TW: Brief, non-detailed mentions of Death Eater Activity, including a mention of r*pe. Sirius Black & Peter Pettigrew trial, so take from that what you will to explain the above.

The first Quidditch Match of the season was between Gryffindor and Slytherin, so to say that it was something highly anticipated would be an understatement. The school was buzzing with energy. Even the new Slytherin House pet, who had been declared 'Cheddar' through a House Vote, was running around in circles in his large and rather decked out cage. Hermione found it almost funny how luxurious Cheddar's cage was. There were multiple magical toys in the cage and a system of tunnels that would change day to day. Hermione had even heard a fourth year call Cheddar the wealthiest Weasley.

Hermione and her friends had decided not to divulge the fact that this was not in fact the rat that the Weasley's had owned, as Uncle Lucius and Aunt Cissa had asked for them to keep the Peter Pettigrew thing all under wraps. In fact, Hermione was pretty sure that the Weasely's wouldn't even know that they had been unknowingly harboring a criminal for the past eleven years. Uncle Lucius had wanted to try and throw that against them, but had decided that since they couldn't have possibly had an idea, they wouldn't have been charged with anything serious. And the whole point of the revenge plan was for Ron to know that Cheddar was his old pet rat, although the identity of the rat had to change when the original had turned out to be an animagus. They had not yet taken Cheddar out of the Slytherin Common Room, as their plan was to wait a few weeks before introducing the world to Cheddar, so Weasley couldn't pin anything on them.

Although, there were two Slytherins that were more excited than Cheddar. First, was Emiline, who was practically bouncing off of the walls in excitement for her first Quidditch Match, and was frequently spotted jabbering on about her various plays and statistics about her broom and the team. Draco was just as excited, and was seen trailing Emiline around, pleading for her to knock Potter off of his broom.

When the Saturday of the Match arrived, Hermione had trekked out to the Quidditch stands, in which she was wearing one of Emiline's jerseys. She and Daphne had also made a large banner in support. The match had started and had been dreadfully dull-although all Quidditch matches were dreadfully dull to Hermione. It was slightly less boring than normal though, Hermione conceded. It was almost kind of fun to cheer for Slytherin and watch Emiline hit speeding balls at Potter for him to try and avoid.

At one point when Terrence Higgs and Potter were racing for a snitch over by the Quidditch Goal Posts, Marcus Flint blocked Potter, which sent him into a tailspin. A couple moments later, Marcus Flint was hit in the face by a bludger. Hermione winced.

"That had to hurt," she whispered to Daphne. Daphne didn't answer. Hermione turned to see Daphne staring at Potter… and his broom appeared to be trying to buck him off. Hermione hit Draco on the back of his head. "Knock it off, we want Slytherin to win cleanly without cheating."

"Ow! What was that for?" Hermione turned to him, and back to Potter, who was still struggling to hold onto his broom.

"Sorry, thought it was you trying to knock Potter off of his broom."

"Someone's trying to knock Potter off of his broom?" Draco turned to see the Boy-Who-Lived holding onto a broom for dear life.

"Oh no," Pansy deadpanned. "What a shame."

Theo snorted, "It's karma, that's what it is. Welp, luckily enough, I brought my Funeral Robes to Hogwarts just in case. It's nice that I'll get some use out of them."

"You look quite fetching in them," Daphne smiled.

Theo blushed, before turning his attention back to the match. "Oh, and good for Flint, he's put the Quaffle through the Gryffindor goalposts five times now, 'cause everyone's too bothered with Potter."

Then- "unfortunately" Draco had said-Potter climbed his way back up onto the broom. Before Hermione could process that , he was coughing up the snitch and waving it around wildly, yelling "I've got the snitch! I've got the snitch!" like an idiot.

Flint was howling "He didn't catch it, he nearly swallowed it," which was an excellent point in Hermione's opinion, but Gryffindor still won. And of course, Draco was sulking until the next morning at breakfast.

As he poked at his eggs, Hermione tried to think of a way to cheer him up. Suddenly, she got an idea. "You know," she said mischievously, "Potter looked like one of those big frogs in the rainforest catching the snitch in his mouth."

The corner of Draco's mouth twitched. Daphne caught on. "I think I can do a rather good impression. Hermione, watch me and tell me how good of an impression I can do." She then proceeded to open her mouth as wide as she could and open and shut it repeatedly, ribbiting for good effect. Theo took a grape and pelted it at Daphne, who caught it with her mouth. She swallowed it and quickly grabbed another grape, which she pretended to take from her mouth and held it up. "I've got the snitch! I've got the snitch!"

