Chapter 33: New Year and New Worries

Luna gave a stretch as she woke up in her bed back at home. Her dad made it home a couple of days before she had to head back to Hogwarts and they were spending them together. She was surprised how much she ended up enjoying her holiday break over all. It had started off seeming it would be so lonely without her dad, but she ended up having the best Christmas since her mother died.

Hermione and her family really took a shine to having Luna over for Christmas. She felt very welcomed in their home. They even took her to see a bunch of muggle Christmas trees around the area.

Luna decided muggles definitely did the whole Christmas thing better than magicals. She thought the tree at Hogwarts was huge. It was nothing compared to some of the ones they showed her. She didn't even get how they could grow trees that big and tall without magic.

She loved muggle Christmas lights more too. They didn't have literal fairy lights, but the lights they did have were more impressive to her. Luna also really liked the whole Santa thing. Hermione said he wasn't real, but she agreed with Luna he would probably be a wizard. There was no other way he could cover pretty much the whole world in one night, even if you took into account time zones and such.

The Ravenclaw first year did apologize to Hermione a couple of times in private for what happened in the Rust District. She had felt really lonely Christmas Night, but she would have waited a bit before joining them, if she knew what Hermione had planned.

That was part of the reason she took her time in the shower the next morning. She wanted to give them time to be with each other in that kind of a way. She also felt really hot and bothered after Hermione was that close to her privates.

Luna did really enjoy herself in that shower. She had a lot of ideas pass through her head. They involved both Hermione and Harry. Though given what happened, Hermione occupied more of her thoughts.

Luna decided she was far too sexually curious for her good. Part of her really wanted to see Hermione back there too. Luna was surprised she kind of wanted to do that atomic sit-up thing with Hermione standing above her. "Perhaps that's why the Wrackspurts acted the way they did at that time," Luna thought to herself.

Luna blushed as she rolled to her side. She really didn't get why she was interested in these things so much. She really wished her mom was here, or at least she had someone she could talk to about it.

She was curious about it all! She couldn't ask her dad though. That was not only too embarrassing, but he wouldn't know what to do. He would probably run off to follow some sudden lead he forgot if she asked him about that kind of stuff.

She couldn't really ask Ginny's mom either. Ginny was still acting weird as it was. Luna really was worried her oldest friend no longer wanted anything to do with her. Even if things were still good between them, Luna was pretty sure Mrs. Weasley was the last person to ask about such things. If she knew what Luna was thinking, Mrs. Weasley would probably call her a scarlet woman. The term didn't really have an exact meaning, but Luna knew it wasn't a nice thing.

Luna sighed and sat up again. She stretched once more, but this time made her way to her bathroom. She would get her mind off of things and enjoy the time she had with her daddy before the break was over. She would have to thank both Harry and Hermione again when she saw them. She would also ask them how she could show her thanks to Davey, and Hermione's parents.

[-] [-] [-]

"How was Luna over the second half of the break?" Harry asked as he and Hermione sat in a compartment on the train. They were waiting for the others to join them.

"She was a lot of fun! We loved getting to show her a muggle Christmas. She really liked it too. She also had plenty to talk about with my parents and kept from going too Luna on them. I can appreciate her thoughts now, but it would have been too confusing for my parents. Magic at a very basic level is confusing enough for them," Hermione said with a fond smile.

"Was she a problem when it came to sleeping?" Harry asked.

"No, she wasn't. I think it's because it was just the two of us and I do have a big bed," Hermione replied.

Luna did still move a little in her sleep, but the worst that happened was actually kind of cute. Hermione woke up a couple of times with Luna happily snuggling up against her. She even got used to Luna's far too mature night clothes by the end of the holiday break.

"I'm glad to hear that," Harry said with a smile.

"Hello, you two!" Hannah said as she and Susan entered the compartment.

"Did you have a good Christmas?" Susan asked.

"Yes. How about you two?" Harry replied.

"I did. I also mentioned what we discussed to my aunt," Susan said.

"Any luck there yet?" Hermione asked.

"Too soon to know for sure, but she did have that look she gets when she's figured something out. I think that's a good sign," Susan said.

"My Christmas was about the same as usual. It was nice though," Hannah said next as the others looked to her.

