All the legal stuff, summery and notes are on chapter one.
Mini-Moony- chapter Twenty-five
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The following weeks had been some of the most frustrating in Harry and Remus' lives. First there had been the submitting of Harry's memories, which went rather well- and most importantly took almost no time at all, but then there was the waiting that was practically killing them both. And Draco was unable to help either of them, since he wasn't privy to the conclusions of the Wizengamot's review.
Finally, one bright Tuesday morning the summons came. An official looking bird, pompous with self-righteousness landed on the dining table of "Rose Cottage". Hedwig gave the bird one look and Harry could have sworn she'd sneer if she could. He loved Hedwig... lately the bird had been starting to feel the effects of age catching up with her and Harry refused to use her in long trips anymore, much to Hedwig's dismay. He and Remus were both trying to decide what was the best way to acquire a new owl without triggering Hedwig's jealousy, and for the moment it looked like Aaron was about to get one for his birthday.
Remus was the first to reach for the missive and he read through it quickly, aware of both Harry's and Aaron's eyes on him. He then passed the parchment to Harry who took it without a word and read it, sighing deep. Tomorrow, at ten a.m. he was to report at the Ministry of Magic and present himself for questioning in the matter of obliviating Brian Hall.
"It's alright, Cailean, Aaron and I will stay here, and wait for news." Remus said with a forced bright tone. It was really stupid that he couldn't accompany his husband to what surely was one of the most important moments of their lives, but laws were laws and Draco was right, they were not going to change in a day. Harry nodded silently, feeling the weight of the situation pressing heavily on him. He didn't want to do any of this; he just wanted everyone to leave the three of them alone. Now more than ever he wished he hadn't succumbed to Brian's wish, things would have been much simpler had he only refused. But then again- simpler for whom? Certainly not poor Brian…
Harry rubbed his forehead, trying to rid himself of these thoughts that were swirling in his head for the last couple of weeks, driving him insane. This was nuts, what was done was done and now he had to face the consequences. He knew he did nothing wrong, but if the prepping Draco had done with him meant anything it was that not everyone thought that way. And tomorrow would be the time for him to stand up in front of the Wizengamot and defend his actions. He only prayed that they would accept his reasoning, because Brian didn't deserve to suffer but neither did Harry or Aaron.
That night Harry slept very poorly, and as consequence so did Remus. The morning of the hearing found both of them with dark circles under their eyes and a rather snappy moods. Harry was upset over the hearing, dreading what the Toad's arguer might ask- especially after Draco prepared him, and more than that he was nervous about facing the entire Wizengamot without his rock and support- Remus. But his family had to stay home and wait for the news because of stupid laws that were as unfair as they were discriminating.
Breakfast was tense, even Aaron feeling uneasy enough to decline his eggs. Harry tried his best to control his emotions, but it was hard, and to someone with sensitive senses as Aaron is was nearly overwhelming. Even though Remus had started teaching him techniques to control his heightened senses the boy was still feeling the depression rolling off his daddy and knew he was the cause of it.
Harry knew that all their friends were going to show up shortly, to keep Remus and Aaron company. He was really touched by the fact they decided they would refuse to come to the hearing as an act of solidarity with the werewolves who were unable to attend. It wasn't like this was going to cause any waves in the Ministry of course, as no one there would give a flying fuck if a bunch of mostly ex-Gryffindors decided not to come to a hearing they really had no place to come to in the first place but Harry and Remus were touched.
Around nine o'clock people started to show up. The first one to show was Seamus, who brought with him a couple of boxes full of goodies, his natural reaction to stress was to bake it away and he figured the end results would be much appreciated as they were waiting for news. Harry and he had decided to close the shop for the day, not only because Harry would be gone for most of it but mostly because they both knew neither could focus much on work that day, and they could not risk the reputation of the 'Sugardust' by presenting a work that was less than perfect by their standards.