The group of Slytherins burst into laughter and Draco's mood cracked.

"Daphne," Hermione said, "I dare say that was absolutely perfect."

About halfway through the week, Hermione had received a letter from her father, telling her that he would be coming to take her to the trial of Sirius Black that Friday. He had offered to take Daphne as well, but Daphne had immediately decided she wasn't going.

"It's going to be so boring . Plus, I'm not the Heir of House Greengrass, you are. So that means I don't have to do any of the boring heir stuff you do."

Hermione, on the other hand, was excited. She had never witnessed a trial before and was terribly curious to what one would actually be like. When the day of the trial came, Hermione was up bright and early. She had met Draco in the common room and had practically skipped over to Professor Snape's office. They floo'd into the Ministry, where Uncle Lucius and her father were waiting. Hermione ran to hug Hyperion. He laughed as she crashed into him, and kissed the top of her head.

"I've missed you too," he chuckled. "Now what's this I've heard from Uncle Lucius about a troll and the Potter and Weasley boy giving you trouble?"

Hermione went red, "I'm sure he told you everything anyways."

"And why did this take so long for me to find out about?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I was going to tell you over winter hols, but well…" she trailed off.

"Just tell me sooner next time, okay?" Hyperion offered Hermione a smile as she turned red and mumbled that she would. She took his arm, and they, along with the Malfoy men, walked through the halls of the Ministry. It was a rather formidable sight, and they were the topic of whispered conversations. The trial of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew had been kept under tight wraps-only the Aurors who were on the case knew about it. The press had received an invitation for 'an important matter'.

The Greengrass and the Malfoy seats were next to each other, as when the Wizengameot was formed back in the 1500s, the Greengrasses and Malfoys were relatively closely related at the time. Although that was no longer the case, the seating arrangement didn't really change around. If a new seat was added for someone who had gotten an Order of Merlin, the seating expanded outwards. Some new Houses even got added, although that wasn't very often. It was reserved for established Wizarding families that emigrated from the continent or if someone who was not a part of a House with any political power or seat, if they could trace back their ancestry for five generations of witches and wizards, they could obtain a seat. Another opportunity, which was designed for Muggleborns and Half-Bloods in particular is if they did something rather noteworthy. It had to be more than just what you would do to get an Order of Merlin, which only held for as long as the person was alive. For example, the Honeyduke family had obtained a seat, awarded due to the success of their business, and the Evans family was posthumously given a seat in honor of Lily Evans, although it was only allowed to be held by the next muggleborn of the Evans line, who would also be able to start House Evans in honor of Lily Potter's great sacrifice. So as the years went on, the Wizengameot chambers expanded, going higher and higher, and was at seven rows before it was separated from the viewing gallery. It was a great honor to be on the first level, and that was where the Greengrass and Malfoy seats were.

As they sat in the chairs, waiting for the trial to begin, Hermione filled Hyperion in on the school year. "So I'm really really good at Transfiguration, and I really do like it a lot. Professor McGonagall is nice, although she is Head of Gryffindor so it's a little harder to get points in there. But she does give points to me because my transfigurations are always excellent, and I always get them on the first time."

Hyperion raised a brow. "That's very impressive Hermione."

"I was really worried something was wrong with me at first, but I went to Professor Snape and he told me that it's either because I've got a strong magical core or I was gifted by Lady Magic."

Hyperion laughed, "And I'm sure you didn't worry yourself sick in the meantime. And I'd be willing to bet that everyone told you to calm down and not make a fuss over it, but until Professor Snape told you, you were convinced it was your doom?"

Draco cut in, "You have no idea how many times we all told her that it was a good thing at dinner that night."

Hermione flushed, "Well I just wanted to be sure. Anyways, I like the idea of either of them, but I don't know what would make Lady Magic choose me, so it's probably just got to do with my core. You and Mum have always had strong Magical Cores anyways."

"And how is Daphne doing?"

"Oh gods," Hermione groaned, "I was told to give you a message by her. She said to tell you that quote Professor Binns is a disgrace to the subject of History of Magic. Please find a way to get a new teacher. Or I will kill myself so I can take over the class as a ghost, if being a ghost is a requirement, because Merlin knows that he's absolute shite at it."

"With those exact words too," said Draco, "She's not going to stop until Binns is out. I mean it's not like anyone would complain, he's the worst teacher of the lot by far."

