Hi there people. Another month, another chapter. I quite enjoyed writing this one for some reason. It's not perfect, but then again, I'm no perfect writer.

All I ask is that you enjoy it.

Chris


Ginny growled as she pushed her way through the crowd that had gathered in the ministry's lobby. Harry's hearing, for that was all it was at this stage, was meant to have been a private and secret affair, but the papers, and the Prophet in particular, had always been able to sniff these sorts of things out.

And so, Ginny was forced to scrap her way to the front desk, where the distracted witch on duty quickly waved her through with only a cursory glance at Ginny's wand.

Once inside the main hallway, Ginny's path was much clearer. At 17, Ginny was of age, and was therefore legally able to wander the ministry without suspicion, not that she was wandering today; she knew exactly where she was going. Heading straight over to the main lifts, Ginny quickly jumped into the nearest as it closed. A few seconds later she wished she'd waited for the next one.

"Miss Weasley," a voice said, "To what does the ministry owe for your trespassing?"

Setting her face straight, as it had reverted into a grimace at the sound of the man's voice, Ginny turned to face her old Professor, trying to remind herself that this man was no longer her enemy, and that Ron probably wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for this him.

"Hello, Severus." she said, the man's name feeling like a bad taste in her mouth. Despite this, she turned to meet the man with what she hoped was a confident smile. Naturally, Snape's face stayed stoic as ever.

"I believe it is customary to continue to call your old Professors by their title, Miss Weasley," he sneered, leaning back against the wall of the lift in a very un-Snapeish show of causality.

"We thought up quite a few 'titles' for you sir," Ginny said, narrowing her eyes a little and letting her tone of voice carry off the threat, "You really wouldn't want to hear what I'd have to say."

Snape remained as un-flustered as ever. "Don't try to intimidate me Miss Weasley, you'd be wasting your breath. After the Dark Lord, your attempts would be nothing more than a minor annoyance." He sighed and straightened, reaching into his robes for a silver flask and taking a swig if it before replacing it back into the depths of his person. "But, I tire of this topic. I assume you're here to support your lover."

Ginny blinked, her expression telling the man all he needed to know, despite the fact that he already knew it.

"Don't be so surprised Miss Weasley," he said smugly, "Potter is as lax as ever with this Occumency; his mind is like an open book to me. Admittedly, it's a very boring book, full of clichés and plot holes, but there is still some information in there that I find of interest."

Getting over her initial shock, Ginny felt her temper rising. "How dare you invade Harry's mind!" she hissed, "Don't you have any sense of personal privacy?!"

Snape snorted, "If I never looked into that boy's head again, it would be too soon. The fact of the matter, Miss Weasley, is that Potter asked me to check his shields before today's hearing." Ginny's eyebrows rocketed up into her hairline, making Snape grin smugly, "Something, I gather, he didn't tell you about."

Ginny's head spun. What was Harry thinking?! For that matter, was Harry thinking at all? Evidence gathered using Veritiserum or Legimency was inadmissible as evidence in the Wizengamot due to it's forced eviction from the accused. And even if it was admissible, he'd as good as told her that he'd done nothing that could land him in trouble the other night. So what did he have to be worried about? All he'd managed to do was alert Snape to their on-going relationship and Merlin knew what else that was in his head.

"W-why. Why would he do that?" Ginny managed to stutter out. Snape smirked once more.

"I believe it's called lack of trust..." he started to say, but Ginny cut him off with a glare. It wasn't that she didn't agree with him, but she wasn't about to tell the git that.

"I meant about letting you into his head!" she said, "Who could he possibly be worried about slipping up in front of?"

Snape raised an eyebrow, "I thought you'd have more sense than to assume that the Dark Lord and myself are the only ones capable of braking into the pathetic shields that Potter protects his mind with. In my opinion, seeking me out is the first smart move Potter has made in the past year or so." At this, he gave Ginny a very conspicuously disapproving look, which Ginny promptly ignored.

"And anyway," Ginny continued, "It's not like Harry has anything to hide. Sure, he had to do a few illegal things during the war, but they won't be looking for those, not that the pubic would let them get away with punishing Harry for anything he did in the war. As far as I can see, even if they did get into his mind, there's nothing in there that could land him in trouble."

Ginny watched in mute horror as Snape's smirk seemed to grow a few centimetres.

"He hasn't told you what really happened..." Snape said, enjoying the look on his former student's face, "Curious. I wonder why perfect Potter didn't tell his girlfriend that he took Felix Felicis in a sporting event..."

