Disclaimer- I make no claim to owning anything related to the world of Harry Potter. It is the sole property of J.K. Rowling. I only own the plot.
The Summer After Sirius
Chapter 3: Revelations
Waking up, the first thing he noticed besides that he still couldn't see anything without his glasses was that Ginny was curled up into a ball in the bed next to him.
'She looks so beautiful lying there' he thought to himself as he reached over to brush a strand of hair out of her face.
When he heard footsteps he looked over to the door and could see Hermione standing there with a soft smile on her lips.
"What's going on? How come you're not in your dorm?" he asked sleepily.
"I was just watching you two sleep. You looked so peaceful together." She replied with a smile on her face.
"You mean she spent the whole night here?"
"Actually, she really hasn't left your side since we heard what happened to you. When Professor Lupin told us you were shot by your Uncle, she kinda fell backwards into a chair and looked like she had lost the most important person in the world. She's been here ever since always holding your hand and talking to you. All in the hope that you would come back to her."
This was certainly a new revelation to Harry as he was under the impression that she was over her little infatuation with him and had a boyfriend. 'Could it be that Ginny was in love with me?' He thought to himself.
"Doesn't Ginny have a boyfriend?" he asked Hermione. "Wasn't she with Dean?"
"Honestly Harry, sometimes you can be as thick as Ron" she said very pointedly. "Couldn't you tell she said that only to get a rise out of him? She's always had a crush on you, but after we all went to the Ministry at the end of term, she realized she was actually in love with you."
Suddenly he felt like he was on top of the world. This certainly raised a lot of questions though. Could it possibly be true? Did she really harbor feelings for him? These were definitely questions to which he needed answers.
"Really?" he asked, kind of excited at the prospect of that being a possibility.
"Ya, She saw that it wasn't just a crush anymore when you showed that you were so willing to go to the aid of someone in danger. Even when the danger was even greater for you and there was the possibility that you might not come back."
He couldn't believe it. He had been having thoughts of Ginny all summer and now he knew that she felt the same way about him, he just wanted to hop out of bed an let her know that he felt the same way for her but Madame Pomfrey came into the room at that moment and saw Ginny lying there and went ballistic.
"Miss Weasley!" she screeched.
Surprised, Ginny woke with a start and promptly fell off the bed and landing on the floor with a loud thud. Rubbing her neck she looked around sleepily trying to get her bearings when she was yelled at again.
"I've told you repeatedly that you weren't to be sneaking in here after hours. What am I going to have to do to keep you out of here?"
When Ginny didn't answer right away Madame Pomfrey told her not to let it happen again and that she should go and get some breakfast.
As she was walking out of the room she turned to Harry and with a smile said "Be right back. Oh, and Happy Birthday!"
Was it really his birthday he wondered? He had lost all track of time since going into the coma that he forgot all about his birthday.
"Hermione, what day is this?" he asked.
"Oh I forgot, July 31" she replied happily. "Happy Birthday Harry."
At this point Ron came bounding in with a big grin on his face, carrying a present in his arms.
"Happy Birthday mate. We weren't sure if you would be out of the coma yet but we got your gifts anyway just in case."
"Ron. I… I don't know what to say" He exclaimed happily.
"You could say thank you" Ron replied cheekily.
Opening up the package revealed an extra large box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and about a dozen Chocolate Frogs.
"Thank you Ron"
"No problem mate, I know there're your favorite"
"You'll get your presents form Ginny and I at the party we have planned for you later tonight." Said Hermione as Professor Dumbledore strode into the room with a grim but determined look on his face.
"Harry there is something that needs to be said about your cousin's death."
"What is it Professor?" He asked blankly while popping one of the beans into his mouth.
"Cornelius Fudge is a bitter man right now and is looking for any way to discredit you for proving him wrong about Voldemort coming back. So in an attempt to get you discredited, he has found a way for you to be charged with murder."
No, this had to be a joke. There was no way that he could be charged with murder. He had never killed anybody in his life. But whose murder was he supposedly being charged with?
"Who?" He asked simply.
Suddenly there was a rapping at the window. Hermione got up to get the paper from the owl and sat down to read it. Harry was looking back to the door when Hermione let out a gasp of surprise.
"I don't believe it." Was all she said with a shocked expression on her face. With that, the paper was handed over to Harry.
Boy Who Lived Charged With Murder!
