Ch. 5: School's in session and Freedom for Sirius: Hermione and her friends navigate being back at school while dealing with the toad. The secret order successfully clears Sirius's name.

Hermione woke up for her first day of classes with excitement. This year was going to be a challenge with OWLS, dealing with Dumbledore, and trying to avoid Umbridge's wrath. Even though she will be dealing with those challenges, she was excited for her father to have his freedom, to see her mother truly happy, to spend time with her friends and her boyfriend. As she got ready to go meet the boys for breakfast, she couldn't help but wonder how the plans for her father's trial were coming along. 'Maybe I'll call for Kreacher later so I can send a note to my dad.' she thought. Hermione was the first of her friends to make it down to the common room so she curled up on the couch closest to the fireplace and grabbed a book from her bag to read while she waited for the boys.

Hermione had only been reading for a few minutes when her book was plucked from her hands. Before she could speak, she looked into the twinkling eyes of her boyfriend. "Come on love, help us plan a prank for Ginny before Ron and Harry come down." George said. Fred and George loved having Hermione on their side when it came to pranking because she was knowledgeable and a force to be reckoned with. Harry and Ron finally came down to the common room and forced the trio to leave for breakfast. As McGonagall came around and handed out their schedules Ron groaned, "Double Potions and Double Defense in the morning on a Monday and then History in the afternoon! Worse way to start the week!" Harry and Hermione agreed but Hermione tried to make them feel better by saying, "At least our last class of the day is Care of Magical Creatures so it will be an easy class." Hermione wished she dropped CoMC but she decided to stick with it until O.W.L.s and then she would drop it in 6th year. She just hoped she didn't hurt Hagrid's feelings because while she loves him as a person, he wasn't an ideal professor. "Remember to be on your best behavior for old toad face over there." Fred said seriously. The trio nodded and vowed they would not antagonize her. With one last gulp of pumpkin juice all the kids went off to their first class and the trio looked like they were marching to their deaths down in the dungeon.

Potions went shockingly well. Hermione was suspicious. 'Snape is almost nice today…what is going on?' Professor Snape completely ignored the trio which caused them to be even more on edge as class went on. Class was almost over when Professor Snape barked, "Potter, and Weasley, did you think copying Ms. Granger would go unnoticed? All three of you stay after class". The trio all said "Yes sir" and looked at each other in confusion since the three hadn't spoken to each other in class. The rest of the class had left and the trio was waiting nervously for their potions professor to explain why he kept them after class. Snape looked at the trio, who were trying their best not to show their anxiety. "I know you are wondering why I kept you three. Please let me talk before you ask any questions. As you know I am a spy for the Order. I am aware many believe I am not on the side of the light but let me assure you that I completely support the light. I became a death eater when I was a foolish teenager, not much older than you three are now. It is one of the biggest regrets of my life. I want to apologize for how I have treated you three in the past, and I hope in private you can see I am not the evil dungeon bat. Unfortunately in class I will have to be rude to you because of my role as a spy. Harry, I don't know if anyone has ever told you but I was friends with your mom (Harry looked at the man in shock 'my mom was friends with him?!'). We had a falling out in our fifth year because I was foolish. I am telling this all to you because I have talked with the mutt and the wolf and expressed my desire to be on your side and not work with Albus. The three of us have actually sat down like adults, shocking I know (Ron and Harry snickered), and realized we are all being manipulated by Albus. I would like to offer you three some extra training while here at school but we will have to say you are in detention with me. What do you think?" Snape watched in amazement as the three teenagers were able to have a silent conversation about what they should do next. After a few minutes, Hermione seemed to be the elected spokesperson of the trio and said, "Professor Snape, we thank you for your openness with us because we can tell it was not easy for you. We accept your apology with the understanding you need to act as if nothing has changed between us. We would also like to have the extra training with you but to make it more believable we tell others the boys have detention with you and I will be doing extra potion work to help me study for O.W.L exams." Snape considered what she had to say and agreed. "Here is a pass for your defense class. I must warn you Umbridge has you three in her sights so please go in without causing trouble." He said and made sure to look at Harry when he said his last sentence. "Hey! I don't cause trouble, it just finds me!" Harry said indignantly.

