Chapter 40
A/N: Sorry for the week off, this chapter didn't previously exist, but so many people wanted the Order's reaction to losing Hermione and thus Harry, that I decided to write it, which of course took some time. I hope it flows well enough with the rest of the story, and isn't too rushed or OOC with the rest of it, as I wrote most of it in a single day last week, and hadn't written the rest of this story since like a month or more before that, before I started publishing the story, so my brain's got other versions of all of these characters mixed in with this particular story's versions, so hopefully I got this close enough to the rest of this story. If not, it's all your faults for all the comments wanting this chapter — smirk.
Hestia Jones and Sturgis Podmore slowly walked back to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.
They had lost their targets, and Mad-Eye, Lupin, Sirus, and Kingsley were not going to be happy with them. The only bright spot was that they only had to tell Lupin and Sirius, and didn't have to tell Dumbledore themselves — that was not a conversation they wanted to be part of. Making it up to the door of the hidden building, they paused for a few seconds, before finally casting the charm to unlock the door, knowing they had to face the music sometime and just wanting to get it over with.
Meanwhile, down in the kitchen where everyone was finishing up breakfast, Lupin and Sirus heard the front door open. At a pointed look from Sirius, Lupin quietly excused himself to go meet their spies, who, just as expected, had clearly failed to follow Hermione and Tonks if they were back this soon. Quickly making his way up to the entrance hallway, he immediately caught sight of Hestia and Sturgis's dejected and nervous faces.
"They escaped you?" he said quietly, and knowingly.
Hestia simply nodded sadly, as Sturgis looked at the werewolf in slight surprise.
Seeing Sturgis's confused look, and Hestia's still nervous look, Lupin continued, "We expected it. We hoped you'd be able to follow them, but it's Hermione Granger we're talking about — you were there when she chewed us out last night. She's too smart for her own good sometimes, but it means we did expect this exact thing to occur, that Hermione would have her own plan. Now what can you tell me did happen?"
By the time Hestia and Sturgis finished their short story, everyone from the kitchen had begun making their way upstairs, assigned by Mrs Weasley to dust and make sure that the first rooms they had cleaned were still clean, now that all the real cleaning was done because of Hermione's insistence of using magic. As the students moved past, Sirius came to a stop at Lupin, Hestia, and Sturgis.
At the animagus's raised eyebrow, Lupin simply said, "She's smart." Turning back to Hestia and Sturgis, he said, "Thank you. We'll take it from here."
When Hestia and Sturgis had headed back outside, Lupin led Sirius into the drawing room and shut and locked the door.
"It's almost certain they're where we thought he was," said the werewolf.
Sirus nodded. "So he's definitely safe."
"I'd like to wait for Tonks' message before saying that for sure, but...yeah — it definitely seems like it," replied Lupin. After a long pause, he sighed, "I suppose we have to tell Dumbledore now."
Sirius didn't reply for several seconds, before finally saying slowly, "Do we, though? It's not like Dumbledore's actually going to be here at Grimmauld Place tonight, or any other night for that matter, to see that Harry isn't here. And he's the one who gave the Order the plan to rescue Harry from his relatives and handled the Ministry after the dementor attack, but never checked to see whether Harry made it here safely last night or not. Which means unless Mad-Eye or Kingsley went and told him what happened and the new plan, that just proceeded to fail just as expected, he presumably doesn't even know Harry isn't here — and given the fact Mad-Eye didn't expect the plan to work any more than we did, if he told Dumbledore anything it was probably that Harry seems to be safe, just not here. Though I personally think he was smart enough to make himself scarce and not say a thing. Not so sure about Kingsley, but Dumbledore hasn't shown up here yet."
"But he's our leader — he needs to know where Harry is!" exclaimed Lupin. "Or really, where he isn't but that we think he's safe."
"Does he, though? He's only ever half-helped Harry," countered Sirius. "Yeah, sure, he's going to be Harry's defense in the trial, and he made the Ministry obey their laws — not that he should have had to do that, and he sure as hell didn't countersue against the Ministry for trying to break the law — but he still makes Harry go live with his abusive relatives for some secret reason he won't tell anyone, and he hasn't done anything to help Harry with the abuse he suffers at Hogwarts on a yearly basis, or do anything to help him in that stupid tournament last year he shouldn't have been in!"
"Is this about Harry, or about you being stuck in this house instead of running around the country as a dog?"
"It can't be both?" growled Sirus. "You haven't had to live here with that bitch for the past month. You get to go out and actually do things! And don't tell me it's hard, and dangerous, and whatever else you might be about to say — I'd rather die from doing anything than be a prisoner in my own bloody house! Now if your conscience won't let you live without telling Dumbledore, then do what you must. But until he comes and actually asks where Harry is, checks to make sure Harry is in fact safe, I'm not going out of my way to say anything to him. And when that hag comes around asking tonight, if she doesn't get to you first, because we both know Mad-Eye's going to make himself scarce around here for a while and Kingsley's off working, I'll tell her I don't know because I'm imprisoned in this bloody house for the foreseeable future, and to go ask you."
"I'm not going to tell him where I think Harry is, just that Tonks says he's safe and that she's with him. But I still have to tell him something — he does want to make sure Harry's safe," replied Lupin defensively. "And no, this is not because he took me into his school as a werewolf, both as a child and a professor."
Sirius shrugged. "Do what you think is right, but no one went running around yelling about me moving there after getting kicked out of here — and Tonks is essentially James's parents in this scenario. And there were lots of adults who could have known and been concerned about where I was — I am a Black, for crying out loud, that was power back then. Maybe not Harry Potter importance, but I wasn't a nobody, either."
"We both know Tonks isn't a parent like Harry's grandparents were with you."
"She's a bit eccentric and acts like she doesn't take anything seriously most of the time, but she made it through the aurors just fine and Kingsley trusts her — and don't tell me you don't believe she'd die to protect Harry," scolded Sirius. "She may be unique, but she'll do anything to keep him and Hermione safe."
"Okay, okay, fine — I trust Harry with her as much as with anyone else, and she's at least not all secretive and scheming like Dumbledore," sighed Lupin. "But unless Tonks's letter makes me decide otherwise, I'm still going to go tell Dumbledore and not just wait for him to come here or ask."
~HP~
Several hours later, Lupin and Sirius convened to read the letter Lupin had just received from the auror.
They hadn't expected it to tell them where she, Hermione, and Harry were, but they also hadn't expected it to be as short and brief as it was. Though if Tonks really was on Harry's side now, they supposed afterwards that they really should have expected something like this from the youngest Order member. But upon opening the sealed letter, they found a very concise message.
~.~
'Harry's safe. You'll ignore this, obviously, but — LEAVE HIM ALONE! The kid deserves some peace for once in his life.'
—Tonks
~.~
Sirus looked back up at Lupin.
"I assume that's not enough for you to actually do as she wishes and not tell Dumbledore?"
"Sorry. I'm not going to tell him that I think I know where Harry is, but I think he should know that Harry isn't here," replied Lupin.
"Have fun, then — glad I'm not you."
~HP~
A few hours later, an owl pecked on the window of Dumbledore's office.