Following Seamus, Hermione stepped out of the floo, looking grim and pale. Her own hearing had been the day before and she knew what Harry was about to face. While Draco had been fair and reassuring the opposing arguer was nothing short of a nightmare. Hermione felt the anger flaring again as she thought of the Toad's face splitting in a smug smirk as her arguer belittled everything Hermione said. It made her so angry in fact that as soon as she returned home to the Manor she went into one of the training rooms, and conjured hundreds of glass globes, all portraying the Toad's and her arguer's faces and spent the entire afternoon blowing them all up. It had been fun, especially when Draco returned and joined her, which soon turned into a feisty snowball-like fight and even feistier love making session after they'd turned all the broken glass on the floor into feathers.
Sirius was the next to show up, this time through the front door, as he lived close enough for 'Rose Cottage' to be within a walking distance. His arm was linked with Mairead's and the two looked quite happy despite the situation. The two have began dating each other a couple of weeks ago, and while Harry was quite pleased that Sirius was going out and making a normal life for himself he felt a little uneasy about this particular coupling. He couldn't even say why that was, because Mairead was just as nice, funny and easy going as her cousin Seamus. He didn't dare to share his feelings with anyone other than Remus, because he didn't want to insult Sirius or get on the wrong side of Seamus- nice and funny was good, but Gryffindor loyalty to your family could end up very bad on Harry's part…
The next to show was George Weasley. Harry was particularly grateful to see him. Out of all the Weasleys George was the only one who remained actively friendly towards Harry. While most of the other boys were quite indifferent to Harry's choice of life partner, Molly and Ginny had been rather vocal against it. Their list of reasoning went somewhat parallel to the ones Remus presented at the time, which Harry found rather ironic. But it was still a bit of a sore spot for him that his adoptive family had turned their backs on him. George, after moving in with his gorgeous Brazilian boyfriend- Fernando, or Nando, to his friends, found himself in a situation rather similar to Harry's and while he still retained a close relationship with his twin and most of his brothers it was still hard for him to show up at the Burrow and have his mother giving him pitying looks and trying in a very non-subtle way to coax him into dating girls.
The Snape family arrived then, Severus grumbling all the while about having to miss work for something as foolish as this, only to be shushed by his wife, who went for a bright Gryffindor red quaff for the day, telling Harry it was to represent the flame of rightness. Harry just nodded politely and smiled, while Remus objected that rightness should have been coloured blue. Cleo immediately went to seek Aaron, dragging him away from the adults to play in his room. She didn't understand what the commotion was about but she was always happy to see her friend. Harry and Remus approved of the fact that Aaron would be too busy playing and enjoying himself to get caught up in the tense atmosphere around.
Harry figured that as soon as his parents would show up the party would start for real. He just hoped that this time they'd leave their deranged friends behind. He was really starting to worry about them, but Remus said that Lily and James were young and with absolutely no responsibility on their hands anymore and that they will stay that way for good, so they should be left to their own devices. Besides, he doubted there was such a thing as ghost therapy anyway.
Glancing at the clock Harry realized he'd better get a move on or he'll be late. After all he still needed to check his wand at the Ministry entrance and probably fight off any number of fans that somehow got wind of his whereabouts. There was always a bunch of them around. Wringing his fingers together he tried to compose himself enough to actually take the floo powder from the pot and toss it into the grate. Remus wrapped his arms around his man and Harry leaned back into the embrace gratefully.
"You'll be just fine, Cailean. We'll be here when you get back." Harry nodded and turned around to give Remus a proper kiss, much to the vocal glee of most of the people present in the room. Remus pulled back and flipped the finger at the room while he guided Harry towards the fireplace.
"Give Aaron a kiss for me." Harry whispered as he indulged himself in one last kiss before stepping into the green flames.
Upon stepping out into the Ministry Atrium Harry was immediately reminded why he hated going there. Where once stood the golden fountain of the Magical Brethren, now stood an enormous golden statue of himself, his posture poised in battle stance and his wand sprouting green water into the pool below. Harry found it gaudy and completely inappropriate. He hated everything about it, down to the way the magical spotlights hidden in the walls around the fountain were designed to cast their lights in a way that bounced off his face to show their strength and his body to show its fitness. Harry knew from firsthand experience that he was never that buff!
No matter how many owls he'd sent to the Ministry, and especially the new minister and her deputy ministry, the statue remained. Harry had a feeling the two were ignoring him, but since he really didn't feel like marching down there and causing a scene just to have that bloody thing removed he settled for politely ignoring the Ministry in return. Unless he couldn't help it, or course.
