A/N: Thanks again to my betas StephanieO and Ministry Malcontent for their hard work! Towards the end of the chapter I mention a motto for the Potter family. I couldn't find one in my search of the internet so I 'borrowed' Harry's motto from Jaconais' story 'This Means War' it really seems to fit him.


November 8 – December 25, 1996

Fudge Government Toppled

By Leo Cregg

After the incredible loss of life during Bonfire Night, it was only a matter of time before Minister Cornelius Fudge was voted out of office. In a unanimous Vote of No Confidence, the Wizengamot removed Mr Fudge and replaced him with Rufus Scrimgeour. Mr Scrimgeour has been the Head of the Auror Department and has promised to meet the threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named head on.

The Death Eater attacks on Bonfire Night were the first coordinated attacks we have seen since You-Know-Who's heydays in the late 1970s. More than sixty communities all over the United Kingdom were attacked and over five hundred deaths have been reported. Minister Scrimgeour is working with the Muggle government and the attacks have been reported in the Muggle press as terrorist attacks.

In some communities, people attempted to fight back. A few Death Eaters were killed by Muggles using a Muggle weapon called a gun. Other Death Eater attacks were thwarted by witches or wizards who lived in the communities under attack, but most of the attacks were unopposed.

Auror response to the attacks was ineffective or non-existent. Minister Scrimgeour has promised to increase the number of Aurors on the streets. Another initiative the Minister supports is community training. He is calling upon community leaders to work with the Ministry to develop plans to deal with the potential of future attacks.

We hope Minister Scrimgeour's government will be able to deal with the threat to our way of life.

Hermione set the paper down on the table with a slightly shaky hand after she'd reread the article for what must have been the fourth or fifth time. It was late in the evening and the Common Room was almost empty. The past week had been a very difficult week for the whole school.

Several students had lost family members. The only person Hermione knew personally was Hannah Abbott. Hannah's mother had been killed and she'd left the school on Wednesday morning. Hermione had heard from her own parents and was relieved to hear that they were both fine, but had been shaken to hear that her uncle's house had been destroyed.

"Hermione?"

She turned to see Ron standing in front of her. "Hi, Ron."

"Are you okay?" Ron asked as he dropped in the chair across from her.

"It just seems so horrible," she said softly, gesturing to the paper. "My parents said that everyone is very tense. Of course none of the Muggles know what really happened. In some places they blame gangs or terrorists and in other places where no one was actually killed they are blaming teenagers getting a little out of hand."

Ron nodded. "My mum said the same thing. There was an attack in Ottery St Catchpole. Two people were killed in the village. My brothers went down to help, but by the time they got there it was basically over."

"Have you heard anything else?" Hermione asked.

"Not much," Ron admitted. "Bill is busy with the Order in London. The twins have been going to a lot of Quidditch matches all of a sudden."

"Quidditch matches?"

"Yeah, they've gone to several Wigton and Appleby matches," Ron said. "I don't really understand it. They've never supported either of those teams." He paused looking around the Common Room. "I think they are looking for Harry and Ginny. I don't know for certain, but a few things they've said made me think it has something to do with Ginny."

"Really?" Hermione looked excited. "That would be great. Do you know if any progress has been made in the investigation?"

The tips of Ron's ears flushed and he said, "Susan said her aunt thinks that now that Fudge is out of office it will be easier to find out what happened. He was positive that Harry killed Umbridge and didn't want to hear anything else. Kingsley's heading up the Auror Department now. He's already found two Aurors who are also Death Eaters. Madam Bones is using that as a basis to reopen the investigation."

"Reopen it? They had closed the investigation?"

"Not exactly, but Fudge made it clear he only wanted evidence against Harry," Ron explained disdainfully. "Did you know they hid the fact that Malfoy was in Hogsmeade that night?"

He nodded at her shocked look. "Sirius found out. The Auror who interviewed Madam Rosmerta was a Death Eater and he didn't tell anyone what she'd said. Sirius was rereading all of the testimony and realized that there was no testimony from her. Bill told me about it."

"Have you noticed that Professor Dumbledore has not been here much this week?" Hermione asked.

Ron nodded. "Professor McGonagall has been missing some meals as well." He shrugged. "I figured that they were doing something with the Order. My mum says she's been spending a lot of time in London, I figured that means she's at Grimmauld Place."

Hermione sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "I hate feeling so left out of things."

"I know," Ron replied. He fell silent for a few minutes before asked, "Do you think they're safe?"

"Harry and Ginny?" Hermione clarified.

Ron nodded. She sighed, "I hope so. I'm hoping the fact that we haven't heard anything is good news."


Harry knocked on Ginny's door. It took a minute, but she did open the door. He leaned in and kissed her gently. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Ginny responded brightly.

He looked her over. "You look really pretty."

"Thank you," she blushed.

She now had brown hair with golden blond highlights. Her eyes were back to her natural brown.

"Are you ready to head down?" he asked.

She nodded and together they headed down to the ground floor kitchen. Their hostess, Carys Astley, was waiting for them.

"Good morning," she said with a smile. "I have some scones and cream, if you would like some."

"Thank you," Harry said.

The teens sat at the wooden table in the centre of the large kitchen. This was definitely a Magical house. It had taken them almost a week to arrange their new home in Wales.

The day after Bonfire Night, as Mrs Griffin had expected, Aurors came to visit her. She explained that she had not attended the celebrations and had learned of the attacks only after her son had returned home injured. After examining her wand, the Aurors accepted her story, but had returned several times with more questions. They knew someone had fought back against the Death Eaters, but with all of the magic used that night they couldn't pinpoint who had cast the spells. In the end, the Aurors had written it off to witches or wizards unknown.

Harry and Ginny were upset to find out that Harry's friend, Mark, had been injured in the melee that had ensued after the attacks. They also knew one of the dead. Nita had been killed by the Death Eaters. Harry felt a bit uncomfortable in the knowledge that once again he knew someone who'd been killed by the Death Eaters simply by existing. Ginny tried to reassure him that he couldn't have done anything differently and while he knew the attacks weren't because he was there, he still felt he could maybe have done something differently.

Mrs Griffin had tried several times to arrange transportation, but in the end Harry had decided that he and Ginny would just take the train. It had made Ginny a bit nervous as they had needed to change trains twice, but they'd made it without any problems. Following Mrs Griffin's instructions, they ended up in the town of Rhyl, in northern Wales.

Their new hostess, Carys, had been involved with the Friends of Lily organization since the early 1980s and was quite experienced in helping Muggles and Muggle-borns escape out of the country or to blend into society. She owned an antique store in town and had contacts all over the British Isles, as well as the European Continent. Unlike Mrs Griffin, Carys was a practicing witch, but she lived and worked with Muggles.

After finishing breakfast, Harry turned to Carys. "I've been thinking and I think we've been going about this all wrong."

"How do you mean?" she asked.

"We've been learning to live in the Muggle world, which is great. I think we need to be able to function in both worlds, but we need to be learning Magic. Our enemies are Magical and we need to be able to fight properly."

The older witch nodded thoughtfully. "That is true."

Harry looked at her in surprise. "I didn't expect you to agree with me."

She laughed. "You are almost an adult Harry – yes I know who you are, I recognized you." She waved away his shock. "The problem is you are still underage. Are you familiar with the Trace?"

"The Trace?" Harry asked in confusion. He shook his head. "I've never heard of it."

To his surprise it was Ginny who explained it. "The Trace is the charm that detects underage magic. It breaks when you come of age."