Passes in their hands, the trio looked at each other and took a deep breath before heading into the defense classroom. Umbrdige narrowed her eyes at them, "Ah, here are my three missing students", she said in a false sweet voice, " Did you three not think my class was worth your time?" The three handed her their passes and Hermione said in a sincere voice, "We are very sorry Professor Umbridge. Professor Snape held us after his class. We would never intentionally be late to class, especially one as important as defense." Umbridge gave them each a glance and finally shooed them to their seats. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Granger, the class is reading the first 2 chapters of your book and taking notes so please get out your materials." She said. Not wanting to piss off Umbridge took their seats quietly and got out their needed materials. Before Hermione opened her book she looked at the course aims listed on the chalkboard in the front of the room and noticed there was no mention of practical magic. She made eye contact with Umbridge who was sitting there with a smirk on her face, almost daring Hermione to ask about the lack of practical magic but Hermione was not going to rise to the bait and started to read her textbook. After what felt like hours of silence there was a "Hem,hem" as Umbridge cleared her throat to gather the attention of the class, "Now class, I know I went over the aims of the course at the start of class but now I want to explain how are classes will look as the year goes on." Hermione looked at Harry and Ron and gave them a look that said "Do not respond" because she knew what the professor was trying to do. " As I said in my speech at the welcoming feast, the ministry is very concerned about the education here at Hogwarts. I am here to observe Hogwarts and to improve the education you all receive. This subject in particular has been taught by incompetent professors and two years ago you were exposed to a dangerous half-bred," She paused at looked at Harry like she was waiting for an outburst but he kept his mouth tightly shut, "This year there will be no need for your wands in this classroom (all the Gryffindors looked shocked. Ron and Harry had to take deep breaths so they wouldn't cause a scene). This class will focus on theory which will help you pass your O.W.L exams. Any questions?" She asked the class. Lavender Brown raised her hand, "Professor Umbridge, how will we pass the practical part of the exam without practicing in class?" Umbride looked at her and said dismissively, "If you have a strong grasp on the theory then you can perform the spells needed for your exam." Dean was the next one to ask a question and stupidly asked, "How will we protect ourselves outside of school if we can't practice?" Umbridge smiled a toad like smile, "And Mr. Thomas, who would you need to protect yourself against?" Knowing the ministry's stance on Voldemort's return no one was brave enough to speak up and the lions looked to Harry as if he should speak up but Harry was not going to get in trouble the first day of class with the toad. Seeing that Harry wasn't taking her bait, Umbridge continued on with the lesson without any incident.

"Finally we are free!" Ron sighed as the trio went to lunch. "How bad was the toad?" Fred asked as they joined them at the Gryffindor table. "Honestly, she makes Binn's class look fun. Plus she told us defense is only going to be theory this year" Harry groaned. George looked thoughtful and then said, "Fudge is afraid Dumbledore is training an army. I overheard Dad and Bill talking about it the other day. So she doesn't want us to learn any spells that could be used against the ministry." The quintet decided that a welcome to Hogwarts prank was in order for the toad. The twins told the trio how CoMC went with the temporary professor and they both agreed they loved Hagrid but having a real professor made the class a lot better. They also talked about their morning nap time, "I mean class" George said as Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, with Binns went. As they were enjoying their lunch, Ginny plopped down across the table from Harry. "Hi Harry" she said seductively. Harry awkwardly said, "Hey Ginny, how has your morning been?" Ginny then went on to tell them how she hated her first class with Umbridge and she was happy to have charms after such a boring defense class. Since Ginny was at the table George decided to start the plan he and Hermione came up with last night. "Umm Hermione can I ask a favor?" he asked shyly, "Well you know last year we didn't do so well on our exams so I was wondering if you could tutor me in some subjects to help me get a better understanding for my NEWTs this year." Hermione looked at him for a moment before replying, "Of course George. But I must warn you, I have high expectations of my students, just ask Harry and Ron." The two mentioned boys nodded and Ron joked, "George, she will torture you. It was nice knowing you". George just smiled and said, "I can handle a little torture…I did grow up listening to Percy talk so Hermione can't be worse than him." All the kids laughed and continued talking about their morning classes.

