"I knew it!" yelled Ron, punching the air. "You always get away with stuff!"
"They were bound to clear you," said Hermione, who had looked positively faint with anxiety when Harry had entered the kitchen and was now holding a shaking hand over her eyes. "There was no case against you, none at all..."
"Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering they all knew I'd get off," said Harry, smiling.
Molly was wiping her face on her apron, and Fred, George, and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance to a chant that went "He got off, he got off, he got off—"
"That's enough, settle down!" shouted Arthur, though he too was smiling. "Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry—"
"What?" said Sirius sharply.
"He got off, he got off, he got off—"
"Be quiet, you three! Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on level nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. Dumbledore ought to know."
"Absolutely," said Sirius. "We'll tell him, don't worry."
"Well, I'd better get going, there's a vomiting toilet in Bethnal Green waiting for me. Molly, I'll be late, I'm covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner—"
"He got off, he got off, he got off—"
"That's enough— Fred— George— Ginny!" said Molly as Arthur left the kitchen. "Harry dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast... (Y/n), you too. We can talk about how the trials went."
Ron and Hermione sat themselves down opposite Harry, looking happier than they had done since he had first arrived at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, and Harry's feeling of giddy relief, which had been somewhat dented by his encounter with Lucius Malfoy, swelled again. The gloomy house seemed warmer and more welcoming all of a sudden; even Kreacher looked less ugly as he poked his snoutlike nose into the kitchen to investigate the source of all the noise.
"'Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you," said Ron happily, now dishing great mounds of mashed potatoes onto everyone's plates.
"Yeah, he swung it for me," said Harry. He felt it would sound highly ungrateful, not the mention childish, to say, "I wish he'd talked to me, though. Or even looked at me."
And at this thought, the scar on his forehead burned so badly that he clapped his hand to it.
"What's up?" said Hermione, looking alarmed.
"Scare," Harry mumbled. "But it's nothing... It happens all the time now..."
None of the others had noticed a thing; all of them were now helping themselves to food while gloating over Harry's narrow escape; Fred, George, and Ginny were still singing. Hermione looked rather anxious, but before she could say anything, Ron said happily, "I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening to celebrate with us, you know."
"I don't think he'll be able to, Ron," said Molly, setting a huge plate of roast chicken down in front of Harry. "He's really bust at the moment."
"HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF—"
"SHUT UP!" roared Molly. Clearing her throat, she turned to (Y/n) with a rather strained smile, not exactly sure how to begin addressing the girl. There was still a lot of tension between (Y/n) and the adults, but that didn't stop them from being worried over (Y/n) potentially being banished from the magic world.
In addition to that, (Y/n) looked on the brink of a breakdown. Her arms were folded and she rested her head in them, occasionally saying her thank yous to whoever served her something. She lifted her head enough to peer around the room.
"And how did Sirius's trial go?" Molly asked anxiously.
"Pretty well, I think," (Y/n) murmured. "We only had time to watch the video today... I think the only thing the Ministry could use against us there was the fact that we all knocked out a teacher..."
"Pardon?" Molly blinked.
"Oh, no. Nothing," (Y/n) said quickly.
"Knocked out a teacher? When? How's that related to Sirius?" Mary asked. (Y/n) looked to Ron, Harry, and Hermione for help.
"Well... We all tried to Disarm Snape at the same time," Hermione began slowly. "And with four people trying to do so, we might have knocked him out..."
"But in our defence, Snape was going to let the Dementors give Sirius one of their kisses!" Harry hastily added.
"Right then..." Mary murmured. Her eyes were dancing in amusement. "The trial?"
"I had to stop the video sometimes to answer any questions and I think I did a good job there," (Y/n) said. "The trial's probably going to be continuing throughout the week and the Potters are probably coming in tomorrow... I'm going to be exhausted. It'll take me a full year to recharge at this rate!.. In good news, I think I might be capable of getting Amelia Bones on our side."
"That'd make sense," Mary said. "Her brother was in the Order... And the Death Eaters killed all of her family besides her niece... Poor baby. Your situation could have been a lot like yours, Harry, couldn't it have?"
For the next week, Sirius's trial continued. The Potters were cross-interviewed by both parties, Olivander was brought in to examine Peter's and Sirius's wands, Kingsley had in fact been brought in to speak out against Sirius, and (Y/n) was getting very special treatment by the adults each and every day.
As things progressed, (Y/n) grew to care less and less about whether or not she was expelled and merely wished to prove Sirius's innocence. She also just wanted to be done with things and take a nice, long nap and maybe have time to work on her radio. She was proud of how much progress she had made with her radio. The only thing keeping (Y/n) going was knowing there was always a warm household to return to and no matter how things turned out and whether she was banished, she would still have a horde of people there with her.
"—live here at the Ministry of Magic—"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Hermione cried. Ginny removed her hands from the radio on which she was surfing the channels the radio could pick up on. The household was extremely surprised over (Y/n)'s ability to connect to both magic and nonmagic radio stations. Hermione turned the knob, listening.
"—Black has just been declared innocent and the Ministry has now shifted their search to Peter Pettigrew, who supposedly faked his death as our sources say."
