Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, but that would be cool. Not that I'm into slavery, but it would be fun. The world is JK Rowling's, strictly. I don't make any money off of this.

A/N About halfway through this, Amelia will make a different decision than she did in the other fic, and this fic will explore how that affects Harry's life. Enjoy!


Thursday, October 1st, 1981

Amelia Bones looked into her glass of fire-whiskey. How could things go so wrong so quickly? The ambitious auror was on one of the quickest runs through the Ministry ladder in its history, becoming one of the youngest Head Aurors ever just a year ago at the age of 21. She had done this by adhering to the no-nonsense beliefs of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch. Quickly becoming his favorite trainee was a feat in itself, as it was hard for him to even notice new recruits that had less than five years Ministry experience. She was upgraded to Auror after just six months of training, and her performance in this war had her climbing higher and higher up the chain of command, luckily gaining more respect than resentment from her colleagues. Now, the retirement of Millicent Bagnold had Crouch eying her spot of Minister of Magic, and he had been dropping hints that Amelia had a shot at replacing him as department head if she kept up the good work, which nobody doubted would happen.

Not that it was easy to perform well in the Wizarding War. Voldemort was by all accounts almost successful in his conquest of Magical England. If it hadn't been for the leadership of her, Alastor Moody, who could have been her competition for the DMLE Head job if he wasn't a complete nut-job, and Rufus Scrimgeour, her mentor and actual competition for the job, the dark wizard would probably have won a lot more key battles and might have already taken down the Ministry. And Albus Dumbledore's "secret" vigilante society dedicated to fighting the Dark Lord was quickly losing its best leaders. She was certain that "Mad-Eye" Moody was a part of the dwindling group, though she had no solid proof.

That was the reason for her interest in the amber liquid in front of her. Normally she wouldn't touch the stuff, especially so close to one of the biggest possible promotions in her career. That ship sailed late last week, on her niece Susan's birthday. She had taken the new 2-year-old out for the day, playing with her at the park, buying her toys, and getting her ice cream for the first time, something that she had made Susan promise her parents would never find out. They drove around in Amelia's muggle car and they blasted the radio, having the time of their lives on the way to her birthday party. Susan's parents were Anna, a muggle pediatrician, and Robert, a Gringott's curse-breaker and Amelia's brother. They were waiting at their house, along with Amelia's other brother, Edgar, also a curse-breaker, and their parents. Edgar's family was also there, his wife and two twin sons, who were a year away from Hogwarts.

While she wasn't supposed to know, she had suspicions that Edgar had been in Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, just like her suspicions about Mad-Eye. She had a few school friends that she knew were part of the Order, but they changed the subject whenever she tried to ask about Edgar. Every time she had tried to confront her brother about it, he would tell her not to worry. Amelia knew that her career fighting Dark Wizards was dangerous as well, but it also came with the best protection possible, but she had no idea how the Hogwarts headmaster was taking care of her brother and his family. Although she was the youngest sibling, she still found herself worried about her brothers due to her career in law enforcement.

That day, driving around the town with Susan, Amelia had been having a blast. The little kid was just a bundle of joy, and had the most infectious laugh. She drummed on the wheel as she drove, while Susan sung at the top of her lungs from her car seat. Amelia wasn't close to being married whatsoever, had barely dated anybody while making her way through her promotions at work, and kids were far down the road for her, if at all, but if her future kids were anything like Susan, she would definitely be willing to have one or two later on.

As they approached the area of her brother's house, she got the most sickening feeling she had ever experienced. In the general vicinity of where Robert lived, the dreaded green symbol of a snake and a skull floated in the sky. Letting out a gasp, she pressed her foot on the gas and sped all the way to the house. She kept trying to soothe a crying Susan, but it was hard to focus on driving and calming her niece down while unable to take her eyes off of the mark as she got closer. When she got into the neighborhood, her fears were confirmed.

She floored it the last few hundred feet and skidded to a stop in front of the house. She then had to calm down Susan before going in. "Susan, darling? Susan are you okay?" The toddler nodded, sniffling.

"What is that thing up there, auntie?"

"It's nothing, sweetheart." It took all she had to not break down. "Auntie has to go in to check on your mum and dad, okay? They might not be feeling well and I just need to make sure they're okay and then I'll come and get you."

Susan sniffed again but nodded. She was being so strong. "I love you Auntie."

