The Twisted Path

by Xetarma

When Minerva McGonagall discovers that Harry Potter's relatives intend to keep him from attending Hogwarts, she takes matters into her own hands. But when Harry comes to Diagon Alley one day early, it sets events into motion that end with him and his friend, Hermione Granger, sorted into Slytherin. Now the two of them must somehow tame the House of the Snakes.

17. Moving On

Chapter 17: Moving On

March 23rd, 1993

Colin's return had been quite fortuitous for his house's chances in the Quidditch cup. The next Quidditch match had pitted Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, and no team wanted to play without their starting seeker. As it turned out though, his absence probably wouldn't have been missed. The Hufflepuff team was overwhelmed by the much better Gryffindor team. Ultimately, it had been Cedric who had caught the snitch, but only after Gryffindor had nearly a 200-point lead. Gryffindor was on track for a 3-win season, which would give them the cup by default.

Colin himself seemed barely rattled by the experience of having been petrified. He treated the thing as a big adventure, and he'd even made a point to tell Ginny he didn't hold it against her. The only thing that had changed was that he was a bit more restrained in his curiosity. All in all, Harry felt the boy had come out of the situation fairly well.

Daphne had, if anything, taken being petrified even better. She understood the dangers of magical possession, and she seemed to consider being petrified an occupational hazard of being a witch. When Ginny had apologized to her she'd outright said Ginny had nothing to apologize for. Her father had visited briefly after she was unpetrified and he seemed to share her feelings. Harry supposed purebloods saw things a bit differently than other people.

Justin, on the other hand was having a harder time. The actual petrification hadn't actually bothered him so much. He was having a bit of trouble catching up in his classes, but he wasn't so far behind that it was an impossible task. The real problem was that he had a hard time understanding how Ginny had been possessed. Harry wanted to tell him that the diary was a Horcrux, but revealing that to anyone else was a risk Harry couldn't take. Even though Harry had discovered the existence of the horcruxes entirely legitimately, if Dumbledore suspected he was lying he might discover Ginny's secret.

As such, Justin seemed to blame Ginny for what had happened. He seemed to understand that she hadn't had specifically murderous intent, but he felt that there was something she could have done to stop it. Ginny seemed willing to accept that judgement as well. She also felt she should have done more to stop herself. Harry felt there was something he should do here, but he wasn't sure what to do that wouldn't alienate one or the other of his friends.

Hermione was having the most difficult time adjusting of course. Harry was no expert, but her only partial petrification had clearly taken a toll on her. She spent a lot of time outside, just looking at the sky, saying all the open space calmed her. When she was inside, she had a tendency to sit as close to Harry as she could. Harry didn't mind, as he liked sitting next to her, but he worried that it was a symptom of a larger psychological problem.

Some of the teachers noticed this. Flitwick tended to pointedly ignore the fact that Hermione always seemed to have her chair pushed up to Harry's during class. McGonagall also seemed to ignore when she grabbed Harry's hand under the table. Snape merely sent angry looks at Hermione in potions rather than chew her out for rarely straying more than a foot from Harry.

Still, Hermione admitted that if necessary, she could deal with class times on her own. But it was at night that she had the hardest time. On several occasions she had awoken screaming, having thought she was still petrified as she woke up. This wasn't normal, but Harry didn't know what to do to help her. She needed a therapist, but Harry didn't even know if such a thing could be found in the magical world.

Finally, one-night Harry woke up to Hermione insistently shaking his shoulder.

"Everything all right?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head. "It happened again," she said. Harry saw her hand shaking. She was terrified.

"Can I do anything?" he asked.

"Scoot over," she said, "I… well if you don't mind…"

Harry scooted over and let her climb into his bed. "Thanks," she said, "I feel silly, like a little girl who is scared of monsters."

Harry rested his hand on her shoulder, "Well the monsters ARE real," he said to her.

She laughed, "Yeah."

Suddenly she pushed her back into him. "Can you talk to me for a while," she asked, "It helps to hear … someone's voice."

"If you like," he said, "I had an idea for our charms papers today…"

XXXXX

From that point on, Hermione regularly would climb in Harry's bed when she got scared at night. Harry had deeply divided thoughts about this. He'd been fine with it the first night, but he was worried that Hermione was just covering up deeper problems. Still, he couldn't really say no to her. He simply wasn't capable of letting her suffer. He had let her know his concerns though. She'd taken it well, and had acknowledged that she probably did need some professional help.

Hermione had been a bit distant with Ginny, but she had taken great pains to tell Ginny that it was not because she blamed Ginny in any way.

"I'm just not in a good headspace in regard to what happened yet, Ginny, and I don't want to accidentally say anything hurtful to you because I'm frustrated with how I'm dealing with things," Hermione had told the younger girl. Harry thought Ginny had taken it in stride, but he also knew she was a little sensitive about such things.