Carys nodded. "That is not a complete explanation. It detects magic around those under seventeen, however it cannot tell who performed the Magic. It is used to detect Magic in the Muggle world."

"Oh, that's…before my second year, a house elf used Magic in my aunt's house and I was blamed for it. So the Ministry knew Magic was performed and because I was the Magical person who lived there I was blamed?" Harry said slowly.

"That sounds right," Carys replied gently. "The Trace was originally to protect the Muggle-born students. Way back some Muggle-born students got into trouble by using Magic they couldn't reverse or didn't understand. Magical students have their parents to help them, but obviously Muggle-borns didn't have that protection. The Trace breaks when you turn seventeen."

"Is there any way around it?" Harry asked.

Carys rose and started putting the scones away. "There are two ways around it that I know of. One is to be emancipated. Your parent or legal guardian would have to complete certain forms and testify before the Wizengamot, who then has to ratify the motion."

"That doesn't sound very likely," Ginny said. "What is the other way?"

"The other way isn't much better. The other way is to get married. At least one of the couple must be seventeen or older and the other must be fourteen or older. If one of the parties is under the age of seventeen they must have parental permission," Carys explained.

"That doesn't help us much either," Harry groaned.

Colouring brightly, Ginny asked, "Is there any way around that? Is there any place that the marriage age is under seventeen?"

Carys smiled gently. "Aye, in Scotland the marriage age is sixteen. How old are you, dear?"

"Fifteen," Ginny said, slightly sad at the thought.

Harry smiled at her before turning back to Carys. "But if I understand what you are telling me, they wouldn't know if we used magic in your house."

Carys sighed. "It isn't quite that easy. Because I live in a Muggle area, if there is a sudden spike in magical usage they might investigate. They have before."

She looked at the two teens compassionately. "I do have an idea, however."

Harry brightened up. "What?"

"Not all Magical study requires Magic," she said simply.

Harry looked over at Ginny and was relieved to see she was as confused as he was.

"What?"

Carys finished cleaning up the kitchen and re-joined them at the table. "What I understand you saying is you need to learn magic to help you survive, right?"

"Right," Harry agreed.

"I can develop a curriculum of Transfiguration, Charms, Defence, Potions, and Runes. I taught my children at home so I have the experience in teaching," Carys explained. "Potions and Runes don't require any active Magic – with Potions the Magic is in the ingredients and with Runes it is with the casting. While we are here in the city, the two of you can study those two topics. After Christmas, I was planning to go to my country home in the Afan Valley. A little publicized fact about the Afan Valley is that it naturally suppresses magical signatures."

"So that means we can practice magic there?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Yes, you can practice magic there," Carys confirmed. "In the meantime, I have some older Potions books and a book on Runes. They can get you started. I can order more up to date books on the other topics."

"Excellent," Harry said. "We have another problem. Transportation – we can't get around anywhere on our own. We have to rely on either public transportation or others to drive us around. Do you have any suggestions?"

"When we get to the country, I can teach you to Apparate," Carys said. "Technically you need a licence, but I think we can get around that for now. I have never learned to drive a car, but we might be able to have someone in the Valley work with you on driving. They often teach their children at a younger age in more rural areas. Again, you can't get your license to drive or to Apparate until you are seventeen, but we can still teach you."

"That would be great," Harry replied sincerely.

He was glad that she was willing to help them. He glanced over at Ginny and she seemed pleased as well. He had told her his plan on the way over to Wales and she had supported the decision. The deaths in Aston had shaken both of them. It was like they'd been living in a dream world and suddenly their nightmares came to life and intruded. They both realized the need to be more proactive than they had been.


Amelia Bones thanked her aide for the tea and crumpets before getting down to the business at hand. It was her weekly meeting with Kingsley Shacklebolt. She found working with Kingsley much easier than working with Rufus had been. Rufus was a good Auror, but as he was promoted through the ranks, Amelia had found that he was a bit too much of a politician and not as good a leader.

"We've investigated the Bonfire Night attacks," Kingsley began. "As you know there were sixty-two towns and villages attacked. It is interesting to note that none of the major cities were attacked. Little Whinging was attacked, we believe because of Harry's relationship to the area, but there were no attacks in London itself.

"We estimate that over four hundred Death Eaters were involved in the attack. The parties in each area were composed of five to eight people. Twenty Death Eaters were killed and five were captured. None of them were high level Death Eaters and none were over the age of twenty-five so they are all new recruits."

"That is not encouraging," Amelia said. "The fact that he is able to recruit so many in such a short period of time is discouraging."

Kingsley nodded. "I believe that was part of his strategy – a show of strength. Not all of the Death Eaters were British either so we believe he is recruiting strongly overseas as well. Charlie Weasley reported that several of the workers at the Dragon reserve have been approached, but he is doing his best to counteract their propaganda.

"Those who fought back against the Death Eaters were a mixed bag. Of the Magical people who fought back they were either Muggle-born or married into a Muggle family. The Muggles who fought back were mostly a part of the Muggle military or police. There did not appear to be any one target, merely a show of force and of course to spread terror and dissent."

"Unfortunately, they succeeded all too well," Amelia said. She took a sip of her tea as she looked over the reports Kingsley had provided.

"Okay," she said at length once she'd had a chance to ask questions. "What about the investigation into the deaths at Hogsmeade?"

Kingsley reached for the stack of files he'd brought with him and pulled out one of them. "We identified two Aurors who participated in the original investigation that were actually Death Eaters. They are the ones who suppressed the information about Malfoy and McNair being in the village that night."

"So did they kill everyone on the Knight Bus?" Amelia asked.

"Not certain," Kingsley replied. "Malfoy was seen in the late afternoon, hours before any of the deaths. No one saw them in Hogsmeade after six in the evening. We haven't found many cooperative witnesses at Hogwarts either. The ones who probably know what happened are the members of the Inquisitorial Squad. They are of course children of known Death Eaters and other Voldemort supporters. They are being protected by their parents and their parents' money. Snape has not been overly cooperative either in telling us who was on the Squad or allowing any access."

Amelia rubbed her forehead. "Let's look at this logically. Potter was initially a suspect because he is a Parselmouth and he had just been expelled by Umbridge, correct?"

"Yes," Kingsley agreed. "That and the lack of any Dark Magic we presumed Voldemort would have used."

"What about the bloody robes recovered from the Shrieking Shack?" Amelia asked looking at her notes.

"The blood is all Potter's," Kingsley said. "He appears to have been hit in the back with perhaps a Cutting Curse, most of the damage is in the back. It also appears that someone ripped strips out of the robe to use to clean up more blood or perhaps to be used as a bandage, we aren't certain which."

"So that would be consistent with him being chased from the grounds," Amelia said.

"Yes," Kingsley replied simply.

"So Potter and the Weasley girl were attacked, chased from the grounds and hid for some period of time in the Shrieking Shack. They were gone in the morning, but it is possible they spent the night there."

"Yes, the bed was made up so they could have slept there." Kingsley said.

"Are we certain they did that?" Amelia asked. "Could it have been used as a trysting spot?"

"We don't believe so," he replied. "Most of the students are scared of it and those who knew how to get to it denied performing the charms. Molly Weasley said that her daughter would know the charms to make up a bed."

"So, if they were hiding, how did they coerce Umbridge to come back out to the grounds? They weren't seen by any of the students and I can't imagine they wouldn't have just tried to escape."

