"Hey Neville?" Harry caught the attention of his best mate as they were getting ready for the day. Ron, Dean and Seamus were all occupying the bathroom. "Your family is like, prominent, or whatever in society and the like, right?"
"What, like. Do we have a seat on the Wizengamut?" He asked him confused.
"Well. So Longbottom. The name, it's one of those old pureblood names right?" Harry was trying to figure out how he was meant to deal with his upcoming inheritance, and while people like Remus and Dumbledore might be able to offer him some guidance, and he trusted them, he wanted to know more about what it all meant in terms he could understand. Thus, Neville would be a good source if he too was going to be going through the same sort of deal when he came of age.
"Yeah it is. But we aren't lush like the Malfoy's and the Greengrass'. And the standings in high society are pretty much determined by how much gold you have to throw around." He answered distractedly as he pulled his socks on.
"Right." Harry pulled his cloak on. "And. You don't have any kind of inheritance, or a seat on the Wizengamut waiting for you when you turn of age?"
His friend looked up from his shoes then and a smile of understanding passed over his face. "Starting to worry about that are you?"
Harrys shoulders slumped. "You knew too?"
"Knew what?"
"That I was coming into all that. Lordships, seats being held for the Potter descendant and all that?" He exasperated.
"I mean. I assumed. Potter is one of those affluent names." He offered. "You didn't know?"
"Who would have told me?" Harry asked as Ron walked back into the room. "I grew up with my mum's sister, and she didn't like my dad, nor was she interested in finding anything out about him."
"Really?" Ron asked. "Did she know about you?"
Harry turned to him. "What? That I was born? Pretty sure she found out before she nearly tripped over me on her doorstep after I'd been dumped there." He grumbled grabbing his book bag. He was in a foul mood now. He didn't wait for a clarifying response from Ron, he just headed out.
All night he'd been thinking over everything he'd learned yesterday.
Sirius seemed like he was alright, but the offer to come and live with him once he was cleared was something he didn't know about. He certainly didn't know him well enough to make that decision right then. They also didn't know if he was going to be a free man anytime soon as they hadn't heard anything from Dumbledore after their morning meeting.
It would be nice to hear more stories about his parents. Remus had told him some, but he was still his Professor and had maintained a certain amount of distance between them on the personal level. Sirius would have all kinds of stories about his grandparents too.
The Lordship and inheritance bit was weird too. It truly bothered him that no one had mentioned it to him before yesterday, and apparently everyone knew about it. Even his best friend, and his girlfriend.
He could understand Ginny assuming he'd known, but Neville had seen the state of his clothes when he first started attending school. All of his weekend clothes had been Dudley's at some point, and it wasn't like he had been trying to make a fashion statement with them.
Harry couldn't help but think that some of this onus was on himself too. He hadn't looked into his fathers family and there must have been plenty of information he could find out about the paternal side of his family.
He didn't want to go down to the Great Hall this morning and be surrounded by a ton of people. Even the thought of being with his friends right then wasn't a particularly pleasing one. So he headed straight for Remus' suite and knocked on the door.
There was no answer.
He stared at the door and chewed on his tongue a bit.
Remus might have been down at the Great Hall, but Sirius Black would still be there. He wouldn't open the door however. Harry looked up and down the hall to see if anyone was coming and tried the doorknob but it was locked.
He put his head up to the door and knocked again. "Sirius?"
The door knob turned in his hand, being forced from the other side, and the door opened just a crack. He pushed it open just far enough for him to slip in and shut it immediately behind him.
Sirius stood there with his hands in his pockets, rocking back on the balls of his feet, with a happy, but surprised and slightly uncomfortable smile on his face. "Glad you came back."
"I guess I have some more questions for you that I didn't ask yesterday." Harry looked around the room. He saw some sheets that were rumpled on the couch and the tea cups from last night were on the counter, along with a bottle of some kind of liquor. Clothes were draped over the chairs and on the floor.
It looked a mess.
"Ah. We were trying to find something that would fit me." Sirius seemed to notice the mess just then.
"It's fine." Harry assured him. "Did he bring you anything for breakfast? Did you want me to run down to the kitchen?"
"We've got some eggs and toast that a House Elf brought. More than I could eat by myself if you want to." He gestured to the table, then rushed over to it and piled the clothes into his arms and tossing the whole load of them unceremoniously into Remus' room. "There."
Harry took a seat as Sirius picked up the breakfast food from the coffee table and an extra plate and divided it up.
"You not sleep okay?" He asked, pointing to just below his own eye.
"Had a bit of trouble with that last night, yeah." He picked up a fork and played with his eggs. "I was wondering." He was wondering so many things, he didn't know where to start. "You were good friends with both my parents? Or just my dad?"
Sirius gave him a sad, wistful expression. "Both. In the end. James and I were basically inseparable since our first Hogwarts Express ride." He took a bite of his toast and swallowed it down before continuing. "He was the reason I asked the hat to put me in Gryffindor. My family came from a long line of Slytherins." Sirius smiled at the memory. "He pulled out a list of the Hogwarts school rules and we started planning on how best to break every single on of them. Managed it too. And." He puffed out his chest jokingly. "Only got detention for less than a quarter of what we did."
Harry had heard his dad had a gang of friends that he went around bending and breaking the rules with. Snape used to go on how pompous his dad had been with an over inflated ego. Then when Professor Lupin showed up in his third year he gave him a more honest impression of how his dad had been.
Neville and Hermione weren't exactly the rule breaking type. Harry wondered if he had made friends with someone willing to get up to mischief like that if he would have been up to the task.
"James had a thing for Lily right from the off." He waggled his eyebrows at Harry. "Made a complete ass of himself trying to get her attention." He chuckled, then cringed at some memory. He shook his head and kept that thought to himself. "She started coming around to him in our sixth year."
He'd heard that bit before, about how she'd not liked him at first. "And you and she were friends?"
"She was always pretty nice to me. Nice to everyone actually. Even ol'Snivillus."
"Who?" Harry asked.
"You'd know him as Professor Snape." Sirius rolled his eyes.
Harry's jaw dropped. "She was friends with Snape?" Snape was such a miserable person. How his mum could have been friends with him he didn't get. She was supposedly one of the nicest people there had been according to the stories he'd heard. He hadn't thought for a moment that her being nice translated to her being nice to everyone.
"Until the end of her fifth year. She was really the only friend he had. They'd known each other before school apparently. Then he did something unforgivable and that was the end of that."
"Wait. You mean after she stopped being friends with Snape, she started being interested in my dad?" He asked with disgust. His implication being apparent.
Sirius choked on the sip of coffee he'd just taken. "No!" He coughed. "There was absolutely no way she was." He shivered. "Involved. Like that with Snape." He made a cat face.