Hermione was blunter with Harry. "I know Ginny was not responsible for what happened to me, but part of me is a little scared of her, even if I know there is nothing to be scared of," she said, "I do not want her to see me scared of her. It would devastate her." That had earned her a hug from Harry.

The truth was that Harry was starting to become a bit protective of Ginny. There were a few people who tried to give Ginny grief about what happened, but anyone who did so in front of Harry ended up regretting it. She'd been a victim as much as any of the petrification victims, and Harry let anyone who gave her lip know it. Ginny seemed to take all of it in stride.

The one good thing that had come of this all was that Ginny had finally dropped her distant sarcastic persona. She still could be sarcastic at times, but she honestly tried to be more approachable. She still swore like a sailor, but Harry supposed some habits wouldn't die easily. Luna was really the only person in her year who seemed very close to her, so she tried to spend more time with Harry and his friends. Hermione hadn't really objected, so long as she didn't have to directly interact with Ginny.

The whole thing was a bit of a mess. Still, as the year moved into spring, Harry felt that his life was slowly getting back to normal.

XXXXX

April 20th, 1993

Hermione's parents took their time getting back to her after she wrote her first letter to them after being unpetrified. But when they did, Hermione was on the warpath again.

"They didn't tell my parents I was petrified?!" she screamed as she waved the letter from her parents.

"I am so sorry," said Harry, "I didn't even think to tell them."

"Not your job Harry," said Hermione angrily, "Though I guess we know now that you'll have to do so if something happens to me."

This had led to Hermione storming McGonagall's office and demanding why McGonagall had not kept her promise to keep her parents informed. McGonagall had in fact sent a letter, but for some reason it had not reached Hermione's parents. Both Harry and Hermione immediately suspected Dumbledore's involvement, but Harry wasn't sure why he would interfere like this.

Hermione seemed to understand perfectly, at least as far as she was concerned. "They just think that muggle parents can't understand these things, so they don't mention them so the students can hide things from their parents," she said furiously.

"We're already hiding quite enough from your parents," said Harry.

Hermione just snorted bitterly.

XXXXX

May 8th, 1993

With the last match of the season coming up, Harry had worked hard with the rest of the team to rebuild Ginny's confidence. She'd been awfully fatalistic in the aftermath of her ordeal, but eventually Harry and Tracey's optimism had won out. She'd started to enjoy Quidditch again, which Harry thought was a good sign.

"Quidditch is a way to take your fury out on the world without hurting anyone," said Harry.

"Except the pride of the Hufflepuffs," said Tracey.

And the pride of the Hufflepuffs had taken a beating. Melody made it clear that they needed to run up the score as high as they could. If they could take a substantial point lead, then if Gryffindor was beaten by Ravenclaw in the last match, Slytherin would win the cup. It was a long shot; the Gryffindor team was very good. But Harry knew a long shot was better than nothing. He held Cedric off of the snitch for the entire match while an angry Ginny led their offense to goal after goal.

At one-point Cedric flew by with a grimace on his face. "Rubbing it in a bit, are we?" he said to Harry.

Harry just shrugged. "Sorry," he said with a hint of embarrassment.

"Don't apologize," said Cedric, "I know what you're doing. I'm just mad that we can't stop you."

Finally, Harry took pity on the Hufflepuffs, and caught the snitch when they were up by 250 points. It was a huge win, and would be virtually impossible for Ravenclaw to top.

XXXXX

May 12th, 1993

"Hermione, please see reason," said Daphne at lunch one day, "You can't take all of the classes."

"Professor Snape did not say we couldn't take all the classes, just that it would be difficult to schedule them all," said Hermione.

"It is possible to take all of the classes," said Blaise, "But it isn't worth doing. Especially not for a muggleborn."

"What does that mean?" demanded Hermione.

"It means that you could probably TEACH the Muggle Studies class," said Tracey, "Seriously, everyone I've talked to says that class is useless. The only Slytherins that take it want jobs in the Ministry. And the Ministry accepts Muggleborns as if they have a Muggle Studies N.E.W.T."

"Hermione," said Harry, "I know you want to excel. But even if you can fit all those classes in, you won't have time for anything else. Even you need to relax sometimes and spend time with your friends."

"I guess I don't have to take Muggle Studies," said Hermione.

"I'd drop Divination as well," said Ginny, "I once talked to an actual seer, and she told me that if you don't have the ability, you can't really learn divination."

"Besides, Divination and Arithmancy do basically the same thing," said Daphne, "Arithmancy is just more scientific."

That caught Hermione's attention. "I guess Divination sounds the least interesting," she admitted.

"I plan on taking Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes," said Harry, "I'm not sure on Arithmancy."

"Oooh, but if you take it, we have all the same classes still," said Hermione.

Harry nodded at that. "Well, I can always drop it if it doesn't work out," he said.

"You're nuts," said Blaise, "Muggle Studies and Divination for me."

"Oh?" asked Daphne with a twinkle in her eye.

"They're the easiest classes, plus taking Muggle Studies will annoy my mother," explained Blaise.

"Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures for me," said Tracey.

"I think I'll take Runes, Creatures and Divination," said Daphne.

"I thought you said Divination wasn't as scientific as Arithmancy," noted Ginny.

Daphne laughed, "I'm a pureblood. We're NOT scientific."

"No Muggle Studies?" asked Hermione.

Daphne considered, then nodded, "You're right, I should take that, just in case. I guess I have to dump Divination after all."

"Don't worry!" said Blaise, "I'll hold up the honor of Slytherin in Divination. Along with Crabbe and Goyle!"

Everyone laughed.

XXXXX

May 25th, 1993

Bryant Greengrass walked into the Department of International Magical Cooperation. The sudden invitation to speak to Barty Crouch had come as something of a surprise. If Bryant had to guess, he'd say that his inquiries into the circumstances of Sirius Black's arrest had attracted attention. Still, Barty would be more likely to know what happened back then than anyone else. He had been the Head of the DMLE at the time.

But when he entered Barty's office, he wasn't expecting to see the Minister for Magic waiting for him alongside Barty.

"Minister," said Bryant respectfully, "I wasn't told you'd be here."

Cornelius Fudge nodded, "Well I was only just informed of this meeting," he acknowledged, "But I felt that maybe my presence might help matters."

Bryant smiled. Fudge was clearly up to his neck in this. Still, that could be useful.

"I certainly hope so," said Bryant.

"You've been asking a lot of questions about Sirius Black," said Barty.

"I have," said Bryant calmly, "You see I'm trying to get some information regarding inheritance issues, but all the accounts of his trial are sealed."

"Wait, inheritance issues?" asked Fudge, suddenly less hostile.

"Well, not inheritance exactly actually," said Bryant, "You see Sirius Black was the designated guardian of Harry Potter according to James Potter's will. But no conviction notice ever reached Gringotts, so legally he controls all of Harry's accounts. Obviously, he can't administer them from Azkaban but…"

Barty Crouch had a sharp intake of breath, "Oh bloody hell, I knew we'd forgotten something."

"But we had an emergency injunction passed to take care of that!" insisted Fudge.

"An emergency injunction only lasts 90 days," said Crouch, "we never got it extended, nor did we get the Wizengamot to directly remove Sirius's guardian rights."

"What happened?" asked Bryant.

Fudge sighed. "Please promise that for the moment you won't tell this to anyone. Not even Harry," requested the Minister.

"I agree, for the moment," said Bryant.

"Sirius Black never got a trial," said Barty.

Bryant shook his head. He'd expected something like this, but it was still jarring.

"Okay," he said calmly, "I suppose both of you were in on it then?"

"I was head of the DMLE, Bagnold gave the okay, and the Minister was the first man on the scene," said Barty.

Bryant nodded, "So you want to keep this quiet then."

Fudge smiled. "I knew you'd understand."

"I do NOT approve of what you did," said Bryant, "But getting Sirius off of Harry's accounts is very important, and I'm willing to make a deal to get that done."

"Sirius Black has always been very remorseful for what happened to the Potters," said Barty, "At least that's how I've found him."

"You think he might be convinced to drop his parental rights voluntarily?" asked Fudge warily.

"If approached in the right way, perhaps,' said Barty.

Bryant leaned in to listen as Barty explained his idea.

XXXXX

June 3rd, 1993

Rita Skeeter walked into the office of Barnabas Cuffe, editor in chief of the Daily Prophet. "You wanted to see me?" she asked. Rita's agreement with the Prophet and Witch Weekly let her do her own projects, but she occasionally did the odd job for them as a favor.

"Rita," he said without preamble. That was a bad sign. He always made small talk unless he was giving out a bad job.

"Fudge has been bothering me for days to get a puff piece on Hogwarts," he said, "Show that things at the school have returned to normal."

Rita scowled. Puff pieces weren't really her thing. She preferred dramatic takedowns. Still, it always paid to stay on the good side of very powerful people.

"Sounds easy enough," said Rita.

"Take a photographer, get some pictures," said Barnabas. He handed her a press pass with the Hogwarts crest on it.

"The Board of Governors also wants this," explained Cuffe.

As far as assignments went, it was a tame one, but Rita figured at the very least she'd get the lay of the land there. Maybe she could interview Harry Potter. Now that would be a journalistic coup.

An hour later, Rita was fairly sure she wasn't going to get anywhere near Potter. Dumbledore hadn't been rude to her exactly, he never was, but she'd come away with the distinct impression that he had intimated he'd be watching her. So much for trying her favorite trick. McGonagall, on the other hand, was downright frosty to her. She insisted on following Rita around everywhere.

Rita didn't find much interesting right away, but eventually ran into the Gryffindor second years out near the Greenhouses. They were making a sign for the upcoming Quidditch match. It had the word Gryffindor written on it in red and gold, as well as an emblem of a lion grabbing an eagle.