After thinking it over, Lupin had decided that alerting Dumbledore to Harry's lack of gracing Grimmauld Place with his presence was not so urgent as to have to be done in person at that very moment, and so had written a letter expressing the details that Harry had not been at his relatives house when they'd gone to pick him, that Hermione and Tonks were now with him as of that morning wherever he was, and that Tonks, certified full-time auror and Order member who understood all the security measures that had been set up for Harry's protection at Grimmauld Place and was staying with Harry and Hermione for the rest of the summer, believed in her professional opinion that Harry was safe where he currently was.
Dumbledore read the letter with much consternation, settling back into his chair to think. On one hand, he really wanted to get Harry safely into Sirius's house he'd spent so much effort warding. On the other hand, this Granger girl who was sometimes too smart for her own good, was extremely stubborn when she thought she was right. And apparently the young auror the Order had picked up since reforming had joined Hermione's side, and would now be protecting Harry against him. Many Order members, especially certain older ones from the first time around might have thought the young auror crazy, or eccentric, or just an Order presence inside the Ministry and specifically the aurors, but he knew how strong of a witch she really was, and how smart she was, her unusual hair choices and natural clumsiness aside.
Which all summed up to leave him in quite the predicament.
He could of course ask Tonks where they were if she continued coming to Order meetings like he expected she would (Hermione and Tonks would both know the strategic advantage of keeping a presence in the opposing camp), but he had no foolish expectations of her giving up Harry simply at his behest, if she hadn't given him up so far. He could also ask Lupin, and Sirus, Mad-Eye, and Kingsley, if they knew where Harry was, but once again, if they knew at all, they hadn't said anything yet, which probably meant they wouldn't say anything either. So he was really out of direct ways to find out where Harry was.
And while he was loathed to admit it, Hermione wouldn't leave her boyfriend in a place she considered unsafe, and while she didn't know everything, she did know far more than any incoming fifth year really had the right to, and was rarely wrong. Similarly, even if she understood nothing about hair strategy, Auror Tonks did know more than most Order members about military strategy, and she also wouldn't let Harry stay in a location she wasn't positive was safe. Which meant in the end, Harry unfortunately (well, slightly fortunately since he, Dumbledore, couldn't find the boy) probably was completely safe indeed wherever the boy had managed to run off to. He would of course send out feelers to all his informants and contacts to see if they couldn't find Harry, or catch wind of where the boy might be staying, but he honestly doubted anything would turn up since Hermione and Tonks were colluding together.
It did very briefly flutter through Dumbledore's mind that Harry might have somehow discovered his family homes and figured out how to get to one of them, but that was such a ridiculous idea that he immediately pushed it out again — he had done far too good of a job hiding that secret from Harry for the boy to have ever figured it out on his own. Some might have said it was cruel to withhold that from the boy, but Dumbledore knew that if Harry realized he had a life to live for, he might be less inclined to make the sacrifice of his life that he would be needed to make to rid the world of Voldemort once and for all.
So in the end, Dumbledore decided that there really wasn't anything he could do about the unfortunate Harry situation at the moment at least, and in a move he knew would be a surprise to everyone, who would all expect him to make much ado about Harry's disappearance, simply returned a short letter to Lupin thanking him for the information, and left it at that for the time being. He would work behind the scenes, but until he actually had some action he could take, there was no advantage in making a scene. It was all about the long game, not the last few weeks of this particular summer.
Molly Weasley would of course take great objection to his plan when she found out, but he hoped she would be appeased soon enough when he was able to send out the prefect badges, and her youngest son received the new Gryffindor badge instead of Harry. He had already determined right after the end of the previous year and everything that had happened in the graveyard, that Harry had enough responsibility to be going on with already to have to deal with being prefect as well, and it looked like that decision was going to come in handy here, as well. And until he found the thirty-second Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in as many years, ever since Voldemort had cursed the darn position, and he could send out those letters, he would just continue his well practiced policy of immediately throwing any letters Errol delivered into his special 'Weasley file' — better known as a lit fireplace.
That evening, as Mrs Weasley bustled around working her arse off cooking a scrumptious meal for all of the Order members and her own children, none of whom ever truly appreciated how hard she was tirelessly working day in and day out for them all, she noticed that all of the normal members of the Order who spent a majority of suppers there — so namely Lupin and Sirius — were sitting around the kitchen table chatting away merrily.
Decidedly NOT going out to bring Harry back for her to mother.
So storming over to them before any of her children arrived and might overhear such sensitive information, she came to a stop dead in front of Sirius and Lupin, and placing her hands on her hips menacingly, demanded, "Where's Harry! You promised you were bringing him here tonight, and I haven't seen a single person even leave to go get him yet!"
Sirius simply turned to look at Lupin, silently reminding the werewolf that he had already told him that he wasn't going to be the one to tell Mrs Weasley what had happened.
Sighing, Lupin looked up at the Matriarch and said, "We told you that if everything went according to plan, we would bring Harry here tonight. Not everything went according to plan."
He saw no reason to elaborate that nothing had gone to plan, and instead that everything had gone exactly as expected.
Mrs Weasley stood there for several seconds, clearly expecting more, before finally shouting, "Well?!"
"Well, what?" asked Lupin mildly, having a good idea what she was 'well'-ing about.
"When are you going to bring him here?!"
"Ah, yes…" replied Lupin. "Well, you see, the thing is, Dumbledore doesn't have a clue where Harry might actually be. So until Dumbledore can tell us where to go to look for Harry, we really don't have much choice."
"You sent Nymphadora with Hermione to find out his location!" shouted Mrs Weasley.
"And Auror Tonks seems disinclined to divulge his location at the present time," answered Lupin. "So until such time as she decides to disclose that information to us, or else Dumbledore hears from any of his vast resources where Harry is, there's nothing we can do."
He would have said that he was sorry, but truthfully he wasn't, so he didn't.
Mrs Weasley was so shocked by this utter betrayal of Lupin and Sirius (never mind the fact he hadn't actually been part of that promise, he was always in cahoots with the werewolf) in promising her Harry and then utterly failing to deliver, that it took her several seconds to be able to respond.
"What do you mean — ?!" she began shouting at the two beasts, before suddenly realizing the twins were lurking in the doorway to the kitchen, trying to listen in on top-secret Order business.
"Out! Everyone! Out!" she turned and screamed at her offspring. "Go do your Hogwarts homework until I come for you! Stay out of the kitchen, this is Order business!"
She furiously strode towards the kitchen door, slamming it shut in the faces of her two most disobedient, unruly, and also identical children, before throwing every spell known to mankind (or her, at least, so really what was the difference?) on the door to prevent them from eavesdropping on such an important conversation. The twins, Ron, and Ginny skulked back to the second floor landing to look down on the entrance hall, disappointed that they hadn't heard anything before their mum had discovered them, only that she was clearly a mite bit upset with Sirus and Lupin.
Meanwhile, storming back over to Lupin and Sirus, Mrs Weasley continued yelling as loudly as she could, "How could you possibly let this happen?! It was your responsibilities to make sure Harry is safe!"
"I'm not allowed out of this bloody prison!" exclaimed Sirius angrily, but he was spoken over by Lupin.
