Discovery

43.

Before we knew it, the day of Harry's trial had arrived. Harry and Mr. Weasley had gone to the Ministry early in the morning, and now we were just waiting for them to return.

"I'm sure he'll get off," Hermione said, though she didn't seem very sure. "The Ministry barely has a case."

"He always gets away with these things," I reassured her as we sat down at the kitchen table. "This isn't the first time he's done something illegal."

Hermione glared at me slightly.

"What?" I shrugged. "Are we forgetting the time you all snuck out to save the Sorcerer's Stone? Or the time Harry went down into the Chamber of Secrets? Or the time—"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Hermione said defensively. "But aren't you the slightest bit worried?"

Yes.

"No."

"Come on, Ella," Fred elbowed me in the rib as he took the chair on my other side. "You don't have to act all tough."

"I'm not acting tough!" I snapped, though my racing heart suggested otherwise.

"Whatever you say, love," Fred shrugged.

It wasn't long before the kitchen door swung open, and Harry and Mr. Weasley were standing in the doorway, looking relieved.

"Well?" Mrs. Weasley questioned.

"Cleared, of all charges." Harry announced proudly.

I leapt up from my chair, and Hermione and Ron did the same.

"I knew it!" yelled Ron, punching the air. "You always get away with stuff!"

"They were bound to clear you," said Hermione, holding a shaking hand over her eyes. "There was no case against you, none at all."

I hurried forward and wrapped my arms around Harry. The anxious feeling that had suffocated me all morning was gone.

"Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering they all knew I'd get off," said Harry, embracing me tightly.

I let go of Harry and glanced around the room. Sirius and my mother were toasting glasses of butterbeer, Mrs. Weasley 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 Mr. Weasley, 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 Mrs. Weasley as Mr. Weasley left the kitchen. "Harry dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast..."