Chapter 06

Draco

The blond Slytherin calmly ate his breakfast and read the morning paper. His outward appearance did not betray the utmost turmoil he had inside. Harry's innocence was out in the open and in no time at all the Hogwarts hounds would begin searching high and low in the wizarding world for him. There was no way they would leave him alone now that they knew their golden boy was innocent and they thought they could use him again.

He noticed his godfather leaving the head table and decided that a visit to the potion master's personal chambers was in order. He needed a secluded fireplace to talk to his parents at once.

Draco made his way out of the great hall only half listening to the shocked conversations amongst his peers. How many of them would claim to have believed Harry all along? How many were waiting for Harry to set one foot at Hogwarts to try and win his favors again? They all made him sick, but that was not important. He had to get to the dungeons, he had a floo call to make.

Hermione.

Up until that morning, Hermione Granger had everything figured out in her life. She was going to complete her studies at Hogwarts and get a job at the Ministry. In a few years she would be well connected enough to propel her political career and get a public office, something small for start, but not too small, and very influential... she would work with the best and be one of them. Then, when the time was right she would restructure all muggle/wizard relations and since no one would know as much as her about muggles, she would be given more and more power and with that she would gain more influence until she was in a prime position to make some real changes in the wizarding world. But that would not change her. No way. She would still be humble and tell the newspaper, when they come to interview her, how much she owned to her two childhood friends, even how she learn to deal with deceit. She would tell them all.

She was, naturally off to a good start, and that didn't hurt either. All thanks to her ability to make the right friends.

They were eleven when they met. She was nervous and excited, a whole new world of things to discover and explore. The spells, the castle, her wand, the ghosts, the giant squid, the books and all that knowledge just waiting for her. Although, the rest of the students were something of a disappointment. How could they not know the most basic spells? Didn't they read? And Harry Potter, could you believe that guy? He was in all those history books, an honest to God history figure, and he had no idea! He never read the books about himself! No wonder she never made any real friends. Really!

Of course, it all changed that Halloween back in their first year. Ever since then she, Ron and Harry had been inseparable. All the adventures and places she was able to go... being the brain of the trio had its perks. She was admired by all. The cleverest witch at Hogwarts, making them all jealous of her intellect. Ha! She had shown them.

But Harry Potter had the nerve to go and try to ruin it all. Thankfully she had the time to make sure everybody knew she was NOT his friend. She took great care in establishing her public position as a defender of the light and not a friend of Harry Potter. Of all the things he could have done, did he honestly think she would let him get away with rape! and murder, of course. So she took special care in her interviews, no reason to jeopardize her future because of something that he did.

It was partially her fault, really. She let him get away with too many things, too much rule breaking and that got into his head. He began thinking he was more important than he really was... above the rules or something. She was not surprised at all that he had committed a crime.

She should have seen it coming and prevented it. She should have gone to the headmaster sooner, but she was too close. When you are that close you lose perspective and that was the only reason Potter was able to fool her. Now she had learned her lesson and was ready to never make the same mistake again... so it was only fair that she got an invisibility cloak out of the deal. It was not as if anybody else was using it and she was putting it to good use, along with the marauders map. Using them to help herself do a better job as a prefect, really, she had the highest record of catching students after curfew. She was a shoe in for head-girl.

Then THAT morning came and her world was turned up side down. It couldn't be true, it couldn't. It had to be a trick, a prank from the twins, a sick joke against her. It had to be. If it was true... well, if it was true she would have to offer a very good apology to Po... Harry. Maybe even some tears, yes, tears would be good. Harry was never the one to resist tears.

The only question now was how to get to him.

Na, that wouldn't be a problem. Dumbledore was certainly on his way to the ministry and Harry would be at school by dinner. All she had to do was make sure she was the first one to get to him, nothing she couldn't do with her map and invisibility cloak. It was time to plan what she was going to say to him. She needed to go to the library, seclude herself in to a quiet corner and think.

Ron

Hermione read her copy of the Daily Prophet twice and ran out without as much as saying a word. Not good, but it did give him time enough to read the front page.

Potter was innocent? What did they mean Potter was innocent? He had killed Ginny for crying out loud... and Ginny was a Weasley, no Weasley had ever been a Death Eater. Ridiculous.

Potter was dark! He knew it. He was the best friend of the boy-who-lived, he was the tragic hero, the one betrayed by his best friend but rose above and fought for the light... well, ok, so there was no fighting as of yet, but soon there would be and he would be a central figure in it.

Hum... they were claiming the Potter fortune? How come nobody told him anything? Well, that was probably not going to happen anymore now that Potter was free.

