All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.

Beta: Roman's Sundial

Chapter Thirty-One: The Sacred Twenty-Eight

Harry Potter – Present Day

February 2, 2000

Harry stood next to Ron and Hermione at the front of the courtroom, in what he felt was an incredibly stupid robe. "Why do I have to wear this thing?" he asked aloud.

"It's part of the tradition," Hermione whispered. "The Sacred Twenty-Eight go back to the beginning of magic. And don't let anyone hear you mock it, either!"

"Why? I'm with Harry! It's about bloody time they updated these things!"

"Quiet, Ron! There's already going to be an uproar having you both acting as head of chairs; you don't need to make matters worse!"

"Why is it going to be a problem, anyway?" asked Ron.

"Seriously? You're a pureblood! You should know these things!"

"Enlighten me."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but continued, nonetheless. "You're both representing houses that you don't belong to by blood. Even spouses are often not accepted because they don't contain the sacred blood."

"Yeah, but there are no more Blacks out there, why don't they just remove the seat, then?"

"Because it's incredibly difficult," said Hermione. "Since the beginning of our time, only two seats have ever been removed, and for one of them, the process took thirty-three years before it finally happened."

"There used to be thirty?" asked Ron.

Hermione nodded. "The Sacred Thirty. These houses are sacred because they alone are the purest of blood. Every other wizarding name had somehow been linked to a muggle. Removing a name from the list can be detrimental if they aren't absolutely positive that nobody of that blood still exists. Purebloods take the Sacred Twenty-eight very seriously; it is one of the reasons why they push so hard for heirs, and male heirs at that."

"So, females aren't allowed to take a seat?" Harry asked her.

"They are, but it's frowned upon, and it's usually only temporary. Look at Andromeda, for example; she was only taking the seat temporarily until Teddy became of age."

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley," came Kingsley's voice, nodding to them all. "Shall we begin?"

Harry nodded and took his place at the head of the courtroom. "Since these hearings are being heard by the Dobwig Association, as head of the Association, it is my responsibility to conduct them. However, since I will be taking my seat among you all," -he said this, indicating towards the Sacred Twenty-eight's designated area- "I have asked Hermione Granger to conduct the hearings, as she is also a member of The Dobwig Association." Harry said no more as he took his seat at the "Black" chair, but he couldn't help noticing all the whispers of distaste. Clearly, these pureblood fascists were not okay with a muggle-born running the hearings. Nevertheless, Hermione embraced her role, and commenced the hearings. She addressed each head of chair individually, and carefully followed the very ancient and sacred protocol.

"Who represents the House of Abbott?"

A chubby, red-bearded man stood up and spoke. "Direct descendant of the first Abbott, I, Charles Abbott, represent the House of Abbott."

"Who represents the House of Avery?"

This time, it was a skinny, black-haired girl who stood. "Nikolai Avery, direct descendant of the first Avery, is standing trial here today, therefore I, Galea Avery, cousin to Nikolai, represent the House of Avery."

"Who represents the House of Black?"

This time, it was Harry who stood, and recited the lines that he had rehearsed with Hermione earlier: "Sirius Black, the last direct descendant of the first Black, has borne no heir, and therefore I, Harry Potter, Godson to Sirius, represent the House of Black."

"Who represents the House of Bulstrode?" And so, it went on. One by one the representatives stood and explained their connection to the name they represented. A few faces he recognized, such as Neville's grandmother representing the Longbottom House, Kingsley representing his own House (Shacklebolt), the wand maker, Mr. Ollivander, for House Ollivander, and, of course, Arthur Weasley for House Weasley. There were times when angry murmurs could be heard, like when the House of Malfoy was represented, for example. "Who represents the House of Malfoy?" Hermione had asked.

Reluctantly, Ron stood up and began to speak. "Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy, the last direct descendants of the first Malfoy, have been deemed legally unable to represent their House, and, therefore, Andromeda Tonks, sister to Narcissa, is next in line, however, due to ill health, the responsibility is passed on to Teddy Lupin, her grandson, however, due to being underage, it is passed on to Harry Potter, his Godfather, however, currently representing another House and having no heirs of his own, I, Ronald Weasley, selected by Harry Potter, represent the House of Malfoy." There had been angry hisses and whispered threats said after this, but Hermione had ignored them and continued on. The number of Death Eaters that had a seat on the Sacred Twenty-eight infuriated Harry. It seemed as though when recruiting, Voldemort had specifically selected these houses. Of course he would have, though; they were, after all, the purest blood of them all. The one House that bothered Harry the most, however, had been the House of Gaunt.

