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Yeah! Here's the new chapter!
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-Gryffindor Common Room – With the Golden Trio-
Harry and Ron had gone to Professor McGonagall's office, where she had returned Harry's broom saying that he had too good a friend for him to have given him such a gift.
She also apologized for confiscating his broom, but she also said that he should agree that he got a very expensive gift at a very bad time, since Black was still on the loose.
She then said that they should have thought logically before they decided to just fly on a broom that they didn't even know if it was cursed or not, which was very likely, and that as the Head of Gryffindor she had to take care of everyone, and that it included preventing them from killing each other over a cursed item.
After the little lecture and scolding they received from Professor McGonagall, they walked back to the Gryffindor common room, and the whole way through they thought about what Professor McGonagall had said.
Well, Harry was thinking about it. Ron was most excited about the broom and the thought of flying on it.
After arriving in the common room all the Gryffindors immediately noticed the broom in Harry's hands, and after Harry showed the broom to everyone, who celebrated the fact that their best player now had the best broom, he went up to the boys' dormitories to store the Firebolt.
Harry and Ron had just walked down the stairs from the boys' dormitories, with Ron going on and on about the quality of the Firebolt, but Harry wasn't paying attention to him.
The only thing on Harry's mind was what Professor McGonagall had told them, and he realized that she was right, and by extension, that Hermione was right too, even if she had tried to resolve things the wrong way by reporting the broom without even talking to him.
'But she tried to warn me about the danger of the broomstick' Harry thought bitterly.
"I still can't believe Professor McGonagall actually gave you the Firebolt back" Ron said excitedly to Harry, getting his attention.
"Huh?...Oh yeah," Harry said, still feeling a little guilty, but Ron didn't notice.
The two then walked over to one of the unoccupied couches in the common room and sat down.
"Well unfortunately it's raining so we won't be able to test the broom today" Ron said, and without waiting for Harry to answer he took a miniature wizarding chess from his pocket, placing it on the table in front of him.
He then tapped the chessboard with his wand and it grew to the size of a normal chessboard.
"I love shrinking spells" Ron said, looking happily at the present Ethan had given him for Christmas. He then turned to Harry, "So... do you want to play a match of chess?" he asked.
Harry looked at Ron with a blank stare, who was staring back at him hopefully, and just as he was about to accept the game since he had nothing else to do he saw Hermione entering the common room.
"Err, maybe another time" Harry said, getting up, and to stop Ron from insisting he pulled Dean who was passing by and sat him down opposite Ron, "Why don't you play with Dean in the meantime?"
And without waiting for them to say something he walked towards Hermione who had sat down at one of the tables in the corner to read a book, leaving a very confused Dean behind, who turned around only to find Ron looking at him with a smirk that gave him chills.
"So... let's play, Dean?" Ron asked, already arranging the pieces.
'Damn Harry' Dean thought, swallowing hard.
...
...
"Hey" Harry said stopping in front of Hermione, with a small smile.
"Hey" she replied with a strained smile.
Realizing this Harry felt a twinge of guilt in his chest, and taking a deep breath he began to speak.
"I'm sorry Hermione, you were right about the broomstick," Harry said, looking down in embarrassment, "And I understand you're mad at me, and I'm really sorry for the way I've treated you these past few days."
Hermione was a faithful friend, who never abandoned him and always helped him, and because of a broom he got upset with her, and thinking about it Harry felt like an idiot and a bad friend.
Listening to Harry, Hermione looked at him in surprise for a moment before shaking her head with a wry smile.
"I'm not mad at you Harry" Hermione said with a soft smile, which made Harry feel something rise in his chest, "I was sad that you were upset with me, but you were still trying to talk to me... The reason I didn't talk to you as much is because I was ashamed of myself" she finished sadly, lowering her head.
Pushing aside the strange feelings he was feeling, Harry looked at Hermione in confusion.
"Huh? Why would you be ashamed of yourself?" he asked.
"Because I acted behind your back, reporting the broomstick to Professor McGonagall without even talking to you first... I betray your trust in me," Hermione said, with a guilty look and crestfallen eyes, "So I guess I'm the one who should apologize to you" she finished.
"Oh... Well..." Harry started not knowing what to say, until an idea came to his mind, "So how about we do it like this, I forgive you if you forgive me" he continued, with a look hopeful and a smile on his face.
Hermione looked at him for a few seconds, blinking in surprise before a small smile crept across her face.
"Well, in that case I forgive you then" Hermione said, unable to stop herself from smiling.
"Nice" Harry said happily, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders.
"Yes, but now if you'll excuse me I want to finish reading my book, so shoo" she continued, shooing Harry away.
