I create my own lore for the early Wizengamot in this chapter, based of course off of what has already been established. There is one or two references to actual world events in the 13th Century too.

The truth of the Hogsmeade incident was, in true Hogwarts fashion, the talk of the entire school the following day. Katie Bell had been the victim of a curse, and so the gossip mongers were out in full force trying to discover just why anybody would attack her. Anna's suggestion was a scorned girl who Katie had stolen a boyfriend off of, but it wasn't until after lessons that Leo managed to get a moment with Harry, Hermione and Ron where they told him what they knew.

"Another thing I missed." Leo rolled his eyes jokingly. "First last summer, now this…"

It was the wrong thing to joke about however as Ron's face whitened, while Hermione slammed her book shut. "Count yourself lucky that you weren't at either." She whispered harshly. "Katie could have died if Hagrid hadn't of been there and last summer…" She huffed. "I need to go." Was all she said, and she grabbed her bag and stormed out of the Common Room.

Leo immediately turned to Ron. "Ron… I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"It's fine, I know you didn't mean it like that." He said, colour coming back to his face. "I get it, I mean we were going to protect your dad… It feels awful thinking about what I could have done differently to save Dad, but at least I was there, you know? I helped where I could."

"You did." Harry said firmly.

Ron was thankful at that. "But look, if there's one thing I've learned about Hermione after all these years, it's that she'll only snap at you like that if she likes you."

Harry smirked. "Yeah, go and apologise to her and she'll be fine."

Leo somehow doubted it would be that simple, but he simply rolled his eyes as he grabbed his bag. "Where do you think she'll be?"

"The library." The pair said in unison without wasting a breath before they started to laugh together.

Shaking his head at both his own stupidity for not realising that, and the antics of the two Gryffindor's, Leo followed the route Hermione would have taken, arriving at the library to see it empty other than a handful of tables on the top floor. Thankfully one of them had the bushy brown hair that he was seeking. Taking a deep breath, Leo moved over to her table and placed a hand on the seat opposite her. "Can I sit?" He asked quietly.

Hermione glared at him for a second, but her expression softened and she nodded. "I'm sorry for snapping at you." She said. "I should have realised that you still feel some resentment for being left behind."

"I do." Leo admitted. "But that's no excuse for being a prat about it. Mr Weasley died, and you could have too. I should have thought about that before I opened my mouth. I'm the one that needs to apologise, and I really am sorry."

Hermione tensed up as she was reminded of her injury. "You're a boy, talking before thinking is something you're hardwired to do." At Leo's blank expression she chuckled. "A muggle term, you're built that way."

"Oh." Leo smiled. "I guess so, but it's no excuse."

Hermione smiled back at him and placed one of her hands on top of his. "And you really must stop beating yourself up about last summer. We left without you sure, but without you warning the Order then it could have been so different, and more people could have died."

He had been told that a few times, but that thought had never really sunk in before until it had been voiced by her. "I guess I did help in a way." He shrugged.

"You really did." Hermione nodded, squeezing his hand. "Now, while we're here do you want to work on Professor Snape's homework?"

Leo nodded, grabbing his relevant books as they began to work on their most recently set Defence Against the Dark Arts essay, happy to move past his stupidity quickly.

Magical Law was quickly becoming one of Leo's favourite lessons and he was growing increasingly thankful to Professor McGonagall for pushing him towards it. The intimate nature of the class with only 4 students allowed the classes to feel more relaxed as the early lessons were all centred around the basics of Wizarding Law, though by the time the third week of October hit, Professor Marchbanks was starting to crack down on their knowledge, spending the first half of each lesson quizzing the four students on certain areas of the law.

The second half an hour was usually reserved for a more historical topic, which was likely the reason Leo enjoyed the lesson so much, he realised as Professor Marchbanks began to write something out on the blackboard. He strained his eyes to see, deducing the word Wizengamot out before she had finished.

"The Wizengamot, who can tell me when this body was founded?" She asked. Leo's hand darted straight up, as did Terry Boot's. "Boot."

"1296, after the Sack of Berwick." The Ravenclaw explained. "One of the wizards supporting Scottish Independence, Hugh MacDuff, was imprisoned by the Wizard's Council for attempting to murder King Edward as a result of the massacre. As the crime had not actually occurred, merely being planned and recruited for, the Council were split on how to proceed, and so the Wizengamot were formed with the express remit of passing judgement over complex crimes."

