"Sirius– Sirius stop!" Lupin was wrestling with Sirius who was desperately fighting to get to the door.
"Get off me, Remus!" Sirius growled like a feral animal.
The grapple was short. It ended the moment there were several pops from outside while the chill from the dementors disappeared. Sirius slumped in Lupin's hold, the fight draining out of him when he realized that Harry was already gone, whisked off to the Ministry to await trial.
"I don't understand," said Hermione in a mortified whisper, "How did they get in? They shouldn't have been able to. Not without–"
"Not without someone on the inside," said Lupin softly.
"But," began Hermione, "Dumbledore would never–"
"It wasn't Dumbledore," Sirius growled, fury sparking in his eyes.
"But he's the Secret Keeper," Hermione said in disbelief, shaken to the core. "He is the only one who could have–"
"That idiot. I'll wring his bloody neck," said Sirius, storming to a chair and kicking it.
"What are you going on about?" asked Ron, desperate for some answers as to why his best friend was in the custody of dementors.
"Mundungus," snarled Sirius. "I'll bet you anything the idiot never burned his paper."
Ron thought suddenly of the paper that he had been shown upon arriving to Grimmauld Place– inscribed with a loopy handwriting he had not recognized– written by Dumbledore himself. His father had burned it the moment his family had read it.
"If his stupidity just caused Harry to lose everything, I will wring the bastard's neck!"
"Sirius," Lupin admonished.
"Serves the Potter boy right. The one to bring about the fall of the Dark Lord. Kreacher knew it was only a matter of time before he got what was coming to him, but nobody asks poor Kreacher what he–"
"Oi!" cried Fred.
"What's Harry ever done to you?" asked George in anger.
"Not another word, Kreacher!" called Sirius, venom in his voice, "I won't have you talking about my godson like that, you lousy excuse for a servant!"
Mr. Weasley returned from the kitchen where he'd gone to contact Dumbledore and inform him of the situation. "Dumbledore is on his way. I've called the Order as well. Hopefully we can get some answers."
The fire roared to life, and out walked a disgruntled Tonks. "I'm here!" she announced, flustered, "Kingsley can't make it. He's wrapped up at the Ministry with Fudge. I've only just heard– What did they charge Harry with?"
"Treason," growled Sirius.
Tonks stared, "Where did Fudge get grounds for that?"
"We don't know," said Arthur slowly.
"How did they get in, anyway?" asked Tonks.
There was another roar from the fire, and Dumbledore stepped out, looking worn and stressed. The next blaze carried an expressionless, if not slightly irritated looking, Severus Snape. Then McGonagall stepped through, her hair frazzled, as if she'd just hastily put it up. The next roar of the fire brought with it two people, and both Sirius' and Lupin's bodies tensed. Mad Eye Moody limped through with an iron grip on Mundungus' shirt by the back of the neck.
"Please, I didn' even know, all right? I swear I didn'–"
"Stop sniveling, you coward," grunted Moody.
"Mundungus?" Tonks asked.
"Dumbledore," pleaded Mrs. Weasley, "What is going on?"
"It seems," said Dumbledore wearily, "That Miss Edgecombe feared for her mother's position at the Ministry. She went to Umbridge and told her of some incriminating activities Harry may have performed this year."
"What?" George cried angrily.
"That snitch," growled Fred.
"What incriminating activities?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "What is Dumbledore talking about? Ronald?"
Ron swallowed and looked to Sirius.
"You know how Dung reported back to the Order about Harry's defense group after overhearing them in the Hog's Head," said Sirius after hesitating.
"I knew it," said Molly in a low voice. "I knew that was a bad idea. Harry should never have gone through with it after Umbridge banned unapproved organizations with her decree–"
"It's not Harry's fault, Mum," said Ron quickly, "I convinced him to do it."
"Enough of that, Ronald," said Hermione, "It was my idea, Mrs. Weasley. With V-Voldemort back," Hermione ignored Mrs. Weasley's flinch, "We really had no choice but to take things into our own hands. We had nobody more qualified."
Mrs. Weasley looked ready to burst when–
"Good on him," grunted Moody.
Molly rounded on him. "Excuse me? Harry has been arrested! He is being accused of treason–"
"And he may have saved a few lives in the process," said Moody impatiently. "The boy is fighting. Give him some credit."
"That's not the point!" yelled Molly.
"There is no point here," interjected Snape. "It is done and over with. That what Potter did was incredibly stupid is irrelevant. We must view this from our current standing or we will get nowhere."