By Special Correspondent: Rita Skeeter
Harry Potter, famous for his defeat of He Who Must Not Be Named 15 years ago and last year who claimed to witness his rebirth was formally charged with the murder of his muggle cousin earlier today at the Ministry of Magic. It was ten days ago that Mr. Potter was shot by his Uncle, one Vernon Dursley of Little Whinging, Surrey who is currently being held in a holding cell at the Ministry of Magic. It is now believed that those actions were in self-defense after his son was killed. The Ministry has also recently discovered several witnesses to the before mentioned crime. "Yes it was defiantly him, I've never seen such an awful thing in my life as that." said Gloria Jackson a muggle who witnessed the crime and later had her memory altered. Another witness described it like this, "they were arguing in an alleyway, then all of a sudden, the messy haired boy whipped out a stick and in a flash of green light, the larger boy was dead. This goes along with what has become known about Potter in the last few years. Three years ago he, along with fellow student Hermione Granger, were befuddled by the escaped murderer Sirius Black. They were made to think that he was innocent of his crimes 15 years ago. A little over a year ago he was illegally entered in the Triwizard Tournament as a forth champion, out of three competing schools. In the tournament's final challenge, he disappeared along with fellow student Cedric Diggory. He then reappeared half an hour later clinging to the dead body of Mr. Diggory claiming to have seen the Dark Lord reborn. Finally last year he was almost expelled form Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for performing the Patronous Charm in front of a muggle, his cousin. He was only let off due to the intervention of Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster at Hogwarts and chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. In any case, the truth about Mr. Potter will be known soon enough.
At this moment, Cornelius Fudge strode into the room looking like Christmas had come early for him, carrying a rolled up piece of parchment with a flank of Aurors around him and two Dementors.
Harry suddenly felt his insides freeze up as the dementor's rattling breath sucked all the warmth from the room. He could faintly hear the voice of his Mum pleading with Voldemort…
"Not Harry, not Harry please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside now…."
"Not Harry, please no, take me instead.
"Get those things out of my Hospital Ward this instant." Screeched Madame Pomfrey.
"They are here for the protection of the Minister of Magic." Answered one of the Aurors rudely.
"The Minister should be well protected by the four of you." Said Dumbledore fiercely. "Unless you are incapable of handling an unarmed 16 year old."
Looking offended, the Auror suddenly changed his opinion of the situation.
"Fine, they will remain outside." He grumbled. With that, they glided out of the room.
"Lets get this over with shall we Dumbledore." Fudge said brightly, scanning the room and finally setting his eyes on Harry.
"Ah, your awake. This will make things easier." He said happily while un-rolling the parchment, which he started to read from.
"Harry James Potter, you are hereby ordered by the Minister of Magic to be escorted to the Ministry in order for you to be arraigned and sent off to Azkaban prison, where you are to spend the rest of your life for the use of an Unforgivable Curse in the murder of your cousin, Dudley Dursley. If you resist in any way, authorization will be given to the Aurors present to stun you and to have the Dementor's kiss performed. Do you understand everything that I've just read to you?"
Azkaban. It couldn't be.
Hagrid had spent a couple of months there in his second year and had come back saying it was the worst place he had ever been. It had also been the place that had made his Godfather suffer for 12 years. Robbing him of his once good looks and making him suffer horribly. This had to be a cruel joke. There was no way that he was being blamed for Dudley's death. Hadn't he suffered enough already? He knew that with the bad memories he harbored, he would surely die in there. He wouldn't be able to last very long replaying the deaths of his parents, Cedric, Sirius or Dudley over and over in his mind.
"Cornelius, you cannot take this boy to Azkaban without a proper trial." Exclaimed Dumbledore.
"You know the law Dumbledore, if there are enough witnesses to the crime than there is no need for a trial."
"But only if the Chief Warlock doesn't demand such a trial." He answered back smoothly. "I believe that with me being that person, there will be a trial so as to make sure that a grave mistake isn't made in sending this boy to Azkaban. There is too much circumstantial evidence to just throw him away and forget about him. He will have a full hearing and will be subject to its findings as soon as it can convene."
Fudge looked like he was about to explode with fury the way his face was turning color from a red to a deep purple, not unlike his Uncle Vernon.
"Fine" he snapped harshly. "The boy will get a hearing. But he still must come back to the Ministry to await his trial. I won't be having him decide to just run away."
"Very well Cornelius." Dumbledore said sadly turning to Harry.
"I'm very sorry Harry but I'm afraid that you will have to go with the Minister and await your trial at the Ministry in the holding cell."
