Here and Now

by CoastalFirebird

Reptilia28 Challenge answer. Harry dies and finds out he has more than a few things wrong in his life. The first of these being who he is in love and the second biggest one is a little inconsequential thing called gender. Time-travel, Fem!Harry, Soulmate, Ron Bashing, Dumbledore bashing, and character death.

7. Passing Time

Chapter Seven: Passing Time

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or affiliated characters, places, and things. They all belong to J.K. Rowling and affiliated companies. This particular plot is mine however. And to make it seem more cohesive to the original stories I am using some of the lines from them, but they are not my material. They came for the excellent mind of their owner.

A/N: I know how long it has been since I updated anything, but my laptop quit on me. Thankfully I had everything backed up through Microsoft, Google, and a flash drive. So, I still have all that I need to work on these stories. I know have a new laptop, so work will be getting back on a more regular pace. I made this chapter longer for this reason, so hopefully this placates the mobs. Also what happens in this chapter is what I had planed from the beginning so please don't cover me with tar and feathers. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Room of Requirement

5:10 PM

Jasmine was standing there in shock at the space the Room of Requirement had provided. The red plush cushioned love seat facing the two chase lounge chairs was a bit much in her opinion. She only noticed the table with a bowel of grapes and some butterbeer because Pansy grabbed one of the bottles as she walked by. Jasmine was pulled out of her dumbfounded state when she felt someone pushing her forward. She looked over her shoulder to see Hermione standing behind her with this impish expression on her face. Jasmine shook her head, and smiled as she started walking towards the love seat. She grabbed one of the butterbeer and threw herself into the love seat. Hermione grabbed a handful of grapes and sat down in the vacant lounge chair.

Jasmine looked back to make sure the door was closed. Once she saw that the door was closed, she turned back to the other two 'time travelers'. "So that we are all on the same page the both of you came from June of 1998 shortly after I walked into the forest and died." The other two nodded slowly. Jasmine took another sip from her butterbeer. "Okay we are all back here because of a choice I made. When I was killed by Voldemort, I was given the chance to go back and fix all the things that Dumbledore has allowed to happen." Jasmine held up her hand to stop Hermione from saying anything. "I don't know all of the details of what he has done, but I do know the general details of it all."

"How do you know that though?" Pansy asked.

Jasmine sighed. "I've had a nice long talk with my Grim Reaper, and apparently if your life is meddled with too much, and you die prematurely you are sent back in time by minutes or days. However, this last death required too much meddling with to fix all the problems if I was sent on that short of a time jump. Also, the things Dumbledore has done would not be alterable if such a short time jump was done." Jasmine took another sip of butterbeer to let this sink in. "I also speculate that if I had done what I did a week ago in ninety-seven or ninety-eight things would have gone pear-shaped fast. There's more though, and it involves the two of you. You see we are soulmates, and before you ask: No, I don't want to take advantage of you. Yes, I did start all the things we've been doing, but I didn't want to start a romance with you by force, and if you don't want to go on those dates now, I will understand."

Jasmine was looking down at her butterbeer at this point. She was hoping that the two young women sitting across from here didn't think poorly of her for doing this. The sound of cloth moving made her wince until she felt two pairs of arms wrap around her shoulders. She wanted to melt into their embrace, but her butterbeer slipping in her hands prevented this. It was hard to figure out what the girls were saying as trying to listen to one of them while the other was whispering in her other ear was a bit distracting. When they pulled away, they slipped in front of Jasmine.

It was Pansy who spoke first. "Jasmine I don't blame, despise, or hate you. If anything, I love for doing everything you have done. Your choices have given me a real friendship with others, and gotten me out of Malfoy's grip for the near future." She then looked over at Hermione. "And without you doing this my true nature would be hidden for ever."

Hermione nodded and then said with a chipper tone to her voice. "I have to agree with Pansy on this one, and about the way we feel about you," Hermione pointed to herself and Pansy, "…I don't think you choosing to go back in time caused any of it. I have all ways wanted this to happen with one of you and myself, but it happened." She looked back at Pansy. "Now I think you need to go back and get your butterbeer so we can continue this conversation cuddled up next to Jasmine."

Jasmine shook her head with a slight smile revealed her bittersweet nature in this moment. "Don't worry about it, girls you can go back and sit down in the lounge chairs if you want. Besides there still a lot of heavy stuff that I have to tell you."

"Jasmine." Hermione said sternly. "I know you too well to believe you need that right now. You need someone in this moment." Jasmine went to say something, but Hermione put a finger on her lips. "No, you need us right now, and given all these new memories we now have I think we need you." Hermione let out a held ragged breath. Hermione's face took on this bitter look to it, and for a second Jasmine thought she might need to hide behind Pansy. "Given what I remember from 'waking-up' I take it things went really bad?" It seems Hermione was trying find a reason as to what happened.

"You have no idea how bad things went." Jasmine said with a shallow laugh. "You remember that memory of me meeting my mum and dad?" Hermione nodded as Pansy handed her a butterbeer. "Well there was more to it than what I showed you. A lot more."

"I still wish I could have seen this memory." Pansy said a little bitterness in her voice.

"Maybe if I can get a pensieve I'll show you." Jasmine said with a smile. She held up her hand to stop the girls from saying anything. "I did die in the final battle with Voldemort, but that was not when I was supposed to die. Hell, I could have gone back to that moment in time as well, but I couldn't pass up this chance to change things. I only got this chance because that was not when I was supposed to die. I forget at what age I'm supposed to die, but it was not at seventeen, and if I had a guess neither are you two. I was told that I could come back to life then and there, but that would come with consequences I was not comfortable with." Hermione went to say something, but Jasmine just put a finger to her lips. She leaned in and gently kissed Hermione on the lips. "I know you want to know more, but if we keep the back and forth q and a it will take us a lot longer." Hermione just sat there with this stunned look on her face.

