All rights to Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.
1Best Served Cold
by LNLisa
Epilogue
Harry sat on a sofa near the common room fire. He'd managed to be one of the first back from supper otherwise he'd have been sitting at his usual table towards the back of the Common room. Late September wasn't that cold, but Harry still preferred to sit near the fire. Hermione and Ron were still in a Prefects meeting, at least that's where he thought they were. He was finishing his defense essay. He and Ron had gotten a lot of their work done over the summer. But because the Defense professor was new, they still had work to do for his classes.
Just then the portrait door opened and Ginny Weasley walked in. Harry waved to get her attention and she nodded before crossing the common room to join him.
She sat on the sofa next to him and began pulling parchment and quills out of her bag. Harry went back to working on his essay, and Ginny gave Harry a curious look.
"I'm surprised to see you actually working with quill and parchment," commented Ginny.
"Yes, well, Snape…surprise assignment."
"Ah…" said Ginny. "So what was the point of doing all your work over the summer?"
"We wanted more time to practice magic, so we decided to get as much of the theory done over the summer as we could," Harry explained.
"Why not tell Hermione then and get her to help you?"
Harry shook his head, "Can you imagine all of the extra work she'd expect us to do if she knew we weren't busy?"
Ginny laughed, "She's going to figure it out, you know."
"She thinks we've been doing our studying in the Room of Requirement. She doesn't know a thing," said Harry with a cocky grin.
Ginny gave him a shrewd look, "Are you sure of that?"
Harry watched her nervously, but Ginny only laughed and finished pulling her books out of her bag.
They worked quietly together. Harry was able to finish his Potions essay. Then he pulled out his summer notes for Defense and began the assignment for that class.
"I'm going to have to do that next summer," Harry heard Ginny mutter. He looked back at her and smiled. He suddenly noticed that McGonagall had entered the room. She looked around, and the room grew silent.
"Hogsmead visit this weekend," she announced. The room erupted in cheers around them.
Harry laughed with everyone else until he noticed that McGonagall hadn't left. Instead she seemed to be searching the room. Her eyes stopped when they landed on Harry. The smile on Harry's face slowly died.
McGonagall walked briskly over to where he sat.
"Potter, the headmaster would like to see you this evening some time." Harry let out the breath he'd been holding. It couldn't be that bad if he only wanted to see him sometime.
"Thank you, Professor," he told her. "I'll go now." She nodded. There was no need to ask the password. He'd already visited the headmaster several times this year.
"I'll save your spot," said Ginny. Harry gave her a smile and nodded in return. He made his way to Dumbledore's office and gave the gargoyle the password, "Toblerone."
"Harry, good evening," said Professor Dumbledore when Harry walked through the door of his office.
"Good evening professor," said Harry. The two had made their peace that summer, but Harry still felt horribly guilty each time he entered this office.
Dumbledore was studying him over his half-moon glasses. Finally he sighed and leant back in his chair.
"Harry, I have the sad duty to tell you that the hearing has almost concluded and you will be expected to appear in court…most likely on Friday." Harry sucked in a deep breath. In the back of his mind, he'd known that the hearing was still going on, but he's managed to avoid thinking about it. Now, reflecting back to the events of his summer and the way he'd acted in front of the committee…it all felt like it was a world away.
As he returned to the common room, he saw his friends waiting for him. They were sitting around the fire where he had been sitting earlier, and they had left his place free. He stopped for a moment, they hadn't noticed the door opening and they were whispering to each other. Ginny sat in the same place. Ron and Hermione sat across from her on the other sofa. Hermione had spread her books on to Ron's lap, but Ron was talking so animatedly with Ginny that he'd hardly noticed. Neville was there too on the other side of Ginny.
He felt gratitude for his friends surpassing his fear. He knew they were waiting for his news, and he quickly joined them.
"Hi," he said trying to act nonchalant.
"Harry," said Hermione jumping in surprise, "You're back! How did it go? What did Dumbledore have to say? Is it V-v-voldemort? Why did he want to talk to you?"
"Hermione, give him a chance to answer," said Ron. The four were watching Harry intently.
"Uh, it's just about the hearing. Dumbledore reckons that I'll have to go back to testify on Friday," he told them.
"Ar-are you okay with that, Harry?" asked Hermione tentatively like he was a bomb waiting to explode.
Harry leaned back against the sofa to think about his answer. Finally he shrugged, "I guess so," he nodded to himself before he continued. He'd been asking himself the same question, and he found his own answer as he responded to Hermione's question. "I'm worried, but I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out, like the rest of you."
He looked up at his friends and was surprised to find them all staring at him in shock. They seemed more surprised by his response than his news.
"What?" asked Harry impatiently.
"You've changed, Harry," said Neville.
