Amie and the Army (Harry Potter fan-fic) Book 5 COMPLETED

Hogwarts delivery

The wait until Harry came back wasn't particularly long, considering he left early, and Amie didn't get up until hours later, but it felt longer. When Harry and Mr. Weasley showed up around lunchtime, Amie's stomach was in knots, but it turned out she needn't had worried. Both Mr. Weasley and Harry was smiling, Harry had been cleared.
"I knew it!" Ron exclaimed, punching the air. "You always get away with stuff!"
"They were bound to clear you," said Hermione, who was now holding a hand over her eyes. She'd been very anxious the whole morning. "there was no case against you, none at all,"
"Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering you all knew I'd get off," Harry said, smiling goofily.
Meanwhile Mrs. Weasley was wiping her face with her apron, and the twins and Ginny were dancing around, chanting "He got off, he got off, he got off..."
"That's enough! Settle down!" Mr. Weasley shouted, failing to seem serious, because he was smiling as well. "Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry -"
"What?" Sirius said 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," Sirius agreed. "We'll tell him, don't worry,"
"Well, I'd better get going, there's a vomiting toilet waiting for me in Bethnal Green. 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."

Harry sat down, and Amie, Ron and Hermione joined him. He told them of his hearing, how he was tried by the entire Wizengamot, which was strange, according to Mr. Weasley. Fudge hadn't let him talk, and accused him of lying, but then Dumbledore had come forth with a witness, Harry's squib neighbour, and after that Harry'd been cleared.
"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 on to everyone's plates. 
"Yeah, he swung it for me," said Harry. 
Amie noticed Harry looked a little distant for a second, and then suddenly he slammed his hand onto his forehead, making a grimace of pain.
"What's up?" asked Hermione, alarmed.
"Scar," Harry explained in a mumble, lowering his hand. "But it's nothing... it happens all the time now,"
No one except Amie, Ron and Hermione had noticed anything, they were all taking food and talking about Harry's escape. Ginny and the twins were still singing.
"I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening, to celebrate with us, you know," said Ron happily.
"I don't think he'll be able to, Ron," said Mrs. Weasley, putting down a huge plate of roast chicken in front of Harry. "He's really very busy at the moment,"
"HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF" 
"SHUT UP!" roared Mrs. Weasley. 

The days following the hearing were good in general. The spirits of the house had gotten higher, and Harry was certainly happier. But there was one person who was not acting happy anymore. Sirius had gotten moody, he was talking less to everybody, and he spent a lot of his time shut up in his mother's room where he kept Buckbeak. Amie used to go up there and talk to him through the door, but he always insisted he was fine, and she should go join her friends. One day when Amie and the others were cleaning a mouldy cupboard on the third floor, Harry told them of what he thought of Sirius mood, and how it must be about him going back to Hogwarts.
"Don't you go feeling guilty!" Hermione said sternly. "You belong at Hogwarts, and Sirius knows it. Personally, I think he's being selfish."
"That's a bit harsh, Hermione," said Ron, frowning as he tried to pick a piece mould from his finger, "you wouldn't want to be stuck inside this house without any company." 
"He'll have company!" said Hermione. "It's Headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, isn't it? He just got his hopes up that Harry would be coming to live here with him." 
"I don't think that's true" said Harry, wringing out his cloth. "He wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked him if I could." 
"He just didn't want to get his own hopes up even more," said Hermione. "And he probably felt a bit guilty himself, because I think a part of him was really hoping you'd be expelled. Then you'd both be outcasts together." 
"Come off it!" said Harry and Ron together, but Hermione merely shrugged. 
"Suit yourselves. But I sometimes think Ron's mums right and Sirius gets confused about whether you're you or your father, Harry." 
"I don't think that's the problem, if you ask me," Amie said, focusing on cleaning the cupboard.
"What do you think, then?" both Hermione and Harry asked.
"I think Hermione's right about him feeling a bit guilty, because I do think he'd have liked to have you here, Harry. He's missed your childhood, and you mean so much to him, you're his best friend's son. So now he's shutting himself off, because he doesn't want to do anything stupid,"
"Like what?" Harry said.
"Like beg you to stay," Amie said simply. Seeing that Harry was opening his mouth, Amie quickly interrupted. "I know, I know, he wouldn't do that. That's why I think he's feeling guilty, because he would prefer that, but he knows it's wrong,"
Harry shut his mouth and turned back to the cupboard. At that point, Mrs. Weasley entered the bedroom behind them.
"Still not finished?" she asked, poking her head into the cupboard. 
"I thought you might be here to tell us to have a break" said Ron bitterly. "D'you know how much mould we've got rid of since we arrived here?" 
"You were so keen to help the Order," said Mrs. Weasley, "you can do your bit by making Headquarters fit to live in." 
"I feel like a house-elf," grumbled Ron. 
"Well, now you understand what dreadful lives they lead, perhaps you'll be a bit more active in SPEW!" said Hermione hopefully, as Mrs. Weasley left them to it. "You know, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to show people exactly how horrible it is to clean all the time - we could do a sponsored scrub of Gryffindor common room, all proceeds to SPEW, it would raise awareness as well as funds." 
"I'll sponsor you to shut up about SPEW," Ron muttered, in a low voice so Hermione wouldn't hear him. Amie shook her head.