"So, you say, and if that's what she gets for an interruption what do I get." Pansy said with a coy smile.

"About the same." Jasmine said with a smile. She leaned in and kissed the girl's lips lightly. When she look at Hermione her light brown eyes had this dazed look to them. Jasmine put this memory away for later use. "Back to what I was saying. I was given four school years to return to, and four different days I could go back to. I was only given the days of the year I chose to return to. I chose this year, and December 31 at two in the morning. I am now able to do the things we've been trying to do for years Hermione. In fact, some of the things we wanted to do I'm supposed to do."

"Like save Sirius." Hermione said as she snuggled into her.

"Yes." Jasmine said as she leaned into Hermione, and pulled Pansy closer. "There are other things, but they are not important right now. What is important is that you two know that I did all of this to free the two of you primarily." Jasmine tightened her grip on both girls. "I don't know about you Pansy, but until you two kissed me on the cheeks I had a non-magical marriage contract with Ronald Bilius Weasley."

"WHAT?!" Hermione and Pansy screamed as one.

"It's dead in the water now girls don't worry about it." Jasmine said with a smile. "It was actually worse than it sounds. The bastards had it rigged in such a way that anyone I would have married would have been included in this marriage with Ronald. That includes his sister. Now my Grim Reaper tells me that he used the Imperious Curse to force his mum to sign it. To answer the obvious questions: Arthur nor Molly knows about this contract. If they had found out about it I believe they would have nullified it, and possibly disowned Ronald for doing this before calling the DMLE. What has really been pissing me off the past since my return is knowing that he is as bigoted as Draco. He hides it well. Given how he looks at you Hermione and other Muggleborns when they aren't looking, I don't know how he has kept this secret hidden from his family."

"He may know how to play them for fools, but maybe this is the reason the twins target him with all their 'pranks'." The anger in Hermione's voice sound a little more than threatening. "Do you think..."

Whatever Hermione was going to say next was cut off by a burst of flames. All three girls shrieked and drew their wands, but what was sitting on the table left them dumbstruck. Fawkes was just standing there with the Elder Wand sitting there in his beak to the left of bowl of grapes. It took them a moment to calm down, and once they lowered their wands Fawkes flew over and gently landed on Pansy's shoulder. Fawkes stretched its neck out holding the Elder Wand out over Jasmine's left hand. Jasmine gently took the Elder Wand from the bird. Once the phoenix was no long holding the wand Jasmine felt this warmth flow through her arm. The tension she had been feeling since she disarmed Dumbledore vanished in this moment. The power flowing through her right now was extraordinary. She felt this yearning sensation for the cloak that was sitting in her trunk. This warm feeling off to her left made Jasmine looked over at Pansy once more, and what she saw made her jaw hit the floor. Fawkes was sitting on Pansy's right shoulder and this low golden glow was wrapped around Fawkes and Pansy. Before she could ask what was going on the glow disappeared. The look on Pansy's face was a mixture of joy and shock.

"Do I even want to know what just happened?" Hermione asked with this wicked grin on her face.

"Maybe, and then again maybe not." Pansy said smiling back at her. Fawkes was shaking his head as Hermione swatted Pansy on the shoulder. "Okay, okay. Fawkes has finally broken the bond between with Dumbledore. Fawkes has know for about a week now that Dumbledore was darker than he let others see. It seems the old man slipped the day you and Jasmine sent that letter to your mum. Dumbledore had let it slip in-front of Fawkes what they had done. Fawkes could have broken the bond then, but Fawkes wanted even harder evidence that Dumbledore was going down a dark path. The moment Dumbledore called you a weapon versus a human the bond between phoenix and human was broken."

"So, as long as you are not doing anything overtly evil the bond will hold?" Jasmine asked looking more than a little confused.

"Not really there is some leeway that one is given. A phoenix will know your intentions in the actions you take, but they cannot read your mind. He knew Dumbledore and Ronald were having secret meetings about you, but so long as they were acting in your best interest, he could not break his bond." Pansy looked over at Fawkes. "So, even though you knew they were making a marriage contract you could not break your bond?"

Fawkes nodded his head, and looked over at Jasmine. He trilled out a little bit, and this made Pansy blush a little. Hermione could not resist breaking her silence. "What did he say just now?"

Pansy's blush deepened at this point. "This is coming from her not me. First she is kind of miffed that Dumbledore lied about her gender. Then she said: If we were going to be mating this is a pour room to do 'it' in."

Jasmine had been trying to drink some of her butterbeer, but now she was trying not to choke on it. A look over at the phoenix gave Jasmine the impression she was smiling somehow. Even though she was laughing hysterically Jasmine could feel her cheeks lighting on fire. "Well at least she has a sense of humour."

"Yes, I think this is a blessing." Pansy said with a smile as she scratched Fawkes on the back of her head. "So back to what we were talking about." She said sombrely. "We have came backwards through time, and are now set to completely fuck with this whole thing Dumbledore has planned for you?"

Jasmine just smiled at Pansy and then glanced over at Hermione. The bushy haired brunet just rolled her eyes. "I have plans to do more than just mess up his plans my dear." Jasmine brought Pansy's hand up to her mouth and gently kissed it. "There are lives I can save by changing the way things are 'supposed' to go. Twinkles and human garbage disposal are not the only problems we have to worry about. Snape is as self-serving as he appears to be. Yes, he was playing against Voldemort, but that was out of self-service, and a meek attempt to atone for the death of the woman he loved. Yes it still grosses me out that the man was in love with my mother."

Pansy blanched at this. "Wait your telling me the man was actually in love with someone other than himself?"

"Yes." Jasmine and Hermione said as one. They looked at each other for a split second before they started laughing.

"So aside from stopping the douche-bag who calls himself Voldemort is there anything else we're are supposed to do?" asked Pansy.

"Aside from stopping Voldemort, let Dumbledore die, save Sirius, and if possible, save Cedric. No, but if we can kill off Ronald that would be great..." Jasmine said with a cheeky smile.