The compartment door opened again and this time it was Luna. Hannah and Susan decided she looked a lot happier than she did before the break. The group then settled in and told each other more about their break.

[-] [-] [-]

At the new year school feast, Hannah had a rather pensive look on her face about half way through. "What's on your mind?" Hermione asked.

"I'll mention it when we get back to our room," Hannah replied. She didn't want to ruin the atmosphere. She also didn't really want to be overheard by others.

When they got back to their room, Hermione looked to her and asked again, "What is on your mind?"

Hannah sighed. "We might want to sit down for this…" she said.

Once they were all seated, she spoke again. "Tell me. Did any of you mention what's been going on here this year to anyone?" Hannah asked.

They were in thought for a moment. "I'm talking about the chamber and the attacks in particular," she added darkly.

Three sets eyes widened at that.

"No!" Hermione almost shouted in shock.

"I didn't either… I would have mentioned something like that to my aunt for sure!" Susan said in disbelief.

Harry stood up and started to pace agitatedly. Why didn't he mention that at all? He would have surely told Lupin about it. "What's going on here? We even had a friend attacked," he said.

"That's what I want to know," Hannah said. She shook her head. "I don't like what I'm thinking… I really don't. I didn't say anything either. There were a couple of times I felt as if I wasn't saying something I should about the year when talking to my parents…" she said.

"You just thought… It wasn't anything worth ruining the Christmas mood for…" Susan answered in worry.

Hannah nodded.

Harry was glowering now. "It's Dumbledore… It has to be!" he said.

"How?" Hermione asked in horror. She really didn't like the idea of a headmaster doing something like this to their students. She couldn't think of another answer though.

Hannah made an agitated sound. "The only thing I can think of is a compulsion charm of some kind," she said through gritted teeth.

"That can't be legal…" Hermione said in a pleading voice.

Susan swallowed. "It could be… It could be justified as sort of using a long lasting and more powerful but subtle cheering charm almost. Dumbledore's also really respected… All he'd have to do was say something along the lines of wanting his wonderful students to enjoy their Holiday Break. He could even say he underestimated it would be that intense," she said.

"I really don't want to hate Dumbledore… But he's only giving me reasons to do so with this whole chamber thing," Harry said as he sat down. Why couldn't the headmaster just solve the problem already? He clearly knew what was happening and he was even willing to go to such lengths to keep the students from leaking the information.

"You're right, Harry," Hermione started with a sad sigh. "He is too focused on information control than actually solving the problem it seems." She hated having to admit such a thing about a person in such an important position. There wasn't any other explanation coming to her mind.

The group weren't sure what they could do about this though. It was rather disheartening to know their headmaster, who was supposed to have the students' best interest at heart, didn't really seem to care about what was happening. It was like Dumbledore felt it was too much of a hassle on his end to do anything about it all. He seemed to be banking on it only happening a couple of times before then ending.

"One thing is clear to me," Harry started. The girls looked to him. "We'll have to take it upon ourselves to solve a Hogwarts problem again," he said with a frustrated sigh. The girls couldn't think of a way to counter what he said.

[-] [-] [-]

Amelia Bones was not in a good mood. This wasn't too unusual given her job, however the reason for her bad mood this time was very unusual. She couldn't believe no one seemed to realize what was possibly happening at the ministry. She knew there was corruption, but she never knew they would purposefully throw someone into Azkaban without a trial.

Her niece mentioned something that got her thinking about what happened to Sirius Black. Everyone was sure he was responsible for the deaths of James and Lily Potter by handing them over, but he should have still had a trial. There was a very remote possibility he did and everyone forgot, but Amelia doubted that at the moment.

"Such an event would have been huge! No one should be wondering if the trial happened or not. It would have been all over the paper. People would probably still be talking about it even today! It would be used as an example for both Defense Attorneys and Prosecutors when it came to studying wizard law." She huffed in annoyance.

"It would be touted as a great Ministry success in putting someone so guilty and from such a proponent family in Azkaban. It would be their go-to excuse whenever someone mentioned corruption in the ministry and how the old pure blood families seemed nigh untouchable," she thought to herself as she made her way to her destination.

She was going to look into the matter now. She would be careful with it as well. This needed to be done without much notice for now. She already had ideas on how to broach the subject with Minster Fudge in a way he couldn't and wouldn't say no. She needed to be fully sure first. She even had a plan on who to get to further investigate the matter. She needed to check the very basic things first.