"Harry has a full-time auror with him who believes he is safe, in her position as both a fully qualified auror and a member of the Order."
"He's with Tonks! That girl doesn't know anything!" screamed the Matriarch. "She can't even walk through the entrance hall without knocking over the umbrella stand and waking that stupid painting!"
"A girl who is a fully qualified auror, which is far more than you can say!" shouted back Sirius, finally snapping after a month of being locked up with the bitch. "You're nothing more than a cook and a nosy, interfering busy-body who thinks because of her last name — which isn't even hers — that she can take over other people's houses and lives and do whatever she wants! You just don't like Tonks because her hair isn't always a perfectly mundane, boring color and length, and she's actually doing something to fight against evil besides bitching at it! If Dumbledore wasn't making me let you all use this as the Order's headquarters, I would kick your fat arse back to the Burrow where it belongs! Because I'm sure as hell not doing anything for the war against Voldemort being stuck in here! I could do far more from my cave outside Hogsmeade than I'm doing stuck in here! And why for Heaven's sake hasn't somebody put a bloody sticking charm on that stupid umbrella stand yet, anyway?! In fact, I'm going to do that right now because it should have been done at least after the second time it was knocked over — that or throw it out entirely, it's hideous and useless for wizards who never use umbrellas anyway!"
And with that he jumped up and stormed away to go fix that very problem that should have been fixed a month before.
Mrs Weasley glowered at Sirus's back until he'd disappeared out the door, before turning back to glare at Lupin some more. But before she could yell anything, Lupin spoke first.
"If you have a problem, tell Dumbledore yourself. We've done what we can, and when I told him what had happened, he simply thanked me for keeping him abreast of the situation, and said nothing more on the subject."
Still more than irate, but literally having nothing else she could do at the moment besides yell at thin air for a while longer, Mrs Weasley restrained herself from doing so any more for the time being and returned to the kitchen where she belonged.
~HP~
Grumbling to himself as he approached the offending severed troll's-leg umbrella stand, Sirius spotted the four youngest Weasley children looking down from the second floor balcony.
He waved them down, knowing it would be time for supper just as soon as the Matriarch finished yelling at Lupin, before turning to the umbrella stand he was surprised Hermione and Tonks hadn't burnt with Fiendfyre before throwing the ashes in the deepest pits of hell, and then throwing that entire hell into an even deeper hell, during their thorough cleansing of the house. Tilting it on its edge, he held it from falling over with one hand, as he cast a simple sticking charm on the bottom of it, and then on the floor beneath it for good measure, and set it back down. He nudged it with his toe a few times to make sure it seemed to have worked, before giving it a firm kick to test it for real. It remained firmly in place, finally Tonks-proofed only a month late.
By that time the Weasley children had made their way down to him, and he led them down to the kitchen, opening it without any forewarning to the occupants inside, hoping to maybe let the students catch the tail end of any remaining argument going on between their mum and Lupin, without him being able to be accused of telling them any 'top secret' information. But unfortunately it seemed to already be over, as Mrs Weasley was back in the kitchen banging around pots and pans like they had personally offended her greatly, and Lupin was still sitting in his chair at the table, as mild looking as always.
Supper was a rather quiet affair that night. Mrs Weasley was still routinely glaring daggers at Sirus and Lupin. Sirus and Lupin were ignoring her and mostly talking amongst themselves and with the twins. Ginny was talking to her mum when her mum wasn't too busy glaring at Sirius and Lupin. Ron wasn't saying much to anyone. And Mr Weasley, who'd arrived just before supper had started, was occasionally talking with Sirus and Lupin, but mostly wondering what those two had done to offend his wife this time, and why any of them put up with her.
But supper eventually ended without any yelling matches or anything else, and Mrs Weasley ordered everyone off to bed. As they were all heading out of the kitchen for their bedrooms, however, Ron abruptly looked around him as if suddenly noticing that something was missing, and turned on his mum and demanded, "Where's Harry?! You said Harry and the Know-it-all would be here tonight!"
Everyone turned to look at Mrs Weasley, especially her other three children, but also Sirius and Lupin wondering what the Matriarch would say, and Arthur wondering if he might finally find out what the hell had happened before having to ask her once they got to their bedroom.
"Never you mind! Plans have changed — you'll see them again on the train," Mrs Weasley snapped. "Now off to bed! All of you! And I want you all to go straight to bed, no talking!"
She as sure as a snowball's chance in hell was about to let her still in school children know that certain supposedly responsible and trusty Order members, whose sole responsibility had been to bring Harry there safely, had no clue where Harry was, or whether he was safe or not, or what was happening to him — they were far too young, and that was Order business.
The twins looked like they wanted to demand an actual answer, but their mum was glowering so hard and loathingly at all of them, that even they decided to settle on self-preservation, and do as the wardress demanded.
~HP~
Not wanting to waste any time, and knowing that the delivery would be slower than ideal in an urgent situation like this, as soon as she made it up to her bedroom, the Matriarch immediately began writing a letter to Dumbledore about the catastrophic crisis emergency that was going on there.
A letter she had no doubt would be answered very promptly. Or as promptly as the half-dead owl she had to send it with could deliver the letter and return — Arthur really needed to buy her a new, faster owl, especially for desperate situations like this. But she was going to get the letter written and sent immediately, so the feather duster that called itself a delivery owl would have all night to get her letter to Dumbledore by bright and early in the morning for him to promptly respond to.
Knowing she was being very reasonable in doing so, she asked the esteemed headmaster why Harry hadn't been brought to Grimmauld Place for her to protect like he was supposed to have been, and how long it was going to be before he was brought to her. She quickly sealed up the letter and gave it to Errol, urging him to deliver it with utmost haste, even if he died upon delivery, that it was a very time sensitive matter.
Knowing all her problems would be sorted for her soon enough, she finally changed and crawled into bed next to her husband, knowing brighter days were finally ahead.
~HP~
The following morning, when Dumbledore walked into the headmaster's office, he found the half-dead bird he had expected to see soon lying on his desk.
Most fortunately, though, she hadn't sent him a Howler, so he didn't have to perform any advanced magic on it so he wouldn't have to hear whatever screechings she had to screech. He untied the letter from the owl's leg, and neatly tossed it into the freshly roaring 'Weasley file', never to be seen by human eyes. Three more weeks of never having to set foot in that horrid, dirty, dump-heap that was Grimmauld Place in order to avoid Molly, or at least no more visits until after the prefect letters had been sent out, and Harry would be safely at Hogwarts where she couldn't complain to him any more.
Other than not being able to dictate Harry's life for the next month, life was really not going all too badly.
Chapter 41
The morning of his hearing, Harry awoke earlier than normal.
Hermione was still asleep beside him, so he carefully climbed out of bed so as not to wake her, and headed into the bathroom to get ready for his important day. Walking into their bathroom, he found formal robes hanging up for both him and Hermione, obviously put there by one of his house elves during the night. He quickly showered and put on his robes, before walking back out into his and Hermione's room, where he found her awake, but still lying in bed waiting for him to finish before she took her shower and got ready. After giving her a quick kiss, Harry headed down to the kitchen to let the house elves know they'd be ready for breakfast soon, and hadn't been down their long before Hermione joined him, all dressed and showered and ready for the day.
