I don't own anything as you all know...

Sorry for the long wait, I went home to Sweden forgetting my computer in the flat in London:(

Do you want to see a trick?

Harry was relived to find that most of the Hogwarts students had chosen to ignore the kissing incident, Fred and George being the two loudest exceptions. They seemed thrilled every time Harry blushed at the mentioning of the Quidditch cup final.

"Will you stop it." they were making kissing noises behind him again. "Ah, but Harrietta…You can't lie to us." Fred said teasingly whilst George batted his eyes and sunk down on the sofa next to Harry.

"If you two don't stop, I'll tell your mom about your exam." Fred looked at Harry with narrowed eyes. "Tell her what about our exams?" George whispered suspiciously after falling down from the sofa with a bump.

"I'll tell her the result of your O.W.L's…" Harry couldn't remember the last time he'd enjoyed someone looking scared as much as he did right now. He ignored the scandalised look Hermione sent him. "You wouldn't." Fred finally exclaimed. "You're bluffing." George whispered, frightened. Ron, who was sitting next to the fuming Hermione, looked awed. "You know what they're getting?" Ron asked, clearly interested in the answer.

"I know what they'll get if they don't study…" Harry said in an effort to avoid the coming eruption of Mt: Hermione. The twins instantly relaxed, making Harry smirk. "…and believe me, it isn't good." he added, picking up a thick tome from Hermione's heavy load on the table.

Fred and George glared at him as they made it over to a table grumbling, emptying their pockets of schoolbooks. Percy soon made it over with his own books and soon the three of them were deep into their books. Hermione sent Harry a soft smile.

"That's scary." Ron muttered, eyeing his three older brothers with a shiver. Harry who'd gotten deep into his book already ignored Ron, whilst Hermione hummed absentmindly, looking through her papers.

"No…not more studying…" Ron whined, but as this didn't get the desired effect he picked up one of the book on the table and started flicking through it.

Things were going good between Ron and Hermione. It was mainly because of Ron's never ending awe at Hermione's courage to walk out of a class. Harry was definitely not complaining, with the lack of arguments.

Harry jumped high when Hedwig knocked on the window, wanting to get in. since he was reading the passage of a text he'd been looking for, he sent Ron to get her.

"They're bringing an executioner…" Ron finally said, looking hard at Harry. "It's not fair. Tell me what's going to happen. We're mates aren't we?" Ron shouted. Harry wasn't the only one hushing him for the tantrum. "Some people are trying to study, you know." Fred snapped as Ron sent him questioning look.

The exams finally started, making the whole school quiet and tense. Harry who had felt fairly sure of himself glared at Professor McGonagall as he walked out of the classroom. "What's wrong Harry?" Hermione finally asked worriedly, after some tense silence. "She made me transfigurate my hand into a watch!" Harry snapped looking at his left hand. "I wasn't that late…" he said in defence to her look. Hermione, who had spent five of his exam minutes trying to wake him up, just sent him a look.

"I was tired!" He snapped, glaring at her. "Did it work out alright?" Ron asked looking at Harry's hand, half expecting it to turn into a watch any second. Hermione finally seemed to realise what Harry had said.

"You transfigurated your hand into a watch?" she shrieked, looking pale."And here I worried about my tortoise looking more like a turtle…" she kept looking strangely at him all through lunch.

Professor Flitwick smiled when Harry entered the classroom and motioned for Harry to come forward. "If you would start Mr Potter by casting the cheering charm on Mr Weasley." Harry turned to Ron and soon had him smiling brightly. "Let's see now then Mr Weasley, if you can make Mr Potter smile a little today." Ron cast the charm on Harry making him giggle. "I see, no reason to ask if it worked. Well done both of you." the professor said cheerily. "Yeah, it worked fine." Ron snorted at Harry's words. "You're just happy we don't have Trelawney next." Ron laughed as they exited the room, missing Flitwick's curious expression.

The students looked very relived when they realised what they were doing for Hagrid on the Care of Magical Creatures exam after dinner. This was by far the easiest exam they would ever have to take. Unfortunately, this gave them time to worry about the next exam they had. Potions, with Professor Snape.

