She wouldn't give up, no matter how much pain she was in, Hermione was determined to keep going or die trying. She heard her name being screamed someplace off in the distance, felt the piercing pain in her arm as she was being branded, smelled all the blood that most likely was her own; but she wouldn't give the bitch the satisfaction of breaking her spirit. She hadn't come this far to throw in the towel now. She felt the body-weight lift off her and knew her life would be forfeited in a few seconds, she closed her eyes and thought of him, those beautiful green eyes, she never got to tell him how she felt, but then again they never really needed words to talk with each other, they often communicated just fine by glances.
Wondering what was taking so long, Hermione slowly opened one eye, it was then that she was brought back into the present as she was dragged up to her feet, she could now hear all the screaming and the yelling, having her head forcefully pulled back by her hair, she was forced to look up; what she saw from her forced perspective was hope. Dobby was sitting on top of the chandelier, he was slowly unscrewing the thing from its base, she didn't even care if she was crushed, so long as the nasty witch besides her perished as well. That's when she saw it, Dobby's foot had accidentally knocked loose a piece of the chandelier, it was falling at a rapid pace, set to strike her enemy right on the shoulder. This was it, Hermione thought, we are all going to die; but the crystal never hit them, she watched as it slowed its progression, she heard the battle in the background but her entire focus was on that now floating crystal.
Suddenly she was pulled away by an invisible force, the chandelier came crashing down, she was surrounded by familiar limbs, felt the pull of apparition, screamed when she saw the knife hurdling towards her, then suddenly she was awake.
Harry was struggling, trying to hold Hermione still, trying to keep her from hurting herself by hitting her head on the corner of her nightstand, he had already thrown up a silencing charm to shelter the rest of the house from her paralyzing, tortured screams. Harry knew exactly what caused those screams, as her nightmare was being broadcast over their bond, he could see and feel every pain, every emotion, he heard every thought that was going through his beautiful wife's head. It was pure torture to relive that particular moment in time, but he had to keep himself strong, Hermione needed him.
Hermione's eyes shot open and searched the room frantically, taking a deep breath she kept repeating over and over to herself, it was just a dream, you're okay, it was just a dream, you're okay. Harry sighed with relief as Hermione seemed to be back with him once more. 'Merlin Mione, is that what you go through on a nightly basis?' Harry asked, curious if there was anyway to prevent her from having that nightmare again. 'No, I haven't had that particular nightmare since Fred's funeral' Hermione sighed, noticing that her throat was raw. 'Was I loud? Did I wake you up?' Hermione asked, a little embarrassed.
"Hermione, there is no reason to feel embarrassed. We have both seen some gruesome things, and yes you were quite loud, I was able to place a silencing charm on the room though, I didn't think your parents would handle your tortured screaming all to well. I was barely able to stay in control as you were broadcasting the whole thing thru our bond." Harry said while pulling her into a loving embrace.
"You could see everything?" Hermione croaked out. "Yes my love, and it was bloody terrifying." Harry said with a shiver, "Come, let's get dressed and we can get you a warm cup of tea to soothe your throat." Pulling her up with himself as he stood, Harry placed a gentle kiss on her temple as he left her to her morning routine, he himself exited the room in what was becoming his morning routine of walking to the guest bathroom.
Hermione wasn't the only person having horrible nightmares that morning, one scraggly looking man with long black hair and haunted grey eyes, was currently in a dementor induced nightmare, screaming as he looked upon the dead body of his brother in all but blood. Unlike Hermione, who had endured several horrifying events that pick and choose when they would haunt her, Sirius Black was forced to relive the same dream day in and day out, as entrusting his best friends family to a rat was his biggest regret in life.
Sirius had just awoken screaming, not for the first time that night, and was just getting ready to transform into Padfoot to escape the effects of the dementors when something strange happened. The ever looming presence of the dementors eased away until there was nothing but calmness, it wasn't an unheard-of experience, but it rarely happened anymore, who had any need for the reprobates who now lived in this wing of the prison anymore? The last time the dementor presence was completely withdrawn was roughly five years ago give or take, when Augustus Rookwood's family had attempted to get him released, claiming they had new evidence to prove he was under the imperious curse.