"Who represents the House of Gaunt?" Hermione had asked.

A young man (who, in Harry's opinion, resembled the Tom Riddle that came out of the diary in his second year), stood up and began to speak. "Marvolo Gaunt, the last direct descendant of the House of Gaunt, has borne no living heir, therefore I, Ralph Daniels, great-grandson to Marvolo's sister, Meredith Gaunt, represent the House of Gaunt."

At the end of the introductions, Hermione faced the Wizengamot sitting opposite of the Sacred Twenty-eight and spoke directly to them. "Today, it is your responsibility to conclude if the witches and wizards on trial today are found guilty. Although the Sacred Twenty-eight are also present today, the responsibility relies solely on you. We will now commence with the first trial." A total of sixteen people had been scheduled to be seen today, and all had appeared, except for Pius Thicknesse. Although the Wizengamot had the final say in the hearings, they all turned to see what the Sacred Twenty-eight had wanted first, and the Wizengamot always voted with the majority. "This is the last call for Pius Thicknesse." When nobody walked forward, Hermione turned to the Auror that was present. "Please inform your department that Pius Thicknesse is officially wanted for questioning by The Dobwig Association and, by extension, the Ministry of Magic." The auror nodded towards her and left. She then turned to the rest of the courtroom. "This concludes the matters for today." Harry got up immediately and quickly made his way towards her, eager for some answers to the new questions that had arise.

Ron Weasley – Present Day

February 2, 2000

Ron joined his friends Harry and Hermione at the head of the courtroom, where Hermione was collecting all of the paperwork used in the trials. "Well, that was a bloody waste of time," Ron said to them.

"No it wasn't!" said Hermione, looking at him as if he had not paid attention.

"What do you mean?" asked Ron bewildered. "The majority of them had alibis the day that Essa died."

"Exactly!" Hermione said, smiling. "Don't you see, Ron?" she said, when she realized that he wasn't catching on. "People don't remember what they do on an ordinary day. The day Essa died should not have had any significance to these people if they weren't involved!"

"And?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but she explained further. "I asked each of them where they were on five different days. One of those days was the St. Mungo's attack and that was all over the Daily Prophet, so everyone made sure they had an alibi that day."

"Right…"

"I mentioned three dates that have no meaning to us or them, so of course, they didn't remember what they had done on those days."

"Why didn't they remember?"

"What did you do last Thursday, Ron?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly! So everyone shouldn't have had an alibi for the three random dates, as well as the day that Essa died since they shouldn't know what took place that day."

"But that means those that did have a rehearsed alibi on that day must have known about it…" said Harry, catching on.

"Exactly!" said Hermione smiling.

"Hermione, you're brilliant!"

"So, who had an alibi that day?" asked Ron.

"I wrote them down," she said, digging through her parchments. "There's six," she said, handing the list to Harry.

"Ah, if it isn't The Dobwig Association," came a deep voice from behind them.

Ron spun around and saw Nikolai Avery standing behind them. "Yeah, we're The Dobwig Association," said Ron, as Harry quickly hid the sheet of parchment in his robes. "Can we help you?" he asked, rather rudely.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, you can, Weasley. Since this foolish hearing is over with, and I, like everyone else, was found not guilty by the Wizengamot, I wish to have my House seat returned to me."

"Since you are not guilty, as you have pointed out," answered Hermione, "the House seat of Avery is rightfully yours."

"Very good. Then I wish to put forward a motion and ask for it to be seen immediately."

"You must fill out the proper applications and submit them to the Wizengamot. However, perhaps the Dobwig Association could help you?"

"I doubt that very much. You see, I am requesting that the House of Black be removed from the Sacred Twenty-eight, or should I say, Twenty-seven."

"What? Why?" asked Harry.

"You said it yourself, Mr. Potter. The last descendant to House Black is dead."

"You must submit your request to the Wizengamot," Hermione said knowledgably, and before Ron or Harry could start an argument.

"I shall do that right now, then. Soon we will have this place in order again, where a mud- I mean muggleborn does not conduct a hearing."

Ron cracked his knuckles, but Hermione gently put her hand on him to make him stop. "I am just as much a witch as you are a wizard," she said confidently to Avery.

"We shall see," was all Avery had said as he swiftly exited the courtroom.

"The nerve of him!" Ron started, but Hermione cut him off.

"That doesn't matter, Ron. We have more pressing issues to deal with."

"We need the Black seat, Hermione, can he do that?" asked Harry.

"Well, he can try. But as I told you before, it can take several years to prove that the bloodline is dead."

