Problems

.O

Harry strode up to the castle in a glum mood; the week since Voldemort had returned had just been one tragedy after another. The death toll was rapidly approaching 1000 after Ottery St. Catchpole had been attacked, resulting in the end of many magical families. Perhaps Madam Pomfrey had been correct in her prediction about the coming apocalypse.

Dumbledore was still gone on ICW business and the Prophet was reporting that he was having much trouble on that front and might not be back anytime soon.

He had yet to hear word from Sirius and was becoming quite concerned for his godfather; though the fact that the Black search had been called off eased his thoughts.

Ron had started to get on his nerves with the constant worrying that he himself would perish, not his family or his friends, he was worried about himself. His parents had come to Hogwarts after the attack at St. Catchpole and had taken up residence in the castle for the time being. Ron's reaction to that was too move out of Gryffindor tower and into his parents new Suite.

Hermione however had not had her fears calmed by anything. She was no longer in contact with her parents, Hogwarts had begun to enforce a mail blocking system and as muggles they had no means of protecting themselves. She had tried to persuade McGonagall to provide her family with wards or magical protection of some sort but her plea had fallen on deaf ears and Hermione spent a day crying on Harry's shoulder.

It was one of the many things he hoped to remedy in the meeting with Minister Bones to which he was currently walking to. The Minister had been very vague in her wishes asking that he simply meet her; at least she seemed to be more competent than Fudge. He had never actually talked to Amelia Bones but had seen her many times this week visiting her niece, Susan in Hufflepuff.

He saw her standing in an Archway to the castle behind the stone circle with her regular auror guard. She looked to be in her mid-fifties and held a monocle over her left eye; her hair was a dark brown color that was starting to grey.

"Mr. Potter if you would follow me, you are dismissed Dawlish."

The aurors glanced at her questioningly but were silenced by her stern glare. The guards in turn glared at Harry before giving the two some distance as they re-entered the castle.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Potter."

"I could say the same thing Minister Bones."

"Well I'm not going to waste your time Potter and I'm going to get down to business, I need your support. The Ministry is divided and with your status you will be able to push those on the fence to my side so this war can be finished quickly."

"I don't understand how I fit into your plans, for the last year the press has made a mockery of me as has the rest of the wizarding world."

"Well your support has increased with the return of You-Know-Who and with your power in the Wizengamot we could be an unstoppable force."

"I don't see how I have any power in the Wizengamot?"

"Well the Potter Family is a widely respected one and holds 8 votes on the quorum."

"Are you saying that my family has 8 votes on the Wizengamot?"

"Yes, have you not been told?"

"Apparently there is a lot more in my inheritance than a trust vault with a few thousand galleons."

Amelia's face blanched at that one. Surely the saviour of the wizarding world knew of his lineage and status. His wealth was rumored to be on par with the Malfoy's and his family was one of the few magical families to have been granted peerage by the Crown.

"What do you know?"

"Well until I was 11 I was told that my parents were drunks and died in a car accident, I know of a vault set up by my parents for me and that's about it."

Oh boy, this child was in for a shock.

"Mr. Potter, why don't you come with me back to my office and we can have a drink."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Amelia Bones finished pouring herself a fourth glass of firewhiskey. She had just finished the long story of his heritage and he had remained supringsley passive.

"So if I am hearing you right, I am the Baron Potter and Marquis Davenport, I own a massive estate and am a political force to be reckoned with?"

"Correct."

"And I was not told of this because?"

"Well I'm pretty sure everyone assumed that you'd grown up in the wizarding world and that you knew of your status. However you are correct in wondering why those closer to you would not inform you. The Muggleborn I can understand but the Weasley boy should know better, that's not even starting to think on Dumbledore's reasons."

"Back to the topic we were supposed to meet about, you're saying that you need my support on the Wizengamot."

"Yes."

"When am I allowed to claim my seats?"

"Normally orphans are able to claim them once they reach their majority at 17, however with no other members of your family to call regent you become emancipated at 15."

