A big thanks to everyone who has so faithfully reviewed. You guys rock my socks.

To Dark-One Shadowphyre, Alicia, innocent dreamer- this one is longer!! coldfiredragon, fnxmoon, the lady wolfshead, zorra, fruity taquitas, eagle, lord master omega, jay, jliles, golden phoenix, piggie, lady lightning, corgi, stayblue, charma1219, xirleb70, athenakitty, nilboriel, xikum, poisonous plants, calani, myrhfire, elfmoon87, marina, kemenran, and toria.

Thank you so much for reviewing!! As it says on my profile, for anyone interested, I've started a yahoo! Group for updates. I'll be sending out a notice to everyone on the group whenever this story is updated, and this whole thing will be archived there, as well. Join if you want J. This can be found at

I've also started a livejournal, which can be found at

And ooh… OotP is quite good. Very different, but good.

Read on!

~~**~~

Dumbledore led Harry and the other professors out of the way and into their little room.

Harry sighed and fell into a chair, just as Snape let out a long breath and slumped into the chair next to him. Remus chuckled at the two of them, both holding their chins in their hands as they gazed into nothingness. They both seemed lost in thought.

"What?" asked Severus, a scowl settling across his face at the sound of Remus' amusement.

"I feel like I'm seeing double," Remus said.

"Yes, well, if you want to be seeing double..." Snape's voice trailed off, sounding quite threatening indeed.

Harry laughed for the first time in what seemed like forever. He immediately sobered, however.

Remus put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm just tired, I think. I'll be really glad when this is over."

You're not the only one.

"It will, Harry. It will be over soon," said Dumbledore.

"Is anybody hungry?" asked Minerva.

Remus and Harry nodded.

"Good! Lunch for everybody." McGonagall conjured up five cheeseburgers and fries for the occasion.

Snape looked at his plate like it was the meal from hell, while Harry hungrily launched himself into his food.

"Severus, eat," ordered Dumbledore.

Snape grumbled unhappily and picked up his cheeseburger.

"What is this?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's a cheeseburger. What do you think?"

Don't make fun of me, Potter.

"I'll make fun of you if I want."

I'm still your professor.

"Yes, but it's summertime. You can't take house points."

"That's not a good reason to-"

It's a perfectly good reason.

"I don't think so."

"I'll do it while I can."

"Oh, lord," said Remus, "the two of you are at it again."

You know, I think we might be irritating him, Professor. Maybe we should continue?

"I agree," said Severus.

Or we could do this around Sirius. It annoys him more than… oh, nevermind.

"Sirius will come around," said Severus.

You really think so?

"Yes, I do."

"You know," said Minerva loudly, "I think they do this on purpose."

Severus snorted. "You really think we would do such a thing?"

"Erm, yes," answered Remus.

"Yeah, we probably would," said Harry, already drifting back into space.

The humor in the room was incredibly forced, and everyone knew it. But it was the only thing that they could do to take their minds off of the trial, and they all knew that Harry needed to think about other things. He was nervous, that much was obvious. It's not every day that a boy who should be an international hero gets put on trial for the deed that should have made him adored.

~~**~~

The meals were quickly finished, and soon Harry found himself back in the courtroom, listening to Minister Fudge get pelted with questions by Professor McGonagall.

Falcon had called Fudge as his witness, and had done everything he could to portray the minister as kind, caring, and only doing what was best for the community. He really made it a point that there were no witnesses to Cedric's murder; there was only the word of 'a Death Eater and his child.' And who would believe a Death Eater?

But now Minerva was up there, splattering the treacherous minister with questions. He hadn't taken a truth serum, because he was the Minister of Magic, and 'obviously trustworthy.' The transfigurations professor was having a bit of a struggle getting straight answers out of him, but she was doing her best.

"Minister Fudge, why do you wish to penalize the boy who saved all of our lives?"

"Because he murdered people."

"Yes, and so did He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. So has Headmaster Dumbledore. I gather that even you might have done so in the past. We've been at war, Minister Fudge."

The Minister's face tightened with anger. "Just because it's a war, Mr. Potter can't be given free reign to kill anybody he wants. He even killed his own schoolmate, for no other reason than to win a stupid tournament. He's a murderer."

"It has already been stated, under Veritaserum, that Harry was not responsible for the death of Cedric Diggory," McGonagall retorted.

"Yes, that's what they said. But there were no witnesses, were there? No witnesses at all. How very convenient."

"There was one, if you recall, Minister Fudge. Well, not a witness, but the man responsible for getting Cedric and Harry into trouble in the first place. I trust that you remember Barty Crouch, Jr.? I believe it was you who ordered that the man be given the Dementor's Kiss before he was allowed to testify."

"That man was a menace to society. He had to be given the Kiss right away."

"Could there be a hidden motive here, Minister Fudge? Was there a reason to get rid of Mr. Crouch before he could tell everyone exactly what happened? Were you... trying to get rid of evidence, perhaps?"