They lost, of course, and Rookwood was returned to his personal hole in the wall not even twenty-four hours later. At least he got an attempt to prove he was an arsehole…Sirius thought bitterly. Sitting up and resting his back against the wall, Sirius was attempting to talk himself in to taking a stab at eating what the guards passed off as his breakfast, it would be so much easier to imagine this grey, lumpy, gelatin concoction was actually a bowl of porridge without the dementors present.
He had just gotten the spoonful of fake porridge up to his lips when the unthinkable happened, his cell door opened, and Kingsley Shacklebolt stood in its place. "Sirius Black, you are to come with me without defiance, it seems some family has stepped forth with new evidence to prove your innocence." Shack said in that deep baritone voice of his.
Sirius didn't notice the blob of food fall off his spoon and into his lap, mouth left agape, Sirius wasn't even sure he was processing the tall Aurors words properly. In fact, Kingsley had to physically close his mouth and help him to his feet before Sirius even had time to realize he as stumbling into a waiting boat outside the prison walls.
Kingsley followed every rule by the book, he didn't want to take a chance of anyone claiming favoritism or foul play, Sirius was removed from Azkaban in full magic inhibiting cuffs, and a silencing charm securely in place, as well as hood over his head. No one would even know who the prisoner was, just that he was being transported to the Ministry for a trial hearing. He never believed that Sirius was guilty of murdering those dozen muggles, or the betrayal of the Potters. The Sirius Black that he knew from auror training would never willingly murder innocent people. On top of that the body of Peter Pettigrew was never found, anyone could chop off a finger, they had found enough pieces from the other victims, why was Peter different? Something just wasn't right about that whole crime scene, but who would have believed him, barely out of training himself at the time and an outsider to boot.
Amelia was to meet with Cissy and the Potters at nine o'clock that morning, it was currently six, and she had just finished getting the paperwork to have Sirius Black released from Azkaban signed by the Minister and had sent Shack to complete the transfer. Cissy was right, they had discovered that Sirius never had a trial, he was simply picked up at the scene of the crime and been thrown straight into the high security wing at Azkaban.
What the hell could Bagnold have been thinking? Hell, what could her mentor Barty Crouch have been thinking? It was foolish to send anyone to prison without a trial, as even people as guilty as the Lestrange's both got a chance to explain themselves! Something was very fishy here, she would love to ask Dumbledore his side of the story, as he was a very big part of the problem, being head of the Wizengamot at the time; but she doubted that he would give her a solid answer. For the greater good he would say, what a load of tosh.
Amelia was currently waiting for the head of the department for the misuse of muggle artifacts to arrive, Arthur was a good man, and she knew that he wouldn't have any issues bringing in his son's pet rat for an investigation.
The orb on her desk let her know that he had arrived, Jo's normally chipper voice seems a bit off as she announced him as he walked through the door, hmm it sounds as though Jo could use a good cup of coffee, Amelia thought as she asked her secretary to have some tea be delivered and told her to throw on anything that she would like to the bill, Amelia understood that Jo did a lot for her and liked to rewarded her with kindness anytime she could.
That being done, Amelia stood to welcome her fellow co-worker to her office. "Good morning Arthur, I hope you are well this morning." She said politely as she reached out to shake his hand. "Every day is a good morning when I'm not pranked before walking out the door Amelia!" Arthur said with a chuckle as he returned the handshake. "Ah yes, the twins, Minerva has made me aware of their aptitude for pranks," Arthur paled at her words, the thought of his boy's getting in trouble caused his heart to get logged in his throat. "She did say they had several products that with some fine tuning would make great enhancements to our department." Amelia finished quickly noticing the look every parent had when they thought their children were in trouble. Pride replaced the pale worry on Arthurs face as he beamed at her. "Yes, they are quite inventive pranksters, they have dreams of opening a joke shop here in the alley" Arthur said with pride.
Amelia had no doubt that the two would make fantastic products from everything that Minerva had told her, but she needed to get down to the original reason for this meeting today, "I have no doubt that they will succeed if they so wish to Arthur, but I'm afraid I'm running a tight schedule this morning and must insist we get down to the official reason I asked you to meet with me this morning." Nodding his head Arthur understood and asked her to continue.