The next few days went by pretty quickly without any drama and no one getting in trouble with the toad (which was hard because she was trying to bait them). On Friday night Hermione and the boys were in the common room waiting for everyone else to go to bed so they could call Kreacher to take them to headquarters to see the adults. While they were waiting Hermione called for Dobby. The little elf was so excited to see Harry and his friends, he was practically jumping for joy, "Miss Grangy called for Dobby?" Hermione smiled at the excitable elf, "Hi Dobby. I know you are a free elf but how would you like to bond with a new family? And I would make the same offer to WInky if she would like it." The boys looked at Hermione with confused faces since they knew how she felt about house elves. Dobby looked at her with excitement in his eyes, "Miss Grangy, Dobby and Winky would love a new master," his ears turned down in nervousness, "But we want a kind master, not a cruel master like our last ones." Hermione knelt down, looked Dobby in his eyes and put a hand on his shoulder, "Dobby, I would like to have you and Winky as my house elves. I would require you to be paid, take vacation, never punish yourself but instead come to me if you think you did something bad. Can you agree to those terms?" Dobby nodded and popped away to get Winky. Soon both elves stood in front of Hermione and she claimed them as her own personal elves. She looked at the boys' faces and explained, "Over the summer I did some research on house elves and realized I made a mistake last year with SPEW. I learned the elves need a master to help their magic but the strongest elves belong to a master who is kind. I realized that I could help more elves by protecting their rights, not freeing them. Also I know Dobby and Winky needed a family so I want to help them." The boys shared a smile, knowing they would all be voluntold to help Hermione's crusade for elf rights and they would let her boss them around.

Once the common was empty Hermione called out for Kreacher, Dobby, and Winky. "Kreacher, these are my two new elves, Dobby and Winky. You will be the head elf and will teach them what is expected for elves that belong to the House of Black." Hermione explained and Kreacher agreed, "Now, we want to go visit headquarters so can the three of you please pop us over to the library there?" In an instant the three elves and five teenagers were gone.

"Hermione!" Sirius yelled and hugged his daughter as the kids landed in the library. "Oi! What about me over here? You get a daughter and poof no memory of your amazing godson?!" Harry said dramatically. Everyone in the room laughed as Sirius looked at Harry with a wicked grin before pulling Harry into a group hug with him and Hermione. "Sirius, honey, they need to breathe." Jane laughed. as Sirius hugged the two teenagers tighter before letting them go. Ron looked around for his dad and Jane answered his unasked question, "Your dad will be here shortly. He just needs to make sure Molly doesn't notice he is gone." The kids got settled in the open couches and started to tell the adults about the pink toad. "Honestly she is the worst defense professor we have had and that is saying something considering 2 of them tried to kill me, 1 was a brainless peacock who tried to wipe our memories, and sorry Remus but you did try and attack us on the full moon." Harry said. Remus looked at the kids and said, "I know you don't blame me but I still am sorry about that."

Once Arthur arrived the adults filled in the children with all they had been up to. "Well, with the help of the Tonks, I have been in contact with Andromeda who has been talking to Amelia Bones about getting me a trial. Amelia has to go around Fudge but she is aiming for a trial by the end of the month. Then I should be a free man." Sirius said. "Wow Siri, you guys are moving quickly." Harry exclaimed and then thought for a moment "Is there anything we can do to help? Like give Amelia our memories of third year?" Sirius nodded and Tonks chimed in, "Actually that would be a great idea. If you three can give me your memories, I'll bring them to work with me tonight." Tonks pulled out three auror grade memory vials and extracted the memories from the three teenagers.

After Tonks secured the vials of memories, Arthur cleared his throat, "So I have been thinking. Once Sirius is free and he is named Lord Black, I would like to reclaim the Weasley lordship." his sons looked at him in shock, "I know it is something I have never wanted but it could be helpful to have an ally in Sirius's corner. I know Severus mentioned taking up his title as Lord Prince as well so I will put aside my feelings about the stuffiness of pureblood society and take on my rightful responsibilities." The Weasley boys were shocked but excited for their dad to become Lord Weasley. "Uh dad?" Ron asked nervously, "When you become Lord Weasley what will happen to mom and Ginny?" Arthur sighed and said, "Honestly I am not sure. I recently went to Gringotts and received some medical treatment there and what I discovered was hard to hear. I found out I was being dosed with a mild love potion. I am currently working through my feelings towards your mother now the potion is out of my system. I am finding that I have no romantic feelings towards her. I am planning on ending our marriage and disowning both her and Ginny (all the kids gasped in shock). I do have to time the announcement right because I do not want to alert her or Albus how much we all know so for now I am just acting like I love her and nothing has changed." The 3 Hogwarts aged Weasley boys looked angry at hearing their mother would ever trap their father into marriage but also felt sad their father never got true love and they hoped he found it in the future.