"Morning, Harry. Ready for your trial?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, and just ready for it to be over with," replied Harry, pushing out the chair next to him with his foot for her to sit down in.
"You'll be fine," Hermione reassured him as she sat down. "Everyone's allowed to defend themselves in any place they're legally in — and we'll always have our wands with us if they try to violate that basic human right. But they would have to flagrantly violate their own laws for it to come to that."
They had nearly finished eating when Tonks stumbled in, only halfway awake at best.
"Morning, guys," she mumbled. "And good luck, Harry. Wake me when you get back to let me know how it went."
"What's up with you this morning?" asked Hermione in concern. Tonks wasn't the biggest morning person ever, but she was usually a little more awake than this.
"Guard duty for the Order last night, only just got back twenty minutes ago," yawned Tonks. "Took a shower, and then decided I should really get something to eat before I crash until you get back from your hearing."
"Ah — well, have a good nap, and Harry and I will let you know when we return fully acquitted," replied Hermione.
Once they had completely finished eating, Harry and Hermione headed to the library to practice some more of the spells from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 — that Hermione had insisted they pick up on one of their early trips to Diagon Alley since it would doubtlessly be on their booklists whenever those finally arrived — since Tonks was home to keep the Trace from working.
~HP~
At the same time as Harry and Hermione were starting to practice spells, knowing they had a good thirty plus minutes before they needed to think about apparating to the Ministry for Harry's hearing at nine, Mr Weasley was across the country arriving at his office at the Ministry.
Five minutes later, his partner, Mr Perkins, came bursting in with urgent news, which Mr Weasley immediately sent to Tonks by the normal Order lines of communication that avoided the Ministry. Upon receiving the message, Tonks immediately called a house elf to tell Harry and Hermione, as she had no clue where they had gone after leaving her at breakfast, and was too tired to run around the house looking for them when a house elf could do it far quicker anyway.
In the library, Harry and Hermione had barely even finished reading through the first spell they were going to practice, when his house elf Zizi cracked into existence, and urgently squeaked, "Lord Potter and Missy Hermione must go to the Ministry immediately! The time of Lord Potter's hearing has been changed to eight o'clock in Courtroom Ten!"
Harry and Hermione stared at the house elf in shock for several seconds, before the urgency of the situation hit Hermione, and she leapt up.
"Zizi! We need you to take us to the Ministry immediately! Harry, get up, come on! You're already late! And they are not going to be forgiving, given the fact they already tried to avoid due process at the start of all this!"
Thankful they'd both already put on their formal robes, Harry quickly stood up and crossed the few feet over to Zizi, and took her hand.
"Ready when you are," he said.
The next moment they were pulled into darkness, before reappearing in a long, large, splendid hall that was nearly as nice as the entrance hall of Potter Manor, though much, much larger — It was the Ministry of Magic. Zizi immediately disappeared again upon landing, and Harry and Hermione looked around them.
They had landed in a clearly marked square, and Harry looked over at his girlfriend and asked, "I know this whole place is obviously the Ministry, but what is this?"
"Designated apparation point for those arriving by house elf, I assume," answered Hermione, looking at the square. "Which means we should get out of the way in case anyone else comes in behind us."
Crossing the hall to the security desk, Harry and Hermione allowed their wands to be recorded, and Harry asked, "How do we get to Courtroom Ten?"
The security guard told them, and sticking their wands back in their robes, Harry and Hermione were soon riding the lift down to the lowest floor, the Department of Mysteries. A brisk stroll down a flight of stairs and along a corridor that gave Harry ptsd flashbacks to Snape's dungeons, and they finally arrived outside Courtroom Ten.
"You're late."
The Minister's cold voice rang across the courtroom as the door heavily clanged shut behind Harry and Hermione as they stepped inside the dungeon. Seeing the chair in the middle of the room that he was clearly supposed to sit in during the trial, Harry crossed over and stood next to it, as Hermione slipped up into the benches to watch.
Once next to the chair, Harry looked up at the Minister and responded politely but firmly, "I was never informed by this court of the change in time or location from the first letter I was sent on the night of August the second, which stated my disciplinary hearing would be at 9 am, at some unstated location in the Ministry of Magic. It therefore cannot be my fault that I was not here at your newly designated time. I can only follow the instructions that I am actually informed of."
"That is not the Wizengamot's fault," continued Fudge, sounding very much as if he hadn't paid a word of attention to anything Harry had just said. "An owl was sent to you this morning. Take your seat."
Harry remained standing, and replied politely, "You are either misinformed, or blatantly lying — I was at my residence all morning up until less than ten minutes ago, and received no owls this morning except the Daily Prophet delivery owl. I only knew to rush here because Mr Perkins told Arthur Weasley, who contacted Auror Tonks, who contacted me. At which point I came here as quickly as I could."
Technically Tonks had told a Potter house elf who'd told Harry, but Harry had no intention of letting the Ministry know he knew about and was partially using the Potter Estate, specifically Potter Manor, and anyway, house elves were legally considered property by the Ministry, and therefore didn't have to be mentioned.
"If an owl was sent to me this morning, it was sent so late that it did not arrive at my place of residence before eight o'clock, as Mr Weasley did not contact Auror Tonks until five minutes after eight, at which point she immediately told me. As no owl had yet to arrive by that point, you clearly either sent it too late for it to arrive at my house on time, or else it was intercepted, which is still not my fault. However, if said owl was ever sent, then I fully expect it to be waiting for me outside the Ministry of Magic when I leave here today, or else for one of those paper airplanes that I assume are letters for inside the Ministry building to either be waiting outside the door of this courtroom when we finish, or perhaps even find it's way in here during the proceedings, as owls, and presumably paper airplanes, deliver to the person, not a location, and therefore the owl must eventually find me to deliver its message, if it was in fact ever sent, and has not been intercepted."
Finishing, Harry primly took the seat, and waited expectantly. He could see in his peripheral vision that over half of the witches and wizards in the room were staring at him — a mixture of awe, shock, and disbelief at what many of them clearly considered to be contempt of the court — but he focused on the Minister and the two witches to either side of the Minister, who were clearly also in positions of high authority on the court. Percy was also there at the end of the front bench, but as he made no acknowledgement of Harry, Harry made no acknowledgement of him.
As for Fudge, he was staring at Harry in complete shock, not having been able to help but hear at least part of Harry's accusations against him and his court, but he eventually managed to collect himself enough to say haughtily, "The accused being present — finally — let us begin."
As he finished up stating the purpose of the hearing and naming the lead court members several minutes later, he was suddenly interrupted by the voice of Dumbledore himself, stating his position as Witness for the Defense.
"Ah, Dumbledore. Yes. You, uh, you got our — er — message that the time and, uh, place of the hearing had been changed, then?" stuttered Fudge, clearly not having expected the Hogwarts Headmaster to make it there, making Harry suspect that he wasn't the only one the court had failed to properly alert of the changes.
"I must have missed it — however, due to a lucky mistake I arrived at the Ministry three hours early, so no harm done," answered Dumbledore cheerfully, making Harry absolutely positive that the Ministry had done no such message sending as they claimed, if both he and Dumbledore had failed to receive owls that never failed in their missions.