"Morning, Madam Bones," a clerk behind a desk greeted her.

"Morning, Clyde," she returned.

"What brings you here?" Clyde asked.

"I need to look up some records on previous trials. It is for an ongoing investigation," she said.

"Oh? Okay," Clyde said as he handed her the sign-in sheet.

Amelia nodded as she signed in. "Will this be all?" she asked.

Clyde looked it over and nodded. "Remember. You can't remove any files. You can make copies of them though," he said.

Amelia shook her head. She knew he had to say this, but it really was annoying for her. This was far from her first rodeo. Looking through previous trials was common for an Auror. In fact, it was so common it gave her an idea on how to be even more thorough about this and not take up too many official resources.

"When you're finished, ring the service bell inside," Clyde said as he opened the special doors to the records room for her.

"Thanks, Clyde. Have a good day," Amelia said as he nodded in reply.

Once inside and alone, she sighed. This could take a while. It was important though. She would not allow such an injustice. It would look bad for the Ministry on a whole, but in particular the DMLE, if there was someone in Azkaban who never had a trial. Let alone if it was proven he was innocent. There was still a chance for them to make it right though.

[-] [-] [-]

It wasn't long until everyone was back into the groove of school. Harry and the others started to look a little more in earnest for anything regarding the chamber, but weren't having much luck. They were looking through books about creatures hoping to find what Slytherin's beast could possibly be. There was a surprising number of things that could petrify. Sadly, they didn't have much else to go on at the moment. There wasn't much they could do to narrow it down.

They even tried writing down the little they did know on a magic board. It wasn't much. A strange voice. Mrs. Norris' attack and the puddle of water. The message about the heir and the chamber. Colin's attack and his damaged camera. The chamber having been opened before years ago. Justin's attack along with Nearly-Headless Nick.

It helped them keep track of everything, but they didn't really have a place they could keep it outside of their dorm. They wanted to get Luna's help on it, but they had to pass everything on by mouth to her or write it down on parchment. That did help, but seeing things written down on a board would help more. You could make connections that you didn't from just hearing it said or seeing it scribbled out on parchment.

Harry and the others feared looking for help from their house mates on this matter. The Hufflepuffs would help in full force. Sadly, that would get Dumbledore's attention. Given the headmaster was prone to covering up instead of solving the problem, they agreed that was a bad idea. There was no way he would just leave it be if a whole house was looking into the matter with strong determination.

"I wish there was a way we could look more into the last time the chamber was open…" Susan sighed for probably the hundredth time.

They tried that approach, but it seemed the Headmaster, or maybe his predecessor, covered up information from the previous incident. The group really hated how much people in power were more concerned with information control, even if they understood why. It did exactly what its purpose was. It made finding the truth more difficult.

"Even the lead from Draco all that time ago, didn't pan out. You would think you could find something about the student who died. At the very least, a memorial at the school or something," Hannah said with a frown.

"We'd have to go to the ministry for an archive of that. I might have tried to ask my aunt, but we know information is being controlled and controlled heavily. I wouldn't be surprised if they were looking through correspondence on the matter."

"A spell that would find out if anything regarding the chamber or the attacks was mentioned. It could even be used to spoof a reply, if they were desperate enough. Which it seems Dumbledore is," Susan said with a heavy frown.

That was another possible trick people tried she learned from her aunt. She was surprised how much her aunt's lessons regarding Aurors and dark wizards were coming into play in her life. She didn't want to be an Auror, but it almost felt like magic was trying to pull her that direction for whatever reason at times. It was like magic wanted her so used to such things that it only seemed natural for her to become an Auror after she graduated.

Hannah placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and smiled at her. Hannah knew what was going through the mind of her friend to an extent at the moment. Susan smiled back to her in thanks after taking in a relaxing breath. She really was lucky to have such a great best friend.

"There's also the whole Sirius thing. If she is taking action on that, she'll probably be very busy. Speaking of Aurors… I wonder how Tonks is doing," Hermione said to the others.

They were all kind of wondering the same.

"She hasn't said anything to us. Maybe that means she is too busy with her Auror training. I kind of get the feeling if she had quit or failed out by this point, she would have said something to us. Even if it was only to have our support and let her focus on something different from leaving her dream behind," Harry said.

