Last Time on Black and White:

"Really?" Sirius asked with a quirked brow. "You want to talk about age differences? How's your pursuit of Remus going?"

"Okay, okay, point taken."

Sirius nodded happily and grabbed his coffee which he was sad to realise had turned cold. A quick heating spell should fix that.

Tonks sighed and brushed some of the wrinkles out of her uniform as she waited for Sirius to finish so that they could head up to the offices. First her and now this Fleur girl, well, at least she now knew that Harry had a type; older.


Book 4 – Chapter 37: Exterminators

Time passed within the hallowed halls of Hogwarts and a routine was once more adopted by the students and faculty. Before anyone could blink, the third task was right around the corner, and with it Skeeter's horrible articles resurfaced.

The school now knew about Harry and Fleur's meetings, even though they were certain that they were meeting either at night or in secluded areas. The worst moment for Harry, personally, was when he received a letter from Tonks – who he hadn't spoken to since the Yule Ball, asking whether Fleur was using him or not.

Tonks,

What do you mean by "…she could be targeting me"? Fleur isn't targeting me.

I don't know what we are, exactly. But I know she isn't using me for some agenda and I would appreciate it if you didn't make assumptions about the people around me.

He tied the note to Hedwig's leg and sent her off, his annoyance palpable. It really didn't help that every bloody boy in the school kept cornering him and demanding to know just what he did to land a bird like Fleur, as well as wanting to know how far the pair had gone.

He usually ignored them and went about the rest of his day, but that just bred rumours about the pair. He hadn't even gotten a chance to talk to the French girl about everything since the third task was right around the corner which meant that Fleur was busy preparing for that. The champions had gotten no clue about the task outside of being shown the quidditch pitch. So, she was busy reviewing everything to ensure she had a fighting chance at whatever they decided to throw at the students.

One morning he caught Hermione, Su and Luna whispering to each other while they sat at the Ravenclaw table.

"Hermione's spending a lot of time with the Claws, isn't she?"

Harry jumped at the sudden statement.

"Ron! Where did you come from?!"

"I've been here for the last five minutes, mate. Are you okay?"

Harry sighed, calming his beating heart. "Yeah, sorry. Just been a bit on edge since Skeeter's article."

"Hmm, yeah, Lavender and Parvati were talking about that, annoying that one."

"You could say that again." Harry agreed with a shake of his head.

The girls seemed to look around before standing and leaving the hall together.

"Those three have been more secretive than the twins lately." Ron commented.

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

Just as he said that the post arrived, the hall was filled with owls delivering letters to their respective owners. One flew down and landed in front of Ron who tore off the letter and began reading it immediately.

Hedwig landed in front of Harry, and stuck her leg out expectantly. He unwrapped the letter and gave the snowy white owl a piece of bacon, tossing one to the owl in front of Ron too simply because he felt bad for it not receiving a treat.

He immediately recognized Tonks handwriting and opened the note and was met with a short response, 8 words in total.

Harry,

Fine, do whatever you want. I'm done.

He felt his stomach drop at the sharp tone. But a sense of conviction filled him. Why the hell was she getting into his business, as if she had any right to do so? Who he chose to date would be his choice and his choice alone. If she had a problem with it, she should just keep it to herself.

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Hermione and Su met up in Ancient Runes and were working on the classwork while Professor Babbling worked on her own private project.

"Su, look at this!" Hermione whispered fiercely at the Ravenclaw girl.

Peaking over, the smaller Asian girl saw that Hermione had the map open in her lap and was pointing at a section of it near the fourth floor. The names labelled were; Parvati Patil, Fay Dunbar and Rita Skeeter. Su's eyes widened comically, she looked back to Hermione.

"Professor, could I please be excused."

"Wha-?" The Professor looked up at the class looking genuinely surprised at the question. "Sorry, forgot I had a class right now. Err, what was the question?"

"May I be excused?" Hermione asked again.

"Oh, Miss Granger, of course, yes. Please come back when you're done, I don't wish to be yelled at by Professor McGonagall again."

Hermione looked scandalised at the very idea of skipping class. "Of course, I'll be right back, Professor." She replied with a nod.