Harry who had felt sorry for Neville, who'd been shaking over his potions books since the week before, had used the Confusing Concoction as an example so many times that Neville probably knew the potion by heart. He was now rewarded as a smile slowly blossomed out on the shy boy's face, effectively making Snape's face darken.

Harry furrowed his brows when he looked down on his own worktable, were a recipe and ingredients had been put out.

It was a hard to-do truth serum, and when Harry met Snape's eyes at the end of the exam he received a nod and a very small O was scribbled down next to his name. Harry felt as if he'd been knocked on the head with a heavy cauldron.

Harry and Hermione had to wake Ron up three times that night to get him up in time for the Astronomy exam at midnight. Harry who'd never been much for Astronomy had a feeling he'd just about scraped an acceptable on the exam.

The exams on Wednesday passed quickly and soon it was time for the Defence exam. Harry caught Remus looking worriedly at him when he entered the obstacle course outside. Harry passed all of the obstacles without trouble until he came to the Boggart. He took a deep breath before climbing down into the trunk where the Boggart was hiding.

He closed his eyes for a moment clearing his mind and mentally preparing himself. Dumbledore feel down on his knees as soon as Harry's eyes snapped open.

"R-r-riddikulus." he whispered and watched in amazement as Dumbledore winked at him before standing up and bowing. "Excellent Harry." Remus exclaimed looking relived, Pomfrey who Harry hadn't noticed before now, nodded in approval. "I'm glad that you don't have any plans to visit me today, Mr Potter." She said walking up towards the castle. Harry blushed at the realisation that she'd only been there for his sake. When Hermione who'd been last of the trio to finish her exam finally made it over to Ron and Harry they set of towards the castle, Harry leading the way in a hurry. Ron and Hermione eyed him strangely, as he rushed on. "You hungry mate?" Ron asked. Harry ignored Ron's question and smirked at the sight of Fudge at the top of the stairs. "Hello there, Harry." Fudge said, looking a little tense. "Hi minister Fudge." Harry said in a voice full of awe, as if Fudge's presence brought him immense pleasure. Fudge blinked at the tone before getting a pleased and calculated look on his face. "Ah, a lovely day isn't it, my boy? Shame on the reason for being here though." Harry nodded solemnly. "I'm sure it will end to everyone's liking, sir." Harry heard approaching steps and quickly turned to Fudge again. "Sir could I…no…I mean to say, could I maybe show you a spell I learned? It won't work completely but I'm sure you could see if it's done right or not." Harry said in a hopeful tone as two men stepped up to Fudge. "Maybe later my boy, maybe later." Harry faked a disappointed groan. "Can I come down to Hagrid's later? I really would like to see you work, sir. I mean it's not everyday that the Minister for magic comes to school! Please sir!" Harry said doing his best to look young and awed. Harry could feel the disgust coming from Ron next to him. Fudge who had bought the whole thing, flushed in pleasure.

"Well I, if you really…"Fudge was beaming by now. "…why don't you, and your friends of course, come down to Hagrid's hut after dinner and I'll wait for you." Ron suddenly yelped in pain when Hermione stepped on his foot hard. He'd been on the verge of opening his mouth to tell the Minister, just what he thought of him.

Fudge didn't notice a thing, as he still had his attention on the awestruck Boy-Who-Lived.

"Yes, I'll tell you all about the important work of the minister." Fudge said, puffing out his chest in a pompous manner, making Harry grin hungrily. He couldn't believe how easy that had been.

"Are you bloody mad?" Ron finally ranted as the minister had left. "You were fraternising with the enemy." Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, hush Ron." Hermione said, earning herself a glare from the red haired boy. "What?" he snapped. "Harry just got permission for us to join Hagrid tonight." She explained patiently. Ron still looked peeved but soon got back to his good mood at the sight of lunch.

