A/N: Thank you so much for all your reviews! I like when I get feedback! ::furry black doggie cracks a smile:: I know you are sick of the cliffhangers. They will be no more! Yay! You are sick of them, so this chapter will be long in order to include the entire trial… Just so you know.

You still want to know what happens to Trelawney and Draco????? ::sighs with frustration::

Chapter 19: Tried and True

Severus met Hermione when she came out of the portrait that morning to find her pale-faced and silent. Not knowing her mood, he did not embrace her, for fear it would upset her more. They walked silently beside each other, one foot in front of the other.

And with one foot in front of the other, they entered the trial room. It was different from the previous one. It was painfully bright, the lights shining in their eyes. As they took their seats next to Dumbledore, she looked back at the people sitting behind them. Her friends were there, along Professor Lupin, and Tonks, disguised, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, even Moody. All the others sitting were just spectators, to act as witnesses of the trial. Hermione wondered if Dumbledore would call any of her friends up to testify. One thing that comforted Hermione was that there was a different jury, with the exception of Lucius, the bastard.

Severus glanced around at the court officials, and then was further angered when he saw Lucius sitting smugly with them. He is already known as a Death Eater, why the hell is he in these trials? He thought about it, and then it came to him. Money, and his political friends and connections would get him in this courtroom for sure. But Cornelius Fudge was nowhere to be seen. This worried him. He had made such a big deal about being the judge for the trial, but had not showed up. Then Umbridge came and huffily took his seat in the middle. Immediately half the crowd of people, ones from Hogwarts, erupted and many began hissing and pointing. Hermione stiffened, Umbridge? What is she doing here? Umbridge cleared her throat loudly, Hermione remembered that all too well from their fifth year.

"I have an announcement. Cornelius Fudge will be absent from this trial, he has gone missing, so I will be stepping in for him." And before Umbridge could say anything else, the audience exploded. The Minister was missing? Umbridge realized her mistake at releasing this information, and began banging the gavel with her pudgy hand until they finally quieted.

"The trial of Mr. Snape and Miss Granger versus the Ministry of Magic will now begin. The spokesperson for the defendants may now say their opening defense." Everyone watched in anticipation as Dumbledore stood to begin.

"I do not believe this is even a case, just simply a waste of our precious time while Voldemort, the Dark Lord, is still on the loose," the first part of the sentence was greeted by dark looks from the jury, and then many people gasped in fright when he spoke his name. Dumbledore paid no heed and continued as if nothing had interrupted him. "I trust Professor Severus Snape with my life, and believe him to be a wrongly accused man. Miss Granger, a student at my school, is facing discriminating challenges that are unnecessary and obsolete. Do you really believe they should be punished for simply being in love?" And he sat down. The jury was silent, but several murmurs came from the crowd. Then the spokesperson of the jury, a short, twiggy man with a small white goatee said the jury's opening statement, then silence.

"The spokesman may now call witness(s) to testify," Umbridge said brusquely. Dumbledore nodded to Hermione, who got up shakily to sit in the witness stand. She swore in that she would tell the truth and sat down, everyone's eyes on her, making her queasy. Dumbledore stood.

"Tell me, Miss Granger, when did your relationship with Professor Snape first begin?" Hermione took a deep intake of breath.

"Well, I guess we had feelings for each other during the summer months before school started," she said carefully.

"So the, feelings, you said, occurred out of school proximities, correct?"

"Yes."

"And when were you actually together, so to speak?"

"We have been together for, ah, almost six months," Hermione replied after some thinking.

"Must be a very serious relationship for a 16 year old," Dumbledore commented kindly.

"Well, I, love him," she said, causing several people to shift in their seats.

"So you would say Severus has been good to you? Well mannered?"

"Yes, he has."

"No abuse or advances, I presume then?"

"None whatsoever."

"So this is quite a healthy and fulfilling relationship," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"Yes," Hermione answered, turning slightly pink in her cheeks, catching Severus's eye. So far so good, she thought happily.

"Thank you, I have no further questions, your honor." And Dumbledore gave Hermione a wink before taking his seat. The jury spokesman came down from his seat and someone had a chair set out for the tiny man to sit on. He coughed lightly.

"Ah, Miss Granger, it seems you feel very sure of yourself," he said, his strange comment catching her off guard.