"And you know how she is about History," added Hermione.

"The school brooms are absolutely awful," Draco complained, "One of them malfunctioned on Neville Longbottom and he shot up twenty feet into the sky before falling and breaking his wrist. I think Daphne wants you guys to get into contact with Madame Longbottom to try and get Dumbledore on neglect-'cos anyone with eyes could see those brooms shouldn't be ridden on anymore-and tell him you won't press charges if he cans Binns."

"How's Mum and Astoria?" Hermione asked.

"They're doing well. Your mum and Aunt Cissa have been going to Paris or Milan almost weekly because they've got very little to do without you all in the house. Astoria usually goes along with them as well and will come back with loads and loads of new clothing. She's finished learning German and is trying to learn Italian as fast as she possibly can. She'll frequently break out into dramatic rants in Italian at the dinner table just to prove that she can, and partially to pretend she's in some tragic opera or something of the like," he chuckled.

"That sounds like 'Stori," she paused, "When's this thing supposed to start anyways?"

As if on cue, Dumbledore, who was the Chief Warlock, sat down in his chair. A hush fell over the chamber. The press seats were all filled, although the viewing seats were sparsely populated. As far as most knew, this was a normal day.

"The Wizengamot is set to give a trial today for a man imprisoned shortly after Voldemort's demise," began Dumbledore. Everyone flinched at the word 'Voldemort.' Hermione rolled her eyes at Dumbledore, the name certainly made her uncomfortable and flinch, but there was no reason for him to use it. Too many people had trauma associated with that name, and just dragging it up because he could instead of saying You-Know-Who like everyone else did always rubbed Hermione the wrong way. "He was assumed to be a Death Eater, but never received a trial. Aurors, please bring in Sirius Black." And with that, everyone started talking. Dumbledore used his wand to create two banging noises in the air, and everyone quieted.

A pair of Aurors brought in a heavily chained Sirius Black. His hair was wild and dark and messy-it probably hadn't seen a comb in eleven years though. His skin was pale, just like Aunt Cissa's, but the dirt and grime that was caked into him made it seem all the much lighter by contrast. But what stood at the most were his eyes. They were dark, and they darted place to place, haunted by ghosts that were no longer there. Each movement seemed to be an effort for him, as the chains rattled with each step. The cuffs around his wrists and ankles were impossibly small, but they still fit him. Hermione thought that if he were to take off his shirt, she'd be able to easily count his ribs from where she was sitting. A pang of sympathy ran through her. Even if he did betray the Potters, did anybody deserve to be treated like this? Although there was no madness in the Greengrass family, Hermione could easily imagine herself going insane in the conditions of Azkaban if this was what they produced. And Sirius Black was from a family known for madness. Was he even still sane?

The man sat down in the seat, facing Dumbledore. He was administered Veritaserum.

Amelia Bones, the head of the DMLE, straightened her papers. "What is your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black." Black's voice came out, rough and edged, raw and raspy from lack of use.

"When is your date of birth?"

"November 3rd, 1959."

"Were you a Death Eater, or did you serve, help, or aid You-Know-Who in any way, willingly or not?"

"No." Murmurs broke out again, before Dumbledore's wand made a noise, cueing them to quiet.

"Were you the Secret Keeper for the Potters?"
"No."

"Can you walk us through the events leading up to and of the night of October 31st, 1981?"

Sirius Black took in a rattling breath. "It all began when Voldemor-" he was cut off by gasps, "Oh fine, You-Know-Who, started hunting down Lily and James. They were encouraged to go into hiding by Dumbledore, as were Alice and Frank Longbottom. He was after them for whatever reason, but we never really found out what it was. They wanted me to be the Secret Keeper, because I'd die before betraying them. And I would've. But I told them to do Peter. I said I would be too obvious." He swallowed. "I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that.

"That night, I arrived on my motorbike, and the half of the upstairs was all blown up. Lily had spent ages decorating it, they had been in hiding for forever, so it was all she had to do. She was so proud of it. She had taken all these pictures of Harry and her and James, and even some of us, and had them all over. It was grins, wall to wall." Sirius wore a pained smile.