"Jasmine!" Hermione and Pansy said as one.

Jasmine flinched and chuckled at this point. "What it was just a suggestion." Even though she was smiling the other two girls didn't stop giving her a death glare. "I know that this is a bad idea, but if he does something that gets him killed because of his... natural stupidity we can walk away with our hands clean."

"Jasmine..." Hermione said in a low whisper.

"Okay, okay." Jasmine just inched her way closer to Hermione to ease the girl's mood. "I know this is something horrible to jokingly talk about, but given what we have all been though we might need to joke about stuff like this to assuage our stress."

Hermione squinted her eyes at Jasmine. "Are you using nice words to ease my mood?"

Jasmine smiled sheepishly. "No, I would never do something like that." She leaned in and kissed Hermione lightly on her cheek. "Now aside from all of this I have a question for the two of you: do you think I should write a letter to Sirius?"

The two former enemies looked at one another for about a minuet before Pansy looked over at Jasmine. "You should, but be careful what you tell him right now. Dumbledore could have reached out to him already. It has been long enough for the old man to have sent a letter to Sirius using Fawkes."

Pansy looked at Fawkes for a moment. "Fawkes says she hasn't been sent with a letter to Sirius, but she has been sent to the Minister quite a bit recently."

"He's probably trying to stop him from giving Sirius a trial." Jasmine said with more than a hint of contempt in her voice. Thinking about Tuesday's Daily Prophets headline made Jasmine smile.

"Well Fudge does not seem to like what Dumbledore is suggesting. He has the problem of more than one respected adult saw the memory. Also the article in the Daily Prophet a couple of days ago had to of upset him." Jasmine chuckled at this, and imagined the look on the old man's face as he read the article. "So, I think it would be within our best interest to send Fudge a letter as well. Although I think we should send the letter to Black first though. If we do it the other way round Dumbledore could get in touch with him before we do. I don't think we can chance that." Pansy said in this calm cool voice.

"I concur Jasmine. If we give the old man a meter he'll take a kilometre." Hermione said firmly.

"Well lets finish the food and butterbeer, and then we'll go to Gryffindor common room, and I will write the letters. If the others say anything about you being there they can go jumping off a cliff." Jasmine said with a smile.

"Are you trying to annoy Ronald?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jasmine smirked at her friend. "Maybe."

-HAN-

January 14 7:39 PM

A cave in the Dark Forest

Sirius was gnawing on the remains of the latest rat he had killed for his meal. The only way he could handle eating these things was envisioning that it was Peter that he was eating. It's not that he was a cannibal or wanted to become one, but the thought of killing Peter was the only way he could do this. He had been thinking about going up to Hogsmeade again and begging for food as Padfoot. There was always the chance that someone would think that he was an animagus. Though the thought of getting scrap steak was more than a little appealing to him.

The only reason he was still doing this was the safety of his god-daughter. The story of Jasmine dying temporarily had been leaked to the Daily Prophet on Tuesday. The Prophet was a lucky grab really. The wizard who had been reading it was 'distracted' by young witch walking away from him slowly. He had spit out the last bone of the rat, and looked back at the paper.

Death and Betrayal

By Rita Skeeter

My loyal readers I finally have more news for you about what had caused the way we think about our heroine Ms Jasmine Potter to change! It seems that on the night of December 31 young Ms Potter died briefly. At what time this took place is unclear, but my source say Ms Potter truly died briefly. She was dead for only a moment or two, but in this time some amazing things happened. The least of which was the revelation that Jasmine Potter had been turned into Harry Potter. Ms Potter was also given information about who had handed the Potters over to He-Who-Must-Named. What my source learned shook them to their very core. I will try to guide you all through what my source told me, and the things I have learned to back this information up.

The first thing my source was that Ms Potter experienced a modern day miracle that caused Ms Potter to loos some of her faith in Albus Dumbledore. (See page 4 for a reprint of January 3rds Article By Rita Skeeter.) It is unclear to this reporter, or her source, how long this event took place in the mortal world, but I know that it was during this time that Ms Potter discovered what had happened to her. It is my suspicion that her soul reflected the truth about her gender, and not the lie someone was wanting us all to believe. As for who informed her of this the answer to that is what makes this a modern day miracle. You see during her time in the Limbo Ms Potter was able to meet with her parents (James and Lily Potter). It was Lilly Potter who told her daughter what she should do to return to her natural gender. James told Ms Potter that he was pleased with what she had done, and it was he who expressed some disapproval in the actions of Dumbledore. My source was reluctant to reveal what the old ding-bat had done to upset the man. (For more information about James and Lilly Potter see page 5.)

All of this of course is not the most important information that Mr and Mrs Potter shared with their daughter. You see for the last twelve-years we have all been told that Sirius Black was the one who handed the Potters over to You-Know-Who, but it seems we have all been lied to! Now wait a moment before you all send me Howlers. I am not just going of this one source concerning this bit of information. You see I have spent the last few days digging through Ministry records concerning Sirius Black, and I could find no record of a trial, nor any inquiry of the man. You see Mr Black was just thrown under the ORDERS of former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Bartemius Crouch Senior. (For more on Bartemius Crouch Senior see page see page 7) Sadly Crouch could did not do this alone. You see his actions were supported by former Minister Millicent Bagnold. Bagnold and Crouch's signatures are on the orders that sent Sirius Black to Azkaban. All of this was done after Bartemius Crouch Junior was sentenced to life in Azkaban. So, was all of this done to save what remained of Crouch Senior's reputation, or was it a final attempt of theirs to set Crouch up as the next Minister of Magic?

Sadly after being told all of this Ms Potter's time with her parents was ended by Death herself. My source could not tell me any more than this however. It seems that the means in which they gained this information put them right beside Ms Potter in the Limbo, and they were told by Death that they could see no more. I was told that Ms Potter seemed to be unaware of this persons presence. When I pressed for more information they just went pale and said it was best if they said no more on the matter.