"So" Harry said, trying to break the silence, "can we do anything to speed up getting Sirius a trial?" Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment but then called for Kreacher and asked for him to bring the jar on her bedside table in her bedroom at home. "Here is our solution" she said proudly as she placed the jar with a beetle in it on the table in front of everyone. The group looked confused and George said, "Uhh Hermione, love, we all know you are superiorly smarter than us mere mortals but how in merlin's baggy pants is a beetle going to help us clear Sirius's name?" Hermione just smiled and explained, "This is no ordinary beetle. This is Rita Skeeter in her illegal animagus form. Last year I figured out how she was getting information she shouldn't have been able to hear. My plan to use her for our free Sirius mission is to have her write for us. We can ask Luna if she can print our interview in the Quibbler so it will help create seeds of doubt amongst the wizarding population and then Fudge will have no choice in having a trial." The group took a moment to process what Hermione just said and Sirius was the one to break the silence with a loud, "My daughter ladies and gentleman! Smartest witch I know!" and he went over and gave her a big hug. Hermione blushed at the praise and spoke to the beetle, "Rita, I know you can hear what has been said. I am going to let you out and will transform and we can all talk and formulate a plan."

Hermione opened the jar and seconds later there was a blonde woman standing where the beetle had landed. Rita looked around in shock, pointed at Sirius and exclaimed, "You're Sirius Black! How can you hug Harry knowing you betrayed his parents!" Sirius just smiled at her, "Oh Rita you along with the rest of the British wizarding world have their facts wrong. I was never the secret keeper for the Potters. It was actually Peter Pettigrew. James and I thought it would be a great prank to pull on old Voldy but turns out Peter actually tricked us. Also I am Harry's sworn godfather so you see that proves I could not harm him." Rita looked like she didn't believe him but hearing the sworn godfather information she realized she would have the scoop of the century. All purebloods knew being a sworn godparent was more serious than being a regular grandparent and it meant there was an extra level of protection for the godchild. Rita started thinking about how she could break the news and thought of all the money she would make but paused when she thought about what Hermione said while she was sitting in the jar, "Wait a minute" Rita said, "Did I overhear correctly? I would have to write for the Quibbler? Everyone knows that rag only prints the most outrageous stories" Hermione glared at her and said cooly, "Right now any positive story about Harry won't be published by the prophet, which many writers are building off your lies from last year about him being attention seeking. Our friend Luna owns the Quibbler and while I will be the first to admit I do not love the publication, she is the only one who will print what we want. I promise you will be paid well and once we can convince the wizarding population, all the prominent families in this room promise to give you exclusives and trust me we have plenty of secrets to give you." Rita thought about her offer and turned to Sirius and said, "Lord Black I would like to help in any way I can." Sirius extended his hand to shake hers and smirked, "Ms. Skeeter, you won't regret this decision."

An hour later after talking with Rita, the 5 teens had the Black elves pop them into a classroom near the Gryffindor Tower. When they walked into the common room Ginny was sitting by the fire and exclaimed, "Oi! Where have you lot been? I have been looking for you everywhere for the past few hours." Fed just shrugged, "Well Harry, Ron and I were exploring and George was being tutored by Hermione." Ginny looked at Hermione and said, "I looked in the library and you weren't there!" George said, "I put a notice me not charm on us because I didn't want any distractions. Sorry Gin. I thought Fred, Harry and Ron would try and prank us and I really want to do better this year." Ginny looked at her brothers but couldn't see any deception so she believed them. Ginny noticed that Hermione was holding George's hand and vowed to keep a closer eye on them. She knew her mother planned for Ron to end up with Hermione so there was no way she would let George ruin her mother's plan. "So Ginny, how are your classes going?" Hermione asked as she joined the younger girl by the fire. That got Ginny to forget about George and Hermione and she started talking about classes so far and how horrible Umbridge is.

Two weeks later

It was Sept 19th, Hermione's 15th birthday and George was up early to plan the perfect birthday surprise for his girlfriend. 'How did I manage to get the smartest, prettiest witch in Hogwarts to be my girlfriend?' He thought with a smile on his face. The first surprise for Hermione was a bouquet of her favorite flowers, lilacs and tulips, that Winky placed on her bedside table in a nice vase with a note that said "Happy Birthday! I hope your special day is as wonderful and enchanting as you are. Just know that someone out there thinks you are absolutely magical.- From your secret admirer" George didn't want to reveal to her roommates that he was her boyfriend. He wanted to "ask" her at dinner tonight in front of the Great Hall. Hermione knew the timing of his plan but not what he planned.