"I parked the motorbike right on the curb and I ran into the house. James was on the floor, right by the door. He was lying there, at an odd angle, and his glasses were broken. I broke down right there on the spot, but then I heard someone crying and realized it was Harry, so I raced up the stairs. I ran into the cottage and up the stairs and I'll never forget the way that hallway looked. The pictures were burnt and melting, and all ruined. It would've killed Lily to see it like that," he choked out, "Lily was right by Harry's crib, and her body was all twisted in the wrong way. Her hair was all splayed out over the floor and she was staring up at the ceiling. She always had the most expressive eyes, you know, James used to go on and on about it in school when she wouldn't give him the time of day." His laugh got caught in his throat.

"But her eyes were all empty. They were absolutely dead. And then there was Harry, standing up in his crib and crying. So I grabbed him and held him and started rocking him. He kept on calling out for James and Lily and it broke my heart.

"Hagrid showed up about ten minutes later. He said that he'd been sent by Dumbledore to take Harry somewhere safe. I let him go, I was going to get him later so I could take care of him. Lily and James had put me next in line to take care of him if something happened. Me and the Longbottoms were supposed to take care of him together, Alice was his Godmother, and Harry was only a day younger than Neville. But first, I was going to go out and take care of Peter. I was going to bring him into the Ministry so he could rot in Azkaban for killing James and Lily. It was early the next morning when I found him, and then he started yelling at me, saying I was the one who betrayed Lily and James. Then he pulled out his wand and cut off his finger, before blowing up the street. The only reason I survived was because I managed to put up a shield in time. Pettigrew transformed into a rat and scurried away in the gutter. At that point, I had been awake for thirty-six hours and I was exhausted. When the Aurors showed up to arrest me, Crouch told me that I was under arrest for betraying Lily and James Potter to Voldemort. It finally sunk in that they were gone. I was just completely destroyed at that point, that point I just started laughing and crying. It didn't feel real.

Sirius Black broke down, tears tracking down his cheeks. Hermione reached for her face, to realize her cheek was also wet with tears.

Crouch, from the other side of the room, was scowling before he burst out, "You were saying, and I quote, 'I killed them!' when we arrested you! You confessed!"

Sirius shook his head fiercely, "I was saying that it was my fault that they were dead, that I killed them. I was the one who suggested Peter. I never would've imagined he was a Death Eater. I would've died for them a hundred times over and still do it again! If I had just been the Secret Keeper, they might have still been alive today. Maybe I would be dead, but it would be worth it… they would still be alive."

Bones glared at Crouch for speaking out of turn. "I now open the floor to anybody who may have questions. Please be sure to wait for your time to ask a question."

For a moment, there was silence. Uncle Lucius cleared his throat. "Black, you were an Auror at the time. Why did you not go through the proper channels?"

"I couldn't think of that during the time," Sirius Black said, through grit teeth, "My best friend and his wife had been killed by one of our closest friends. I wasn't going to wait so Pettigrew could escape."

Hermione whispered into her father's ear, "I have a question." He gestured for her to speak. Hermione's eyes widened. "Now? In front of everyone? Am I allowed?" At his nod, she took in a breath. "Mr. Black?" Everyone's eyes turned towards her, as did the eyes of the man she was watching. He seemed guarded. Hermione's stomach rolled. "Were there any traces of You-Know-Who's remains at the Potter's home? A wand, or a body that might've been burned before Aurors arrived?"

Sirius Black seemed taken aback by the question, but answered immediately, as compelled by the Veritaserum. "I wasn't really looking for anything, so I might've missed his wand or something, but I didn't see a body or clothing, no."

More people started asking questions, but Hermione wasn't paying attention. Was You-Know-Who not dead? But that was impossible, he would've been killed by Lily Potter's protection ritual when he tried to Avada Harry Potter. Unless there was something he had tying him to the mortal plane? Hermione's mind raced until her father nudged her, pulling her back from her thoughts.

"Please raise your wand if you believe Sirius Black guilty of betraying the Potters to Voldemort." Not a single person's wand was lit. "Raise your wand if you believe Sirius Black to be innocent of betraying the Potters to Voldemort." The Wizengamot Chamber lit up.

Peter Pettigrew's trial was full of snivelling cowardice. He also, under Veritaserum, admitted to several other disgusting crimes-from rape to torture and killing muggles and wizards alike. Hyperion had almost made Hermione leave halfway through, but she had convinced him otherwise by saying that she would have to learn how to deal with graphic descriptions of crimes in some time or another. Even though it made her stomach twist and her heart clench at every single word Pettigrew had said.

When it was over, Hyperion and Lucius had led Hermione and Draco to the room where Sirius Black was currently waiting. Aunt Cissa, who had been watching in the viewing gallery, was sitting outside the door on a plush chair she had transfigured from a plant. When they were there, the Auror stationed outside nodded at them and opened the door, walking in first. Hermione assumed it was a safety precaution.

