"I knew it!" yelled Ron as Charlie, Harry, and his father had arrived back at the house after the Ministry hearing. "You always get away with stuff!"
"They were bound to clear you," Hermione beamed at Harry as they all stepped into the kitchen, "there was no case against you."
"Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering you all knew I'd get off," said Harry, smiling.
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 like this, "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 the Minister as we were leaving. You reckon, Dumbledore ought to know?"
"Absolutely," said Sirius at once. "We'll tell him, don't worry."
"He got off, he got off, he got off —"
"That's enough! Fred — George — Ginny!" said Mrs. Weasley, as Mr. Weasley and Sirius left the kitchen to discuss business further. "Everyone come, sit down and have some lunch."
Charlie instantly sat himself down next to Hermione, and across from Ron and Harry. 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. Harry proceeded to go into in depth detail of his trial, but what made Charlie's ears perk up was the fact that Dumbledore had shown up in defence.
"My grandfather was there?" he inquired with a raised brow — why hadn't Dumbledore made the effort to talk with his own grandson?
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"'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 potato on to everyone's plates.
"Yeah, he swung it for me," Harry said, addressing Charlie. "He didn't talk much after though. He just got up and left in a hurry..."
He trailed off suddenly; the scar on his forehead burned so badly that he clapped his hand to it.
"What's up?" said Hermione, looking alarmed, sharing a worried glance with Charlie.
"Scar," 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.