As George was planning her birthday surprises, Hermione was awakened by the sound of squealing and "oh my god!" from her roommates. She woke up and was about to ask what the big fuss was when she saw the vase with her favorite flowers with a note. She took the note, smiled and rolled her eyes at his "magical" pun. Lavender and Parvati were staring at her waiting for information. She smiled at them, "it looks like I have a secret admirer who wanted to wish me a happy birthday." The two girls giggled and said, "Happy birthday Hermione!" I wonder who it could be". Knowing her roommates were two of Hogwarts biggest gossips, news of her "secret admirer" would travel fast. Hermione placed the note on her bedside table and went about morning routine.

Hermione made it down to the Great Hall before the boys and was eating breakfast when they came in singing Happy Birthday to her. Laughing at them she thanked them before grabbing more tea. "So Mione, I hear you have a secret admirer. Do Harry and I have to give someone a talking to?" Ron asked jokingly. Hermione looked at the boys and looked like she was about to cry, "Ron, are you trying to say that you and Harry think I am not capable of taking care of myself?" Ron looked nervous, he made her upset on her birthday and Harry had no idea how to handle a girl, let alone an almost crying girl. "Uh well…you see" Ron stammered. Hermione laughed, "I'm just messing with you Ron. I know you and Harry are like my protective brothers so I expect it." Ron and Harry looked at George and said, "you are a bad influence on her."

Hermione's day went on as usual until lunch. A beautiful brown tawny owl with a package flew over to her, which caused everyone to stare since the owl post occurred in the morning. Hermione took the present and card that was attached to the owl and read the card. "The owl is a gift from my parents and I can name her whatever I want. They said to open the present in the common room because it's just a book so they want me to have fun with friends before I ignore you all". The lions who overheard her chuckled because they all knew once Hermione was into a book they do not disturb her unless it is an emergency. "So Hermione, what will you name her?" Neville asked. Hermione thought for a moment before looking towards the owl and asking, "Would Nova be a good name for you? I really love the stars so a constellation name would be perfect." The little owl hooted happily in response. Hermione could not stop smiling as she looked at her birthday card that was signed "mom and dad". Having to keep up the lie her stepfather was doting dad was exhausting for her the past 4 years but having discovered her true dad made her happier than she ever imagined. Not only was Hermione happy to have a dad who loved her for who she was but she also got to see her mom find true happiness which made Hermione over the moon happy. She could not wait until her dad was free so they could be a true family and of course they would adopt Harry into their family because Sirius was his godfather and he already felt like Hermione's brother.

"The only class that could ruin my birthday today is the toad's and of course we have it." Hermione grumbled as the fifth year lions slowly walked towards the defense classroom. "Now Hermione, I know this will be weird coming from me" Ron said, "but please keep your temper in check. We have all been doing so good and I would hate to see that ruined, especially today on your birthday." Harry and Hermione looked at Ron incredulously. "Uh mate, take no offense to this but who are and what have you done with Ron Weasley?" Harry asked jokingly. "Hermione's influence has finally rubbed off on me." Ron joked. Hermione laughed, "Well it is about time one of you listened to me." The kids laughed and joked until they reached the door of the classroom. Hermione took a deep breath and walked over to her seat, determined to not rise to Umbridge's taunts. Once all the kids were seated Umbridge stood in front of the class and said in a false sweet voice, "Good afternoon class. Today we are going to read chapter 4 and take notes. So please put wands away and take out your books, some parchment and a quill." The Gryffindors were looking to the trio to see what would happen but to their disappointment nothing happened. Dean Thomas, feeling like something needed to be done, gathered his Gryffindor courage and cleared his throat, "Professor Umbridge?" The whole room was deathly silent as Umbridge turned to face Dean. "Yes, Mr. Thomas?" Dean took a deep breath before asking, "When will we be using wands?" Umbridge narrowed her eyes, "And why would you need to use a wand in this class when you can perfect your theory?" The class waited with bated breath to hear Dean's response. Dean was gaining confidence as he argued with Umbridge, "Because Professor , we need to learn to protect ourselves, theory is only good if we can practice it." Umbridge used her false sweet voice again to ask, "Who would innocent children like yourselves need protection from?" Dean looked about ready to burst when he yelled, "Oh I don't know….let me think, maybe You-Know-Who. (the class gasped at this and started talking as Umbridge turned red)" Umbridge silenced the class and with her voice dangerously low said, "You all have been told lies about a certain someone being back. As a ministry official I am here to inform you that there is no danger out there waiting for you and you need to focus on being the best students you can be which means perfecting the theory. You Mr. Thomas will be serving detention with me tonight at 7 sharp. Now does anyone else have something to add?" The class just shook their heads and said "No Professor Umbridge."

