Hi! I was finally able to finish this chapter :) I hope you like it!

Thank you for everyone who reviewed, and everyone who favorited/followed. You've given me a lot of encouragement to write the story, it's very motivating!

Ziea: Thank you for your comments, I hope you like the update! Regarding the division, I've been placing a symbol like this OoOoOoOoOo to divide sections, but maybe I missed it at some point. Sorry if you got confused! I'll put a horizontal line from now on.

Adenoide: Thank you for your opinions and encouragement! To clarify something, the nightmare Harry had about Cedric is not due to his connection to Voldemort, it is due to his own traumatic experience of seeing his classmate die and feel guilty about it.

Rambkowalczyk: Thank you for the reviews! :) About the prosecution, I thought about it, but then realized there's no official lawyers or prosecution in magical Britain, as all the courts in canon are presided by the Chief Warlock, the Minister, or the Chief of the DMLE. As such, Amelia will prepare the prosecution as this is a war crime case, and Crouch presided the previous courts on that matter,so that duty falls to her now.

Sh777, ObsessedwithHPfanfic, Arthurshade, Falkenfeder94, trispectrum, city bookworm, Mrs. SRE Snape, CoolFanfictionLover and rr3: Thank you for your reviews, I really appreciate them!

DISCLAIMER: Anything you recognize from the HP Universe belongs to JK Rowling. I'm not making any profit with this story.

Chapter 10

Dumbledore paced around his study, wondering how he could get out of this. His whole body had shaken for some long minutes after reading Amelia's summon to the trial. He had always known getting Sirius a trial was possible if he had told Amelia of the situation, but hadn't done it for the Greater Good. Harry needed to stay with his relatives, away from the wizarding world; or he would find out information that wasn't convenient. He needed to be neglected and feel unloved, or he would start demanding a lot more of other people instead of accepting his opinions like he did now. Sirius' freedom was a threat. Who knew what he could teach Harry, or where he would take them? How loved would he make the boy feel? Probably enough to stop being so eager to please Dumbledore and everyone else, so this situation was very high-risk indeed. He needed Harry to take his word as law, to look up to him and obey him. He was the key to winning this war.

The boy needed to be controlled if he was to be raised to sacrifice himself. Of course, Dumbledore wished it didn't have to happen this way. He had just concluded that Tom had made some horcruxes, including Lucius Malfoy's diary, and that Harry most certainly was one. Why else would he have that strange connection with Tom? He was researching for a way to take the horcrux away while leaving Harry alive, but had come up with nothing. He would of course keep doing this, but until he found it, his original plan would stand. Harry had to sacrifice himself, protecting others in the process. It pained him to think about it of course, he loved the boy. But it was for he Greater Good, so it would be worth it.

He sighed, frustrated. There was nothing he could do to stop a trial from taking place now that Amelia had summoned them. He could discourage Sirius from going, certainly, alluding to the risk of showing his face in the ministry. They would probably think it was a ploy to capture him anyway, instead of a real trial, so maybe he wouldn't need to say anything unless Sirius decided to go.

He wondered for the thousandth time how Amelia had even realized there hadn't been a trial. He himself hadn't noticed it until the incident in the Shrieking Shack, and he was supposed to have gone to it. There was no finding out about that until that date though, so Dumbledore resolved not to worry too much. He'd find a way to keep Harry under his grasp despite his living arrangements. Perhaps start endearing himself more to Sirius? The marauder had always trusted him after all, and obeyed him even when he didn't like staying cooped up in his home or welcoming Molly Weasley into it. As long as Sirius didn't realize that Dumbledore could have easily arranged his trial if he'd chosen to, he'd continue trusting him. Maybe this wasn't such a terrible thing. At least, Harry would be in the care of someone from the Order, who would always follow his orders. It could definitely be worse.

'Hello Mister Lupin, come in' said Amelia formally. She knew this meeting was slightly out of protocol, but she was really curious about what Lupin knew about Black, and why he hadn't complained about his imprisonment before now. Was the Potter kid's memory real? If so, either Lupin had been confounded and then realized it, or he now believed in Black's innocence but hadn't come forward for fear of being suspected of helping him, or some other unexplained reason.

'Hello, Director' replied Lupin apprehensively 'I was told you wished to meet me'. He wondered what she wanted. He had heard she was fair, but he didn't know what to believe. Sirius' summoning had probably been a hoax, and she probably wanted to know if the two had been in contact. He wondered what would happen to him if it were found out that he'd been helping a 'multiple murderer'.

'Yes, Mr. Lupin. You might know or not, but it was recently discovered that Sirius Black didn't have a trial for his crimes, so I summoned the Wizengamot for one on the 5th of August. The evidence that made me realize Mr. Black hadn't had a trial includes you, you see, so I wish to know what you have to say about it' Amelia told him as softly as possible.