Professor Marchbanks nodded curtly. "Well expressed. 1 Point to Ravenclaw." She stated. "The Wizengamot were originally formed from the nobility, but as the years have progressed and the Wizard's Council became the Ministry for Magic, so to did the Wizengamot. Does anybody know how many members there are?"

Leo's hand once again was raised, and this time he was called upon. "49. As 7 is a powerful number, the idea of the Wizard's Council was that 7 groups of 7 would be able to make the most informed judgements."

Professor Marchbanks once again nodded at the correct answer. "And a point to Gryffindor. Yes, the 13th century was a time of superstition, and so the Wizard's Council gathered men from all of the most important Pureblood Houses at the time and had them sit in judgement of MacDuff, including his own Uncle. They found him guilty by a margin of 31-18 and sent him to the Tower of London, but a precedent had been born."

Leo had done enough searching through his own family line to realise that both sides if his family at the time had likely been involved in the early Wizengamot, with his mother's ancestors being a large part of the Independence movement at the time. He thought on that after the lesson had ended and he made his way over to the Gryffindor Common Room, spotting one of the other Gryffindor girls in Ginny's year Anita MacDuff, related in some way to the subject of the first Wizengamot trial, as he passed.

Opening A History of Magic once he had changed out of his school robes and nestled into a comfy armchair, Leo began flicking through to pages about the early Wizengamot, eager to see if it had ever been recorded just how involved his ancestors had been.

The following Monday was a different gathering of the Slug Club, a name Leo absolutely detested, although the party had been entirely the opposite. Rather than the usual sit-down meal, Professor Slughorn had invited a group of his former favourites to share a drink and some music, but it wasn't until he was walking to Charms on Wednesday morning that he realised just how much the weekend's events had distracted him.

"You met THE Gwenog Jones and you didn't tell me about it until now?" Fay was exclaiming as she slapped his arm. "Are you an idiot?"

Leo's eyes widened in shock as he rubbed the area that had been assaulted. "Yes?" He asked tentatively, a smirk on his lips.

"Of course you are! Why didn't you tell me before? She's like my hero!" Fay continued. "A Gryffindor AND a beater! Tell me everything!"

Leo grinned at her excitement. "She was great, talked a lot about professional Quidditch and how tough it is compared to the school game. But did you know she got an O in her N.E.W.T.s for Transfiguration?"

Fay shook her head. "She's unbelievably talented, of course she did." Then she sighed. "I think she was my first proper crush, despite her being a Harpy…"

"She might be back at the Christmas Party." Leo shrugged. "We've been told we can bring dates, why don't you come along?"

Fay stopped in the corridor and pulled Leo's robe arm to halt him too, before she whacked him with her bag. "Are you dense?" She asked once more.

"Ouch, stop hitting me you harpy." Leo complained, rubbing his arm again.

"Leo, focus." Fay said abruptly. "You've been pining over Granger for ages, and now that the pair of you finally look like you could be more than just homework buddies, you ask a gay girl out?"

Leo frowned at the insinuation. "Not like that… but she's invited anyway and I thought…"

"It doesn't matter if she's going anyway!" Fay rolled her eyes in frustration. "Ask the girl out, MacDonald. Go together, have a romantic date. I can pass on meeting Gwenog Jones if it means you finally pull your head from your arse and ask Granger out."

Leo mulled that over for a moment, not even caring how many people walked past them in the corridor. "Are you sure…"

"Leo, stop." Fay sighed, changing tactic as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I enjoyed the Yule Ball as friends, but inviting me to these sort of events isn't compulsory, and even if I'm not shouting it from the Astronomy Tower, I'm done hiding who I am by hiding behind you. I want you to be happy more than I want to meet Gwenog Jones even if that would be really cool."

Leo smiled, and hugged his best friend. "Thank you." He whispered before pulling away. "But… how do I ask her?"

Another slap on the arm followed. "Just talk to her like a normal person you dolt." Fay rolled her eyes again. "Come on, we'll practice it in Charms."

And once again his arm was being tugged, and the pair made their way to the Charms classroom, though Leo's mind was never going to focus on the Extinguishing Spell, but instead on the thought of asking Hermione out. Unfortunately for him, Charms was the first lesson of a day where Leo had the entire afternoon off, but Hermione's afternoon was full with Herbology and Potions, so it wasn't until after dinner that he managed to be alone with her as they went over the day's homework together, a routine that Leo had come to really appreciate. They had a set of six candles set up as they were practicing the new charm.