"But it is dead; Sirius is gone," said Ron, not realizing that his words still hurt Harry.

"I'll deal with it when the time comes."

"If he gets rid of house Black, then we should get rid of house Malfoy, too," said Ron.

"You can't, Ron," said Hermione. "If Draco were to have a child, the chair would become his or hers once they come of age. The Malfoy bloodline isn't dead, it just doesn't have eligible representatives at the moment. Enough about this, though, I have to get to Hogwarts; I will deal with this later. Harry, do you have the map?" Hermione took the map from Harry and headed off.

"Why is she going to Hogwarts with the map?" Ron asked him.

"She's going to help McGonagall with the patient transfer; the map is to ensure that nobody is lurking about." Harry was staring at someone, and Ron turned to see who it was.

"Who is that Daniels person?" Ron asked, after realizing who Harry was staring at.

"No idea, but I'm pretty sure Dumbledore would have told me if Voldemort had any living relatives."

"Let's go find out if he's lying," said Ron, as he made his way over to the mysterious man.

"Ralph Daniels?" asked Harry, as he approached the man. "My name is Harry Potter, and this is Ron Weasley. We are from the Dobwig Association and would like to ask you a few questions."

The man studied Harry for awhile before he responded. "I do not believe you have the power to apprehend me, Mr. Potter. So I will be on my way."

"I do not have the power to apprehend you, but I have the power to order the Aurors to do so. So either you answer my questions or I'll have you arrested."

"On what grounds?"

"Do you want to find out?" asked Ron angrily.

The man smiled. "I have nothing to hide; I merely just have somewhere to be."

"If you're arrested, you aren't going anywhere," said Ron.

The man smiled again. "Shall we book an appointment to have a proper meeting in your office, Mr. Potter? Say, noon tomorrow?"

Reluctantly, Harry nodded. "Noon, tomorrow, or I'll have the Aurors after you."

"No need for that." The man nodded to the both of them and left the courtroom.

"Think he'll show?" asked Ron.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow."

Hermione Granger – Present Day

February 2, 2000

Hermione found an empty corridor near the hospital wing and pulled open the map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," she said. Instantly, the map revealed all of Hogwarts and where everyone within the castle was located. She glanced at the hospital wing again, to ensure that nobody had followed her out. When she arrived at Hogwarts, she went straight there to ensure that many people saw her so that if she is caught somewhere in the castle, she would have a good reason to be there. Confirming that she was in the clear, she scanned the map in search of the real reason she had come to the castle. It didn't take her long to find the person that she was looking for, and ironically, they were standing next to the now non-existent room of requirement. Smiling, Hermione whispered, "mischief managed," put the map away, and headed towards her destination. "Reminiscing of the day you died, Crabbe?" asked Hermione, when she reached her destination and encountered the person that she had come looking for.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, nearly jumping when he had heard her voice.

"Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Get out of my way, mudblood." Crabbe brushed passed her, but she turned around and continued to speak to him.

"You do realize that calling me a mudblood doesn't bother me at all, right? What does bother me, however, is the fact that you weren't at the Ministry today."

"Why would I be at the Ministry?"

"There were trials today for past Death Eaters."

"I wasn't summoned to go." Then, as an afterthought he added, "I'm not a Death Eater."

"You're right, you weren't summoned to go," she responded, ignoring his last comment. "Come to think of it, you were never questioned after Voldemort fell, either."

"So what?"

"You, Malfoy, and Goyle were all seen with your parents next to Voldemort. Regardless if you were innocent or not, you should have been questioned. Malfoy and Goyle were questioned, but for some reason, Crabbe, you weren't. How is that? How could the Ministry possibly have looked that over?" Crabbe drew his wand on her, but she just laughed. "One other person knows I'm here and if you do anything to me, I promise you that you'll be next to your father in Azkaban."

After what looked like a lot of thought, Crabbe finally lowered his wand. "Go away," he said, as he started to walk away, but Hermione called him back.

"I'm not finished with this conversation!"

"What do you want?"

"Let's start with how you're alive, shall we?"

"I survived the fall," he said. Clearly, that line had been rehearsed.

"Don't give me that rubbish, Crabbe! I know you used the Abracadabra spell, and I know that you were restored." The look on his face was confirmation enough for her.

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"How about we make a deal? Not that you deserve one, but I'm a fair witch."

"I said I'm not telling you anything!"

"You don't have a choice, Crabbe! You tell me what I want to know, and I don't show the Ministry that small error where your name never made it on the list! Do not forget where I work; the Dobwig Association leads all the Voldemort supporter trials and I promise you I will get you a seat right beside your father in Azkaban."

