Title: Strings of Fate
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Nothing Specific, general for first few books.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, or Luna, or Ginny, or Cho, or... I would buy them all but I am broke.
Summary: Being raised only by his Aunt, Harry comes to Hogwarts not only knowing about the Wizarding World, but with a kind of training no one at the school is expecting.
Amelia Bones lead Harry, Petunia and Tonks into the secured location where they were holding Sirius Black. Amelia signed them in through the Aurors that were guarding the outside of the location and led them down the front hall to a decent size kitchen.
Dudley and Susan were staying at Bones Manor while they were visiting, as they had no reason to be there, unlike Harry as Sirius' Godson and Petunia, who knew him from before his incarceration. Tonks was there as she had been accepted to Auror Academy, and so Amelia had gotten her in as a 'trainee Auror', even though she had technically not yet stared her training.
There was a single male Auror sitting in the kitchen, who jumped up when Amelia walked in.
"Boss, what's the matter?" the Auror asked.
"Nothing, Williams." Amelia replied. "Just brought some visitors to see Black."
"Right." Williams said with a sly grin. "He's currently upstairs. Jennings is with him."
Amelia groaned hearing that news. She went to the stairs and cupped her hands around her mouth.
"Sirius, Marie, get your arses down here now." She yelled. "And for Merlin's sake, make sure you both put all your clothes on this time. There are visitors."
The group moved into the living room, leaving Williams in the kitchen, and sat down on the seats that were scattered around the room, with Harry and Tonks sitting on one of the couches while both Amelia and Petunia took armchairs. It was a few minutes before a curious Sirius Black and an embarrassed Marie Jennings entered the room, and when Marie saw who was there, she blushed and left the room. Sirius looked across the visitors as he made his way to the second couch and did a double take.
"Petunia Evans?" he said in surprise. "Jam… Harry? Amelia, what's going on here?"
"Nice to see you too, Cousin." Tonks said slightly offended.
"Be nice, Indy." Harry said. "Director Bones was kind enough to arrange this meeting."
"Well, it is the least I could do after all these years." Amelia added. "Plus If I did not arrange this, then my Niece Susan would be hounding me about it. Harry is one of her closest friends in Hufflepuff."
Only Harry and Tonks noticed the slight emphasis on that last sentence and the significance in relation to the House's living arrangements as Amelia had been a Hufflepuff herself.
"Hufflepuff, huh?" Sirius said. "I was Gryffindor myself, as were your parents. Huge scandal when I got sorted. Everyone assumed I would be a Slytherin."
"Same." Harry replied. "But everyone expected me to be in Gryffindor."
They spent the next few hours telling each other stories. Tonks told some about the Poker Tournament and Harry accidently inventing a new potion. Petunia told about Harry growing up. Sirius told about Lily and James. Eventually Sirius told the story of the night Harry's parents died. Finding the bodies; the decision, which he admitted he regretted, to let Hagrid take Harry to safety; chasing after the traitor Pettigrew; the confrontation; his arrest twenty minutes latter as he laughed hysterically that the rat had gotten away.
"Wait!" Harry said. "Twenty minutes?"
Sirius nodded.
"Where are you going with this Ambassador?" Tonks asked, recognising his expression.
"Director Bones, when was the Ministry informed of the attack on Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked.
"11:15pm." Amelia replied. "From the reports, Aurors were dispatched within three minutes. A team to the Potter residence and two teams to search for Sirius Black. Black was known at the time to be the Potter's Secret Keeper. The general public was informed in the next morning's Daily Prophet."
"I confronted Peter just before 11pm." Sirius said. "At that stage, only Hagrid and, I assume, Dumbledore knew that there had been an attack."
"Exactly." Harry said. "Peter public accuses Sirius of betraying the Potters before he could possibly even know that there had even been an attack. Unless he had been there."
"That's brilliant, Harry." Petunia said with a smile. "Sirius can use the Prosecution's own evidence to prove that Peter was involved."
"We'll pass the observation on to the defence lawyers." Amelia said. "Don't worry, we won't tell them who the observation came from."
Harry and most of his friends were sitting in one of the compartments on the Hogwarts express headed back to the school for their second year. Hermione and Padma were sitting one the forward facing seats while Hannah and Neville were sitting on the rearward facing seats. Pavarti was in another compartment with her Gryffindor roommates while Daphne was sitting with some Slytherin friends and the Weasley Twins were… somewhere. While there was enough space on the seats for Harry and Susan, they were sitting on the floor, with Harry's back up against the outside wall and Susan resting against his chest, much like they had been on the train ride home at the end of First Year.
While Harry and his family had spent time with all of his friend's families, and had them over to Privet Drive as well, over the summer break, the most of the time spent away from home was spent at Susan's place. Partly because she was his closest friend, alongside Tonks who was too busy at the Auror Academy, and partly because Petunia and Amelia were preparing for Sirius Black's impending trial. Due to this preparation, Harry and Susan had spent a lot of time alone together and had started to subconsciously seeking each other out for comfort. Harry had actually spent the previous night at Bones Manor and Amelia had taken both Harry and Susan to the Platform via Floo, as Petunia had a meeting with some Muggle Experts in relation to the Sirius Black case.
The train ride was fairly uneventful, except for Ron and Draco going at each other in the hallway. Luna and Ginny had popped their heads into the compartment to say hello before moving on to find their own compartment.
"Padma, I have a question." Hermione said.
"Of course." Padma replied.
"I read that your sister's name is that of a Hindu Goddess of love. Is that true?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. And Padma is the Sacred Lotus blossom." Padma replied.
"So is the Hindu Goddess like the Greek Aphrodite?" Neville asked
"Similar, I guess. There are differences." Padma said.
"Aphrodite and Athena." Susan said as she snuggled into Harry's chest.
"Kind of fits." Harry said. "Is that ok with you, Padma? We don't want to offend your religious beliefs."
"I will have to talk to Pavarti and write my parents, but I don't see an issue with it." Padma replied.
The train pulled into Hogsmeade Station and they disembarked, taking the carriages up to the front door and made their way into the Great Hall, separating to go to their House Tables. The Sorting proceeded smoothly with Luna being sorted into Ravenclaw and Ginny being sorted into Gryffindor with her brothers. When Luna was sorted, Harry looked over at Hermione and Padma who nodded back at him. They would look out for the slightly odd girl. Harry was also pleased when the Castle informed him that the Cerberus and the series of traps that began on the third floor were gone.
After dinner they made their way down into the Hufflepuff Dorms, wondering if they had the same expression of wonder last year. While the Fifth Year Prefects were explaining the rules to the First Years, a Sixth Year Prefect collected Harry, Susan and Hannah and lead them down the left hand corridor and to the apartment they had resided in the previous year to reveal a proper framed sign attached to the door.
Reserved For:
The Ambassador of Hogwarts
The Diva of Hufflepuff
Our Sunset
"We thought we should make it official." The Prefect said. "It's yours till you graduate. Professor Sprout signed off on this."
"So, are we getting a fourth?" Hannah asked.
"Nope. It's just you three." The Prefect replied.
"I don't know if I should be honoured or insulted." Harry said.
"I'd go with 'welcome to your home away from home'." Susan said as she walked into the apartment.
"Dibs on the bathroom." Hannah said rushing in behind Susan.
Harry just smiled and ruefully shook his head as he followed.
"At least Indy won't be trying to give me a heart attack this year." He muttered to himself.
TBC…