Time passed slowly as Harry waited for his turn to meet Trelawney. "Ah, my favourite little seer." Trelawney exclaimed as he finally entered the room. "This will no doubt be easy for you, but it's only a formality." Harry nodded at her words and got seated in front of the crystal ball. He was terrified that it would show him something again and so eyed the ball carefully. "So my boy, what news from the other side?" Harry who was relived that the ball was see-through sighed. "Um, the minister of magic." Harry said trying to think of something. Trelawney leaned forward in her chair listening with held breath. "Go on…" she urged him, looking down on the crystal ball. "Eh, he's shaking hands with Sirius Black." Trelawney gasped, making Harry look up at her. Her eyes were moist. "The talent…oh, my boy…" Harry eyed her strangely. "What?" he asked. "Never, leave my class. I have always wanted…and you…" She sniffed and patted his hand, before letting him rise from the chair. Harry had no idea what that had been about, but he was in a hurry to get out.

"It will happen tonight"

Harry gasped and quickly turned around. Why was she having that scary thingy again? He was changing things.

The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before. Tonight…before midnight…the servant…will set out…to rejoin…his master…"

Harry cursed, before leaving the classroom, he'd be damned if he let her ruin his plans. He hurried down to dinner and ate in silence with Ron and Hermione.

"Harry, Malfoy is trying to get your attention." Harry looked towards the Slytherin table at Hermione's words. Draco Malfoy was fanning himself with a letter sending Harry a pointed look. Harry gave him a small nod and quickly finished his food, before rising up from his seat.

"Come on guys, let's walk down to Hagrid." Ron grumbled, he'd just been about to fill his plate for the third time. "I don't want to walk with him." Ron whined as he noticed Malfoy slowly walking towards the door. "I'm pretty sure he feels the same way about you, Ron." Hermione snapped, looking eager to finally know what Harry had planned. "What did he say?" Harry asked as soon as they were outside the doors. Malfoy smirked at him, clearly enjoying his sense of power.

"He said that it was my choice and that I must have my reasons." Malfoy finally said handing Harry the smooth letter. "Thanks." Harry offered and started to walk towards Fudge who was waiting for them. "You can go now." Ron snapped, when Malfoy started walking with them. "Oh, Ron! Stop behaving like a child. If Harry trusts him then so should we." Hermione snapped, hurrying after Harry who had speed of to meet the minister. Ron and Malfoy eyed each other with distaste.

"I'd rather marry one of Hagrid's pets." Ron muttered after her, as soon as he was sure that she couldn't hear him.

"If things work out between you and Granger, then you might as well have done." Malfoy whispered back, after checking to see where Harry and Fudge were. Ron's face lit up in anger and embarrassment, he didn't have a chance to retaliate as the two of them finally had caught up with the others.

"Thank you so much again for inviting us down, sir. It's so exciting." Harry said smiling up at Fudge. "Don't mention it, my boy. It was no trouble at all." Fudge looked ecstatic to have Harry there and Harry sent him another flashing smile. "Do you attend all executions your self, sir?" asked Hermione curiously, very careful of her tone. "No, no not at all." Fudge answered, a little flustered as he'd completely forgotten about the others. "I was here to talk to Dumbledore about Black…eh…" He suddenly seemed to remember who he was talking about and with whom. Harry smiled at Fudge's nervous glance his way.

"Oh, don't worry sir. I'm not angry at you, I mean you're not the one who sent a man to jail without a proper trial. It was what's his name?" Harry turned to Fudge with a slight frown as if he had a hard time remembering something.

"Crouch, Barty Crouch!" Fudge spat. He was always compared to the other man even though everyone must know that he Cornelius Fudge was better as The Minister of Magic than Crouch had ever been.

"Yeah him! Why should I blame you for his faults? You would never send a man to jail without a trial." Harry stated forcefully. Fudge nodded at Harry's words and smiled. They had now reached Hagrid's cabin and knocked on the door. Harry was surprised to find Dumbledore already there, sipping on a hot cup of tea. "Headmaster." Fudge said, pulling Harry closer to himself as a statement. "Minister." Dumbledore nodded back, eyeing Harry curiously over his glasses. Hagrid glared at Malfoy with a cold look. Hermione elbowed Harry, who'd missed Malfoy's welcome. "Oh I'm sorry!.Did I forget to mention that Draco has changed his mind about Buckbeak?" Harry exclaimed innocently. All eyes turned to Harry. "It's just…I got so excited at the prospect of being near Minister Fudge that I kind of forgot." Everyone but Fudge eyed Harry as if he'd said that the sky was green with purple dots.