"Well, yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Why wouldn't you? Well, it seems this man has a certain influence on you. Could it be that he is putting words in your mouth?"

"Objection," said Dumbledore, "I believe it is not possible for Miss Granger to lie. There are tight and very strong spells that prevent it."

"Sustained," said Umbridge grumbled, not wanting to agree with him, "Mr. Porton, please refrain from such accusations."

"Very well," Mr. Porton resigned. "As I was saying, Mr. Snape seems to have an influence on you," he continued.

"Not the influence you speak of," Hermione said quietly. "Everyone is influenced by somebody."

"So are you suggesting that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named might be influencing Professor Snape, who I may point out is a Death Eater?"

"Ex-Death Eater," Hermione corrected angrily, "if you knew him, you would know that he would never go back to the Dark Lord."

"If I knew him? Miss Granger, the man still bears the mark of service to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Would Mr. Snape please show the mark to the jury and audience?" Severus didn't move until Dumbledore nodded, and he stood up and pulled up his sleeve to reveal the black tattoo bearing the skull with the serpent coming out of the mouth. It was silent as all stared at the mark, but it looked very pale, as if the black was rubbed off. "Thank you, Mr. Snape," said Mr. Porton after a moment. "Judge Umbridge, would it be permitted to bring in some pieces of evidence into the courtroom?"

"I don't see why not," Umbridge answered, and from Mr. Porton's wave, one jurywoman walked out an adjacent door and reappeared shortly with a wooden box. Severus locked eyes with Hermione, what evidence could possibly have been found? The jurywoman gave then to the tiny man, who set the box in front of Hermione.

"Miss Granger, do you know what is in this box?"

"No." He opened the latch and drew out two mirrors. Hermione gasped, and Severus winced.

"Recognize these, I see?"

"Objection," Dumbledore said forcefully, "who gave permission for the defendants' belongings and living areas to be searched?"

"Cornelius Fudge," said Umbridge wickedly. "He felt it was necessary. Your objection is overruled." And Dumbledore sat down, looking slightly peeved by the allowance of such a thing.

"Now, Miss Granger, will you please read out loud what it says on the back of the mirrors?" Hermione glared at him before shakily reading.

"Bound by love, unity, and friendship, two lovers will never be alone, for in the mirrors, one may call the other and they will answer."

"Is this written on both mirrors?" asked Mr. Porton, gazing at Hermione with a triumphant stare.

"Yes."

"Where did these come from, Miss Granger?"

"I gave them as a gift to Severus at Christmas, I kept one and he kept the other," she answered forlornly.

"And where did you come by such rare artifacts of magic?" Hermione didn't say anything for several moments.

"I ordered them, from a provider."

"And who is the provider?" he demanded.

"I don't know."

"Are you withholding information?"

"She cannot lie!" shouted Dumbledore, raising his voice, which startled many people.

"Dumbledore, please do not speak out of turn, and, Mr. Porton, if she does not know, then she is truthful," said Umbridge dangerously.

"Fine. So you got those rare mirrors from some random provider… And what is this, I wonder?" Hermione flushed red as he withdrew a necklace, her necklace; the key. Severus squirmed in his seat, looking desperately at Hermione, who could offer no counsel.

"Does this key open anything in particular?"

"It, well, is a key to Severus's private chambers at Hogwarts," Hermione said quietly.

"A key to Mr. Snape's bedroom," he said loudly, as if some had not heard her answer, "And you said that he was good to you, and there were no advances whatsoever? I would consider this a serious advance!"

"It is not an advance of any kind! It's just-"

"An invitation?" Hermione grew silent, staring at her hands. She looked up again.

"It's not what you think."

"Oh really? The message I get from this key is that a grown man was inviting a young girl to his chambers for more than just small talk."

"No!" Hermione said defensively, tears prickling around her eyes.

"So Mr. Snape did not simply want to discuss grades or homework, now did he? You were sleeping with him! Were you not?"

"Objection! He is badgering the witness!" Dumbledore said angrily, on his feet.

"Overruled!" said Umbridge wickedly. "Miss Granger, you are required to answer." Hermione now had tears pouring freely down her cheeks.

"Yes," she sniffed, and began sobbing. Gasps and shouts filled the audience, only Harry and Ron were not surprised.