"It has been brought to my attention that one of your son's is in possession of what is to be believed as an ordinary common rat? Is this correct?" Thinking this was an odd question, who cares about a smelly rat? Arthur confirmed that Scabbers did in fact belong to Ron, as Percy had handed him down when he received his owl, Hermes.
"A member of our department of mysteries was wondering if he would be able to observe your rat, he says that an ordinary common rat would only live for two to five years. They believe that you may be in possession of a mutated or half breed of magical rat and had requested to observe it in hopes of better understanding." Amelia knew that it was a strange request, however the department of mysteries employed some strange people, all set and determined to discover new and interesting things, she supposed the story was believable as they don't normally like to interact with many outside of the department.
Arthur just blinked, he did admit that Scabbers was rather unusual, and did suppose that he could possibly be a uncommon species of magical rodent… and so he agreed and had asked to use Amelia's floo connection to explain and have Molly pass the rat through. Amelia thanked Arthur and conjured a cage that she magically reinforced to prevent animagus transformation. She then invited Arthur to the hearing of Sirius Black later that day as she felt she owed it to him to see the real reason she wanted his rat, and because she knew the Weasley family adored Harry. Arthur agreed to being at the trial then excused himself after finishing his tea. Amelia didn't think that could have went any smoother if she tried. Her plan was coming together nicely, now all she had to do was make sure she didn't leave any wiggle room for Dumbledore to decide any other verdict other than innocent for Sirius; for that she needed Narcissa.
Sirius Black was shocked; he was placed into a ministry holding cell right after being allowed to bathe for the first time in almost eleven years. Oh, they allowed you to clean up in Azkaban, but a very small bucket full of cold sea water and a conjured sponge that would disappear in thirty minutes was not what most would call a bath. Sirius's bones rejoiced as the warm water washed away years of dirt and grime, he was looking forward to his first decent meal in years too, as even the meager buttered bread and carton of milk was like top sirloin and ale to the prisoner.
Sitting down to his 'feast' Sirius was joined by the last person he thought he would ever see, Narcissa Malfoy walked in and took a seat opposite of him. "Good morning Cousin." Narcissa said with a small welcoming smile.
Sirius's voice was a tad bit stronger than it was back in his cell, but not much, "What do you want Cissy?" Sirius asked in a scratchy tone.
"Now, now, Sirius, let me speak, your voice is still gaining strength, no doubt from its lack of use in the past several years." Narcissa spoke calmly, even though her heart was racing, "I am allowed to see you before the trial as it was I who asked for your case to finally be brought before the Wizengamot." The word shocked wouldn't do itself justice, Sirius thought, as he comprehended her words. "I know this seems sudden, and I'm positive that you don't trust me, why would you? I was on the opposite side of the war, and you probably believed that your mother was my favorite aunt. Everyone else did." Narcissa let a little bit of a nervous chuckle out, "I played my part well out of necessity, Andi and you rebelled against the rules and you got yourselves disowned from the family. I couldn't do that Sirius, I was already betrothed to Lucius, and you know as well as I do that Abraxas was not the type of person to cross." Shivering slightly Narcissa continued her reason for being here, "I hate Lucius with a passion, but I had to protect myself and eventually my son, from both him and Abraxas. I never lifted my wand against anyone unless I had to, I refused to take the dark mark, and made myself scarce at meetings with the Dark Lord." It was at her next declaration that Narcissa knew Sirius would either accept her or deny her, she wanted to tread carefully but could see no other way to get across her message in the time that she had, so she just went for it.
"It was brought to my attention quite a long time ago that the Dark Lord took precautions to preserve himself, your brother Regulus let me know as much before his untimely death at the hands of Voldemort." Sirius's face was frozen, a perfect O created by his shocked expression. Narcissa continued, "He was a turncoat Sirius, your brother was killed as he was trying to dispatch one of these 'precautions', I thought you should know." With tears now forming in his eyes Sirius asked a simple question, one that would be quite difficult for Narcissa to answer fully in the thirty minutes she had remaining with him. "Why now?"
