Ch. 5

Monday 18 May 1998

The next morning, the day of the Malfoys' trial, came all too quickly for Harry. Just like an alarm clock, Teddy woke Harry up at six in the morning. He groaned and turned over to put his glasses on. There's got to be a better way to correct my sight than these bloody glasses, he thought as he got out of bed to rescue Teddy.

"Come here little man." Harry groaned as he pulled his godson out of his Dogfather's arm. "Let's go clean you up." He took Teddy to his room where there was now a changing table and rocker next to the fireplace. Harry noticed this on Saturday morning as he was stumbling out of bed. Apparently, Tonks thought because Harry did morning time with Teddy, she'd make it easier. There was also a kid's bath tub in the shower now too. These additions made life a lot easier for Harry.

As he changed Teddy's nappy, Harry began to talk. "You know little man, today I have to go sit in on a trial for Malfoy and his dad." He paused to make sure the nappy wouldn't come off. "I don't know if I'm going to have to testify or not but I really don't want to." He settled down to feed the baby. "I don't want to be anywhere near those arses but I need to see this through. I really wish you could be there bud. I can't feel bad when I'm holding you but babies aren't allowed. If they were, you'd be there all day with me." Harry emphasized as he burped the monster. "I'm just glad that Hermione's going to be there. I don't know what I'd do if I had to do all this without both my supports. Your Aunt Hermione is the only person that can keep me calm. She's my life, my world. If you find someone like that Teddy, even if it's at 11, don't let go. And for Merlin's sake, tell her as soon as possible. Okay kiddo, time for a bath." He said as he undressed himself and Ted and went into the en suite. He didn't see the look of love that Hermione was giving them as she watched the love of her life talk to his Godson about her. She didn't realise it but she was crying as she went downstairs. She had gone in thinking Harry could use some help getting ready but she walked into that conversation. As soon as she realised what they were talking about, she couldn't interrupt-but she couldn't leave either.

When she got to the kitchen, she saw Tonks sipping coffee. "I went into Harry's room to help with Ted, yeah?" Hermione began fixing her own coffee.

"Everything okay?" Tonks asked as her head bobbed up quickly and her hair went back to its natural brown.

"Yeah. He's in the shower with him right now. But I walked in and he's talking to Ted about me and giving him advice about girls. It was so adorable." She sighed as she sat down to drink the coffee.

"That's cute." Tonks agreed. "I'm glad he's talking to someone." They sat there in silence while Dobby cooked.

A little while later, Sirius, Harry and Teddy joined them for breakfast. "Tonks, I was wondering if you wanted to come into the Ministry for lunch?" Harry asked.

"You don't want to see me. You just want Teddy." She smiled as he went red. After a minute, she relented. "I'll come by after his Healer visit." She laughed at his relieved expression.

"Thanks." He replied as he looked at his Godson. He didn't see the look of bemusement Tonks and Hermione exchanged.

After looking through the Prophet and seeing the schedule of trials, Sirius finished eating and was ready to leave. "Harry, Hermione we've got to leave. Trials start in 30 minutes." He said as everyone went to the sitting room to use the floo.

The three arrived in the Atrium and were greeted with the hustle and bustle of the ministry. There were a lot of people pointing and whispering as they walked by.

"If they're going to whisper, they should make sure no one can overhear what they're saying." Harry said loudly to Hermione when it got too much for him. Hermione and Sirius laughed as the whispers became quieter. "That's better." He praised loudly again.

"Passive aggressive much?" Sirius sniggered as they got into the lift.

"It worked." Harry smirked. "If they want to talk to me, talk. If they want to talk about me at least do it so I can't hear."

As they got off the lift, Madam Bones joined them. "Hello everyone." She said as they discussed things like the weather for a few minutes. Finally, she came around to what she wanted. "I know that you don't want to testify, Lord Potter. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to try to make sure you don't have to. I may need your testimony though if we feel we haven't built a strong enough case. Is there anything you can think of that we might want to ask Lucius or Draco?"

"I don't know if this can be asked. However, I would be interested if he took the mark voluntarily."

"That's already down." She laughed. "I want to know too."

