Chapter Nine: The Kids Are Surviving (For The Most Part)

Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance. -W. Clement Stone

When Harry woke up, he panicked for a moment at his surroundings, only for yesterdays memories to flood his brain.

The expulsion from Hogwarts. Umbridge's victorious grin. McGonagall's whisper of, "I told you to keep your head down Potter!" It all came back to him as he got out of his bed in the Tonkes spare bedroom. It was raining lightly, no sunlight in sight as the rain was obviously turning into snow later.

Snow was quickly coming to the land, he thought of Hogwarts which made him sad and angry once more as he changed his clothes. Finally, he put his glasses on and made his way to the kitchen where Andromeda and Ted greeted him. Harry made a plate as Andromeda got up to help him make it.

She added a bit more on his plate, giving him the same look of concern that Mrs. Weasley did whenever Harry came over to spend summer vacation with the Weasleys. He sat down at the table, noticing the Daily Prophet that Ted was reading.

Boy-Who-Lived and Amelia Bones' Nice, Susan Have Been Expelled From Hogwarts Says Dolores Umbridge. For Inciting Violence Against The Ministry. Albus Dumbledore Questioned More About The Actions Taken.

The headline made his blood boil. Just one day out of Hogwarts and already the wolves have gotten their licks in order against him. He wondered how Susan was doing with the headline against them both. He would have to owl her latter, at least Hedwig can finally go hunting without Uncle Vernon yelling at him. His eyes flickered from the big headline about him to the next one with Sirius.

Azkaban Escapee Sirius Black Caught! Says Amelia Bones. Fudge Says That Punishment Is Going Underway For Black and That The Public Can Finally Rest!

Harry snorted out loud as he read the bold headline from the Prophet.

Until then, he would have to do some chores around the house as Andromeda told him. Later they were going out to buy him some fitting muggle clothing, much to Harry's protest but Andromeda swiftly shut him down. He looked at Ted for help.

"Never fight with a Slytherin lad. Especially one as such as Andromeda, you'll lose." He said. Good advice, Harry said in his head.

Dear Amelia Bones,

I am glad to know that Sirius Black has been caught. That being said, it has come to my attention that apparently back when they caught Black, they did not give Black a trial for the death of my parents and the muggles he killed on the street. I would want to see the justice come, for them and for my parents.

I am asking that you deliver a trial to finally put this officially to rest. I would like that and my parents would want that as well. They can finally get peace knowing that the person who did this, can go behind bars.

If the people of Great Britain cannot get behind me then they can get behind James Potter and Lily Evans-Potter, the two lives that were lost during the end of that war.

Sincerely,

Harry James Potter

"Will this work?" Harry had written to Amelia Bones in a separate letter. She responded that it will and to have a bit of faith.

The next day after he sent the letter, it was all over the Prophet. It was even talked about at Hogwarts, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Padma each sent him letters about what he wrote to Amelia and how it got published. He didn't tell them that Amelia purposely gave the letter to the Prophet on Harry's request. It sent a fire around the country when the letter came out, that the Boy-Who-Lived demanded a trial on the behalf of his dead parents, to find justice along with the fact that he was also dragging the government.

It did work, when Amelia sent him a letter in the afternoon, informing him of the time the trial.

"On the 12th of December," Harry told Andromeda and Ted. "That's on a Friday of this week! How have they gotten everything done?"

Ted grinned at him. "Magic and Amelia's work schedule. She must have already gotten enough stuff and if they are doing a trial they're going to use Vertiserum on Sirius."

"That means everyone will know the truth then?" Harry asked. Andromeda nodded.

When Friday finally did roll around. It would be the first time since his expulsion that Harry had stepped out of the Tonks home and the first that he'd seen Susan.

She came, for moral support as Harry spotted her sitting on the stands with Lupin and the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley greeted him with a bone-crushing hug and Mr. Weasley patted him on the back. "You alright Harry?" His eyes were solemn. Harry nodded.

He sat down next to Susan, who greeted the Tonks. Mrs. Weasley and Ted chatted quietly as Andromeda just stared on, her posture stiff.

"Heard anything from Draco or Padma?" He asked her, his voice low. Susan shook her head.

"Nothing." She told him. "I'm worried but maybe they got away. If she's holding us to be the ringleaders this could give them some small advantage."

A small advantage but what could that be? He wanted to ask more but as hushed when Amelia asked for order and a wave of silence came over everyone when Sirius was brought in with four Aurors around him. The stream of magic holding him in place was for the protection of everyone around him, which made both Susan and Harry smirk slightly before Amelia told one of the Aurors to give Sirius the dose of Vertisirum.

It was crazy to see Sirius like this, chained to the chair as if he was a criminal. Susan held her breath when they forced the potion down his throat. It was about to go down, Harry grabbed Susan's hand, who squeezed with support.

"State your full name to the court," Amelia said loud and clear.

"Sirius Orion Black." He said aloud.

"Mr. Black," Amelia said to him and the court. "You are here on charges of escaping Azkaban and for the deaths of the Potters along with thirteen muggles. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty Madame Bones." This caused murmurs to erupt among the people. Fudge could be seen whispering harshly to Lucius Malfoy.

Amelia nodded and continued her questioning making everyone in the room look like they were on the verge of a heart attack.

"We're you the traitor that sold out the Potters that Halloween night in 1989?"

"No"

Voices from the crowd cried out in alarm only to be hushed by Amelia. Fudge's eyes seemed to be bulging out while Percy frowned slightly. That caught Harry's attention for a moment before going back to his godfather.