Amelia held in her screams of terror and anguish for the child. She kissed her forehead and got out of the car. After putting a quick notice-me-not charm on herself and the car, she put a half-dozen more basic wards on the car to protect her niece from straggling Death Eaters, though Amelia was sure that the Dark Mark meant they had gone and left no survivors out of her family. She entered the house, and her life would never be the same.

So she sat in the sitting room of her house in Little Whinging, which she had bought a few days ago. She had remembered that Lily Potter had told her that Privet Drive and the surrounding neighborhood were nice, if you got past Lily's dreadful sister, who Amelia never bothered to introduce herself to. She had felt the need to buy a house in a safe and quiet muggle neighborhood after she returned from her family's will readings at Gringott's. She inherited a lot of gold, which she already had plenty of, and title of head of the Bones family, but the most surprising bequest had come from Robert and Anna's will. After Edgar and his wife, they had named Amelia as Susan's guardian. It had taken what seemed like forever to even comprehend it.

The little girl was upstairs in her new room, hopefully comfortable. She had taken all of this so strongly, it was probably the only reason Amelia hadn't had a mental breakdown yet. It was also the reason she took the whole glass of the untouched fire-whiskey and poured it into a nearby pot. She sighed and went upstairs to her room, stopping at Susan's room. The image of the child asleep in bed erased all doubts of her willingness to be a parent right now. She would be the mother that Susan deserved, even if it meant turning down the DMLE Head job.


Sunday, November 1st, 1981

The first month went as well as could be expected. Susan had accepted what happened to the family with strength unheard of in a two-year-old. Of course she cried for the first few hours after being sat down and told that bad men had taken her parents, grandparents, uncle, aunt, and cousins away, and they weren't coming back. But the next day, it was Amelia crying on the couch and Susan comforting her, tell her auntie that everything would be okay.

Learning how to be a parent proved easier with the help of Amelia's best friend Andromeda Tonks and her husband Ted, who had a six-year-old daughter. They were two years older than Amelia, and Andromeda filled a big-sister role that Amelia didn't have growing up with two brothers. Both of them were as ambitious and success-driven as anyone in Hogwarts, something that was evidenced by their many successes in both of their short Ministry careers, but their many close friends in other houses and the fact that Andi had married a muggle-born Hufflepuff boy killed their chances of making friends with their fellow Slytherins.

Amelia finally returned home the night after Halloween. She apparated into the backyard and let herself in through the sliding door before collapsing onto the couch. What a day. Yesterday would go down in Wizarding history as the day Lord Voldemort finally died, seemingly inexplicably. Today would go down in Amelia's history as not only her busiest work day ever, but also the day after her friends, Lily and James Potter, were murdered.

Amelia hoped that the Potters' sacrifices would be recognized as much as the Dark Lord's fall, but she wasn't foolish. The public would look back on Halloween and remember Voldemort's death 99 times out of 100, and the one odd time would be dedicated to the Potters' remembrance.

She was a year ahead of them at Hogwarts, and despite the occasional friendly banter about Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalries, they were all great friends, though not quite as close as James' inner circle of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, or Lily's companionship with the Longbottoms or her own close bond with Sirius Black's cousin, Andromeda Tonks and her husband Ted.

Her friendship with the Potters grew even stronger when James became an auror trainee after graduating, along with Sirius. Due to the need to go into hiding, James' training was on hold, but Sirius had been become an auror a couple of months ago. Their large group had taken a huge blow last night, with rumors that Sirius Black was the one to betray the Potters and give Voldemort their location.

With a sigh she threw her head back and tried to make the best of the few hours she had been granted to come home and sleep. Susan was at the Tonks' house until tomorrow. Andi would be busy at the Ministry too but Ted had been one of the thousands of Wizards taking the day off and watched Susan and their daughter Nymphadora.

Sadly, sleep wasn't a luxury she could apparently afford tonight. Thoughts of the recent deaths couldn't escape her mind. First the Prewitt brothers, then her entire family, save Susan. The McKinnons were killed three weeks after that, and now a week later the Potters. And those were just the most significant names. They also happened to be people whom she either knew or assumed were all in Dumbledore's Order with Edgar, along with James' three friends and the Longbottoms, who were also in hiding. It was great that Voldemort was gone, but Amelia couldn't shake the feeling that horrible things would keep on coming. A lot of Death Eaters were still out there, and while some, like the Malfoys, were likely to cower away and pretend that they weren't acting of their own accord, there were those that were crazy enough to keep spreading horror, like Andi's sister Bellatrix Lestrange.