Ginny's head spun. "B-but he told me he did nothing wrong!"

Snape simply smiled back at her as the lift came to a stop and the doors opened with a chime, a witch's voice announcing something about the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures and the Accidental Magic Response Unit.

"My stop." Snape said simply, and promptly strolled out the lift, leaving Ginny staring at his retreating back as the doors closed once more, her head swirling with more than a few questions.


"...so you still stick to your original story; that you had no knowledge of taking the Felix Felicis that was in your system at the time of the match?"

Harry frowned, shaking his head for what had to be the seventh time in as many minutes. "No, that isn't my story, 'original' or otherwise." he answered, trying to keep calm despite the blatant attempts by this rather persistent member of the Wizengamot to lead him into incriminating himself.

He sighed, breaking eye contact with the man to regain some sense of calm, and was rewarded with the view of Ginny as she entered at the back of the observation stands. These stands, where the general wizarding public sat to watch proceedings, occupied a ledge higher up the oval-shaped room, forming a balcony where the public could watch potentially dangerous criminals in safety. Harry's eyes caught with Ginny's for the briefest of seconds before he turned back to the Wizengamot to go about setting the record straight for the third time.

"My story is that I never touched the substance. I can categorically state that no Felix Felicis, Irish Brew, or even a Four Leafed clover passed my lips on the day of the match."

The bearded 'prosecution' looked down at Harry with narrowed eyes. "How can you be so sure?"

Harry smirked back up at the man. "With all due respect," he said, "If you'd ever taken the potion, you'd know that the feeling of euphoria it induces is unmistakable, and seeing as I have taken it before, I believe that makes me the expert on the matter here." he crossed his arms over his chest. "And as an expert, I can tell you that there was no Felix Felicis in my system that day, or any day since my 6th year at Hogwarts in early 1997. An event that I believe my whiteness has already confirmed to have happened."

Harry smiled up at his interrogator, receiving a sour look in return before the man sat himself down.

"Are there any other questions for mister Potter?" said the Chief Warlock said from his seat in the middle of the Wizengamot stand. Normally, the entire Wizengamot was rarely seen for any case below that of a Death Eater trial, but, as usually happened when Harry was involved, the entire compliment of 52 was present. Harry was glad to see however, that no other Wizengamot member decided to stand up and question him, although that last wizard was still giving him a venomous look. Perhaps deciding to be 'cheeky' wasn't his best way of defending himself...

"Good, good." said the Chief Warlock, an unremarkable but cheery man named Brayden McKormac who'd 'inherited' the title from Dumbledore back in '97, and that nobody seemed to want to replace. "In that case, shall we get down to it then? Votes in favour of a Guilty verdict?"

Harry watched with dread as movement caught his eye amongst the purple-clad Wizengamot, but let out a breath as obviously less than half of the Witches and Wizards that made up the council put their hands up. All the same, Harry couldn't help but notice the man who'd just been questioning him, his hand raised confidently in the air.

"Good," said McKormac, taking a look around with his perpetual smile, "and the 'Nays'?"

Harry felt his lips forming a huge smile as most of the remainder of the council raised their hands to much nodding and mumbling. He caught Ginny's eye, expecting to find some sort of congratulations, but instead found her to be strangely subdued. He gave her an inquisitive look, but was distracted back to the Wizengamot by McKormac's voice.

"You, Harry James Potter, are hereby cleared of all charges and suspicion of using a banned substance during a sporting event, by a majority vote of 36 to 10, with 6 abstaining. You are therefore also cleared on the charge of rigging a sporting event with the intention to profit through gambling." The man smiled kindly down on Harry, making Harry feel as if he were back in first year, and not a 19-year-old professional sportsman and conqueror of the Dark Lord Voldemort. "You are free to leave."

With that, the door to the main corridor spontaneously opened, coinciding with a simultaneous cheer from a crowd on the other side. How they knew he'd been let off, Harry didn't know, but he was immensely grateful for the support.

'It sure makes a change from my 'Harry the Madman' image.' he though as he walked through the door, and into a corridor of flashing cameras and shouted questions.


Harry's mood was still on-high later that evening. The entire Weasley clan, those that had survived the war in any case, had turned out to congratulate Harry on his success in the Wizengamot. Naturally, the twins had set off a few of their newest long-life fireworks in the Ministry during the impromptu press conference, causing slightly more than a panic as a life-sized dragon made to eat the entire press core, only to pass harmlessly through them and onward into the depths of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.