After learning all of this I approached Minister Fudge, and asked what he thought on the matter. He said this: "Ms Skeeter I am aware of what happened to Ms Potter, and I am looking into the matters that revealed themselves because of it. If there is anything I find out regarding this matter you will be the first to know." While it pleases me that the Minister is looking into this matter I promise you readers I will not stop until I uncover all there is to know regarding all of this!

Sirius didn't know if this woman was being helpful or harmful to his cause. Two weeks ago the same woman had told the public that he was one of the most dangerous people to serve the Dark Lord. Now for some reason she was saying he was innocent. Was the source this woman now had so reliable to her that she would change her opinion so quickly? He had been hoping that Dumbledore would contact him the moment Sirius read the article. Dumbledore had to have read the article, because the old man read the Daily Prophet regularly from what he remembered. Dumbledore was the only one he knew of off hand to have a pensieve. So, it stood to reason that the man would ask Jasmine to provide him wit ha memory of this event. If Dumbledore would contacted him he might not be thinking so poorly of the man right now.

The smell of smoke and cinder filled his nose. The sound of flames swiftly filled the air around him. He looked to the right and what greeted his gaze made him smile. A phoenix was sitting there with a letter attached to its leg, and it was also carrying a small package in its talons. The phoenix let go of the package and flew over to him. He shifted out of his animagus form, and took the letter off the phoenix's leg. Before he could read the letter the bird took off in flames again. Sirius growled. If this was Dumbledore's idea of helping him it was laughable. He unrolled the parchment and started reading the letter.

Sirius,

Hi there. I guess this is the first time we have actually talked to one another if you will. It's your outrageously awesome god-daughter Jasmine. Before I say anything else the phoenix is Fawkes, and she is bonded to one of my girls. I really should have written to you a few days ago when the truth was revealed to me, but life being what it is I found myself distracted if you will. Going from being a teenage boy to a teenage girl is a little more annoying than one would think. The plus side is I guess I don't have to wonder what a young woman looks like any-more. You will have to excuse the blotches of ink. My girlfriends are swatting me on the shoulder for that comment. That aside I honestly feel fine given what has happened. What hurts me the worst is that you have spent so many years in prison for something that you didn't do.

I am hoping we can catch the rat sooner rather than later. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to meeting you. Hopefully staying at Azkaban didn't mess you up too badly. I also gave Minister Fudge look at what happened using a Pensieve, so he knows what really happened, and he seems to be wanting to do what is right. For a politician this is a miracle right?

I would love to make this letter longer, but I don't know you well enough. Hopefully this changes soon. The package is food from Hogwarts kitchen with utensils, and a butterbeer. Enjoy. Fawkes will be showing up latter to bring you some stuff to clean yourselves with. Just so you know, Fawkes is no longer with Dumbledore she is now bonded to Pansy. Yes I know the irony two flowery names laugh it up later.

Sincerely,

Jasmine

Sirius sat there reading the letter a dozen times. He was both shocked and overjoyed at what he was reading. He was shocked that the phoenix was bonded to one of Jasmine's friends and not to Dumbledore any-more. What could the old man have done to lose the trust of such a noble creature. Sirius smiled at his own stupidity. "She has more than one girl it seems." So if Pansy was one girl, could Ms Granger be the other one? Did this mean that his god-daughter was like him, and making a play with more than one young woman? If so he need to do two things about this. One was scold her for such behaviour publicly if she was caught doing this, and then in private complement her on a good run of things.

What overjoyed him is that Jasmine had talked with her parents, so he no long had to try and convince her that he was telling the truth. It was probably one of the saddest and happiest moments in her life. What had caused her death he would never, and probably couldn't know. It was even more puzzling to him why she wasn't permanently dead. He had head an seen some people survive some life threatening things, but this was different. Jasmine apparently truly died, and was ALLOWED to return to life by Death herself. A... deity never did anything for free, so there was something Death wanted, and it wasn't Jasmine's soul. So, what was it? The only thing that kept coming to his mind was too dark to even consider thinking about.

A pain in his stomach and a low grumble made him think back to another part of Jasmine's letter. He stood up and took the couple of steps up to package. He picked it up then walked to a small stone at the left side of the cave. He used the stone as a chair and slowly unwrapped the package. When he saw the top of a butterbeer he grabbed it, and set it gently on the ground. He unwrapped it further to find a plate of chicken and spaghetti with utensils. He touched his finger to it, and it felt nice and warm.

"Thank you Jasmine." Sirius said with a smile on his face.

-HAN-

Cornelius Fudge's Home

January 14 9:14 PM

Cornelius was walking around in his home office wondering what to do now that the news about Sirius Black being innocent had been published on Tuesday. He really wished he knew how this information had been given to Skeeter. Cornelius KNEW that Dumbledore would never do this. Skeeter was just as institutive about him as she was to the Ministry at large. The same could be said about Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall for the same reason that Dumbledore wouldn't do it. It was rumoured that Snape hated Sirius Black so he was out as well. Ms Potter had never given an interview with the paper before, so she was out. Ms Granger seems to be too upstanding of a person to sink this low. The only people Cornelius had been talking about this this with were the Head of Unspeakables and Umbridge. He knew neither of them would talk to that harpy. There was only one person that might have done this and that was young Mr Weasley. Though it seemed unlikely it was still a possibility. Cornelius had tried to talk to Arthur about the young man. Arthur said he would try and find out by talking with the boy on Saturday. This made him feel a little bit better.

The sound of something wrapping on his window drew his attention. Sitting on his window sill was a snowy owl with a piece of parchment attached to its leg. He walked over and opened the window for the owl. It flew over to his desk and landed in the centre. Cornelius walked over to the desk grabbing an owl treat for the carrier. He gave the owl its treat, and took the letter from it. He did a customary check for all kinds of spells on the letter before he unrolled it. There was no spell found on the parchment. Now that he was satisfied he unrolled the parchment, and started to read the letter.

