A story by William Beckett, using the characters and world of JK Rowling.
Chapter One: The Mysterious Mr Black.
Since the fall of Voldemort at the hands of the young Harry Potter, the world was a place which had known hardship and a difficulty. It was in an almost naïve hope that the world was now free of evil that the world turned a blind eye to its saviour. The baby was secreted away by the close friends of the potters and was to be left with his only remaining family. It was in this home of isolation with the warding world which Dumbledore had hoped Harry to grow up, free from his fame and free from those who would use it for their own gains.
With the benefit of hindsight it is obvious that a family who hates magic and hated those who practiced it wouldn't welcome this young soul with open arms. But that is the benefit of hindsight, and in the grand scheme in which Dumbledore worked this was not considered.
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For three years Sirius had to languish in the cells of Azkaban. Tormented daily by the Dementors and beaten often by the callous guards, wallowing in self-pity and righteous anger at his own foolhardiness Sirius took all the beatings as his punishment for failing his friends. It was during a regular session of beatings in which he first heard about Harry's disappearance.
"You Death Eater fuck." The guard growled as he punched Sirius in the stomach. The two guard holding him up by his arms let go, leaving Sirius to fall heavily to the stone floor. Doubled over in pain Sirius stayed resolutely silent.
"I hate when he does that." One Guard said to another.
"What?" asked his friend.
"The whole silent thing, most of them either cry their eyes out or spew off some shite about You Know Who." He relied.
"Yeah I suppose." Said the other guard with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Why so quite then rich boy?" One guard asked as he kicked Sirius.
Feeling his head being picked up by his now long and matted hair, Sirius looked into the face of his captor and saw hatred.
"Actually I don't care why. It cause of this traitorous bastard that the whole Potter families dead. You killed your friends and their son. You sick bastard." The guard said whilst knocking Sirius to the floor once again.
Two words rang out of Sirius's mouth which held of the sadness he had left in his pitifully thin body.
"Not Harry"
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That night Sirius lay on his bed in his cell, thoughts of all that could have been ran through his head. He remembered when he handed over Harry to Hagrid and how from that moment he had signed his own arrest warrant.
No longer would he languish here in this cell of stone whilst his god son was out their alone, if the world thought Harry was dead then he knew who he had to see. Dumbledore would answer to him and explain everything. Or he would be finally serving time in Azkaban for a murder he did commit.
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The news of Sirius's escape had been all over the newspapers and in the radio from days. Dumbledore sat in his office with his head in his hands and his half-moon glasses laid haphazardly on his desk. Those who he could rely on were even now scouring the length of Britain, whilst a trusted few where watching the Dursleys and Harry. It was through this that he had begun to receive disturbing reports of neglect.
With a knock on the door Minerva entered. "Any news Albus?" she asked.
"I am afraid not my dear, it would seem that our former friend Sirius has gone to ground." Dumbledore replied wearily.
"Yes I remember he was very good at that, he and James could disappear for hours. I always found them in the end, and they always gave me those stupid grins of theirs." Minerva said sadly, a few small tears falling down her face. Albus was at her side in moments with a comforting arm embracing her.
"It is often those who we care the most for who hurt us the worst Minerva. None of us could has suspected where Sirius's true allegiances lay." Reassured Albus.
A loud bark at the door of the headmaster's office interrupted the two aged professors. A giant black dog stood at the doorway, teeth bared in a loud growl. Its eyes never leaving the two professors it walked forwards menacingly.
"Albus how in merlin's name did a dog get onto the grounds." Minerva whispered.
"I believe that it new the way Minerva." Replied Albus.
With a quizzical look thrown his way Albus elaborated. "This dog is the answer the question that you have yourself for many years. How were Sirius and James able to sneak around Hogwarts in their school years?"
"Welcome Sirius I will admit I didn't expect you." Dumbledore said.
The Black shaggy dog quickly changed into the shadow of a person that both professors once new. The stripped prison clothes hung loosely from Sirius's thin frame, a number of tattoos could be seen through the holes in the ruined martial. But beneath the matted beard and hair Dumbledore could see the eyes of a man who had seen too much and held only anger in his heart.
"We always figured you knew but didn't do anything about it. Had a bet with James about it actually he had ten galleons riding on you knowing." Sirius laughed loudly. "Looks like I win that bet."
"Why have you come here Sirius? There can be no winning for you Sirius. You know that I am the better dueller, you shouldn't have come Sirius." Albus said softly.
"You think I came here to duel you?" Sirius laughed again, this time a hint of madness seemed to seep into his laughter. "I came here for answers Dumbledore." Shouted Sirius when he had finished his short burst of laughter.
"There is nothing in this world or any other that can make either of us reveal where Harry is hidden." Snapped Minerva defiantly.
"I can guess where he is all on my own Professor. I want answers to why?" he replied.
"Why what Sirius?" Dumbledore asked.
"Why did you send him to them? You know how much they hated Lilly and James, they couldn't stand magic. How do you think they will be treating him." Demanded Sirius, his voice rising as he finished.