As the lions walked to transfiguration Harry said to Dean, "Dean I am all for Gryffindor courage but that was something else in there." Dean looked at him and said, "I know the first night got off to a rocky start with Seamus not believing you and I have seen how others act towards you but I believe you. I'm sick of the toad and her precious minister trying to lie and say nothing is wrong. I noticed you three have been keeping your tempers in check in her class so someone needed to stand up to her." Dean then turned and whispered so only Ron and Harry could hear him, "plus standing up to her like that has caught the attention of Parvati and I have a major crush on her so hopefully she will think I'm brave." The two boys smiled and Harry whispered back," Mate Parvati hasn't stopped giggling to Lavender since we left defense and she keeps eyeing you so it is safe to say she notices you." Dean blushed and Harry and Ron smiled at their friend.

Transfiguration was challenging but everything went smoothly for the trio. They were headed to dinner when Hermione was yanked into an empty classroom. "Hey!" Hermione screamed, causing Harry and Ron to go into the classroom only to stop dead in their tracks realizing it was just George who grabbed Hermione. "We'll leave you two lovebirds alone." Harry said as he wiggled his eyebrows and shut the door. Hermione turned to face her boyfriend, "Could't you have just asked me into the room instead of yanking me in?" George just smirked at her and replied, "Now where is the fun in that? (Hermioned pouted but quickly smiled at him.) I wanted to talk to you before dinner about the plan so it goes off without anyone, mainly Ginny and Old Dumbles, suspecting we have been dating before this." Hermione and George spent a few minutes going over the plan, with George keeping some surprises to himself, before heading off the dinner separately.

Hermione walked into the Great Hall and quickly joined her two friends. "So Hermione found what you were looking for in the library?" Harry said with a smirk on his face. Hermione just smiled sweetly at him and said, "Of course I did. I learned something new, want me to show you." Ron spit out his pumpkin juice and laughed but Harry blushed and stammered out, "N-n-no that's fine." As the trio was laughing and enjoying dinner, Hermione heard a gasp and then the sound of people starting to whisper. She turned her head to the entrance of the Great Hall and she saw George in a muggle suit holding a bouquet of a dozen red roses. Everyone in the hall watched silently as the usually joking Weasley looked serious as he walked towards Hermione. With all eyes on the two lions George said sweetly and nervously, "Hermione, I know you have only ever seen me as Ron's annoying older brother but the past couple of weeks being tutored by you made me realize how much I care about you. I was wondering if you would be my date to the first Hogsmeade visit?". He handed her the roses and Hermione beamed at him and said, "I would love that and thank you for the roses." As the others in the Great Hall were watching the scene unfold there was a few different reactions; many of the people watching thought it was cute to see George so nervous to ask out Hermione, many of the Slytherins thought 'a mudblood and blood traitor, how predictable, Ginny was thinking about what she would tell her mother, and Albus was angry one of his plans fell through considering he wanted Hermione to end up with Ronald.

As Hermione and George's plan was unfolding, Amelia Bones was working late trying to figure out how the ministry could have let a high ranking lord rot in Azkaban without a trial. 'If I could convince Fudge to hold the trial now that would be a miracle.' She thought for a moment more before realizing how to manipulate the foolish man to believe a trial was in the best interest for his career. So with a solid plan in mind, Amelia went up to the Minister's office and knocked on his door. Fudge opened the door and said, "Oh! Amelia, you're working late as well huh? Do come in, it must be urgent." Amelia entered and sat right down. "Minister while I was looking up some information from the trials of the last war I found something that the previous administration made a grave error on. This error, if uncovered, could destroy the current administration for looking incompetent." Fudged paled at the implication and told her to continue. Amelia continued on, "It seems a high ranking lord was sent to Azkaban without a trial." Fudge looked ready to pass out, "Amelia how could it be? We must fix it!" He said and then asked, "Who is it?" Amelia took a deep breath because she knew what she would say next may make it harder to clear her friend's name, "Sir, it is Sirius Black." Fudge gasped like a fish out of water before gaining composure and exclaiming, "Sirius Black?! What do we do?!" Amelia let the man pace and shout for a while before taking pity on him, "Sir, the first thing we need to do is stop the kiss on sight order. Next, we need to release a statement asking Black to turn himself in and finally he needs a fair trial." Fudge stopped pacing and looked at her and finally thought about the political ramifications, "You said the previous administration made the mistake so we should also release a statement about that when we ask Black to turn himself in." Amelia agreed and the two got to work to get Sirius Black a trial.