Once Dumbledore was settled in an armchair of his own conjuring, and Fudge had read out the official charges, he glared over the top of his parchment at Harry and said, "You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?"
"Yes, sir," answered Harry.
"And you received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?" continued Fudge, looking back down at his parchment.
"No, sir," answered Harry, causing Fudge to suddenly cut short from where he was about to continue rambling on once Harry had admitted that he'd already flagrantly broken the law before, and briefly stopped looking at his parchment to stare down at Harry.
But Harry ignored his stare, and continued on, "Well, technically I received a warning, but I didn't commit the offense I was accused of. The house elf named Dobby, at the time owned by the Malfoy family but acting of his own free will, was the one who actually performed the magic I was accused of illegally performing. But since it was only a warning, I was never given a chance to defend myself or clear my name of the charge."
There was much hushed whispering around the courtroom at this proclamation, but Fudge once again ignored everything Harry had said and plowed on, "And yet you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?"
"I was in fear for my life, and I want the two dementors who attacked me arrested," Harry replied succinctly.
Complete silence fell over the courtroom at this proclamation.
"Dementors?" repeated Madam Bones after several seconds, voice full of confusion. "What do you mean, boy?"
"I mean exactly what I said. I was in fear for my life from two dementors, and I want them arrested and punished however dementors can be punished," replied Harry, looking at her like he was having to explain something very simple to a complete idiot. "I was attacked by two dementors on my walk home, which as the charges indicate happened to be through a muggle-inhabited area since that's where I live during the summer, and the only way to protect oneself from dementors is by using magic — specifically the Patronus Charm. So I cast said charm that I'm accused of conjuring, in order to save my life, or more specifically my soul from being kissed away, by the two dementors that attacked me."
"Ah, yes" sneered Fudge superiorly. "Yes, I thought we'd be hearing some excuse like this."
"You were attacked by dementors in Little Whinging?" asked Madam Bones to Harry in shock. "But that's impossible! What would two dementors have been doing in Little Whinging? I don't understand —"
"Oh, don't you, Amelia?" said Fudge patronizingly. "Let me explain. He's been thinking it through and decided Dementors would make a very nice little cover story, very nice indeed. It's just his word with no witnesses."
"But if two dementors did in fact attack him in that alleyway, he would have been justified in using magic, both as an underaged wizard and in a muggle-inhabited area," said Madam Bones. Turning to Harry, she asked, "You wouldn't happen to have any witnesses, would you?"
"We do, in fact, have a witness to the presence of Dementors in that alleyway," answered Dumbledore, speaking up for the very first time, despite declaring himself to be the Witness for the Defense at the very beginning of the trial.
At the same time, Harry mumbled under his breath, "Not that I need one, as as the accusers you have to prove that the dementors weren't there, I as the accused don't have to prove they were — innocent until proven guilty, and all those annoying human rights."
Fudge noticeably paled at Dumbledore's statement, but he quickly regathered himself and sneered pompously, "We haven't got time to listen to more tarradiddles, I'm afraid, Dumbledore. I want this dealt with quickly —"
"Clearly," commented Dumbledore mildly, "given the fact you attempted to snap the accused's wand before the charges were successfully proven. But unless I am mistaken, I was thinking that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right to present witnesses for his or her case. Isn't that the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Bones?" he finished, looking up at the witch sitting on the left of Fudge.
"Absolutely," answered Madam Bones firmly, less than pleased with the Minister's haste to end the trial with a guilty verdict before it had ever begun.
"Oh, very well, very well," snapped Fudge angrily, knowing an even semi-credible witness would easily let Harry escape his clutches. "If your witness is here, bring them in, else we're moving on."
A minute later Mrs Figg was brought in, and soon seated next to Harry and Dumbledore. Fudge proceeded to grill her, and all in all Harry thought she made for a very weak witness and that Dumbledore should have prepared her better (or at all), but there was nothing that could be done about that now.
Once Mrs Figg had been dismissed, Fudge scoffed dismissively, "Not a very convincing witness."
"Oh, I don't know," replied Madam Bones. "She certainly described the effects of a Dementor attack very accurately. And I can't imagine why she would say they were there if they weren't."
"And Clause Seven of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery states that I can use magic in exceptional circumstances, such as being attacked by two dementors, like I did," added Harry quickly, wanting to remind everyone of the laws he was supposed to be being judged on before they got too far off topic again.
"If there were Dementors, which I doubt," sneered Fudge.
"You have heard it from an eyewitness," replied Dumbledore calmly. "If you still doubt her truthfulness, call her back, question her again. I am sure she would not object."
"I — that — not —" stammered Fudge, glaring down at the headmaster. "It's — I want this over with today, Dumbledore!"
"But the court would of course not care how many times it needed to hear from a witness, if the alternative was a serious miscarriage of justice, right?" replied Dumbledore, looking at Madam Bones instead of the Minister as he spoke.
"Serious miscarriage, my hat!" exclaimed Fudge. "Have you ever bothered to tot up —!"
But Madam Bones interrupted him, her booming voice talking over his enraged blustering. "Of course, Dumbledore," she said. "But unless any of my fellow Wizengamot members desire to question her again, I for one have no objection to her credibility as a witness, and therefore have no reason to question her again."
Fudge, meanwhile, was still ranting, and when Madam Bones finished his voice carried clearly through the otherwise silent courtroom.
"— I suppose you've forgotten the Hover Charm he used three years ago, Dumbledore!"
"That was the house elf Dobby, not me," repeated Harry firmly. "I was falsely accused of that offense, and never given a chance to defend myself or clear my name since I was only given a warning."
"And the house-elf in question is currently in the employ of Hogwarts School," added Dumbledore. "I can summon him here in an instant to give testimony if you wish."
"I — not — I haven't got time to listen to house-elves! Anyway, that's not the only — he blew up his aunt, for God's sake!" raged Fudge, practically spitting in his fury.
"Madam Bones, would you care to question the house elf Dobby?" asked Dumbledore to Madam Bones, ignoring Fudge's outrage. "If cleared of that charge, it would make this alleged offense Harry's first, and therefore much less severe than if it were his second, and more likely to deserve only a warning if the court were to find him guilty."
As Fudge proceeded to sputter like a stalled engine some more next to her, Madam Bones looked down at Dumbledore carefully, before finally saying, "While the innocence or guilt of Mr Potter in that offense three years ago is not the subject of this hearing, and therefore cannot be ruled on in this hearing, Mr Potter's guilt or innocence is relevant to the severity of this offense, and therefore directly affects this hearing. So yes, Dumbledore, please call your witness."
Dumbledore nodded, before saying, "Dobby."
A second later there was a loud crack, and Dobby stood in the middle of the courtroom, looking around him in confusion.
Knowing Fudge wasn't going to do his job as Head Interrogator, Madam Bones said to the house elf, "What is your name?"
"Dobby, ma'am!" squeaked Dobby.
"And what was your position the summer of three years ago?"
Dobby thought for a second, before replying with a shudder, "I was a Malfoy house elf, ma'am!"
"And did you at any point during that summer visit Harry Potter?"
