Disclaimer: All I own is this fanfic. everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!

Penelope Clearwater

Rita was flying around in her beetle form looking for any passing student in Hogwarts who may be discussing gossip. The egomaniac of a journalist flew over the forest since she had no luck in finding any gossiping students. Upon spotting some kind of abandoned cabin located on the other side of the forest, Rita quickly flew over to it to investigate. She peeked in through a window and spotted Harry Potter sitting at a dining table while drinking some butterbeer, and a girl with curly bright-blonde hair was accompanying him.

Then the crazy journalist walked down to the bottom of the door and under it to make her way inside the cabin. Unfortunately for Rita, she triggered some alarm charms that let Harry and the girl know that someone untrustworthy entered. They got up to investigate and spotted the beetle on the floor by the front door. Harry picked the beetle up and spotted the unusual red markings resembling glasses and immediately developed a suspicious expression on his face. Then the girl whipped her wand out and cast the spell to cancel all charms on the fake beetle and Rita immediately reverted back to her normal form.

"Well, well," Harry sneered at Rita. "The same beetle who I saw Malfoy speaking to and the same one to be in Hermione's hair turned out to be you. Since all those lies about me and Hermione written by you ended up in the Daily Prophet."

"And I don't think you're even a registered animagus, Skeeter." the girl snapped.

"Who are you?" Rita demanded.

"Penelope Clearwater, or Penny for short," said the girl in an irritable tone of voice. "I just left Hogwarts at the end of last year. I work for the ministry and I have read the list of animagis who are registered and you were never on the list."

"What do you have to do with Harry?" asked Rita.

"It actually started near the end of Harry's second year, which was near the end of my sixth year." said Penny.

"Yes, and Penny was the only prefect to be petrified by that basilisk," Harry began explaining. "She was also the only Ravenclaw to be the creature's victim. The other victims were a Hufflepuff student in my year named Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hermione being another one, and so was Colin Creevey and he was the first of two Gryffindors to be petrified. Even Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris was a victim, the very first one that is. After getting wind of slaying the basilisk, Penny engulfed me in hugs and kisses on my cheeks when she crossed my path in a corridor to prove her gratefulness to me."

"That started up our friendship forming and gradually strengthening," Penny explained to Rita. "Harry and I took time to get to know each other every chance we got. We even stayed in touch as much as possible. My former boyfriend, Percy, never checked up on me while I was petrified in the hospital wing. When I confronted him about it, he just made up lame excuses like 'I was on prefect duty' or 'I needed to work on my assignments,' for example. Then I broke up with him and walked outside to clear my head. That was when I came across Harry, who was sitting over by the shores of the Black Lake. He and I were both upset over our respective situations and we found comfort as we realized how easy it was to talk to each other."

"How did Granger react to that?" asked Rita.

"She actually took it well," stated Penny. "It was Percy's sister who got all jealous. She threw a monster tantrum one day after Halloween of last year when she spotted Harry and I having a nice conversation."

"Yes, Hermione and I decided to remain best friends," said Harry. "Ginny even threatened to strangle Penny for 'stealing her man,' in other words, me. It was enough for us to roll our eyes in exasperation because Ginny continues to assume that I'm her boyfriend while ignoring the fact that the Boy-Who-Lived and the real me are two different people. If you wish to speak with her about the matter, we'll show you the way."

Rita realized that neither Harry nor Penny gave her a choice. They dragged the crazy journalist behind as they led her out through a backdoor into some kind of secret room. Penny turned the light on and Rita spotted some kind of jail cell that held not only Ginny Weasley (identified by her chest-length flaming-red hair and light-brown eyes), but also Draco Malfoy (identified by his pale-blonde hair and blue eyes) and Pansy Parkinson (who had shoulder-length brunette hair in a high ponytail and dark-brown eyes. Her angry expression on her face resembling a bulldog immediately changed into an utterly terrified expression). Heck, even Draco and Ginny were looking utterly terrified.

"Penny and I correctly deduced that Skeeter was the beetle I saw you talking to," Harry informed Draco and Pansy (both who widened their eyes in fear). "You're not only guilty of being accessories to slander by helping to feed the journalist lies about me, but you're also guilty of withholding information about her being an unregistered animagus."

"But it was all entertaining to read in the Daily Prophet." Draco tried defending his actions.

"That doesn't justify anything, ferret boy!" growled Harry. "Everybody has feelings, and I don't think you'd like to hear about other students discussing what they really think of you behind your back."