Harry laughed at him in relief. "Okay. Good."
"I think they were just childhood friends, and Snape was a little too obsessed with her. That swung pretty hard the other way after she stopped hanging around him. He fell in with the Death Eater crowd after that."
"He's a Death Eater?"
"Was." He corrected. "So far as I know he went to Dumbledore before Voldemort fell. I don't know the whole story."
"But."
"Look. Harry. I probably shouldn't have told you that." Sirius looked worried. "And you have class in a minute."
"But."
"How about I write some stuff down for you?" Sirius offered.
Harry frowned in confusion. "Like what?"
"Like, what I remember about J- your parents?" He explained. "I've got all day locked up in here, and I don't know what's going to happen with the Ministry in regards to me, so it might be a good idea to get it all down for you."
"You don't think that they'll expunge your record?" Harry asked. The Ministry had Peter Pettigrew's body now, didn't they? And that should have been enough to remove his wanted status. It was the Ministry of Magic, wouldn't they have some way to figure out the truth?
"We won't know until we know." He shook his head.
From his demeanor Sirius believed that there was a very good chance that he wouldn't get off. And Harry hadn't considered that he might have been thrown back into Azkaban, or Kissed by a Dementor.
Potions class didn't seem that important to him now.
"Hey. Nothing is going to happen to me today." Sirius told him seriously. "You need to get to class. And you should probably show your face at lunch with your school mates. Come back later if you have a free period or something. We'll talk more. I promise."
Harry nodded solemnly and picked up his bag, looking back at Sirius with a nod before he left.
()()()
"You sure he didn't tell you if he'd be missing another class?" Hermione asked her.
Ginny ground her teeth. This wasn't the first time she'd asked. Like she was Harry's keeper or something. "No. I assume I know where he is, so do you, but I don't know if he is coming or not."
They were all at their usual stations in the dungeons for Potions class, and her station was right across from where Harry normally stood. Except he wasn't there, and class was due to start in just under a minute. Snape was a stickler for tardiness and he'd get a detention for sure if he didn't show up on time, but if he missed another class he'd not only get a detention, he'd fall behind and have to spend his free time trying to catch up, when there were a few other things on his plate right then.
With about five seconds left before the start of class he flew through the door and went right to his station. Ginny let out a sigh of relief.
He looked a little rattled, but she knew from Ron and Neville that he hadn't slept well. That she could tell from the bags under his eyes as well.
"We are starting in on our more time intensive potions." Snape stalked into the classroom at exactly 9:00 and went straight to the front of the class. "The potions you've created thus far have been accomplished inside the span of your one or two hour classes. Now that you are supposedly more capable, you will be each choosing a potion that will take one week or longer to create."
Ginny had her back to Snape and was writing down her notes on what their assignment was to be and happened to glance up to see Harry glaring daggers at their professor.
She looked behind her to see if it was maybe some other student there that he was trying to murder telepathically, but no. He looked like he was completely furious with Snape about something. Glancing over to Hermione she saw that she'd noticed the same thing.
They each offered wide eyes and a subtle shrug to say that neither of them knew the reason behind this and returned to copying down their assignment.
"Something the matter Mr. Potter?" Snape asked loudly, drawing everyone to look up from their notebooks and look between the two.
"No sir." Harry replied through clenched teeth.
"Then perhaps you can follow the lead of your fellow classmates and write down your assignment."
She watched his jaw tighten and he reached down into his book bag and angrily pulled out his supplies. She turned back to see Snape narrowing his eyes at him before he returned to listing off some of the books they might want to consult to find appropriate information for their accompanying essays.
Ginny assumed he'd gone to talk to Sirius instead of come down to breakfast. Ron said he'd been asking Neville about everything that came with having the 'Potter' name, but how that would turn into something that would cause him to suddenly hate Snape with a passion she didn't know.
Snape wasn't the nicest person in the world, particularly to his house's rivals the Gryffindors, but he didn't do more than sneer or dock a few house points here and there in terms of being malicious.
He set them all to work with properly harvesting potions ingredients for re-stocking the supply cupboards he went over to Harry. "Something the matter Potter?" He growled at him quietly.
Harry pursed his lips and shook his head once.
"If you are having some sort of personal crisis I suggest you head up to the nurse, otherwise knock off that attitude." He ordered.
Harry stood up straight and looked him dead in the eye, then purposefully looked down to the mans left forearm, and back again, but said nothing.
There was a subtle change in the professors body language then. He stepped back slightly, and something of an understanding passed over his eyes. "Get to work." Snape ordered, with less aggression that he'd had and then returned to the front of the class.
Hermione looked as lost with that transaction as Ginny felt, but Harry got to work on cultivating and preparing his wolfsbane so they set to do their task too. He didn't look to be in a sharing mood, and even if he was, the Potions class was not a space for conversation.
Harry didn't wait for them when the class was dismissed. He stormed out of there as fast as possible.
Ginny felt slightly rejected at that. Something had set him off and he wasn't sharing. She'd had to hold back yesterday when she was trying to get something, anything, out of him about his home life situation. Attempting to pry into his feelings two days in a row seemed like nagging, and she didn't want to annoy him.
"Has." She started to ask Hermione if he'd been standoffish about things before, but didn't want to talk about him behind his back either.
Hermione was too intuitive to let her unasked question slide. "I haven't known him to be like this before, but clearly something big is on his mind and he's trying to deal with it. He's a pretty big introvert." She stared after him with a worried expression.
"Trouble in paradise?" Malfoy came up beside Ginny and knocked her arm with his elbow.
"Mind your own business, Malfoy." Hermione snapped at him.
"I wasn't talking to you." He sneered at her. "I was talking to the Weaslette here." He turned back to her, keeping in step with her as they headed up the stairs. "You know, this is what happens when you try for something serious with someone above your station."
"Are you suggesting I ditch him and start slumming it with you?" Ginny asked dryly. She was rather unconcerned with anything that he had to say. He was an instigator and got his kicks by aggravating those around him to the point of them being the ones over reacting and getting in trouble.
"Only you would call Malfoy Manor, which is the size of a palace, a slum. And I don't have to share it with the dozen people that you have in your hovel." He retorted.
Ginny stopped on the steps and turned to him in thought. "You mean it's just you in a huge manor all by yourself?" She asked honestly. "That sounds depressing. No wonder you never shut up when you have an audience." She shook her head and continued her ascent, ignoring the snickers from those that had been listening in.
"Hey. You should consider it a favor that I'm even talking to you." He spat.
"I don't want your favor, go bother someone else." Ginny waved him off in dismissal. He was causing her delay and she wanted to get to DADA in time to at least talk to Harry a little bit before class started and the classroom was now in sight.