"He wouldn't have been able to have a normal childhood in our world Sirius, and better to hide him in the muggle world away from those still loyal to Tom." Dumbledore explained.
"Makes sense, in a way." Sirius admitted.
Dumbledore finally managed to place himself between his former pupil and his deputy, all the while slowly reaching for his wand in one of his robes many pockets.
"But I must ask again why you are here Sirius, you already knew or had some idea where the boy was so why waste time and visit me. Wouldn't your former master have rather you finish what he failed to do three years ago?" Dumbledore enquired.
Sirius shock with anger and raised his fist at his former Headmaster. "You honestly think I worked for that piece of shit. You think I would betray be oldest friends to some mad man?" Sirius shouted, spit flying wildly from his mouth. He stomped forward, his bare feet making slapping noises on the marble floor.
"WELL DO YOU!"
"How could we not, you were their secret keeper. Only you knew where they were." Minerva sobbed from behind Albus.
"That's why it's my fault." Sirius he said as he fell to his knees.
Faced with the prone figure of the Sirius black both professors were taken back, they should have bound him and called for the authorities but Sirius's words had struck Dumbledore. His words were that of a guilty man, or a man who thought himself guilty. In his long life Dumbledore had seen and felt this way many times and a part of him needed to know the truth about that night.
"What is your fault Sirius?" Dumbledore whispered as he crouched down as if talking to a child.
"They're dead cause of me." Sirius whimpered.
"Through your betrayal of them to the Dark Lord?" Dumbledore asked.
"I told them it would be safer. That no one would expect it to be him." Sirius raved. He grabbed the folds of Dumbledore's robes and sobbed into them. With a hesitant hand Albus comforted the sobbing retch before him.
"Sirius, you need to tell me what happened. We don't understand." He implored.
"It was Peter, I told them to change the secret keeper because no one would have expected for James to not have picked me." Sirius explained desperately.
"But you killed Peter, don't try and blame him for this." Minerva growled, her Scottish accent becoming more evident with her anger.
"I tried to kill him. But the little bastard blow up all those muggles then transformed." He howled.
The next few hours were filled with questions and answers, Dumbledore was already partly convinced of his former pupils' innocence but he still produced veritaserum and Sirius gladly took it and answered anything he could. His memories were scrutinised by both himself and Minerva and neither could find anything that made them think Sirius was lying.
"Minerva, I do believe I need to owl the minister." Albus finally stated after many viewings of Sirius's memories. His words made Sirius sit bolt upright, taunt with tension.
"You miss understand me my dear boy, there has been a grievous error in judgement and you have suffered greatly for an old man's blindness." Albus said solemnly.
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The news broke the next morning. Sirius black had been taken into the ministries custody, but rumours were rife. Stories were passed around quicker than facts could come out. Many were entirely convinced that Sirius had killed thirty Aurors in an epic duel on the cobblestones of Diagon Alley, others said he had been caught attempting to assassinate the minster of magic himself. The truth had been whispered by a few but it was dismissed as fanciful, why would the mass murder Sirius black simple hand himself over to the authorities?
But the truth is often more fanciful then the wildest of imaginations, Dumbledore had learnt this in a long life of seeing the impossible and in a few cases doing the impossible. With Sirius at his side he had appeared in the minsters office in a puff of green smoke and flames.
Bagnold leapt from her chair and had her wand out in moments. With a wave of his hand Dumbledore disarmed his former pupil. "My dear Millicent, do not be alarmed. Mr Black and I have come to regale you with a tale which you greatly need to hear." Dumbledore said in a commanding tone. Mouth slightly agape Minister Bagnold was hard pressed for words for a full minute, which for a person who had spent a life time as a politician was an uncommon occurrence.
"That's Sirius Black Headmaster." Millicent stammered out.
"Yes it most certainly is minister." Replied Dumbledore.
What followed next was hard to follow, Aurors were called for and guards posted at every exit from the ministry. Dementors were already in place waiting for the order to strike their latest victim.
For over an hour Sirius repeated his story over and over again. Veritaserum was used again with Sirius's consent but it was still dismissible in court as evidence, for all its many pluses a witch or wizard skilled enough in occlumency could ignore the impulses to tell the truth.
With a sigh Minister Bagnold threw up her hands in despair. "Dumbledore you know that no of this matters."
"But it does, this man is innocent and has suffered for his failure with untold horrors. It must be put right." Dumbledore asserted.
"But he was found guilty for the death of Peter Pettigrew, no amount of veritaserum will convince anyone of this animagus story. We only have his word that the others were able to transform." She snapped back.
"As Chief warlock of the wizengamot I can call a gathering to sit in judgement on Sirius." Albus responded in his usual calm and comforting manner.
"You don't seriously expect them to find in his favour do you?" asked a bewildered minister.
"I most certainly do Miss Bagnold, I most certainly do." Responded the ancient headmaster, his eyes giving their signature twinkle.
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The Fifty members of the Wizengamot gathered so did a crowd of spectators outside of the ministry. People from all over London were gathering to listen to speculation which was on every radio station. Sirius sat chained to a high back black chair facing the gathered might of wizarding Britain. Only Dumbledore looked on him kindly, other faces who he had known for years seemed more interested in their surroundings than anything else.