"So by the end of month I will be a Marquee and have too much money too count?"

"Yes and by then you will have been prepped on wizarding culture and traditions, I strongly suggest you stop by Gringotts to claim headship of your family and perhaps stay at one of the family manors, you could probably become emancipated before your 15th birthday with the wealth at your disposal."

"Thank you for the advice, I will aid you in your effort but I will request a few things. One, Sirius Black gets a full pardon."

"I'm sorry?"

"Free Sirius or I won't support you; did you know that he didn't even get a trial?"

She pondered what he had said for a moment. If Black were free she would have an additional 12 votes in her coalition and would take away a significant advantage the death eater block held.

There was also the matter that there had been no trial. She had to confirm it first but if that were true Sirius Black could walk in to the ministry and could not be legally killed or thrown back into Azkaban; the law does state innocent until proven guilty.

"Well I can certainly get him a trial if what you say is true, but he would have to show up and would have to be cleared by the Wizengamot, I can truly say that I had no idea that he didn't have a trial and that will be investigated, I just-"

"Assumed." Said Harry frostly.

"Just like everyone else, the Wizarding World is a bunch of baphoons who believe everything they are told and it cost an innocent man 13 years of his life. There was no evidence! There wasn't even a trial! It's quite obvious that he's just a martyr!"

Amelia's face paled; she remembered the one time when a 3rd year Sirius Black had tried hitting on the then Junior Auror Amelia Sinclair who was enamoured at the time with Edgar Bones. Sirius Black, James Potter and Remus Lupin had been quite close and caused so much trouble together and she had never understood why Pettigrew had always hung out with them.

She and Edgar had become close friends with Charlus and Dorea and they quite often babysat James and Sirius when Dorea had to attend to some business at St. Mungo's and Charlus was doing something for the community. She had become somewhat of an aunt to James, Sirius and Remus (Charlus and Dorea never allowed Peter over because they despised the boy and knew nothing but trouble could come from him).

When the first war had broken out Edgar had been convinced by little Jamie to join the Order of the Phoenix which ended up getting Edgar killed. She had turned her back on James, Dumbledore and the Order and worked through the proper channels like a proper pureblood should.

The last time she saw James before his death was at Edgar's funeral where he just kept apologizing over and over; but she refused to talk to him. Three months later James and Lily were killed and Amelia had wept for a whole year, she had lost everything. Towards the end of the war after Edgar had died she had clung to her brother in law Reginald Bones, his wife Samantha and their young daughter Susan. Reginald and Samantha had not learned from Edgar's mistake and had continued with the Order. One night while she was babysitting her niece the two were killed, all she had left in the world was Susan.

She had shunned Sirius for not giving James and Lily a chance at life. She had shunned anyone who followed Voldemort for the deaths of her family and friends. Now she was finding out that Sirius was indeed innocent and that she had turned her back on her only link to the past. The new facts crushed her and the fact that this boy, the son of Jamie was accusing her of being a mindless nobody enraged her.

"Get out." She spat coldly

"I'm sorry if I offended you but I was telling the truth."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING! GET OUT!" The boy made a beeline for the door as she slumped to the floor and started to sob for her mistakes

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDD

Daphne Greengrass once again found herself with her sister Astoria sitting in the Great Hall discussing their impending marriages. Their parents were stopping by Hogwarts after lunch, she was anxious to see what would happen, had her parents taken the mark?

Her sister was very worried and was afraid that she would become a slave to Draco Malfoy and would end up having to take the mark as well. Daphne was very much in agreement with her sister but she couldn't let her Ice Queen persona slip any more than it had been over the last few days. She saw her Mother and Father approaching their seats in the Great Hall and motioning for them to follow them to somewhere more secluded.

Cyrus Greengrass was moderately tall and had a slim figure, his face was clean shaven and his dark hair was slicked back. Her mother Jasmine had her long blond hair in a mermaid tail that went down to her waist and was wearing a simple dull green dress. They both looked very agitated.

