Edited by charmedchick.

Chapter 10

After Harry dressed for the day he walked down to the kitchen with a slightly heavy heart; the dream of the night before was coming back along with the fear that Sirius was going to get hurt, simply because he cared about Harry.

The aromatic smell of scrambled eggs greeted Harry as he opened the door to the kitchen of #12 Grimmauld Place and the conversation that the adults were having suddenly quieted as if they were guilty of plotting something and did not want the young hero to know what it was.

The fact that this was not a false belief was not lost on the teen as he sat down and glanced around the room full of guilty faces, something was obviously up and he was the subject of whatever it was. "Did I interrupt something?" Harry asked with a smile as the adults turned to face him. "Or maybe I forgot to button a few buttons?" The humour in Harry's voice at the last statement was not lost on any of the adults and they all broke into a soft chuckle.

"Actually, Harry, you have buttoned all of your buttons," Remus replied from his spot between both Nymphadora and Sirius. "We were discussing the trial that is set for later today." Remus was unsure if the youth would buy this excuse but did not want to ruin the surprise that Sirius wanted so dearly to keep secret. The two of them had had so little chance to relax and have fun, so this party was one thing that Remus desperately wanted to keep secret.

"I see," Harry nodded as he turned to the food that Andromeda had placed in front of him. Harry really did not want to think about the next trial nor of his relatives. All Harry really wanted to do was relax and enjoy the time he had with Sirius and Remus before he had to go back to school.

Those gathered in the kitchen all turned to their meals and started eating only to be interrupted by the arrival of the 'Daily Prophet', much to everyone's surprise since none of them subscribed to the paper, nor should the papers owl be able to find them. On closer inspection, Remus pointed out the gold medallion that bore the Hogwarts crest around the owl's leg as he removed the owl of its burden. Remus unfolded the paper as Sirius offered the owl some of the bacon that Andromeda had fried and gasped at the front page.

Pettigrew Found; Black Innocent

In a surprising turn of events yesterday Sirius Black, the only wizard to escape Azkaban prison, was found innocent of all charges. Black spent twelve years in prison on charges of being a Death Eater and a supporter of You- Know-Who, known as Death Eaters. He was also charged with the murder of twelve muggles and the death of one of his school friends, Peter Pettigrew.

Yesterday afternoon Black turned himself in to his cousin Nymphadora Tonks. He stood trial for his numerous offences against the Wizarding World. In a surprising turn of events the Wizengamot found Black innocent and turned the custody of Harry James Potter, The Boy Who Lived, over to him.

In an afternoon gathering of the Wizengamot, Peter Pettigrew, assumed dead for the last fourteen years, was found guilty of the crimes Black had spent twelve years in prison for. After appeals from both Potter and Black the Wizengamot sentenced Pettigrew to life in prison.

Chief Wizengamot and Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore had these words to say after he handed down Pettigrew's sentence, "May Merlin have pity on your soul as these two do."

Let us all hope that Potter and Black now find the happiness with each other that they were denied for so long.

After reading the paper Remus handed it over to Ted Tonks with a smile firmly on his face. Sirius was free and now the whole of Wizarding Britain would know. Remus, however, was also concerned that the press would now be even more interested in both his best friend and the child of his deceased friend which neither one wanted nor needed at this time.

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Later that day they all apparated, Harry side along with Sirius, to a deserted alley with a rundown phone booth that would take them all to the interior of the Ministry building. As the group entered the bowels of the ministry building they were assaulted by several reporters from various Wizarding newspapers and magazines. Seeing the group the reporters pushed in and started talking over each other, all trying to get the attention of at least one person in the group.

As the crowd pressed in, Harry started to shake and his vision began to cloud over as he felt the beginnings of a panic attack coming on. The adults, who had surrounded Harry, so as to offer protection from the reporters and photographers, did not notice his distress until his voice rang across the atrium, "Please, leave me alone. I'll be good I promise."