"Change doesn't seem like a strong enough word," said Ron with a snort of laughter.
"Transformed," added Ginny. Harry looked at her and was surprised by the admiration he could see in her eyes. He quickly looked down.
The next several days passed in a blurry haze. The morning of the hearing, Harry had to get up quite a bit earlier than usual, so he was surprised when Ron and Neville both woke up and began dressing for the day too. He shrugged it off though, since he was grateful for their company. When all three were ready, they went to the bottom of the stairs.
Hermione and Ginny were waiting for them on a nearby couch, "Good morning," said Harry curiously.
"Good morning," they both answered sleepily. Then Hermione walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Ginny followed and gave him a kiss on the other cheek. Harry felt his face redden.
"That's for luck," said Ginny. Harry who was holding a hand to his cheek could only nod in amazement. The five made their way to the great hall. At this time of day, it was mostly deserted, but there, at the center of the Gryffindor table, sat Luna Lovegood.
"What's going on?" asked Harry as they all sat next to Luna.
"We realized that you had spent breakfast with each of us before our days in court," explained Hermione. "You helped each of us, so we decided to do the same for you."
Harry wanted to tell them that they should go back to bed, but he found he couldn't force himself to say anything. Instead he gave them grateful looks while gathering some food on his plate.
He wasn't very hungry, so he mostly just pushed his food around on his plate. "Six hours is a long time, mate," commented Ron, but the rest left him alone.
Just then Professor McGonagall came over to their table and told Harry, "Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you in his office, Mr. Potter."
Harry nodded.
McGonagall began to turn away, but at the last moment she turned back, "Good luck, Mr. Potter."
"Thanks," said Harry. He stood and his friends stood with him. Harry looked at them questioningly.
"We'll walk with you to Professor Dumbledore's office," Hermione told him.
There were silent as they crossed the halls and climbed the stairs. The castle still wasn't completely awake, and they didn't run into any other students on their way. Finally they arrived at the stone Gargoyle. The girls each gave Harry a hug, which embarrassed him. Then Ron and Neville patted him on the back saying, "Good luck mate." Harry nodded.
Finally he turned towards the gargoyle and gave the password. He stepped on the stairwell and waved goodbye to his friends.
Harry hesitantly followed Remus and Mad Eye into the courtroom. He really had no idea what would happen today. When school had begun, Harry had been surprised to find himself well liked again. Part of him hoped that that was because of the trial, but the other part of him couldn't understand how the hearing could have helped him.
Remus stopped until Harry was beside him. Harry had been genuinely pleased to see his guardian again when the portkey had brought him and Mad-Eye to Mr. Weasley's office. Remus gave him a warm smile and a hug to welcome him, surprising Harry who still wasn't used to that much affection from anyone but Mrs. Weasley.
Now Harry stopped in the center of the courtroom, the chair was there, and after a moment of dread, Harry sat down in it. He looked around at the masses of faces. The Wizengamot had their usual unreadable expressions on their faces, but the crowd mostly seemed to be smiling at him.
"Mr. Potter, after reviewing the facts of the case, we have chosen to decide your case now rather than have another trial. Both of those options would be extremely costly and time consuming." The audience began clapping in approval, but Chairwitch Bones silenced them.
"Your testimony as well as that of your friends and other people around you made it clear that you had been under extreme and prolonged stress at the time you attempted the Cruciatus Curse. Despite this and the fact that Bellatrix LeStrange murdered someone you obviously loved a great deal, you were unable to perform the curse.
"Your testimony and that of Professor Dumbledore have likewise made it clear that even had you chosen to disable or stun Madame LeStrange, you would have been unable to restrain her since Lord Voldemort showed up immediately following your attempted curse.
"The Three Unforgivable Curses are each in their own right the most serious and heinous of crimes. Mr. Potter, even in choosing to use an Unforgivable Curse you committed a grievous wrong. I hope that you understand that, but I must say judging by your behavior in this courtroom two months ago that I am worried that you don't really appreciate the severity of what you did."
"Madame Chairwitch," interrupted Harry. "May I say something?" Chairwitch Bones nodded her head. "Two months ago, you're right, I didn't understand why trying to hurt Bellatrix was so wrong. I mean I knew it was legally wrong, and having felt the Curse myself, I knew how horrible it feels. I always believed though that Bellatrix deserved it, and I thought that justified my behavior? But since then..."
Harry paused for several moments trying to gather his thoughts. He glanced at Remus unsure of how to continue. Remus gave him an encouraging smile, reminding Harry of their many conversations during the summer. Finally, he found the words.
"The problem with trying to curse her is in what it did to me, or didn't do. My grief for my Godfather wouldn't have gone away even if Bellatrix had been hurt by that curse, so really, even though she killed my Godfather… cursing her never would have helped me.