School spirit might be a good topic. Rita began to interview the students. One of the boys, one Ronnie Weasley, had an interesting take on things.

"Obviously we're rooting for Gryffindor, that's our house," said the red-haired boy, "And we still have a strong rivalry with Slytherin. That isn't going to change. But I think if the last year has taught us anything, it's that the houses need to stand together in the face of adversity. Everyone thought they knew what was going on, and they all turned out to be wrong. We need to trust each other!"

It was a good line. It would look good in an article. Finally, she asked the Gryffindors to take a picture with their sign. The students all formed up around the sign, but suddenly Weasley jumped and said, "Wait a sec!" He ran over to a small cage and pulled out a pet rat. "Scabbers would like to be in the picture."

The rat didn't seem to want anything of the sort to Rita's eye.

One of the other boys laughed. "Why'd you bring that mangy rat out here anyway?" he asked in a thick Irish brogue.

Weasley scoffed at him, "He needs fresh air from time to time, like any of us!" He rested the rat on his shoulder as Rita's cameraman began to take pictures.

Later that day, looking at the picture which had been developed, Rita had to admit that the rat made the photo extra charming. This would be a bit schmaltzy, but otherwise the article was shaping up nicely.

Unfortunately, a magical disaster in India pushed it out of the next day's paper. It was rescheduled for a few weeks later. As far as Rita was concerned, she'd paid her dues. She put the whole thing out of her head.

XXXXX

June 5th, 1993

The Gryffindor/Ravenclaw match was probably the most polarizing match of the year. The Gryffindors obviously hoped to win, and Ravenclaw and Slytherin hoped for a Ravenclaw victory just as much. On the other hand, Hufflepuff was divided. Many of the older students were rooting for Gryffindor, mainly because they were still stinging from the loss to Slytherin. On the other side were most of the younger students, who genuinely felt Slytherin had been cheated out of a first match victory. That some of those students now felt guilty for having blamed Harry for the attacks wasn't mentioned.

Somehow the animosity that had been directed towards Harry had failed to manifest against Ginny. With the exception of Justin, and a few upper year muggleborns, most everyone in school saw her as a victim. Harry was actually impressed by the fact that most of the student body seemed to accept that Ginny wasn't responsible for what had happened. A lot of witches and wizards understood the dangers of magical possession. It was only the muggleborns who hadn't been raised with that idea that seemed to have a problem with that.

Regardless of the student reactions to Ginny, this match would probably be the best of the year. The Gryffindor/Slytherin match would have been, but the incident with the bludger had really made it kind of a disaster. But Harry knew not to count out Ravenclaw in any case. They weren't likely to be tricked by some silly stunt of Oliver Wood's again.

The two teams flew out onto the pitch. There was the traditional back and forth between the players of the teams. In this case it was relatively friendly. In Cho's case it was very friendly. She was batting her eyes at Colin.

"Cho's trying to play flirty," said Harry, unimpressed.

"It seems to be working though," said Daphne, "Colin's turned red."

"I'm still offended that she thought it would work against me," said Harry.

"I know," said Luna, "Who would think that the boy who is always hanging out around pretty girls has a weakness for pretty girls?"

Harry laughed at himself. "Is that how everyone sees me? As a womanizer?"

"Well you do have at least three girls in your immediate circle of friends pursuing you," said Luna.

"None of us are pursuing Harry," said Hermione.

"Says the girl who's winning," said Luna so quietly that Harry doubted anyone other than he heard her. She gave him a little smile.

"I've actually stopped pursuing Harry," said Daphne.

"Oh?" said Harry, "I'm a bit disappointed."

Daphne shrugged. "I still like you and all, but I'd have to torch too many friendships at this point for it to be worth it."

Neither Ginny or Hermione said anything, but both of them seemed to sit up a little straighter. Which caused Blaise to break out laughing.

"Oh, be quiet," said Tracey, "The match has started!"

The match was quite exciting. Gryffindor pulled out to an early 30-0 lead, but after that the Ravenclaw offense seem to kick into gear, doing its best to keep pace with the Gryffindors. They were doing a good job. The Ravenclaws seemed to accept that they couldn't stop the Gryffindors from scoring, so they did their best to corral the Gryffindor players into positions that would be advantageous when Ravenclaw got the Quaffle. This tactic was surprisingly effective, and went a long way to offsetting the advantage the Weasley twins gave Gryffindor on offense.

Cho initially seemed to be shadowing Colin, but once it became clear that Ravenclaw was not going to be able to run up the score, she began her own snitch hunting pattern. It made sense to Harry. Ravenclaw could still win the match, but they pretty much had to accept that the Cup was out of reach.

Harry didn't see the snitch before Cho did, but he did see the narrowing of her eyes when she saw it an hour into the match. But Cho was smarter than to just charge at the snitch. Colin was a lot closer to it. She'd been fluttering her eyes at Colin all day and now she paid it off. She subtly shifted towards Colin moving her search pattern towards his location as she neared him, she gave him a shy smile and a wink. Colin blushed again, turning away.