"I figure that answer will be interesting, to say the least." Sirius submitted as a bell rang and Amelia left. "Now you kids will sit in the prospective witness box while I will be at my regular seat." Sirius took them over to sit with many fighters from the Battle such as the Weasley twins, Arthur, Neville and Luna among others. "See you soon." Sirius squeezed Harry's shoulder as he left.

"You know," Harry said to Hermione. "This is where I was tried. Nice to see that bastard here instead." He was looking over at Lucius in the seat of honor. Malfoy was dressed in striped prison robes. He looked like he hadn't shaved or combed his hair since the battle. He looked a lot more emaciated than his usual thin frame did. The one thing that was unmistakable was the distinctive Malfoy sneer adorning his face.

"You'd think that he wouldn't be sneering, seeing where he is." Nev whispered to Harry and Hermione.

"He believes he'll get off." Hermione said assuredly. "I'm sure his wife has greased some palms, as they say."

"Order. Order in the court." The bailiff proclaimed as everyone calmed down.

Charges were read. He pleaded not guilty to everything. And the questioning began.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be using Veritaserum on Mr. Malfoy to get to the bottom of these allegations. The defendant has been on flushing potions since his capture to make sure any anti-Veritaserum potions have been removed from his system." Amelia began.

"Look at the look on his face Harry." Hermione whispered and pointed. Harry looked over and saw the horrified expression on his face.

He chuckled at that. "Planning on lying his way out of it, the same as last time." Everyone around him nodded.

"Are you a Death Eater Mr. Malfoy?" Amelia asked.

"N-N-Yes."

"How did you get the dark mark?"

"I killed a few muggles, no one to worry about." He said proudly. Many gasped at the callous attitude.

"So you were not Imperioused to take the Mark?"

"You can't be. It's soul magic. If you don't actively want it, it doesn't take."

"Why did you follow Voldemort?"

"He wanted to rid the world of filth."

"Filth?"

"Yes. Muggles, Muggleborns, creatures, half-breeds. So only those of pure-blood remained." Harry looked around and saw the horror-stricken looks on peoples' faces. Well, now they see the bastard for who he really is, Harry thought.

"When you were captured at the ministry in June of 1996, why were you there?"

"To gain access to the prophecy about my master and the filthy half-blood Potter."

"What did the prophecy say?" Harry grabbed on to Hermione for dear life. He didn't want anyone knowing.

"I don't know. It was broken in the fight." Harry let go of Hermione as she wiggled movement back into her hand.

"What were you to do with the students who came with Lord Potter?"

"Kill them."

Soon they were done with Malfoy and interrogated Neville and Luna about the Department of Mysteries and the Battle of Hogwarts. Several more testified that they were Crucio'd by Malfoy.

Testimonies and cross-examinations were done at 12.00. The six friends decided to meet Tonks for lunch while Sirius went to decide Malfoy's fate. Apparently, they decided the life or death issue of a man's fate over a nice lunch.

When the teens got to the dining hall, they found Tonks waiting for them. Harry simply came up to her and stole Teddy and began cuddling the little man. "Hey! I'm here too you know!" Tonks groused.

Harry just looked up absently, "Oh hi Tonks." He said as went to go get food.

"So Tonks, how'd Teddy's appointment go?" Luna asked.

"Oh it went fine. He's over three and a half kilograms. According to the Healer, he can start to sleep through the night at five and a half kilos. So, how'd the trial go?" Tonks asked as they got in line for food.

"Exhausting." Hermione sighed. "He wasn't even sorry for what he did. He seemed actually proud, even under Veritaserum."

"He's a truly disgusting person." Neville contributed.

"I could've told you that before the trial but seeing him admit it all was-distasteful." Luna added.

They stopped talking until they had gotten their food and sat down. "What I can't believe is how many people they got to stand up and tell their stories. Did you know he crucio'd a toddler to make his parents do what Malfoy wanted?" Hermione looked disturbed.

Sirius came up to them a little while later. "Decision's been made. Gather in the courtroom in 10." He said as he headed back out. Everyone pushed out and cleared their places.

"Well, I'm going home. I'll see you kids later." Tonks took Teddy back from Hermione as they went back to the courtroom.