Early reports suggested that the Dragon was still there.

Eventually, the group, which included Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks at this point, made their way back to the relative safety of the Burrow. By now, the press had worked out that their 'saviour' spent an inordinate amount of time at the Weasley's residence, and sometime during the previous year, Bill had been forced to add a few extra wards to the building's foundations. Harry had later found out that the eldest Weasley son had incorporated some of the Egyptian-style traps he'd tackled over the years into the wards if anyone tried to break them. Originally aimed at stopping retaliatory Death Eaters from entering, Harry just hoped that the press had the common sense not to try and break in. It was on this topic that Harry found himself discussing with the Twins.

"Can you remember those mummies, from when we went to the Pyramids? Imagine opening the boom shed and finding one of the Daily Prophet's reporters falling out, wrapped in bandages?" Said Fred, now clearly identifiable by the small scar over his left cheekbone, an injury he'd received during his time with the Order.

George, now identifiable by a similar scar over his right cheekbone, scoffed, "Forget the bandages! It would be the fact that it would be trying to kill me that would get me running!"

"Do they really do that?" Harry said, frowning, "I thought that was just muggles making things up."

Both Fred and George laughed, "Oh no, mate," George said, "A side effect of the curse they're placed under means that they get insatiable appetites..."

"Kinda like Ron," Fred chimed in.

"Indeed, dear brother of mine. But, unlike Ron, these mummies haven't eaten anything in millennia, and have no qualms about taking a nice juicy bit out of the closest foodstuff."

"Err, that would be you, Harry." Fred concluded, for the sake of completeness it seemed.

"Yeh, thanks." Harry said, turning his attention away as the twins went onto the topic of some of the more gruesome and flesh-eating protection curses. The group had arrived back at the Burrow only a few moments ago through the Floo, and were now spread out across the plushly reconstructed Burrow living room. The layout had changed, Harry noted, from his memory of the place during his many visits in the past, but so had the family.

It had been the Halloween of 1997, right at the start of Harry, Ron and Hermione's hunt for the Horcruxes that the Burrow had been attacked in Tom Riddle's annual torment of Harry. The entire family had been inside, including the trio, and they'd managed to put up quite a fight, but they simply weren't ready to go up against Voldemort at that point, and the Burrow was very quickly taken by the Dark Lord. It was only the extremely brave and self-sacrificing action taken by the Weasley patriarch, Arthur, that allowed the remainder of his family to escape unharmed.

The loss of Arthur Weasley was a shock not only for his family, but the rest of the Order too. His ever-optimistic approach to life had kept the fighting spirit of the Order alive after Dumbledore's demise at the hands of their ex-colleague, Severus Snape. It had taken the group a long time to accept his death, but by rallying around Harry, the Order eventually found their focus again and set out to end the life that had already taken so much from them, the life known as 'Tom Marvolo Riddle'.

The Burrow was rebuilt approximately three months after Riddle's demise, the family once again coming together to start their lives over, but vowing never to forget those they had lost, Percy now amongst that number too. It had been a sombre experience, but the family had been brought closer together as a result, and their resolve had never been stronger.

Harry's gaze swept the room, coming to rest every so often on a group of people deep in conversation; Remus and Hermione were obviously discussing the inner-workings of the Wizading legal system by their serious faces. Nearby, Ron and Charlie were apparently talking very animatedly about the twin's firework dragon, and Tonks, Fleur and Mrs Weasley were quite blatantly talking about Ron and Hermione's up-coming wedding, as their eyes kept flicking over to the engaged couple.

Harry's eyes lingered on Mrs Weasley for a little while, glad to see the witch finally smiling properly again. The loss she'd felt over her husband's death had been a hundredfold greater than anyone else, Harry knew. Her greatest fear had been realised more than once during both wars, and there was only so much one soul could take. While the papers had reported Harry's apparent instability, Harry had actually been much more concerned about the Weasley matriarch. They'd lost Percy right at the end of the war, and without Molly having had time to get over her husband's death, the demise of her son, a son who she'd never really managed to reconcile with in the first place, they had been dark times for the eldest of the Weasley clan.

Almost as a reflex, Harry's eyes slipped to the only quiet member of the Weasley family. Ginny was sitting on one of the small but comfy sofas that dotted the snug living room, apparently deep in thought.