"Oh, yes ma'am!" squeaked Dobby excitedly. "That was the first time Dobby was able to meet the great Harry Potter! Dobby had to punish himself severely for visiting Harry Potter, but Dobby had to warn Harry Potter!"
"Please tell the court everything that took place that night while you were at Mr Potter's residence," ordered Madam Bones.
"Dobby apparated to Harry Potter's bedroom while Harry Potter was downstairs," began Dobby. "Then when Harry Potter arrived, Dobby tried to convince Harry Potter that he could not go back to Hogwarts that year, that it was too dangerous for Harry Potter to return! But Harry Potter would not listen, ma'am, no he wouldn't. So Dobby had to take drastic measures to keep Harry Potter safe. So Dobby ran down to the kitchen, where there was a giant pudding. And Dobby tried to make Harry Potter promise not to go back to Hogwarts, but Harry Potter refused, ma'am. So Dobby had to drop the cake so Harry Potter's relatives would lock him up so Harry Potter could not get back to Hogwarts. Then Dobby disapparated away before he could be seen by any muggles."
"Dropped the pudding how?" questioned Madam Bones, knowing that if Dobby had been the one to actually cast the Hover Charm, that was most likely when it occurred.
"Dobby had the pudding floating near the ceiling when Harry Potter caught up to Dobby in the kitchen, ma'am. And then Dobby released it," answered Dobby.
"And what spell did you have it floating with?" prodded Madam Bones.
"Dobby was using the Hover Charm," answered Dobby in confusion, unaware that there could be any other spell used for that purpose.
"Thank you, Dobby," said Madam Bones, before glancing over at Fudge as she continued, "Now unless the Minister would like to question Dobby further, I believe you may go."
After several seconds, during which Fudge refused to look up from the papers he was glaring at in his hands, held so tightly his knuckles were ghostly white, Dobby disappeared with another loud crack, and Madam Bones turned to address the court.
"I believe the court can agree that this case should now be treated as Harry's first offense of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, and not his second."
"That's not his only — he blew up his aunt, for God's sake!" exploded Fudge. "This is still at least his second offense, even if you do believe a house elf that was freed by the boy himself, and is clearly biased towards the boy! The boy probably asked him to say all that, to make it sound like he didn't actually commit the offense! It's just another one of his cock-and-bull stories!"
"Harry was not charged in the incident involving his aunt-in-law, therefore it cannot be held against him now," replied Dumbledore calmly. "Or has the court changed its rules since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, Madam Bones?"
"Of course not!" exclaimed Madam Bones almost offended, throwing a glare at Fudge. "Of course Mr Potter cannot be considered guilty of something he was never charged with."
"Then the court is in agreement that this is the first offense of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery that Harry has been charged with, and the court has been presented a witness supporting Harry's defense that his use of magic falls under Clause Seven," said Dumbledore. "Therefore, unless there is any further questioning the court would like to do, I believe all he and I can do now is await your verdict."
After several seconds of no one bringing up any further questions, the Wizengamot fell into urgent, whispered conversations.
Eventually the whispering stopped, and Madam Bones said, "Those in favor of clearing the accused of the charges?"
Over three-quarters of the court raised their hands, and Harry breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"And those in favor of conviction?" continued Madam Bones, but less than half a dozen people raised their hands this time, some court members noticeably not voting at all. Minister Fudge had obviously raised his hand for conviction, as had the witch to his right who had remained hidden in the shadows the entire time, never saying a word the entire proceeding, despite having been introduced as one of the investigators.
Looking like he was about to explode, Fudge finally controlled his rage enough to get out, "Very well, very well...cleared of all charges."
With surprising haste, Dumbledore leapt up, and after a quick, "Excellent — Well, I must be getting along. Good-day to you all," disappeared out the door before anyone had a clue what had happened.
But Harry was paying little attention to that, too much in a hurry himself to get over to Hermione to pay attention to what the headmaster was doing. Speed walking over to where Hermione had entered the benches next to the door, he found her already waiting for him at the bottom, and as soon as he was within range, she threw her arms around him tightly, planting her lips passionately on his.
When she finally broke apart from him, she said with a smirk, "Told you you were innocent."
"Yes, well, I'm still glad it's over and official," answered Harry. "Now let's get out of here and go wake up Tonks and tell her the good news."
They began returning to the Atrium the same way they had arrived, though at a much more relaxed, leisurely pace this time, but no sooner had they walked hand in hand back to the Department of Mysteries to catch the lift to the Atrium, than they ran across Lucius Malfoy talking quietly off to the side with the Minister himself, who'd been the first to exit the courtroom after Dumbledore just a few minutes earlier.
"Well, well, well...Patronus Potter," drawled Mr Malfoy coldly when he caught sight of Harry.
"Been to any more late-night graveyard meetings?" riposted Harry sassily. "Also, how exactly do you know I was on trial for using the Patronus Charm to save my life, given the fact it was never in the Daily Prophet, and from everything I could see, was a very hushed-up trial that you weren't part of?"
"The Minister here was just telling me everything about your lucky escape in your trial," drawled Mr Malfoy in reply. "Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes...snakelike, in fact."
"Yeah, well, that tends to happen when you're innocent — or simply more powerful in a duel if it's that kind of situation," replied Harry smugly. "Might also have something to do with the fact the Sorting Hat did offer to put me Slytherin if I wanted it, but I decided to turn down the offer and go with a House known more for bravery and doing the right thing than for pumping out Death Eaters. I mean, it is only Slytherins currently serving time in Azkaban for being Death Eaters and following Voldemort, isn't it? Or am I mistaken?"
As neither Malfoy nor Fudge could deny the fact every single convicted (or at least thrown in Azkaban without a trial) Death Eater currently serving time in Azkaban was in fact from Slytherin House, they both just glared down on Harry and Hermione icily.
But fortunately at that moment the lift arrived, and Harry and Hermione stepped inside, leaving Mr Malfoy and the Minister behind to continue whatever conversation they had been having before the two students walked up. Arriving back at the house elf apparation square a few minutes later, Harry called Zizi to take them back home, and in no time they were landing back in the entrance hall of Potter Manor.
Strolling through the halls to Tonks's room, Harry pushed open the door and Hermione conjured a pillow and chucked it at the sleeping girl's head, who promptly startled awake and fell out of the bed.
Looking over at who'd interrupted her sleep, she smiled brightly upon seeing her two favorite people, and said, "Congratulations, I assume, since you're here and not in Azkaban."
"All cleared," replied Harry. "Fudge sure as hell wasn't happy about it, though."
"And the sky is blue," said Tonks as she walked over to them, giving Harry a big hug, and then Hermione one as well because why not. "But seriously, I am glad to hear you're free."
Chapter 42
A/N: To those commenting/wondering about why Dumbles didn't try to talk to Harry after the trial, I went with Dumbledore being more scared of Harry's connection with Voldy than wanting to try to bring Harry under the control of his minions for a measly two or three weeks. Same reason in the book he never visited Harry at Grimmauld Place, ran away from Harry at the trial, etc. He's playing the long game.