And why shouldn't he have the broom? That traitor had taken his little sister; he was entitled to take something of his too. Except that now it looked like Harry didn't kill Ginny. Damn, did that mean he would have to give back the broom? Well... the Prophet made it sound like he had stolen the thing, but he hadn't, not really. He and Hermione had discussed it long and hard. It had been clear that they did deserve a reward for all those times Potter had put them in danger, but now everybody would side with Potter and forget all about Ron, the poor lonely orphan who got himself in to trouble again, and came back to make Ron give up his broom. That was not fair.

But if that was all true Ron would have to roll with the punches, he was not stupid. If Pott... Harry was a hero again, everybody would start sucking up to him again. At least he would go back to the front page as the best friend of the boy-who-lived. No journalist had tried to get an interview with him in months!

He had no doubt in his mind that Harry would forgive him and go back to being his friend; he always forgave Ron for anything, maybe he could even make Harry see reason and he would keep the broom like he deserved for all his troubles.

Yeah, that's what he would do.

And with that Ron happily resumed eating his breakfast.

The Weasleys

Molly and Arthur were sitting in the kitchen, quietly enjoying their breakfast when the delivery owl came. It was a morning like all other mornings, no sign of anything out of the ordinary happening, it wasn't particularly sunny, maybe it would rain later on. All peaceful and quiet until that owl came.

Arthur got the paper putting a few knuts on the appropriate pouch. The owl left. Arthur got the paper and opened in the front page and the world came to a screeching halt. He never heard his tea cup crashing on the floor or Molly's question of what was going on.

"He is getting off. Ginny's murderer is getting off" was repeated over and over in his head. Nothing else made sense. The Potters were rich, somehow that filthy murder managed to use his money to get himself out of jail. Only when his eyes caught the name Pettigrew did Arthur manage to control himself enough to actually read the article.

"It's all lies! They are lying through their teeth and I will not allow anyone to drag my daughter's name in the mud so they can set her murderer free. Ginny would never be a Death Eater, Ron would never lay hands on something that did not belong to him and we never made any claims on the Potter money. I'm going to the Ministry right now and, Merlin help me, I'll get to the bottom of this even if I have to tear that place apart with my bare hands, Molly, I swear!"

Molly was shocked in to silence. Her family name was being slandered in the front page of the Daily Prophet. They couldn't do that. The Weasleys were the victims here. So what if they were poor? They never took what was not theirs, never claimed what was not just and rightfully theirs. Their only daughter had been murdered and now they were trying to... trying... no, she wouldn't allow it.

"I'm coming with you." She said almost calmly.

"No, Molly, you better stay put. I don't want you dealing..."

"I'M COMING WITH YOU!" she nearly ran him over getting her cloak and grabbing the floo powder. "She was my daughter too!" she added with a whisper with tears running down her face.

"Alright, mother. We'll go together." Said Arthur pulling Molly in to his arms. "We'll do everything together." He said guiding her to the fireplace and yelling "Ministry of Magic, main hall."

Dumbledore

That morning, Albus was sitting at the head table talking to the teachers about trivialities when the post arrived. He was following the events carefully both through the paper and through the reports a few well placed order members were sending him, the information these Death Eaters were providing was vital to the order. The war went on and this unusual bout of good luck was like a breath of fresh air after the events of last May.

Dumbledore was feeling old. All those years of planning and preparation, waiting until Harry was old enough to face Voldemort. How could it go so wrong? If Harry wanted the Weasley girl, why didn't he simply date her? She was willing enough, always following him around like a lost puppy.

Yes, dating would have being perfect for morale. But no, he had to go and rape the girl, killing her too... and leaving evidence! Albus could have used the murder to gather sympathy, if only no one knew Harry was the one responsible for it. But he was, and now he was in Azkaban, wasting away. So much talent, so much power, thrown away in one irrational act. When did Harry went dark? How? Why? Maybe Minerva had been right all those years ago, he should have seen the signs sooner. The boy was obvious mistreated at his relative's house... just like Riddle so many years ago. He should have known.

In a way, it was better that it happened now. If Harry had done it after he was a fully trained wizard, after he had defeated Voldemort, no one would be able to bring him to justice. He would have become too powerful for that. No it was better that it happened when it did. Now they had to move on.

Maybe he could convince Sirius and Remus to come back to the order. They had left after Harry's imprisonment, not accepting the reality of the facts that were right in front of them. Well, maybe not now, but in a few months they would realize what that that was the right thing to do. He was suffering too; he did like the boy and wished that he could have done something, but... what?