"Oh, but you're not allowed to use him for class demonstrations again." Harry said to Hagrid. Hagrid however didn't seem to register what Harry had said. He stormed up to Malfoy and gave him a bone-crushing hug. Malfoy looked absolutely peeved when Hagrid finally let him out of the embrace. Dumbledore looked between Harry and Malfoy with a non-puzzled look.

"Um, here you go, sir." Harry handed the letter to Fudge, who puffed out his chest in response to being the one handed the letter, and not Dumbledore. "Thank you, my boy." He boomed, glancing in Dumbledore's direction. The Headmaster had an expressionless face, much to Fudge's disappointment. "Well, everything seems to be in order. I guess I have to congratulate you on getting to keep your…eh, Hippogriff." Hagrid sniffed as fat tears rolled down his cheeks. "My little Beaky…everything worked out in the end." He sniffed again, blowing his nose loudly. "Well, I guess I'll just be on my way…" Fudge said. "NO! I mean, don't you want a cup of tea? Harry asked, accidentally pushing the milk jug of the table. "Oh dear, how clumsy of me. Let me bring another jug out. Do you take sugar in your tea, sir?" Harry made it over to the cupboard to get a new jug, smirking madly. Hermione, who'd seen him push the jug to the floor, moved forward in her seat. He put the jug on the table and faked a loud gasp. "Ron! I can't believe it, it's Scabbers!" Harry said pulling the rat out of the jug like a magician. Ron looked devastated, his face lit with disappointment. "But…you said…" He sighed heavily and looked down on his hands. "But this is great!" Harry exclaimed eyeing Fudge. "Can I borrow him for the spell I want to show the Minister? It won't hurt him." Harry asked Ron who just nodded morosely. Hermione leaned even further out in her seat, sure that the excitement was about to begin.

Harry drew his wand and eyed the rat in his hand with a smirk. He made sure that the minister was watching before casting the spell. A flash of blue-white light erupted from the tip of his wand. Ron and Malfoy both screamed when Scabbers the rat turned into Pettigrew the man.

Harry, who was enjoying the moment far too much, quickly set his face into a scared and chocked look. "Sir, what? How?" He stuttered at Fudge, who seemed to be in shock. "Peter Pettigrew!" The minister gasped, taking a step backwards. Harry noticed that Dumbledore had his wand out and felt reassured that Pettigrew was caught. "Who sir? Not the Pettigrew I remember? I thought he was dead, sir?" Harry asked in a small voice. Fudge suddenly turned to Harry with a strange look on his face. "You were telling the truth." He stated in shock. "What is to become of me?" He soon groaned. "What do you mean sir? You caught him." Harry said, watching as Fudge's brain caught up with what Harry said. He looked around on the people in the hut, nobody said a word to correct Harry and he gave a small smile. "Ah, I see. You knew all along that Sirius was innocent didn't you, and you set him free too scare Pettigrew." Harry said with the conviction of being right. "Yes, yes of course. We knew that Black was innocent, we just needed to lure out Pettigrew from his hiding place." Harry nodded to Fudge's words and beamed. "You really are the best minister there ever was!" He gushed, as Fudge coloured at the praise. Hermione suddenly had a coughing fit and went outside. Dumbledore too seemed to have something wrong with his face, hisbeard kept twitching. "I'll book a conference and…Oh, eh you wouldn't know where to find Black would you?" Fudge asked Harry carefully. "Of course I do. Hang on I'll call him over." Harry quickly exited the door and stood next to Hermione who had tears of mirth on her cheeks. "Well done! Couldn't have done it better myself." Malfoy said as he and Ron stepped out of the cabin to let the adults talk. Harry just shrugged.