A/N 2: And Toad only spoke after Dumbles brought up Voldemort and accused the Ministry, which imo were ill-advised, political moves in what was supposed to be a trial about Harry, so I used Harry to keep the trial actually on track, so she never had a reason to speak.
The last two and a half weeks of summer were the best summer weeks Harry could ever remember.
He was with Hermione the whole time, Tonks whenever she wasn't working or keeping abreast with the goings-on of the Order, and in his own house away from both his relatives and the Weasleys. He wouldn't have minded inviting the twins over, especially to practice Quidditch with them, but it was too much of a risk that the Matriarch could drag Harry's location out of them somehow, and anyway, he and Hermione would see them again as soon as school started.
But even though it was just the two and three of them (not including the house elves, who weren't really big on playing Quidditch) in a giant Manor on a large estate, Harry was never bored. Hermione kept him busy learning spells she thought they would be learning that upcoming year or she just thought would be useful to know, or teaching him what she knew about the reasoning behind why potions were brewed the way they were, so Harry would have a deeper understanding of the subject that would hopefully help him become a better potioneer than just being able to follow instructions written on the board. Harry kept Hermione busy flying around the grounds with him and throwing golf balls they had bought at a muggle shop in London for him to catch as seeker practice. And Tonks kept them both busy with stories of her own pranks she'd played while at school, telling them anything important she heard at Order meetings, and giving them beginning auror training to better prepare both of them for whatever Voldemort encounter seemed likely to occur at some point that year based on the previous four, along with joining in with Quidditch practice and flying whenever she could.
And so as the first day of term quickly drew closer, for the first time in his life Harry was actually sad to see summer end. He was looking forward to the new school year for sure, but he knew he was going to miss the freedom he'd had over these last few weeks of summer.
The day before everyone was set to return to Hogwarts aboard the Hogwarts Express, the booklists were finally delivered.
Harry and Hermione were laying in bed together languidly kissing when there came the light knock of a house elf on their bedroom door, who quickly opened the door and hurried over to the edge of their bed as soon as Harry called him in.
"Mail for the Lord Potter and Missy Hermione from Hogwarts," said the elf bowing, holding out their letters to Harry.
Harry took them both and handed Hermione's over to her, thanking the house elf before opening his letter. Inside he found the normal two sheets, the booklist and the reminder that the train departed at the same time on the same day from the same place as it had time immemorial.
"Short booklist," commented Harry as he looked over the list of two, one of which he'd had since one of his first trips with Hermione to Diagon Alley before she was kidnapped, since they were always assigned The Standard Book of Spells for the upcoming grade, so they had gone ahead and got it to be reading over.
But Hermione had been too busy looking at the third sheet that had been included in her letter to have gotten to the booklist yet. Glancing over at Harry she noticed that there didn't seem to be a third sheet in what he was holding in his hands, and she didn't see anything lying in his lap or looking like it was still in his envelop, either.
So she asked, "They did give it to you, didn't they?"
Harry looked over at her in confusion. "Give me what?"
"Prefect."
Harry's eyebrows rose, having completely forgotten that prefectships were given out that year. Quickly flipping through the two sheets he'd received in his letter, he finally said, "I don't see anything about being a prefect."
Hermione took the envelope from Harry's lap and turned it upside down, but Harry's prefect badge resolutely refused to fall out.
"How could they?!" she exclaimed, as much to herself as to Harry. "You clearly deserve it!"
"I guess McGonagall, or whoever picks, thought otherwise," shrugged Harry. "I mean, aren't prefects supposed to be leaders, and probably not students who have broken just about every school rule ever written?"
But Hermione had stopped listening at 'McGonagall'.
"That's it!" she exclaimed, leaping out of bed. "I'll write to her and get this all sorted out!"
But she had barely made it over to her desk when there came a knock on the door, and Tonks' voice saying, "Hope you're decent, cause I'm coming in!"
As Tonks pushed open the door a second later, Hermione rolled her eyes at the older girl and said, "Harry and I are dating, not married."
"Doesn't mean you can't make out a little," replied Tonks, before hurrying on before Hermione could point out that they made out quite often, thank you very much, "But that's not what I came here to tell you. I was at Grimmauld in the kitchen talking with Lupin, when Mrs W burst in practically squealing about how her precious ickle Ronnie was prefect — her words, not mine. So I came over here to warn you two that the redhead will probably be even more insufferable than before. He's finally got the limelight he's been wanting for years."
"Ronald?!" gasped Hermione in shock, and a tad bit of horror. "But he's the laziest person I've ever met! He'll never do a single prefect duty the entire next three years! Not to mention the fact he's done absolutely nothing to deserve it, and certainly not compared to Harry!"
"Wait — does that mean you got the girls'?" asked Tonks. "I thought maybe they'd snubbed both of you with all the shenanigans you guys have got into over the years."
Hermione held up the badge that had come in her envelope.
"Okay, that's just ridiculous, then," continued Tonks. "I mean, they are aware you two are dating, right? Which yeah, technically doesn't automatically mean you should both get it, but — it's you two!"
"My thoughts precisely," growled Hermione. "This is a travesty, and Professor McGonagall's going to hear about it."
Professor McGonagall was sitting in her office looking over her lesson plans for the upcoming year, when there came the tap of an owl on her window. Opening it up, she found a letter from her best student, Miss Granger. But the letter she found inside was certainly not what she would have ever expected from said student.
~.~
Professor McGonagall,
I would try to make this polite, but as school resumes tomorrow I quite frankly don't have time.
I refuse to do prefect duty with Ronald Weasley. He is lazy, rude, abrasive, abusive, and we both know he won't perform his duties as prefect without being drug out to do them, and even then he will only do them half-way. To be perfectly blunt, he has not earned, and does not deserve, the privilege of being a prefect. Additionally, he and I are no longer friends in case that somehow escaped the notice of the entire staff last year, due to his refusal to believe that Harry Potter did not enter his name into the Goblet of Fire. And despite having been locked up in the same house as him for three weeks earlier this summer, I cannot, and utterly refuse to, work with him.
In fact, the only boy I will be prefect with is Harry, since he is clearly the best choice for the position out of the five boys in our year. So I am sending back my badge in this letter, and if you decide to change the boys prefect to Harry, I will gladly accept it back. Otherwise, I refuse to be prefect.
Good day,
Hermione Granger
~.~
McGonagall stared at the letter for the longest time, stunned that anyone, let alone the girl who'd been aiming for prefect and then head girl ever since the moment she'd stepped foot into their hallowed halls four years prior, would turn down such an honor. Though after several more minutes, she began to actually think about the fact that Ronald Weasley had apparently been named the fifth year Gryffindor boys prefect, and she did have to wonder how that decision had ever been made.
While the redhead had always managed to be somewhere around the middle of at least Transfiguration his first three years at Hogwarts and the first couple months of his fourth year, if perhaps more often slightly below center than above, he had barely scraped by with a passing grade for the rest of the previous year. Which had registered as slightly odd to her, as the redhead and Potter's grades had always been relatively comparable up until then, Potter always better but not by a large amount and generally fluctuating about the same, and yet the previous year Potter had indubitably become the second best student in fourth year Transfiguration behind only Miss Granger herself, who was always first, while the redhead's grades had plummeted to Crabbe and Goyle levels. But as failing a Weasley stood slightly less chance of ever occurring than the wizarding world starting to call He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named by 'Voldemort', she hadn't had any reason to pay all that much attention.