Hearing Harry's distressed voice Sirius turned to his godson and, taking in the paleness of his skin, shot off several gold sparks in quick succession, using the old summoning alarm of the Aurors. Almost immediately several Aurors appeared in the Atrium to help hold off the reporters and the photographers and the group was finally able to get to the private court room for the trial of the Dursleys.

Even after all his years in Azkaban, Sirius had not forgotten the signal; and though he had thought he would never need to use it again he was pleasantly impressed that the signal still worked so well. Sirius had wondered if the Aurors would have changed it after his imprisonment since it had been a signal that he and James had developed during their training. After observing how it worked and what it was used for, the signal had quickly been adapted by the whole of the corp.

As they stepped into the room Remus held a hand out to momentarily delay Ted and Andromeda and asked them quietly, "Do either of you have a calming drought that Harry can take?"

Ted and Andromeda glanced at the distressed teen who was currently clinging to his godfathers arm as if it was a life line and then at the equally distressed and protective werewolf.

"I wish I could give him something," Ted returned with a sympathetic smile. "However, in cases such as these they are not allowed before the trial. However, after the trial I have one that Severus made for him. If you and Sirius would like a calming drought before the trial I can give each of you one but unfortunately Harry can't have one."

As Remus nodded and continued into the room, he noticed Harry sitting at one of the tables with Sirius next to him murmuring reassurances softly in his ear.

"We are all here for you Harry," Sirius whispered reassuringly. "You are not alone in any of this, we will not leave you. The Dursleys can never hurt you again, Remus and I will never let them, I promise. You will never be alone again."

Harry nodded as he kept peering unseeingly at the long table where members of the Wizengamot would sit; tears running down his pale face. As much as Harry wanted to believe Sirius, he had a hard time believing that they would never leave him. Harry believed that he would always be alone and no one would ever love him.

Sirius once again found himself wishing he had James' natural talent for this. James would have known what to say to relax Harry, James had never failed to bring the light back in to the room. Sirius thought that he was seriously lacking in the area and had no idea how to help his godson.

Harry sat at the table lost in thought, not really listening to what his godfather was telling him. The teen felt suffocated in the large room with just his godfather, Remus and the Tonks family in the room and if this was how he felt now, how would he feel once everyone arrived?

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Soon seven members of the Wizengamot walked in to the private Court room, their black robes billowing behind them. True to form, Albus Dumbledore - though wearing a black robe - looked out of place with bright colours intertwined in the material of his robe. The red, purple and gold firework outline of a dragon would not have worked on very many wizards; the ancient wizard was however able to pull it off with spectacular ease.

"We are here to hear the case of Vernon , Petunia and Dudley Dursley - are all those needed present?" Dumbledore asked when everyone in the room quieted. As murmurs of 'we are' went through the room, Dumbledore looked toward the table were Harry and Andromeda sat across the aisle from the table occupied by the Dursley family.

Dumbledore was once again assaulted with remorse at all the abuse he and the rest of his staff had missed. How was it possible that things had managed to get this far without any of them seeing it? Could all of this have started recently or had Harry been hiding it from them for the past four years?

"Mr. Potter, after careful consideration and council with both Councilors Tonks' it has been decided that the utilization of a Pensieve would be the best option," an elderly member of the council declared from his position at Dumbledore's right. "Do you consent?"

Harry visibly blanched at the thought of all his memories being shown to them with the use of a Pensieve; could he survive this? Why couldn't they use Veritaserum? Surely Sirius or Remus would object to such a thing – but when no objection came from his godfather or his father's friend Harry nodded his head stiffly, afraid his voice would betray him.

One of the Aurors stepped forward and removed several silver strands from Harry's temple and placed them in a stone basin with runes etched along the sides and rim. "As a precaution, we have placed several charms to ensure the validity of the images that you will see," the elderly wizard stated as the silvery strands were being placed in the Pensieve. "Know that everything you will see has actually happened and been experienced; none of these images could be made worse or better."