The young Professor hadn't listened as she turned back to her work. Hermione turned to speak to Su once more before leaving.

"I'll handle it. Here, you keep the map."

With that said, Hermione walked out of the classroom in a bit of a rush and made her way to where she had seen the name of the person they've been looking for this entire time. As she made her up the last few steps she saw Lavender and Fay talking quietly among themselves occasionally giggling. Fay was another Gryfindor in Hermione's year. She had strawberry blonde hair, dark brown eyes and an athletic build. She was usually quite reserved and kept to herself but would sometimes find herself in the company of Lavender and Parvati.

"Hey guys, free period?" Hermione asked as she approached the two girls, wearily keeping tabs on any movement around them.

"Oh, hey Hermione, yeah. But, don't you have Runes right now?" Fay asked with a small frown.

"Yeah, or are you out looking for someone?" Lavender added, with her brow furrowed.

"Hmm, I suppose you could say that."

The Lavender and Fay shared a look of interest before turning back to the brunette.

"So, who is it?!"

Before Hermione spoke, she saw the slight sheen of a multi-coloured bug on the wall behind the girls and raised her wand shooting a petrifying curse at it.

"What the hell?!" Fay yelled as she ducked the spell.

"Sorry! Sorry, there was a bug. Looked like it was headed towards your hair." Hermione told her quickly. She levitated the bug and showed the two girls.

"Oh, God, gross! Kill it." Lavender squealed.

"No! I'll just let it out after class." Hermione responded. She looked around and found a wrapper of some sort of sweet sitting between the two girls and grabbed it, transfigured it into a small vial and placed the bug in it. "I'd better head back to class, see you guys later."

She turned and left before either girl could question her further and made her way back to the Runes class. Once in her seat she showed Su the vial and the bug frozen inside and both girls shared a huge grin.

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Andrew sat in Dumbledore's office watching the man watch him closely.

"And you are certain you didn't see anyone else?"

"Sir, I don't know what you're hoping to hear, but that's it. Krum wanted to talk so we went off to get a bit of privacy then a little while later, Bagman just stumbled out and collapsed."

The old man sighed and leaned back in his seat tiredly.

"This is troublesome, Andrew. Lucius Malfoy has been adamant about pulling you to the Ministry for questioning. I suspect he is still upset that you assaulted his son."

"Which time?" Andrew asked with a small chuckle.

"This is no joking matter, Andrew!"

The braided-haired boy recoiled slightly, not used to the Headmaster raising his voice.

"There is something afoot here, but I cannot for the life of me, tell what it is. Why did Crouch enter your name into the tournament? For what purpose?"

"Wouldn't it just be to kill me, sir?"

"No, if that were his goal, he could have just done so during the year. No, there is something else happening here, something truly sinister."

"Was there any evidence of Harry's name having been entered into the Tournament?" Andrew asked, a slight frown on his face.

"No, not that we could tell, in any case. It seems as though you were the intended target for whatever this scheme is."

Andrew once again frowned, and looked down in thought. He looked back up at the Headmaster and seemed to weigh his options.

"Sir, Malfoy Senior mentioned my father before, and from what I could gather from how he spoke of him, they weren't the closest of friends, could this perhaps be tied into that. Like similarly with Snape?"

"Professor-"

"You could try and correct me until the sun explodes, sir, but I assure you, that man will never gain the respect needed for that title."

Dumbledore sighed. "Regardless, Lucius has been adamant about bringing you in for questioning and with his constant whispering in our esteemed Minister's ear, he has the man frothing with the potential of you killing an official."

"He couldn't possibly believe that a student killed a fully grown man, he can't be that stupid. Could he?" Andrew asked in a tight whisper.

"Normally, no. Even Cornelius can rationalize some form of logic, the issue, unfortunately comes from the slanderous articles in the Prophet, from miss Skeeter."

Andrew groaned and buried his face in his hands. Of course, it would be those bloody articles.

"Yes, sadly, while little to no proof has been provided for your 'unsavoury' ways, the Prophet is largely owned by members of the Ministry, which makes it rather credible in the eyes of the officials working there. That, includes the Minister."

"Dammit, so they want to question me in the Ministry?"