"Before we tell you anything we both want to tell you how proud we are of you two and how much we don't want to do this."

"Oh God" Astoria cried out as she lost her balance and falling to the ground in a blind daze.

"You are not doing this, Hogwarts is safe, and we can stay here!"

"Daphne we must do this for our protection, we have to take the mark or we'll all be killed."

"No father you'll be forever branded, we shouldn't have to bow down to anyone!"

"Daphne it is for the best."

"I can't believe you guys are doing this, we are going to end up like the Malfoy's, I refuse to take part in this, do what you will!"

"Daphne if there were another way…"

"No! get out of my sight, you two disgust me!"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Today was the leaving feast and everyone was in a somber mood. It was evident on all of the teacher's faces; it was evident on all of the student's faces. Everyone knew what everyone else was thinking but no one was talking about, most people didn't want to go home, in fact for two thirds of the Muggleborn population they wouldn't be. Hermione Granger though was going to go home.

She had been considering staying until she found out that Ronald was. A week before the third task Ron had plucked up enough courage to ask her out and she had readily agreed. But after a few weeks he had displayed his true colors and they had a big argument causing her to dump him. Now all she wanted to do was go home, curl up in her bed and blast Mariah Carey for the whole summer.

She hadn't seen Harry much since he left for his meeting with the Minister. He'd secluded himself in the library for the majority of the time and refused to talk with anyone; she hoped that he was okay.

She sensed that bad things were coming and she didn't know if she would live to see the end of the war partly due to her status as a Muggleborn.

When she got home she was going to convince her parents to flee the country to perhaps Australia. She didn't want to lose her parents, they had done nothing wrong.

Perhaps she would flee with them, there wasn't really anything left for her in the magical world, but was there really anything for her in the muggle world as well? She was an outcast in both societies and belonged nowhere.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Harry hadn't had a great last few days. After Minister Bones had thrown him out of her office he had gone up to library and begun investigating his family tree, his heritage and his new responsibilities. The terms he had left Amelia Bones on had him slightly shaken. He hadn't meant to hurt her but he had obviously stricken a sore spot. He wanted to go and apologize, but he also wanted to give her some space before he approached her. Besides, she was a very busy woman.

He had sent a message to Sirius about his new situation and there had been no reply yet and Harry was starting to panic. The letters were also coming back unopened which meant one of two things; He was dead or hopefully he was in a safer location where mail could not be received.

He felt bad about Hermione as well, he shouldn't have ignored her when she needed him the most but he supposed that Ron and Hermione could get along fine together.

Dumbledore was only making things worse. Why had he been kept in the dark about his hereditary peerage and the large estate? Dumbledore not here to explain what was going on it frustrated him to no end.

He was brought out of his thoughts once again by Daphne Greengrass in a ball on the floor choking on her sobs. No pretty girl should have to feel like that, Seemed that the stress was getting to everyone.

"What seems to be the matter Daphne?"

"I'm fine go away."

"If you were fine then you wouldn't be curled up in a ball crying."

"Well if you must know I am having family troubles."

"That's the understatement of the week."

"Shut up Potter you know nothing about what I have experienced."

"Come on Daph what's on your mind, maybe I can help."

He felt weird calling her nicknames already, but there was just something about this girl, something that he was just so comfortable with. He didn't even mind that she was supposed to be in a house that he wasn't supposed to associate with.

"…I'm being forced into a marriage contract with Theodore Nott."

"That sucks."

"You're telling me."

"And there's no hope of getting out of it?"

"Not unless he dies, want to help me plot a murder of a Death Eater."

"Every contract has to have a loophole."

"Well this one is ironclad."

"There's something you're not telling me."

"Damn Straight Potter, I'm not an open book."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Bugger off."

"Do I have to pry the answer out of you?"

"No, cause I don't have to tell you anything."

"I'll tell you a secret if you tell me yours."

"A secret?"

"I ain't an open book either." He laughed

"Which secret?"

"I don't know, ask anything about me and I will tell you the truth."