It had been Ginny who had helped her mother through possibly the darkest time in her life. At the time, Harry had been in awe of the young woman who had lost just as much as her mother, but still had the strength to be there. Ginny had always said 'he' was the one that showed her that there were still things to live for, and she'd simply shown her mother the same thing, but Harry hadn't seen this at all. The way he saw it, Ginny was 'his' reason to go on, not the other way around. He was completely taken with the girl he considered to be his rock.

A small smile playing across his lips, Harry excused himself from the twins (who had moved onto scheming about using sphinxes in their products), and made his way over to the lone Weasley, sitting down next to her, but leaving enough space as to not alert the rest of the room of their relationship, as they were all (with notable exceptions) still ignorant.

"Hey you," he said, distracting her from her thoughts, "you're very quiet tonight."

Ginny gave him a small but sad smile, "To tell you the truth, I'm not very happy at the moment."

Harry frowned. This wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting, what with him just getting off some very serious charges.

"W-why?" he said, "What's wrong? Aren't you happy for me?"

Ginny's sad smile fell away, and Harry was relieved to see a genuine smile appear from beneath it. "Of course I'm happy for you, Harry. I'm ecstatic that you won't spend the next few months locked up in Azkaban." Harry felt a smile make it's was back onto his face, only for it to fall away when Ginny's face turned back to it's previous state, only this time, it had a hint of disappointment in it too.

"Gin?"

She sighed and looked away, apparently surveying the room for eavesdroppers. After a few moments of silence, which felt much longer to Harry than they really were, Ginny spoke again.

"We need to talk," she said simply as she gracefully got up from the sofa and made a beeline for the kitchen.

Assuming he was meant to follow suit, Harry cast a quick look around the room to check for prying eyes before quickly following the redhead out of the room.

Unfortunately, Harry hadn't managed to spot the two pairs of identical eyes that had noticed the entire exchange.


Potter Cleared! Flights Cleared for Take-off!

By Niall Lovebroom

Earlier this afternoon, Harry Potter, Order of Merlin 1st Class, Captain and Seeker of the Norwich Flights, was cleared of all charges by a Wizengamot majority of thirty six votes to ten. This overwhelming result has been enough for the coaching staff of the Falmouth Falcons to retract their original accusation.

This reporter was present at the hearing, and can tell you now that the Falcons had no firm evidence against the young Seeker, in what was shown to be an almost childish show of bad sportsmanship by the team from the south-coast. Meanwhile, Potter's explanation of events, and the evidence he put forward in defence, was more than enough for this reporter, and the vast majority of the Wizengamot, to show that he was, indeed, 'not guilty' of any of the ridiculous charges set against him. This reporter would like to point out his own unwavering support for Potter throughout his career (Me too! - Ed.).

As a direct result, Mr Potter has actually managed to 'gain' supporters, with the Flights' next game against the Appleby Arrows has already sold out, despite it's location in Britain's most northern stadium on the Scottish island of Lewis and Harris.

Of course, this upcoming game was always going to be low on spare tickets as the Flights take on their first ever opponents once again. With the added tension of French Keeper 'Tomas Devoir' having jumped the Arrow's ship at the end of last season to join the Flights, and the uninspiring performance of either side during the season's opening match, both teams will be out to prove their worth.

Potter, in particular, will be out to show the world exactly what he can do, and with all the extra security precautions that the Flights are sure to set on the boy, there will be no copying of the Falcons in trying to accuse the opposition of cheating if the Arrows are faced with defeat. Not that this reporter is biased in any way.

As a closing statement, this reporter (and Ed - Ed.) would like to congratulate Mr Potter on his successful defence. I always knew you never did it!


It was with an awkward silence that Harry sat down next to Ginny on her bed a few minutes later. The girl had yet to utter another syllable, but Harry could just tell he was in some kind of trouble. What that trouble was, he couldn't quite put his finger on, but that made him feel ten times worse. Luckily, or unluckily as the case may have been, he didn't have to wait long to find out what it was.

"You lied to me." Ginny said in a small voice. Harry's head snapped round to hers in an instant.

"I never!"

Naturally, this wasn't the response Ginny was hoping for. She turned, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You told me you'd done nothing wrong! Nothing illegal!"