Minister Fudge,

I know this an awfully late time to be contacting you, but I feel this is an overdue letter. I know we have only met a couple of times, and both of those times were moments of distress. I can assure you that I had nothing to do with the article in the Daily Prophet a couple of days ago. I know it has probably caused you more distress than it caused me.

Minister Fudge I will do all that I can with my friends to see if they had been talking to someone about what had happened. I know I did not tell anyone who didn't already know any details of what had happened to me that night. The best I gave anyone was that I had had a near death incident. That I was allowed to see my parents and that was it. If I said anything else people would have thought I had lost my mind. If it will ease your mind I will answer any questions you have under Veritaserum. I know this is drastic, but I would rather put this matter to rest, than cause problems for you personally and the Ministry in general.

If there is anything I can do to help you let me know. I will also make sure that Ronald hasn't been talking to others about it. He does have a tendency to exaggerate things a little if he is the one doing all the telling. If he has I will ENCOURAGE him to stop doing this foolish action. If you want to write a response you may use Hedwig, but it doesn't have to be tonight if you chose to do so.

Again sorry for disturbing you this late Minister Fudge.

Sincerely,

Jasmine Potter

"Well that answers one question I've had." Cornelius said with a sigh of relief. "Though this may explain how Skeeter got any bit of this information. I just need to wait for Arthur to confirm it though." Maybe Mr Weasley had said something to one of his classmates, and they had written to their parents, and for whatever reason Skeeter had been able to read that letter. This would have of course caused her to look into Sirius' arrest records, and then looked for a trial record. Like himself she would have found no such thing.

Cornelius had asked Barty about why Black didn't have a trial. The answer he was given disturbed him a little. "All the evidence pointed to Black, Pettigrew had said that Black had betrayed the Potters, and his own words during his arrest confirmed it." Barty had said rather hotly. "You also have to take into account that all we could find of Pettigrew was a finger! There were also a handful of muggle witnesses to what had been said by Pettigrew."

Again this disturbed him a little. He had asked Amelia if it was possible for Petter to have screamed out that Black had betrayed the Potters, then cut off his finger, blown up the street, and then just dispensary. Of course that wasn't the only thing they had discussed. They talked about Potter's memory, her brief stay amongst the dead, and what it meant. They had also discovered a breach in Ministry security for a while now, and it had only been uncovered because of this article. He and Amelia had talked for a while all of this, and the more he thought about it the more worried he became.

-HAN-

Thursday January 13th 10:15 AM

Ministry of Magic, Minister's Office

Cornelius was pacing back and forth in front of his desk at the moment. It had only been two days since the Prophet had run Skeeter's latest article. While he was enraged by it Cornelius was more impressed that she had for once been more truthful than deceitful. He had Dolores look into the possibility that it had been a listening charm in his office. Umbridge said that she would do that immediately. She also assured him that she had not talked to with Skeeter. She also pointed the finger at Dumbledore saying that the old man may have let it slip to one of his lackeys, and then they were the ones who talked to Skeeter. This sounded as likely as Dumbledore resigning as Headmaster. It was also clear to him that none of Dumbledore's know supporters would do this. Dolores then suggested that maybe it was someone they didn't know about. Again Dumbledore didn't seem the sort to have a secret group of people to run secrets to the press.

As if thinking about this was some kind of summons for his Undersecretary the woman knocked on and opened his door. The stern look on her face meant that she was irritated by something. So irritated in fact that she left his door wide open. This was unusual for her. Usually she had a smile on her face this early in the morning. "What is wrong Dolores?"

"I have spent the last hour looking for more paperwork on Sirius Black, but I could find nothing other than his records as an Auror. This is frustrating Minister Fudge. I cannot for the life of me find anything to confirm that the man had a trial. I could also not find no connection between Skeeter and anyone you told me also so the memory. So either Skeeter has been spying on Ms Potter, or she has been spying on Dumbledore some how since Wednesday." Dolores said rather hotly.

Cornelius thought on what the woman had just said. If anyone could have more records on the matter it would be Amelia Bones, and the only thing they had been looking for were trail records. "You may not know it Dolores, but you have given me a brilliant idea." Cornelius walked passed Dolores. He looked to his secretary, and told her to hold off all appointments until he returned. Dolores told him she would assist her in this matter. Cornelius nodded and continued on to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He was stopped occasionally by people wondering about Black. Cornelius told them he was looking into it, and that as soon as he had solid answers he would be holding a press conference.

When he got to the DMLE he could see the place was going crazy. People were running around like someone had lit their backsides on fire. He asked Dawlish if Amelia was busy. The man said she shouldn't be. He walked up to the woman's door and knocked on it. "Come in." Amelia voice sounded a touch frazzled. When he walked in Amelia squinted at him. "Minister Fudge, let me guess you are here to talk about the article about Sirius Back?"

"Yes and no Amelia." Cornelius said as he shut the door. "Can you silence the room Amelia?"

Amelia's right eyebrow raised at this. "Why are you wanting this Minister?" Amelia asked as she silently cast a silencing spell at the door.

"I have my reasons." Cornelius said as he pointed at a piece of parchment on her desk and a quill.

"And what are these reasons?" Amelia said she slid him the parchment, quill, and ink well.

"What was said in that article was known only by a handful of people until Tuesday. That list is short enough to count on two hands with room to spare." He said as he started writing on the parchment. "Even though I talked about it with two other people that was done in the Ministers Pensieve, and that was to see if the memory was altered. Perhaps I could get your opinion on this if I did the same with you?"

"Sadly Minister we would need to get the memory from Ms Potter to do that. Yours would be jumpy, but if Ms Potter had been messed with we wouldn't know how she was affected, or what part of her memory was changed. So, we need the original if you still have suspicions regarding this Minister Fudge."