"Fine, why the fuck do you dress worse than a Weasley, yet the Potters are supposed to be richer than the Malfoy's."

Harry's looked hesitant for a moment but in the end he decided to talk. He hadn't expected a question like that; he'd thought it would be along the lines of his adventures at the school.

"I was raised by my muggles relatives who locked me in a cupboard under the stairs from when I was 1 to 11…I was forced to do all the house work since I was still in nappies and I only realized the vast wealth I had at my disposal a few days ago. All the clothes I owned, besides my Hogwarts robes were hand-me-downs of my whale of a cousin."

Harry was shocked that he had just divulged so much information. Harry would usually never talk about his relatives, but something about being with Daphne just made him lose his filter, he felt like he didn't need to hide things from her. Harry didn't know what was happening to him.

Daphne's face of sorrow changed into one of horror, she realized she was looking at the real Harry Potter as much as he was looking at the real Daphne Greengrass. In public they both held a completely different mask but when they were alone they were more alike than one would think, Harry Potter was no Golden Boy and Daphne Greengrass was no Ice Queen.

"I'm Sorry."

"Don't be its not your fault."

"Nobody should have to endure what you've gone through."

"Enough of my past, I think you owe me the answer to the hidden loophole."

"Well one section of the contract says if a suitor of a higher status shows interest in the bride the contract will be rendered void."

"Well that's good, all you have to do is go gold-digging I'm sure there are plenty of fish who have a higher status than good ole Theo Nott."

"If that were true the Nott's wouldn't have signed the contract, the Nott's are among the top 20 in Europe."

"Well who else could marry you then?"

"Well the only families that have possible suitors are Denvar, Smith, Black, Malfoy, Macmillan, Brown, Longbottom, Greys, Rothlilith, and umm, you." She finishes with a small smile.

"Well so let's narrow down your options, Black, Malfoy and Dumbledore are out for obvious reasons; I have no idea who the Greys are, same with the Denvar family and the Rothlilith's. Zacharias Smith is a total basterd, you might be better off with Nott. Macmillan seems like a pretty nice guy. I wouldn't want to be stuck with a Brown, though they are a step up from Nott. Neville is a pretty great guy. Myself? I'm pretty self-explanatory." They both chuckled.

"Okay so you have given me 6 options, for your information the Denvar's and Grey's are schooled at Durmstrang and Beauxbatons respectively and are some of the richest families on the mainland who don't already have their sons in contracts, however they don't speak very good English and the Greys used to lock their brides in a tower until the wedding night. The Rothlilith's are completely out of the question, they would never accept new money. The Browns are all prudes no matter how much of a step up they are from Nott, Longbottom is my Second Cousin, MacMillan is a Hufflepuff and you…. you are an ego centric brat." She starts laughing uncontrollably at her last statement.

"Am not!"

"Prove it." She giggles.

Harry gazes into Daphne pearly blue eyes and soft face. Their eyes meet and Harry caress's her smooth dirty blonde hair and goes in for a kiss on her lips.

She doesn't react for a second and then hesitantly kisses back. The kiss only lasts a few seconds before Daphne breaks it off and dashes from the room in the blink of an eye leaving a stunned Harry behind.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDD

Sirius Black woke from his slumber in the tattered old king bed in the Master Bedroom of Grimmauld Place. After the attack on Hogsmeade Sirius had been seriously (No pun intended) injured. He and Remus had moved in together at the Black ancestral Manor at Grimmauld Place.

There had been a lot cleaning to do and his Mother's portrait kept ranting about filthy half breeds and ungrateful blood traitors breaking their mother's hearts. Kreacher wasn't any better but at least he got the job done and wouldn't screech at the top of his lungs all day ranting about blood. His Mother had been furious at finding out that Sirius had never been disowned by his late grandfather Arcturus and would be able to inherit the Black Family holdings instead of "Narcissa's beautiful son".