"We theorized that Umbridge might have been out walking the grounds. She did that from time to time," Kingsley said. "I'm a bit ashamed to say I was influenced by Dumbledore's fears that Voldemort could be influencing Potter."

"Okay, talk me through the theory that Potter and Weasley are behind the Knight Bus massacre."

Kingsley squirmed a bit, knowing that hadn't been his finest hour. "Initially they were suspects because they had fled Hogwarts and the bus had stopped between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. The theory was the bus denied them transport and Potter snapped and killed them. I admit now that theory is full of holes. There is no reason for the bus to have denied them transport, Potter had money and had used the bus before. Bill Weasley also pointed out that Unforgivables were used on the bus and those take a lot of hate and a lot of practice. I don't see either of those kids being able to do that."

"I thought Dumbledore believed it was possible for Voldemort to be in control of Potter."

"He did or does, I'm not sure which," Kingsley agreed. "However, I have talked to several of Potter's friends and they told me he is able to resist the Imperius Curse and even resisted Voldemort's Imperius Curse. Given that, I find it difficult to believe Potter was under Voldemort's control."

Amelia sighed, "Kingsley, this is a huge mess. Damn Fudge and Dumbledore both. They both kept pushing their agendas without even thinking everything through." She sat back in her chair as she mulled over the options.

"I am of the opinion that Potter and Weasley did nothing wrong," Amelia said. "Unfortunately, Fudge managed to get the expulsion order approved. In order to reverse that we would need a directive stating that speaking Parseltongue is not a Dark Art – something I don't think we could get in this political climate. I spoke to Rufus and he is not inclined to reverse the expulsion. He wants to get his hands on Potter – what for I am not entirely certain."

"I agree," Kingsley said. "The more I investigate, the more questions I have."

"I want you to go to Hogwarts and question Severus Snape. He was vouched for by Dumbledore, but he is a Death Eater. If he can't or won't answer our questions, he can be imprisoned," Amelia stated firmly.


Sirius winced as he watched Appleby score for the fourth time in as many minutes. He glanced around at the crowd and decided he would head out to one of the pubs and see what he could find out. One the way out, he purchased a program for Ron. He still didn't understand why the boy liked the Cannons so much, but if a program would make him happy he would buy one.

He left the stadium and headed west on A66 and a short time later pulled off at the town of Penrith. Riding down the street, he garnered a fair amount of attention. He knew it was rather late in the year to be riding his motorcycle, but as long as the roads were passable he preferred the old motorcycle to borrowing a car.

Pulling up outside a small tavern, he entered the building. It was an old fashioned looking building called the Giant's Cradle. He was soon seated at a table and ordered some fish and chips. It was obviously a slow day and the waitress didn't seem busy.

Turning on the charm, he smiled at the woman. "Excuse me, ma'am."

"Yes," she turned around. "My name is Jane."

"Jane, I was wondering if you could help me. This past summer my godson and his girlfriend stayed with some friends in the area and I can't remember exactly where it was, but I think it was around here." Sirius pulled the pictures of Harry and Ginny out of his pocket. "Have you seen them around here?"

Jane took the pictures and seemed to study them. "You know, I think I have." She turned to the other waitress who was hovering by the back. "Do you remember this boy? I'm sure I've seen him."

The other woman looked at the photo. "Yeah, from the sailing club, remember him and his girl were staying with some people over in…Keswick I think." She nodded. "My boy loves to sail and this other boy, Harry, I think, was in the youth sailing club over the summer."

"Thank you," he said softly. He quickly altered their memories and finished his meal.

Once he was done, he headed back to the road and continued west towards Keswick. His mind was racing. Could he possibly have found them? Or at least found where they'd been?

Within twenty minutes he was driving into Keswick. He stopped at a real estate office. He figured one of the best ways to see the town was to ask someone who was literally all over the town.

"Mr Black?"

He stood up from the chair where he was waiting. "Yes. I am Sirius Black. Please call me Sirius."

"Sirius, then, I am Theresa." The woman smiled at him as she gestured him back into her office. She was an attractive woman about Sirius' age with dark hair and blue eyes. "So I understand you are looking for a home in the area?"

"Yes, I have a family home in London, but I was hoping for a country home."

She smiled, "You have come to the right place. What made you decide on Keswick?"

"My godson spent some time here this past summer," Sirius explained. "He loved the sailing and just raved about how beautiful it was here." He pulled out a picture from his pocket of Harry.

"Good looking boy," Theresa said with a well-practiced smile. "Will he be staying with you?"

Sirius nodded. "Yes, I'm hoping for something with at least three bedrooms and I'd like something with a bit of land."

Theresa was making notes as they talked. She reached over at pulled out a book that

Sirius could see was labelled 'Listings' and began flipping through the book. "Are you interested in historical homes or guest homes?"

"I don't know," Sirius replied honestly. He thought about it for a moment. "An historical home would be nice."

"What is your budget?" Theresa asked.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't want to spend a fortune on a new house. I think I'd like to keep it under a million pounds."

"Under a million?" Theresa looked as though she was trying to determine if he was being serious or not.

He nodded. "It would have to be an exceptional house to make me go over a million."

"Very well," Theresa said. "I have a beautiful property that is outside of town. It's a former coach house that has been wonderfully redone. It has four bedrooms and has beautiful views of the Skiddaw mountain range. There is a small summer house on the property as well as a garage."

She handed him a brochure on the property and Sirius found himself impressed. It was a beautiful property and he was looking for a country home. "Tell me a bit about the summer home."

"It is a small property, but it has a kitchenette, a sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom. It could be seen as a small flat, but with excellent views."

Sirius nodded. "I think I would like to see it."

"Excellent," Theresa smiled. "Do you have time to see it today?"

"Yes," Sirius said. He soon found himself in Theresa's car heading for the property. She spent the drive extolling the virtues of the town as well as the house he was to see. To his surprise, he was actually interested in the house. He'd used this ruse in several other towns, but he felt he was much closer to learning about his godson here than in any other town.

She pulled up outside of a beautiful stone house. Sirius immediately fell in love. The house was beautiful and the gardens were exquisite. He poked around the little summer house and he thought it would be perfect for Remus. It would give him his own space, but they would be close. The views were phenomenal and the house was secluded enough for flying.

Theresa was talking about something called satellite television. He interrupted her, "I'll take it."

She paused and looked back at him, not sure if she heard him correctly. "You'll take it?"

"Yes, it's perfect."

"You haven't even asked the price," Theresa said.

Sirius laughed, "Okay, what's the price?"

"They are asking for £550,000. It is fair market value for a house of this size and with this type of land," Theresa explained. When she saw she hadn't dissuaded him, she said, "If you would like, I can take you round to the bank. They can help you set up financing as such."

"I won't need financing," Sirius said absently, not noticing the shock on her face. "I'll make arrangements to pay off the balance."

"Certainly," Theresa said as she guided him back to the car. She drove to the bank and asked for the manager. She had worked with David Harper on several occasions and felt he was the right person to help her.

Sirius entered the bank and looked around. It was much different than any bank he'd ever seen; it was clean and bright with people, not goblins, behind the counters. Instead of guiding him to the counters, Theresa guided him to a seating area.

"I'll be right back," she said.

She returned in a moment with a tall sandy haired man. "Sirius Black, this is David Harper. He is the manager of this branch and he will be able to help you."

Sirius held out his hand. He didn't miss the way the man had reacted when he'd heard Sirius' name. "Mr Harper."

"Please, call me David."