As if to solidify her spot on the right side this time, a miracle walked through his cell door. "Because your godson would like to be able to finally live with his godfather," Amelia stated matter of factly as she took a seat next to Narcissa. "Hello Sirius." She said almost with a laugh at the look of astonishment on his face.
Walking down the stairs Harry and Hermione took a seat at the kitchen counter watching while Jean went about getting things ready for breakfast, Harry, trained from a young age to make the breakfast, offered his help, to which Jean gratefully accepted. "Thank-you dear, please don't feel like you have to, if I didn't make breakfast these two would only survive on toast and cereal." Laughing along with his mother in law, Harry picked up a knife and quickly and carefully, cut up the fruit she had laid out into tiny chunks for a fruit bowl. Cooking was always one of his favorites 'chores' to do for the Dursley's, and he would like to think he got quite good at it over the years. Seeing that Harry was comfortable enough with a knife and he wasn't going to cut himself Jean asked what the plans for today were as it was her day to attend to meetings and the like with the children.
"Well," Harry started as he switched from cutting up a melon to picking grapes off their stems, "today is going to be quite exciting; we have a trial set up for Sirius, my godfather, to get him freed from the wizarding prison, and then hopefully the rest of the day can be spent integrating him back into society." Raising her eyebrow questioningly, Hermione answered her unasked question, "Azkaban, the wizarding prison, is a million times worse than anything the muggle world could do to you, short of brutal torture." Hermione shivered just thinking about being surrounded by dementors, that got her thinking though, 'Harry, do you think we could still cast our patroni? Do you think they changed?' Harry thought about Hermione's questions as he was combining all the fruit into a big bowl. 'Yes, we should still be able to cast them, as we not only have more magical power now, but a lot stronger, happier memories to power them. As far as them changing, who's to say until we actually cast it, your mom seemed interested in watching you perform magic, shall we dazzle her?' Harry asked while raising an eyebrow towards her.
Thinking her mom would love the demonstration Hermione put forth their question, "Mum, do you want to take a break from breakfast for a bit, Harry and I have a theory we would like to test out and I think you would love to see it." Excited to see her kids perform magic, Jean finished up the pancake she was working on then set the skillet to the side as she walked out into the living room where Richard was reading the morning post. Harry and Hermione followed after placing a stasis charm on the food to keep it fresh and warm.
Harry went first as his was the least likely to change, with barely a whisper Harry cast, "Expecto Patronum!" Richard and Jean could feel a difference in the air, almost as if it were charged with positive energy, but they didn't see anything come from Harry's spell. Hermione gasped at the difference before she was suddenly curious as to why her parent's weren't reacting to the beautiful, now golden, stag that had just walked up to her nuzzling into her arm, when it suddenly hit her, they couldn't see it! Catching her thought Harry moved over to the two and placed a hand on each one of their shoulders, allowing them to see the magic for themselves, just like they had to do with the Leaky Cauldron; gasping Jean covered her mouth with a hand as Prongs became visible to her, now walking over and nudging her free hand with his nose. "It's so beautiful!" she whispered in amazement. "Hermione, are you able to produce something like this too? Is yours a Stag as well?" Richard asked in a voice a little louder than his wife's, he too was amazed at the powerful display of magic. Rather than answering her father's question out loud, Hermione, now more than a little curious to see if her patronus was also golden, simply cast. It was now Hermione's turn to gasp, instead of her normal silver swimming otter a beautiful golden doe joined Prongs in front of her parents.
Hermione couldn't help but stare at her changed patronus, they knew it was possible to have it change based on a strong emotion, after all they knew two people who's patronus changed due to major events in their lives, Severus Snape and Nymphadora Tonks. Snape's silver snake morphed into a doe after his best friend and love of his life passed away, a nod to her honor, and Tonk's had let them know her hare changed into a rather large wolf when she realized she was in love with Remus Lupin. Yes, it was possible for your patronus to change, but Harry was taken aback as a matching pair of patroni as this was a rather rare occurrence, the only other pair they knew about where his parents, add to that the fact that theirs both had changed from a wispy silver to beautiful golden hue and you were in a whole new ballpark all together.
Still thinking about the change in her patronus had Hermione basically on auto-pilot all thru breakfast, leaving Harry to fill in the time-frame for today to her mother.