Dumbledore rose from the middle of the long table and muttered a few words as he waved his wand in an arc over the room and a transparent screen appeared over the pensieve. "At anytime during this session any of you, not including those accused or the defendant, need to leave you are free to do so. After the viewing we will be hearing testimony from those involved."

With another wave of Dumbledore's wand, the first images began to appear.

----------Pensieve Memory-----------

It was getting dark and there was rain falling as a small boy sat on the back step of a two story house surrounded by equally ordinary looking houses with silent tears running down his dirty face. Inside the house, voices of celebration could be heard.

"It's a good thing that freak is outside," a gruff male voice was heard thundering from inside. "Our little Dudders doesn't need the freak ruining his birthday party."

"No, he doesn't," A feminine voice agreed. "The ungrateful freak ruined the first cake this morning and I had to have him make another one, then he didn't make the ice cream right so we had to go to the store and buy some. Why can't he do anything right?"

The sound of a door opening behind him brought the boys head up as he quickly wiped the tears away. A whale of a man could be seen towering over the boy with a look of pure hatred on his face. The man roughly grabbed the boy and dragged him into the woodshed. "So you tried to ruin the party did you, boy?" the man stormed, shutting the door and removing his belt.

After hitting the boy several times and leaving angry red gashes on the back, the adult left through the door throwing over his shoulder nastily, "Get this cleaned up, and then stay here until someone comes for you."

"Yes, uncle," the boy whispered, crawling along the floor, looking for a rag before giving up and tearing a section of the tattered shirt that he was wearing off, revealing several gashes in different stages of healing."

----------End Pensieve Memory 1----------

The image faded and the lights in the Court room came on to reveal several tear faced wizards and three smiling muggles. "When was this?" a brunette witch asked from the end of the table. "From the looks of it Harry could not have been more then three."

"The freak was five," Petunia said smirking. "Old enough to make a cake and ice cream. He ruined it on purpose and he got what he deserved."

"You made a five year old use the oven?" the same witch asked incredulously. "Wasn't that a tad dangerous? He could have been seriously injured."

"We took him in; it was the least he could do," Vernon stormed.

"Enough," Dumbledore thundered as he waved his wand and the lights dimmed.

Pensieve Memory 2

A slightly older boy with black messy hair was huddled in a corner supporting an obviously broken arm and rocking back and forth. The room was so small that if the boy stood up he would surely hit his head. There was a crib mattress on the floor; the only indication that someone stayed there. The ceiling was slanted, making an angle to the floor as if the boards were covering a slanted area. The only light in the room came from where the door and the floor joined.

The thin beam of light started to grow larger as the door was opened and a horse faced women glared into the room. "Do the dishes and get yourself to school," the women screeched. "I don't want to hear of any trouble today or what you got last night will seem like nothing at all in comparison."

"Yes, ma'am," the boy responded meekly, getting up from the corner and heading into the kitchen were the whale of a man sat at the table with a very heavy boy enjoying a meal of eggs and pancakes with bacon. "Don't even think of taking any of the food," the man ordered around a mouth full of egg, the yolk leaking from a corner of his mouth.

"Look what you did to your uncle," the women screamed hitting the boy over the head with a frying pan. "Get over there and clean off his face."

"Yes, ma'am," the boy mumbled slowly walking over to his uncle with his eyes toward the floor.

As the boy neared the table the man reached out and pulled the boy onto his lap roughly and placed the child on his lap straddling him. The man leaned towards the boy so there faces were touching and ran his free hand along the inside of the boys legs. "Well boy, get to it," the man hissed with a smile.

The small boy slowly brought their lips together and started to lick the yolk off the older mans lips and face with his tongue. The groaning of the man could be heard as it got louder and louder. The man's hand could be seen running along the boy's inner thigh getting closer and closer to his groin.

When the boy finished cleaning the mans, face the adult pushed the boy across his lap almost double and started to unsnap the boys pants before roughly turning him over, exposing the boys bare bottom. The man grabbed the wooden spoon from the eggs and brought it down across the boys much abused flesh several times causing several of the scabbed over marks to start bleeding again as the boy bit his lower lip in an effort not to cry.