And yet here, now, the redhead had somehow apparently been picked by Dumbledore to be the Gryffindor Fifth Year male prefect over Potter. But unfortunately, it appeared to have already been done, setting it in stone. The only way a prefect could be changed was if the current prefect voluntarily handed over their badge, like Miss Granger was doing, which even she had her serious doubts that the redhead would be willing to do.
And speaking of Miss Granger, the star pupil of the castle, the brightest mind she had ever seen walk those hallowed halls, guaranteed Head Girl in two years, refusing to be prefect? That was less probable than He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named digging up his father's bones and using Harry's blood to regain a body and return to wreck havoc on the world once more — or whatever it was Dumbledore had said He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named did in the graveyard. But as much as she wished she could write back a letter saying it would all be taken care of, that Potter would of course become the other prefect and life around the castle would be perfect again, she couldn't. So instead, she did the next best thing —
She begged.
~.~
Miss Granger,
I implore you to reconsider your decision. Once another prefect is named in your position, you will not be able to become prefect again, which will greatly reduce your chances of making Head Girl, as Heads are practically always picked from the seventh year prefects.
And I understand your desire to have Mister Potter as your fellow prefect, I know you two were able to spend a lot of time together last year and you being prefect and him not would cut down on that amount of time you would have being friends, but unfortunately that is out of my hands. Once the badges have been sent out, the only way one can be taken back is if the recipient voluntarily hands it back. You of course are more than welcome to ask Mister Weasley to return his, in which case Mister Potter would logically be next in line to receive it, but as school starts tomorrow and prefectships are set in stone for their three year term when everyone goes to bed on September first, you will need to act fast.
If you do change your mind, I will have your prefect badge waiting for you when you arrive at the castle from the Hogwarts Express tomorrow evening.
I hope you have an enjoyable final day of summer vacation, and look forward to seeing you again tomorrow,
Professor McGonagall
~.~
Professor McGonagall sealed up the letter and attached it to the snow-white owl's leg, and sent it back out the window into the cloudless azure sky.
A few miles away outside Hogsmeade, Hedwig flew down to Zizi, and the house elf apparated them both back to Potter Manor as soon as Hedwig touched down on her arm. Arriving in the Potter Manor kitchen a few seconds later where Harry, Hermione, and Tonks were enjoying breakfast, Hedwig flew off Zizi's arm and landed in front of Hermione, ruffling her feathers to shake off the post-apparation feeling — she really hoped her masters didn't ask her to travel like that very often, as she much preferred flying.
Hermione took the letter off of Hedwig's leg and read it, sighing as she did so. She had expected something like this, but it was still disappointing to find it out for sure.
Looking over at Harry, she shook her head and said, "No luck, sorry. Professor McGonagall says the only way to get you your rightful prefect badge is for Ron to voluntarily give up the badge they sent him, which we all know isn't happening."
"You really don't have to do this for me," insisted Harry for not the first time that morning. "I know you've been wanting this since first year."
"And I'd rather steal a nesting mother dragon's pre-born baby through a maze in a graveyard at the bottom of the Black Lake than do anything with Ronald," replied Hermione with a roll of her eyes. "We're not discussing this, Harry. I've made my choice, and that's you, and I don't regret in the least not being prefect with that lazy, abusive, now-gloating git."
Harry simply nodded, knowing better than to say anything more about it.
Meanwhile, at Grimmauld Place, Ron was jumping up and down in celebration.
He had originally been stunned silent as he read the letter from Hogwarts saying that he was prefect, as had everyone else after that who'd heard that he'd been made prefect, but quickly enough he'd convinced himself that not only did he deserve it, but that he was obviously the only choice for it, and was now going around flaunting his badge and new position exactly like he'd complained about Percy doing in years prior. Mrs Weasley had of course been even worse, even going so far as to essentially disown the twins by saying that Ron being named prefect meant that all of her children so far had been chosen as prefects.
But as part of Ron being named fourth prefect in a family of six to have reached fifth year so far, the Matriarch promised to buy him a new broom when she went and got all of their new school supplies, which she immediately set out to do. Now, Hermione, Harry, and Tonks had made a similar decision to go buy the one last school supply they didn't already have — Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert Slinkhard — since it was the only day left in the summer to go get it before school started and they would have to have it, since Hogwarts had waited until literally the last moment to tell all of its students what books they would need for the new school year.
So Mrs Weasley hadn't been rushing through Diagon Alley all alone for very long — since it was clearly much safer for her to shop alone than to bring any of her children who had numerous years of Hogwarts training — before she ran across Hermione, Harry, and Tonks strolling down the street enjoying post-breakfast ice cream sundaes, chatting away merrily.
"And what exactly do you two think you're doing here?!" she scolded loudly at Harry and Hermione as she stepped into their faces. "You could be—!"
She suddenly realized what she was about to say loud enough for anyone to hear it, and leaned in to whisper harshly, "You-Know-Who could attack you!"
Looking back up at Tonks, she resumed her loud screeching with, "And you! Letting them come all alone!"
"You do realize the pure stupidity of that last statement, don't you?" replied Tonks dryly. "They clearly aren't alone — they're here with me. An Auror. Member of the sacred Order you've put all your faith in to solve the problem of Voldemort's return. So if there's anyone who shouldn't be here right now, it would actually be you, since you're here without any protection, a known Dumbledore sympathizer, and to the best of my knowledge have absolutely zero war training or experience, unlike myself and Harry, respectively. And Hermione's a genius, she can take care of herself."
Mrs Weasley stared at Tonks in shock and outrage at being called out, until Tonks finally said, "Shouldn't you be getting on with your shopping? Four students to buy everything for, and time's a ticking. Goodbye."
And with that she set off down the street again, Harry and Hermione quickly following with her.
"Still trying to control us, even though we haven't lived in her house for almost a month," said Hermione once they were out of earshot of the woman. "Or I haven't, at least — Harry never has this entire summer."
"She will be who she is," replied Tonks sagely. "Can't help herself. Now where do you want to go first?"
Diagon Alley quickly became crowded with all the Hogwarts students and their parents coming to buy their books and other school supplies for the year, so the trio soon headed back out into muggle London to get away from the crowds. After spending the afternoon walking around muggle London, Tonks led them back into Diagon Alley, where she treated them to a fancy dinner at the one nice restaurant in Diagon Alley, as a going away gift since Harry and Hermione would be departing for Hogwarts the following morning, and she wouldn't be able to see them again for quite a while.
But eventually they made it back to Potter Manor, where Hermione packed up their last remaining book in each of their trunks, and made sure everything else had been packed up neatly as well, so they didn't have to worry about packing at all the following day.
Finally they went to bed, excited for the start of the new school year.
A/N: I don't know if or when this will be continued. It was my original goal to write 5th Year, but I haven't even started it yet, and I have other works I'm more into writing right now than this. So theoretically this will one day be continued, but I've said that on other stories I haven't continued, so I'm certainly not going to be making any promises.