"PADFOOT!" He called loudly. "WE' WE FOUND PETER, YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!" Hermione looked from Harry to Ron who eyed Harry strangely. A loud bark was soon heard and a ragged man came out from the shadows. Avery and the old man, who'd finally appeared, squeaked in fear at the escaped convict Black. Sirius looked from the waving Harry to the smiling Fudge and the twinkling Headmaster who still had his wand pointed at Peter.

"Ah, Mister Black. Good to see you, good to see you, really it is!" Fudge boomed happily. Sirius looked very confused with Fudge shaking his hand madly. Ron looked very excited at the sight of Sirius and kept rubbing his hands together in excitement. "Could I offer you my office for flooing to the ministry, Cornelius?" Dumbledore offered. Fudge nodded and ushered Sirius in front of him, afraid that his ticket into the next election would disappear. They finally made it up to the castle, after convincing Sirius that they weren't going to send him to Azkaban. Fudge kept talking to Sirius, saying that he understood how it must have felt having the whole wizard world against him. Being a minister is very tuff and tiring.

Harry was ecstatic when Fudge decided to call an emergency press conference to announce to the world that Sirius was innocent and that HE Cornelius Fudge had caught the sneaky Pettigrew. Fudge had known longer than anyone that Sirius must have been innocent, but as he couldn't go against the word of the last minister without proof, he'd been forced to see Sirius whiter away in the cold cell. "Ha, he thought he had a chance to make a comeback! Ha! We'll just see about that." Fudge muttered as they entered the Headmasters office. "Can I come and stay with you after my birthday?" Harry asked Sirius, before the Minister dragged him of to the Ministry. "Yes. Yes of course, I don't know where I'll live but yes!" Sirius said dazed. He suddenly pulled Harry into a tight hug before letting go abruptly. "Sorry. I've wanted to do that for a long time now." Sirius said looking at Harry with moist eyes. "That's alright. I want you to hug me, Padfoot." Harry answered, pulling Sirius in for another hug. "I'll find a place…" Sirius started saying but Harry interrupted. "Can't you move into Grim…" Sirius put a hand over Harry's mouth and looked shocked to hear that Harry knew of the Black family estate. "Where did you? I guess I could…" Sirius said in response to Harry's silent question. Fudge who was waiting by the fireplace after sending Peter of with an Auror, glanced at his watch. "We really ought to leave now, Mr Black." he said, getting Sirius over to the fireplace. "Maybe we could have an ice-cream or something when I finish school?" Harry asked making Sirius turn with a smile.

"Don't cut your hair though,if you're picking me up from the Dursley's. Aunt Petunia will freak out if the neighbours see you on her doorstep." Harry said, smiling at the thought of Aunt Petunias face. Sirius nodded curiously once before vanishing in green turned to the others still smiling. "Eh, right. I guess we'll just be on our way then…" He said, making Professor McGonagall, who'd arrived earlier, shake her head. "And to think that he's only in his third year…" She muttered as Harry and the rest exited the office. "Well, that was fun and all. Nevertheless, I have to be on my way. Count me in for next time though." Malfoy said before strutting towards the dungeon.

"Stupid prat." Ron muttered weakly, he seemed to have said it enough times for the rest of the furrowed her brows at him but refrained from making a comment. She was far to busy looking at Harry.

"Harry, why did Malf…" The opening of the Fat Lady interrupted Hermione. Behind it, two identical red haired boys stood waiting. "Is it true?" Fred asked looking at Harry. "That the mass murdering" George pulled at Harry's arm. "…escaped convict…" Fred pushed him down on a chair. "…Sirius Black, is free?" they both asked at the same time, looking down on Harry.

"Yeah, they're holding a press conference right now at the Ministry." Harry said, standing up and stretching. He yawned and gave them all a little wave before walking up the stairs. "But…HARRY!" Hermione called after him, sighing when he just continued. "I wanted to know what you did to make Malfoy change his mind." She grumbled, walking towards the stairs morosely. The twins and Ron looked confused. "What does she mean?" Fred asked Ron, who shrugged being just as clueless as his brothers. "Probably some Hermione made up intrigue." He muttered before he too walked up the stairs.