione actually had a look plastered on her face that was somewhere between genuine remorse, sympathy and pity, it was impossible to tell.

An emotionless mask was in place on Harry's face, but inside his mind was reeling. Thoughts were rushing through his head, most of which revolved around why Ron and Hermione had done what they had done. He began to realise, after staring at Ron's smirk for so long, that Ron was never truly his friend. He had been in it for fame, glory and riches. For a moment Harry's mask slipped and some of his rage burst out before he could contain it again. This only served to widen Ron's smirk so much that is looked as if he had been hit in the head with an axe. After summarising his thoughts on Ron, he mentally turned to Hermione. Both of the decipherable expressions on her face were not something Harry wanted to see. If it was remorse she was showing, then surely that meant that she didn't believe that Harry was guilty. But if so, why did she testify? At the other end of the scale was the pity that she was showing. This only angered Harry more. He didn't need her pity! He decided to save these thoughts for later when he was locked in a cell.

The last thing he saw before he was led away was the grandfatherly smile and twinkling eyes of the silent Albus Dumbledore. How can he be smiling at a time like this? The-boy-who-lived was being locked up and he had said himself that Harry was the only one who could defeat the Dark Lord. It was at this moment that Harry began to get ideas about Ron and Hermione's sudden betrayal. Well, not so much Ron, he had already come to the conclusion that Ron had been waiting for a chance like this.

Little did Harry know, he was only uncovering the tip of the iceburg.