And as soon as he turned, Cho shot towards the snitch at top speed. She caught it just as Colin realized she was gone.

"Oooh," said Daphne, "that's gonna be embarrassing."

None of the other Slytherins were paying her any mind however. Harry, Ginny, Blaise and Tracey were all caught up in a four-way hug as they screamed their excitement. They'd won the Quidditch cup!

XXXXX

June 12th, 1993

The school year came to a lazy close, with Slytherin just edging Ravenclaw for the House cup. Harry had massively contributed to winning the cup by storming the Chamber of Secrets, and as such his stock in Slytherin was soaring. Which as far as Hermione was concerned, was good. Having such commanding control would put Harry in good position to help reform Slytherin. Hermione was beginning to wonder if maybe they should consider pushing for large changes. Next year for sure she'd begin her work on House Elf rights.

The Slytherin friends sat together in a single compartment on the train home. Ginny and Luna had decided to join them, so it was a bit crowded, but given Hermione's predisposition to being as close to Harry as possible it wasn't too bad. Hermione felt a little silly about clinging to Harry like this, but she did feel that he had helped her get through the latter part of the year. Of course, clinging to him like that next year would be out of the question, but Hermione felt she'd earned a little peace of mind this year.

Hermione was a little nervous about going home. The truth was that she still had occasional nightmares, and sometimes when she woke up, she still felt like she was petrified. It hadn't happened any of the times she'd woken up next to Harry, so she supposed that she just needed someone's physical presence to remind her that she was no longer petrified.

As they left the train, Harry and Blaise ran ahead. Hermione ran to catch up, but they'd stopped to talk in a secluded part of the platform. Hermione's ear was a bit sharper than most people thought however, so she caught a bit of their conversation.

"Does your mum know about it?" asked Harry.

"She suspects something," said Blaise, "Not necessarily that, it isn't something most magical people think about. But why do you think she tried to marry me off to Daphne? She knows something is off."

Harry nodded, then grasped Blaise's arm warmly, "Well stay strong Blaise. And I hope things work out for you."

Blaise nodded, genuine gratitude on his face.

Hermione wasn't sure what that was about, but she supposed it might be some boy only thing. Harry walked back over to her with a smile.

"Is there a problem with Blaise?" she asked.

Harry sighed, "Well, I figured out a big part of Blaise's problem with his mum. The whole thing is sad really. But as long as he remembers we're here for him I think he'll make it."

Hermione took Harry's hand as she looked for her parents. "You've been great these last couple of months you know," she told him.

"I'm always great," he said lightly. Hermione laughed at that.

"Maybe, but you've been especially great since I was unpetrified," said Hermione. And then she kissed him on the cheek.

Harry managed to not blush, but only just. "You're welcome," he said.

Suddenly Hermione spotted her parents. They were standing with the Greengrasses. The Weasleys were not with them she saw. As she pulled her trunk over to her parents she looked around and saw the Weasleys on another part of the platform. She could only guess why they weren't with her parents (they'd always gotten on well) but Hermione wasn't about to let any misconceptions linger.

"Just a second!" she said to her own parents after she'd hugged them. She dragged Harry over to where Ginny was greeting her parents.

"Goodbye Ginny!" said Harry who gave the younger girl a big hug. If it lasted a little longer than usual, that was fine with Hermione. Harry had become fairly close to Ginny since the Chamber. That was to be expected Hermione supposed. There was also something that the two of them were hiding, but that also didn't surprise Hermione. After all, she'd not wanted anyone to know Voldemort had tried to recruit her. The way Hermione saw it Harry saw Ginny as a special friend, and she had no intention of surrendering to jealousy.

So, she hugged Ginny. Ginny didn't scare her anymore. Not really. And certainly not with Harry right there. She hugged Ginny as tightly as she could, and she whispered in the younger girl's ear, "I just want everyone to know that I trust you."

"Thank you," Ginny whispered back.

"Have a good summer Ginny," said Harry as Hermione pulled back and waved at her. As the Weasleys moved on to collect the twins, Harry and Hermione had walked back to her parents. Daphne and Tracey were both with Daphne's parents. After a few hugs and waves, the Greengrasses plus Tracey were gone.

Hermione had her hand in Harry's again. The boy seemed a little more self-conscious about it while her father was right there, but he had remained admirably quiet about it. Hermione's parents were… somewhat stressed. Hermione could understand that.

"Let's walk Harry to meet his relatives," said Hermione.

They went through the barrier to King's Cross station and they soon saw the Dursleys. When the Dursleys looked over at them, suddenly Hermione fought an urge to kiss Harry. She'd show them how to treat Harry!

She managed to get control of her emotions as Harry hugged her goodbye. It would be the last for a while.

Then, unexpectedly, Harry kissed her on the forehead. "You take care of yourself, understand?" he said, "If you have any trouble, tell your parents."

Hermione beamed. "I will, and thank you."