It was at the first 'Guilty' to being a Death Eater that caused Harry to relax and brought an actual smile to his face. He leaned over to Hermione. "It's over." She nodded. After the 10 more charges being declared Guilty, they were all happy. The blight of Lucius Malfoy was to be wiped from the ministry. The kids didn't really think of how far that wiping would go until they got to the sentencing.

"We, the Wizengamot, declare that Lucius Malfoy of the House Malfoy will be sentenced to death by the Veil for the deeds he has committed against our community. It will take place at midnight tonight. May Merlin have mercy on your soul." Amelia stated. "Court is in recess for 20 minutes before the trial of Draco Malfoy."

"Oh my Gods." Hermione Whispered.

"Oh Merlin." Luna muttered.

"Thank the Gods." Neville said loudly.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish." Harry muttered as everyone got up to leave the courtroom. The look of shock on Malfoy's face was satisfying to a part of Harry's mind. He didn't like to hand out death sentences but if anyone deserved it, the Death Eaters did.

When they left the courtroom and were on the lift, Harry said. "Let's go home. I don't want to watch Draco's trial. We'll hear about it tonight from Sirius."

"Sure." Hermione, Neville and Luna replied.

"You guys coming with us?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes please." Nev said desperately. "If I show up at home this early, Gran will have told the elves to sit me down and talk about my properties. It's bloody boring. I'll pass." The rest laughed at Neville's fearful gaze.

"Well, you're always welcome here Nev. Even if it is to get away from work!" Harry laughed as he floo'd home. When they got there, they all headed up to the game room. As the boys racked up the balls for pool, the girls sat down in a small sitting area, turned on the radio and summoned butterbeer from the bar.

"I thought I'd turn up the radio so we could talk." Hermione explained. She had grown quite fond of Luna over the past few years. Although Luna believed in a lot of animals that were at least rare, if not imaginary, when you got past that façade, she was a very real, loyal, honest and good friend. And quite frankly, after the year she and Harry had just had, those qualities were more important than some weird beliefs.

"Oh, and what did you think we might need the radio on for?" Luna grinned.

"Well, I wanted to know how it was going with our Neville." Hermione grinned suggestively. "I mean you came to Remus' funeral with him. Are you two dating?"

"Yes. Thank Merlin everything is going to plan. Do you know he brought me to meet his parents in St. Mungo's? Daddy and I have had Nev and Augusta over for dinner twice. I go to Longbottom Manor nearly every day."

Hermione was a little skeptical that the formidable Lady Longbottom got along with Xeno. "So how well do your dad and Lady Longbottom get along?"

Luna snorted. "They don't really unless they're talking politics, which they are wont to do."

"I just can't see them sitting at dinner together." Hermione laughed.

"I'll tell you, it's weird having any guy that's not Daddy care for me the way Nev does. What? We've been dating about 2 weeks? I'm still pinching myself that he cares for me that way."

"I know. It's been strange as Harry and I moved from best friend to boyfriend/girlfriend. Sometimes I look at him, especially when he's caring for his Godson, that I think 'Wow he's really mine'." Hermione said dreamily.

HP

Over at the pool table, while Hermione and Luna were talking, Harry brought the Carrows up to Neville. "Nev, I know the Carrow siblings are being tried tomorrow. I wasn't at school when that happened but I know you got hurt. As your friend, do you want me there or would you prefer I not come?"

Neville didn't answer for quite a while. When he did, it was with a determination in his voice Harry hadn't heard except in battle. "Yes. I'd like you there. Partially because I'd like Hermione to be there for Luna, partly because I'd like you to hear what happened."

"Okay. We'll be there." Harry stated firmly.

"You don't have to check with her?" Neville grinned.

"No. She'll want to be there for Luna."

They were racking up the balls when Tonks came in with Teddy. Harry left the table to take his Godson. "You're just leaving me here cause you've got a baby?" Neville teased Harry.

"Sorry. My Godson comes first." He grinned as he unwrapped Teddy to play under his play gym. Because his little arms couldn't reach the toys, Harry charmed them to move lower so Teddy could actually play with them.

As Nev and Harry sat on the floor with Teddy, Luna and Tonks played pool while Hermione watched. This lasted for a little while before Sirius showed up. He had obviously changed because he was now wearing jeans, a t-shirt and work boots.

"Hey everyone. How are you doing?" He asked. Harry was sitting feeding his little man but looked up at that.