The noise in the great hall suddenly got lower, groups of students gathering around the Daily Prophet's editions that came with the morning mail. There was something going on. Grabbing his paper, Dumbledore opened and read the headline. His hand went lax and his tea spilled all over his forgotten toast. He had failed again, Harry was innocent. Another one of his boys had been sent to Azkaban under false charges... but this was good news, this was great news, Harry would be back. He could still be trained. They still had a fighting chance at the war.

Albus hurried back to his office to place a few calls and then a visit to the ministry was in order. Harry would be back before night fall.

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Amelia Bones glanced over to Cornelius Fudge who looked as nervous as she felt while they prepared themselves for a press conference with apparently every single journalist in the wizarding world. Everything was in the hands of that stupid buffoon now. If they didn't act quickly these would be an uproar with people demanding to know where Harry was. They had to issue an official statement fast, before Dumbledore got involved. She figured he would be at the ministry before lunch.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to this press conference. We will read a short statement and proceed to answer a few questions. Please remain calm and at the appropriate time present your questions in a orderly manner. Thank you." A ministry secretary open the conference officially, "Illustrious Mr. Ministry of Magic, Cornelius Fudge has the floor."

The secretary took his sit and Fudge got up and took the stand. He pompously took a parchment from his pockets and began to read.

"It came to public notice with the interrogation of one Peter Pettigrew the fact that Mr. Harry Potter had been framed for the murder of Miss Ginevra Weasley in May. I am here to announce that this news did not come as a surprise for this administration and in fact..." Several whispers cut Fudge speech and an unknown reporter raised his voice.

"Does this mean the ministry has knowingly kept an innocent 15 year old in Azkaban?"

"Questions will only be permitted at the end of the ministry's official statement" the secretary barged in, preventing any other questions "The audience will please refrain from interrupting again or we will cut this meeting short."

Fudge nodded at his secretary, glared at the reporter and continued reading. "And in fact the ministry had full knowledge of this fact ever since the beginning of June, when Mr. Potter was released in to medical care. Mr. Potter has been cleared of all charges for the past four months and is currently attending school in an establishment of his choosing at an undisclosed location. The decision to keep this information a secret was due to the fact that this is an ongoing investigation and that Mr. Potter was the obvious target of a conspiracy. And even though his innocence has been made public, Mr. Potter has informed this Ministry that he has no intention of exposing himself again until the perpetrators of this crime have been apprehended. Thank you for your time."

The reporters were shocked. The Ministry knew Potter was innocent; they were keeping him at a secure location. There was a conspiracy! A conspiracy to destroy the boy-who-lived! They had enough stories to last for months! And just when they though all of their head lines dreams had come true, it got better!

"MY DAUGHTER WAS NOT A DEATH EATER!" screamed an enraged red head at the door. It took only seconds for Molly Weasley to be identified.

"Mrs. Weasley. That was a fact that came up at yesterday's interrogation and has not yet been confirmed..." a smiling Fudge tried to defuse the situation.

"How could anyone believe that? How could you print that? It's all lies. Not a single word in this nonsense is true." Molly's purple face was clearly visible and she tried to make her way to the front of the room as a red head man, clearly her husband, tried to hold her back and get her to calm down.

"Mrs. Weasley. How about your claim to the Potter fortune?"

"There is no such thing. No Weasley has ever taken something that didn't belong to them, we never claimed any money from the Potters." Yelled Mr. Weasley.

"We have copies of the claim. It's signed by one Percy Weasley. Is he not your son? Do you deny knowledge of this fact?" Several reporters were yelling now, asking all sort of questions to a befouled Weasley couple who could only blink as they looked at the copies some reporter had shoved in their hands.

"SILENCE" Yelled the chief Auror present in the room. "This conference has come to an end. Empty the room." And in a matter of seconds the aurors herded all the reporters, still yelling questions, out of the room.

"Molly, Arthur. I'm sorry you had to find out like this." Offered Mme. Bones. "We had no intention of keeping this information secret from you, but it was a matter of national security. Heck, I think we are talking world security right now."

"It's a lie, it's a lie." Cried Molly in her husband's arms.

"No, it's not, Molly." Mme. Bones said firmly, "We have known about Mr. Potter's innocence for several months now. It has been confirmed by more than one source. The rest of the article... well, Pettigrew did give his testimony under Veritaserum, so it is true as far as he knows, but we are still waiting for confirmation before we act on it... and I know for a fact that Percy did file a claim on the Potter's family money. It has been turned down, but he did do it."

"Is this true?" Arthur sounded lost. "Potter was innocent? Then who killed Ginny?"

"Right now we are working to verify the fact that she is dead." Mme. Bones said.