Harry grabbed his things and walked off to where the Dursleys were waiting, a bit flabbergasted again.

"What was that?" asked her father.

"Oh Dad, Harry's just worried about me," she said, "I was a bit depressed after I got unpetrified. I think I feel better now, but Harry has been pretty vigilant about making sure I'm okay."

"Good," said Robert

"He also did that to make sure you both knew to keep an eye on me," she said with a twist of bitterness, "Which is annoying, but sweet."

"Was it that bad?" asked her mother.

Hermione shrugged. "It wasn't fun, I'll tell you that. When most people are petrified, they don't remember anything about the experience, but I was only partially petrified. I got to hear people, but only vaguely unless they were up close. It was rather unpleasant, but not painful. Still, a bit over a week of not being able to talk to anyone was pretty rough. I've had some bad dreams on occasion, and I sometimes wake and can't immediately tell that I am no longer petrified."

"I am so sorry honey," said Helen.

Hermione just shrugged. "I'll learn to cope," she said.

"So, what happened?" her mother asked, "How did the school deal with the creature and horcrux?"

Hermione laughed nervously. "Ummm well," she started with more than a bit of trepidation, "Harry killed the basilisk, then destroyed Tom Riddle's diary."

"What did the Weasley girl have to do with this anyway?" asked Robert.

Hermione shook her head. "She was possessed. She fought it, but it's the spirit of Voldemort. Who could fight that at the age of eleven?"

"Poor girl," said Helen.

"She's a good friend," said Hermione, "I've been dealing with my issues, so I haven't been able to help her out as much as I'd like, but I like her. Even if she is sort of interested in Harry."

Hermione immediately realized that had come out wrong as her parents both grinned. This was going to be a long car ride home.

XXXXX

June 22nd, 1993

Sirius Black was used to the voices. Sometimes they were real voices, the cries and screams of the other inmates. Other times they were his memories, James and Lily's own voices, but twisted into something horrible. He heard their screams as they died, which was no memory of his, he hadn't been present. Sometimes it drove him to tears. Other times it almost brought him joy, or as close to joy as he could come in this place. To hear their voices again wasn't unpleasant. Of course, when the dementors came by, nothing was pleasant.

When it got really bad, he became Padfoot. As a dog the dementors had no idea what to do with him. They couldn't affect him as badly. Sirius supposed he could have used this to effect some sort of escape, but he deserved to be here. He'd failed James and Lily. He'd even failed to avenge them.

He felt the dementors coming by. More than one by the intensity. The first time he'd ever felt the aura of a dementor, he'd sworn it was the worst thing he'd ever felt. He couldn't imagine feeling any worse. Now he knew better. He could tell the difference between one and several. When he had discovered that fact, he'd nearly gone mad. Maybe he was mad. No. NO. He was innocent. That thought pushed back the darkness, albeit momentarily.

Multiple dementors meant they were coming to get a prisoner. It usually wasn't him, but he couldn't take that chance. If he lost his ability to change forms, he probably would go insane. He knew no one would ever come to free him. But part of him had to hope…

His door opened. Three dementors floated, beckoning him. He knew better than to argue. Failing to comply was punished. He followed meekly. The dementors' auras taunted him dredging up the worst moments in his life. One second he was walking behind the dementor, the next his father was beating him within an inch of his life. That had been the day he ran away from home. Suddenly he was flying in to Godric's Hollow, only to see Potter Cottage in ruins. Then he was back in Azkaban. The dementors had no mercy. No remorse. They should have all been destroyed long ago.

They brought him to a room. There was a table in the room, with two chairs. One of the chairs had magical restraints. Two guesses which chair was for him.

Sirius sat in the chair, and the restraints snapped shut. Sirius didn't know why they bothered. He couldn't muster up enough magic to fill a thimble in this place. It took everything he had to transform into Padfoot.

A few minutes later and Cornelius Fudge walked in. The Minister for Magic himself.

"Greetings Minister," said Sirius hoarsely, "Forgive me for not standing, I seem to be tied up at the moment."

It wasn't much of a joke, but Fudge gave a small grin anyway. Even a bloodsucker like Cornelius Fudge had to feel the oppressiveness of this place. Any levity was appreciated.

"Sirius, I trust you're in good health?" said Fudge.

"Heh," laughed Sirius, "That's a good one. My cousin Bellatrix, she's been across the hall from me for years, just years. She's always ranting about the Dark Lord coming again. She's completely insane. My health is the least of my concerns. I want it to fail. Death would be preferable to hearing her rant about the Dark Arsewipe all day."

"Strange that you speak of your former master like that," said Fudge.

"I NEVER served Voldemort," said Sirius vehemently, prompting a shiver from Fudge. Good. Sirius wasn't really comfortable saying the name, but it was worth it for that.

"Why did you betray the Potters then?" demanded Fudge.

"I failed them," said Sirius. It was all he ever said. Saying anything else surely wouldn't matter. Not with Fudge.