"Hey!" He grabbed her arm forcefully. "Don't treat me like-"
"Get your hands off her!" Ron yelled from across the hall. He and Neville were coming down the other side of the corridor.
Malfoy looked over to Ron sharply, but tightened his grip on her. He looked pleased about getting that kind of reaction from his manhandling.
Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. She'd been manhandled before, tussling with her brothers hadn't been all tickle fights, but he was holding on to her like she was his property. She clenched her fist preparing to swing it at his upturned nose when a spell shot out and hit him square in the chest and he was knocked backwards, taking her down with him.
Luckily he broke her fall, and she heard the satisfactory groan and gasp of pain that her landing on his chest caused.
"Harry!" Hermione shrieked behind her and she was pulled back to her feet and her vision immediately obscured by a dark cloak in front of her face before she had time to properly register her surroundings. She felt like she was a rag doll being tossed around.
"Don't you ever touch her again." Harry growled dangerously.
He had pulled Ginny up and held her behind him protectively. She caught her breath and saw he was still pointing his wand at Malfoy's chest while he was down on the ground with the wind knocked out of him. Ron was standing on his other side, wand also drawn.
"Harry. Ron. Stop it!" Hermione pleaded. "You'll get in trouble!"
"I'm afraid they already are." Professor Lupin came out of the classroom. "Potter, Weasley. There is no magic allowed in the corridors. Twenty points from you Mr. Potter, and for drawing your wand, ten points from you Mr. Weasley."
"But he-"
"Didn't you see-"
"Stop." The Professor cut them off. "I heard what happened, but it was between Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Weasley, not the two of you." He looked down at Malfoy. "Do you need the nurse or are you alright to attend class?"
"You aren't going to give them detention? They attacked me!" Malfoy protested, springing up to his feet.
"Quite right you are! Attacking a student does require a detention. Right then, Weasley, Potter you will be serving detention with me after dinner tonight. And Mr. Malfoy, you will be with Professor McGonagall tomorrow."
"Me? What did I do? I was the one attacked." Malfoy argued.
"Ms. Weasley." Lupin turned to her. "Did Mr. Malfoy put his hands on you?"
Harry stepped aside so she could look at the professor when she answered. She wanted to growl at both Ron and Harry for losing their heads and going after stupid Malfoy instead of letting her deal with him. But it was too late to stop them now. The only thing she could do was get Malfoy a detention.
"He did professor."
"And did he injure you in any way?"
"I believe there is a bruise forming on my arm from his unwanted and aggressive physical attempt to gain my attention." She explicated.
"Alright. Then, as I said, detention with Professor McGonagall tomorrow Mr. Malfoy." He turned and went back into the classroom, his students following him in. Malfoy gave her and Harry a hard stare before going into the classroom as well.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked her gently.
She hadn't realized he was still holding tight to his side, and thus how close their faces would be when she turned her eyes up to his.
She'd wanted to say 'no'. No, she wasn't okay with he and Ron charging in like she was some damsel in distress. And no, she didn't like that he'd bolted out of potions class to leave her and Hermione concerned. But he was giving her these sad puppy dog eyes that were melting her heart. Mentally she squared her shoulders and found her determination. She wasn't some gushy girl that he could turn into goo with his charm, whether it was intentional or not.
She went up onto her toes and touched her lips to his in an attempt to not have to answer. She let her kiss linger for three heart beats before pulling back and walking out of his grasp and into the classroom.
()()()
Dumbledore had arrived early at the Ministry. Minister Fudge was not a confident man and he felt that speaking to him about the potential outcome from today's meeting after the evidence was given would only help. Fudge may have felt he'd been railroaded by the information presented, and he had proven in the past to react poorly to anything that would make the Ministry look like they'd been in the wrong.
Dumbledore approached the secretary outside the Ministers office and announced his request to meet with the Minister. The door to the office had opened immediately to show an anxious Cornelius Fudge standing there, as though he had been waiting for the man before him to show.
"Dumbledore. What a pleasant surprise. How considerate of you to stop by before the meeting. Please, come in. We have time for a tea before we head down." He rushed back to his desk as the Headmaster closed the door to the office and took up the seat on the opposite side of the desk.
"Thank you." He accepted the cup of hot tea that hovered over to him. "Yes, I thought it best to discuss this situation with you ahead of time. I'm afraid it may turn out that the Minister Bagnold was quite in over her head at the time of Sirius Black's imprisonment." He said carefully. "Everyone was then, though weren't they?" He sipped his cup and watched the minister's reaction to that.
"Yes. Yes. The Minister Bagnold. She certainly was dealing with quite a lot at that time. Rounding up all of the Death Eaters. Separating them between who had been under the Unforgivable, and who hadn't. Treacherous business." He settled down into his seat.
"And to all it had looked like Mr. Black was the one to cast the blasting curse. His wand was confiscated right away however, so we will know the last spell he cast." He said calmly. "We have to wonder how much the guilty managed to get away with at that time, when the innocent were being put away. Had Mr. Black even been checked for a Dark Mark do you wonder?"
Cornelius tapped a finger nervously on his desk. "I have received the memory of when Sirius Black was brought into custody." He admitted. "He had not been checked for a mark before being taken away to Azkaban."
Dumbledore gave him a dramatic sigh. "Well. If all turns out that the past administration had been in the wrong, I can only imagine what the papers will say." He stated pointedly.
"They'll have a field day!" The Minister burst out. "Falsely accusing a man to Azkaban for 12 years, and having him escape, and yet he hadn't even stood trial and had a proper sentencing. They'll be ruthless."
"Well. The evidence of his innocence was only just brought to light." Dumbledore commented. "And I am sure that the people will be grateful about how their Minister is confident enough to own up to the mistakes of the past administration, in the chaotic times that these mistakes were made, and correct them."
"Don't think I don't see what you're doing Dumbledore." Cornelius pointed at him. "You are trying to spin this and try and make it a good idea to let him off."
"You said yourself that he was never actually tried and sentenced. If you happened to mention that to the papers before the medical examiner is questioned, and before the wand is tested, then they will know that you intend to either free a wrongfully accused man, or have the proper procedure followed as it should have been."
The minister looked thoughtful at that. "It would call into question all of the cases from that time." He said thinking out loud.
"It would not. Those on Voldemort's side stood trial to determine their loyalties. Sirius Black did not. It was circumstantial evidence that got him locked away."
The squirrely man looked from Dumbledore's periwinkle blue eyes to the clock behind his head.
"Blast you." He slammed his tea cup down and stood. "Come. We'll head down and speak to the reporters now."
Dumbledore said nothing else. Any comment at this point would have made the Minister feel even more manipulated.