She decided to get some fresh air. With a wave of her wand, her Auror robes became muggle clothes. She exited her front door and started down the street, but was immediately put on alert. Someone had cut the lights in the neighborhood. Wand drawn, she disillusioned herself. She couldn't see her enemy, so they shouldn't be allowed to see her. In the distance, she could just make out the figures of three people. If one of them hadn't been the size of three men, she would have kept on assuming there was a Death Eater attack.

She stopped and stared, wondering what Dumbledore and his little band of merry men were doing in her neighborhood. Then her mind wandered to the rumors floating around. She hadn't been to the site of the Potter house herself, and hadn't been able to confirm the rumors, but she heard that there was a survivor of the massacre last night: James and Lily's son, Harry. How the baby had survived when all the adults were killed, including Voldemort, was beyond her.

It dawned on Amelia whose relatives also lived on this street. She also remembered the list that the Potters had made of places to send Harry if something happened to them. With the Dark Lord looking like he was focused on the couple as recruits, they knew that they had to get things in order quick. They made sure that their friends knew the whole thing. The list started with Sirius Black, but if it were true that he was a traitor and Death Eater, he was out. Next were Frank and Alice Longbottom, then Peter, then Remus. The list continued with Ted and Andi, and ended with Amelia herself. Apparently people saw some motherly qualities in her that she didn't see herself.

Nowhere in the list did Lily's sister come up, and if that didn't hurt the Dursleys' chances at getting the boy, it was the serious way that Lily had demanded that in no way was Harry to go to his aunt and uncle. They were horrible people that hated magic as if it were a disease.

Now Amelia's eyes narrowed. She didn't think the old man would be showing up to Privet Drive to pay his respects to Petunia Dursley and feel the need to turn the streetlights off. She got close enough to the house to see Dumbledore walking back from the door, leaving a small bundle on the doorstep. Accompanying the headmaster were his right-hand, Minerva McGonagall and, of course, Rubeus Hagrid, the giant groundskeeper that Amelia spotted from so far away. She was livid at what was happening, but she had to keep her cool. Dumbledore was technically guilty of kidnapping, so this was now work and it was her responsibility as an Auror to stop it.

Staying disillusioned, she approached the group. Dumbledore started to give instructions to his minions. "Minerva, I thank you for your advice in this matter. I shall fire-call you should I need any more assistance." The transfiguration professor nodded curtly and disapparated silently. "Hagrid, thank you for retrieving Harry and keeping him safe throughout the day. I may need you to find out where the giants are and see where their loyalties will fall now that it seems Voldemort has perished. Take the new motorbike of yours, that should make it easier."

"Aye, Professor Dumbledore. I apologize again for my ignorance las' nigh'. If I see that Sirius Black again..."

"Let me worry about that, Hagrid. Plus, I'm sure the aurors will find Black soon enough, isn't that right, Auror Bones?"

'Damn,' thought Amelia. 'How is the old geezer that good?' She reappeared with a smirk on her face, but her wand out and ready to aim if needed. "Professor Dumbledore, I think you forgot something on that doorstep. Also, as someone who knows that the list of little Harry's intended guardians that has been submitted to both Gringott's and the Ministry contains neither you nor his aunt, I believe you are guilty of kidnapping." The ever-loyal Hagrid had a guilty look on his face, but still appeared stiff as if he were ready to attack her to protect his leader. Amelia didn't falter as her wand aimed for Hagrid's face.

Dumbledore remained calm. The manipulative bastard thought he was going to weasel his way out of this. "Dear Amelia, I had hoped to visit you after this errand about my reasons for placing Harry with his blood relatives. May we retire to your residence and have a chat? The Dursleys can play babysitter until afterwards if you further wish to remove Harry from their care."

That seemed okay. If she had anything to do about it, Harry would never see his Aunt and Uncle after tonight. "Fine," she said. "We will not be aparrating. We will be walking so I can keep an eye on you. Hagrid, you can go, but stay where you can be contacted." The humongous man looked wary, but Dumbledore's look told him it was okay. He mounted the bike that she knew to be Sirius Black's and took off. "Shall we, Professor?" She waved her wand to motion Dumbledore to walk in front of her, and once he waved his own at the door of number 4 to make the doorbell ring, he complied. They disillusioned themselves so as not to draw attention, but she had the feeling they wouldn't be disturbed. He had likely put up muggle-repellling charms on the street. Before long a scream echoed through the neighborhood from Number 4. Apparently she wasn't the only one unhappy about Harry's new living arrangements.