'And what evidence would that be?' asked Lupin lifting an eyebrow. Was it possible that she actually wanted to hold a trial for Sirius? Kingsley had said something about being ordered to remove the kiss on sight order, which was reassuring, but didn't ensure that it was not part of the strategy to get Sirius to reveal himself.

'Harry Potter sent me his memories of the night Black was found and escaped again from Hogwarts, and he believes his godfather is innocent. His memory includes you being there, and also believing him, so I'd like to know why you didn't present your theory before. Did you later realize it was mistaken, or that Black had confounded you?' she asked briskly. Remus blanched, not knowing what to reply. Was this really what had happened? Harry had sent his memories to Amelia, and she had immediately acquiesced to give Sirius a trial? It seemed a bit suspicious. If it was as easy as this, why hadn't he done it himself?

'I'll show you Mr. Potter's letter and memories if you wish' said Amelia. Remus nodded and proceeded to examine his letter and memory. It was the same calligraphy as his essays, and anyway, it was hard not to recognize the similarities with James' familiar untidy scrawl. The memory was the same Remus had lived through, completely untampered with. Maybe there was a chance of this being real. He would definitely tell Sirius and they would be writing to Harry about it.

'Yeah, I have the same memory' he told Amelia tiredly, and promptly dropped the silver strand into the pensieve, and dove with her. If she already had the memory, there was no harm in showing it to her. Of course, he wouldn't tell her anything about being currently in contact with Sirius.

'It doesn't look like you were confounded, nor Potter' she said pensively looking at him 'why didn't you come forward with this information, if you suspected such a miscarriage of justice had taken place?'

Remus swallowed, not knowing what to tell her. Why hadn't he? Dumbledore had told him it was impossible to be believed over Fudge's refusal to listen, and he had believed him. The headmaster probably thought that was true too; Fudge was known to be very obtuse when he wanted. Except, apparently the one who was in charge of solving the issue was Ms. Bones, and she wasn't nearly as inflexible as the minister. Why, it had only taken one letter from Harry for her to look for a little information, and Remus hadn't even tried. Why had he been such a coward? How difficult could it have been to send a letter or speak to her about Sirius? He had been too cowardly to defy Dumbledore's beliefs, and disappoint the old headmaster. Too cowardly to expose himself as a werewolf, and to be branded as a friend of dark wizards. Just as he had been too cowardly to find out where Harry lived and visit him, he had failed someone else who could have used his help, this time his best friend. Why was he always so scared to take action, or to look for change?

'I thought no one would believe me' he replied to Amelia, feeling uncomfortable under her skeptical gaze.

'Well, you could testify on his defense at the trial, and ask the students present in the memory to do the same' she suggested. Remus nodded and thanked her, wishing he had done something sooner. At least he could now tell Sirius the trial wasn't a ploy, and he would have a chance to prove his innocence. He wondered briefly why Harry had decided to send his memories to Amelia after a year of silence, but then decided it didn't matter. Thank Merlin he had. Maybe now, Sirius would finally be free.

'Wait, what did you just say?' Sirius asked Remus, not believing his ears.

'I said your trial's real' replied Remus, who was starting to go from shocked to impatient. 'Amelia summoned me personally to ask about the evidence, apparently Harry sent her his memory of last year and she started investigating…'

'Bloody hell, you're gonna have a trial?' interrupted Fred opening the door, with Hermione and Ginny beside him. The three kids were white with shock, just like Sirius if he could see his own face, he supposed.

'Harry sent that memory to Madam Bones? That's so irresponsible, with the way they've been talking about him in the prophet, it could have really gone against him!' Hermione ranted.

'Well, he doesn't even know they're talking about him, you're forbidden from telling him anything, remember?' retorted Ginny tartly. Sirius silently applauded the redhead. Hermione always sounded too much like Molly for his taste, with the ranting, the nagging, and the 'I know better than you' attitude.

'Well, the point is, I'm getting a trial in three weeks' interrupted the marauder 'but keep it quiet, I don't want to cause a scene, can you do that?' he asked the kids. Honestly, he could perfectly picture the whole order giving their opinion on what he should do or say, always feeling entitled to give their opinion about everything. Guess what, he did not want to listen.

Fred sealed his lips with an impish grin, and Ginny and Hermione nodded uncertainly.

'I'll help you research' the brunette said enthusiastically, her eyes lighting up at the possibility. He was about to snap at her that he didn't need it, when Remus shook his head subtly at him.

'That would be excellent Hermione, thank you for the offer' the werewolf replied pleasantly. The brunette gushed and left, seemingly with much to read about law.