The Next Morning

The trio walked into the Great Hall and all eyes turned from the Daily Prophet to look at Harry. "I wonder what I did now," Harry sighed. As they sat down, Nova flew to Hermione with the newspaper attached to her leg. As Hermione relieved Nova of her burden and opened the paper, she understood why everyone was glancing at Harry. She whispered to her friends, "Read the headline of the front page." Harry and Ron peered over Hermione's shoulder and gasped. The headline read "Sirius Black: Not as Guilty as the Previous Administration wants you to believe.'' Below the main story which detailed the mistakes of the previous employees of the ministry it read, "Sirius Black: Kiss on sight ordered canceled immediately. Please Lord Black turn yourself in for questioning." Hermione smiled thinking her father could be free soon but Harry was looking at the head table and frowned. "Harry, what's wrong?" Ron asked since he noticed his friend frowning. Hermione looked up from the paper and looked at Harry. "Look at Umbridge and Dumbledore." he said gloomily. Hermione and Ron turned to the head table and noticed both professors looked angry at the paper. When Dumbledore noticed the trio looking at them, they quickly went back to their breakfast. Hermione whispered, "By calling Sirius 'Lord Black' Fudge has already admitted Sirius will be declared innocent." The two boys looked at her confused and she went on to say, "I wish you two would read more. ("Fat chance at that Harry snorted and Ron said sweetly, "That's why we have you!") By acknowledging Sirius as Lord Black, Fudge is showing others in the wizarding world that Sirius is an important figure and the fact he was imprisoned unfairly there will be a price to pay. A high ranking lord should have never been treated this way. They may even look into Dumbledore." The boys looked excited at the idea of Dumbledore being dethroned.

As the teens were preparing for class, the residents of Grimmauld Place were cheering, well Sirius was cheering and everyone else was just laughing at the man. "I'm going to be free! I can walk the streets, I can go into stores" He said excitedly and then looked at Jane and smiled, "I can take the love of my life on a proper date!" Jane blushed at him, "Oh Sirius that is all very exciting but remember no recklessness this time around." Sirius calmed down instantly and looked at her seriously, "I vow to never be reckless again." Remus snorted, "Padfoot don't make promises you can't keep. We all know you will do something reckless like fly dragons with Harry just for fun." Sirius's eyes gleamed at what Remus said, "Moony that is a great idea! I'll take Harry once my name is cleared!" Remus shook his head and Jane glared at Remus, "Thanks for filling his head with a dumb idea." She turned to Sirius and said, "Honey, you need to shower and have Kreacher find you a nice outfit, not too flashy but something presentable, and then turn yourself in." Sirius nodded and went to get ready for the ministry.

An hour later, Jane nervously bit her bottom lip as she watched Sirius floo to the office of Amelia Bones. Remus noticed her nerves and went over to comfort her. "I know you're nervous things won't go to plan but this has been well thought out. I have to say Sirius discovering the truth about Hermione and knowing you still love him, has calmed him down." Remus said gently as Jane raised her eyebrow at his last comment. Remus continued, "I know it seems crazy to call Sirius calm (Jane chuckled at that) but this time he has thought out a plan instead of diving head first into clearing his name. He wants to be someone you and Hermione can rely on. He may not always be this calm, or always think things through. He is a reckless Gryffindor after all but he cares deeply for the two of you." Jane took a moment to think of what Remus said and she nodded in agreement. "I can see how he never stopped loving me," she whispered, "I am so grateful he knows about Hermione now too. I just don't want to lose him again, Remus." Remus, unsure of what to say to the nervous woman, thought it best to give her a hug as she let her tears fall down her face. The pair had been in silence for just 10 minutes when Kinglesy Shacklebolt sent his patronus which said, " Public Wizengamot trial for Sirius in 20 minutes. Minister wants to move quickly."