"Who was it then?"

That's when Sirius dropped the bombshell onto the people in the court.

"It was Peter Pettigrew. To confuse people, mostly spies of You Know Who, we decided to make Peter the real secret keeper while I played decoy. It was supposed to keep them safe..." he trailed off from there looking at the floor.

"Are you telling the court that Pettigrew was the person that sold out The Potters to You Know Who, orphaning Harry Potter?" She asked him.

"Yes, I am. He's, in fact, alive Madame Bones, living and breathing while I took the fall all those years ago."

This caused more chaos in the room as everyone lost their minds at what Sirius was saying. Harry could practically hear Malfoy Sr. try to figure out how Amelia Bones found out that Pettigrew was alive. He hoped Draco didn't take the full brunt of the blame.

"That's impossible!" Fudge yelled out, pointing a finger at Sirius. "He was dead, only a finger was left of him!"

Amelia Bones gave Fudge a faint smirk. "That is true Minister but Black is telling the truth, some of my Aurors recently found the man hiding as an unregistered animagus, living and missing a toe. Sirius Black, on behalf of the British Ministry of Magic, I hear by pardon you of charges. You will, however, register as an animagus and pay a fee, other than that you are a free man. Aurors if you can escort Black to the location to get him to check out." She slammed the gavel and it was over.

Andromeda let out a sob, as Ted wrapped an arm around her in comfort. Susan and Harry hugged, he was practically shaking because Sirius was a free man, everyone now knew the truth.

Sirius Black was finally an innocent man.

"Harry, did you like living with you muggle relatives?" Susan asked one day after Remus was done tutoring them in Charms for the day.

Sirius was still in St. Mungos, recuperating from all those years in Azkaban and on the run. Harry was not expecting his friend to ask him that question today, then again he wouldn't have expected to be taught by Lupin again after being expelled from school either yet here he was.

He stayed silent for a few minutes debating whether to tell her the truth or not. In the end, he did. He started from the beginning, quietly telling her where he slept, first the cupboard under the stairs and then Dudley's second room. Told Susan about his childhood leading up to the Dementor attacks in the summer.

"Harry... Why didn't you tell any of the teachers? They could have done something to get you away from them." Susan said. Harry shrugged.

"Dumbledore told me that I had to stay with them. Something about my mum's protection and that being my only blood relatives, aunt Petunia was the only one with ties that could strengthen the blood protection." Harry explained to Susan. "I didn't question it because Voldemort tried to kill me, but now... maybe I needed to be saved from them just as much as being attacked from Voldemort."

Susan patted his back before thinking of an idea to cheer her friend up. So far, this week felt too slow for them, nobody to interact besides their guardians, Lupin or themselves. She knew that the week after it would be winter holiday meaning that their friends would be going home. They would no doubt try to see what had happened to both Susan and Harry since they haven't sent any mail. Mostly because Hedwig and her aunt's owl Icarus would be a dead give away.

It did give Susan and Harry much more privacy to talk about the founders without getting weird looks or paranoid that someone might overhear them. They wandered her backyard which was massive, to say the least, talking about what they knew so far.

The founders seemed close, friendships formed only to deteriorate from the attack that Morgan LeFay sent to the school. Even when they were out of Hogwarts, the memories still plagued them constantly. Not only that but Susan seemed to be somewhat determined to show him a life as a normal witch or wizard, even though said normal witch/wizard wouldn't have gotten expelled or smeared by literal adults on a newspaper but it was still something that Susan wanted for Harry. So, whenever they met (which was pretty much every day since their expulsion from the school) Susan told him about stuff he missed out that could have been part of his childhood if he had grown up in the Wizarding World.

It wasn't just Wizard stuff but Muggle stuff as well. Susan finally got her aunt to let them go out, only if an adult tagged along. That adult would be Lupin, who was more than happy to take them into London for a sightseeing day. It was better than doing school work, Harry said. The plan for the outing was the week after the holiday started. For now, though, they were stuck listening to Lupin teach them about Potions and Transfiguration or any other subject that they needed to catch up as to not fall behind from their classmates.

But today wasn't one of learning, it was one of the contemplations for the teens. They were both struggling on how to help their classmates from the outside, let along help themselves after the expulsion. They could barely leave the house without the fear of people harassing them on the street, courtesy by the Daily Prophet's scathing article on their expulsion. Still, they kept up their spirits, even if they were bleak. Like today.

They were wandering outside the house, Ted was in his home office while Andromeda was buying groceries for the week. They would be going to visit Sirius soon when the healers allowed it. Until then, only Susan's aunt was the only one to see him.

"What are we going to do about the founders and Umbridge?" Susan asked him. "We've been shut out of our school. This leaves the other two practically on the defense..." She trailed off.

Harry spoke up, his eyes on the horizon. "We can meet with them when the holiday starts, it's going to be difficult but we owe it, to them. To Hogwarts and our past lives that we kick that monster to the curb. Plus they can do it, Su, have faith. They're a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin."

"And?" Susan asked.

"And," Harry repeated. "Umbridge won't know what hit her after messing with those two houses. Especially Draco and Padme, I've got a feeling they are already giving her hell back there."

NOTES: Hello hello again! Man, that was a bit long hiatus but here is a chapter! Enjoy it, leave a comment, and a kudos, please! I do not own the quote used for this chapter, obviously :P

Enjoy the chapter folks! Thanks again for everyone that has loved the story so far :3