"Hey! I'm not a dog!" Harry complained, but his eyes showed that he was amused.
"Yes, yes, whatever you say" Hermione said, "Now go off, go play chess with Ron or do, I don't know, some boy thing" She waved her hand, and without paying any further attention to Harry she went back to reading her book, hiding a big happy smile that was on her face.
And hearing this Harry rolled his eyes in amusement, but then he noticed the title of the book Hermione was reading.
'The Chronicles of Narnia? By Night?' he asked no one in particular, remembering that Night was the name of one of Hermione's favorite writers, and he only remembered that because she made a point of always mentioning him.
But that wasn't the only reason Harry was looking at the book, it turns out that he actually also knew who the author of the book was, and that he was his playful and slightly scary friend from Ravenclaw.
And he only knew this because the day Ethan had visited The Burrow they had asked him how he had so much money, and he had told them about him being a half-famous author in the Muggle world under the pseudonym Night.
Harry also knew that one of Hermione's goals in life was to find out who Night was, but for some reason he never thought to tell her the truth.
Shaking his head, Harry left Hermione to continue reading his book, and returning to Ron's side he sat down, looking with a strange face at Hermione, or more specifically, at the expression she wore as she read the book in her hands.
"Should we tell her that Ethan is the author of these books?" Harry asked in a whisper to his red haired friend, who looked at Harry confused before looking at Hermione who was happily reading a book with a dark red cover.
"..."
"..."
"...Nah, she'll figure it out on her own at some point" Ron shrugged, turning his attention back to his game of chess.
And listening to Ron, Harry glanced at Hermione, wondering how she was likely to react when she learned the truth, but then a grimace came over his face as he thought of what she would do to them when she found out that they had known all along that Ethan was the author of your favorite books, second only to Hogwarts: A History.
Looking back at Ron, Harry realized that perhaps his friend hadn't remembered the punishments he'd taken when he'd pissed off Hermione the last few times.
'Okay, if by any chance she finds out that we knew the truth, and she will, I'll tell her it was all your idea' Harry thought, and for some reason Ron felt a premonition that something bad was going to happen to him.
"Strange" Ron muttered under his breath, looking around warily, not noticing the glint coming from the look Harry was giving him.
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-Ministry of Magic – Minister's Office-
In the Minister's Office, Fudge was sitting in his chair reading some parchments that were on his desk with a half bored and half annoyed face.
"Creation of a new educational system, unnecessary" Fudge said, taking the parchment he had in his hand and tossing it aside on a pile of parchments.
"Approval for a law to prevent accidents with hair removal spells, denied"
"Invitation to opening of hair salon in Diagon Alley, ignored"
"Birthday party for the eldest son of the Talbot family... Hmm, they are not among my staunchest supporters, so denied"
"Release of a larger budget for a rehabilitation program... Obviously denied"
"More requests for donations and invitations. Denied, denied, and denied… sigh" he continued to take parchment after parchment, sighing in annoyance.
Fudge then picked up a letter with a light blue envelope, which had an elegant appearance, and he read the sender.
"A letter from the French ministry, irrelevant—" Fudge began, preparing to throw another letter onto the pile of useless parchments before his eyes widened.
Quickly stopping his action, he went back to reading the sender of the letter, being surprised to see that not only was the letter from the French ministry, but it was also written by the French Minister of Magic himself.
Very surprised as he hadn't expected the French minister to send him a letter, Fudge quickly opened the envelope and took out the parchment inside, reading the contents.
"Dear Mr. Minister Fudge
I'd like to know how your ministry's search for the convicted fugitive Sirius Black is going.
As you well know, we've had our share of Dark Wizards terrorizing the cities of my country, France, and we'd like to prevent another accident like this from happening again, and the best way for that to happen would be if Black was captured.
Everyone knows how terrible and cruel he can be, having acted as You-Know-Who's right-hand man, which is why we fear he'll decide to follow in his master's footsteps by becoming the new dark lord, and with the history of the Black family, this is very likely.
And it is common knowledge that the Black family has some French background, and I fear that if Sirius Black cannot gather strength in his country, he will come to ours.
So, to end this letter, I would like to know how close you are to capturing him, and if possible, I would like to be informed about the case.
Signed: Rémy Duperré, French Minister of Magic."
As soon as Fudge finished reading the letter, his hands started to shake as he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Damn" was all Fudge could say.
End.
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(End AN: I was watching the Oscars on Sunday, and for the first time I thought that all the winners really deserved to win.
Of course, I was sad because I was hoping that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish would win the Oscar for best animation, but Pinocchio was good too)