Once inside her house, Amelia led Dumbledore to the couch. He sat obediently while she went to the fireplace and stood near it, glaring at him. "So?" she demanded. "Why is it that you feel the need to place an innocent child there with those people?"

"Amelia, this is all about Harry's protection. I fear that Lord Voldemort isn't gone for good, and I have a way to keep him safe."

"Yeah, you're real good at keeping people safe," she said quietly more as a reflex than a conscious response.

"Forgive me. I never went to see you after it happened, but believe me, if there was anything I could have done, it would have been done. Please don't let Harry's fate be affected by Edg-"

"Don't say his name!" Amelia was going to lose it if he was going to use her brother's memory to convince her. "I lost my whole family because of your stupid Order, Dumbledore. My niece will never see her parents again! Why did you have to let him into your little club? Edgar had a family, and you made him and them a target."

"Amelia, your brother knew the risks. He gave his life to fight the forces of evil that he knew would target his family. He told me himself that he was glad to do his part to make his sons' lives better."

"That's what Aurors are for!" She couldn't take his vigilante bullshit. "You can't just put together a band of witches and wizards and pit them against Voldemort. There's a reason vigilantes are frowned upon."

"He was one of the bravest people I knew," said Dumbledore, getting slightly off topic. She couldn't decide if she believed the tears welling up in his eyes. "So were Fabian, Gideon, Marlene, James, and Lily. I don't enjoy it, Amelia. It rips at my soul every time I learn of another casualty of this war, especially when it was me who was supposed to be leading them. I don't want that to happen to Harry."

Amelia was quiet for a minute before she asked in almost a whisper, "How is living there going to protect him?"

"I believe that the magic that saved Harry's life was created when Lily died. Judging by her body's position right in front of Harry's crib, it appears that she died protecting her son. When Voldemort then tried to kill Harry, his mother's sacrifice protected him from the killing curse. It bounced off and hit his attacker."

"I don't see how that means he has to live with them," said Amelia. He had better not be wasting her time.

"I'm getting there. I instructed Hagrid to retrieve Harry from Godric's Hollow last night and has been keeping him safe throughout the day. I put an enchanted blood ward on the letter attached to Harry's blanket, extended from Lily's sacrifice. If Petunia accepts Harry into her home, which I am sure that she will, it will activate a strong protective ward around her home, made possible by the fact that she is Harry's blood relative. Anybody wishing Harry harm will not be able to enter the boundary of the home. That is why Harry needs to remain with his aunt and uncle. If and when Voldemort returns, or even if he doesn't, Harry will be the absolute safest as long as he calls Number 4, Privet Drive his home. "

Amelia didn't say anything to Dumbledore for a while. She thought he may have had a point. Even so, Lily and James made their wishes clear. Sighing, she said, "Drink?" When he nodded, he had a smile on his face that suggested he thought he had won her over. She walked over to the other side of the room, and grabbed a bottle of matured mead. With her back to Dumbledore, she pulled a small circular mirror from the bottom of the bottle before pouring two glasses.

She had it there for emergencies, already disillusioned. This particular one was really only to communicate vocally. She got the idea from James and Sirius, who had created them during their Hogwarts days to help keep in touch during detention. They were the closest thing to muggle telephones that Amelia had seen. She had spared no expense getting a set for the team that she led in the auror department, and also suggested that Rufus Scrimgeour get mirrors for his team as well.

Keeping her back to the man, she said, "What about James and Lily's wishes, and the people that knew about them? They gave us all copies of that list of places for Harry. It specifically forbids the Dursleys from getting him. I'm not the only auror that they confided in. Rufus Scrimgeour's a family friend of James and he knows the Potters' wishes." Her use of Rufus' name should have made his mirror to shake and heat up, and once he accepted the call he'd be able to see, and more importantly, hear through Amelia's end.

"If somebody comes forward with concerns, I will let them know the importance, as I let you know. Harry needs to be with the Dursleys. It will be the safest for him."

She turned. Now she'd have to let Rufus know the situation. "I just don't think you'd be able to wiggle out of the law, Albus. You used your influence to convince Ministry employees at Godric's Hollow to let Hagrid take Harry for you, then decided to put him with Lily's relatives, the two people that she specifically asked not to bring her child to. That's enough for a kidnapping charge." She expected Rufus to be on his way here now. She wouldn't activate the anti-apparition wards on her home until he arrived. It would be just a few seconds, if everything worked out.