[-] [-] [-]

Madam Bones sighed as she waited in her office for two people to arrive. She had no doubt they would be the best for this important case at this stage. She had not found a record of Sirius Black's trial. At the same time, she felt she could trust these two to be as impartial as possible while also very determined to see this completed properly.

That was key to taking any further action. The last thing she wanted was to allow someone loopholes to free other "potentially innocent" residents of Azkaban "unfairly tried". She had no doubt all of those so-called innocents would have brazenly showed off their Dark Mark during their trial or something.

There was a knock on her office door. "Come in," she called.

"You wanted to speak with us, Madam Bones? You haven't forgotten I've made it clear I intend to retire after training my charge. Have you? I don't want to be dragged further into DMLE business. I've had my time," a grizzled man with a magical eye and wooden leg grumbled out.

"I have not forgotten, Alastor. I've come across something troubling, but a big part of it will be office work more or less. I figured it would be the perfect chance for you to get your charge, Ms. Tonks, familiar with assuring her cases are tied shut with little room for the accused to wiggle out of a conviction," Madam Bones said.

"Oh?" Alastor Moody asked as his eye seemed to whiz about in its socket.

Next to him, a young woman fresh from Hogwarts looked a little astonished she was getting such treatment. She knew many had said they had high hopes for her, especially because of her unique abilities. However, a personal assignment from the Head of the DMLE was unexpected. Her bright pink hair styled in a bob cut turned a little darker in color briefly.

"You do have the best conviction record. You would know what all to look for in a trial," Madam Bones said.

Moddy nodded to that. "I've always hated office work in the past, but I knew how important it was," he said.

"What are we going to do?" Tonks asked curiously.

"More like. What is this about," Moody corrected.

Madam Bones took in a deep breath and let it out. "During the course of the holiday break, my niece mentioned something that really sparked my interest. It got me racking my brain on something important," she said.

Tonks couldn't help but smile as she said, "That sounds like Susan. She was rather quiet compared to the others, but when she said something it was important and got you thinking."

"That's right. You were her RA," Madam Bones said as Tonks nodded.

"What was it you discovered?" Moody asked.

"There is a chance, an awful chance, that there may be an innocent man in Azkaban. One who never received a trial," Madam Bones said.

Moody's scarred face grew dark at the implications of what she said. He had no sympathy for those in Azkaban, but that was because he was sure those there deserved it. Someone being there who didn't have a trail? That was not to be taken lightly. "Who is it?" he asked.

"Surprisingly, it is the seemingly most notorious of criminals," she said.

"You can't mean…" Moody started as his eye started to whiz about even faster.

"I am referring to Sirius Black," Madam Bones said.

"What?! My cousin?!" Tonks shouted. Madam Bones was thankful she had wards in place to keep from being overheard, even from the loudest of shouts in her office.

"It would seem so. I have checked the records myself and there is nothing mentioned of his trial. I also realized I don't remember it actually taking place. I only remember everyone saying he was guilty and went straight to Azkaban," she said.

"This is a very serious matter, Madam Bones," Moody said.

"I know it is. That is why I want you two to thoroughly check over the records of trials from that time. There is a very remote possibility the record was lost. However, someone who people claim was as heavily involved in Death Eater activities as Sirius was, would be mentioned in other trials. His trial could also be sited when convicting others," Madam Bones said.

"What will we do if it is discovered he didn't have a trial? I don't like the idea of others being given a second chance simply because he didn't have a trial. In fact… I might even go so far as to say if he was used as evidence in other trials… Well… Official channels correcting this mistake should not be used," Moody said.

"You can't be suggesting my cousin be left to rot if it turns out he didn't have a trail?! Can you?" Tonks asked in horror. She always figured Moody had the strongest sense of justice in the DMLE.

"I did make a point of only saying official channels be avoided," Moody growled to her.

"Oh…" Tonks' eyes widened at the implications.

"I do not believe that will be the case. That however, is the reason I want you two looking over all of the trials from that time frame. It will be a lot of work, but it will also really help out young Ms. Tonks here. She can learn how to ensure she continues your tradition of highest conviction rate. We need to make sure this is handled properly in every way we can," Madam Bones said.