"What was the verdict?" Harry returned.

Sirius sat down with everyone in the cozy seating area. "Death." He said simply. "You should know that it was close during sentencing. A lot wanted life without parole because he was a minor when he took the mark but those of us who had seen the last war felt death was more just." Sirius felt he needed to explain.

Everyone just nodded their head. It was an understandable decision. Harry didn't have to like it but he couldn't really disagree either.

Soon Nev and Luna left and they went down to dinner. The Grangers came over around six to have dinner with the little family. When they heard what the sentences were, Dan's only response was a shrug and to state, "Couldn't have happed to a more deserving pair from what you all tell me of them."

"Dan!" Emma scolded.

"He's got the right of it, Emma. There are some people that can't be saved. I wouldn't be surprised if all the Death Eaters get Death as punishment." Sirius returned.

Tuesday 19 May 1998

The next day, Sirius, Hermione and Harry wended their way to Courtroom 10 for the Carrows' trial. While Neville, Luna, Ginny, Seamus, Terry Boot, Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones and several others he knew by sight all sat together in the potential witness box, Harry and Hermione sat with the spectators.

This trial started out more like he'd expected yesterday. The charges were read: torture 30 counts, rape 5 counts, child endangerment 350 counts, and several others. The list had Hermione crying in Harry's chest as his knuckles grew whiter and whiter as the list kept growing. With the vast experience Harry had had with clamping down on his anger in the past few years, he ruthlessly clamped down once again. As he came back to the present, he became aware that Hermione was crying on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and kept saying. "I'm here love. They're all safe now. I'm here." Soon her crying subsided as she just sniffled.

Seamus took the stand first. "You have to understand that we were being 'taught' that mixing with half-bloods or muggles makes for retardation, deformities, and squibs. We were told the only way to keep wizards pure was to only breed with other purebloods. When I asked when her brother was going to get her pregnant, Professor Carrow crucio'd me. That was the first week of school." And he went on with how some folks took to setting traps for the Carrows and they'd be crucio'd or Imperioused to hurt themselves.

Next was Neville's turn. He told of how he and Terry put up in the Great Hall on the wall behind the head table Harry Lives. "Needless to say, we got away free and clear. The next day, Snape made the announcement that if the responsible party didn't come forward by dinner, two random first year girls would be flogged in front of the whole school as 'afters'. Terry and I copped to it. Alecto and Amycus took turns flogging us, then attached us to the wall so we couldn't sit and left us there all night. Each day, breakfast, lunch and dinner we were flogged, for 2 days. We didn't get any food for that time. They kept us up there until Alecto said she was bored." He turned around, pulled up his shirt and said, "Here's what I came away with last year." Everyone saw the slash marks on his back. A gasp ran through the room at this.

Luna talked next about being crucio'd nearly once a week, being raped by Amycus 3 times "Although the third time, I think I might have castrated him as I had brought a knife and was able to get it out." She said casually.

It was a truly eye-opening experience for Harry and Hermione to listen to their friends talk about this brutality as though that's just how life is. At the end of the trial, both siblings admitted to everything and the verdict was unanimous and nearly instantaneous—they were out in less than half an hour. Guilty on all counts and death through the Veil.

HP

Like the previous day, the four teens ended up at the Madhouse in the game room. Unfortunately, they were so tired by their day, they didn't talk and play. They sat on the couches and fell asleep in their boyfriend/girlfriends' arms.

By the time Sirius came home after a long day of listening to horrible testimonies—by children no less—about what was done at Hogwarts, he was exhausted. After talking to Tonks, he headed upstairs to see how the teens were. When he arrived, he had to stop the chuckle that wanted to burst free in case he woke the sleeping teens. He very quietly went back downstairs to the kitchen where he found Dora, Teddy and Dobby talking.

Dora looked up at Sirius. "Where are the kids?" She inquired.

"Sleeping." Sirius finally let the chuckle out. "They are up there sleeping on two of the sofas. Out like a lantern. Each couple wrapped up in each other. It's so saccharin cute, it's scary." Dobby and Dora laughed. Sirius became much more solemn. "It was a bad day for them. The testimonies were hard to listen to—I can't imagine they were easy to give. But every one of those kids stood up and gave their testimony, without flinching. The things they endured were horrendous. At least when we were kids, school was safe. Not for them. They were crucio'd on a regular basis Dora."