"Sometimes, laws must be broken for the greater good, Amelia. With none of the other families would Harry be safer. I feel like I am repeating myself. Are you going to let me keep Harry at Number 4 or –" He was interrupted by the crack of Rufus arriving.

Amelia quickly shouted "Incarcerous!" at the headmaster, but he rolled on the couch to dodge the ropes. As Rufus threw a stunner that Albus shielded, she pointed her wand in the air and silently activated the wards in place to prevent anyone from apparating or portkeying into or out of the house. A burst of flame appeared over the old man, and Amelia knew what was coming.

Quickly, she conjured a stone and banished it towards the phoenix, which had to dodge it. That would have been Dumbledore's ticket out of the home. Fawkes began flying around the room, throwing fireballs at the two aurors trying to arrest his master. Now it was Amelia throwing subduing curses at Albus while Rufus covered her from the phoenix's attacks.

At first, Dumbledore had only been on the defensive, but Amelia didn't let her guard down, so when he finally sent a spell at her she had her shield charm ready, though his spell and her shield canceled each other out and she was knocked down from the force. Rufus switched his aim to Albus to protect her, but that led to a window for Fawkes, who quickly swooped down to his master. With a yell of frustration, Amelia watched their target disappear in flames.

"We've got to get to Number 4, Rufus," she said as she got to her feet. "He might head over there to grab Harry." She took down her wards and the two of them turned on the spot and reappeared on the street in front of the Dursley's house.

It didn't look like Dumbledore was there. Amelia had Rufus stop before he reached the property. "Dumbledore put a blood ward on the house. It was meant to protect Harry. Do you think it will keep us out?" She wasn't an expert on wards. She had the ones on her home put up by the Gringott's goblins. Rufus was a lot more schooled on the subject.

"What I do know about blood wards is they are extremely strict but only follow specific guidelines. If what he said was true and the ward was meant to protect the child, we should be able to enter, since neither want to do any harm to the boy. Ladies first."

"Such a gentleman," she said dryly. "And if you're wrong and I get blasted back?"

"I'll issue you a sincere apology."

Amelia shook her head as started forward slowly. When she was able to step on the driveway, they both ran to the door. An unlocking charm let them in and they saw Lily's sister and her husband in the sitting room, with Vernon standing and Petunia on the couch, and Harry on the other end of it, still sleeping in his blankets. Petunia still had the letter from Dumbledore in her hand.

"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Dursley," began Rufus. "We are from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Tell me, did Albus Dumbledore just come through here?"

"What the devil are you freaks doing in my house?" asked the very large man loudly. When Harry was woken up by the shout and started crying, Vernon didn't seem to care. Amelia looked at Petunia, who didn't even move; she just looked at the boy, slightly scared. If it had been her own son, Petunia probably would have already had him in her arms.

Amelia glared in disgust and started forward. She picked him up and started to calm him down. Thanks to Andi, her parenting skills had flourished. Within a few minutes, Harry went back to sleep in her arms.

Rufus cleared his throat. "I'll ask again, Mr. Dursley. Albus Dumbledore is now a wanted man. Did he come through here just now?"

"H-he dropped the boy off," said Petunia. "What did he do?"

"Kidnapping," Amelia answered. "Lily and James made it clear who was and wasn't allowed to take care of Harry in the event of their death. You weren't in the group that was allowed, and Albus took him here anyway."

"Good," spat Vernon. "We didn't want him anyway."

"Where will he go?" Petunia asked.

'Like you even care.' Amelia hesitated and looked at Rufus before answering. "There are a few of the Potters' friends that made the list. There's a married couple that Lily was close with throughout school. They're likely to get custody of Harry."

The woman nodded. Vernon looked confused that his wife even cared to ask about where Harry was going. He glared at the two aurors. "Are we done here?"

Rufus was about to answer before he fished his mirror out of his pocket. He walked out of the house, saying "What is it, Dawlish?"

"Well?" An impatient Vernon snarled at her. "We've already been woken up rudely, had a freak child dumped on our doorstep, then you freaks burst in here, telling us a kidnapper was near our home! Are we done here?" he repeated.

"You really don't care, do you?" she asked. Vernon shrugged and shook his head in a way that said 'Of course not,' and Petunia, who Amelia could see was going through some inner conflict, just shook her head along with her husband.