"Of course Amelia." Cornelius read his note before sliding it to her.

Amelia I think that it is possible someone has tapered with my things, and placed listening charms on them. I only know the most basic of detections spells, so I cannot do a thorough check of my things. I am wanting to do this as quietly as possible. I suggest we start with the things I am wearing at the moment. I am only asking because the same could be true about others in my office, so I cannot ask them to do it.

Amelia read the note, and shook her head in agreement slowly. "We could always ask Professor McGonagall to bring Ms Potter here so we can look for signs of mental modification." As Amelia was saying this she was casting dozens of spells silently. Once she was done Amelia pointed to his bowler and tie. "I mean you have the pensieve for the Minister's personal use, and there are I think three others in the Ministry."

"Yes, Amelia I think there are." Cornelius took of his bowler and tie as was responding to Amelia. "I think that it would be with in the Ministry's best interest to look at this memory once again. I mean Ms Potter did say she wanted to use her memory of what happened to young Mr Malfoy as evidence in support of Professor Hagrid claims. Maybe we move the trial up to next Friday to solve both problems, as swiftly as possible."

"That sounds reasonable Minister." Amelia said as she cast other spells on the bowler and tie. "Why don't I go get someone to send a messages to Diggory to move the trial up, we also need to inform Mr Malfoy, and then of course Professor McGonagall regarding the matter." Amelia said this as she was walking towards the door.

"That sounds perfect Amelia." Cornelius said as he stood up and stepped right side of Amelia's office. Amelia walked out of her office, and closed the door.

A couple of minutes later she returned with three Aurors. She pointed to the hat and tie. They cast spells on them, and confirmed the espionage spells that were on them. Auror Shacklebot pulled out two bags from his robes. Auror Dawlish picked up the tie, and Auror Tonks picked up his bowler. One by one they put the objects in the bags and sealed them. Once that was done Amelia spoke in an agitated voice. "I want this documented, and put under heavy security. The only people I want to have access to these things are yourselves, Minister Fudge, and myself. Am I clear?"

All three aurors said as one. "Yes ma'am!" Shacklebot hid the bags under his robes before the three walked out.

Amelia gestured to the chair as the door closed. "Sit Cornelius," he nodded then sat down. "I know we don't often agree on things, but this is a serious breached of security, and it needs to be addressed."

"I agree with you, but were do we start. I know you would never do this, but I don't think I can say that about everyone who works here." Cornelius just shook his head. "There have been dozens of people who have been in and out of my office, and not all of them work for the Ministry. So the options are nearly limitless. I need to get Dolores in here as soon as possible to make sure she isn't being monitored."

"That is a bad idea Cornelius." Amelia said firmly. "If she is being monitored we want to keep those lines open. If all the charms are dropped who ever is doing it will know they've been discovered." Amelia reached into her desk and pulled out some Fire Whiskey and a couple of glasses. "I don't think you will fault me for having a couple of glasses now will you Minister?" Amelia asked as she poured some of the beverage into the glasses.

"Not at all." Cornelius said as he took a sip. "Now back to what we were talking about before we discovered this."

"Of course." Amelia said before taking a sip of her own. "We can do what you have suggested, and then call the dementors back to Azkaban. We will also have to do something about what the muggles know about the matter." Amelia took another sip. "The fact that Barty did all of this and is still a free man is beyond annoying to me."

"I can only imagine how angry you must be." Cornelius said before taking his third sip. "I would love to have him questioned about this, and do something about it legally, but Black isn't the only one this was done to, and most of the others that it happened to were open supporters of You-Know-Who."

"How many of them were actually innocent people under the Imperious Curse?" Amelia asked.

"Hard to say now." Amelia said before she finished her first glass. "What I want to know right now Minister is what exactly was in that memory."

"You will find this hard to believe I can assure you." Cornelius said as he sat his glass down, and refilled it. "What Skeeter wrote is pretty much true, but she left out a few things that people will find hard to believe. And given what I have seen makes what she wrote more believable." Cornelius took another sip. "First it was Ms Potter's parents who told her about what Albus had done to her, and yes it was Dumbledore that changed her gender. Secondly they told her how proud they were of Ms Potter has done, and that she could do better in other areas. James had poked fun at her a little considering that she had not asked out Ms Granger yet." Cornelius smiled a little at this. "They then told her what books she would need to get to fix her problem, and apparently they wanted her to learn Occlumency for some reason." Cornelius took another sip. "It was at some point during this conversation that they told Ms Potter that Black didn't betray them. They were about say who it was, but they vanished before they could say more than that." Cornelius took another sip of his Fire Whisky. Smoke was starting to seep out of his nostrils.

While Amelia filled up another glass she asked. "Why would they want her to learn Occlumency?"

"I don't know." Cornelius said sombrely. "This isn't the worst of it though." Cornelius looked Amelia dead in the eye. "Death was truly in the memory as well." Cornelius took a sip of his Fire Whisky, and with a shaky breath continued. "I don't know what Skeeter's source saw, but what I saw makes what little she wrote look tame. You see Death lead Ms Potter to the back of a spiritual Kings Cross Station. Underneath one of the seats was this small infantile thing." Cornelius shivered just thinking about the image. He refilled his drink with a shaky hand as he continued. "The smell around it was disgusting. Death told Ms Potter that when she got the scar a piece of You-Know-Who's soul attached itself to her scar because of the residual magic on it."

Amelia gagged on her drink. When her throat clears she said in slightly horse voice: "What?"

"I truly don't know the true meaning of this Amelia, but apparently when they say the man has study the darkest of magic they were not kidding." Cornelius took a bigger sip of his whiskey and let flames and smoke leave his nostrils. "She also said that Ms Potter was able to fight off this corruptive force for years, and that for it she was being rewarded. How I do not know all Death said was that it was one of His powers. The only one of his 'powers' that I can see being used as a gift is Parsteltongue. I can't see how that would be useful, but I'm not a Divine Thing so..." Cornelius took another sip. "I guess we are all lucky that this fragment of the Dark Lord was only skin deep and attached to Ms Potters scar."