There was no doubt in the older man's mind that there had been a few 'former Death Eaters' in the Ministers attendance after the meeting yesterday discussing potential ramifications of even allowing the evidence Department of Magical Law Enforcement Head Amelia Bones was collecting could bring to light. No doubt Lucius Malfoy was vehemently against this due to how it was dragging that sordid past back to light. He had worked quite hard to make people forget about how he'd been 'Imperiused to do awful things'.
Malfoy had been as arrogant and pompous as he'd taught his son to be, with less of the whining however. Even Abraxas Malfoy, Lucius' father, had his nose stuck in the air. That family had a long history of making bad decisions and paying their way out of it.
When the reached level ten and saw the reporters waiting outside Courtroom ten. Dumbledore slowed to be a few paces back from the Minister as the politician adopted his shoulder backed important walk towards the crowd, ready to give them his statement.
()()
"State your name and position for the record." Minister Fudge requested.
"Healer Jackson Trinklewas, St. Mungo's lead Medical Examiner." The man in the middle of the courtroom replied calmly. He was nearing late forties with a receding hair line and looked like he had once been quite fit, but had grown soft around the middle. He was also fairly relaxed given his current location before the Wizengamut.
"And what have been your findings on the late Peter Pettigrew?"
"I have found that one Peter Pettigrew suffered from a cervical fracture. From the state of the body and the information about how the deceased was interned before being brought to me his death does coincide with the claim that he passed away three years ago."
"Cervical fracture. Three years ago." The Minister repeated. "And what about the state of his body drew your conclusion to this timeline?"
"The state of decomposition. Insect activity on the body was very limited. The coloration of the cadaver was that of one who had passed five or less years passed. If this man had died when his death certificate read he would have been significantly more decomposed."
"Even if he had been in his Animagus form at the time of death, and for the duration of his being buried?" It seemed Cornelius was not going to take any chances with what might be a skewed timeline.
"No Minister. Whether buried as a rat or a man the corpse would reflect the same amount of deterioration, just as any physical changes to an Animagus, such as a wound of sorts, would appear once the human form is returned."
"Then on the charge of Sirius Black murdering Peter Pettigrew on November 1st, 1981 he is not guilty. All those in agreement?" The minister asked to the committee.
There was a majority consent.
"Thank you Healer Trinklewas for your testimony." The Minister dismissed him. "Next will be to see if Sirius Black was the one to cast the blasting spell that blew a crater in the street, killing eleven Muggles in the aftermath. Director Bones, you have retrieved the wand from Azkaban?"
She stood up from her seat. "I have Minister." She pulled out a simple cloth bag and retrieved a thirteen inch Wormwood wand to present to the assembly.
"And no one has used this wand since he was first incarcerated."
"No Minister. It was in a locked safe with his cell number and that safe had not been opened since 1981. Auror Kingsley Shaklebot and Auror Corbin Yaxley have attested to that fact. The Priori Incantatem has not yet been performed on the wand."
The Minister took a steadying breath. "I will call upon Albus Dumbledore to do the honors before us today of cast the Priori Incantatem and let it be known to all of us what the last spells were cast."
Dumbledore retrieved his wand and took hold of the wand in question. With a steady hand he cast the spell and it was revealed to the court that the last spell that Sirius Black had cast before his incarceration had not been a blasting curse, it had been a contraceptive charm.
There was a loud 'ha' from one of the members in the back, and Albus found himself fighting back a smile as well. It was well known that Sirius Black had been quite the Lothario, but to know that the last spell he had cast before being hauled off to prison was a spell one used moments before the act of lovemaking. The Headmaster was not so rigid that he could not see the humor in that.
"Well then." The Minister tried to pick up in the same manner as before the spell had been revealed but was having a little bit of trouble. There were a few members in the audience seats trying to contain their smiles, and the reporters weren't even trying.
"On the crime of using magic in front of Muggles and casting the blasting curse that resulted in eleven Muggle deaths it appears that Sirius Black is not guilty. All those in agreement?"
Majority consensus was in agreement.
"Very well." Fudge cleared his throat. "We now move on to whether or not he was a Death Eater." He paused for the rest of the court room to return to the seriousness of the issue. "His hearing has been reviewed by use of a Pensive and it was noted that Sirius Black did not bare the Dark Mark." He again waited for the room to drink in that information. "With that I posit that on the charge of Sirius Black being a Death Eater, he is not guilty. All those that agree?"
Again, there was majority consent.
"It appears that the Ministry at the end of the last war was in quite the chaotic state." The Minister announced. "Many were charged with being on the losing side of the war. Some were only in that position due to force from the Unforgivable Curse. It is upsetting that one person was wrongfully imprisoned, but it is the Ministries job to stand up for its people. It is with a grave heart that I announce the wrongful incarceration of Sirius Black."
A single lit wand rose into the air at the Ministers speech. The wand belonged to Lucius Malfoy.
"Minister." He cut in without being recognized first. "We still must discuss the circumstances to how Mister Black managed to escape Azkaban." Then he looked directly at Dumbledore. "And where he might be now."
Dumbledore turned to the Minister. "If I may?" The Minister inclined his head allowing him to answer.
"Sirius Black's whereabouts have not been announced because he was thought to be a wanted man. I believe the Minister was about to announce that he has been cleared of all the charges laid upon him when he was sent to prison?" He waited for the Minister to nod in assent again, accompanied by most of the courtroom. "Then do you purpose Mr. Malfoy that it is within the Wizengamut's power to keep a trace on all of it's law abiding citizens?"
Lucius Malfoy sneered at Dumbledore before schooling his features. "Of course not." he said steadily. "I may be simply curious as to how this individual, wanted by all of wizarding Britain until not five minutes ago, managed to evade capture. It will give us insight into how to strengthen our judicial and penitentiary practices." He recovered.
"Ah. An excellent point. And as this has been a one time occurrence I believe that Mister Black will be able to help us in those regards." Dumbledore smiled. "This one exception is something that will be discussed with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Head so that one such occurrence does not happen again. It is not something that will be revealed to the court or the reporters at large as such issues would be privileged information. If anyone here would wish to know, then please feel free to sit on the council for Azkaban which meets at the prison itself once every other month, or go through the rigorous Auror Training that requires a rotational guard duty at the prison stronghold."
"Will there be no charges laid due to his escape?" Wizengamut member Tiberius Ehnes asked.
Amelia Bones answered. "We cannot lay charges against an individual for escaping wrongful imprisonment. That individual could be seen as a prisoner of war, and such a person cannot have criminal charges placed upon them. Reparation on the other hand will be something we will have to talk to Mister Black himself about."
"Reparations?!" Under Secretary Delores Umbridge asked.
"There were reparations to each one of the wrongfully accused Death Eaters for damages. Sirius Black was wrongfully accused and spent twelve years in prison for it. The reparations that were given during the last war stood at one Galleon per day of imprisonment. To that end Sirius Black is due three thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine Galleons." She announced.