"Why are you in here?" protested the voice of Sirius Black. "I'm free!" He sighed when the Auror stayed silent. Aunt Cissa was the first to walk through the door.

As bad as Sirius Black had looked far away, he looked worse up front. He was free, he should've been happy. But Hermione thought that he just looked tired.

"Oh, Sirius," Narcissa cried, before rushing to give him a hug. He tensed up as she threw her arms around him, but slowly relaxed.

"Hi, Cissy. Long time, no see," he grinned, though it seemed strange on his worn face.

"Dammit, Sirius, why'd you have to be the Gryffindor Black! Or at the very least, not have been half as stupidly reckless as your average Gryffindor?" she whacked him on the back of the head. "Come on, now, Siri!"

Sirius's throat made a rocky sound and Hermione realized that it was a chuckle. He looked up to see Lucius and Hyperion standing in the doorway, and narrowed his eyes. "Lucius."

"Sirius," Uncle Lucius said, cordially.

"What the hell are you doing here, you Death-"

Narcissa wandlessly silenced Sirius, before glaring at him. "You better not start that, Sirius. He is my husband and I love him. Lucius is the reason you even got a trial to begin with. Now you're going to make nice and say hello." She cancelled the spell.

"Make nice with two Death Eaters?"

Hyperion rolled his eyes before pulling up his left sleeve. "No mark. I was Neutral, although I suppose some people think otherwise."

Sirius nodded warily and turned back to Lucius.

"We will discuss this later , Black, but you are going to meet my son who is your heir, and the girl who captured Pettigrew."

Sirius's eyes turned to her for the first time. "You got Pettigrew?"

Hermione blushed, "Yeah I guess…"

She was caught off guard when he charged at her, picking her up and hugging her, as he cried. "Thank you. Thank you."

Hermione tentatively hugged him back, which made him cry even more. She realized that he probably hadn't had physical contact with anybody in the past eleven years, so she tightened her arms around him. When he put her back down, she was crying. They both wiped away their tears, and Sirius turned to Draco. "So I'm the crazy Black Cissy's probably told you about?"

"No," said Draco, "That's Aunt Bella. You were the stupid Black that Mother talked about."

Sirius burst into laughter. "I like you. You're worthy to be my heir." he declared.

"Well," said Aunt Cissa, "The children probably should get back to Hogwarts. I know you haven't even started on your Herbology essay, young man," she crossed her arms.

Draco moaned, "Ugh, Mia, you snitch!"

"I told you to do it a week ago. You said you'd have it done by Wednesday, and to bully you into doing it if it wasn't done by then. You never clarified I couldn't use your mother as reinforcements," Hermione sniffed.

"What houses are you two in?" asked Sirius curiously.

"Slytherin," they said together.

Narcissa slapped the back of Sirius' head before he could say anything. "There's nothing wrong with that, so you better not make a comment about it. They've had enough to deal with from Gryffindors, which you will be hearing about and helping out with," she said firmly.

"You know, the Sorting Hat said I could go into any house I wanted," said Hermione, "But Daphne was already in Slytherin so that's where I wanted to go. Plus so was Emiline, and I knew that Draco and Pansy were automatic Slytherins, and Theo would follow wherever Daphne went. I didn't want to go into Hufflepuff, even though I didn't want Hannah to be alone, 'cause I didn't really think I was loyal enough to go there."

"You're loyal," frowned Draco.

"Yeah, but Puffs are loyal to everyone. You have to earn mine. Plus I'm a bit too revenge-happy to be a badger. I think they'd feel I was too mean."

Draco scoffed. "You're the nicest person in Slytherin!"

"Hufflepuffs and Slytherins don't exactly compare in levels of niceness," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "There's a reason why Hannah said she didn't want to be involved in the planning of the revenge against Weasley. She's content to watch it play out, but she's too nice to actively plan it or do something."

"I think that's why Pansy's attached to her at the hip," Draco snorted, "She's there to steamroll over anybody who looks at Hannah the wrong way."

Then they were back at the floo room, and Hermione and Draco said their goodbyes to their parents and gave out hugs and kisses. After a moment of deliberation, Hermione hugged Sirius Black again.

"Give Mum and Astoria my love," Hermione said to her father, before stepping into the floo. "Hogwarts, Professor Snape's Office!"