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Chapter 36

The journey back to England was just like the journey to France. Long, uneventful, and a little boring. Meeting Fleur's extended family for the first time on Christmas day had been plesent, but he could see why Fleur didn't talk about them much. There was too much of an age difference for them to connect. They already had children of their own, five daughters between the three of them. Harry had thought the lack of sons was unusual until he remembered that Veela rarely had sons.

They also seemed very different from Fleur. While they gushed over the idea of a wedding in a royal botanical garden, they were also under the impression that Fleur was wasting her time with her apprenticeship. They seemed to think that once Fleur was married, she should drop her career and be a full-time housewife and mother. Fleur didn't like that idea and had compared it to a living hell in an offhand comment that had almost kicked off a family argument.

Harry would, of course, support Fleur in whatever she wanted to do. His plan for a career had him working from home, anyway. Most of designing his own rune arrays was sitting at a desk with something to write and draw with. Between him being home, magic, and two enthusiastic house-elves, Harry was sure childcare and looking after the house wasn't going to be an issue.

The train was either a really early train or a ridiculously late one, depending on your point of view. It was a 4-hour trip that arrived at 8am in London, so they had needed to be on the train at 5am French time. But being on the train at five meant leaving the warm cosy bed at the chateau even earlier than that.

Customs at St Pancras Station was annoying, though more focused on Fleur than Harry and the Grangers. Just like it had been last time when they had arrived back via portkey. Though at least this time, the guard didn't become a drooling mess around Fleur. Nor did he try to refer to her as some type of sub-human creature. Those two things could probably be put down to two things. First, the guy was Fabulously Homosexual. Second, he was a mundane. Unlike the French side, who had a magical working as a customs agent, the British ministry seemed to have missed a trick there. It made Harry wonder just how much a wizard could smuggle into the country if they wanted.

They walked out of customs and into the station proper. Harry was dragged by both Fleur and Hermione to the nearest kiosk selling coffee, his ladies both feeling the early morning start and deciding to fight off the lingering fatigue with a cup of bitter bean juice.

Harry was just paying for everyone's coffee when he looked around for Dan and Emma and spotted something he didn't expect to see: two people dressed in Auror robes. They must have had some type of charm on them to prevent mundane people from staring because nobody was paying them any mind, not even Dan and Emma who were standing about ten feet from them.

"Something's going on. Look." Harry told Hermione and Fleur, nodding toward the two Aurors.

"What do you think they want here? Do you think there's going to be a death eater attack?" Asked Hermione.

"It is too much of a coincidence, non? They are here exactly when we are. A galleon says they are looking for us." Fleur said.

"Sucker's bet. Of course they are here for one of us. The question is who and why." Harry answered

"Are they real Aurors? Do you think we should go out with wands in our hands? After all, they could be death eaters in disguise. I don't recognise either of them." Hermione asked.

Harry sighed and put the tray holding the cups of coffee he was carrying in Hermione's hand. "I will go alone. If it's some type of death eater trap, you two have my back."

"Harry, that isn't a plan. That is what you do when you don't have a plan. That's at best a plan C, preferably plan X or Y." Hermione sounded agitated.

"Well, unless you want to stun them and deal with that whole mess that will create, I don't think there is a better plan." Fleur said, chewing her lower lip in worry, a habit she had picked up from Hermione.

"Look, chances are they are just Aurors who need to talk to us for some reason, not death eaters in disguise. I will go talk to them personally, but just in case, watch my back." Harry said. If Aurors were looking for him to talk to him then something pretty bad must have happened, but they ignored that because if they started to consider what may have happened in their absence then they were not going to be able to focus.

So Harry openly walked out of the shop and towards the Aurors. They saw him coming and one of them said, "Warlock Harry James Potter, you are under arrest for the murder of Quirinus Quirrell."

That surprised all three of them. Worse, while technically it was self-defence, that was for a tribunal of the Wizengamot to decide. It had never officially been cleared up. Harry getting arrested was also enough for Dan and Emma to break through the charm that was causing mundanes to ignore that there were two wizards in bright scarlet robes in the middle of St Pancras.

Harry was immediately on edge. "Given what's currently happening with Voldemort and his people you will understand that I need to see some ID before I listen to anything you have to say. It's easy enough to fake a set of red robes." Harry was hoping they wouldn't have any, that would give him all the justification to Step out of the way and let Hermione and Fleur take them down.

Unfortunately they each pulled out their badges and held them up for Harry to see. Before Harry could say anything more Dan stepped in front of him. "Explain what's going on now."

"Out of the way. This has nothing to do with you, muggle." One of the Aurors said.