The room was silent at that. He had been in prison for nearly 4000 days. Surrounded by soul sucking Dementors.
"All those who agree Sirius Black is to be cleared of all charges and awarded the reparations, raise your wands." The Minister requested.
All wands were raised. There were a few that were done some begrudgingly but raised none the less.
()()()
Harry was confused about Ginny.
She had kissed him right before they went into their DADA class, but then didn't so much as glance at him the whole way through the lesson. Even when he reached over and took her hand. Usually something that caused her to look over and give him at least a little smirk. But she had simply given his hand a small squeeze and pulled away.
He thought over what he might have done wrong.
He'd heard Ron call out in the hallway, and seeing Malfoy gripping her arm like that he'd acted on instinct shooting a hex at him. Ginny getting knocked over was not what he'd intended, but he'd pulled her to her feet fast enough.
Maybe she was just really angry with Malfoy and thinking that through?
What really bothered him right then was that he'd just had things piling up to be brooding about; Snape was a Death Eater, the business with his surname, figuring out a relationship with Sirius Black, and now Ginny.
She'd said those three little world altering words to him last night, but he didn't know if it was an instinctual reaction from her being surrounded by people who said it all the time, like a 'oh, you did this thing for me, thank-you, I love you' or a 'you mean the world to me and I truly love you' kind of thing.
He really hoped it was the latter.
He'd been so angry after learning what he had from Sirius and then having to face Snape, maybe there was something else that happened in Potions that he hadn't noticed?
When class ended Ginny and Hermione both left together rather abruptly, leaving him to turn to Ron for answers.
"What's going on with them?" He asked. Ron was her brother. He understood the little looks that came to her face better than anyone.
Ron gave a sigh and let his shoulders sag. "Mate, you have so much to learn about her." He actually gave a little snicker.
"Me? What did I do? I was... defending her." He postulated. "Don't girls like that?"
Ron actually winced at that. "Friendly piece of advice. If you ever plan on having children down the line, don't say that to her." He patted Harry on the shoulder. "If it helps, looks like I'm in the doghouse a bit with Hermione about getting in trouble."
"Yeah, but that was for pulling your wand in the corridor." He said distractedly shoving his books back in his bag. "Ginny wouldn't care about that." Harry looked around the room. Neville seemed to have run out of the room pretty quick too, but Remus was still there. Harry leaned in to whisper to Ron. "I'm going to have lunch with Sirius."
Ron's eyebrows went up, but then he looked interested. "Mind if I join you? Could probably give the girls some time to calm down."
()()
Harry knocked on the suite door and announced himself. Sirius let him in immediately again.
"Ah. Ron!" Sirius beamed, then his smile faltered a bit. "You aren't mad at me too, are you?"
Ron gave him a crooked grin. "Nah. I mean. It's weird and all, but I've talked it through with my parents and Hermione, and I get where you were coming from. Plus." He shrugged. "You took care of the Death Eater that was sleeping in my room."
Sirius looked relieved at that. "No ladies wanting to join you here?"
Ron snorted. "Well there was an altercation with a certain pompous asshole, and Harry jumped right in and played knight in shining armor to Ginny."
Sirius barked a laugh at that.
"What?" Harry asked, not understanding why Ron too had joined in laughing. Or why Sirius would immediately find that funny.
"Ginny must be mad at you about that. Word to the wise, don't try making it up to her with jewelry or something. She might throw her Bat-Bogey hex at you."
That struck Harry. "So she's mad because I didn't let her deal with it?" He concluded. "But. But he had a hold of her arm."
"I know mate." Ron told him. "That was what made me jump in too, but she hates it when she thinks people assume she can't take care of herself."
"Stubborn little minx you're saddled with there." Sirius patted him on the back.
"Well. Do I apologize or something?" He asked in a panic. "That's normally like, flowers and chocolate, right?"
Ron and Sirius both stopped laughing and stared at him then. "Does she seem like a flowers and chocolate girl to you?" Sirius asked him honestly.
Harry's spirits sank even further. "No." He pouted.
"You'll think of something." Sirius told him. "In the meantime." he went over to the coffee table and picked up a notebook. "I've been writing some stuff down. I'm not really sure if it'll make sense to you. I'm a bit scatterbrained to be honest. Each page is basically some anecdote from a different year of my life pre-imprisonment." He shrugged and handed it to him. "But, all stuff that you might find funny, or interesting."
Harry felt a rush of emotions for this man as he looked down at the red notebook he was being handed. "Thank you." He whispered, accepting it like it was a precious and breakable gem.
Ron cleared his throat awkwardly. "Got any food in this place?"
Sirius pulled together a platter of food for the three of them to pick at while he and Ron regaled Harry with tales from the Burrow and they all talked about Quidditch.
When the two boys were getting ready to leave for their next class Harry remembered. "Did Dumbledore come and see you last night?"
Sirius nodded. "He did. And he is still at the Ministry today. They were having Wormtail looked at by a medical examiner, and getting my wand from Azkaban." He told them. "That is all we know right now."
"Wormtail?" Ron squinted at the name.
"Scabbers. Wormtail is what we called him in school." Sirius explained.
()()()
Ginny knew she was being irrational.
Harry had been in a weird mood, and he'd reacted to the situation in front of him.
But she was stubborn, and he knew that about her. Hermione was on her side in being angry at Harry and Ron for how they reacted. Though, she was just angry that they'd used magic in the corridors and earned themselves detentions. Meanwhile Ginny was angry that they'd stopped her from gaining the satisfaction of punching that arrogant snot in the nose.
It would have felt really good too.
It had seemed to snap Harry out of the bad mood he'd been in. At least he'd tried to be somewhat affectionate with her in DADA. They'd had separate classes all afternoon and she hadn't seen him since before lunch.
"You don't have to apologize for anything." Hermione read her mind.
"But I was basically giving him the cold shoulder. That's the same thing that had bugged me about how he'd been in Potions." She pointed out. "Bit hypocritical."
"He attacked someone in the corridor, earned himself a detention and lost house points. All because some other boy touched you on the arm." Hermione pointed out. "Even if it was Malfoy, and he deserved it. There are other ways."
"Hermione. I was about a second from using my own method of getting that leech to let go of me." Ginny sighed and leaned back in her chair.
Dinner was due to start in about twenty minutes and the two of them had been getting a jump on their assignments for the day. And Hermione was more angry at Ron that Ginny was at Harry. Apparently it didn't look good to have a prefect's boyfriend draw his wand in the corridor and get detention.
"I'm going to go put my books away." Ginny pushed back from the table and went to the aisles, bumping directly into Harry.
"Hey."
"Oh. Hi." She brightened.