"What? How can there be any doubt?" Arthur was shocked.

"A men said so under Veritaserum. The law demands second examination of the body in order to clarify the fact. We should know before the day is out."

"Then what?" asked Molly still sobbing.

"If it is Ginny, we continue our investigation to find out who did it. If not... we'll have to find out where she is and how much she is actually involved in all this."

"She would never join... him."

"That is what we hope to find out." At that moment a young auror come forward and whispered something in Mme. Bones ear. "Ah! Dumbledore is here."

"Mme. Bones," smiled Dumbledore as he entered the room from a side door. "Good day. I understand you had a very busy morning."

"Good day, sir. And I'm afraid it comes with the territory"

"Yes, yes. I'm afraid it does. But, since we are all here, perhaps its time we sort young Harry's situation." The old man said happily.

"Situation? I wasn't aware that there was a situation. Headmaster." Said Mme. Bones pretending not to know where this was heading.

"Why? His imprisonment. I insist that he is released at once. I'll take him to Hogwarts where he will be able to recover from this ordeal."

"Ah," thought Amelia Bones "of course, he came through the side door. Probably using one of the special fireplaces set aside for ministry personnel only. He never heard the official statement or spoke with any reporters. This could be fun."

"But... Headmaster Dumbledore, Potter has already been released." Said Bones with wide eyes as if she didn't understand what was going on.

"What?" Dumbledore and the Weasleys asked together.

"The investigations proved Potter's innocence. He was released months ago."

"Harry was cleared of all charges and released and nobody told us?" shrieked Molly Weasley.

"Well, he was in desperate need of medical attention and said he was going to stay with his family so we didn't see any problems with that." Answered Mme. Bones.

"But why was I not informed of this?" demanded Dumbledore.

"You are not informed of every single hearing that happens, Dumbledore, only of the trial as it is your job as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, remember? The Potter case never made it to trial, it was solved way before it ever got to that point...and it's an on-going investigation, all details are kept secret until the final result is reached when the case gets out of the auror department's hands. You know that! If you wanted details from this case you should have asked for it specifically, that is the law. The fact that any of this came to public knowledge is a severe lack in security and we are investigating how did this happen."

Dumbledore was livid, of course he knew that, but given the circumstances he though someone would inform him if anything had happened, and now Harry was out there, free for months and he made no contact with him or anybody in the order.

"He probably hates us all now. I have to get to him; I have to make him see reason and come back to fight on the side of the light."

"Well, of course, but I mean, Harry never came back on September first. He is missing valuable school time. If I had known he was already..." He tried to reason but Mme. Bones put a stop on him.

"But he is receiving an education..." she said matter-of-factly as if it was the most logical thing in the world, "just not in Hogwarts, headmaster. Did you forget that he was expelled? He found himself another place to study."

"Since the charges were dropped..."

"Since they are dropped as of now, it is up to him and his guardians to decide what to do and I was informed they chose a new school rather than applying for re-admittance. The Ministry was deeply grateful; his decision helped keep vital information secret and since he was expelled from his previous school there was no need to inform anyone. We did everything we could to keep him safe, Dumbledore."

"Safe?" yelled Molly, "that maybe be, but sending him off to those muggles... you should have sent him to us or to Hogwarts. He would be much better off with the ones who love him."

"The ones who love him? Is this woman serious?" Mme. Bones could not hide the look of surprise in her face and Molly knew at once she had gone too far.

"Well, I know that in a moment of grief we may have said and done a few things that would give the impression that..." Molly started only to be interrupted.

"You pushed for the maximum penalty, you destroy his personal possessions, a member of your family laid claim to his family vaults and properties, your son is using his broom and giving interviews with the only purpose of telling everyone who will listen how dark and violent Harry had became. I believe those in more than 'a few things', Mrs. Weasley, and they gave more than a mere impression. No one in their right mind would place Mr. Potter into your care." Amelia Bones grew a few inches during her speech and had the pleasure of seeing the Weasleys shrink and blush. Albus was shocked into silence and Amelia Bones took advantage of that moment to get away from them as fast as she could before she really began to dress them down. There was no way of controlling her tongue went she was this mad at someone and she would end it up saying the wrong thing and give Harry's true location or situation away.

Dumbledore watched the witch walk away in silence. There was nothing he could do here. Even if things seemed a little fishy, everything was done according to the law and his hands were tied. The only thing left for him to do was to pay a visit to the Dursleys. They would tell him which was Harry's new school and then it would only be a matter of time before he got a hold of the boy and convinced him to go back to Hogwarts.

Yes, that was the right thing to do.