"That is where you are very much mistaken. Harry is a minor both by mundane British standards and by magical Britain's standards. I am his legal guardian registered in both the mundane and magical systems and therefore you will answer my questions." Dan said with steel in his voice. It was clear that nothing was going to happen without Dan being there this time.

"He is under arrest for the suspected murder of one of his Hogwarts professors. He is coming in for questioning now, and if you're his guardian, fine, you're coming too."

As they had provided identification Harry didn't feel like he could resist in any way, Hermione and Fleur were in the same position and despite walking over quite distressed they also didn't stop anyone as Harry was fitted with a pair of magic suppression handcuffs, his wand and wand ring was taken. They missed his mother's wand and his modified wand holster but nobody said anything. You don't interrupt an opponent making a mistake, and these Aurors had firmly placed themselves in the category of opponent

Harry turned to Hermione and Fleur and said. "Do me a favour and go get me a law wizard. You have access to the main Potter vault to pay them."

Fleur nodded and Hermione tried to hug him but one of the Aurors stopped her from getting close. Considering how easy it would be for someone to disapparate while hugging someone on an academic level Harry could understand it even if he resented the fact that the Auror had dared to get between him and one of his beloved.

They disapparated right from where they had been despite that normally being a big no for magicals. No amount of 'notice me not' charms was going to erase the CCTV recording of four people suddenly disappearing from St Pancras. Harry didn't know for sure but he would bet London's International train station barely had anywhere public that wasn't covered by security cameras.

Harry, Dan, and the two Aurors appeared in the D.M.L.E apparition point and immediately there was a number of wands pointed at them while the two Aurors checked in. There was a load of parchmentwork demanding Harry's name, age, address and a lot of other information. Dan filled out most of it as the responsible adult and once they were done Harry and Dan were left alone in a waiting room

"Why does stuff like this always seem to happen to you?" Dan asked, sitting next to Harry.

Harry, who was quickly realising his situation and was mentally gearing up for one hell of a fight, let out a sigh. "I don't know. All I want is to finish school and go start a family but these people just won't leave me alone. Ever since I joined the magical world my life has been one attempt on my life after another, and then when I defend myself somehow I'm the one who gets blamed. What am I supposed to do? Just roll over and die?"

Dan, seeing that Harry was right on the edge, pulled the boy into a fatherly hug.

-ϟϟϟ-

While Harry was waiting in the D.M.L.E Fleur side-alonged Hermione and Emma from the ladies room to the back garden of number twelve Grimmauld promptly barged in through the back door - Sirius had been expecting them anyway. Number twelve was always going to be their first stop after getting back from France.

Not only did they want to see Sirius after not having seen him at Christmas but it was also where Dan and Emma were living until they could be sure some death eaters weren't going to blow up their family home. So it was understandable that Sirius jumped up with a massive smile on his face ready to pull them all into celebrating.

However, when he saw the agitated looks on the faces of the three women and the absence of Harry and Dan immediately his mind started offering the worst possible justifications.

Before he could even demand an answer one was provided by Emma, who, of the three, was the most in control. Not unaffected, just better at managing it. "Harry has just been arrested by your cops for murder. Dan is with him because Harry is a minor. Harry needs a law wizard Stat, and he needs you in the Ministry to advocate for him. As good as Dan is, you know that the Ministry isn't going to listen to a non-magical."

Sirius's mind took about ten seconds to catch up to what Emma had said, then he nodded once and then strode directly to the fire and threw in an entire handful of floo powder, not wanting to waste time with a pinch. As he strode into the flame he called out "Tonks residence."

Sirius found himself in a fairly modern mundane home but one that had plenty of not-so-subtle signs that a magical family lived there. A woman came hurrying out of the kitchen wand pointed at him in caution but her expression shifted to one of concern when she saw who it was and the look on his face. "Siri? What happened?"

"Andi, I need Ted now. Harry has just been arrested for murder."

"What? I thought he was in France. Who could he have killed?" Andromeda Tonks, Sirius's cousin asked.

"I have no idea. All I know is Harry's betrothed Hermione and Fleur, and Hermione's mother just arrived at my house. Hermione's father is with Harry as Harry is a minor and I need to get a law wizard and get to the Ministry as soon as yesterday. So where is Ted?"

"You just caught him, he is upstairs getting ready to go to the office." Andi said.

"Excellent." Said Sirius and he jogged over to the bottom of the stairs and called up them. "Hey Ted! Hurry up, I have a major legal emergency and need your help now!"

A few seconds later and a door opened and Ted's face and shirtless torso leaned over the bannister and called down. "I heard what you said, I'll be ready in a few minutes. You, however, are not. Get up here. I have a good robe you can borrow."