"I was looking for you." He admitted.
She looked over her shoulder and saw Ron was heading to Hermione. Ginny inclined her head and started walking down the stacks of books to where she'd been heading. She stacked her books on a ledge and looked around to see if anyone was within hearing distance. "What was with you in Potions?" She shot right to the point.
Harry hesitated, there was some internal battle going on inside his head. "Not here."
"Okay." She quickly put her books back and followed him outside.
Harry took her hand and she let him pull her outside the school and found a secluded spot for them to chat against the side of the castle. He revealed to her what Sirius had told him that morning about Snape.
"He was a Death Eater?" She whispered disbelievingly. "Dumbledore has a former Death Eater teaching students?"
"That's why I was the way I was in class." Harry told her. "He'd been friends with my mum too. Then suddenly he's completely against Muggleborns for whatever reason. Apparently he turned to Dumbledore before the war ended though. That was his saving grace. But I just couldn't." He shook his head.
"No. I get it." She stared out at the lake, not seeing it as she played that over in her head. "How can everyone be okay with him being a professor?" She wondered. "There must be a record of who was a Death Eater at the ministry somewhere. Even the one's that claimed they were Imperiused, like Malfoy."
"Excuse me?" Harry had been leaning back against the stone exterior of the school beside her, but that had him standing in front of her and looking like she'd just accused him of something. "Draco Malfoy's father was a Death Eater too?"
"Harry. There are loads of students here who's parents were Death Eaters." From the look on his face he hadn't had any idea. She sighed sadly. "No one told you that either."
His lips pursed and he looked positively furious now. She'd never seen him like this. Granted she'd only known him for three months, and that whole time they'd just been playing Quidditch and snogging with out a care in the world. Now he seemed to be running so hot he was melting the snow around them.
Actually, he was melting the snow around him.
Ginny looked down at the area around his feet and the snow was quickly turning to water around him. "Harry." She panicked. He was giving off quite a lot of magic in his anger. "Harry, calm down."
"There is just so FUCKING much that I haven't been told." He said through gritted teeth.
Ginny wasn't sure what to do. He'd been mad about Snape, but this was extreme. He was looking right at her, but she knew he wasn't seeing her. He was seeing red.
"Harry? Harry!" He wasn't hearing her. She reached up to touch his cheek and she hadn't even made contact when she felt a zap. "Ow!" She looked down at her hand. There was a red welt forming. Her eyes stung from the pain, she clutched her hand to her chest in an instinctive effort to somehow heal it.
"Ginny?" That seemed to have snapped him out of it. "What happened?"
"I don't know." She said with shaky breath. "I think it was just accidental magic." Her eyes were filling with unshed tears.
"I'm so sorry!" He sounded horrified. "I don't know what happened." He moved to touch her arm, try and see the damage, but hesitated to make contact with her encase he somehow zapped her again. "Maybe we should go and see Madame Pomphrey?"
()()
"Hey! What's wrong?" Neville was in the Hospital Wing when Ginny and Harry arrived.
The both of them paused at the sight of him. He had purple blotches all over his face and arms.
"What happened to you?" Ginny asked incredulously.
"Stepped to close to a Venemous Tentacula. Don't worry about it. Only need some salve and I'll be healed up." Neville said unconcerned. "What about you?" His eyes were focused on how Ginny was holding her hand.
"Accidentally got zapped." She told him. "Where's Pomphrey?" She and Harry took the bed opposite Neville.
"She'll be back in a moment. Just mixing together the anti-toxin." He said. "How'd you get 'zapped'?"
She and Harry looked at each other. She didn't quite know the answer, and Harry looked guilty about it. Which he shouldn't have. He'd been angry and not in control of himself.
"Just accidental magic." She answered before Harry could say anything.
"What? From a first year?" Neville was puzzled.
"No. From me." Harry mumbled, gently placing his hand under her injured one, trying to inspect the damage.
"Harry." She protested. "I was the one trying to pull you out of your mood."
"Yeah. But-"
"Miss Weasley. Mister Potter." Madame Pomphrey came out of her office holding a jar for Neville. "Are you injured or visiting?"
"Ginny has an injury." Harry told her.
She bustled over to Neville and looked over at Ginny's hand speculatively, furrowed her brow for a moment and turned back to Neville. "You start applying this to the affected area's you can reach." She gave him the jar and turned around to Ginny. "This is a simple burn, should only take a few hours to heal up." She waved her wand over it, checking for any trace of magic that would reject her medicine.
Ginny sat quietly while the matron tisked and inspected. Her hand hurt quite a lot, but she directed her attention at Neville and how he was rubbing the goopy looking salve onto his purple splotches rather than focusing on her pain.
"Right then." Pomphrey went back to her office with out explanation.
"I'm so sorry Ginny." Harry whispered.
He sounded so sad about it. She'd honestly had bigger injuries sustained during his more brutal Quidditch practices, but this he was actually blaming himself for. His sad puppy dog eyes were telling her how upset he was with himself.
"Don't think on it." She told him honestly and gave him a soft kiss. "It was an accident. Why don't you go down to the Great Hall for dinner? You've got your detention tonight."
"Shit. I forgot." He groaned and looked up at the ceiling in despair.
"It's with Professor Lupin." She pointed out. "It can't be that bad."
He shook his head. "I can grab something from the kitchens if I'm running out of time. I want to stay here with you."
"Go Harry." She coaxed. "I'll get my hand fixed up in no time and head down to dinner with Neville."
Neville gave him a reassuring gesture and Harry reluctantly got up off the bed. "I guess I'll see you guys in the common room later?"
"We'll wait up for you." She verbally pushed him out of the room.
"Fine." He pouted and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Do I get a kiss too?" Neville teased brightly
"Sure!" Harry smiled and actually went over and gave his best friend a kiss on his forehead, surprising both Neville and Ginny, and being careful to avoid a purple spot.
The two injured students laughed at his antics as he left the room.
Pomphrey came out of her office a second after Harry left and applied an ointment to Ginny's burn that gave her great relief instantly and shrunk the burn to half the size. "You'll have to keep a bandage on your hand until the morning, but you should be fine to use a quill by your first class."
"Rats." Ginny smiled as the nurse wrapped up her hand.
She waited for Neville to get the salve applied to the spots he couldn't reach by the nurse and then they were both dismissed, Neville's purple splotches were slowly fading.
"So, what happened?" He asked her as they headed in the direction of the Great Hall.
"Has he talked to you about how he just found out about his Potter legacy and all that?" She asked him. He nodded. "Well, he didn't know about the legacy of some of the other students, namely Malfoy and his fathers role in the last war. It kind of set him off to find out about."
"Man." Neville sighed. "The guy can't catch a break lately. His head must be spinning. You know, he asked me about the Longbottom name this morning and what that all meant."