"Ready to go dears?" a still cheerful Jean asked the two pseudo youngsters, as she grabbed the keys to her car, "we have a little bit of a drive ahead of us, we will need to leave shortly if we want to make it to the ministry on time." Agreeing with her, the pair joined her in the garage, hopping in the beautiful Land Rover, and heading into London.
They arrived at Amelia's office just in time for her to lead them down to the holding cells, she wanted to give Harry a little bit of time to speak with his godfather before the trial begins, as this was his basic right as family, Amelia knew no one would dare say a word about it. She had just heard Sirius ask her friend the one question she knew would take all day to answer when they had arrived, "Why now?" Deciding to make a grand entrance Amelia walked in and told Sirius exactly why he was here today, his shock at her answer and presence in his cell was minuscule in his unadulterated joy at seeing Harry walk in.
Harry knew he should school his expression, that he should act as though he didn't know who this man was, but he couldn't help himself; Harry was overrun with emotions at seeing Sirius alive and for a lack a better term, well.
Still having to follow procedures, Sirius was not allowed to be released from his chair while the door was open. Harry was informed the reasons why beforehand; they couldn't show any ounce of favoritism or leniency in the rules if they hope to have a fighting chance at Sirius gaining his freedom. That being said there was nothing stopping Harry from rushing up and throwing his arms around his godfathers' neck. Leaning into the hug Sirius was taken aback at how much Harry looked like James, tears stung his eyes as he finally got a good look at the kid he was supposed to have raised, speaking the words he had been wanting to say these past eleven years, "I am so sorry Harry that I wasn't there to raise you," Harry cut Sirius off, "Me too Sirius, but it wasn't your fault, it was our governments fault, they are the ones who placed you in Azkaban without a trial, something we hope to right today."
If Sirius thought he was surprised by seeing Harry, listening to him talk as if he was an adult was an even bigger surprise. Wasn't he just twelve years old?
Sirius didn't have time to ponder that question long as the thirty minutes were up and it was showtime.
Sirius entered the courtroom thru the floor while chained to his chair, once he was in the chamber properly he searched the public balconies until he found what he was looking for, sitting to his left in the front row sat Harry, squished in between a beautiful older woman, and what must be her daughter as one didn't have to look hard to see the resemblance. Both of them noticed he had spotted them and waived, It seems the Potter curse has struck again, thinking back to when James first declared he was in love with his 'Lily flower', except Harry seems to have done it a lot smoother than his old man. Resisting the urge to laugh Sirius focused on the task at hand, drinking the required potion to prove he wasn't given anything to neutralize the veritaserum, and waiting the required ten minutes for the results; followed closely by the actual administering of the truth serum and a few obligatory opening questions to prove it was working.
Madame Bones had walked the Wizengamot thru the tale leading up to Sirius' incarceration, she questioned several people, Barty Crouch included, about the reasons behind Sirius' lack of trial, brought to light the whole Peter Pettigrew situation, and asking Sirius who the real secret keeper was. Throughout this whole process Harry kept glancing around the chamber, seeing who was reacting to certain pieces of information as they came up, he also noticed when a rather tall, thin man with graying hair enter at the back of the courtroom. The man looked rather worn out and was wearing neatly patched clothing, he appeared to have tears shining in his eyes as Sirius was telling his story. Harry just smiled and sent a silent message for Hermione to follow his line of sight. She too noticed Remus Lupin the moment he walked in, how could you not, the man had become like a father to them after Sirius had passed away. Her heart was full of emotion as she wondered if they would be blessed with meeting the scarred professor just a little bit earlier than last time.
Amelia was pleased, the trial couldn't have gone much better and the Wizengamot was only out debating for a total of 15 minutes; when they returned Albus Dumbledore took the podium to announce Sirius a free wizard, and to inform him and the public that he will be compensated for the time spent wrongly incarcerated.
Albus then announced that the Order of Merlin that was presented 'posthumously' to Peter Pettigrew would be immediately revoked as a search for his where abouts began. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth Amelia immediately stood up and informed the governed body that she had already plugged up that leak, and asked Shack to bring in her most recent prisoner.