Cornelius' gaze was pulled from his glass when he heard Amelia's chair slide backwards. He watched her walk to a closed off segment the bookshelf behind her desk. Amelia whispered something as she touched her wand to it a few times. She opened the door and was looking through the books for what felt like twenty minuets. She pulled out a thick book that appeared to be made of thick black leather. It didn't look that old, but it had most definitely been well used for some time. When she got back to her desk she set the book down, and took a seat. Cornelius looked at the cove. Secrets of the Darkest Arts was written on the cover in silver ink. Amelia opened the book and started skimming the table of contents. "You know that Dumbledore tried to have this book taken away from DMLE for a reason he didn't want to explain beyond: 'It is for the Greater Good'."

"No, I didn't. But if you think what is in this book has anything to with what happened to Ms Potter, then you have me here for as long as you need me." Cornelius said with a shaky breath. Hearing this now brought a little more clarity in to something that Death had told Ms Potter. Cornelius smiled as he said told Amelia about this. "Maybe it is this meddling of his that caused Death to do what she did following her explaining about the Told Potter exactly how to prove that all of this had happened, and then she told Potter to disarm Dumbledore. Granted she said that Potter should do this before we all saw the memory, but she apparently forgot that, and only did this after seeing the memory."

Amelia looked up from the book with shocked look on her face. "Why would Death want that?"

"I don't know, maybe she thought Dumbledore would wipe her memory of this encounter. And like what happened to Skeeter source Death looked right at Dumbledore. I mean exactly where Dumbledore was standing. This is why I don't think this is a modified memory." Cornelius set his glass down on the desk. "Death also knew about the Pensieve in Dumbledore's office."

"I didn't know he had one." Amelia said as she flipped through the book to somewhere in the back of the book.

"I don't think it was his personal one. It might be one that is property of Hogwarts." Cornelius with a slight hiccup to his voice. "Hopefully what we learn here does not cause us more problems than we already have."

Amelia nodded as she read page after page briefly. "The material in this book Cornelius is some of the most darkest magic ever created. I know that Hogwarts has a copy of it, but Dumbledore moved it to the Restricted Section, and you would need his permission to even look at the thing. I learned this when he talked to me about our copy of it. I told him I hadn't looked at it, and that it wasn't my place to give it away."

"Why does he want this book so bad?" Cornelius asked a little more than annoyed at the older man's persistence in getting his way.

Amelia was moving a finger across a page as she responded.. "Because of what I am reading right now." Amelia stopped reading and add more whiskey to her glass. "Cornelius I think we have a bigger problem than you realise."

"Why?" Cornelius asked with more than a little dread in his voice.

"Before I explain I want to ask: Do you know what a Horcrux is?"

-HAN-

Cornelius looked over at his own bottle of Fire Whiskey as he thought all of this. It had become a little more tempting to tap into the bottle since he learned about these vile things. The best that he and Amelia could come up with is that Voldemort had made more than one of these things, and that doing so had caused his soul to fracture when his Killing Curse bounced off Potter and hit him. They were only able to learn about the multiples of these things cause of Potters memory and what happened at Hogwarts last year. While Dumbledore had proven that it was something of He-Who-Must-Named's personal things that had caused all of the distress last year he refused to tell people how. Well now Cornelius knew how, and he could understand why the meddlesome bastard would want to keep this secret from the general public, but it would have been extremely helpful in the war, or after, if he had started hunting for these damned things.

"Yes, but even if we found them the damn book didn't tell us how to destroy 'em." Cornelius growled. A soft chirp off to right reminded him of the owl. He looked over at the bird and asked "Do you want to stay here tonight so I can send my response with you?" Oddly enough the bird chirped nodded her head. "Okay, come with me. I will take you to the owlery." The bird flew onto his shoulder as he walked to the door.

-HAN-

Rita Skeeter's Apartment, London

January 14 10:30 PM

Rita was pacing back and forth in her apartment. She was now wishing she had listen to her mother when it came to being too nosey. Because she had hopped into Dumbledore's pensieve in her beetle form she was no bound in a magical vow to do nothing for the next three days, and she had to with hold certain information from the public even though she new it was one-hundred percent true!

Rita grumbled as she leaned against her wall and looked out window. The wind and snow outside looked more inviting than the frigidness in her apartment. She looked over at the brunette that was sitting at her table eating a piece of pizza. "Why won't you let me use my magic to stay warm?"

The woman looked over at her and smiled. Her cold grey eyes carrying more than a hint of merriment at causing distress to her 'host'. "Because you tried to stun me when all I wanted to do is talk." She then took a bite out of the pizza. After she swallowed the bite she looked back at Rita. "Besides even though you should be totally dead from hypothermia I am being ever so kind by preventing this."

"You know I am willing to work WITH you?" Rita said behind gritted teeth.

"I know, and to be honest there is nothing other than the three articles I asked of you." She ate another bite of pizza before continuing. "You have already done one, the second is set for Monday, and the third will be for any point next week." She looked back over at Rita, and smiled. "Now I am pointing you in the directions for these articles. You get to do with them what you want, so long as you are being honest, and once this is done you will be free to go."

"You ask more of me than this Amanda!" Rita screamed at the woman.

"Oh please!" Amanda said as pulled out another piece of pizza. "You want what happens in your bedroom as much as I do." The woman looked back over at Rita with a wicked smile on her face. "Besides how many mortals do you think get to say they've made Death scream out their name in bed? Much less actually seen me naked."

"You just look like the woman I loved!" Rita screamed back at her.

Amanda just shook her head. "No my dear she looked like me, and if I must say it again I will. There was nothing you could have done to save her life. It was her time." She pushed out the chair right next to her. "Now come sit down and eat."