Sirius followed David into his office. While David closed the office door, Sirius looked around. He gasped when he saw a picture of the pretty blonde woman for whom he'd been searching. He spun around to face David.

"That is my wife, Deena," David said, gesturing to the picture. He sat down behind his desk. "You are Sirius Black…Harry's godfather."

Sirius sank into the chair across the desk. "You know who I am."

David laughed. "Harry talked about you quite a bit. He really misses you."

"Do you know where he is?" Sirius asked eagerly.

"I'm afraid not," David said. "My wife took them to Preston at the end of the summer. All we know is they were headed somewhere near Sheffield and they were going to be enrolled in school."

Sirius sank back into the chair. "Damn! I figured he'd been in this area, but it's taken a while to figure out exactly where he'd been."

"He had a great summer, if that helps at all," David said compassionately. "He and Ginny spent a lot of time outdoors. They learned how to sail and spent quite a bit of time on the lake."

Sirius nodded. "That's how I ended up here. A few towns over a woman told me he sailed in the same club as her son."

"I take it this means you aren't really interested in purchasing this house," David said.

"Actually, I do want to buy it," Sirius said. "I have wanted to find a place in the country

and this house just really seemed perfect."

"Excellent," David said. He looked over the man sitting across from him. "Does this mean I will be dealing with Gringotts?"

Sirius grinned. "Yes, indeed." He pulled a card from his wallet. "This is the goblin in charge of my account. He will arrange to transfer the amount required. I believe Theresa is in contact with the current owners as we speak." He gestured to where the woman was talking on the phone.

"Very good," David said. He laughed. "I remember the first time I went to Diagon Alley with my sister. We'd just learned she was a witch and everything was so new and bizarre. We went into Gringotts and it just…it was so amazing."

"Gringotts is very impressive," Sirius said. "I've been going there since I was a child."

"Is your whole family magical?"

Sirius laughed. "Yes, I come from a very old, pureblood family. Unfortunately, most of them are on the opposite side of the war. I take it you are not magical?"

"No, I'm a Muggle, but my sister is a witch. She became involved in the Friends of Lily organization years ago and this summer she asked us to take in a couple of young teens. We had plenty of room, so we agreed."

At this point Theresa knocked on the door. "I spoke to the owners and they are happy to sell for £540,000."

"Wonderful," David said. "Let's get down to business."


"What?" Remus asked incredulously. "You just bought a house?"

Sirius laughed. "You knew I was looking. Why are you so surprised? The area is beautiful and there is a little summer house in the back that is perfect for you."

"How much did this cost you?"

Sirius shrugged. "Almost one hundred and ten thousand Galleons."

"Sirius," Remus said weakly.

"It's fine," Sirius said. "I hardly put a dent in my vault. Plus I met the people Harry stayed with over the summer. They are really nice people and I'm sure they'd love to meet you. They specifically asked about you," he said, turning to Bill. "Ginny talked about you and your family quite a bit."

"That sounds great," Bill said sincerely.

"How is Dumbledore?" Sirius asked as they turned towards business.

"He's ready to go," Remus said. "He's wanted to go check this house out for a Horcrux for a while now. The attacks obviously distracted him for a while, but he's getting impatient."

"Are we meeting him there?" Sirius asked.

Remus nodded, "He thought he found the cave your brother talked about and he wanted to check that out first. He'll meet us in Little Hangleton."

The three men Apparated to the coordinates provided by Dumbledore. They were standing on a rather desolate road in front of an overgrown copse of trees. Sirius peered into the trees. "Is that a house?"

"It is indeed," Dumbledore said as he joined them.

"The Gaunt house," Bill said suddenly. "The one we saw in the memories."

"Correct," Dumbledore said. "I believe Tom created another Horcrux from the family ring he took from his uncle. He wore the ring quite openly while he was still at school; I doubt he would have done so if he had already turned it into a Horcrux. I believe he later turned it into a Horcrux and hid it here in the old family home."

"Why?" Sirius asked as they drew closer to the dilapidated old house.

"I believe he felt powerful here," Dumbledore replied. "He destroyed the family he believed abandoned him."

The house looked much worse than in the memory they had seen. The weeds around the house were waist deep in some spots. The walls were overgrown with moss and vines and the roof was practically non-existent. The door was missing panels and all of the small windows were broken.

Bill drew his wand. "There is a lot of magic surrounding this house." He closed his eyes and murmured several phrases none of the others understood. The house suddenly lit with multi-coloured lights.

Sirius and Remus both took a step backwards. Bill began to slowly dismantle the protective wards surrounding the house.

"That's impressive," Sirius whispered to Remus. Remus nodded and the two old friends stood silently while the Curse Breaker worked. Bill had a sheen of sweat built up by the time the last curse was broken.

"Thank you, William," Dumbledore said. "I am quite certain it would have taken me much longer."

Bill nodded as he wiped his face on a towel he'd conjured. He pulled a bottle of water out of his bag and downed it quickly. He straightened up and gingerly pushed open the door to the house. They all ducked as a swarm of bats flew out over their heads.

Shaking his head, Bill led the way into the house. A thick layer of dust covered everything. Sirius wrinkled his nose as the odour of bat guano and other unidentified smells filled the air.

"Over here," Bill said with his wand lighting the way. He led the way over to the stone fireplace. Like everything else in the house, it was filthy. The interior was caked with black soot and a rusting cauldron still hung from the holder. As the light from Bill's wand played over the bricks of the chimney, Sirius suddenly said, "Stop, go back"

Following his instructions, Bill slowly ran his wand over the bricks. One of the bricks had the same stylized S that had been on the locket. Sirius trained his wand on the brick to provide light while Bill carefully removed the brick. Behind the brick they found a small box that was quickly removed. Bill opened the lid of the box and revealed the ring they had sought.

To the other men's surprise, Dumbledore immediately reached for the ring. Remus knocked his arm away before he could touch the ring. That action seemed to bring Dumbledore to his senses.

"What the hell?" Bill hissed at him as he closed the box. "Why in Merlin's name would you try to touch that thing?"

"I don't know," Dumbledore said a bit shakily. "I felt as though I was compelled to put on the ring. It was a rather overwhelming feeling."

"I'm not surprised," Bill said. "Many Horcruxes have some sort of protection around them. We need to destroy this as soon as possible."

"I agree," Dumbledore replied, still sounding shaken.

Remus replaced the brick and the four men left the rundown shack, removing all evidence of their being there. Once they were back in the cool night air, everyone seemed a bit more relaxed. They walked back down the dirt track, through the thick weeds and woods, until they ended up on the road.

Sirius looked down the road towards the village. From their vantage point, the entire village was laid out in front of them. The once grand Riddle house was almost exactly opposite from where they were standing, but it was the graveyard that caught his attention.

"I want to go down there," Sirius said.

The men agreed a bit uneasily to accompany him to the graveyard. The walk into town was completely silent. It was a cold night with a bit of a wind. The three quarter moon provided plenty of light as they skirted around the town proper to arrive at the graveyard.

Dumbledore pushed the tall black gate open and the other men followed him inside. The graveyard appeared to be quite old, some of the graves dated back to the fifteenth century. None of the men knew exactly where they were going, but they were all drawn towards a spot in the south-eastern corner of the graveyard.

Sirius' breath caught in his throat when he saw the statuary Harry had described so clearly over a year earlier. He led the way over to the grave – it was the grave of Tom Riddle Senior. Sirius felt sick to his stomach.

