Special thanks to Delleve and Dani, your reviews and advice are noted and appreciated!

Chapter 4: Cornelius Fudge

It had been a week since Harry's arrival at Grimmauld Place and as he woke up the next morning, he soon realized it was his birthday. A small heap of parcels lay at the foot of his bed; excited, Harry sat up and began to open them. The first was from Lupin; it was a knife much like the one Sirius had given him. As if on cue, Lupin entered the room.

"Sirius gave that knife to your father back when we were Marauders; I thought that since yours was destroyed in the…events of last term, that you might want it," he said. Harry examined the knife closely; there was an inscription along the handle. 'To all my Marauders, keep causing trouble! Padfoot'

"So you have one too?" Harry asked, looking up at Lupin. Lupin reached into his pocket and took out an identical knife.

"Indeed; make sure to hold onto that, Harry. It comes in handy," Lupin looked down at his own knife, clearly remembering his days back as a Marauder. Harry looked down at his as well; it was obvious that it had been used on numerous occasions. The brown handle had chips in it, and the color had somewhat faded. Harry opened the blade, it had scratches etched along the blade and the blade itself was becoming dull.

"The magic in that blade is strong; Sirius made each blade himself out of pure loyalty for us. That's powerful, Harry. I'm certain that not even I have found all the uses for them," Lupin explained. Harry chose to say nothing; Sirius actually made this knife he was holding in his hand? Why hadn't he given Harry this knife in the first place instead of the other one? Harry voiced the latter.

"He didn't know that I had it," Lupin said simply. "I've held onto that since the day your father died, Sirius never knew. If he did, I'm sure he would've taken it back to give to you," Harry looked down at the knife again. It had been his father's; his father had held this same knife years ago. "Well, I was just stopping by to wish you well on your birthday, but I really must be off," Lupin said, heading towards the door.

"Where?"

"Order business, Harry," he merely said, then he left.

Harry carefully placed his father's knife on his bedside table; then looked to his remaining gifts he had yet to open. The next was from the Weasleys; it was an assorted amount of treats, a book about Quidditch at Hogwarts, and numerous joke supplies. There was a card inside with small personal notes from most of the Weasleys.

Hey Harry, thought you might like the candies. See you soon I hope! –Ginny

Harry dear, try to relax and enjoy this holiday, hope you like our gifts! – Mrs. Weasley

Hi Harry! I'll be seeing you around, Happy Birthday. –Mr. Weasley

Have fun with what we sent you; use them wisely! – Fred & George

Thought you might like the book, I think you're in it! –Ron

Harry chuckled; Ron always liked to joke about Harry's appearances in books. Harry started looking through what Fred and George had sent him. Many of them were different kinds of fireworks, all with the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes logo printed on them. He also got a few Skiving Snack Boxes, Canary Crèmes, and dummy wands. Harry then quickly looked through Ginny's candies, all of which were clearly from Honeydukes. As Harry started snacking, he flipped through Ron's book. It was quite interesting, Ron's brother Charlie was mentioned, as was Harry. Putting it aside for the moment he returned to the rest of his gifts. The next was from Hermione.

Harry, I got your letter; you're welcome. But remember that I wanted to go down to the Department of Mysteries with you, ok? But enough with that, Happy Birthday, Harry! I hope you like what I sent you, it's not much, but I figured you needed it.

–Hermione

Harry removed the wrapping paper to reveal a tiny box; inside laid a rather expensive looking watch. The back was engraved: Now you have no excuse to be late to class again! Love Hermione. He couldn't help but laugh. Harry took a closer look at the watch; it not only had the time for multiple countries, but a compass as well. It took Harry a moment to learn how to fasten the silver band around his wrist, and then he looked to his last present from Hagrid. As it always was, it was some of Hagrid's home cooked food, which Harry quickly moved aside.

Thoroughly pleased with his gifts, Harry got out of bed to face the day.

It had been a number of days since his birthday, and Harry was sitting quietly reading the book he had received from Ron, Quidditch at Hogwarts. At that moment Lupin came into the room.