"I agree," Tonks said quickly. She would go through the pain of all this research. She wanted to be sure if he was guilty, he was tried and found guilty. If he was innocent, she wanted to make sure he had the best chances of being released after his trial. She grew up being told by her mother Sirius' betrayal was both surprising and very terrible.

Moody was nodding in thought. He could get behind this. He also realized he was in the best position to ensure this happened. He was known as Mad-Eye Moody and seen as a little crazy, but very respectable.

He was seen as less full-on crazy and more overly paranoid by other people. He personally believed himself to be the right amount of paranoid. He knew more than anyone else what dark wizards were capable of doing. It made perfect sense he would have his initiate painstakingly go through old trial records with him. No one would wonder what they were doing or interrupt them.

"This would be a great opportunity to teach you one of the most important, if not least exciting, aspect of being an Auror, Initiate Tonks," he said to her. She nodded in agreement.

Tonks wanted to make her little firsties… actually, they were second years now… either way, she wanted to make them proud. Learning all she could from the greatest Auror, if not most paranoid, was the best chance of accomplishing that.

Madam Bones slid a piece of parchment to Alastor Moody. "That is a list of the current residents of Azkaban. I am sure you know why you need to carefully go over their trials in particular," she said.

Moody looked over the list and nodded. "I'll even be extra attentive to my own cases," he said. Pretty much everyone knew Moody was his own biggest critic.

Madam Bones handed him another piece of parchment. "This is a list I complied of cases for those who were acquitted from their trails as well. The purpose of looking them over is to be sure Sirius Black wasn't mentioned in them either," she said.

Moody looked over the list and handed it to Tonks. "Is this part really necessary?" she asked as she looked it over.

"Even if it wasn't... It would be good to see them as well. As they say, you should learn from others' mistakes. Sometimes a technicality or even something small, can be all the difference between a conviction or an acquittal in trial," he said to her.

"That will be all. Is there anything else you wish to discuss?" Madam Bones asked.

"Do you have a second group in mind for going over this stuff as well? Wouldn't want anyone to claim biases were used in this endeavor," Moody said.

"I'm working on that. That won't happen until after you two have finished though. If it is proven, however unlikely it is, his trial record was just lost… It would be a waste of resources for them to look into this as well. I plan on assuring if we find out Sirius Black never had a trial, Minister Fudge won't want to, or be able to, just sweep it under the rug and pretend this never happened," Madam Bones said.

"Good thinking," Moody said as he looked into her eyes. He liked the determination in them. He always appreciated how she never let politics get in the way, but once you have power and are in an office of some kind… Politics can become more enticing as a means of keeping your position. From what he saw, Madam Bones still hadn't succumbed to such practices… yet, at least.

"Come, Tonks. I doubt I need to tell you how little time we have to be wasting about," he said as he proceeded to the door. Tonks was quickly by his side. He was right. They had a lot of work to do.

"Best of luck…" Madam Bones thought as they left.

[-] [-] [-]

Harry gave a sigh as he plopped down on their bed. "Why does this have to be so frustrating?" he said with a scoff of disappointment.

"I know how you feel," Hermione said as she sat down next to him on the bed.

They weren't making progress in their search regarding the chamber. "I know we didn't find much when it was first mentioned, but still…" Harry said.

Hermione nodded. "You hoped maybe looking in earnest would get some results," she said.

Harry nodded. "It didn't…" he grumbled. He wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. "I hate that!" he said.

Hermione sighed as well. She really wanted to do something to get their minds off their failure in learning more about the chamber and beast. She blushed as an idea came to her mind. "I think we should get our minds off it for a while. You know… Come back later refreshed," she said.

"How?" Harry asked looking to her.

Hermione continued to blush and said, "I have an idea…" Her voice tapered off.

"What is this idea?" Harry asked.

She looked to him. Her cheeks were pink. "Well… I never returned the favor… For when you… Over Christmas…" she said.

Harry was blushing now. "You don't need to worry about that… I was more than happy with helping you out… You also let me well... look at you back there," he said and looked away from her. He was pretty sure his cheeks were bright red.

"Regardless of that… I want to return the favor… I'm also really curious," Hermione said turning to him again.

"About what?" Harry asked.

Hermione almost licked her lips as she looked to his pants.

"Ohhhhh," Harry said in surprise.