There was evidence of a fire in front of the grave. Sirius swallowed hard as he gazed at the site where Voldemort had been reborn. He walked around the area and some of the graves showed evidence of spell damage. While the shadows cast by the graves and statuary were creepy enough, he could only imagine the terror his godson must have felt facing the monster who killed his parents.

He jumped slightly when Remus clapped his hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Let's go, my friend. There is nothing good here."

Sirius nodded and they Disapparated back to the gates of Hogwarts. Dumbledore opened the gates with a wave of his wand and the other men accompanied him back to his office. They watched in silence as he used the Sword of Gryffindor to destroy the Horcrux. An otherworldly scream sounded as black smoke streamed from the stone. It joined the diary and locket in a locked drawer in Dumbledore's office.

"Thank you gentlemen," Dumbledore said. "I did investigate the cave Mr Black indicated. There is replica of the locket as described. Given Mr Black's description of the fluid surrounding it, I chose to leave the fake locket there."

"Do you have any thoughts on the locations for the other Horcruxes?" Remus asked as he accepted a glass of mead from the Headmaster.

"Not as of yet," Dumbledore replied. "I believe he may have hidden one of the Horcruxes here in the castle. Tom applied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts job some years ago."

"Do you have any idea where?" Remus asked.

"Not as of yet," Dumbledore replied.


Harry smiled over at Ginny as she finished stirring her potion. Her hair had been haphazardly piled on top of her head and a few tendrils were escaping. She was concentrating on the last few steps of her healing potion. The potion Harry had made was not quite as complicated, so he finished before her. He decided to spend the remaining time just admiring his girlfriend.

"Stop it, Harry," she admonished with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Why?" he asked.

"It's distracting me."

Harry watched her work for another minute. "I don't think it's really distracting you, because you are doing really well with your potion."

She laughed and he grinned. He loved her laugh and it made him feel good especially when he knew he was the cause.

Carefully she ladled the potion into the waiting vials before taking the cauldron to the sink. Squirting soap into the cauldron she cleaned it. The potion she had been making was known to change the nature of the cauldron if it cooled too much while in a copper cauldron.

Harry wiped it off for her and set it to dry with his cauldron that he'd already cleaned. Once her hands were free, he pulled her over to him and kissed her deeply. He wrapped his arms around her and, with one hand, he pulled out the clip holding up her hair. He loved her hair. Even if it was the wrong colour, it was still silky soft in his hands. His other hand edged under the hem of her shirt, gently caressing the skin at the base of her spine.

Pulling away slightly, Harry kissed under her ear and down her neck. Ginny moaned softly, a sound that sent chills down his spine. She ran her hands up his chest and under his shirt. The feel of her hands on his bare skin was intoxicating. Boldly he slid his hand around to her flat stomach and slowly inched his hand upward.

The sound of an owl screeching broke them apart. Harry turned away from Ginny slightly, trying to get his reactions to her under control. Ginny took a deep breath and pulled down her shirt before opening the window and letting the impatient owl into the kitchen. The owl haughtily extended its leg for Ginny to take the scroll. It was addressed to Carys so Ginny set it on the counter and gave the owl a treat.

She turned to look at her boyfriend whom she found was adorably mussed up. His hair was a ruffled mess and his lips were a bit swollen. He straightened his shirt and gave her a lop-sided smile. "Sorry if I got a bit out of hand."

He leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss on her lips. She smiled up at him. "I was feeling a bit out of hand myself, don't worry about it."

Taking his hand, she led him over to the large butcher block table. "We should probably get to work on Runes."

He sighed. "You are probably right." He stole another kiss before opening his copy of Ancient Runes Made Easy. He'd found that he actually enjoyed Ancient Runes and rather wished that he'd taken it in school. It was certainly better than Divination and hearing how he was going to die.

He was still learning how to read Runes and a little about the cultures that used Runes. Ginny had been taking Ancient Runes for almost two years and Carys had given her workbooks with Runes she needed to translate. The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon working on Runes. Harry felt he was really getting the hang of them and was happy with his progress. He couldn't believe how just working on Magical subjects made him feel more connected with the Magical world.

Carys returned home to find Harry and Ginny already making a stew for dinner. "Hello, dears, how was your day?"

She looked over the potions they had prepared that day. "Excellent, you are really improving in your potion making skills."

Harry blushed slightly. "Thank you. Once Ginny mentioned that it was more like cooking and that really made sense to me."

"Very good," she said with a proud smile at Ginny. "That Potions Master at Hogwarts..." she shook her head. "He is a big part of the reason I chose not to send my son to Hogwarts."

"What?" Harry looked surprised. "I didn't know that."

Carys nodded, "I think that is why Kristine sent you here. I educated my son at home. Part of it was because I wasn't too sure about sending my eleven year old son away for ten months out of the year." She shrugged. "I know it's a grand tradition and all, but I wasn't quite ready for it. I went to Hogwarts to talk to the teachers and I was quite frankly appalled by the Potions Master. He was very young and very arrogant. I watched a class and he was rude and dismissive to the students. Watching a ghost drone on and on about goblin wars was extremely depressing. There are so many important events in Magical history and as far as I could tell, none of them were being taught. When I brought this up to the Headmaster, I didn't feel he was very receptive to my concerns. Between the two of them, I chose to educate my son at home."

"I can imagine," Harry said. "Snape hated my father while they were at school and as a result he hates me. I've learned so much more in the past couple of weeks with you. I never understood why it makes a difference how many times you stir something or what order you add the ingredients in. It just makes more sense now."

"I'm glad," Carys replied. She handed Harry a stack of owl-order catalogues. "This is from Flourish and Blotts. I thought you could order new school books. These other catalogues are from other stores on Diagon Alley."

Harry looked a bit confused. "How can I order from catalogues if everyone is looking for me?"

Carys laughed. "Have everything sent here to me, but use your vault number. The merchants won't know who is paying and Gringotts doesn't release the purchaser's name."

"Remember, that's how Sirius was able to buy your Firebolt," Ginny said.

"Oh, I'd forgotten about that," Harry said. He looked back at Carys. "So they won't be able to trace it back to me and find out where we are?"

She shook her head. "The goblins don't give out information on clients. They will send the funds to the merchants and the merchants will send whatever you've purchased here."

Harry took the proffered catalogues and he and Ginny quickly flipped through the Flourish & Blotts catalogue. On Carys' advice, they purchased the Standard Book of Spells Grade Six & Seven, Intermediate and Advanced Transfiguration, Advanced Potion Making, and several Rune dictionaries. Pulling his Gringott's key from his pocket, Harry pressed it in the box indicated on the order form. It glowed for a moment and when Harry lifted the key he found strange writing in the box.

"That's Gobbledegook," Carys explained.

Later that night, Harry and Ginny were looking through the other catalogues. Harry kept coming back to the Quidditch catalogues.

"Gin, what do you think about getting brooms?" he finally asked. "I just hate that we don't have any way of getting around on our own. If there is an attack or anything, we won't be able to get away without help. If we had brooms, we would have our own transportation."

"Aren't they really expensive?" Ginny asked doubtfully.

"They can be," Harry agreed, "but look at these. We can get a Nimbus two thousand for only one hundred Galleons. It's not as good as a Firebolt, but it's still a good broom." He read a little further. "Look, we can get two for one hundred and fifty Galleons."

Ginny's jaw dropped, "One hundred and fifty Galleons. Harry, that's a lot of money."