Amelia shook her own head and walked out of the door with Harry in her arms. She couldn't believe Dumbledore wanted to leave Harry with those people. Rufus was still on his mirror-call. "Keep him detained, take witness statements and make sure his wand his secured. I want to speak to him myself." He listened to the auror on the other end; his mirror was charmed to only be audible to him. "I don't care if he's hysterical! Force feed him a calming draught." He ended the call. "Bones, we've got to get to Auror headquarters. Is there someone you can leave the boy with?"

Sirius was rumored to be a death eater, the Longbottoms were still in hiding, Peter had been missing for a couple of days and Remus for a couple of months. "I'll take him to the Tonks'. What happened?"

"Sirius Black just killed Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles."

Amelia would have collapsed, had it not been for the boy in her arms. Peter was barely a friend, and was really only around because James was, but it still came as a shock. What shook her was Sirius. Despite the family he had come from, there was nothing to suggest that the man ever had an evil gene in his body. She didn't become friends with the Potters, Remus, or the Longbottoms until Sirius, her best friend's cousin, had introduced them. He was the joker of group, always trying to put a smile on everyone's face. He fought dark wizards alongside her, for Merlin's sake, how could he be a servant of Voldemort? The rumors of the past couple of days were just rumors, but hearing the news from Rufus so bluntly nearly knocked her sideways.

"I'll meet you at Headquarters," said Rufus, snapping her out of her trance. Amelia nodded, and he disappeared with a pop.

Apparating with children under 2 wasn't safe, since their bodies were too delicate to handle the physical pressure. Amelia walked home quickly, but was careful not to wake Harry. She went straight to the fireplace and threw her powder into it, clearly and quietly saying the Tonks' location.

She was one of the few people allowed into the Tonks residence without needing permission first. Careful to stay upright on the way out of the fireplace, she went straight to the room that the Tonks family kept for Susan. The little girl was sleeping on her toddler bed. Amelia conjured a crib next to Susan's bed, complete with plenty of bedding. She set Harry down softly and went to her niece, who she kissed on the forehead.

Next Amelia made her way to Ted and Andi's bedroom. She softly knocked on the door, hoping it would be enough to wake them up but not violently. She didn't even know if Andi was back from work yet. "Who is it?" she heard her ask. Apparently she'd been given some time to sleep too.

"Andi, it's Amelia. Something's happened, can you come meet me in the kitchen?"

Her friend was quiet for a moment. Amelia knew she was worried, and rightly so. Finally she responded. "Yeah, I'll be right there."

Amelia walked to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Andi made it out after just a few minutes.

"I'm sorry for waking you. I've got to get back to the Ministry but there's a couple of things I have to let you know." Her friend nodded and joined her at the table. She began. "Harry survived the attack last night."

As expected, Andi put her hand to her mouth in shock. "I heard rumors, but I couldn't believe it was true. How is it possible?"

"Apparently, Lily sacrificed herself and saved him." The other woman began to tear up at the mention of Lily. Amelia had to keep going, or she might start to cry too. "Dumbledore had taken him from the house and put him at the Dursleys. I caught him and called Rufus. We tried to arrest him for kidnapping, but he got away. We retrieved Harry, and well, I brought him over. He's in a crib in Susan's room. Would it be okay to watch him too? It'll only be temporary, until we can figure everything out. You and Ted are the only ones I can think of." She was dreading explaining why Sirius or Peter weren't able to take Harry.

She'd just given her friend several unbelievable bits of news, and it wasn't surprising to see her looking very confused. "Um, yeah, of course."

"Thank you," Amelia replied. "I've got to get back, but we'll talk tomorrow when I pick Susan up. I'll probably be picking Harry up too, if we can figure out where he'll go."

Andi nodded. Amelia put a hand on her friend's and smiled. She started for the fireplace, but Andi spoke up again. "Amelia."

She stopped, but didn't look back.

"The rumors about Sirius? They're not true are they? Surely he's not a death eater. He couldn't have betrayed James and Lily."

Amelia had hoped to avoid this until they had talked to Sirius. She wanted to make sure he was what he seemed before she spread the news. She walked back to Andi. "I can't say much right now, but we have him in custody at the moment. I'm on my way to the Ministry to see him."

Andi nodded. Sirius was her only family member not hung up on pure-blooded nonsense. They had been extremely close, and it amazed Amelia to see how good he was with Nymphadora. She hugged her friend, and held her for a few minutes before she finally let go to head to the fireplace and floo to the Ministry.