Cornelius Fudge became impossibly red. "How dare you accuse me of such treachery! I can't believe that you would even start to second-guess my actions! I ordered that Barty Crouch be Kissed because he could have hurt other people. If Harry Potter were not a murderer, he would not be on trial. I would never destroy evidence, especially if it helped our hero," Fudge spat.

He's lying.

I know. But we can't do anything about it, can we? He's the Minister of Magic.

True. He can refuse Veritaserum- he did refuse Veritaserum.

But if the truth is crucial-

It won't matter. He's made sure that nothing applies to him.

"Are you telling the truth, Minister Fudge?" continued Minerva.

"Of course. I'm the Minister of Magic. I always tell the truth."

"Minister Fudge, why did you refuse to acknowledge Voldemort's return at the end of the last school term?"

"The people didn't need to know. The boy was insane. He had killed in cold blood. There was no reason to believe him."

"But now that it's definitely clear that he did, in fact, return, do you wish that you had told people sooner?" asked Minerva.

"Hmph. As long as nobody got hurt, I don't see why I should feel bad about not telling anyone."

"NOBODY GOT HURT? An innocent boy, a hero, is on trial for murder, and one of the most important people in the war, Severus Snape, was tortured mercilessly. Voldemort could have killed anybody at any time. It is a mercy that he is gone! And you say that NOBODY GOT HURT?" Minerva yelled furiously.

Your temper is starting to look bland compared to hers.

Oh, yes, she's devilish when she's angry.

"Don't yell at me, Professor McGonagall. You need to learn some respect," said Fudge smugly.

Oh, how I despise that man.

"So you don't see this as an attempt to destroy Harry Potter?" asked Minerva, her face slowly returning to a more healthy shade of pink.

"No," Fudge lied.

"Thank you, Minister Fudge."

Minerva sat down in a huff. She had been snapping questions at Fudge for over fifteen minutes, and had hardly gotten anywhere. The man certainly knew how to lie.

"That concludes the prosecution's witnesses. Headmaster Dumbledore, are you ready to begin?"

Dumbledore nodded and rose from his seat. "I'd like to begin by calling Draco Malfoy to the stand."

Harry started and looked over at Dumbledore, surprise and horror evident on his face.

DRACO MALFOY?? But the git hates me!!

He hates his father more.

Draco didn't look perturbed in the slightest. He walked over to the witness stand, took the Veritaserum, and then turned to face Dumbledore.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"Hello."

"Could you state your name to the court?"

"Draco Malfoy."

"Your parent's names?"

"Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy."

"And your father is now-"

"Dead," Draco finished.

"Are you angry? Upset?"

"No. I disliked Lucius. I hated him. A lot. He was one of Voldemort's most loyal supporters. He tried to force me to become a Death Eater, too. He was going to drag me to Voldemort tomorrow, actually, to be given the dark mark."

Severus' face tightened as he remembered the day he was forced into receiving the mark. His father had hit him, drugged him, and then forcibly threw him before Voldemort's feet.

He shivered slightly. Draco Malfoy would have met the same fate.

"Your father would have done this to you?"

"Yes."

"Did you want to be a Death Eater, Mr. Malfoy?"

"No!"

"Did Lucius know that?"

"Yes. I told him so a thousand times, and he reacted negatively when I argued with him."

"Reacted negatively?"

Draco paused. "He hit me, okay?"

Harry's mouth fell open. Draco Malfoy had been beaten? He had never pictured perfect Draco Malfoy as one to get beaten.

Close your mouth, Potter. You look like an idiot.

Harry shut his mouth tightly and glared at Snape.

"And Lucius was going to take you to Voldemort tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"So both your father's and Voldemort's deaths saved you from that fate?"

"Yes."

"Draco, how do you feel about Harry Potter?"

Draco looked over at Harry. "He's not my favorite person in the world, but I don't hate him."

"What do you feel about him then, if not hate?"

"I respect him."

Harry's mouth fell open again. Snape leaned over Dumbledore's empty seat and pushed Harry's chin back into an upright position.

Hey!

Don't gape, Potter. It's not entirely becoming.

Yes, father, Harry thought sarcastically.

Then he realized what he'd said. He looked over at Snape's face and realized that the man was as shocked as he was.

That's not what Harry had meant to do… not what he had meant at all. He was just being sarcastic at Snape's obvious attempts to make him stop looking like an idiot. But he had called Snape 'father.'

Shit.

"Why do you respect Mr. Potter, Draco?"

Draco rolled his eyes before answering, knowing that he was going to have to tell the truth. "He's saved all of our lives more times than I can count. He's faced Voldemort alone and come out victorious. And he doesn't let any of it go to his head. Not any of it. Plus, he got rid of Voldemort for good, now. He saved me from the Death Eaters, and saved all of us from Voldemort's wrath."

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco gave the headmaster a small smile as the older man walked back to his seat.