"Hermione's neighborhood was attacked by Voldemort. She and her family are all right; but they are coming to live with us. They will be arriving shortly," Lupin quickly said, "I must go now, Harry, I have to help the Ministry handle the attack," and with that, he left.

Harry put down his book, filled with worry. But Lupin had said she was okay; not knowing what to do, Harry sat and waited for her to arrive. He didn't have to wait long. He heard the front door open.

"You'll be plenty safe here, don't you worry!" he could hear Tonks saying. "Harry, you here?"

"Right here, Tonks," he replied stepping into the foyer. Behind Tonks were Hermione and her parents, each holding a small bag of their personal belongings. "Well, I guess I should show you to your rooms," he said awkwardly. They nodded, and Harry led the Grangers to two rooms, one for Hermione's parents, one for Hermione. Harry left them to settle in and made his way back to his own room. A few minutes passed before someone lightly knocked on the open door.

"Hi Harry, can I come in?" it was Hermione.

"Of course," Harry said, gesturing to the bed Ron had used when he stayed last year. Hermione slowly walked over and sat down. "Are you all right? What happened?" he asked softly. Hermione's eyes started filling with tears, she stared at the floor, and began to speak in a shaking voice.

"I'm…all right. I'm fine. Which is good, I guess. Not many families…survived. I um…I-I guess my family was lucky," she sniffled, but continued her story. "It was early this morning, it was light outside…they attacked in daylight! Broad daylight…I guess they're not scared of getting caught. Well uh…I-I woke up…I-I heard…screaming…so loud…" she stopped, she was shaking from head to toe. Not knowing what else to do, Harry quickly gathered her into a tight embrace, her head resting on his shoulder. She broke down into sobs as Harry rocked her back and forth. "I watched them die, Harry! I-I watched them die!" was all she could say. The only thing Harry could think of was to sit and comfort Hermione, so that's what he did. He had no idea how long they sat together, the silence only broken by Hermione's sobs; eventually, they subsided. Hermione gently pushed away from Harry and wiped her eyes. For a while she sat and played with stray threads on her shirt, then continued to speak. "The Dark Mark was in the sky, I remember seeing it…it was enormous. My parents came into my room and they told me to run. I ran, oh Harry, I ran so fast. I ran out the back door and didn't stop running until an Auror found me; he told me that my parents were all right, that it was safe to go home and get some of my things. The other houses were destroyed; it felt wrong that mine was one of the few still left standing. I saw…the bodies of whole families, including children," at that Harry suddenly remember the article he had seen in the Daily Prophet. "This war is terrible…" she finished.

"Voldemort, did you see Voldemort?" Harry asked. Hermione sat in silence for a moment, thinking.

"I-I…yes…I did see him," she said quietly. "Harry, I think he was looking for something…or someone." Harry had an idea of who that someone was: Hermione. She really was in danger for being his friend…

"Harry, don't worry about me, I'm fine," she said, as if reading his mind. "A lot of people will die in this war, you can't blame yourself for that."

"But you; you don't need to. You're too young; you're putting yourself in danger by being around me…Ron is too," Harry said. At this, Hermione looked Harry straight in the eye.

"Harry, there is no other place Ron and I would rather be than by your side," she said seriously. "Now c'mon, show me around!"

Harry gave Hermione and her parents a full tour of the house, showing them how well Remus had cleaned it. They also visited Buckbeak; Hermione's parents were more than just a little nervous while they bowed, but were fully relieved when Buckbeak returned the gesture. It was then lunchtime, so they all headed down to the kitchen. Lupin was waiting for them at the table.

"Hello, everyone! Mr. and Mrs. Granger how lovely to see that you're well. Hermione, it's good to see you again," he said. Hermione and her parents smiled. "I have some important news for you all: Fudge's hearing will take place tomorrow; in twenty-four hours we're going to have a new Minister of Magic!"

"Fudge is having a hearing?" Harry asked.