He had restored the wards of the house up to full strength and would not let any letters or anything that could hold a tracking charm come in the house. He had decided to let Remus deal with any of the current events and keep Harry up to date.

He was going to bring Harry home this summer though. No matter what Dumbledore said he was not going back to those disgusting muggles that Lily had been forced to call family.

Harry hadn't said anything about his relatives but Sirius knew the tale tall signs of a terrible home life. He would avoid questions about the Dursleys and he had seemed much too eager at the opportunity to leave them with his godfather (not that there was anything wrong about that). There was also the fact that he had been running away from home back before Harry's third year and he had looked quite furious.

Remus had informed him that War had broken out and Voldemort had returned and that Harry had been somehow involved in his resurrection. All he wanted to do was get out and make sure his pup was safe but Remus had advised him against it. Good Old Bonsie had ascended to Minister for Magic and the search for him had been called off however that didn't mean he wouldn't be killed on sight still. Hopefully he could have a trial soon and finally be let out of the house. Being stuck in this godforsaken house was almost as bad as Azkaban.

He needed to get out, he needed to be free and he needed to see his Godson.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSS

Ronald Weasley was tired, tired of having to put up with Harry Potter, tired of being in situations that could take his life, tired of being a sidekick and tired of being the shame of his family.

His mother had told him to become friends with Harry Potter back in first year when she saw him having trouble getting on to the platform. She had promised him Potter's fortune and Potter's fame, alas none of that was coming to fruition. His mother had been quite angry at him for breaking off their friendship at the beginning of the year and had promised to banish him from Clan Weasley if he ever did something like that again.

In 1834 House Potter and House Weasley had engaged in a marriage contract between Eliza Potter and Hamrod Weasley. However the contract was severely breached when Hamrod raped and killed Eliza and the Head of House Potter at the time declared a Blood feud with the House of Weasley which was settled before the Wizengamot. The Wizengamot ruled in House Potter's favour and the house of Weasley lost everything, their seat on the Wizengamot, their properties, 20 million galleons and their status as a Noble House. Ever since then the Clan of Weasley and their long-time ally House Prewett have been at odds with the Potters.

Molly and Arthur had seen the orphaned boy as a way to finally extract their revenge on the Potter's. They knew Albus would keep his savior in the dark so as not to "burden" him, they decided to as well. They would get Potter into their good graces, marry him off to Ginny, have her produce his child, then kill him and manipulate the child's fortune.

Ron meanwhile had decided to take Hermione for his own Molly Weasley. He had found out the hard way that she couldn't be tied down by anyone, she had left him and after the past year he realized that Harry would lean towards Hermione.

Ron was no longer essential to the plan, Molly, Arthur and the rest of the family could shun Ron and affirm Harry on their side and force him and Ginny into a relationship. He was expandable now and could very well end up as Ronald no name soon.

He stood here in front of his Mom, Dad, the Twins and Ginny getting yelled at for his foolishness at going after Hermione and then calling her his bitch. He had enough of them now and wanted this just to end.

"Mum, Dad, we can fix this!"

"We! We are not going to fix this, you Ronald are on your own, Ronald Billius Weasley you are hereby banished from the Clan Weasley."

An unearthly red glow enveloped Ron then quickly vanished and the rest of the family gaped at Arthur for his bluntness. Ginny looked at him with indifference, the Twins were staring open mouth and Molly began to ball.

"I'm sorry Ronald but we do not accept traitors in our House."

Even though he had expected it Ron started to cry and mumble things like "I'll do better" and "I can fix this" but it was futile and a disturbing sight. Ron had no surname now; he had fewer rights than the Muggleborn in the wizarding world. He was an emancipated minor and no longer had a house to call home.

After a long moment Ron rose from his chair and walked off out of his old family's suite and out of the castle onto the grounds pondering what in Merlin was he going to do next.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

News reached Hogwarts later that day that Azkaban prison had been burnt to the ground and that over 50 high ranking Death Eaters had escaped. A Dark Mark hung grimly over the once prison and bodies of dead aurors littered the ground.