"And you're not off the hook either, Ginny. Or should I say Ginevra." Penny snapped at the Weasley girl.

"Exactly, Ginevra," Harry began relaying everything in regards to her actions. "You were responsible for the Chamber of Secrets fiasco a couple years ago."

"It wasn't my fault, Harry! I was possessed by that memory of Riddle's!" Ginny cried, interrupting Harry in the process.

"You allowed the whole thing to happen, Ginevra!" Harry replied in a furious voice. "Lucius may have planted that diary in your cauldron, but you chose to keep on writing in the diary. You didn't have to keep at it, but you didn't have an ounce of care in the world. You're a pure-blood witch and your father works for the ministry, you should've gotten suspicious when it wrote back to you the first time. Like I said just now, you chose to keep on writing in it despite having been taught never to trust anything that thought for itself."

"It was an a-accident, Harry!" Ginny cried again, her eyes filling up with tears and getting scared.

"That was no accident, Ginevra!" Harry growled dangerously, frightening her more without feeling any sympathy. "By writing in that diary throughout the course of that year, you allowed Riddle's memory to possess you. You were even indirectly the cause of my parseltongue ability coming to light. You even tampered with evidence by trying to dispose of the cursed diary instead of turning it over to someone of authority or your father at least. He would've gotten it taken care of, but too late now."

"Come on, Harry!" Ginny sobbed, tears now flowing down her face.

"Not just that, but sometime after I got ahold of the diary," Harry continued growling at Ginny. "You waited until I wasn't around to steal it back because you didn't want me to find out what you had been writing in the diary and once again, you wrote in it. You caused several students to become petrified by that basilisk, Hermione and Penny included. Even Filch's cat was one of the victims. You were lucky nobody died because the basilisk kills by staring a victim in the eyes. That not only makes you guilty of public endangerment, but also several counts of attempted 2nd degree murder, regardless of having direct or indirect involvement. Riddle's memory also decided to have the basilisk kill me, but you never cared about any of that, you just wanted the Boy-Who-Lived to notice you."

"I've since been informing Harry about the law," Penny revealed to the four wrongdoers. "Given how I work for the ministry. Since you four are guilty of the crimes Harry threw out to you, there's no more getting out of suffering the consequences."

"That's right!" a magnified voice bellowed out.

Several wizards and witches cancelled disillusionment charms around themselves, revealing aurors working for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The head of the DMLE was Amelia Bones (identified by her bright-copper hair turning gray, black ministry robes and a monocle over one eye), and she shook her head at Harry's wrongdoers in disgust.

"Miss Skeeter, Miss Weasley, Miss Parkinson and Mr. Malfoy," Amelia informed Harry's wrongdoers matter-of-factly. "You're under arrest for the mentioned crimes you committed. You don't have to say anything, as it may harm your defence in court. Anything you do choose to say can be given in evidence."

Amelia gestured with a hand for Draco, Pansy and Ginny to hand their wands over, so she could take them to Dumbledore and have him snap them in half to declare them expelled. The three former Hogwarts students had no choice but to surrender their wands, then they (along with Rita) were placed in magic suppression handcuffs. Rita was led out to be taken into ministry custody, but the three former students were rather difficult. Ginny threw a tantrum and squealed to be let go while struggling to free herself, as did Draco. Pansy tried fighting off the aurors rather violently before she was finally placed in the handcuffs. Draco and Ginny were also charged with resisting arrest while Pansy also had that charge added, with the addition of assault and battery on an auror getting added to her record. Amelia headed up to the castle with the wands belonging to Draco, Pansy and Ginny to give to Albus and snap them just as the three former students in discussion were led out to be taken into ministry custody.

"What shall we do know, Penny?" asked Harry.

"Maybe we can go out into London," Penny suggested. "We can find a movie theater or a pizza restaurant or something, depending on the mood."

"Pizza sounds like a good option," said Harry. "I'm getting hungry."

"Yeah, me too," said Penny as her stomach rumbled. "Let's go find a good pizza restaurant."

Then she and Harry left the cabin and went to find a safe area for Penny to apparate herself and Harry over to an abandoned alley in London. With people like Rita Skeeter dealt with for good, the Daily Prophet was now free to hire more competent employees and repair it's reputation. For once, things were looking up.

The End!

Author's note: Another one-shot finished. Which girl should Harry be paired with in the next one-shot? Please let me know in a review or a PM, happy reading!