He shrugged, "I have plenty of money. Tonks said I have well over five thousand Galleons in my vault so I can afford it." He looked over at her with his eyes pleading. "I think it's really important, Ginny. It's only money and what good is it doing me if I can't use it to protect us?"

His bright green eyes demolished her resolve. "Okay, but I don't want you spending gobs of money."

He grinned at her and leaned over to kiss her softly. "Thanks, Gin. I would hate if something happened to you that could have been easily prevented just by spending a little money."

She shook her head at his characterizations of a little money, but her heart beat a little faster at the expression in his eyes. The fact that she meant so much to him was both exciting and humbling at the same time. She returned his kiss.


Amelia Bones accompanied Kingsley to Hogwarts on a very cold, snowy evening towards the end of November. She had decided to accompany him as he questioned Dumbledore and Severus Snape. They had also brought an official scribe. On Kingsley's recommendation she brought Hestia Jones.

They met in Professor Dumbledore's office. As Madam Bones had requested, Professor McGonagall was also present. Professor Dumbledore greeted them genially enough. He had set up five chairs across from his desk. Professor McGonagall nodded in greeting as they sat down. Professor Snape was already seated in the far chair glowering.

"Madam Bones, welcome to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Thank you," she replied. "However, as you know, this is not a social call. I am here to investigate the events of 25 May 1996."

Dumbledore straightened a bit. He obviously didn't like her turning this into an official visit, but there was really nothing he could do about it.

She turned to Professor McGonagall. "You were still Deputy Headmistress of the school at that time, correct?"

Professor McGonagall agreed and Madam Bones continued. "Did Professor Umbridge give you any indication of her plan to expel Potter and Weasley?"

"No, she did not," the Transfiguration Professor replied promptly. Her irritation at the thought was obvious. "I did not hear anything until she announced to the entire school they had been expelled for Dark Arts."

Madam Bones turned her attention to Professor Snape. "Professor, I understand that a majority of the Inquisitorial Squad came from your house."

"Yes," he replied with a touch of insolence in his voice.

"Do you have any insight into what transpired that afternoon?" she asked sharply.

"I know that Potter was caught talking to the snakes Hagrid was keeping. Mr Malfoy heard Miss Weasley telling Potter that she had understood something the snakes were saying and she wanted him to talk to them. Mr Malfoy was concerned and he reported the incident to Professor Umbridge."

Madame Bones heard Professor McGonagall snort at the thought of Malfoy being concerned. She suppressed a smile. "Do you know what happened next?"

"Potter refused to surrender his wand to the Headmistress and engaged in a fight with the members of the Inquisitorial Squad who had accompanied her. The Inquisitorial Squad chased them to the edge of the Forbidden Forest where they lost them."

"Were any members of the Inquisitorial Squad injured in the exchange?" Kingsley asked.

"No," Snape replied reluctantly.

"You are aware that bloody robes were found in the so-called Shrieking Shack, are you not?"

"I am," Snape replied. "Potter had been running through the forest, I imagine he could have been injured in that endeavour."

"Nothing in the forest would have been able to hit him with a Cutting Curse in the back," Kingsley replied scornfully.

"Did you question the members of your house who participated in this rather poorly executed attempt to capture Potter?"

Snape's nostrils flared at the slight on his house. He poured contempt into his response. "I did inquire. They were all acting at the behest of the acting Headmistress of the school in attempting to capture students who had been expelled."

Kingsley barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Madam Bones glared at the Potions Master. "Professor Snape, may I remind you that you are a known Death Eater? Professor Dumbledore may have vouched for you and your reputed change of heart, but if I find evidence that you are withholding information from an official investigation I will not hesitate in declaring your deal null and void."

"I don't believe that will be necessary," Professor Dumbledore said soothingly. "Severus has been acting as a spy for us since the first war. To act against him would be a huge blow to the anti-Voldemort movement."

"I realize you believe that, Professor," Madam Bones replied sharply. "However, I do not have any confidence in Professor Snape. He appears to have taken his second chance as a licence to act as he sees fit without regard for the students. I have heard how he treats the non-Slytherin students in his classes and I have seen first-hand how ill-prepared in Potions recent Hogwarts graduates have become. He is insolent and a bully, the scant amount of actual intelligence he supplies does not excuse his behaviour."

She watched in satisfaction as Snape exchanged a startled glance with his mentor. They both looked concerned.

She continued. "Was Madam Umbridge in the habit of walking the grounds at night?"

"Not that I am aware," Professor Dumbledore replied evenly.

"So it stands to reason that someone must have visited her and she either accompanied them of her own free will or she was coerced into accompanying them. Who had access to the castle that night?"

Professor Dumbledore replied, "The gates did not open that night until I arrived after Professor Umbridge's murder. There are six Floos connected to the outside Floo network – one in the Infirmary, one in the Headmaster's office, and each Head of House has an external Floo. None of them were used that evening." He handed over five books to the Head Auror. "These are the logs of those Floos. My office was sealed and no one had access to it."

"There are no other Floos connected to the external network?" Madam Bones asked sceptically.

Professor Snape cleared his throat. "The Floo in the Slytherin Common Room is connected to the outside network."

"What?" Professor McGonagall looked outraged while Professor Dumbledore looked not only stunned, but disappointed as well.

"It has been that way since I was in school," Professor Snape replied with none of his earlier arrogance. "I don't know who changed it or when, although I have my suspicions. I did not realize that the Headmaster was unaware of the connection, as I said it's been this way for a very long time."

"Is there a log book for the Floo?" Dumbledore asked.

Reluctantly Professor Snape nodded. Dumbledore called for a house elf and instructed them to retrieve the log.

"How do these log books work?" Madam Bones asked.

"They are not maintained by a person," Professor Dumbledore explained. "They are maintained by the magic of the school. Once the Floo is activated the log books are automatically activated. They record who activated the Floo, how it was used – for a call or for travel, who comes through the Floo and, if they leave, where they go."

Madam Bones nodded as she looked over the book from the Infirmary. It detailed calls to St Mungo's as well as travel to Hogsmeade and London. Flipping through all of the books she confirmed that on the night in question, no one had arrived through any of the Floos.

The elf returned with the book and handed it to Professor Dumbledore. Madam Bones held out her hand imperiously and he reluctantly handed it over. She glared at Professor Snape. "Have you looked at this?"

He shook his head.

Setting the book on the desk, she opened it and flipped backwards to the date in question. It showed considerable activity.

"Can anyone use the Floo?" she asked.

"It is decided by the students," Snape replied a bit uncomfortably. "They need to provide their own Floo powder and it is usually regulated by the older students."

The names appearing most frequently in the book were names she recognized – Malfoy, Nott, Parkinson, Crabbe, and Zabini. When she arrived at the date of May 25, she read aloud.

"3:25pm Floo call by Draco Malfoy to Malfoy Manor. 5:00pm Floo call received from Malfoy Manor. 6:18pm Floo call received from the Ministry of Magic. 7:23pm Floo call by Draco Malfoy to Malfoy Manor. 10:02pm Lucius Malfoy and Tom Riddle arrive by Floo. 10:25pm Lucius Malfoy and Tom Riddle leave via Floo to return to Malfoy Manor."

She looked up to see Dumbledore's face lose all colour. "Merlin, he was really here."

Professor Dumbledore turned to the younger man. "Did you know that he was here?"

Snape hesitated in answering and a strong wave of magic flowed through the room as Dumbledore stood and looked down at the younger man. "I knew the Dark Lord was here that night."

