Disclaimer: Not mine!
A/N: Written by me, with an awful lot of help from my friend/fabulous beta Stellata. (She's a fabulous writer, check out her fics!)
July 19th, 1990 (continued)
Mr. Dawlish was about to call an end to the trial when someone interrupted him.
"Excuse me, I have a question!" I called out innocently.
"Yes, little girl?" I ignored the condescension in Dawlish's tone, and merely smiled.
"I know Alice Longbottom is in St. Mungos, but why is Sirius Black an unfit guardian?"
Most of the court looked surprised at my question.
"He is in prison, my dear," Mr. Dawlish said sadly.
"Oh! What was he charged with? How long is he in there for?" I feigned curiosity.
There was a silence, then Augusta Longbottom spoke up.
"He murdered thirteen people and was sent straight to Azkaban, for life."
"Oh!" I pretended to be shocked. "Is that what they decided at his trial?"
"Uh, he didn't have a trial," One man mumbled.
"No trial!" My young, high voice rang throughout the courtroom. "Isn't that illegal?"
There was no response.
"What? He didn't have a trial? After all this time?" Mum cried, gripping her skirt tightly. She looked completely horrified, and I suddenly realized that since Mum was best friends with Lily Potter, she would have known Sirius too.
"He was clearly guilty, and didn't need one," one elderly man offered.
"You must've used veritaserum on him, then, to show his guilt?" My mother said hopefully.
There was another awkward silence.
"Well, didn't you?" My mother asked fearfully.
"We knew that he was the Potters' Secret Keeper, and the one who betrayed their location to You-Know-Who, which led to their murder. He came from a very Dark family that supported You-Know-Who, my dear," an elderly lady said condescendingly.
"Well, people don't always turn out just like the people who raised them," I said simply. "Who said he was their Secret Keeper, anyway?"
"Albus Dumbledore," Tiberius Ogden promptly replied, and suddenly, the man clapped his hand over his mouth in horror.
"And you just trusted him, like you trusted him to place Harry with a kind, loving family?" My mother was furious.
Dawlish was turning a pale green color, and the rest of the Wizengamot was steadily paling as well. They were suddenly seeing the gaps in their argument that they had deemed perfectly logical nine years ago.
"So, because some of Sirius Black's family supported Voldemort, and Dumbledore told you that Sirius Black betrayed the Potters, you assumed he was guilty and threw him in Azkaban? Without letting him testify under truth serum? Or even looking at his memories in a pensieve? Hmm?" My mother was practically frothing at the mouth as she fought to keep her voice at a medium pitch. "Did you ever think that Dumbledore just wanted Black out of the way so he couldn't protest Harry's placement with the Dursleys?"
"I move to hold a trial for Sirius Black," Augusta Longbottom said weakly.
"Seconded," Emmeline Vance said softly.
"Why don't we do it now?" My mother said, rather forcefully. "We're all already here."
It was quickly agreed to be the best course of action, and twenty minutes later, Sirius Black was brought into the courtroom. He was thin and dressed in rags, and perfectly filthy. The guards set him in the chair, and everybody drew in a deep breath. Would the magical chair chain him or not?
No chains appeared, and everybody let out their held-in breaths.
"Sirius Black, you are here to -"
"Give me veritaserum!" Sirius Black practically spat at Dawlish. "I'll tell you everything you need to know, if you'll just let me talk."
So they brought out the veritaserum, and Black swallowed it eagerly.
"I didn't betray the Potters," he hissed at the court. "Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper. I went after him, to make him pay, but he got away. He cut off his finger and cast an exploding charm on the gas pipes. He transformed into his animagus form – a rat – and ran away. I was still in shock when the Aurors came. They threw me in Azkaban, where I've been for the last nine years. I've begged for a trial so many times – but nobody ever listened. What did it take, huh? Did you finally find Pettigrew?"
The Wizengamot flinched as a whole several times throughout Black's testimony.
"Which finger is he missing?" An anxious voice called from a few rows behind me. I turned to look, and saw Arthur Weasley, looking very pale.
"Which finger is Pettigrew missing!?" He repeated frantically.
"His right index finger, wasn't it?" An old woman called out, and Mr. Weasley paled even further.
"Give me a minute," he promised ominously, and with a crack, apparated out.
There were two minutes of silence when Mr. Weasley apparated back in, carrying an unconscious rat in his hands.
"Pettigrew!" Black growled, and leapt toward Mr. Weasley, only to be held back by the guards.
"He betrayed Lily and James," Black hissed, still struggling. "He deserves to die!"
"We will take care of this legally, Mr. Black," Mr. Dawlish reprimanded. "Do sit down."
"Legally, huh?" Sirius scoffed angrily. "Like you did with me?"
Most of the Wizengamot flushed in embarrassment, but Sirius finally agreed to sit. Peter Pettigrew was turned back into his human form, bound to the chair, and interrogated.
He quickly told the court that he had spied for Voldemort for a year before the Dark Lord was defeated, betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, faked his own death and framed Sirius for it, along with the murders of twelve muggles.
