"Mr Potter. I trust your wife was satisfied by her trip to Azkaban? She found the answers she was looking for?"
"She did. Thank you for allowing it."
Crouch nods briefly and returns to the papers on his desk. Charlus doesn't move. "I asked for a meeting, Bartimus." He says quietly.
"There's more?" Crouch asks, with barely concealed annoyance. "Oh, but let me guess. You would like to visit Black to? Well, I can sort out the paperwork-"
"I don't want to visit Sirius in prison. I want him out of prison and back in my house."
Crouch stops working and looks up, incredulous. "You what? Mr Potter- Black murdered thirteen people with one curse the week he turned your son and daughter in law over to You-Know-Who-"
"No he didn't." Charles said calmly.
It's been a week since Rea's visit to Sirius; a week since she told him what Sirius had told her. Sirius and Peter had switched secret keepers, Sirius went after Peter, and Peter blew the street up himself. It's all very straight forward, and the idea that Sirius had been mad enough to believe he could out-smart Voldemort sat a lot more comfortably with Charlus than the idea that Sirius had been mad enough to join Voldemort. And then there was the other revelation Sirius made- "As far as Sirius recalls, he was never questioned about the events which led to his arrest. On those grounds alone, I can demand a suspension of his sentence."
"No," Crouch snaps. "You can't. Incarceration without a trial is perfectly legal in the case of proven death-eaters sorry Mr Potter; did you say he was sent to Azkaban without questioning?"
Charlus nods and Crouch swears. "Damn it! One of Voldemort's inner circle, and no one's questioned him, the time we could have saved over the last three months with the sort of information he must know-"
"But he doesn't know it, Bartimus." Charlus says calmly. "Sirius was never a death eater."
Crouch's eyes bulge. "Of course he was! He's a Black, isn't he?"
"My wife is a Black through blood." Charlus says mildly, although he begins to tap his fingers on the duelling cane he carries. "I trust you're not accusing her of being a Voldemort supporter."
"Of course not-"
"It's funny. Dorea mentioned that one of the aurors guarding Sirius said that all members of the House of Black were liars. It's curious, don't you think, that society can have such a negative view of a certain house, and tar all its members with the same brush, and no one thinks to challenge the assumption? The fact that Sirius was disowned by his parents and ran away to come and live with James, Dorea and myself doesn't appear to have entered in to any body's equations when it comes to dealing with him- all they see is the last name."
Crouch is staring at him, a bemused expression on his face. "Equations?"
"Merlin's socks, I point out that a last name doesn't automatically make someone a death eater and all you pick up on is the muggle word for sum?" Charlus mutters under his breath. He clears his throat and tries to make his point a little more simply. "Everyone has a negative view of the House Black. I am concerned that such a view has prevented anyone from seriously considering –"he breaks of.
"Mr Potter?" Crouch asks impatiently. "Seriously considering what?"
"Sirius" Charlus mutters. "I don't believe I just did that. Ahem. I am concerned that such a view has prevented ministry officials from looking objectively about Sirius' character as opposed to the character they assume he must have because of his family."
Crouch is looking more than unimpressed. "Mr Potter. I understand that it must be difficult. You take a young tearaway in to your home, you invest time in him and perhaps even a little love- and he repays you by destroying your child.-"
"Sirius is my child." Charlus says quietly, fire in his eyes as he stares at Crouch. "Sirius is every inch my child. I celebrated with him when he received straight Os in every O.W.L exam he took. I helped him decide which subjects to drop for N.E. . When I went to Hogwarts to watch the Quidditch matches, I was there for Sirius as much as James, when he pulled pranks in school, it was to me Minerva McGonagall wrote and complained, not to Walduburga and Orion Black- not least because she knew that if Sirius were to get in trouble with his parents over the holidays he would come back half starved and bleeding! Now he told Dorea that he had never been the secret keeper, that a switch took place in an attempt to foil Voldemort should he attempt to kidnap and torture the keeper. I believe him. I don't give a damn whether you do or not, because quite frankly your personal opinion doesn't matter. Under Wizarding Law, even the revised emergency laws, which, incidentally, I believe to be an infringement on the rights a society has to a basic justice system- even under the revised Wizarding law, a suspect has to be questioned before they can be sent to Azkaban and if they aren't, they must be released under bail until they have received a full and fair trial. Was Sirius Orion Black questioned before he was shipped off in to hell, or wasn't he?"
He's breathing heavily by the time he's finished, cheeks flushed with rage. Once, a long time ago, he had dedicated himself to trying to reform Wizarding society. He had given up eventually, and now, he feels, he is being punished for that. If he had managed to make some small difference to the way wizards and witches had thought back then, if he had found a way to force people to be considerate of others, perhaps his son and daughter would still be alive. He pushes that thought aside, and continues to glare at Crouch. "Well? Was he questioned?"
"It was deemed unnecessary."
"Unnecessary?" Charlus roars. Crouch flinches, but he maintains his ground.
"Unnecessary. We already had Black marked for arrest; we had received evidence against him from an infallible source."
"What source?" Charlus ground out.
Crouch remains impassive as he says: "Albus Dumbledore."
Charlus is speechless. Dumbledore, Dumbledore who'd have given his grandchild away to muggles without so much as a consultation with himself and Dorea- Dumbledore again. Charlus opens his mouth and closes it, gaping like a fish. He would have continued to remain speechless for quite some time, had someone not articulated his feelings for him.
"Dumbledore?" the disembodied voice from beside Charlus said. "My dear Mister Crouch, as far as I am concerned, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore may go and throw himself head first in to the Black Lake and in to the tender tentacles of the Giant Squid. Hogwarts would undoubtedly be better off, and so would the rest of us."
Crouch springs to his feet in alarm, going for his wand- but it isn't there. Charlus, unable to help himself, begins to chuckle. "Artucus Black." He says. "My old best enemy."
"Best enemy?" Artucus enquires as he materialises languidly in the chair next to Charlus. "I always said we were worst friends."
A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favourite this story, it means so much.
adenoide ~Dumbledore still wants Harry to leave with the Dursleys despite Charlus and Dorea being alive because Lily's blood is what contains the protection for Harry. The love protection doesn't work with Charlus and Dorea as they are James' parents, not Lily's- the blood isn't the same. There are other...considerations... of course, but that is the main reason.