Rita mumbled as she made her way over to the table. "I'll make you scream out my name..."

-HAN-

Saturday January 15th 9:06 AM

Hogwarts Great Hall

Pansy was sitting there right between Jasmine and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. It had become a regular thing for Pansy to be at the left of Jasmine while Hermione was on the right. She had grown to like this format, but for some reason when they met up out side of the Great Hall they had wanted to get into this format. This was bothering Pansy a little bit the more she thought about it. It was almost like since they parted ways last night infront of they Slytherin Common Room entrance they had been planing something. The two of them would occasionally look at each other then break out into a fit of giggles. This was both cute and annoying.

"All right you two what are you planing?" Pansy asked as she looked between the two of them.

"Nothing much." Hermione said she wrapped an arm around her waist. "We had just been thinking that we got one another Christmas Gifts but we didn't get you one. So, we've been wondering what to get you, and well things got a little... creative in what we might get you."

Pansy looked between them a little more worried now. "Please tell me not all of these gifts were inappropriate for public display?"

"Of course." Jasmine said with a smirk plastered on her face. "Yet, the ones that would fall in that category weren't shall we say fall into the embarrassing category either."

The two girls looked at one another again. They said in a low tone as one: "Comedy gold."

"At whose expense?" Pansy asked in a low voice as she looked between the two of them.

"Not yours." Jasmine said softly. "But you will be involved in the prank should we actually do this."

Pansy looked over at Hermione. "I thought you were one to follow the rules and not do things like this?"

Hermione blushed a little bit as she looked down at the table, and looking up at Pansy. Pansy didn't know if she was going for sympathy, or she was genuinely slightly embarrassed that she had done this. Hermione responded in a sheepish voice. "I've just come to understand that you need to live a little every now and then."

Pansy smiled at her, and leaned in and kiss Hermione on the cheek. "You are so cute when you are embarrassed." Pansy said this in a low whisper.

Hermione's cheeks brightened even more now. She swatted Pansy on the shoulder. "Not publicly." She whispered while she leaned in and kissed Pansy's cheek. "That is unless you want Draco to officially know you are off the market."

Pansy purred as Hermione kissed her neck. There was part of her that was wondering if this was the 'prank' that they had planed, but it was loosing to the side of her that desperately wanted this. Sadly if it was the arrival of the owls brought an end to it. Pansy looked up at the animals with so much hate in her eyes she was sure that some accidental magic would light a few of them on fire. Sadly this did not happen. Pity. She looked amongst the owls for Hedwig. It didn't take long to find her. She was gliding down towards Jasmine. Once she was at the table Pansy noticed how close Hedwig and Jasmine truly were. Jasmine was grabbing a piece of bacon before the owl even touched down. Once Hedwig was sitting on the table Jasmine was giving her the piece of bacon before she even touched the parchment. As Jasmine read the letter she was petting Hedwig. Once the owl was done with back she lightly nipped Jasmine on the finger then flew off.

As Pansy watched Hedwig fly away she finally staring straight at Draco. The look on the bastards face was beyond livid. When she had first heard Jasmine describe her uncles face as 'puce' she didn't quite get it. Now she did though. Draco appeared to be beyond pissed off, and she knew he would never do something publicly with her like he did with Jasmine. He would wait until she was back in the Common Room before he did a damn thing. She didn't know how far Draco would actually go, but she knew the point he would not cross. So long as he didn't do anything sexual he would be safe, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be beaten. So, she would have to raise her guard. One look at the rest of the table should that not all of the house would be supporting him, so she might have some help.

"Well this is interesting." The sound of Jasmines voice pulled Jasmine out of her melancholy. Jasmine looked over at Pansy, and held out the letter. "Normally I would give this to Hermione, but this is more up your alley. So, I think you need to look at this."

"Okay." Pansy said as she took the piece of parchment. One look at the letter made Pansy raise an eyebrow.

Ms Potter,

I would first like to thank you for letting me know that you hadn't talked to Ms Skeeter. I am also glad to her that you are willing to go through legal means to prove that you had nothing to do with this matter. I am willing to assist you in this, and I think we can help one another while doing this.

You see I have had a conversation Madam Bones the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and we have come up with a way that we can solve this and Professor Hagrid's trial in one day. We were thinking that you should let those who are willing to come testify on Professor Hagrid's behalf that we will be moving the trial up to some point next week.

I also think it would be beneficial to us all that you and I started thinking of an alliance of sorts for the foreseeable future. You see Madam Bones and I have discovered a few things, and I think if the two of us, and those you think are trust worth enough, should go over that memory of yours once more. I also think. It would be an honour to have you stay over for lunch shall we say that day. You see Madam Bones, and think there are some THINGS hidden in that memory of yours that we need to talk about soon.

I would also love to point out that given the Divine beings disapproval of Dumbledore I think it would be within all our interest to keep him out the loop on this one eh? I can assure Ms Potter that you are in no danger, and I will do what ever I must (within reason of course) to aid you in anything that you see would help us all in the long run.

Let me know if you are in agreement with this.

Sincerely,

Minister Cornelius Fudge

Pansy read the letter a couple more times. She then looked over at Jasmine. The look of worry on her face caused Pansy to call out to Fawkes. "I need you to deliver a letter for us Fawkes."

"On my way." Fawkes said in soft voice.

Pansy looked over at Jasmine and Hermione. "I've called Fawkes so we can get to the Gryffindor Common Room fast. I think you should take this offer." She looked between the two of them, and the look of confusion and worry on their faces made her sigh. "Look I know Malfoy Senior is a friend of his, but he isn't one with Bones. If the TWO of them want to talk to you it is a serious thing. We will need to meet with them, or we are going to be flying around in the dark."

Hermione closed her eyes and was off in though. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Fawkes arrived. "I agree with, but we will need to talk about this more somewhere more... private."

Pansy just nodded her head as the three of them grabbed onto Fawkes. "To the Gryffindor Common Room please."