There had been a low murmur of talking while the wizengamot waited for Dumbledore to arrive, while they would usually have attempted to remain unbiased and not discuss the forthcoming case with their peers it has become impossible for even the most open mined among them to conceive Sirius's innocence. All chatter died when Dumbledore strode into the court house, instead of taking his seat as the High Warlock he stopped beside the prisoner and faced his fellow Wizengamot members.
"We are here tonight to address an old man's mistake. A man who thought he knew better but has spent his life making the same or similar mistakes over and over again." Dumbledore exclaimed loudly.
Edging forward on their uncomfortable chairs each Witch and wizard became enthralled to the display unfolding before them.
"Three years ago Sirius Orion Black was brought before this council and admitted to his crimes, and in accordance with our laws and customs he was sentenced to life in Azkaban." Continued the Headmaster. Murmurs of agreement or recognition were his reply.
"I say that on that day we made a most grievous error. We mistook a man's guilt for admittance of wrong doing. We did not ask the right questions. Sirius Black was asked was he responsible for the deaths of James and Lily Potter." Dumbledore who had begun to pace back and forth in front of Sirius held out his arms in despair.
"In his own mind he was to blame. But that was far from the truth." Added Dumbledore.
Sirius stirred in his chains and shifted uncomfortably in the metal chair.
"Sirius felt a very really guilt. A guilt of failing his friends and placing his faith in the wrong person. As has been proven in front of witness Sirius Black is an animagus as were his friends James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. This extraordinary feet was achieved at an early age in Hogwarts, in helping a friend Sirius had laid the foundation for his own destruction."
A back bencher of the Wizengamot stood up from their chair "You can't be about to suggest that it was Peter Pettigrew who betrayed the Potters. He died for them!" The man bellowed.
The room's mood quickly changed, where intrigue first gripped their interest now anger began to surface. Many people had lost loved ones to the Death Eaters and all had rejoiced with the fall of the He Who Must Not Be Named. They all felt the Potters were owed justice, their own son who had gone missing the same night he banished the Dark Lord from their lives was owed justice.
"He sold out his oldest friends to the Dark Lord. His souls as dark as his name." a women shouted from somewhere.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please restrain yourselves." Dumbledore shouted over the growing chorus of discontent.
"It is true that the one we have exalted as a hero for since the Potters deaths was in fact their betrayer. Sirius always knew he would be targeted as he was the most likely to be the Potters secret keeper, and so they chose Peter. A friend since early adolescence who they thought they could trust with their lives. And the proof will be shown to you now." Dumbledore told those gathered.
Minister Bagnold stood from her seat and waited for the attention of her peers. "Until three years ago we didn't know who we could trust, we didn't know who of our friends or colleagues were going to be unmasked as a traitor. Once two people could stand before a court like this and swear an oath on each other's lives that what they said was true."
Dumbledore slowly reached into his robes pocket and produced his wand. With a swish Sirius's chains were gone, and he slowly rose from the chair. A slight gasp rang through the Wizengamot but they quickly returned to silence, because what they were about to see could result in the deaths of one of the greatest wizards of living memory.
"Take my hand Sirius and tell them the truth." Dumbledore whispered. With a shaky hand Sirius gripped the forearm of his former professor who returned the hold. With another wave of his wand a fiery strain of light spread from Dumbledore's arm and raped itself around until it reached Sirius's arm. Then another different coloured light came from Sirius upper arm, it was a light of pure white. It rapped itself around his arm until it came to Dumbledore's hand, where it joined with the other light and formed one.
"Sirius now holds my life in his hands, if he speaks falsely his magic will kill me." Dumbledore bellowed fiercely.
"I Sirius Orion Black didn't kill Peter Pettigrew. And on the night of the deaths of Lily and James Potter it was Peter not I who was the secret keeper." Sirius said while trying to keep his voice steady.
The joined lights flared and the Wizengamot held their breath. But Dumbledore didn't fall down dead, he wasn't engulfed in magic and destroyed. He stood with his hand on Sirius's forearm and looked at those sat above him.
"With these words Sirius has proved his innocence for the crimes he was convicted of committing three years ago. I move that all charges be dropped and for another investigation to begin on the events of that fateful night." Exclaimed the ancient headmaster.
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In a ramshackle house far from most of civilisation a boy was looking for his pet. No matter where he looked he couldn't find him, not amongst the gnomes in the garden or in his dads shed full of muggle things. Finally in defeat he did what any young boy does when he has lost anything and can't find.
"Mum!" a Percy shouted from the kitchen.
"What Percy?" replied Percy's mother from somewhere above him.
"Have you seen Scabbers anywhere?" asked Percy.
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Ok so it's an early draft of the new rewrite of my other story James black. Bit or a different back story but things will be similar but not the same as the old version.
Thanks for reading and please leave a message on how I can improve on things, but no flames please. Anyone interested in possibly being a beta please message me.
Thanks again.