Remus and Jane quickly floo'ed over to the ministry as quickly as possible. Knowing Sirius's trial would be in the biggest courtroom, Remus quickly guided Jane towards courtroom 10. Before stepping into the room Remus took a quill and piece of spare parchment from his pocket, scribbled a quick note and called for Kreacher. "Kreacher please give this note to Hermione but only if she is alone or with just her friends." Remus instructed the elf. Kreacher nodded and quickly apparated into the library of Hogwarts where Hermione was studying with George.

"Mistress, this note is from the wolf." Kreacher whispered as he handed her the note and quickly apparated away. Hermione looked confused as she tore the note open but quickly smiled and whispered to George, "My dad has a trial in 20 minutes. Fudge wants to move quickly to save his skin, Remus says." George smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss, "That's great love, he will be free soon." Hermione was too excited to focus on studying so George packed up their stuff, grabbed her hand and led her down to the lake. "George, what are you doing?" she asked. George just smiled, winked and said, "My fair lady, let me surprise you, you don't need to know everything." George called for Dobby and asked the elf to bring a blanket, some pillows, and a picnic basket please?" Dobby was only gone for a moment before returning for what George asked for. Hermione smiled as George got their picnic set up and couldn't help but think how lucky she was. 'I knew George had a sweeter side than he let on.' Once the picnic was set up, George turned to Hermione, extended his hand towards her and said, "My dearest Hermione, would you do me the honors of joining me for a picnic?" Hermione laughed at his over the top antics but agreed to his request. The two young lovebirds were enjoying their afternoon by the lake until Kreacher appeared with another note. Hermione quickly tore open the note and as she read it she started to cry. George, thinking something terrible happened, went to comfort her but she just laughed and said, "These aren't sad tears, they are happy tears. My dad is cleared of all charges. I was just so nervous something was going to go wrong but he is a free man. We can be a real family." George just wrapped his arm around Hermione and let her cry for a while before realizing they had to head to their afternoon classes. "Love, I wish we could stay here longer but we have classes." George whispered gently. Hermione looked at him and wished they could stay but Hermione has never skipped a class before and she wasn't going to now.

Hermione left George and dragged herself to a double session of Charms. She was so unfocused that she mistakenly gave Neville, her partner for the class, green skin with purple spots when she was supposed to be practicing her cheering charm. "Ummm Hermione, is everything all right?" Neville asked gently and then chuckled as he pointed to himself, "You seem a little distracted. I mean I love my new look but this wasn't the assignment." Hermione looked at him, horrified by her mistake and quickly changed him back to normal, "Oh Neville, I am so sorry! I was just thinking about the Daily Prophet article from earlier and it has my mind all over the place." Neville just nodded and got Hermione to refocus on the assignment. Even though he wanted to ask her more, he knew she would tell him when she was ready. Hermione appreciated Neville not pushing for more information and silently vowed to herself to let Neville in on her secret. She leaned over to him and whispered, "Nev, can you join Harry, Ron, the twins, and I by the fire tonight once everyone heads up to bed? I need to tell you something." Neville agreed and the two got back to their charms work.

Later that night in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione and the boys were sitting by the fire working on homework and talking about their classes while they waited for everyone to head up to bed. "You should have seen Neville in charms, she gave him green skin and purple spots." Ron smiled and then turned to Hermione, "How did you even do that? And could you recreate it on Malfoy and Umbridge?" The kids all laughed and Hermione just shrugged, "I probably could but honestly I was so distracted so I have no idea exactly what I did." Once the friends were alone, Fred erected some privacy wards just in case. Neville raised one eyebrow but kept silent, knowing Hermione would explain. Hermione told Neville about her true father, his innocence, and learning about the manipulations of the headmaster. Neville stared at her in shock and finally got out, "Dumbledore?! I thought he was a good guy!" Hermione said, "He may be on the side of the light but he is sneaky. He seems to want power for himself. My dad and I believe there could be something more to him since he opened up a vault in a different name. The goblins are helping us dig up more information about him so hopefully we learn the truth about him soon." The group stayed up a little longer discussing plans for how to prank Umbridge and how to discredit Dumbledore before heading to bed.

The next morning

The six friends were eating breakfast when the owls arrived with the mail. "Oh my god! They didn't tell me this part of the plan!" Hermione whispered as she unfolded the morning paper and the boys scramble to look over her shoulders. Staring back at them was a big picture of Jane and Sirius with the title "Exclusive: Lord Black and Lady Monet speak for the first time."