Arthur Weasley was emotionally happy for the son he all but adopted. He would finally have the family he wanted, not just the family that he chose. All that emotion dried up rather quickly when he noticed Kingsley Shacklebolt walk into the chamber with a cage containing his sons' rat, Scabbers. Getting a bad feeling in his gut Arthur sat back down to listen to the addendum to Sirius' trial.
"What is the meaning of this Madam Bones?" questioned a rather droll looking woman in a pink cardigan, "You stated that you had found Peter Pettigrew but in turn have brought us a common rat in a cage." The sickly annoying voice of Madame Delores Umbridge announced.
Freeing Sirius from the chains and handing over his wand that was confiscated from him all those years ago, Amelia asked him to assist her. Smiling a broad smile Sirius let his actions answer her better than his words ever could.
Sirius cast the animagus reversal spell while Amelia sent off a stunner, followed closely by slapping magical inhibiting hand cuffs and chaining the rat to the chair Sirius just vacated. As an extra precaution, Sirius placed a knee-high fence surrounding the chair, Peter wasn't getting away from his fate without a fight.
"He's an animagus?" Griselda Marchbanks inquired after all the modifications were done. "Yes," Sirius replied, "we all where. James and I registered our forms when we graduated Hogwarts and started in with the Aurors; for obvious reasons our registration was not documented on the normal registry, as aurors, it would be highly beneficial to help us remain anonymous while on a mission. To the best of my knowledge, Peter here never registered his form with the ministry of magic. Probably why he was able to survive so long unnoticed."
Arthur Weasley felt sick to his stomach, he had a traitor living in his home for the past eleven years, that man had slept in the same bed as two of his sons. He realized now that Amelia's request for the department of mysteries to observe his son's rat was false, she would, however, never receive any complaint from him, as she had served him a great justice today. Standing he wanted this justice to be made known, even at his own embarrassment at addressing the whole chamber. "Excuse me, Chief Warlock, would it be alright if I said a few words?" Arthur asked permission from Dumbledore. Upon getting approval Arthur continued. "I would just like to say that this rat, as I refuse to call him a man, has been living under my roof for the past eleven years as a pet to my two of my sons." Shivering he followed thru with his speech, "I am not only disgusted and appalled by this, but wish to make it known that Ronald, my youngest son, shared a dorm room last year with Harry Potter. Mr. Pettigrew has had access, and who knows what he could have done or will do, to Harry Potter, and no one would have known any different. Who's to say he couldn't have framed anyone's child in Harry's murder? I know I don't have much a say in the matters of the Wizengamot, but if I did, I would vote that the full weight of the governing body be placed on his head. Thank-You." There, Arthur said his piece, he just hoped his little speech helped Amelia and not hinder her.
Amelia was awash with joy, Arthurs little speech did more than just convince the Wizengamot, he carried the public vote to the forefront of the chamber and helped her more than he could ever know.
If people thought Sirius' trial was short, Peter Pettigrew's was even shorter. The chief warlock once again took the podium to announce the verdict after just five minutes of discussion. "It has been decided here today the 27th of August, 1992 that Peter Irving Pettigrew is found guilty of twelve counts of murder, two counts of assisting with murder, being an unregistered animagus, and for being a morally corrupt individual letting your so called friend rot in prison for your crimes, the Wizengamot here by sentences you to the dementors kiss, following, your soulless body will be passed thru the veil of death no later than midnight tonight."
Silence encompassed the chamber, the sentence was the harshest since the war against Voldemort, not even the Lestrange's, who were unquestionably the most hated witch and wizard in magical society besides Voldemort, had been ordered the kiss. Although shocked, no one made an argument against its fairness, they supposed if he could escape justice once, who's to say he wouldn't escape again. A rat after all could fit through nearly any thing. Pettigrew was forced into his form and placed back in the specialized cage that Shack had brought him out in, he would remain in that cage in the care of Shack until his sentence could be carried out, Amelia wasn't taking any chances.