"No, Lucius is a sly man, he would not want to make Cornelius look foolish publicly, and thus harm his chances at being a credible source for the man. No, Lucius is too proud to risk his chances at something I am very sure he knows is a dead-end. This is about his pride." Dumbledore realized as he stroked his long beard.

"Pride?"

"You've constantly opposed him, belittled him even, this is a power play. To show you that he has friends in power places that he can move around with little effort."

"So, what? I've hurt his bloody feelings and now he's getting revenge?"

"In simple terms, yes."

"Dammit."

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The day drew to a close and Andrew found himself in another meeting, this time with his friends in an unused classroom. His conversation with Dumbledore rattling around in his skull, he really wanted to tell the others what was going on, but the fact that he was currently looking at a bug in a potions vial had stolen his attention for the moment.

"What are we looking at?" Ron asked with a frown.

"This is Miss Rita Skeeter." Hermione answered while glaring at the fluttering insect.

"She's an animagus? Okay? Last I heard that wasn't illegal." Harry answered with a small frown.

"I have to agree, I mean, this is basically kidnapping..." Andrew responded looking at the others with wide eyes.

"I would've agreed, if she had registered her form." Su said with a small grin.

"Registered her form?"

"So, the law states that anyone who has achieved their animagus form has to register said form to the Ministry within a month of transformation. So, I asked my mother if she knew if Skeeter had a form registered, and unsurprisingly, our little gossip didn't."

"Bloody hell, so she's actually been committing crimes her entire career?"

"Yep, and all we have to do is turn her in, of course this means that any arrests that have been made due to her journalistic pursuit would likely be thrown out, since the evidence wouldn't have been claimed through a legal method." Hermione responded while biting her lip slightly.

"Well, we could always use her to our advantage." Harry suggested while watching the others.

"In what way?" Su asked with a frown, not completely comfortable with the idea.

"That'll only work until she registers herself, and then we'll be on her shit list the moment she's gotten her papers." Andrew refuted while leaning on the table, occasionally flicking the vial.

"We could just report her." Su suggested again.

"How long will she get?" Harry asked.

"Depending on how long she's been unregistered, anywhere between ten months to three years and a fine of 10 000 Galleons."

"And with all of her tabloids against some powerful people, she could get the full punishment."

Ron groaned. "Sorry to be the buzz killer here, but what if she's got dirt on some of these guys? She wouldn't need to be a reporter to ruin someone, and if she has enough people on her list, she'll likely get a few months, then we'll really be in trouble."

The others paused as they realised that the redhead was right.

"We could just crush her, or seal the vial and toss her into the Forbidden Forest, hell we could even feed her to Trevor."

Andrew looked up and saw the others looking at him with looks of horror and shock.

"Andrew! We can't kill her!" Hermione yelled angrily.

"I know, I know, sorry, bad joke."

Harry turned to regard his brother for a moment and felt a shiver travel up his spine as he realised that Andrew was not entirely joking when he made his suggestion.

"Well, I think we should contact my mother and let her know about this, at the very least, we discredit her name and have her unable to work for another paper for the rest of her life." Su suggested once she shook off the shock of Andrew's joke.

"Agreed." Hermione chimed in.

Once that was discussed Andrew, decided to reveal what Dumbledore had told him.

"Damn Malfoy." Ron growled.

"So, any ideas when they might pull this?" Harry asked.

"No, but Dumbledore says they've breathing down his neck for a little while now. So probably soon, he figures likely before the Final Task, since I would be nervous about that and he thinks he could try and pull a fast one on me."

"But, what's his goal here?" Su asked with a frown.

"Dumbledore thinks it has to do with my lack of respect. Long story short, I hurt his feelings now he wants to try and scare some respect into me."

"That prick." Ron growled.

Even Hermione couldn't fault the redhead for his language, she readily found herself agreeing with his statement.

"So what's the plan?" Harry asked.

"Well, Dumbledore thinks it would be best to have Su's mom in on this, so that they don't ask any questions that could, I don't know, implicate me in anything, not that I've done anything to that degree."

"That's a really good idea." Hermione agreed.

"Yeah, so I guess it's just a waiting game now." Andrew responded before looking back at the vial on the table. "So, what do we do about her in the meantime?"