Dora looked at Sirius and was worried. He looked horrible. For her fun loving, always joking cousin to be so, well, serious was a side no one really saw of him. "It's not your fault Sirius. And they all survived. Maybe a little bent but not broken as far as I can see."

"I know. I just wish there was more I could do."

"There is." Sirius raised an eyebrow at that. "Do everything you can to make a better world for them and Teddy." She said firmly.

He groaned. "You mean politics, right?"

Dora grinned because she knew how much Sirius hated that word and what it represented. "Yeah, I do."

"I know, I know. The problem is that you've got to be nice to people with reprehensible ideas. I'm a Gryffindor not a Slytherin. I don't hold to those views and I usually have trouble holding in my disgust." He scowled at the idea of those beliefs.

"I know. But you don't have to get along with them per se. Make Alliances with old Potter Allies." She suggested.

"You know, there are sometimes when I remember why you caught Moony's fancy. You're smart but you hide it well." Sirius laughed when Dora hit him. After such a horrible day, this is exactly what he needed.

"Idiot." She grumbled as she found another butterbeer at her elbow. She looked over at Dobby. "How do you do that? Know exactly what I want before I do."

"Elf magic." Both Dobby and Sirius stated as they all laughed.

"Don't worry cuz. I asked him the same thing last night and that was his answer." Padfoot went on to explain.

The kids came down about half an hour later. As Neville was about to leave, Sirius came into the sitting room. "Hey, Neville. Can I have a word?"

"Sure Sir." Neville looked a little hesitant as he kissed Luna good bye. He turned around as Harry and Hermione went to leave them alone.

"Hey, I need to talk to you too." He smiled at Harry as the two men sat. "Don't worry. Nobody's in trouble." He laughed at the kids' nervous look. "I talked to your Gran Neville, and I am planning on having Harry learn everything about his holdings as the Head of House Potter this summer so he can take some responsibility for it. Augusta says that you have not been able or willing to learn about your own holdings from her." At this Neville grimaced and Sirius and Harry laughed. "What I proposed is that you and Harry learn together from Ted Tonks, my cousin's husband who is an Estate Manager at Gringotts. He's held the Potter account since Jamie took over as Lord when Monty died. Augusta has authorized him access to the Longbottom accounts to accommodate this. This will start next week for both of you. Are you up for that?"

"I don't have a bloody choice. Gran'll have my head if I don't. You never, ever say no to Gran." He shrugged.

"I've heard that before. Your dad's favorite refrain when he got roped into one of our pranks was 'Mum cannot hear about this. She'll have my head.' Apparently, it was not appropriate for the heir of House Longbottom to be associated with such juvenile things as pranks." Sirius laughed. "We took the blame a few times so he wouldn't get into trouble." He looked at the gobsmacked Neville and Harry. "What's wrong?" He asked confused.

"You knew my parents?" Neville whispered.

"You didn't know that?" Sirius was stunned. How could he not know basic things about his parents? "Yeah. We were in the same year as Alice and a year below Frankie."

"Frankie?"

"Yeah. We tried calling him Francis our first night but he could be intimidating when he wanted. James did it once—never again." Sirius laughed at the memory "Alice and Lily became the best of friends and Frankie and James were besotted with each of them from first day. They, however, couldn't give the guys the time of day." Sirius grinned nostalgically. "Did your Gran never tell you things about your parents?"

"Nothing except the basics. Stories about when Dad was young and how great an auror he was."

"Well, he was that. Jamie, Alice and I all worked with him. Do you know who your Godparents are?" He asked cautiously.

"No. Only that they're dead."

"Well, both of you are going to get a kick out of this. James and Lily are your God parents. And Harry, your Godmum is Alice."

Both boys looked at Sirius. "You're kidding." Harry croaked.

"Nope. Alice and Lily were that close. Joined at the bloody hip, they were."

"Does that mean I should've gone to live with Lady Longbottom instead of the Dursleys?" The venom with which he spat the name spoke volumes.