Deciding to try and stretch her luck Amelia once more took her spot at the podium again, "Thank-you ladies and gentlemen of the Wizengamot, I ask for your time for just a little bit longer as I have one more prisoner in my possession that requires a trial, as we are all gathered here today, I feel like we could avoid having to all meet again in a few days' time." Amelia then began giving the information on Lucius Malfoy, she had agreed with Dumbledore that the wizarding public need not know necessarily about the horcruxes, instead they would just use Dumbledore's and Croakers word that the diary was loaded with dangerous dark rituals and spells that would spread discord throughout the magical world. With Narcissa's helpful tips, Amelia had documented proof of all of Lucius's other shady dealings. Eventually she convinced the Wizengamot to allow her to get some veritaserum in good ole Lucius.
Catching Lucius Malfoy off guard didn't happen that often, catching him off guard while getting him in front of the Wizengamot was even more rare. Lucius didn't even get the chance to try and talk his way out of a trial before he was given the potion cleanser and then the normal dose of veritaserum.
After a few questions to verify that the truth serum was working Amelia got to work. "Lucius Malfoy, did you attempt to give Ginevra Weasley, a book that would be classified as a dark artifact at Flourish and Blotts?" Amelia got a short and simple yes, and moved onto her next question, "Did you know what the book would do when in her possession?" Lucius was sweating bullets by this point, cursing the day he came up with this idiotic idea he answered the witches question, "Not really, I could feel that the book possessed powerful compulsion charms to make the user write in its pages, I could only assume that it would force the user to do the bidding of its owner, in this case I was hoping for it to release terror and destruction on the muggleborns." Gasps could be heard coming from all different parts of the chamber as Amelia continued her questioning. "Lucius Malfoy, did you join the death eaters on your own free will?"
Before he could answer a wizard stood up from the Wizengamot Panel. "I fail to see how that question has anything to do with this so called 'Dark Artifact' Madame Bones, Mr. Malfoy has already undergone a trial for his connection to the Dark Lord and was found to be innocent of all charges."
Amelia, never one to back down from a fight, would never let Cassius Parkinson, who she knew to be a death eater himself, question her motives, "You are of course correct Mr. Parkinson, however, the dark artifact that Mr. Malfoy was attempting to give to Miss Weasley happened to belong to Lord Voldemort while he was a student at Hogwarts. It seems that the muggle hating dark lord was actually a half blood himself, his original name being Tom Marvolo Riddle, he latter made up his Lordship by making his name into an anagram."
Parkinson, not wanting to bring any unwanted attention to his own ties with the Dark Lord, promptly sat down, Amelia asked the question once more to Lucius. "Yes, I joined the death eater organization after my father passed away, I wanted a share in the power and wealth that the Dark Lord had."
Once again gasps could be heard from all locations of the chamber, Amelia knew Lucius's goose was well and truly cooked. Not only did she now have Lucius guaranteed a spot in Azkaban, but any other followers that got off on the 'I was under the imperious' clause would be watching every move they made. Amelia, by getting this conviction, proved that no one was above the law, and that if you let yourself get caught, she was going to prove without a doubt what you promised was truth all those years ago was just that.
By the end of her questioning, Amelia got the sentence she was looking for. Lucius Malfoy would be spending life in prison for his actions against most of Britain's magical youth, and the attempted murder of Ginevra Weasley. He will be brought before the Wizengamot once more in two weeks' time to be charged with his crimes committed as a death eater.
With nothing further to add, and no other trials to proceed with today, Albus Dumbledore closed this session of the Wizengamot, and reminded the panel when they were to meet again.
Sirius Black couldn't believe it, he was a free man, a free man with a godson who he fully expected to gain custody of. Speaking of godson, he couldn't wait to see him, and be introduced to the beautiful women in his life. Sirius was just exiting the chamber when he was pulled quite suddenly into a very strong hug, knowing instantly who was hugging him by his smell.
Remus Lupin had a very particular smell, and Sirius being a dog animagi, could clearly distinguish the coffee, healing balm, and parchment smell that was uniquely Moony. Hugging his brother tight to his chest he could feel the man shaking. "Moony, its alright, I'm fine now, Narcissa of all people made sure I finally got a trial. Oh Moony, there are so many things that have happened to me within the last twenty-four hours, you would never believe half of them!" Sirius said with a chuckle caught in his throat.