"You can't prove anything," he said, but there was fear in his voice.

"Try me. You know what else I can do? Have your father receive a kiss from a certain guard."

"Do not threaten my father!" he screamed, wand out and pointed at her again.

Hermione knew better than to push him too far; she raised her hands and spoke calmly and carefully. "If you tell me where I have to bring the bodies to have them restored, I will make sure that the dementors do not touch your father. You have my word."

"What good is the word of a mudblood?"

"Everyone somehow has over looked your name, Crabbe. If you hurt me, you'll be added to that list. You've escaped it once, I do not recommend tempting your fate a second time. Tell me where to take them, and I promise you I'll leave here as if this conversation never happened. You stay off the list, your father keeps his soul, and nobody knows that you and I even talked."

"If you even breathe my name or my father's name to anyone," he said, lowering his wand but staring at her with a murderous glare, "I will kill you." He turned and headed to the end of the hall, but just before he turned the corner, he said, "It's at the Ministry, and that's all I'm saying."

George Weasley – The Past

July 17, 1998

George sat at the desk in the back of the shop, passing a small black box back and forth in his hands. It had been about two and a half months since he lost Fred, and finally, he had agreed to open the shop again. He knew it was what Fred would have wanted, despite George not wanting to go on without his brother. "Hey, George," came Lee Jordan's voice as he entered the back room. "Everything's ready to go and there's a large crowd outside; should we open up?" George sighed but did not answer his friend. Finally, he placed the black box in a safe he had in the back, locked it up, and turned to Lee.

"Open the door; I'll be out shortly." He stood in front of a nearby mirror and started to straighten out his robes, when he heard someone walking down the stairs that lead to his flat above the shop. "Hey, you're awake," said George, turning to look at the woman approaching him. Her long plait was swishing behind her as she descended into the back room, throwing her travelling cloak over her shoulders. "Oh, you're leaving?"

"I'm in the same robes as yesterday; I feel I should change." She made to leave but George called her back.

"Angelina, wait."

She turned and offered him a kind smile. "It's not that I didn't enjoy last night, George, I really did, it's just that…"

"Fred," George choked.

"Fred," she nodded in agreement.

George ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Fred and I had made a pact before he di- before he left," he began. "It was that no matter what, you would be taken care of. Angelina, Fred wasn't the only one who cared for you," he lied. He did think Angelina was a remarkable witch, but he had never loved her like Fred did. Still, he had made a promise to his brother, and it was one that he intended on keeping.

"You and Fred both-?"

George nodded. "He just beat me to the punch," he joked.

"Oh," was all Angelina could say.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"You're not," she said. "When I came by yesterday, it was supposed to be as your friend. When we, well, you know, I don't know how it got there and I didn't expect to feel anything for you, but I did." A small tear escaped from her eyes. "I just feel so horrible; Fred hasn't even been gone for three months yet and I'm laying with his twin brother!"

"Fred would be okay with it," he said. "Besides, I'm obviously much better in bed than he is."

Angelina laughed. "Funny, he had said that he was much better than you."

"I'm glad I was a topic in the bedroom!"

Angelina laughed again. "Not in the bedroom, but yes, you are a constant topic. Fred loved you, George; more than anyone."

"I know," whispered George. Angelina made to leave, but George called her back. "Stay. Please?"

She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "I need to go change my robes, but I'll return." She saw the grin spread on his face and she frowned. "I don't know how I feel about this, George."

"We'll take it day by day; we will figure it out. Until then, nobody needs to know." She nodded her thanks, and left. George walked back to his safe to retrieve the box.

"I'll take care of her, Freddie," he whispered to the box. "I promise." He locked up the safe again and stood up, facing the doorway to the shop. He took a deep breath and headed into the store; it was time for him to live again.

Author's Notes: So, that chapter was something I wanted to do because I think that the Sacred Twenty-Eight is something that should have been brought up in the novels as JK made it a real thing.

Crabbe spoke! We are getting closer and closer to freeing Ginny and gang from their current fate!

Reviews: First, thank you to the kind reviewer who picked up on an error; I am surprised there aren't more considering the fact that my child does not allow me to sleep! All fixed, thanks again! Second, thanks to the other reviewers; I truly do enjoy reading them and get really excited when I get an email notifying me of a new review!

Over 8000 views, thank you! I hope I am not disappointing anyone!

The next chapter - I don't want to say too much but you can be sure that Crabbe's information will be discussed in detail.

By the way, thoughts on the Gaunt descendant? My advice: Keep an eye on him!

Thanks as always!