For the first time in his life Harry was scared. He would have to go and be at the mercy of someone who could do anything to Harry and get away with it. Dumbledore wouldn't be able to help him by scaring Fudge like he could with the Dursleys. He was truly on his own.
Dumbledore must have seen the fear on his face because he then looked at Fudge and said very pointedly.
"This boy is not to be mistreated Cornelius. He has the same rights as anybody else. Remember, innocent until proven guilty, is the law."
"Don't quote the law to me Dumbledore, I am the Minister of Magic after all."
With that, he signaled to the Aurors that they were leaving.
The Aurors suddenly grabbed him roughly by the arms and led him out of the room to the Dementors who were waiting at the end of the hall. Leaving behind a crying Hermione leaning on Ron for support, who looked like he himself might fall over from shock. Professor Dumbledore had a very solemn expression on his face as Harry was led out of view.
Suddenly Ginny came around the corner carrying a tray of food. Once she saw the scene in front of her she dropped the tray with a resounding clang of metal on stone and the sound of breaking china.
"What's going on? Where are you taking him?" she yelled looking wide-eyed. Suddenly she rushed forward and hugged Harry tightly.
"Get away from the prisoner you silly girl!" yelled one of the Aurors as he ripped her of him and threw her into the wall.
Something inside Harry snapped after seeing this because he turned around and punched the Auror that threw Ginny aside as hard as he could, knocking him to the floor instantly.
The other Aurors were on him in an instant, knocking him down then twisting his arms behind his back and putting him in hand cuffs.
He let out a cry of pain as his shoulder was being twisted behind his back. Looking up, he saw Ginny's tear stained face in the shadows looking down at him with concern while the Aurors kept him shoved into the floor.
"Dumbledore will be able to tell you everything that's going on. I want you to remember though that I love you and will always be there for you no matter what."
"I Love you to Harry" was all she had time to say as she gave him a weak smile before he was dragged away from her.
He was almost tempted to run after her, even going so far as to take a step in her direction but remembered about the Dementors and how if he did, Fudge would be able to say he was trying to escape and would order the kiss be performed immediately. He turned slowly only to come face to face with Fudge.
"Not trying to escape are we?" Fudge asked hopefully.
"No" he said through gritted teeth.
"Too bad, I was hoping to put the Dementors loose on you."
"Sorry to disappoint ya Fudge" he spat at him.
Fudge must have realized that he wasn't about to get any respect out of him because he became quite red in the face.
"Get him out of here and back to the Ministry now!" roared Fudge.
As the Dementors led him out of the castle, he saw two large black carriages flanking a smaller one with bars for windows.
'So this is how I'm going then' he thought to himself as he was roughly thrown into the middle carriage.
With a final sneer from Fudge, the door was slammed shut and they were off on their way to the Ministry.
After hours of just sitting there in the dark bouncing carriage, they finally came to a stop and the door was thrown open.
Seeing that it was dark out now, he was grabbed roughly by the arm and led through an entrance to the Ministry that he had never seen before. 'Must be special for prisoners' he thought to himself as he was dragged down corridor after corridor becoming lost in the maze of tunnels underneath London. They finally came to a doorway marked "Holding Cells" and was promptly taken in.
Once inside, he was knocked to the floor violently with a blow to the head.
Looking up and seeing spots, Fudge started in again.
"Your in my hands now boy. No Dumbledore to save you in here and I know just the cell for you." He said with a wicked looking grin on his face
Going down the hall he saw several people sneer at him through the bars while others seemed to be shocked to see the famous Harry Potter in handcuffs being led to a cell.
At the end of the hall he noticed a very large and beefy man in the cell on the left and an empty one right next to him.
'Oh no' he thought to himself, anywhere but there.
Turning around, the large man had a look of triumph cross his face and exclaimed
"They finally dragged your sorry butt in here huh boy? About time too, after you killed my son." He said with a look of loathing. "My only regret is not finishing what I started."
"You better leave me alone Uncle." He snapped back. "You can't hurt me anymore."
"We'll see" was his cryptic response.
Harry was then shoved roughly into the cell and told that dinner would be around in about an hour.
Sitting in the shadows, trying to keep warm in the freezing cell, he sang to himself sadly…
"Happy Birthday to me."
A/N Sorry about taking so long with this one, but I had a bad case of writers block for most of the week. The rest should go smoothly though.
Don't forget to review.