"I'm sorry Sirius, I'm sorry I ever believed you to be guilty, I of all people should have questioned Peter's motives. Can you ever forgive me?" Remus basically sobbed into Sirius shoulder.
"Moony, will you stop your blubbering, if you continue to apologize then I'm going to have to apologize for not trusting you all those years ago with the knowledge of who the secret keeper really was, I'm afraid we went one prank too far." Sirius said with a choked sob as he thought about suggesting that Peter should take the position of secret keeper for the Potters.
"Oi, you both should stop blubbering, is that anyway to celebrate being a free man?" Harry said as he walked up behind the still embracing friends. "Hello Mr. Moony, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Harry had his hand held out with a soft mischievous smile on his face. James always had that same smirk whenever he was pulling off the biggest of big pranks. Remus and Sirius ironically thought at the same time. "How did you know who I am Harry? I have never been introduced to you before?" Remus asked watching as Harry rubbed his neck sheepishly.
"Not here, I will tell you both everything the moment that we are in a secure location. Now come with me, there is someone I want you both to meet." Harry said while backing away from them and heading back down the hallway to a room off to the side. Glancing at each other Sirius let his friend in on his hypothesis. "If I am correct, I do believe that our pup is going to introduce us to his lovely girlfriend and her mother." Sirius said while walking the direction Harry had left in, "I noticed him squished between two lovely ladies in the public gallery when I was on trial. Nodding his head Remus supposed that was as good of a guess as any and followed on behind Sirius, still confused as to how Harry even knew who he was. He couldn't remember me. Could he? Remus thought.
Upon entering the room Remus could see why Sirius would think Hermione was his girlfriend, the moment that they entered he had noticed Harry's hand intertwined with the lovely, bushy haired young witch.
"Gentlemen," Harry started out, "Now that we are somewhere away from the public eye, I would love to introduce my uncles to my lovely wife, Hermione Jane Potter." Harry said with compassion. "And this beautiful lady to my left is my mother in law, Doctor Jean Granger." Smiling at the Marauders shocked expressions Harry in turn introduced them, "Mum, obviously you know who Sirius Black is, but the other gentle man is my uncle Remus John Lupin, affectionately known as Moony."
Reaching out and kissing her hand, Sirius then just stared at his godson, arms akimbo, eyebrow raised. Sighing, Harry took out his wand and raised heavy duty silencing, notice me not, and muffilato charms around the room. Hermione then made sure that the room was free of anyone they didn't wish to be there and locked and sealed the door.
"OKAY, what the bloody hell is going on here, how can you two perform such magic, and how the hell do you know who Remus is, none the less that his name is Moony?" Questioned Sirius, voice cracking as it was still not fully used to speaking quite yet.
"Calm down Padfoot, or you'll hurt your vocal cords. And watch your language." Hermione scolded Sirius.
Completely perplexed Sirius and Remus took the seats that Harry had conjured and decided to listen first then ask questions later.
Harry and Hermione then proceeded to fill in their uncles on everything that had happened. Including the personal message from James. By the end of the story both men had given up the battle against crying long ago, hugging both of the children nee young adults, they accepted the story and promised to do everything they could to help the two. Even if it meant becoming teachers at Hogwarts and dealing with Dumbledore, they really did plan for multiple scenarios.
Remus also had to accept that James and Lily had left him some money in their will, a will that was sealed off and never read. Harry however, knew of the will and insisted upon giving him his rightful inheritance.
Else where a group of men had gotten together to throw an impromptu meeting. They had a lot to discuss, it seemed to some that open hunting season had begun on the old crew, they had to come up with a plan, they also had to discuss the facts that were brought to the table today in the trial of Lucius Malfoy. How could they follow their Lord, when he wasn't one? Not only wasn't he a Lord, but he was a half blood to boot. Although they were okay with half-bloods, they realized that they were lied to by the so called 'Dark Lord', and most being pureblooded themselves, were quite indignant about that.
"Hem, Hem," the gaudy looking witch in a pink cardigan coughed, stopping the conversation the men where having as they stared at the intruder, "Gentlemen, I think I have an idea why you all are having a meeting, and I would like to put forth my idea to help keep you all out of prison, all while getting a little revenge on that brat Potter." Delores Umbridge announced to the group.