"Yes but Dumbledore knew best." Sirius said sarcastically, taking a minute to control his temper. "Don't worry Neville. I'll fill you in on your parents. I have so many stories, you won't know what hit you." He looked at the time and realised the Grangers would be here for dinner soon. "Well, you should head home Neville. We'll see you at the trial for Umbitch tomorrow." Sirius grinned when the two boys smiled at the name.

"See you later Godbrother." Neville grinned at Harry.

"Yeah Godbrother." Harry also grinned as Nev floo'd away. Harry walked out of the sitting room in a daze. Sirius could see that Harry was struggling with the information he'd received, so he set off to find the only person he could think would be able to help the boy—Hermione. He hadn't even considered what knowing who his Godmum was would do to his Godson. He'd been intent on giving Neville information. Thinking about it, after the fact, he could see how Harry would have one more thing to be pissed at Albus about with this new information. Hell, he was still pissed at Albus for the mistakes that had cost Harry and him so dearly.

He found Hermione in the kitchen holding Teddy. "Hermione, Harry's in the sitting room. He may need you. He just found out who his Godmum is, and it's not good."

Hermione's eyes widened as she began to hand Teddy back. "No. Take him. He seems to calm Harry down." Tonks smiled.

"Right." Hermione smiled at the thought. "Come on little man. Let's go see how your Goddaddy is doing." She left the kitchen, walked across the rear entrance hall to the sitting room. He wasn't there. She looked in the drawing room which was empty. She wondered if she should check the study. She knew he didn't spend much time there but decided to check. He was sitting at his desk, staring at the fireplace. He was brooding. She needed to nip it in the bud so she sat down across from him. "So, Sirius told me you found out who your Godmum is. Is it that bad?" She asked lightly.

He smiled at that as he looked at his girlfriend, her eyes worried for him. "No. It's Nev's mum." He heard her intake of breath. She came around the desk and put her arm around him.

"I'm so sorry love." She whispered.

"What is really pissing me off is Dumbledore knew and still put me with my relatives." He snorted. "As though putting me there was safe. Starved, beaten, told I was worthless. When I could've had a brother."

"Well, you can now. And you have your Godfather, Godson, and Aunt of sorts, and me. And oh yeah, my mum and dad too." She counted them off on her fingers. As she got to the end, he was smiling.

"You're saying not to look back, to look forward?" He asked.

"Exactly." She plopped Teddy in his arms. "I think that one is getting hungry." She stated the obvious as he was rooting for a breast. They got up.

"Better find Dora." Harry smiled at his godson as the little man reached out to him. They walked into the kitchen and saw everyone at the table, including the Grangers. "Dora, this one's doing that rooting thing." Harry said as he handed Ted off and sat down at his seat.

"So, how did today go?" Emma asked gently, already having gotten the rundown from Sirius but wanting to hear it from Harry and Hermione.

"Terrible Mum. While we were hiding at Grimmauld, our friends were being tortured at school." Hermione offered.

"You can't hold yourself responsible love. You did what you had to to end it. You couldn't be everywhere." Dan countered.

"We know. But it was still hard—listening to the tales." Harry contended.

"Well, if it helps, they're both being put to death tonight." Sirius consoled.

Harry looked gratefully at his Godfather. Besides Hermione, this man was the one human who had stood by him no matter what. "Thanks Padfoot. Thanks for everything you've done for me." He looked into Padfoot's grey eyes trying to tell him how much he appreciated his Godfather without embarrassing himself. Sirius seemed to understand what he was trying to say because he simply nodded. "I think tomorrow afternoon I'm going to see my Godmum."

"Oh. I didn't know you had one." Emma commented. "Hermione's only talked about Sirius."

"Well, I am the Great Sirius Black. Of course, she'd talk about me!" he preened as they all laughed.

"Oh. I thought it was because we didn't know he had a Godmum until today." Hermione said.

"You say potato, I say pahtaho." He replied.

"My Godmum is Neville's mum. She's in the hospital for permanent brain damage. She was tortured into insanity after I vanquished Voldemort as a baby." Harry answered Emma. "Dumbledore hid me at my Aunt's before they could claim me."

"Sounds to me he's a little like some of the religious nut jobs we have who think they're Jesus Christ reborn." Dan observed.