"I move to grant Sirius Black a full pardon," Emmeline Vance called out. "And at least fifteen thousand galleons in retribution fees."
Augusta Longbottom seconded the motion, and the Wizengamot voted unanimously in Sirius' favor.
"Mr. Black, you are free to go," Mr. Dawlish said quietly. "The galleons will be transferred to your vault immediately. The Ministry will be glad to give you your old job back - "
Sirius just sneered at him.
"You think it's just that easy, Dawlish? That I'll just forget the nine years of hell you all sent me to without so much as a second thought? Can you imagine living each day with only your worst memories because the Dementors have sucked every last happy thought from you? You condemned me to that tortured existence – I would never work for your Ministry, no matter what you offered to pay me!
"One last thing before I go," Sirius said coldly, staring at Dawlish, who was practically shaking. "Where is my godson? Where is Harry?"
"Mr. Black, may we talk about Harry outside?" My mother said calmly as she stood up. Sirius looked at her in surprise.
"Annie, you... All right." He walked out the door, and I followed him, still holding Harry's hand, the rest of my family behind me.
"Did you raise him?" Sirius asked raggedly as soon as the door closed behind him. He stared at Harry almost hungrily, and Harry stepped back instinctively and held my hand a little more tightly: Sirius did look rather frightening.
"I'm afraid not, but we are his guardians now," my mother said firmly. "Sirius, come home with us – we'll fix you a proper meal, get you a bath and some proper clothes, and we can talk about everything you missed."
Sirius nodded, and we walked in silence to the fireplace to floo home.
Two hours later, Sirius had bathed, dressed in an outfit of my Dad's, and eaten over half of the food in the house. He was already starting to look much better, and Mira and Harry weren't as frightened of him anymore.
He listened as we explained Harry's childhood to him, expressions of rage and hate for the Dursleys and Dumbledore flickering across his face. When we told him how we had been awarded guardianship today, Sirius visibly tensed, and then relaxed.
"I won't try and take him from you, Anne," he finally said quietly. "Merlin knows you'd do a better job than me. But..."
"You can visit as often as Harry likes," My mum promised with a smile. "What do you think, Harry?"
"Yeah," Harry said softly. "Will you tell me about my parents?"
"Of course," Sirius barked suddenly. "I'll tell everything there is to know about James. He was my best friend! Annie could probably tell you more about your mother than I could, though. They were real close."
Sirius and my mum exchanged understanding glances that spoke of a great sadness.
"You knew my mum?" Harry asked eagerly.
"We were like sisters," My mum said fondly. "There was one time in third year when we snuck out to the Great Lake at midnight to perform this ritual Lily had read about..."
That evening, we settled in for a large family dinner. I brewed two nourishment potions for Harry and Sirius to drink before dinner, knowing that it would help them gain some weight. Sirius was emaciated from years in prison, and Harry was very skinny because of how malnourished life with the Dursleys had made him.
At dinner, we all took turns telling Sirius and Harry about our lives. Dad talked about his work as a Hitwizard, and Mum gushed about her work at the Ministry's Department of Experimental Charms, where she researched and came up with new spells.
Tomas flushed slightly as Mum bragged about his nine O.W.L.s and his position of Head Boy in the upcoming year – he had gotten his badge a few days ago in the mail. Dad then bragged of Nathan's Quidditch exploits as a Chaser for Hufflepuff. They also talked about Cody's accomplishments in transfiguration, and Mira's artistic talent.
Then it was time for them to brag about me. I blushed appropriately as they talked of my brilliance, and told Sirius and Harry about how I had captured Barty Crouch and received an Order of Merlin, 3rd Class. When Mum mentioned that I was the one to enquire about Sirius, and therefore instigated his trial, Sirius grabbed me in a crushing hug.
"Thank Merlin for you, Lisa," He grinned at me widely. "I can't thank you enough."
"You don't have to," I said, flushing genuinely. "Delicious lasagna, mum."
The subject was then turned to everyone's gratitude for my mum's cooking, although my Dad quickly turned it back towards me.
"Lisa's a great inventor," he said proudly between bites of salad.
"Really?" Sirius asked curiously. "What have you made, Lisa?"
"Just potions, so far. The first one is a potion for hair care – it makes anyone's hair easy to mold – straight, wavy, or curly, and rather shiny, and healthy. I've gotten a patent with the Ministry for it, and mum's friend Samantha's going to sell some at her shop," I told him with a smile. Sirius looked surprised.
"So it really works? That's impressive."
After dinner, Mum suggested that Sirius spend the night, so he took Tomas' room while Tomas bunked with Nathan. I suggested that Harry move into the attic with me.
"It's really very large," I promised Harry. "There's already an extra bed there and everything."
So my new brother became my roommate. He was still rather shy, but I hoped with time and affection, he would open up more.
Before we went to bed, I gave Harry another fierce hug.
"I'm glad you're my new brother," I told him simply, and went to bed to write in my journal, leaving him to contemplate my words.