AN: As this chapter is very short, I'm publishing it along with the next. Enjoy!

6. Ministry

The headmaster looked through the window of his office. He saw the scarlet train leaving the station, the empty Thestral driven carriages return and Mr. Filch closing the gates. This term was officially over. Now he had to switch roles and handle another long due problem. He sighed heavily as he walked to his fireplace. A few minutes later he was already in Madam Bones' office.

"Is he here?"

"For two days already. He's been too weak for interrogation, but we had a healer check him all over and give him some potions. He was also given a proper bath and allowed several proper meals. He still looks sickly and fragile, but much better than he looked when he arrived here."

"Have you spoken with him?"

Amelia looked unsure. "I don't think it's advisable. I've watched him under invisibility cloak, though, and was present when he was interrogated."

"Well?"

"He declines having killed anybody. He said he confronted Peter but it was Peter who blasted the street and then disappeared in his animagus form."

"Animagus?"

"Peter is an unregistered rat animagus. He could easily disappear into the sewers and be gone."

"And the finger?"

"He doesn't remember anything about the finger."

Albus sighed again. He thought he was sighing too much lately. "Have his memories been tapped?"

"Not yet. I was hoping you would do it for us. It's too important to let any junior do it."

An auror escorted him to Sirius's cell. Albus was frightened by how changed the man looked. His once athletic body seemed to be merely skin and bones now; his hair was now matted and his eyes, which had once been full of life and mirth, were now blank, looking less lively than a shop mannequin's. Sirius was gazing blankly at the ceiling and didn't bother to move as Albus came in and sat on the bed near him.

They sat in silence for a while. Dumbledore was becoming unsure if Sirius was still in his right mind, when he suddenly heard him speak. "You should have known better..."

This startled the old wizard. "What do you mean?"

"You knew how close I was with James. You knew I considered him my brother in everything but blood. How could you believe I would betray him of all people?"

Albus sighed again. This was lying heavily on his heart and in his mind. He was wondering the same, actually. "Yes, I should have known better. I can only say that at those dark days, when it seemed like there was nobody trustworthy, even this kind of betrayal didn't look impossible anymore. You were the obvious secret keeper, so..."

"So – you assumed the worst, never giving me the chance to redeem myself."

Albus wanted to reject the accusation, but he couldn't. "I'm sorry. I should have known better. I should have acted more wisely, but I didn't. Would you ever be able to forgive this old man for his misjudgment?"

Sirius moved his head for the first time and looked at Albus. "Keeping a grudge will not bring these years back nor help me reform my relations with my godson. Just help me out of this so I can return to my life and I'll forgive you."

His words made the old man happier. "Fine. I'll need your cooperation to speed up your redemption. I need your memories of the confrontation you had with Peter before your arrest. Can you bring them forward so I can collect them?"

Sirius concentrated for a moment and then nodded. Albus put his wand to Sirius's temple, extracting a silvery substance which he put into a vial and corked it. "This will be viewed by the Wizengamot as evidence during your trial. Is there any other memory which you deem important to your case?"

Sirius shook his head. He seemed to have lost his talkativeness during his years in prison.

Albus was almost done here. "There's one more thing I'd like to know. How did Peter become the secret keeper?"

Sirius smiled bitterly. "James really wanted me to be, but I thought I was too obvious as a secret keeper. I suggested to James that he chose Peter instead. This made me responsible..." He seems to fall into reminiscing, but he shook his head once and continued. "You set James as temporary secret keeper, as none of us was able to be present at the time, and you told him how to pass the role to another. Then you gave me, Remus and Peter the notes written by James to let us know the secret. When I visited James a few days later, he told me he had already passed the role to Peter per your instructions. Remus was furious to hear that. He said something smelled off with the rat, but he couldn't put his finger on it. You already know the rest."

It took Dumbledore another hour to view the retrieved memory. He found the missing finger in there as well – it was all part of Peter's plot to escape. There could be no doubt about the memory's truthfulness, yet it had to be viewed several times by the auror team to make sure all details were accounted for. The tired headmaster only took solace in the fact that this was not only for "The Greater Good", which didn't seem so grand right then, but mainly for getting an innocent man free.

He had not told Sirius anything about Harry and Sirius didn't ask, maybe he didn't feel confident about his redemption yet, but Albus knew that it would be difficult for him to tell, almost as difficult as going to the Grangers to tell them of the soul bond.

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