"I'll send a letter off to my mom, immediately. She should get back to me, by tomorrow morning, the latest. Could I borrow your owl?"

"Right, yeah. Arcanum's probably agitated about not delivering anything for so long."

"Great, I'll get that sent off immediately, I'll let you guys know what she says." Su responded with a smile, before nodding to the remaining students and headed off to the Ravenclaw tower.

"So what do we do with her in the meantime?" Ron asked looking at the other three.

"I suppose we just... hold her and wait."

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It was two days before the final task when Andrew was summoned to the Headmaster's office once more, only to find the room full. Dumbledore was there in his capacity as the Headmaster and the Minister stood near him, wiping his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief periodically. The surprise came from Lucius Malfoy sitting calmly in a seat, sipping a cup a tea and Snape looking his usual dower self, glaring hatefully at the dark skinned boy.

Andrew frowned as he walked further into the room.

"Ah, Andrew, welcome, I am sure you are wondering why you are here." Dumbledore spoke first, shooting the boy a subtle look. Andrew caught his eye and felt a small compulsion to downplay what he and the older man had spoken about earlier.

"Morning, Headmaster. Yeah, I was a bit surprised by the summons."

"Well, the Minister here, and Mister Malfoy have a few questions they'd like to ask you."

"Okay?"

Fudge stepped forward and grabbed the boys hand before he could react and gave it a few solid shakes.

"Hello, Andrew! I'm sure you remember me, Cornelius Fudge, I assisted you and your... brother, last year."

Andrew did not like the hesitancy in the Minister's tone.

"I remember, may ask what this is about?"

"Ah, yes, yes, of course, a rather messy business with regards to a member of our esteemed Ministry, being one of the last people to see Mister Bagman alive, we thought or perhaps hoped you would have remembered more about the incident when you discovered him."

"I told you everything, sir."

"Hmm, yes, I'm sure you believe you do, unfortunately this is a matter of a deceased official. We must be absolutely certain."

Andrew looked at the man as he moved back slightly and caught the look he shared with Malfoy who had yet to say anything on the matter. And why the hell was Snape still just standing there?!

"I'm sorry sir, I don't understand, it seems as if you are trying to imply as though I am with-holding some sort of information."

Fudge had the decency to look bashful at the accusation and turned to Dumbledore who shot the man a blank stare while nonchalantly sucking on a lemon drop he picked from the bowl on his table.

"Ahem, well, we simply believe that you may have forgotten something. Seeing the death of a person especially for one as young as you, I would not be surprised if you had subconsciously blocked something out."

Andrew frowned again and felt his blood start to boil at the insinuation. He looked at Dumbledore who shook his head subtly. When he held his tongue and didn't speak further the Minister nodded happily.

"Now, if you would, Mister Snape?"

As the dungeon bat took a step towards the boy, Andrew immediately stepped back.

"Wait, what is Snape going to be doing?"

"I believe his official title is Professor Snape."

Andrew growled. "And why is Mister Malfoy here? As I understand it, he is not a member of the Ministry, simply a donor."

"Mister Malfoy is here to receive a sense of closure." Fudge answered defensively.

"Yes, Ludo Bagman, was a rather close family friend, you understand."

The blonde twat wouldn't even turn to regard Andrew.

"Hurry up, Potter, I have better things to do than waste my time with you." Snape said with less venom, but the full intensity of his glare was levelled at the boy.

As the man advanced on the teen, Andrew felt his muscles tense up prepared for a fight before a voice cut in and made everyone pause.

"Dumbledore! Open up, we're here."

"Ah, wonderful timing!" The aged man got up and walked over to his fireplace and sprinkled a bit of Floo powder within. "Come along, Sirius."

"Dumbledore! What is the meaning of this?!" Fudge demanded as he turned on the Headmaster.

"Now, now, Cornelius. You wouldn't force a minor to provide a memory under the effects of Veritaserum with his legal guardian and counsel present, would you?"

That made the plump man freeze at the implication, "Of- of course not! I must have simply forgotten that I asked Mary, my secretary, to send out the missives."

"Hmm, yes, perhaps."

Andrew watched as Sirius stepped through the Floo followed closely by his lawyer, Mrs Xia Li. Andrew felt himself relax when he saw them.