It was only at this point that Sirius realised he had been so worked up that he had left the house in his pyjamas and bath robe. He looked like he had just crawled out of bed. Which if he was being generous he had. It was no wonder Andi had been able to clock that something was wrong as soon as she saw him. Sirius may not have been the most formal of Warlocks but at a minimum when he went out he wore clothes.

Sirius accepted the offer and charged up the stairs. Ted handed him a dark black formal robe, one generic enough to suit any occasion. Sirius ducked into the bathroom to change and caught sight of himself in the mirror. Mussed up robes and two days of stubble had him looking like he had passed out drunk and had only just sobered up enough to drag himself from the gutter. Luckily he did have his wand and there were spells for that.

A few minutes later a very different looking Sirius Black stepped out of the bathroom. His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, his teeth were gleaming white thanks to a bottle of mouthwash he found and his chin was beard-free. The robe had resized to fit him and Sirius now looked every bit the powerful Warlock of House Black, the holder of a seat on the Wizengamot he was and currently needed people to see him as.

"Andi love, can you please floo my office and tell Paul I have to reschedule my morning appointments because of a client emergency. Sirius, you're looking a lot better. Let's go." Ted said as Sirius walked down the stairs.

The two men floo'ed to the Ministry and got through the security check before making their way straight to the D.M.L.E. The Desk Sergeant tried to turn them away, saying to come back after 9am, but Sirius wasn't having it.

"I don't care what time it is. You have arrested my godson, a minor, the heir to the House of Black and Warlock to the Houses of Potter and Malfoy. As a minor warlock Potter is entitled to have his magical guardian as well as his legal counsel. Considering what this department has done to people who don't have their representation in the past you will show me to my godson or I swear on my mother's grave I will use every ounce of my political sway to have you transferred to Azkaban as a sanitation wizard." Sirius said in a tone of voice that said he was already making a mental list of the favours he would need to call in to pull off his threat.

Unsurprisingly, Sirius and Ted soon found themselves being led to where Harry and Dan were. Ted leaned in and asked. "I thought you hated your mother?"

"Yeah. Makes it really easy to swear on her grave. Or at her grave sometimes." Sirius said with a ghost of a smile gracing his face for about a second, though it soon disappeared in the face of the situation they were in.

They were led to an interview room where Harry and Dan were waiting. As they walked in Ted started waving his wand around casting privacy charms. When Harry looked at him confused, Ted simply said. "As your law wizard your conversations with me are covered by special laws. It's illegal for them to stop me making them private. So I'm putting up every privacy charm I know to keep them from getting curious. Now it's a bit overdue but I'm happy to finally meet you Harry. I'm Ted Tonks. Nymphadora's father and as of about ten minutes ago when your godfather hired me, your law wizard of record. Now, in your own words, tell me what happened."

So that's what Harry did, he told Ted everything he could remember. How he had gone to save the Philosopher's Stone and how he had found Quirrell voluntarily possessed by Voldemort. How the Mirror of Erised had placed the stone in Harry's pocket, only for the Voldemort possessed Quirrell to try and take it from him. But when Quirrell touched Harry he had burned, like Harry was white hot steel. How Quirrell kept trying to steal the stone but kept getting more and more burned as Harry tried to push him away. Harry explained that he never actually attacked Quirrell but the protection he received from his mother wouldn't allow Voldemort or anyone he was possessing to touch him.

Ted pulled a writing desk from a pocket of his robes and started writing down notes on everything Harry said. Harry would have been surprised at a man pulling an entire writing desk from his pocket but by this point he had seen much weirder things in the magical world.

-ϟϟϟ-

While Harry was being held in the D.M.L.E… a man left the Ministry and apparated to an old house that nobody could remember anymore. The front door swung open as soon as his ring made contact with the knocker on the door. He entered, and made his way over to the kitchen, looking for any of the others he expected to be here.

An elf sat at the kitchen table eating a full English breakfast and reading the paper. If that sight wasn't odd enough, the elf had a gold locket around his neck and was wearing clothes that fit him.

The elf looked up and smiled. "Ah, do you have something to report, head Auror Williamson?"

The man had to consciously suppress his revulsion at such a common name but for now he had to get used to it. He had made do as Tom for years, he could survive as Williamson now. It helped that this new body came with such an established position. Nobody looked down on the head of the Auror division.