Harry blanched, but recovered quickly. "I never lied to you." he said softly, in an attempt to calm the red-head that was slowly escalating in volume with every word. "Now, who have you been listening to, and what exactly have they told you?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him, and Harry knew he'd been royally caught out. After his 'interrogation', Harry had spent the night back in his room with Ginny. She'd asked him what had happened, but Harry was so put out with answering that particular question so many times in a day that he'd made a quick change of subject and managed to tell her next to nothing. He hadn't lied, but at the same time, he hadn't really told her anything of importance either. Whatever this stranger had to say, however, couldn't be very big anyway, because the only people who knew the important truths were keeping them to themselves.

"What does it matter who!?" she said, her voice menacing, but mercifully quiet. "What matters is that they told me things that you tried to keep secret from me."

Harry shook his head, holding his hands up in a placating manner. "Gin," Ginny's eyes narrowed dangerously at the sound of her pet-name, Harry quickly noted not to use it for a while, "I'm not trying to keep secrets!"

"Then how come you didn't tell me last night that you had taken Felix Felicis?"

Harry's jaw dropped open in astonishment. How could she have found that out? Who could she have spoken to? And why did that sound so much like an accusation?

"Just a sec," Harry said, his head just figuring out what the tone in Ginny's voice was telling him, "you think I took it on purpose!"

This was, of course, taken the wrong way, "So you did take it!"

"Yes, Ginny!" Harry said heatedly, getting annoyed with the direction the conversation was going in. "Yes! I did go onto the pitch with Felix Felicis in my system! Is that what you want to hear?"

"To be honest, I was hoping you'd deny it." Ginny said, her demeanour suddenly changed. Now she seemed more disappointed, even a little disgusted. "I thought I knew you better than that, Harry."

With that, she stood and stalked over to her door, but she didn't exit. Instead, she opened it and stepped aside, looking back at Harry expectantly.

"What're you going Ginny?" Harry said, folding his arms across his chest and making no move to stand, "Sending me to my room to think about what I've done?"

Again, Ginny's eyes narrowed at him. "Don't think this is funny, Harry, because it isn't."

"Do you see me laughing?"

Ginny frowned, apparently thinking. "Are you going to be truthful with me?" she asked eventually. Harry felt like laughing, but mercifully thought better of it.

"I've never been untruthful to you, and I don't intend to start now." he said instead, as sincerely as he could under the circumstances.

"In that case, do you promise to tell me everything then? Omitting nothing!" she added, a finger raised in warning.

Harry sighed, a small smile slipping onto his face at the thought of how Ginny would feel after she heard his side of the story.

"I promise." he said, nodding his head, "but only if you let me tell the whole thing without interrupting me. You can't judge me with half the facts."

It didn't take long for Ginny to make up her mind. "Deal." she said simply, pushing the door closed and locking it. "Now, start talking."

Harry frowned, thinking about where to start, but all he could think about was that when he found out who this informant was, they were going to see a side of Harry Potter that only one unfortunate Slytherin had seen.

And Riddle was now dead...


Fred and George looked at each other as they retracted their extendible ears. It was a very rare occurrence when neither Harry or their sister remembered to cast Imperturbable Charms around the doors they were talking behind, but when it happened, interesting things always seemed to crop up.

"Should have been guilty?" Fred said.

"Snape?" George replied.

"Harry and Ginny?!" they said together.

Without another word, they re-extended their ears, who knew what else they could learn...


Draco Malfoy sighed as he led back in a beautifully crafted chez lounge, a yellowing copy of the Evening Prophet lying haphazardly nearby on the redwood panelled flooring.

It hadn't been a bad day, he supposed. Sure, Potter had gotten off the charges of doping, and of the unforeseen game-rigging charges too, but that wasn't something that Draco hadn't been suspecting anyway. In fact, he was almost glad that Potter was free.

It made the game that much more interesting.

The seed of doubt had been planted in the minds of the general public, and in the Quidditch world too, and that was the entire point of 'Phase I', as Draco now called it.

Next was 'Phase II'. It would be a little harder to pull off, but Draco was quietly confident of his own abilities.

'Actually,' he decided, 'this'll be fun!'


So, how was that? Some legal stuff there... some history for you guys... and even some manipulating by Snape! What else could you want in a chapter?! Quidditch? Well, possibly, but just wait a short while. There is guaranteed Quidditch in the next chapter! Joy!

There should be the answer to all you people who were going on about how Draco should've known about Harry being able to get away with it. He planned it that way! Ahh yes, Draco is just as scheming as ever, and he's gunna keep you guessing the entire way!

And yes, the twins know! Let the fun begin! evil laugh

So, review and keep my spirits up! Please? I could do with that right about now...

Chris