"You're not far off." Hermione noted. "Before his death, he was the leader of the legislative body of magical Britain—think of the House of Commons with the snootiness of the House of Lords. He was the Headmaster of the only wizarding school in Britain. And he was the head of the ICW—think NATO."

"How was he able to get that many titles? Isn't there some sort of idea that one person can't rule Britain?" Emma queried. "Even we muggles have a constitutional monarchy."

"He got them when he killed the last Dark Lord Grindelwald—a childhood friend of his if you believe Skeeter. After he ended that war, he was worshipped and given anything he wanted." Sirius explained. "Don't get me wrong, for the most part he brought more good to the world than bad. Somehow though, along the way, he forgot the trees through the forest. He began to believe that he knew what was best and compartmentalized so much that no one else ever had the full picture of his plans."

"Not even me." Harry continued the story. "He sat Sirius and me down after the DOM fiasco, where Sirius and Hermione just made it out alive, and told us that, because of a prophecy that was partially heard by one of Voldie's flunkies, Voldie felt he had to kill me. So my family went into hiding. We know the outcome of that—Voldie's gone, Sirius's in jail and I'm packed of to my relatives. After telling us about the prophecy, he spends the next school year teaching me about Tom and Horcruxes but not where they are or how to destroy them."

"And no one questions any of this?" Emma asked incredulously.

"I did. Believe me, I did. But he wouldn't tell us mortals anything." Sirius groused.

"That's when he died and I sent you to Australia so we could concentrate on the horcruxes." Hermione finished.

"Don't worry, Emma." Sirius replied. "I plan on helping change how much power one person has."

"How?"

"Legislation." After that they talked about more mundane things such as how the Grangers' day went.

After dinner, they watched some telly. Eventually, the Grangers headed home and the Madhouse went quiet for the night.

Wednesday 20 May 1998

The next day was Umbridge's trial. This was the teens last day of being at the Ministry and while they were very happy about that, they didn't want to testify. Again, they sat in the potential witness box with Neville, Luna, the Weasley twins and Ginny among others.

Several students testified about blood quill usage, the DA, the night the DA fell and other such things. Finally, though, it was Harry's turn. He was put under Veritaserum because he was of age, unlike some of the previous witnesses.

"What is your name?"

"Harry James Potter."

"How old are you?"

"17."

"You say a blood quill was used on you by Delores Umbridge, is that so?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"My first detention."

"When was this?"

"First day of class."

"Do you have any marks to show this?"

He held out his right fist where it said 'I must not tell lies'

"How long did this go on?

"At least two weeks."

They went over most of the detentions, then talked about the Muggleborn Registration Committee. In all, Harry's testimony took over two hours in itself. Every time he talked about the blood quill, Hermione looked at Sirius. He was getting angrier and angrier.

At 1.00, Harry, Luna, Hermione and Neville were all done with their testimony. They decided to eat at home rather than in the dining hall. They floo'd home and went to the kitchen. Dora and Dobby were there with Teddy.

"Hey guys. You look like Hell, you know that, right?" she said.

"Yeah." They all said dully.

"Here want to feed Teddy?" Tonks asked Harry.

"Sure." His face brightened as he fed his Godson. Everyone else ate their lunch as well.

After lunch, Neville said. "I think I'm going to go home for a nap."

"Don't you like sleeping on the couch upstairs Neville?" Harry asked as he put the asleep Ted in his bouncer.

"Not much." Nev grinned.

"Why don't you both come by around lunch tomorrow and we can hang out?" Hermione proposed. "We don't have to be at the ministry tomorrow so we can sleep in and then play upstairs or something?"

"Sure." They agreed as they left. Hermione and Harry walked into the telly area of the drawing room and Hermione laid her head on his lap and closed her eyes. Harry began playing with her hair.

"You know, it's really weird not to have Ron around but I'm really getting to like Neville and Luna. I think we can be close to them." She remarked.

"I know. I spent so much time rooming with him but I never got to know him as well as I could have. I don't think Ron wanted Nev butting into our friendship but I could be wrong. It's really nice to get to know them both though." He leaned down and kissed her passionately. "I am so tired. Want to come upstairs and take a nap?" He asked, a little dazed from the kiss.

"Sure." She said as she got up, took his hand and led him upstairs.

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