Harry didn't know what to think about Hermione wanting to see his dick. "Well… I did get to see yours… I guess it only makes sense you see mine… Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"I am… Are you not?" Hermione asked in sudden worry.

"I don't have a problem. I told you I didn't want you to contain yourself. I just wanted to make sure you didn't think this was going a step too far," Harry said.

"I'm not containing myself…" Hermione said as she sort of crawled over to him. There was a lustful gleam in her eyes. Harry thought it was so very hot.

Hermione was close to him now and he was about to undo his pants. Hermione stopped him. "I-I-I want to do it…" she said.

Harry gulped but nodded. His dick was really feeling a need to spring free. His pants were far too tight all of the sudden. It seemed his penis was extra eager for Hermione's attention.

Hermione looked at his pants and reached out to start taking them off. She was really excited. She had felt Harry pressing his dick up against her a number of times. Now, she would get to see it and much more. She started undoing his belt. She then unbuttoned his pants…

[-] [-] [-]

"That was incredible…" Harry said with wide grin after their fun as he lay their bed.

"Yeahhhh…" Hermione replied. There was a part of her that wanted to just lay next to Harry and go to sleep.

Harry motioned for her to sit next to him. She smiled warmly as she did just that. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close. Hermione leaned in to him.

Hermione felt different feelings bloom inside her chest now. She was familiar with them. She felt happiness. She felt a sense of belonging. She felt acceptance, even in such a naughty state. She felt deeply cared for. She felt loved.

A few minutes passed as they held each other. Hermione was starting to feel a little on the cold side. She also felt uncomfortable given her current overly kinky state. "As much as I just want to stay here in your arms forever, I should probably go and clean up," she said.

Harry sighed. "I suppose so. I should probably do the same," he said.

"Hopefully both restrooms are open," Hermione said. She had a feeling she needed a lot more time than he did. She also made a mental note to look for spells that could help with clean up in the future. She wondered if the library had a naughty section for such things.

Fortunately, both bathrooms were open and the common room empty. Hermione was able to sneak to one while wearing only her outer school robes. "To think! At one time, this was all there was to the Hogwarts' uniform," she thought to herself. She found it a little delightfully naughty, but too risky for normal attire.

She wanted Harry seeing her naked plenty. She did not want anyone else seeing her like that. It would be too easy for mischievous boys to use some kind of wind spell to cause chaos with a girl's robes.

She was now starting to think naughty and kinky things were going on everywhere at Hogwarts in those days. It was something part of her craved would happen again. Another part was thankful that wasn't the case now.

It took Hermione a while to clean up after their fun. She blushed furiously. She realized how much she really pressed her luck. She didn't remember cleaning her face or anything before going to the bathroom. If Hannah or Susan were in their living room, they would have seen a very naughty version of Hermione coming out of her shared bedroom.

"I really need to be more careful…" Hermione thought to herself. She needed to set up something in her room. She wanted to at least keep from advertising what she had been doing with her boyfriend.

When Hermione got back from the bathroom, she saw Harry relaxing on their bed in just his pajama pants. He gave her a smile. Hermione blushed anew seeing him shirtless.

She had just seen his dick and played with it. She shouldn't be acting like some shy maiden around him now. She still returned the smile and felt wonderfully warm inside.

After what they did, she felt much closer to Harry. She liked this feeling of new closeness. Hermione came over and snuggled in with Harry. Harry wrapped an arm around her and placed a kiss on her forehead. She giggled and smiled. "I think I'd rather have a sweet kiss on my lips," she said.

Harry chuckled. He kissed her on her lips. Hermione closed her eyes and reveled in the kiss. "Is that better?" Harry asked with a grin after he broke off the kiss.

"Much," Hermione said almost breathlessly. "So much better… I think I'll snuggle in with you for the night," she said grinning to him and giggling. Harry chuckled to that as they both got more comfortable together.

As the two slowly drifted off to sleep, they both realized something exciting and wonderful. "This will be my first Valentine's Day while being with someone!"

Both of them started think of a few different plans they had for the day as exhaustion slowly claimed them. Before this year, it was a day of nothing but annoyance to them. They never really had a reason to enjoy the day.

This year it was different though. This year they actually had a reason to enjoy the holiday.

As they slept, neither of them knew just how important the day would end up being. And not for nice and lovely reasons.