"Turn it up!" Ron hissed. Hermione started turning up the volume.
"(Y/n)'s going to break down if we blow her speakers," Ginny protested. "Not too loud." Hermione stopped messing with the volume and nodded her head. The groups hushed themselves, listening to what was being said.
"(Y/n) (Y/l/n), a Ravenclaw student at Hogwarts has had a tough fight for Black's innocence and it was today that her fight has come to a successful end," the reporter said. "Many of you may remember just how many scandals Miss (Y/l/n) has been in last year; Breaking poor Harry Potter's heart, being quite the flirt and having multiple admirers, and quite the attitude. Miss (Y/l/n) has had quite the loss this year, losing her boyfriend only months prior to this trial... Here she comes now, accompanied by Mr and Mrs. Potter— Excuse me! Excuse me, might I get a word?"
"Oh, we really don't have much time for stops," Lily said.
"Real quick, I promise."
"Well... If it's actually quick, I don't see why not," James said.
"All right..." There was a pause. "Miss (Y/l/n), how are you getting along after losing your lover so recently?"
"I, as a sixteen-year-old, just won my first trial and you're asking me about my dating life?" (Y/n) asked coolly.
"That's my girl!" Marlene cheered
"Uh, well..." the reporter stammered for a moment. "Miss (Y/l/n), do you plan on eventually continuing your relationship with Mr. Harry Potter? Mrs. Potter, how might you feel about your son having a romantic past with such a rebellious girl? And Mr. Potter, what is your word on your best friend's innocence?"
"...We shouldn't have stopped, should we have?"
"Great observation, James."
"Are you mad?"
"Just a little."
"How romantic," (Y/n) sighed. "Why does he get the interesting question?"
"Literally," James laughed. "As much as I love my son, I don't think he has very much to do with this trial, does he? And my wife's world doesn't simply revolve around our son, does it?.. Would you have taken this more seriously if (Y/n) was a boy?" There was a long silence. "Anyways, your questions..."
"Personally, I'm quite glad that I was able to prove one of my best friend's godfathers innocent," (Y/n) said. "Even though the Ministry didn't have much evidence against Sirius in the first place... It's just a matter of giving the wrong people positions of power."
"I wouldn't have chosen any other girl for my son," James added. "But I really think that's the last thing on their minds right now. (Y/n) just won a trial, you know? A sixteen-year-old girl still in school and everything... A story for the history books, I tell you."
"And I very much do plan on continuing to be Harry's mother and James's wife," Lily said.
"Well, we best get going," said James. "As great as it was to talk about my favourite people, I've got places to be."
"I really can't tell whether or not I like that fountain," (Y/n)'s voice said, slowly trailing off as they walked away from the reporter.
"I mean, on one hand, I really enjoy the message," (Y/n) said. "If you stare long enough, you see how fake the confidence of the witch and wizard are— You know, because wizardkind has absolutely no idea what it's doing. But on the other hand, it really makes you stop and think about the injustice given to our fellow magical creatures."
Lily and James sighed in unison.
"I mean, house-elves are literally slaves!" (Y/n) exclaimed. "And the only reason they are is that a singular house-elf can take down a whole army by snapping its fingers! And centaurs, true Seers, but they're really looked down upon! And we've stripped goblins of their rights! You wanna know what wizards are doing? They're repeating Muggle history! Colonization, better yet!"
"Keep your voice down, please," Lily hissed. "You're going to get hate-crimed by a bitter blood supremacist or something."
"Then so be it!" (Y/n) fumed. "We need a change in the wizarding world or it's going to get worse! I mean, why do blood supremacists get to get away with their actions but the moment I open my mouth, I'm told to pipe down? And half-breeds can't get jobs because, what, they didn't get to choose their parents? It's unfair! When I graduate, I'm going to start my own department for the rights of magical creatures! Hermione will be right alongside me!"
"Were you ever considered for Slytherin?"
"Yeah, I was," (Y/n) said. "How'd you know?"
"You've got the ambition," James said. "Both you and Hermione... Lily did too."
"I believe that the Sorting rules have long since changed," (Y/n) said. "Even if I have the traits, I don't have the purity Slytherin looks for... I mean, how are you going to throw a bunch of kids down into the dungeons and tell them they're in the House that produces the worst kinds of wizards? Isn't that just setting them up for failure?"
"There's always good ones in the bad lot, isn't there?" said James. "Slughorn was a grand Slytherin and what a Slytherin should be... Regulus had a change of heart too, didn't he?"
"He did, didn't he?" (Y/n) smiled. "All because You-Know-Who didn't treat his house-elf nicely." (Y/n) was reminded of her need to talk to Regulus soon, though she chose against voicing this to Lily and James as she knew they would try and advise against it just as they always did.
"What do you say we go and get you a treat, hm?" Lily spoke.
"Like milkshakes?"
"I'm thinking something grander... Like a shopping spree... Our treat."
"I can't accept that."
"Why not?"
"Well... because I don't like having people pay for me."
"Ah, but it's only payback for clearing Sirius's name," Lily said smoothly.
"Hm... All right," (Y/n) agreed. "Not right now though."
"Oh, no. I have to work... I was thinking over the weekend. Perhaps after the Meeting."