'Seriously, what's wrong with you?' Remus asked him disappointedly once they were alone. 'It's like everything anyone says annoys you'. Sirius didn't know how to answer. He had noticed it too, at times. Now he felt offended or incredibly angered by everyone, no matter the situation, and he tended to fly off the handle almost as much as when he was a kid. What was the matter with him? He should have been so ecstatic about the trial that nothing should have been able to bother him. Nevertheless, his mood swings were as bad as ever.

Harry put away his friends and Sirius' letter angrily, fighting the urge to rip them. Once again, they had decided to ignore all his now not so subtle requests for information, alluding mysteriously to security and chattering about unimportant things. The most annoying ones were Sirius', with his advice on how to behave, like Harry was an idiot and his godfather a responsible adult. At least Flourish and Blotts had replied something useful, sending the book catalogue that he would definitely look through later.

'Hey, you ready?' called Anto softly from the doorway. He looked at her and smiled, shoving his annoyance to the back of his mind. There was no point worrying over things he couldn't control.

'Sure, just let me grab a sweater' he replied, pulling a blue wind jacket out of his suitcase. They headed down to the beach in a comfortable silence, each immersed in their own thoughts. Thankfully, only one day had been necessary for them to forget their awkwardness of the weekend, and the next two had been spent in their usual playful bantering and extensive talks.

'So, why were you angry?' she asked finally. Harry had been already anticipating the question, but it didn't bother him to answer. Just like with Ron and Hermione, he knew what Anto would say, but she listened a great deal more than the other two. Since knowing the girl, he had come to be slightly disappointed on his friends' personalities. Though he trusted them with a lot of things, his personal feelings had never been one of them. He knew Hermione would always act like she knew better than him, and tell him how he should or should not react. On the other hand, Ron would never even understand what he was saying in the first place and tell him not to worry and to play Quidditch. He had thought it was normal for friends to impose their views on him, but with Anto it didn't happen like that. Even when she did not agree, she explained why she thought differently, but she was willing to try to understand his point of view. They had agreed to disagree on a number of different topics, whereas with Ron and Hermione he would usually need to be quiet or face a weeklong argument. He liked Anto's way better. It made him feel like an equal, like he could be exactly himself with her, and she would still respect him and like him. He had never realized it before, but he felt somewhat censored around Ron and Hermione. Like he had to say or do certain things at times to keep them happy. Not all the time, of course, usually he felt fine. But now that he knew things could be different, he felt slightly angry with them about it, and their no-news policy wasn't helping at all.

'I've asked my friends for news the whole summer, but all they've given me is bad excuses to not tell me anything! Apparently they can't put information in letters because of some security issues, but it's so frustrating! I need to know what's going on!' he replied hotly. He was also bothered that they were together with information, and had left him behind. He couldn't imagine how horrible that must have been if he had stayed in Surrey with the Dursleys as usual. Now that he was having the best summer of his life, being apart from them didn't seem as important, but still the fact was that everyone was leaving him out.

'Need information about what?' Anto asked curiously, and Harry realized suddenly that he'd never told her about his parents, the boy-who-lived title, or even Voldemort. He thought maybe it had been an unconscious wish of being someone different and completely normal with her. But now he trusted her enough to know that she would still see him as Harry despite the story. It's not like she would care about him being famous in a society she'd never see, and that she already looked down on.

'Mmm, it's actually a long story' he said sheepishly.

'We have time' she grinned gesturing at the dark, long beach before them 'we can go to the fire thing any other day, it's not like the guys will care that much'. He smiled. They had met some teens their age two days ago, and they were supposed to go to a gathering around a fire with them. Nevertheless, he much preferred to stay alone with Anto. The other people weren't even their friends yet, and he would have to pretend he knew all about the muggle topics they discussed, something he wasn't too eager to do.

'Okay then, so you know that I live with my aunt and uncle, right? Well, that's because my parents were murdered when I was one…' just like when he had told everyone about the graveyard, once he started talking he couldn't stop. He told her everything about finding out he was a wizard, seeing Voldemort return to power and Cedric die, and the lack of information he had right now. 'He could be destroying Britain for all I know, and my friends won't tell me anything!' he finished. It felt strangely liberating to say all that, just like when he had told Carmen. The psychologist had talked to him about how keeping too many things in was bad for stress, and he was starting to think it was true. He always felt more relaxed, though strangely tired, after expressing something he found difficult to say.

'Wow, I don't really know what to say, I'm sorry Harry' Anto told him, clearly shocked 'that sounds really difficult, I'd go crazy if I were you, you're really strong'. She sounded a bit in awe, which surprised him. She had expected him to be compassionate, but not to think him strong. It was slightly embarrassing.

'I don't know…anyway, I don't know what to do to get information' he said blushing.