"Why of course he is!" Lupin said. "He ignored crucial evidence that You-Know-Who returned and he had that whole campaign last year against you and Dumbledore. Most people think that's right next to treason! But there aren't any formal charges that can be brought up, so all we can do at the hearing is officially unseat him as Minister."

"Can we go?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"I was just about to ask if you'd like to go. But as always, Hermione, you're one step ahead of me," said Lupin cheerfully. Hermione glowed.

It was the next day, and as Harry rose from bed he was more excited than he had been all summer. Hermione was already waiting downstairs with Lupin; Hermione's parents opted to stay home explaining that they needed to sort things out with their jobs. Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebot arrived a few minutes later, looking as excited as Harry felt.

"Ready?" Tonks asked. They all nodded their heads. "Then I'll just check to see that the cost is clear," she said poking her head out the door. Harry could see the Knight Bus waiting outside for them. "Okay, let's go!" They all quickly piled into the Knight Bus, where it wasn't surprising that many witches and wizards were all waiting to go to the Ministry as well. They took their seats in the back and were off.

When the bus arrived at the entrance to the Ministry, everyone had to be formed into smaller parties to get into the phone booth without arising suspicion from the muggles. At last, everyone arrived in the lobby of the Ministry, all with nametags stating their name and 'Fudge Hearing' underneath. The golden statues were not repaired since the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort, but instead were left as a lasting reminder of Voldemort's presence. The lobby was filled with dozens of witches and wizards, all apparently there for the same purpose. Then Harry saw a large mob of red hair in the corner. He, Hermione, Lupin, and Tonks quickly made their way over.

"Ron!"

"Harry!" Harry and Ron slapped each other on the back. "Exciting, isn't it? I can't wait to see Fudge get kicked out!" Ron added. Hermione gave Ron a quick hug, Tonks smiled in greeting, and Lupin shook his hand.

"We should be heading downstairs now," came the voice of Arthur Weasley. The group slowly made their way over to the elevators, once inside, Harry greeted all of the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were all there; the only person Harry couldn't seem to find was Percy.

"Hermione dear, I do hope you're well, we were so very worried after reading the paper," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I'm fine," Hermione said kindly.

When the elevator arrived to its destination, Harry recognized it immediately. It was the floor he had had his own hearing before, and also the floor where the Department of Mysteries was. Harry paused after stepping off the elevator, staring at the entrance to the Department of Mysteries. He felt a hand on his arm; Hermione was looking intently into his eyes.

"C'mon, Harry," she said gently. Harry looked away from the door and continued into the courtroom.

It turned out the hearing was going to be conducted by none other than Albus Dumbledore.

"Cornelius Fudge, you are brought here today to review your actions as Minister of Magic, do you have anything to say before we begin?" Fudge looked as if he couldn't say anything as he sat in the same chair Harry had the year before. "Very well, let's begin," Dumbledore then pulled out a long piece of parchment apparently with names of people who had something to say against Fudge. After the last person had spoken, Dumbledore rose once again, "Cornelius Fudge, it is without a doubt that you ignored the evidence presented to you about the return of Voldemort," everyone except Harry, Hermione, and Ron flinched. "Now, it is time to vote…all those in favor of Fudge's removal as Minister of Magic raise your hands," every member of the Wizengamot raised there hands. "Then it is unanimous, Cornelius Fudge, you are no longer Minister. All those in favor for Amelia Bones as his successor raise your hands," though not every hand was raised, it was the vast majority. "Then I am pleased to announce that Amelia Bones is Minister of Magic!" The courtroom erupted in applause when Amelia rose to be sworn in as Minister of Magic. She raised her wand hand and repeated words to her read by Dumbledore.

"I solemnly swear that I will uphold the virtues of the magic community, to work for the side of the Light, and to work to make a better tomorrow," she repeated. Harry could see Susan Bones in the corner of the room; she was smiling, when she saw Harry she politely waved. Also smiling, Harry waved back.