"Oh, good." She felt a little lighter hearing that he was asking someone he knew and trusted about it. Neville's family might not have been high up in the hierarchy of the magical world, but he'd know more about operating in that world than she or Ron would. The Weasley name hadn't carried much weight for several generations. "I'm glad he's reaching out to you."
"Yeah. But there's just so much that I guess I've taken for granted when it comes to that. I've been told about how the world works for as far back as I can remember and learned about the last war from listening to my gran gossip about it with her friends."
"And I've known that Lucius Malfoy had been a Death Eater, along with some other parents of students here, because my parents talked about it." Ginny correlated.
They'd made it to the main staircase that led to the entrance and were joined by a few other students that gave Neville some weary sideways glances that both Ginny and he snickered at.
"Luna!" Ginny saw the platinum blond hair of her childhood friend. The hair had been the first thing she noticed, the missing shoes were the next. "Why aren't you wearing shoes? Aren't your feet cold?"
Luna had her signature dreamy expression and a graceful walk as she came over to join them in their descent. "I'm not quite sure. They keep disappearing, but I'm sure they'll turn up eventually." She looked down and wiggled her toes without concern, then looked up at Neville. "Are you trying to attract the Quachitarms with your new purple complexion? I'd gather you are attractive enough without them."
"The. The Quachitarms?" Neville asked confounded.
"Yes. They're known to help one attract a mate. Not unlike the Nargles, except the Nargles are attracted to natural pheromones. The Quatchitarms will act like elven saliva and exude a sexual energy that will drive a potential mates desire." Her eyes drifted all over him. "You really don't need them."
Ginny's jaw dropped. She hadn't had many opportunities to catch up with her old friend and had forgotten how casually she told her truths and fantastical theories she and her father had cooked up. Hearing her essentially hit on Neville in such a manner was bringing it all back.
"Oh. You're blush is making the purple much more pronounced. It's a lovely shade." She turned to Ginny. "Doesn't it remind you of the lavender at home?"
Fighting back the urge to laugh hysterically at Neville's astounded and embarrassed face she simply bit her lip and nodded.
"We have an article about the Quachitarms in an old issue of the Quibbler if you'd like to learn more about how to attract them?" She offered.
"I'm good." Neville managed.
"Okay." Luna continued skipping down the stairs and humming to herself.
"You alright there?" Ginny teased.
"What was that?" Neville asked, thoroughly confused.
Ginny was about to offer an explanation for her eccentric friend but something Luna had said struck her. She rushed down the steps to catch up with her. "Luna. You can get old copies of the Quibbler?"
"Of course." She kept skipping. "Daddy keeps all the extra copies he prints off. There are several of each one he's ever printed at home."
"When did he start it? Are there any from 1981?" She asked quickly.
"He started it in 1979. There was a lot of propaganda in the Daily Prophet then building up to the precipice of the war, and people needed to know the truth." She told her in the most serious voice she'd ever heard the girl use.
"Do you think he'd be willing to part with a few of the issues from around that time? From the first issue up until around 1983?" She worried her lip.
Luna gave her a big smile that made her look slightly deranged with her doe eyed expression. "I'm sure he would be happy to."
"Wonderful!" Ginny then gave pause for a moment. "I. Can you ask him how much it would cost first though?"
"Oh. Don't worry about that. He will be just tickled pink that students are taking an interest in the rise and fall of the last dark lord. It is important that we not make the same mistake twice." She twirled her hair and stared back at Neville. "I'll owl him after dinner."
"What was that about?" Neville asked once Luna had skipped ahead of them into the hall.
"It's for Harry." She smiled. "And the rest of us I guess." she realized. "We were all babies when the last war ended, so everything we know about it is hear say. If we have the publications from then we can see what actually happened for ourselves."
"From the Quibbler?" He asked skeptically.
"Hey! I know most of it is mumbo-jumbo, but the stories that aren't about potentially made up animals hold fact." She argued with a chuckle.
"Well." Neville looked thoughtful. "Why don't we get back issued of the Daily Prophet while we're at it? They'd be more point of fact about it."
Ginny scoffed. "Depends. When did Rita Skeeter start writing crap for them?" When he looked like he didn't understand the comment she explained. "She's basically a gossip columnist that writes about what would be important things, but focuses on whatever angle bored housewives would most be interested in. The Lockhart scandal for instance. She started off writing about how he'd stolen stories and memories from the people who'd actually done what he'd taken credit for in his books, but then veered off into how he had many mistresses at the time and how devastated they were."
"Oh yeah. That was her?" Neville remembered. "I remember all of the older girls talking about how they felt bad for his girlfriends or something."
"Instead of how he'd altered the memory of his victims." She stated, proving her point. "My mum was the same way. Though it was mad."
They saw Hermione was still at the Gryffindor table and sat down with her. Ginny told her about her idea for helping Harry out with the magical history lesson and she jumped on the idea and headed to the Owlry before Ginny had even loaded up her dinner plate.
()()()
"So... I'm... I'm free?" Sirius asked awestruck.
"Just like that?" Remus snapped his fingers. "Yesterday morning he was still a wanted criminal with multiple counts against his name and now. Now he's just good to walk into the Ministry and apply for a permit or whatever?"
Dumbledore chuckled. "It took a little more than a snap of the fingers, and there is still the case of your being an unregistered Animagus." He pointed out to Sirius. "But I did make sure to point out that anything that you had done to escape your wrongful incarceration was not to be held against you."
"But. They didn't even demand to see me and get my side of the story?" Sirius asked staring off into the middle distance. "I thought for sure I would get hauled in and made to answer question after question."
"That would have required them knowing where you have been hiding for the last three years. Did you want that?" Remus pointed out and Sirius shook his head side to side with wide eyes, still processing.
"You have been evading arrest for three years. The Wizengamut recognized that there would have been no way to convince you to come in and prove your innocence, and I must say the man-hunt for you has rather fallen to the wayside in the last two years." Dumbledore told him.
"I can't remember the last time I saw one of your wanted photos." Remus thought back. They had always disturbed him.
"So what now?" Sirius asked not knowing where he should even start with trying to piece back his life. Should he go straight to Grimmauld Place from Hogwarts? And should that be right then, or tomorrow? He would have to go to Gringotts and see what if anything had been done with his accounts. He was technically Lord Black.
And Harry. He could legally adopt Harry now and get him away from that bitch Petunia and her elephant husband and child.
Sirius opened his mouth to ask some of this aloud, but it just came out as a gargled huff.
"Perhaps you should wait until it is announced to the rest of the world?" Dumbledore suggested at his loss for words. "There should be an announcement in the Evening Prophet, and another in the Daily Prophet. Word will be sent out to the Muggles as well." He patted Sirius' hand and stood. "Now then. If you gentleman will excuse me, I have missed two days worth of owls and have some work to do."