"Suffocare Ignem." Leo tried, but nothing happened.

"Suffocaré, don't say it like care, but more like car-ay." Hermione corrected. "You need to accent the E on the end. Most spells have a form of Latin origin so while they aren't quite spelt the same when written down, you have to take care to say it like that." She pointed her wand at one of the candles. "Suffocaré Ignem." She said correctly while performing the wand movement, and the flame was immediately snuffed out.

"Right…" Leo trailed off, before trying the same spell, and thankfully getting the same result. "Thanks." He beamed over at her.

Hermione smiled, her cheeks reddening. "Now we need to focus on doing it nonverbally." She reminded him.

That brought a groan from the black-haired Gryffindor. "And that is where I'll struggle." He proclaimed dramatically as he placed his head on the table

"Nonsense, you've done well in Professor Snape's classes at not speaking the spell."

"Only because I tend to whisper it as quietly as possible when he's on the other side of the classroom." Leo shook his head. "That's the only lesson I'm worried I might actually get tortured if I do it wrong."

"He wouldn't…" Hermione trailed, before her mouth made a perfect O. "Oh of course, Professor Snape knows, doesn't he… sorry I don't know why I forgot that."

Leo nodded. "And ever since it's been like father like son as far as he's concerned." Leo shrugged, remembering the needless points that had been taken away from him since the start of the year for his shoelace being slightly loose, his tie not being up to the top bottom properly and similar, minor infractions. He tried to complete the extinguishing spell nonverbally to distract himself, but the candle only flickered. "Damn it."

"You've done well anyway considering you struggled in class earlier." Hermione said positively. "And the library will close soon, we should get going."

Leo's mind went back to his conversation with Fay, before he realised what Hermione had said. "We weren't sat together in class…" He trailed as she was packing her books away.

He noticed her pause for a second before continuing her clean up. "I noticed you were struggling from where I was sat, that's all." Leo smirked knowingly, and as Hermione looked over at him again she huffed. "Don't give me that look! Suffocaré Ignem." She extinguished the rest of the candles in one go with a wave of her wand.

"No, it's fine. I notice you in class too." Leo said, before wanting to slam his head on the table at how lame that sounded. "I mean…"

"I know what you mean." Hermione smiled at him, her cheeks reddening once again, thankfully not offended or unhappy at the prospect of Leo's gaze.

Leo was thankful that it apparently didn't sound as weird to her as it had to him, but he didn't say anything else until he had cleared his books away into his bag. Once he had and they tucked their chairs away, he did continue. "So… have you thought about Slughorn's party at all?"

That managed to stop Hermione in her tracks as she froze, the strap of her bag threatening to fall off of her shoulder as she hadn't quite placed it correctly in time. "The one we just went to, or the Christmas one in a couple of months?"

"The Christmas one." Leo said, trying to keep the nerves he was feeling out of his speech.

Shifting her bag so it was properly supported, Hermione then moved to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I've thought about it." She replied quietly. "I told Harry about it and that he hasn't got an excuse not to attend. Cormac tried to ask me but I think I'd rather bring Grawp than spend an evening trying to fend off him… and I did think about including Ron, but…" She trailed off as Leo's heart sank, imagining the red-head on her arm under the mistletoe... "I wanted that to be a last resort in case nobody I actually wanted to go with asked me." She said finally, snapping him back into the conversation.

Leo took a deep breath to try and fill himself with more confidence that he had and said. "So if I were to ask you…" He trailed away hopefully.

Hermione didn't betray any emotion as her brown eyes stared into his own. "Ask me what, Leo?" She asked sweetly, a glint in the brunette's brown eyes.

Leo could sense that he was being teased, and that, strangely, gave him some additional confidence. Taking a breath and slightly puffing his chest out, he asked her. "Will you go to Slughorn's party with me, as my date?"

Hermione kept eye contact as her mouth twisted into a big smile. "Yes, I'd love to." She told him softly, her cheeks starting to flush pink.

A massive weight seemed to lift off of Leo as he grinned back at her. "Really? Brilliant." Was all he could say. Hermione simply laughed again, and the pair left the library in a comfortable, happy silence as both of their thoughts were eagerly latched onto the upcoming party.