"None of this changes the fact that they were able to break through the Fidelious Charm," said Tonks.
"Nobody broke through anything," said Snape snidely.
"Mundungus never burned the address," said Moody, shoving Mundungus forward.
Dung stumbled before straightening his clothes. "It was a tiny bloody piece of paper, wasn't it," he said, trying to appeal, "I couldn't keep track of the thing."
"How did the Ministry get their hands on it?" asked Arthur.
"Let's just be glad it was the Ministry," said Ron, who was glaring at Dung, an intense fury pulsing through his tense hands. "And not Death Eaters."
"It was in my coat," said Dung, "And when some Ministry bloke tried to arrest me at Diagon Alley for selling my cauldrons without a permit, well, they searched me, didn't they. I had no idea that little paper was still in there."
"Are you saying," said Sirius in a low voice, "That Harry's safety, along with the Order's, was put in jeopardy for your bloody cauldrons?"
"Look, Sirius, I'm sorry," said Dung, "And I'm sorry that Harry got dragged into this–"
"If Harry gets sent to Azkaban," hissed Sirius, eyes wild with madness–
"Harry won't survive Azkaban," whispered Lupin.
"What?" choked Molly.
"The kid has the worst reaction to dementors I've ever seen," explained Lupin. "I worry what just one morning in their company will do to him. They affect him... more than they do other people. He used to faint in the presence of a boggart dementor. Azkaban would tear him apart. We cannot let it come to that."
"Harry's not going to Azkaban," blurted Ron. "There's no way Fudge can get away with this."
"I believe," said Dumbledore quietly, "That we can prevent Harry's going to Azkaban, Mr. Weasley, though you may not like my methods."
Minerva's eyes sharpened, "What do you mean by that, Albus?" she asked.
Dumbledore took a deep breath. "At Harry's trial at the beginning of this year, Fudge repeatedly brought up past events in his attempts to pin them on Harry on top of the underage magic."
"And thank heavens you didn't let him," said McGonagall curtly, like she knew where this was going.
"I do not intend to stop him this time."
Sirius swore violently and Ron's jaw dropped.
"Professor," said Hermione breathlessly, "How could that possibly work in Harry's favor?"
"It is a high profile case, Miss Granger," said Dumbledore, "This could be a chance to set everything straight. If Fudge delves deep enough, he will eventually find truths that he does not like."
"At what cost?" asked McGonagall, sounding as though she completely disapproved. "Have you thought about the emotional toll that may take on Potter? He is alone with dementors, and scared. You can't expect us to agree to put him through this, without him even knowing–"
"Potter's emotional state will be fine," sneered Snape. "I am sure that his fragile little mind can survive."
"Severus, you know as well as I how rough the Ministry can get with interrogation–"
"Interrogation?" cried Ron. "He's not a bloody criminal!"
"That is how the court will be viewing him, Mr. Weasley," said McGonagall, returning her gaze to Dumbledore. "If Dumbledore does not enforce the parameters of the case, Fudge won't hesitate to delve much further than is appropriate with an underage wizard. He will turn it into a full, criminal interrogation."
"I will not have Harry put through that," said Sirius threateningly. "Just get him out of this, Dumbledore. I don't care if the rest of the world knows about Voldemort. Convince Fudge and the jury that he's innocent and end it."
"I do not believe that convincing them is possible," admitted Dumbledore. "The only way to shred doubt on their own beliefs is to have them ravage for the answers themselves."
"But that's barbaric," objected Ginny.
"Indeed," muttered Dumbledore.
Sirius let out a long breath. "This is going to hurt Harry. You know that."
Dumbledore's eyes looked sad. "I do."
Sirius locked eyes with the older man for a minute, searching for something. After a while, he found it, because he slumped, and nodded. "Do what you have to do. Just keep him out of Azkaban."
"Then it appears," said Dumbledore, "That we have a trial to prepare for. We are all called as witnesses. I believe that we must be equipped for whatever may be thrown Harry's way."
Sirius looked at the ground in defeat.
Lupin put a scarred hand on his friends slumped shoulder. "Harry will come out on top of all this, Sirius. He's been through worse."
"Exactly," sighed Sirius, not mentioning the thought on the forefront of his mind: he hadn't been called as a witness. How could he have been? And now, when Harry needed his support most, there was no way Sirius would even make it into the Ministry, let alone the court rooms.
A/N: Review! Let me know if you are liking the idea!