"I have to go and supervise detentions." Remus said, sounding like it was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Right. Right. Harry and Ron told me." He nodded, still dumbfounded. "I have some things to sort out." Yet he couldn't seem to think straight or figure out what to do beside sit there by the fire.
()()()
There weren't many subscribers to the Evening Prophet, but one of the few students that did receive it was, of course, Hermione Granger.
The owl carrying the letter brought it to her in the Gryffindor Common Room while she, Ginny and Neville were all occupying a table with parchment and books spread out all over it. Ginny was only reading as her writing hand was still out of commission. Hermione let out a gasp over the front page and lay it down in the middle of the table for the other two to see.
"He's a free man?!" Ginny exclaimed looking sideways at the photo of Sirius and the large title of the article.
"I can't believe that happened so fast." Neville started reading over it.
"Cleared of all charges, method of escape will be given to DMLE only, JUST UNDER FOUR THOUSAND GALLEONS?! That's it?! He was wrongfully thrown in prison for twelve years, and that is supposed to make up for it?" Hermione was outraged and gaining the attention of the other students.
"I'm pretty sure the thing he'll be most focused on is the 'cleared of all charges' bit." Neville pointed out.
Ginny chewed her lip and checked the time. There was only about twenty minutes left before curfew and she didn't have the time to go and see him, if he was even still staying in Professor Lupin's quarters. She'd been rather unsure of her feelings about it all.
Her dog had been that man. She'd told him things in confidence. But her anger had lessened the more she thought about it from his perspective. What would she have done after over a decade around Dementors and being in the emaciated state that he'd been when she found him.
Her family was happy, and warm and loving. She missed living at the Burrow and the way the whole house just hugged you when you walked in. And she missed playing with Kenneth and how when he stayed the night he'd run into her room and yell 'It's morning time!' and rip open her curtains.
Hogwarts had been great so far. The classes were interesting, she felt she was forming pretty strong bonds of friendship with Hermione and Neville. Playing proper Quidditch had been a dream come true, and so had Harry.
Like, and actual dream come true.
But despite how great Hogwarts was she was still giddy with delight at the thought of going home for Christmas and being with all her brothers and her nephew again.
Hermione's hand on top of hers brought her out of her reverie. "Are you alright?" Concern was shining through her eyes.
"Yeah." She nodded and sat back down in her chair. "Yeah, I mean, it's completely weird to find out the truth, but I've had some time to process it." She shrugged. "It'll probably give me the creeps every now and then, and I'm not going to stop lording it over him." She smirked. "Like, ever." She added thinking about different ways to make him pay for his deceit.
Another owl tapped at the window and the closest student let it in. It flew over to Hermione and she untied the scroll while Neville reached into his pocket and offered it an owl treat.
"They're going to send us the archives we asked for!" Hermione parsed. "Oh. It'll be a few different waves of them due to the weight." She nodded as she read. "Oh, that's nice. It'll be less than half their initial cost."
Ginny sucked in a breath at that and tried not to let it show on her face the weight that settled in her stomach over that.
One copy of the Daily Prophet was manageable, but this would be hundreds of copies and she didn't have that kind of money. Hermione looked like she came from a well off family, and Neville would have a vault set up for him with inheritance and such. Harry was obviously quite well off, but she would have liked to be able to offer something towards the cause other than just the idea.
"Um." She worried her lip at the awkwardness she was feeling. "That's still quite a lot of money."
"Hmm." Hermione looked at her in thought. "It'll work out to about six Galleons. But maybe we can ask if the school would be interested in purchasing them to add a sort of archive section to the library."
"Or Sirius might want to chip in." Neville offered and turned to Ginny. "It is kind of for Harry after all."
"Right." Ginny said distractedly. Neither of them had made those comments knowing the real reason she'd mentioned it. She'd never had that much money. There were only a few knuts and four sickles in her purse in her trunk, and that was all going to be used up for Christmas presents on her next trip into Hogsmeade. The Weasleys always did homemade gifts for each other at Christmas, so it was just her new friends she had wanted to buy something nice for, but maybe she could chip in what she had and give them all homemade stuff too. They may all have nice new things for belongings, but they also seemed like they might appreciate something from the heart.
"Ron! Harry!" Hermione jumped up excitedly and went over to the portrait hole as they came in.
Hermione grabbed them each by their hands and pulled them over to the table. "Look." She pointed at the paper.
Ron was smiling brightly. "I know! Lupin's just told us." He picked her up around the middle and spun her around once before giving her a kiss. She let out an un-Hermione like giggle.
"Yeah. It's really great." Harry nodded with a small smile and looked over to his girlfriend. "Are you okay?" He knelt down beside her and took her hand.
"Oh." She'd remembered she was injured obviously, and it did smart a bit, but she'd disassociated him with it all together. There had just been so much else that happened after. "I'm fine. I can take the bandage off in the morning." She assured him.
"I'm so-"
She leaned forward and gave him a light kiss. "Shut up Harry." She smiled. He still looked upset about it. She rolled her eyes and stood up, pulling her up with him, only to shove him into her chair and sit on his lap. "Stop moping about it. We have other things to tell the two of you." Giving him a kiss on the nose of his surprised face. He let out a chuckle and wrapped his arms around her middle.
"Oh yes!" Hermione looked excited. "Ginny had a great idea for you Harry. And I think it'll be so interesting."
"Uh oh." Ron joked. "This is going to involve charts of something isn't it?" He smiled. While he wasn't the most studious person, behaving more braun than brain, Ron did passably well for himself in his classes and seemed to enjoy being lightly bossed around by his girlfriend about his schoolwork.
Hermione blushed. "Well...yes." She handed Harry her letter from the Daily Prophet.
He read it over and looked from Hermione to Neville, then up to Ginny. She was watching his reaction carefully, knowing it wouldn't upset him, but hoping that he would appreciate the gesture. "I just thought... Um, this was how we all found out." His gaze was intense and was taking her breath away. It was more than she'd hoped for. He hadn't said anything but she could swear she felt adoration radiating off of him.
And it was getting her all hot and bothered.
Ron reached across the table and snatched the letter out of Harry's hand while they stared at each other and read if for himself. "Merlin! Four years worth of Daily Prophets? And that'll be what? How many Galleons?"
Ginny blushed hearing that and lowered her eyes from Harry's, chewing her lip again.
He looked over to Hermione. "Take it from my vault. I. This is brilliant guys." He lifted Ginny's chin to speak to her directly. "Thank you." He whispered. "You've no idea."
She gave him a small bashful smile before he pulled her chin down to him. "Anything." She whispered back against his lips.