Amelia arrived in the Atrium and saw numerous workers from different departments walking about. It was nowhere near as crowded as in the morning or daytime, but it was still strange to see so many people walking around so late at night. She made her way to the lift and it took her to the DMLE, which was just as crowded as the daytime, possibly even more so. She pushed her way through the mob of workers. Most were busy, filling out reports from the incident, but there were others that were crowding around the interrogation room, trying to get a look at Sirius.

Finally, she made her way to the area near the door. Rufus was waiting there for her. "I thought you'd like to join me in the interrogation. Something's not right. Moody wanted to take Black straight to Azkaban, no trial or anything."

"It's looking more and more likely that he's in Dumbledore's Order like we thought," Amelia said. "If he has instructions from the old man, and I'd bet half my vault that those crackpot orders came from him, then he's seen him tonight. Where is he now?"

"I sent him home. It pays to outrank people, at times. We can summon him for questioning later, after we deal with this Black fiasco. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." They pushed the door to the interrogation room open. Sirius sat at the table, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. He was caked in blood, sweat and dirt. The calming drought that he'd been forced to take was helping, mostly. He was very slightly rocking back and forth, no more than a couple of inches each way. His eyes were wide and looking through the table in front of him.

Rufus started. "That was quite a mess you left, Black. Twelve muggles dead, thirty more injured. All that was found of your friend Pettigrew was a finger. I'm told that when officials arrived on the scene, you were in a fit of laughter, screaming with it. Took the strongest calming drought we had to shut you up. That doesn't exactly help your case." Sirius didn't respond. The draught seemingly did its job but it made him into a shell. Amelia didn't think he'd be able to answer any questions in this state.

"Should we wait until he's more fit to talk?" she asked Rufus.

"This is vital, Bones. We'll get him to talk." He held up a small bottle of a clear potion, and Susan instantly knew what it was.

"How did you get authority for that?"

"It seems Barty wants this wrapped up quick. This stuff won't just prevent him from lying, it'll also help with his shyness. Open up, Black."

The veritaserum was poured down Sirius' throat. They waited about thirty seconds.

"State your name, please," said Rufus.

Sirius' voice was scratchy. "Sirius Orion Black."

"Let's start at the beginning. Are you responsible for the deaths of Lily and James Potter?"

"Yes."

Rufus closed his eyes. Amelia knew the man liked the young auror in front of him. He sighed and said "That's conspiracy to commit murder, so far. Now –"

"Hold on," Amelia said. "Did you give the Potter's location to Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

"Who have you given their location to?"

"Nobody."

"How is that possible?" asked Rufus.

"Even if I wanted to tell anyone, I wouldn't have been able to. Dumbledore suggested that Lily and James use the Fidelius Charm to protect their location. Only the selected secret-keeper can disclose the information."

"Who was the Potter's secret-keeper?"

"Peter Pettigrew." Under veritaserum, people usually stayed very calm and spoke evenly. It must have taken pure hate and rage to make Sirius snarl as he said the name of the Potters' true betrayer.

"Why did you claim responsibility for Lily and James' deaths?" she asked.

"I was originally meant to be secret-keeper. At the last minute I told them to switch to Peter. I was the obvious choice. I was to be a decoy, the one that the Death Eaters would go for first, but I wouldn't be able to tell them anything. I didn't think that they would ever take Peter seriously.

"There had been leaks in the Order for months. Someone had been giving secrets to the other side, locations of various Order members, not just James and Lily." Amelia's heart sunk. "The Prewitts, the McKinnons, the..." He looked at Amelia, not wanting to say who was next. The potion forced him to, however. "The Bones' too.

"Lily and James had to move locations three times, because the death eaters kept finding them. They only used the Fidelius at Godric's Hollow. Dumbledore deduced that the leak in the Order had to be one of James' closest friends, because the three of us were the only ones who knew where they were by the second move, and they were still found. I knew it wasn't me, and between Remus and Peter I assumed the traitor had to be the stronger one, and the one that had been mysteriously disappearing for weeks at a time, Remus. I suggested that James and Lily put their safety in the hands of a filthy rat. I'm responsible for their deaths."

Rufus then brought up the events from that night. "Is that why you killed Pettigrew?"