"Well, now that we are all here, may we begin with why my client is here, Minister?" Mrs Li shot the man a cold glare that Andrew was not surprised to see him shiver at. Andrew couldn't help the grin that made it's way onto his face as he stared at Malfoy Senior's hard set jaw.

"Ms Li, I assure you-"

"That's Councillor Li, Minister."

"Yes, of course, Councillor Li, I assure you, we simply wanted to assure that young, Mister... Potter, here, could provide some light on the Bagman issue,"

Sirius stepped closer to Andrew and sent a hateful glare at Snape who returned the look.

"Minister, did you call my Godson in here to tamper with his mind, without any legal guardians present?"

"Now, Mister Black-"

"No, Minister, I do not believe I will be able to allow this to slide. You have brought someone with no connection to Bagman to this farce simply on a delusion that a fourteen year old could trick and lie to the Aurors. I will be bringing this up to the Ministry in due time."

"Sirius-"

"I don't remember offering you the luxury of referring to me so casually, Mr Malfoy."

Andrew watched a side of Sirius he had never seen before – straight faced, hard jawed, for a lack of a better term; serious, version of the man who was usually anything but. He watched as Malfoy's lip twitched in annoyance before backtracking.

"Of course, my apologies, Mister Black. I was simply saying that this entire situation seems to have been blown out of proportion, we were simply eager, to ensure that the boy hadn't had any tampering performed on his mind."

"Smooth recovery." Andrew heard in his head.

"Yes well, be that as it may, I believe the appropriate measure would have then been to contact me, and request that I set up a meeting with a mind healer, not a school teacher."

The Minister seemed lost in a haze of worry at Sirius' threat as he hadn't spoken a word since and Malfoy could see his chances fading away.

"Perhaps we were a bit quick to get... justice and may have overlooked some vital steps, as such I believe that an apology is in order. Ministry, we should allow the proper channels the chance to evaluate the boy and get the results then."

"Yes, yes, you are correct Mister Malfoy." Fudge said with a small nod, he turned to face Andrew and approached him again.

Andrew quickly hid his hands behind his back and watched the Minister.

"Andrew, I truly hope you understand that this was not meant to be hostile."

Andrew paused for a moment before responding.

"Well sir, you cornered me in a situation where I would have been seen as suspicious for refusing any request, as I understand it, Veritaserum is a truth potion, so any of you could have asked me about something I find personal and I would have no choice but to respond. I don't know how I'm not meant to see this as hostile."

There was another pause as Fudge regarded the boy.

"Well then, that is unfortunate, good luck on the final task, Mister Potter."

With that, Fudge placed his small bowler hat on and nodded to everyone in the room and turned to the fire place.

"Lucius, will you be joining me?"

"I believe I would like to have a discussion with Severus regarding Draco's schooling Minister, I will be sure to find you later though." the platinum blond said with a nod of his head.

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Snape and Malfoy were walking through the halls a tense silence radiating between the two men.

"Damn Dumbledore." Malfoy ground out angrily.

"You didn't honestly believe he would do anything did you?"

"Of course not, but I had hoped to have that brat provide us with how he would tackle the final task. This is the final step, Severus, one final leap and we will be clear."

"So your message was not a drunken joke?"

"Would you be stupid enough to joke about something like that?"

"And the final task is the final key? What of the Minister and the Aurors?"

"Please, that incompetent moron Fudge would end himself if I told him that it would help with his social standing, I have complete control of him. Bones would be a bit of a problem, but even she isn't stupid enough to challenge the word of the Minister, publicly."

They returned to their silence as they continued to walk, headed towards Snape's office so Malfoy could Floo out.

"Did you get anything out of the old man?"

"It took ages, but yes, the only issue now is retrieving it. That would require a level of planning still."

"See that you get it done. We only have a limited time." Malfoy sneered as his knuckles turned pale against the gold of his cane's head. "Pot- no, George will pay for everything, I will make sure of that."

Snape raised a brow but chose to hold his tongue. He would be a hypocrite for pointing out that the younger George had nothing to do with the man's vendetta, so he allowed him to enact his revenge on the fake spawn of Potter.