Fudge sat in the other chair. "Harry Potter is at Hogwarts now," he said.

Sirius nodded, "I can do the math. Well sometimes I can. I hope he does well. Better than I did at any rate."

"By all accounts he is a bright boy," said Fudge, "But there is a problem. The person who is listed as his guardian is you, the person who betrayed his parents."

"Sounds like that's YOUR problem," said Sirius bitterly, "You never gave me a trial, remember?"

"Yes, we didn't think things through," said Fudge, "but there is no point in revisiting this now."

"There is for me," said Sirius.

"But Harry should not have to live with the shadow of the person who is responsible for his parent's deaths looming over him," said Fudge.

There was truth in that. Better that he be forgotten, and Harry be free to live his own life.

"How is Harry?" asked Sirius. Fudge gave him an odd look.

"According to Bryant Greengrass, he is well," said Fudge.

"What does Harry have to do with Bryant Greengrass?" demanded Sirius. If those tossers in the Wizengamot had given him to a 'proper pureblood family' to raise…

"Bryant's daughter is a good friend of Harry's, nothing more," replied Fudge, "Harry lives with his aunt and uncle."

Sirius closed his eyes. Oh, he remembered them all right.

"Poor Harry," said Sirius, "I'm sure they're perfect monsters to him as well."

"I have no idea," said Fudge stiffly.

"Look," said Fudge pulling out a copy of the Daily Prophet, "Life out there has moved on. Doesn't Harry deserve that chance?"

Sirius looked at the paper. There was a story titled "School Spirit at Hogwarts" with smiling children.

"I… I'll think about it," said Sirius almost defeated.

Fudge nodded. "Let one of the aurors know you've accepted my offer, and we'll have all the necessary documents drawn up."

After Fudge left, the bindings on Sirius let go. He rubbed his arms where the restraints had held him. It wasn't very comfortable. He took a look at the paper on the table. The kids were Gryffindors, making a sign for a Quidditch match. He smiled as he watched them wave at him.

And that is when he saw the rat on the shoulder of Ron Weasley.

"Peter," Sirius whispered. The rat was right there. At Hogwarts. With Harry.

That's when the rage started to fill him.

XXXXX

June 29th, 1993

Cornelius Fudge was preparing to go home for the day. It had been about a week since he had visited Sirius Black in prison. They'd heard nothing from him, but that wasn't unexpected. Prisoners at Azkaban had a tendency to forget things like that. He'd have to send someone to remind him about it. He did need to get his agreement. Greengrass would likely push the issue publicly if it wasn't resolved soon.

Amelia Bones barged into Fudge's office. That was a bad sign. She always knocked politely unless it was something urgent.

"Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban," she said.

"What? You're sure?" asked Fudge.

"Apparently, he's been missing since last night, but the dementors often temporarily lose track of prisoners for a few hours," said Amelia angrily, "Black in particular has a tendency to disappear for them. Apparently, prisoners often enter a sort of blank emotionless state that the dementors can't read. It's common enough that they seldom bother to check on the prisoners when it happens. When he didn't reappear, they sent in the aurors to see if he'd died. And he was gone."

"Oh bollocks!" seethed Fudge, "I wonder if it had anything to do with my meeting with him?"

"What did you discuss?" asked Amelia.

There was no way in hell he was telling Amelia Bones that Sirius Black never got a trial. He'd have to lie, something he was capable of, but that he didn't like doing with his senior advisors.

'There were some irregularities with the procedures when Sirius was sent to Azkaban," said Fudge, "Sirius Black was designated Harry Potter's guardian in the Potter will. This was never properly annulled. I asked him if he would sign away all his claims to guardianship over Harry. He seemed receptive to it." Suddenly he stopped.

"I did leave him a copy of the Daily Prophet though," noted Fudge after a moment, "maybe he saw something in there that set him off?"

"Which day?" asked Amelia.

"I don't recall exactly," said Fudge, "It was the issue with the Hogwarts school spirit article."

"I'll have someone take a look at it," promised Amelia.

"I think we'd better warn the Muggle Prime Minister as well," said Fudge, "Black was convicted of killing 10 muggles after all."

"My aurors are combing the countryside nearest Azkaban, but it is possible that Black has managed to find a wand. If he has, he could be anywhere," said Amelia.

"Oh?" asked Fudge.

"One of the aurors stationed at Azkaban is missing their wand," she explained.

"How did this happen Amelia?" Fudge demanded.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I'll let you know if we have any progress."

Fudge nodded. Well this was a disastrous way to end his day! And what if Black spoke to someone? Oh, bloody hell, this could bring down his whole government!

XXXXX

July 5th, 1993

Harry sat in the Dursleys' kitchen reading a book. Outwardly, the book looked like a regular muggle history book. That's what they thought it was. It was a history book of course, but of magical history. His aunt and uncle were very specific that they didn't want him doing anything magical, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

The Dursleys were watching the telly. They did that a lot. It was as good a substitute for family time as any Harry supposed. Though Dudley didn't seem to be paying attention. Instead he was playing a Gameboy. Harry wasn't watching any of it though. He was more interested in the formation of the International Confederation of Wizards.