'Well, if he had destroyed Britain it would appear in our news and my parents would have definitely said something, so at least he hasn't done that' she commented, trying to cheer him up. He smiled weakly. 'And your friends and godfather are fine if they are writing to you, even if it's useless' she pointed out.

'Yeah, I guess' said Harry uncertainly 'they would probably tell me if something really major happened'.

'Yeah, I think so too' she replied pensively 'and there's nothing you can do for now anyway'. Harry wished he could think like that, but it was difficult. He knew Carmen would tell him not to worry about things he couldn't control, and he had been trying to get used to believing that, but it was impossible not to think about what Voldemort and his friends were doing.

'I know, but every time I receive their pointless letters I start worrying again!' he replied frustrated.

'Maybe you could…you know…write to them less. That way you'd receive their letters less often' Anto said uncertainly. Harry thought carefully about it, remembering the frustration and anger he started feeling each time his friends' correspondence arrived. It seemed like a very selfish thought, but it was worth considering. If he wouldn't get information anyway, and he couldn't do anything about what was happening, were his friends' letters worth feeling all those negative emotions each time he read them? They would be angry, of course, but he was already angry with them himself. He deserved to know what was going on after all he'd done. He was the one who'd escaped or defeated Voldemort more than once, while they hadn't done anything. He didn't deserve to be treated like a little boy who should be kept apart and in the dark.

'Maybe' he conceded 'I'll see how I feel the next times'. She smiled at him shyly, and he was suddenly struck by how pretty she looked with the moonlight illuminating her face.

'You are beautiful' he couldn't help saying, and stepped closer, touching her arm. She blushed instantly, and looked down.

'Now I'm not' she replied, embarrassed. He tilted her head up to face him and brushed a tendril off her face, not knowing where his sudden courage was coming from. All he knew was that she made his heart feel jumpy, and that this moment was so special that it required for her to know it.

'Yes you are' he reaffirmed quietly. She looked at him silently. They were very close now, and his stomach was flipping madly.

'Kiss me' he told her suddenly, quietly. He saw her eyes widen, and vaguely realized that that phrase sounded very out of character for his usual blushing self, not that he cared right now. This was not a moment for hesitation; it was a moment that was meant to happen.

'You kiss me' she replied, blushing prettily. He didn't know which one of them had taken the step forward, later he would swear it was she and vice versa. But suddenly they were kissing, and it was overwhelming his senses. It was timid, and a little dry, but his heart was soaring and he couldn't have wished for a better moment.

'You definitely need practice' she grinned mischievously once they pulled apart.

'Sorry' he replied, embarrassed. He hoped she didn't regret it.

'I'm just kidding, that was my first kiss' she told him shyly.

'Mine too' he replied. They looked at each other, smiling brightly, and he kissed her again softly. This time it was even better, and their lips moved in sync with each other, with Harry feeling happier by the minute. He could hardly believe that he had finally kissed her, and that she had liked it as much as he. He hoped they would be having many wonderful moments like this in the future.

'D'you want to stay here for a while?' he asked her, and she nodded eagerly. He lay on the ground and she used his chest as a pillow, and they stayed there, looking at the stars.

'You know, that Voldemort guy sounds a bit inefficient' she said suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. He looked at her, baffled as much at her statement as at her abrupt change of subject.

'Why do you say so?' he asked. Of all the words he'd heard Voldemort being called, 'inefficient' had never been one of them, and he was eager to know what she would come up with.

'Well, he had a trusted follower at your school, near you at all times, and instead of ordering to simply make you unconscious, get a vial of your blood and take it to him, he made him enter you into an impossible tournament, help you win all the tasks without being suspicious, and basically go through a lot of trouble, rely on a lot of chance and wait nine extra months…I'm just saying, it sounds kind of impractical' she explained, 'why are you laughing, I'm being serious!' she complained, giggling herself. Harry laughed louder, finding the situation awfully funny. What she was saying was true though, and he wondered why Voldemort had gone through so much hassle to get his blood. Somehow, it seemed too simple for Voldemort to have done it any other way. As far as Harry had seen, he loved making a show and gloat about everything he did. He explained this to Anto still laughing, though taking note of that fact for later. He had already resolved to know as much about Voldemort as he could, and knowing his preference for theatricality over practicality could save him some day.

'Cool, you could probably slip away while he talks each time he tries to kill you' she joked, and he laughed hysterically holding his stomach. He didn't remember the last time he had laughed so much.

'I really like you' he told her smiling, and she pecked him on the lips happily.

'Obviously, you'd die of boredom without me' she said in a fake pompous voice grinning. He laughed and kissed her again, feeling immensely glad he'd met her. He'd never thought he'd be able to laugh at the madman that wanted and could probably kill him, but she had made it possible.

I hope you liked this chapter and want to keep reading! Please tell me your thoughts/suggestions, plot ideas, etc.! :)