"So you were having sexual intercourse with this man!" Mr. Porton shouted, pointing at Severus, who sat stock still, his face blank. "How many times did you sleep with him?"

"Only once!" sobbed Hermione, her crying racking her body.

"And was it intentional?" Red-eyed, Hermione tried unsuccessfully to wipe her tears, but they continued to course down her cheeks unstopped.

"We were drunk," she said, barely getting the words out before putting her head on her arms, wanting to die right now from shame.

"So Mr. Snape first gives Miss Granger the key, then he lets her into his chamber, and then he encouraged an underage witch to drink until her judgment is compromised in her to sleep with her!"

"I DID NOT!" roared Severus, his chair knocked backward as he shot up. Dumbledore grabbed his chair and pulled him back down into it. More uproar surfaced from the audience as well as the jury. Umbridge started banging her gavel, trying to be heard over the voices yelling and Hermione's sobs. Severus cast a hateful glance at Lucius Malfoy. He smirked at Severus, and then all of the sudden his face contorted with pain. He grabbed his left arm tightly. Severus knew. He would feel it, but he had fought with it and it did not hurt him anymore. The Dark Lord was calling his Death Eaters. Lucius took advantage of the chaos to dodge out of the room, where he would most likely Apparate to his Master. Severus looked over in the direction of the Order members in the audience. Moody and Tonks did not miss a beat; they got up and followed Lucius out the door. Good, follow that bastard, he thought angrily. He knew he should have been the one to follow him, but he was on trial, he could not leave.

Finally, Umbridge quieted the courtroom and was grimacing at her hand, which she apparently had smashed with the gavel. Hermione almost laughed. Serves the devil woman right! She felt no pity or remorse; it was too entertaining to see Umbridge almost dancing with pain. Hermione couldn't resist. She made a clucking noise to imitate the sound of horse's hooves. Umbridge immediately stiffened and her eyes darted around, clearly terrified, trying to find out where it was coming from. She looked like an overstuffed pig in a dress that was trying to pick out a butcher among the crowd that would cut her up. Harry and Ron burst out laughing, and began applauding Hermione, who couldn't help but laugh with them. Not trusting the gavel, Umbridge yelled instead.

"Order! Order!" she yelled in her high-pitched, annoying voice. Harry and Ron clamped their mouths shut, but were still clearly sniggering behind their hands, Hermione was smiling at Severus, who suddenly had gotten the joke and gave her one of his reserved smiles for her.

The trial went on, Severus was then called to the witness stand, questioned by Dumbledore, who was trying to prove he was simply a man in a relationship and was not breaking any school rules or laws. Mr. Porton, clearly getting all he wanted out of Hermione, had no questions to ask Severus. He escaped the witness stand without much of a scene. Then other witnesses were called up. Professor Lupin testified, as well as Harry and Ron. Ron was about to jump over the witness stand and strangle Mr. Porton, he continued to make outlandish accusations of his friend Hermione, and he was turning red with fury until Umbridge stopped Mr. Porton, but only because she didn't want a full-scale brawl to break out. Meanwhile, through the rest of the trial, Hermione sat watching the faces of the jury, trying to put together what their final decision might be. After Mr. Porton's harshness with her, they seemed to grow even more skeptical that there even was a crime to speak of to accuse her of. They were not convinced that Severus was innocent though, but how could he be? The evidence Mr. Porton had brought up, the mirrors and key necklace he had confiscated from their things, were just lover's tokens, nothing more.

Then Mr. Porton and Dumbledore gave their closing remarks. Dumbledore was much more confident than Mr. Porton, the tiny man was clearly losing ground, and he knew it. Umbridge then cleared her throat again.

"Now the jury will decide the final verdict, there will be a recess until they have reached their decision," and she pounded the gavel gingerly.

Harry and Ron and all her friends rushed to Hermione the minute they could. Harry got there first, enveloping her in a warm hug, which made Hermione start crying again, but this time from gratefulness. She reached up and gave Harry a peck on the cheek, hugging him tighter.

"Excuse me, old pal, but your hugging time has expired," said Ron loudly, and everyone laughed. Then Ron came over, and, looking somewhat uncomfortable, put out his arms, which Hermione immediately ran into while giving him a kiss on the cheek too. Ron, however, did not take this so easily as Harry, his ears went red from not anger, but embarrassment. Hermione laughed.