"You did not feel that was important to share with me?" Professor Dumbledore asked quietly, disappointment evident in his tone.

"I was not consulted until after you had declared Potter the most likely suspect. I thought you wanted him to be the suspect. No one asked if I had seen the Dark Lord or anyone else, so I didn't volunteer that information." Snape defended himself.

"You thought I wanted him to be a suspect?"

"All year you have treated him coolly," Snape said. "I told you what I'd discovered during the Occlumency lessons and you didn't take the opportunity to talk to him about the dreams he was having and you didn't want to teach him yourself. You had distanced yourself from him and his problems. No one asked me what I may have heard or seen, the only questions I had been asked were about the Inquisitorial Squad. No Aurors questioned me; don't make this out to be my fault. I thought you would ask me about the Dark Lord, when you didn't I thought it was deliberate."

Dumbledore looked shocked. "I never meant…I would have been thrilled to hear Harry had not killed Professor Umbridge. I truly thought Voldemort might be controlling him. That is why I distanced myself from him."

Madam Bones cleared her throat. "Why? I've heard how you were concerned that he was being controlled, but I don't understand why."

Dumbledore looked around the room and seemed to come to some sort of decision. "When Voldemort first attacked Harry, obviously something went wrong. Lily's sacrifice provided a shield of sorts for Harry and saved his life. In addition to surviving the curse, I believe that Harry gained some of Voldemort's powers – his ability to speak Parseltongue and Harry can see into Voldemort's thoughts at times. He wrote to his godfather last summer to say he heard Voldemort conspiring with Wormtail and another man, later thought to be Barty Crouch Jr."

"That is how he saw Arthur's attack," Professor McGonagall said in surprise. "Did you explain that to him?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "I was afraid that Voldemort had become aware of the connection and might use Harry to gain information about us. That is why I believed him capable of controlling Harry long enough to kill Professor Umbridge."

Madam Bones turned to Snape. "What about the Knight Bus?"

Snape swallowed heavily, but replied, "I believe that was Bellatrix Lestrange, though I don't know for certain. The Dark Lord doesn't share his plans with everyone. From what I have been able to piece together, Draco told his father what happened with Potter. Lucius of course informed the Dark Lord and accompanied him here to Hogwarts. The Dark Lord spoke to the serpents and discovered what happened."

He looked at the Headmaster. "Dark Magic was used, as Lucius laughed about Umbridge under the Cruciatus. I presume that the Dark Lord set the snakes on Umbridge. Bellatrix mentioned sometimes about the blood on the Knight Bus, so from that I gather she was there."

"Damn," Kingsley swore. "So all this time we could have simply proven Harry was innocent?" He glared at his fellow Order member. "I can't believe you didn't say anything. I thought they were all exaggerating how badly you treat Harry, now I see it's all true."

"As I've explained to Kingsley, the sticking point is the expulsion order," Madam Bones said. "Minister Scrimgeour has refused to reverse it, so at this point in time, even if we can prove he didn't kill anyone, he would still be required to turn over his wand. That, I believe, is what he was trying to prevent in the first place."

"I trust that the news that they had nothing to do with the killings will be made public," Professor McGonagall said frostily.

Madam Bones nodded. "I will meet with the Weasleys and Mr Black first and then I will make it public."


Hedwig squawked as Sirius threw a vase against the wall. That brought him out of his rage. "I'm sorry, girl."

The owl looked over at him. She flew over to him and nipped him on the ear before returning to her perch.

Bill knocked on the door. "I assume that means you've heard."

Sirius nodded bitterly. "I am going to kill Snape the next time I see him. All this time he knew Harry was innocent and didn't bother to say anything. I don't buy this whole he thought that's what Dumbledore wanted. He's always been a miserable, slimy Death Eater. He saw a way to get Harry in trouble and he took it."

"I think so too," Bill said as he dropped into the leather arm chair he liked. He looked around the study, most everything was boxed up. "It looks like you're ready to go."

Sirius nodded. "I don't want to spend another Christmas in this hell hole if I can avoid it. The team I hired has finished taking out the electrical systems and installing the cold pantry and hob. They will have it hooked up to the Floo network tomorrow."

"That's great," Bill said. "I don't know what I'm going to do for Christmas. I suppose I will end up at my parents', but I want to spend time with Fleur as well. She and my mum don't get on too well."

"Does anyone get on well with your mum?" Sirius asked snidely. Taking a deep breath, he apologized. "I'm sorry, that wasn't nice. I know your mum is really a generous lady with a big heart, but we've just never gotten on well. She doesn't think I'm a fit guardian for Harry and doesn't lose any opportunity to tell me so. She's been so…beastly over this whole thing. This whole time, she's always blamed Harry."

"I know," Bill sighed. "She feels badly about that if that helps at all. That's the way she is though, she tends to get fired up easily and she believed Dumbledore. Once the reporters got a hold of the story, they really played up the Weasleys against Potter angle. Even when she believed that Harry might have been under Voldemort's control, she felt badly that it was in the papers. She honestly never meant for that to get out. She's not used to being of interest to the press, so she didn't guard what she was saying. The fact that it was Ginny made it even worse; she's always kind of babied Ginny a bit more than the rest of us."

Sirius nodded. "I just hate that between your mum and Dumbledore, they drove Harry away. I have no idea where he is or what he's doing."

"Have you received the information on Harry's account yet?" Bill asked changing the topic.

"He took six hundred Galleons from his account last December. There have been no other withdrawals since then. With everything he bought for Christmas, Remus thinks he didn't spend more than sixty Galleons. The most expensive thing he bought was the necklace for your sister," Sirius said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"She loved that," Bill said with a smile. "She showed me the necklace and the note he gave her with it. I'm glad that if they have to be out there at least they are together."

Sirius laughed. "That is true. They look very happy together."

"You want some help moving?" Bill asked. "Fleur and I have the weekend off, we can help you."

"Sure," Sirius said. "I bet David and Deena would love to meet you."


Carys hurried from her antique shop back to her house clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet. She let herself in the door and called out to the kids. Making her way to the kitchen, she could smell the biscuits baking. Harry had told her he wanted to make Christmas biscuits today and she had agreed they deserved a day off. They'd been working so hard over the past month.

"Hello," she said as she entered the kitchen.

"Hello," they chorused. Carys smiled at the couple. There were stacks of biscuits on the counter and Carys could smell apple cider simmering on the stove top.

"It smells wonderful in here," she said.

"Thanks," Harry said happily as he brushed some flour off of Ginny's cheek. "We've been having a lot of fun."

"I have some excellent news for you," Carys said as she handed them the paper.

Harry gasped as he took the paper. The headlines read 'Potter and Weasley cleared in Killings.' He sank down at the table with Ginny beside him. Together they read through the articles.

After a few minutes Ginny looked up at Carys. "So does this mean we can go home?"

"I'm afraid not, dear," Carys said sadly. "The Minister and Wizengamot have still upheld your expulsion. If you are captured, your wands will be snapped. While you will not go to prison, you would not be able to protect yourselves. I read the interview with Sirius Black and he strongly advised against you contacting anyone at this point in time."

Carys' heart went out to the young girl as her eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry, my dear."

As she watched, Ginny broke down completely. Harry immediately dropped the paper and pulled the girl into his arms.

"I'll be back," Carys said softly to Harry.

He nodded and she quickly turned off the heat under the cider before heading back to the shop. Her heart was heavy as she left; she had hoped this would be good news.