"That's something I learned this summer. Other people might do things that hurt me, but blaming them doesn't help me. I have to try to solve my problems instead." Harry looked down. He didn't think he'd explained very well, and he felt embarrassed at having to explain his feelings.
After a few moments he noticed how silent the courtroom was. He glanced up to find Chairwitch Bones giving him a penetrating look.
"I'm glad to hear that," said Chairwitch Bones at last. "It makes what I have to say that much easier." The Chairwitch picked up a scroll in front of her and began reading.
"Attempting an Unforgivable Curse is a serious offense, but the fact that you could not perform it, despite everything that had gone on before, is likewise telling. According to the law…we must punish every attempt of an Unforgivable Curse," the crowd roared angrily while Harry felt his head drop in despair.
"Silence, silence!" Madame Bones was standing and giving the audience warning looks. Once they were quiet, she continued, "We have decided however that serving time in Azkaban would not be appropriate, so in lieu of that, we are fining you 5000 galleons and sentencing you to 112 hours of community service."
Harry's heart soared as he began smiling his relief. The audience had jumped to their feet and was cheering vociferously. Harry looked over to find that Remus had tears in his eyes and was smiling as well. They gave each other a quick hug before breaking away with chuckles of relief.
Harry looked up to see that Chairwitch Bones had the slightest of smiles on her face. She nodded her head once at them both, and then with a voice that boomed over the crowd, announced, "This hearing is now at an end!"
Remus grabbed Harry's arm and together they hurried over to where Moody and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stood. The audience was crowding in behind them to congratulate Harry, but with unspoken agreement the five hurried out of the room and down the hallway not stopping to talk to anyone. Once they made it into Mr. Weasley's office and had locked the door, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's each gave Harry a hug too. Mrs. Weasley was crying in relief and kept repeating, "I'm so glad... I've been so worried...I'm just so glad..."
"You did well today, Harry," said Remus.
"Better than this summer?" asked Harry with a rueful glance.
"I happen to think you did fairly well this summer, so it's difficult to say. Seeing your anger and mistrust directed at them, helped them to better appreciate just how much you had been put through," answered Remus with a chuckle. 'They're used to unconditional respect, but you didn't have that to give them anymore. Still I think it was a good thing today to show that you have grown and learned to control yourself better."
Harry nodded, then he said, "Remus..."
Remus raised his eyebrows in question.
"Thanks. Thanks for coming with me to the hearing, and thanks for talking to me about...everything." Harry looked uncomfortably at his feet.
"It is my pleasure always, Harry," answered Remus quietly. Mrs. Weasley suddenly began crying again, but Harry didn't pay her much attention. He smiled quickly at Remus and gave him a hug before reaching out for the portkey that would take him back to Hogwarts.
"See you at Christmas," said Harry as he felt the familiar tug.
"I'll expect to hear from you before that though," answered Remus. Harry nodded with a smile just as the portkey began pulling him away.
Harry hurried from Professor Dumbledore's Office to the Gryffindor tower. As he climbed through the common room door, a cheer went up. Hermione ran forward and hugged him tightly.
Ron clapped him on the back, "Well done, mate," he said.
Ginny led all the students into a round of "He got off! He got off!" Soon it evolved into a conga line that led into the school, growing as it went, until Harry, pulled into the line by Ginny thought the whole school must be in the conga line.
Harry thought it would all stop when Professor Snape stepped in front of Ginny, but then Professor Dumbledore, who'd slipped into the line about a dozen people back, called out, "You're missing the fun, join us, Severus!" This distracted Professor Snape long enough for Ginny to side step him and lead them all out to the grounds.
Once the conga line had disintegrated into a mass of dancing and chanting, Professor Dumbledore announced a feast to great applause.
"A feast and a Hogsmead weekend tomorrow!" said Ron with delight.
"Hmmm…." Said Hermione, "Don't forget Ron, you and Harry have your study time planned for Saturday morning. You wouldn't want to get behind since your schoolwork is so important to you now."
Ron gave her an uneasy look. Hermione caught Ginny's eye and winked. Both girls began to giggle.
"You do know," said Harry in surprise.
"Of course," said Hermione. "Did you really think you could fool me? I figured it out while we were still at the Burrow, but I enjoyed watching you do your own work so much that I decided now to say anything." The two boys gaped at her, but Hermione only grinned in return.
Harry and Ron finally looked at each other and began laughing.
"Come on, let's go join the feast," said Ginny, and the four friends walked back towards Hogwarts.
A/N: Special thanks to all of the people who have helped me so much on this story Kari, who always does a great job of telling me when the story goes lame, the Diva's of Shoulders Free, without whom I might have given up, and andy, who always does a lovely job at Britpicking for me! Thanks, the story is much better because of all of you!