Neville Longbottom was walking off towards the 4th year Gryffindor dormitories; The Lestrange's had been on the list of escapees. The people that had tortured his parents into insanity were walking free now.

He like many other kids in the castle had been orphaned by the last war. He had grown up in his father's shadow and was thought to be a squib until his uncle Algernon Croaker of the DOM had thrown him out of a third floor window at Longbottom Hall and he had used magic to keep himself from hitting the ground.

He didn't really have any friends at Hogwarts and had always considered himself to be an outcast. He knew that Seamus, Dean and Ron talked about him behind his back. Harry had always been much less outgoing then the other three and didn't talk much to anyone besides Ron and Hermione.

He heard a lot though as the trio weren't very subtle; He knew of the Philosophers stone incident obviously; He knew all about the Chamber of Secrets. Though they were much quieter about Sirius Black he still knew the big details. He also knew that Harry would play a big part in this new war.

He wanted to fight in this new war but knew that he would be useless. If there was one thing everyone was right about, it was his magical abilities. The only thing he seemed to be good at was Herbology, but that was not exactly an example of magical talent (Though he wasn't about to tell Professor Sprout that). His status as heir apparent to the Longbottom family was the only thing that kept him from leaving the magical world when he turned 17.

He had nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. The Lestrange's would undoubtedly comeback and finish the job. He would go home for the summer but wouldn't count on staying there for its entirety; his Grandmother had been talking about fleeing for Greece and waiting the war out.

He saw Hermione Granger mulling about the almost empty Gryffindor common room, she might as well be in the same situation as him. She was a Muggleborn who had next to no friends and had about as much appreciation for wizarding culture as a toad. Yet she was kind hearted and went out of her way to help others no matter how snobby she might sound. She was also really pretty, no longer was her hair the frizzy mass it once was and there was no trace of what had been buck teeth a few years ago.

"Hey Hermione."

"Oh, Hello Neville"

"How are you?"

"I'm Fine and you?"

"S'okay, what seems to be on your mind?"

"Lots of stuff"

The conversation continued in a very awkward way with each participant giving very brief answers, Hermione's talking still brightened up Neville's day for some reason. He was just about to leave after a long pause of silence when Hermione decided to speak up.

"Do you ever feel like you're the only person in the world Neville, so alone and isolated and no one to call on for help."

"Yes." He managed to blurt out.

"I feel that way every day now, Ronald wanted me to be his mother to give birth to his quidditch team and Harry has all but abandoned me in search…"

Harry Potter chose that moment to storm in to the common room and up into the dormitories in a mad dash leaving two very confused Gryffindor fourth years behind. They couldn't make heads or tails of what he was feeling; he looked quite frustrated but also looked quite sad. It also obviously pained Hermione and made Neville want to rush to her side and comfort her for some strange reason again.

"What in Morgana was that?"

"I don't think I've ever seen him like that before."

"Should we go check on him?"

"I think we should give him some space for a moment and let him calm down."

"You're probably right; you were saying something about Harry before?"

"I don't think I can really answer that question honestly anymore, he's obviously been doing something that's important enough to upset him. It's just no one seems to care about me and…" She trailed off as Neville looked into her eyes.

"I care."

The world seemed to stop for a minute in time as Hermione and Neville gazed into each other's soul. She gripped his hand in leaned in for a kiss. The kiss seemed to last for hours and as they broke away gasping for air Neville Longbottom realized something, He was falling in love with Hermione Granger and rather quickly.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDD

1) This chapter was really hard to write, I'm obviously not very good at writing emotional scenes and as you can see this chapter was quite emotional.

2) Dumbles will be back soon and will have to face the music, He can't hide from his mistakes forever.

3) I considered going easy on Ron and I did to a certain degree, I could have made it alot worse for him.

4) I'm hoping for the average chapter in this story to be around 5000 words

5) Happy St. Patricks day!

6) I was originally going to call this chapter Problem Solving, however I have since realized that this chapter only contains problems.