"No. I didn't kill Peter. I wanted to with every fiber of my being. I spent the whole day hunting him, but I didn't find him until tonight. He was in the Hog's Head, where I almost killed him, but Aberforth Dumbledore stopped me. He thought I was the traitor. I knocked Aberforth out and then chased Pettigrew into a muggle town, and he started to yell at me for betraying our friends. He cast a powerful explosion spell behind his back. He killed all of those people. When I came to, I saw him cut his own finger off. Then he transformed into his rat form and ran off."

"Pettigrew wasn't registered as an animagus," said Rufus. He began looking through a stack of parchment to find something he may have missed.

"Myself, James, and Peter became animagi illegally at Hogwarts." At first Amelia thought that they had done it for some elaborate prank, but she would have thought that Remus would have done it with them.

"Why not Remus?"

Sirius looked like he didn't want to answer that, but he had no choice. "Remus didn't need to."

"And why is that?" asked Rufus.

The broken man in front of them reacted even more strongly to that one, but before he began to form the words Amelia cut in. "Rufus, I think we're getting off topic. We know that Sirius is innocent and that we've got a man guilty of murder and accessory to murder running around as a rat." Rufus nodded, though it looked like he really wanted to explore it. She knew he was a stickler for rules.

They administered the antidote to Sirius and he took a while to snap out of his hypnosis. Rufus took Amelia into the attached viewing room so that they could speak in private. "We need Wanted posters in the Prophet for Dumbledore and Pettigrew yesterday. Black broke a rule with the animagus business but other than that I don't think he'll have any further worries."

"You think we could get him off for attempted murder?" asked Amelia. "He admitted to having the intent to kill the man."

"If it were anyone but Barty running the DMLE, I think it would be difficult. Let's see if Black is up and at 'em."

They reentered the room, and Sirius looked up at them. He seemed slightly more alert than when they had first seen him. Rufus walked behind him and undid the charm binding his wrists.

At his surprised expression, Amelia said, "You'll be fined for not registering as an animagus but we'll worry about that later." She flicked her wand at him and it looked as if he'd just taken a shower and washed his clothes.

Voice still scratchy, he asked, "That's all? I went after Pettigrew, I was going to kill him."

Rufus responded. "You were an auror going after a Death Eater under the employment of Barty Crouch, who has given aurors the authority to use the unforgivables against You-Know-Who and his followers. For actually going on an off-duty investigation without authorization, your punishment is up to the head of your team. Auror Bones?"

"You are hereby ordered to take the rest of the week off, Auror Black," said Amelia. "Go home."

Sirius let half a smile show on his face. He may have been able to prove his innocence, but he was still a broken man. "Thank you, Auror Bones." It was a little weird to hear Sirius sound so professional; he usually called her Amelia despite her being a superior, though in front of another head auror like Rufus, she understood. "What about Harry? Hagrid told me he was going to live with Lily's sister, is he still there?"

Amelia answered. "We've removed Harry from their home and he's currently staying at the Tonks'. You are his godfather and Alice his godmother, so the two of you will have to figure out where he'll go. You can pick him up at Andi's any time. You might want to see her sooner than later, she's terrified that you're no longer one of the black sheep of the Blacks."

Another half smile. "I'll go see her tomorrow morning."

Sirius got up to leave, but Rufus had to exit first to let the crowd know that the man about to come out was neither a death eater nor a murderer. They all dispersed, giving Sirius a clear path through the office to leave the Ministry.

Amelia was sitting at the interrogation table when Rufus got back, her head in her hands. He sat across from her. "You want to kill him, don't you?" He was referring to Pettigrew, the man that Amelia now knew conspired to have her entire family killed.

"For the past month, I've had someone to focus my anger on, besides Voldemort." Rufus twitched slightly at the name. She never understood that. "The Death Eaters who actually did the murder were probably nameless, faceless drones. I'll likely never know whose wands the curses came out of. I've just had Dumbledore, the man indirectly responsible. And now, I've got the name of the person who pointed the Death Eaters in my family's direction, who orphaned my niece. He was barely a friend but the fact that we ever interacted on any kind of social level makes me sick."

"We'll get him, Bones," said Rufus. He was never much of a comforting individual, but his promise of justice helped Amelia immensely.

She almost wanted to warn Sirius about Dumbledore being a wanted man, but she thought he had been through enough tonight and would probably just talk to him tomorrow, perhaps catch him at Andi's in the morning. Anyone in league with the headmaster would have to be warned to stay away from him or join him on his way to prison.

A/N Please review and let me know if this project works. Thanks!