"Yes, I have news. The Potter boy who has somehow managed to make so much trouble for you is now in D.M.L.E custody. Unfortunately, he has called in his godfather and a law wizard immediately. So I won't be able to disappear him. Too many eyes watching and I would have to burn this identity to do it. Also from the records I have of him he seems very willing to give testimony under magic, so I don't think I can get a guilty verdict. What I can do is force it to go to trial, and as it's a murder case, I can hold him until the trial. I will try and delay the trial as much as possible but with his fame people will be chomping at the bit to hasten the trial. So he will be out of your way until then. Use that time wisely."

-ϟϟϟ-

Hermione, Fleur and Emma were all waiting at Grimmauld Place for news. Fleur had floo'ed Madam Longbottom and told her everything she knew and explained that they may need the guards to stay at the Potter house a little longer while they sorted everything out.

It wasn't until three in the afternoon that Sirius and Ted came through the fire without Harry. Immediately the three women all demanded to know what was going on.

Sirius indicated to Ted that he should answer, causing the overworked law wizard to sigh before he answered. "I'm Ted Tonks, Harry's law wizard. So apparently the head of the D.M.L.E got a credible tip from a source that Harry had killed one of his professors in his first year." Ted paused for gasps of surprise but was himself surprised at the lack of shock on each of their faces.

"Well he immediately signed a warrant for Harry's arrest, but you were all out of the country. So naturally as soon as you came back into the country he was arrested. Harry has told his story under Veritaserum at least three times today. Everyone who has heard him agrees it was self-defence, involuntary magic, and a complete waste of time to pursue. But the Head of the Aurors, Williamson, has decided to push forward with formal charges. It's going to be the shortest murder trial this century but it will go to trial. As it's a murder charge there is no possibility of bail, so Harry will be staying in custody until his trial. I'm going to work on expediting the trial to get him out sooner but he will be held in the Ministry for at least a few days."

"He is definitely being held in the Ministry, not Azkaban?" Hermione asked, sounding worried.

"Definitely. I demanded a magically binding contract on that point. There are far too many people in Azkaban who wish Harry dead to risk sending a minor there before he has been convicted of a crime. He also said if anything like that happens he can Step away, whatever that means." Ted sounded genuinely confused as to what that last point ment.

"It's his family magic. Something he can do wandlessly." Hermione explained in the most cryptic way she possibly could.

"He also wants Miss Delacour to contact a Nicolas and Perenelle. He wants you to update them on everything that's happening. Do I need to know what that is about?"

Emma answered. "I assume you know what Harry and Quirrell were fighting over?" She asked and Ted nodded. "Well they are the legal owners of the stone and it went missing while Harry was unconscious. They are naturally curious as to where it went and Harry is just inviting them to watch on the off-chance this whole thing kicks up a lead on where the stone is. So I doubt it would interfere with the case at all."

"Also you may want to look into Williamson. He doesn't like Harry. Harry and I met him once when an Auror got caught up with a group of death eaters attacking our house." Hermione explained. "Williamson was naturally annoyed at the situation but he was acting like a typical blood snob and got his knickers in a twist when Harry called him out on it. Even threatened to arrest Harry. If he is the one pushing for the trial and everyone else is saying not to bother then maybe he is using it as an opportunity to settle a personal grudge?"

Ted punched his nose and sighed. This had potentially just gotten a lot more complicated for him. "Do you think the man is a death eater?"

"No, he took a vow saying he wasn't at the time. We were in the goblin's territory and Williamson was just as rude to Ironblood as he was to me so Ironblood made him take the vow before he could leave. I think he is just a regular blood snob with a chip on his shoulder." Hermione explained.

Ted nodded. "I will look into it, though I don't think it's going to help at all. The charges have been placed so a trial is pretty much guaranteed at this point. And I doubt a personal grudge is going to do much to sway the vote. Especially considering that most of the people who are likely to vote against Harry anyway can't vote on this because of the blood feud. It's a massive conflict of interest. It could however be something to look into after the trial."

"Now I have a lot of paperwork that needs to be done before the trial. I will keep you updated on any developments and Sirius I want you to do the same for me. I will see you all in the next few days." With that Ted waved them goodbye and promptly disappeared back through the floo.

"How's Harry really holding up?" Emma asked, looking back and forth between Dan and Sirius.

"Frustrated." Said Dan. "It's just one complication after another and he is tired of it."

"Aren't we all?" Asked Hermione and they had to agree. It was starting to get to everyone. None of them wanted a particularly exciting life. The things they wanted from life were fulfilling careers, family, holidays, romantic weekends, nothing more exciting or dangerous than a few sports games. Instead they had been dealt a life on the front lines of a war that would follow them anywhere they tried to run.

They had just had a lovely break in France. Just as they had finally relaxed so they could focus on work and school, this had happened. Why did it always have to be them?