Shaking himself up Harry pulled himself to his full height and strode over to the wand checking point. Even with all the changes made in the Ministry of Magic ever since Amelia Bones took over the place by storm, one thing haven't changed and that was Eric Munch, sitting at the desk, still unshaven and still looking as if he'd stumbled into the place by mistake and was just watching over the desk while the real owner went to the loo.
Harry presented his wand, trying to curb the tingling feeling of unease that was spreading in his body. Why the hell did it take so long to measure his bloody wand? He felt his foot thumping impatiently on the floor and hoped this would at least be over before anyone noticed he was there.
"Mr. Potter?" Crap! No such luck. Harry ignored the voice he didn't recognize, knowing there was one of two things the man wanted from him, either an autograph or an interview, neither which he was in the mood to give right now. "How do you plea against the allegations that you've obliviated a muggle illegally?" Ah, the second type then.
Ever since the war Harry had been doing his best to avoid the public eye, both his home and the 'Sugardust' were under heavy warding, which made certain that no reporters or people with mal intent could get in. In fact, the situation has escalated so far that Harry was forced to take legal actions against Rita Skeeter after she tried to sneak into his shop in her animagus form and nearly caused the place to be shut down for health reasons. Rita Skeeter was now unable, physically, to approach Harry, Remus or any of their friends within ten feet range. But that didn't stop the blood thirsty reporter from trying and sending agents in her stead to record and abuse Harry's words and actions.
"Go away." Harry's head whipped around at the sound of the familiar drawl. Gods, he was so glad Draco was his arguer, as there was nothing the blond cherished more than flexing his verbal muscles at people who harassed Harry. "If my client isn't talking to your boss there's no way in hell he'd be talking to you. Come on Harry." He said, his tone a clear warning for Harry to keep his mouth shut. Draco knew Harry's inflammatory nature all too well and the last thing they needed right now was a scuffle in the middle of the Ministry Atrium, right before Harry's hearing no less. Harry took a deep breath and lowered his head, doing his best not to look at anyone or anything, more than anything he just wished that the stupid hearing would be over with and that he could go home and hold his family close,
"Mr. Potter, it really is in your best interest to talk to us, get your side of the story out…" The damn reporter was obviously one of the daftest people on the planet not to realize when the final word was spoken, or maybe he just had a death wish, coaxing Harry and Draco like that,
"Stop bugging my client," Draco hissed venomously at the man, "Or I'll have you arrested for harassment." The cold fire in the blond man's eyes was enough to cause the reporter to gulp and back away. After all, Draco Malfoy didn't get his reputation of being one of Britain most ruthless, intimidating, balls-crushing and case-winning arguer solely because of his surname.
Draco grabbed Harry's elbow, propelling the man through the crowd that was already gathering around to get a glimpse of the famous Boy-Who-Lived, shooting menacing glares at anyone who dared to even think of coming too close. Harry was eternally grateful for that. If it'd been up to him he most likely would have hexed half of them, and punched the rest. He was quite rubbish at dealing with the adoring masses.
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A/N: You do all remember that Rita Skeeter's amimagus form is a beetle, right?
I kinda thought this was a nice way to let you know what everyone is doing (more or less) and remind you who's on Harry's corner.
I personally think the flame of rightness should be composed of all the colours of the rainbow, but I'm not going to argue with either Remus or Tonks…
I wanted the new Ministry fountain to represent most of the war heroes like Dumbledore and such with Harry being the biggest and most prominent fixture- kinda like the Brethren was, you know making the wizard and witch far more important than anyone else but when I started to write the description of it, it just went on and on and on and there was just no point for it… but I really like the green water bit- you know, for the killing curse…
I also think that Amelia and Arthur are having too much fun reading Harry's owls in the matter of the fountain to actually give in to his wish and have him stop writing them.
Ok, any of you who still remember 'Jaded' know that Ginny wasn't as bad there as she's turning in here. My excuse for that is that it's been a while and I've read a few more stories between then and now and frankly, I don't really like Ginny at all… So I'll just say that she's been terribly easy to influence and her mother had been drilling into her head that she should have been the one with Harry. Ginny's going to get a lot worse in the upcoming chapters, I hope you don't mind.