Harry rocked Ginny in his arms, running his hand down her back. He honestly wasn't sure what to say to her, because he had hoped they could go home as well. When he felt her calming down, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the sitting room. Sitting down on the couch, he wrapped her in his arms.

She buried her face in his neck and he was content to hold her in his arms. After a time, she pulled back and looked at him. His heart went out to her, her eyes were red and a bit puffy. Digging in his pocket, he handed her his handkerchief.

"I'm so sorry, Baby. I wish we could go home for Christmas."

She smiled wanly, "I know. I just…I got so excited when I saw the headlines and I thought we could go back to my parent's house for Christmas. I've never spent Christmas without my family before." She wiped her eyes. "Even in my third year, I was with my brothers even if I was at Hogwarts."

"I know," Harry said softly. "I wish we could go home. I want to see Sirius and your family. I miss everyone."

"You never said anything," Ginny said.

He shrugged. "I didn't want to make you feel badly. I know you miss everyone, I saw how sad you were on Bill and Charlie's birthdays."

She shook her head. "I thought I was hiding it a bit better."

"I don't want you to hide it from me," Harry said. "I want to know how you're feeling. If you're upset, I want to know. Maybe I can't always make you feel better, but I can try."

She smiled at him as she leaned over and kissed him softly. "Thank you, Harry. You do always make me feel better."

Reaching over he wiped the traces of tears off her face. "I know it won't be as good as a Weasley Christmas, but we can have a good Christmas together, right?"

"Right," she said. "We can have a wonderful Christmas together and worry about the rest afterwards."

He leaned in and kissed her passionately. They spent the afternoon talking and laughing. He listened enthralled as she told him about Christmases when she was little. He didn't really have anything happy to share, but he did tell her about his Christmases with the Dursleys. She rewarded his openness with lots of kisses, so he thought maybe sharing his past wasn't such a bad idea.


Christmas morning, Ginny woke up early. Her thoughts flashed to Ron. She smiled as she remembered his exuberance from the year before. Christmas was favourite holiday and he was always excited about presents. She still remembered the letter he'd sent home his first year telling them all about his new best mate, Harry Potter, and how his best mate didn't seem to expect any presents. Ginny remembered her ten-year old little heart breaking at the thought of not expecting Christmas presents.

She and her mother had gotten right to work on his gifts…okay it was more her mum, but she'd picked out the yarn and decided to send the fudge. A week and a half after Christmas, a beautiful white owl flew into the kitchen window. Ginny remembered how beautiful and regal that owl looked. The letter was a shy and rather stammering thank you letter from Harry.

A noise across the hall made her realize that Harry must be awake as well. They had agreed to all open their presents together so there were no presents at the foot of her bed. A knock sounded on her door.

Harry pushed the door open and smiled when he saw she was awake. "Happy Christmas, Ginny!"

"Happy Christmas!" she responded as he came over to the bed and hugged her. He sat down next to her keeping one arm wrapped around her shoulders. She leaned into him, enjoying his warmth.

"I don't think Carys is awake yet," Harry said.

"Me neither," Ginny replied.

"Do you want to go make some breakfast?" Harry asked. "We could do a traditional fry up with some of that raisin bread you liked for toast."

"Sure," she replied. Cooking with Harry was always so much more fun than cooking with her mother.

Pulling on her dressing gown, she followed Harry down to the kitchen. On Christmas Eve, Harry and Ginny had spent a wonderful evening together while Carys went to her son's traditional Christmas Eve dinner. It had been a fun, and to Ginny's surprise, rather romantic evening.

She pulled the eggs, bacon, and sausage from the cold pantry while Harry retrieved the pots and pans. While Harry fried up the bacon and sausage, Ginny fried the eggs and sliced the luscious raisin bread Carys' daughter-in-law had sent over. Harry reached up in the cupboards to pull down the platters upon which he placed the cooked food.

"This looks amazing," Carys said as she entered the kitchen. "The delicious smell of bacon frying is a wonderful way to wake up."

"I agree," Ginny said. "On cold winter mornings, the smell of bacon was one of the few things that could tempt me out from under my blankets."

The three of them sat down for a lovely Christmas breakfast. Carys was full of news from her son's house. He lived not too far from them and he also worked in the antique business. He and his wife owned an auction house from which Carys bought many of her pieces. Harry and Ginny had not met them, but had heard all about them.

After breakfast, they retired to the sitting room. Carys loved Christmas and she had two trees – one in the sitting room and another smaller tree in the upstairs front window. She'd decorated the house in greenery and red ribbons with several sprigs of Mistletoe scattered throughout the house.

Under the large Christmas tree sat several brightly wrapped packages. Ginny laughed when she'd seen Carys use a spell to keep her cats out of the presents. Her mum used that spell to keep Ron out of the freshly baked Christmas cakes.

Harry and Ginny sat down cross legged on the floor while Carys relaxed in her favourite chair with a cup of fragrant orange and cinnamon tea. Pulling out her wand, Carys sent everyone's presents to them. Carys bought a nice leather jacket for Harry and had given Ginny a beautifully carved music box from her store. Harry and Ginny had bought her a collection of mystery novels she'd mentioned she wanted.

Harry looked over at Ginny. She smiled. "Go ahead."

He ripped open the brightly coloured paper to find an embroidered pillow. It depicted a family crest with a black and white shield topped by a knight's helmet with ornate white and red feathers flowing around the shield. At the top was an embroidered red griffin holding in his claws a ribbon with the words 'Fortes fortuna iuvat' and the bottom had the words 'The Potters.'

"It's your family crest," Ginny explained. "Carys helped me find a picture of the crest and the motto. It means 'Fortune favors the Brave.'"

"You made this?" Harry asked in amazement as he traced the intricate needle work.

Ginny nodded. Harry leaned over and kissed her. "Thank you, it's brilliant. I love it."

She smiled, looking a bit relieved. She looked down at the box with her name.

"Open it," Harry said.

Pulling on the ribbon, she ripped off the wrapping paper. It was a relatively flat box. Ginny opened it to find a beautiful green velvet dress.

"Harry," she gasped. "This is gorgeous." She lifted the dress out of the box and held it up against her. The dress was fitted with a scooped neckline with a skirt that fell just below her knees. A discrete glance at the tag showed her it was indeed her size.

He blushed, but seemed very pleased that she liked it. "You look so pretty in dresses and I thought it would look good on you."

"Thank you." She kissed him. Carys had quietly left the room while the young couple exchanged presents so she poured all of her love for him into the kiss. It was quite some time later when they broke apart.

They ended up with her sitting on his lap while he was leaning up against the couch. He brushed her hair back behind her ear and dropped another short kiss on her lips. A love bite was darkening on her neck.

"Gin, I've been thinking a lot about us. You make me so happy and this has really made the whole adventure so much better. Last Christmas when you…snapped me out of my brooding and you've been the best friend I could ever ask for…well, more than a best friend really…it's taken me a while to know what I was feeling because I really didn't know and I really wasn't sure…" he trailed off. "I'm rambling aren't I?"

Ginny nodded with a loving smile on her face. He grinned at her. "What I'm trying to tell you is that I love you."

He watched her anxiously and felt a bit of trepidation when her eyes grew really bright. She leaned over and kissed him softly. "I love you too. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to scare you or make you feel like you had to say it back to me."

He smiled his happiness lighting up his face. Gently he cupped her face with both hands and kissed her gently at first, but slowly more passionately. After a time he pulled away. "Thank you, Ginny. I love you so much and you have made me so happy."