"Ron!" she said teasingly. Then everyone else began to hug her in comfort, wishing her the best of luck, even Lupin managed a one-armed friendly hug. Hermione was so happy she had so many people to support her. And then she remembered, and turned.

Severus had been standing off to the side, away from the crowd that had flocked to Hermione. He had a somewhat sad expression on his face, but he quickly tried to hide it once she turned. He has no one, she thought, fully realizing it for the first time. Only me. She took the five strides toward him to close the gap and ran into his arms, which gripped her tightly. Severus felt like if he let go of her, he would lose her. He did not know what the jury would decide, but this might be last time he will ever be allowed near her. He kissed the top of her head gently, her sweet-smelling hair filling his senses. He would miss that. He would miss everything about her. If they lost. If.

%%%

The jury entered to meet an absolutely stone silent courtroom. Severus searched their faces, trying to see who would betray the verdict. Lucius Malfoy had not returned, no surprise to him, and so only Mr. Porton and two others seemed tense and angry.

"The jury may now say the verdict," Umbridge said. Another woman stood up and began to read from a piece of parchment.

"The jury finds Hermione Granger, with the charges of an inappropriate relationship with a teacher, not guilty of all charges. The jury finds Severus Snape, with charges of inappropriate relationship with an under-age witch, seducing an unwilling female by drunkenness to take advantage of her, and misconduct within school boundaries, not guilty in this court of law. However, if punishment is seen fit, the school jurisdiction of Hogwarts School will give the proper penalties to Professor Severus Snape. Severus Snape is not guilty of any criminal charges or violations of wizarding law." Everyone was silent. Then Umbridge unnecessarily cleared her throat.

"Since you are cleared of all charges, your relationship is allowed," Umbridge spat out, "This court is adjourned," and banged the gavel. Hermione stood, looked at Severus, and then within a moment, her lips were pressed against his as he brought her into a loving kiss. When they broke away, Hermione eye's danced with relief and joy. Severus took her hands for the first time, and kissed them gently, before leading her out of the courtroom to the cheers of their supporters.

Later that night found Hermione getting ready for bed, a feeling of calm and ecstasy washing over her. They had won the case. The charges were lifted and their relationship was permitted. What could be better? If I did not keep having that dream either.

Severus's eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright. What a strange dream, why does it keep haunting me? He got up, fully awake, and began to pace, feeling restless. He decided to just grade some end-of-the-year exams instead, to get his mind off the dream. He sat down at his desk, and his eyes caught a drawing of Hermione that lay on his desk. He smiled. That was so long ago when she sneaked into my office and saw my drawings of her. If I had only known then, he thought, shaking his head, and he fixed his attention on the exams.

Hermione shook her head, trying to rid her thoughts of the dream, and crawled into bed, feeling extremely tired. Not even the prospect of having the dream could stop her from falling asleep as her head touched the pillow.

"Professor Trelawney, how nice of you to visit. Is there something you need?" said Dumbledore as Sybil Trelawney appeared from the spiral staircase, looking a bit disheveled and nervous and on the verge of tears.

"Headmaster, there's something I need to confess," she said shakily. And she told the headmaster everything that had happened. He sat silently listening, not interrupting.

"I suppose Draco Malfoy wrote those to you as a dare?"

"It's possible, but I did not realize that might be the reason at the time," she answered, sniffing, for she had been crying.

"Neither did you realize that about the, uh, kiss he gave you during class?" Dumbledore inquired, looking over the tops of his half-moon spectacles at the strange Divination teacher.

"You can fire me now, Albus," she replied, her shoulders sagging.

"I will not do that, Sybil. You do not need to experience the same thing as last year," he said kindly.

"Oh thank you, Albus! Thank you!" her eyes shining behind her enormous magnifying glasses.

"But, you will spend this summer and next year under a strict probation under my watch," he said sternly.

"Yes, Headmaster, anything," Sybil squeaked.

"And you will have to write an apology letter to young Malfoy, and go into counseling at a facility for 500 hours of therapy," he said, and Sybil's good mood vanished in a heart beat.

"Very well, Headmaster!" she said, pouting, and stomped out of his office. Dumbledore could only shake his head at Trelawney's retreating form.

A/N: There! Satisfied? Well I'm not until I get more reviews! ::furry black doggie growls tiredly and plops down for a well-deserved nap::