He'd received mail from his friends this year. Ginny and her family had won some sort of contest, and were going on a vacation to Egypt. Hermione was in France. Blaise's mother had dragged him along to Ireland for a 'business' trip, which probably meant something illegal. Daphne and Tracey weren't going anywhere until a bit later in the summer however.

Suddenly he heard the sound change abruptly from the telly. He looked up to see a special news report. He walked into the living room in order to hear a bit better.

"...are confirming that a prisoner has escaped from custody," said the reporter, "The prisoner, one Sirius Black, was convicted of 11 counts of murder and should be considered extremely dangerous. If encountered, you should use caution, retreat, and call this special government tip line."

A phone number displayed on screen, next to a picture of a very disheveled man.

"Again, this man is considered extremely dangerous. Under no circumstances should anyone approach or confront him."

Harry realized that he had stopped breathing for a moment. "Bloody hell," he said.

"Don't use that kind of language young man!" said his aunt Petunia.

"That man, Sirius Black? He's a wizard," said Harry. Suddenly his aunt and uncle seemed a bit nervous.

"A wizard? Why would 'your' sort bother saying he's escaped - to normal people?" asked Vernon.

"He killed 10 muggles," said Harry.

"When was this? I haven't heard of it," demanded Vernon.

"A few days after my parents were killed," said Harry, "You didn't recognize him?"

"Should we have?" said Petunia.

Harry rolled his eyes. "He was the best man at my parents' wedding. That man is my godfather. He's the one who betrayed them."

Vernon and Petunia gaped at him. Dudley dropped his Gameboy.

"And I'm pretty sure he's coming here," said Harry.

Vernon's eyes bulged, then he seemed to turn red. "That's it. Get out of here!"

"Vernon!" shouted Petunia. "The note that his headmaster left us was very specific. If we kick Harry out, we might be in danger."

"No more danger than if he is still here!" shouted Vernon, "He's leaving, and he's leaving now!"

"Fine," said Harry, "I'll leave, let me get my things…"

"GET OUT NOW!" shouted Vernon, leaping to his feet and looking like he was about to have a stroke.

In a smooth move Harry drew his wand and pointed it directly at Vernon. "After I get my things."

Vernon sneered. "You wouldn't kill me," he said as he advanced on Harry.

Harry nodded. "You're right, I wouldn't. I don't need to kill you."

Vernon stopped in his tracks.

"But," continued Harry, "If I had wanted to kill you, I could. And I would've done it already."

Harry marched upstairs to grab his things. He just needed to get to Diagon Alley. While dodging a bloodthirsty murderer. Gathering his things, he made his way downstairs with his things. Dudley was by the door.

"Bye Harry," said the fat boy. He clearly had no idea how to feel about this. Harry couldn't blame him really.

"Bye Dudley," he said. And marched out of the house.

Of course, the problem was that it was getting dark. He probably should have demanded that he be allowed to leave in the morning. Harry had no idea how he was going to get to London. It wasn't that far, but he really didn't want to have to walk it.

As he walked by the nearby park, he heard rustling in the bushes nearby. Spinning towards them, he drew his wand.

"Come out!" he shouted.

A black dog appeared out of the bushes.

"Just a dog," he said.

A black dog. Black. The constellation Sirius was a dog. Sirius Black.

Harry shook his head with a laugh. "I have to stop doing that to myself. There's no way that you're…"

The dog suddenly walked forward, and suddenly it morphed into a man who snatched Harry's wand out of his hand.

"...Sirius Black," finished Harry.

Author's Note: And we're off! Year 3 handles a lot in the summer, and is going to go in some very different directions than canon now that everything is set up. I'd say fun stuff awaits, but a lot of what happens isn't really fun. Still it isn't nearly as dark as my original idea, so be grateful of that!

I saw two things I would like to respond to. First, how did Harry know about basilisk venom? It was written on the page he found in Hermione's hand. It was the same page from canon, which did mention Basilisk venom, so I elided the section where Harry read it. I might go back and add the venom to the summary he gave afterwards, but it isn't so much a plothole as much as something from canon I didn't mention because there was no change and it didn't actually impact what was going through Harry's head right then, which was 'who opened the Chamber of Secrets and where was it?'

As for the mandrake draught, that is simple, the reason it took a few weeks was because the mandrake supply Bryant found wasn't mature when he located it. As soon as it was ready, it shipped, though I suppose how long it would take to ship would be determined by if they were shipping the draught or the actual Mandrakes. I would imagine that actual Mandrakes would have to go through some sort of quarantine or approval process since, you know, they kill people.

The next two chapters were originally one chapter. It got split entirely because of size. This actually caused me some problems with the dates, but I managed to sort it out.