Disclaimer: Not mine.

The Brotherhood

A/N - I spent most of yesterday in Forks. It was just as described in the book - cold, wet, and boring. Yeah...but all the Twilight propaganda did inspire me to do some writing, so I wrote this chapter on the way back to my hotel room. Today, I started a Writing Marathon on The Muse Bunny, and so I'll be working on that for a while instead of this story, however, it won't last too long.

~~~ Chapter Forty Six ~~~

Harry followed along after the auror with very little struggling, mostly because he was heavily chained and could barely walk. However, it was also because he had been told he was attending his trial. He didn't know how Dumbledore had managed to get him a trial, but it had happened, and he was glad. With a trial, perhaps the truth would come out that he was actually innocent, and just maybe, they would let him free.

The auror jolted him to a sudden stop and Harry looked up. They were outside the trial room. There were very few people standing outside the room, but they were all staring. Harry bowed his head again to avoid their stares.

The doors were opened and Harry was led into the room where the trial would take place. He could feel many people watching him as he was taken in and chained down to the stone chair in the centre of the room.

As soon as the auror had moved away, Harry looked up from under his lashes and scanned the room. He soon found who he was looking for, near the back of the crowd. Sirius and Remus both sat there, and they both looked upset, probably at his condition. Harry was very aware that he looked a mess.

Just seeing the familiar and friendly faces after so long soothed Harry's nerves and he looked up at where Fudge was sitting. The Minister scowled down at him, then looked sideways at the woman sitting beside him. She nodded in answer to his unasked question.

"Let's get started. Due to popular request, we are having a trial for Harry James Potter, age sixteen," Fudge started, then turned to the scribe, a squat man with a flat face. "Read the charges."

Harry winced as a long list was read, starting with the murder of Ronald Weasley and continuing through many crimes which he had committed as a deatheater. There was no getting out of those.

"Okay, what do you plead?" Fudge asked Harry.

Harry didn't know how to respond. He had, of course, committed some of those crimes, and he couldn't deny it, but he hadn't committed all of them. He decided on a partially truthful answer.

"Guilty,"

Fudge sent an irritated look at someone behind Harry. Harry glanced and saw Dumbledore standing there, looking pensive.

"He pleads guilty, Dumbledore. Why is this even necessary?"

Dumbledore set his piercing eyes on Fudge and replied, "I believe this trial is very necessary, and you will continue."

Fudge's glare buckled under Dumbledore's and he bowed his head.

"Very well. What do you wish to cover, then?"

"Let's start with the first crime, shall we?" Dumbledore suggested, then paced forward. "The murder of Ronald Weasley. This was, I believe, his original crime, was it not?"

Nobody contradicted him and Dumbledore nodded contentedly.

"To testify, I call to the stand Ginny Weasley,"

The side door opened and Harry stared at Ginny as she came in. She looked pale and rather tired, but she managed to give Harry a small reassuring smile. He didn't really gain any reassurance from it. He knew that her testimony could clearly give everyone the proof they needed, but it could also go the wrong way. If she was asked certain questions, harmful truths could come out about how helpful she had been for Harry and Sirius.

"She's underage, we can't give her veritaserum without parental permission. How do we know she is being truthful?" the woman asked.

Dumbledore nodded at the woman. "This note is not counterfeit, I can assure you. It was written by her father, Arthur Weasley. He is still in his office, if you wish to call him down and ask him," Dumbledore said as he deposited a note on the stand in front of her.

The woman scanned the note. "What does it say, Amelia?" Fudge asked, although he looked like he knew.

"She is to be given veritaserum," Amelia answered.

Fudge nodded and waved toward an auror. The auror stepped forward, pulling out a bottle of clear white liquid. Ginny allowed three drops of veritaserum to be put on her tongue and swallowed with a grimace before her face settled into a noncommittal expression.

"What is your name?" Dumbledore asked.

"Ginerva Molly Weasley,"

"What are your parents' names?" Dumbledore continued.

"Molly Prewitt Weasley and Arthur Weasley,"

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen years old,"

Having completed the three test questions and required the truthful answers, Dumbledore nodded and looked at Fudge as if to ask permission.

Fudge nodded with pursed lips. He didn't look happy about having Ginny on the stand, Harry noticed.

Dumbledore turned back to Ginny. "What happened the night your brother, Ronald Weasley, died?"

There was a short silence, then Ginny opened her mouth and began to explain in a soft voice.

A/N - Please review.