"You were told that you weren't allowed to eat for the rest of the week!" the man yelled with each swing. "Now I will have to extend it to the middle of next week. Is that what you want?"

"N-No, sir," the boy sobbed through his tears. "Please, u-uncle. I'm s-sorry I swallowed it i-instead of you. P-please don't extend it any l-longer. I'll be good. I p-promise. I'll l-let you do w-whatever you want t-to me when I g-get home from s-school, I'll e-even stay h-home from school t-today and let you d-do it now."

The man smirked as he rose from the table, pulling the boy by his broken arm behind him as he moved out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. The door to the cupboard under the stairs stood open as testimony to where the boy had slept. As the two passed it, the man pushed the door shut and threw the boy against the closed door. "You will not say anything in school today," the man ordered as he roughly tugged the boy's pants up and ran his hand through the boy's messy black hair. "After school you will do the dishes for your aunt and then you will give her whatever she wants."

The boy nodded his head in agreement as his face took on a look of fear at the thought of what his aunt might want from him after school.

---------End Pensieve Memory 2----------

The images faded to the gasps of many of the people in the room. Remus was tightly holding onto a very agitated Sirius as Ted held Remus back with a firm grip on his shoulder. Ted reached in to his robe pocket and brought out two vials of a pale green substance and handed them to the other two wizards with a nod

"In light of what we have just viewed we will take a short recess and discuss the need for further viewing," a middle aged witch with blue hair declared from the edge of the table. The witch had tears glittering in the corner of her eyes and a sad expression on her face. "The Aurors will please escort the accused to holding cells."

Sirius walked over to Harry as three Aurors moved in on the Dursleys and took them to a holding cell during the recess. He squatted down so he could look the boy in the eye. "Harry, you are doing great," the animagus soothingly commended the teen. "It's almost over, and then we will go home and relax. Remember after this is done you will never have to see them again, they will never be able to hurt you, I swear to you."

"I'm scared," Harry admitted in a whisper as tears ran down his face. "I can stand up to Voldemort... but not to them."

Sirius' heart broke at the defeat heard in Harry's voice; this boy had stood up to Voldemort and brought back his dead classmates body without ever sounding this defeated. At that moment Sirius hated those Muggles more then anyone else for putting the defeat in his godson's voice. Sirius pulled his godson into his arms and started rubbing his back trying to comfort him. This was one of those times when words were not enough.

The monster that dared call himself a human; who was supposed to protect Harry had abused the boy over and over again from such a young age. Sirius had known of the abuse from the beginning of the summer but had hoped that it had just started however from the looks of the last memory it had been going on for a while. "When was the last memory?" Sirius asked quietly while hugging his godson.

"The Fall before my letter came," Harry responded. "I was so excited when I finally got my letter; I was getting out."

Sirius couldn't believe it. Harry had been ten during the last memory, there was no reason for a ten year old to have to give an adult sexual favours of any kind. What must Lily and James think of him, abandoning their little boy and letting him go to those monsters.

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The members of the Wizengamot re-entered the private room with grim faces as the Dursleys were led in and deposited back in their seats, screaming how the freak got what he deserved and should have gotten more.

"In light of the last memory," Dumbledore started solemnly, "We have determined that no more memories need to be viewed. We will now be taking testimony. First, we will hear testimony from the Dursleys as they are being so vocal, unless they object; that is."

Andromeda Tonks rose from her seat and looked toward the Dursleys with a slight smile; she both hated and loved this part of her job. "Mr. Vernon Dursley, did you ever hit Mr. Potter with the intent to cause him harm?"

"Yes I did," Vernon sneered self righteously. "He was a lazy child that does not deserve to live much less contaminate my son."

"Did you ever hit Mr. Potter with anything other then your hand?"

"All the time," Vernon answered with a smile. "The freak deserved that and a lot more."

"Did you ever force Mr. Potter to perform sexual favours for you or any of your family?" This was the part of the questioning that Andromeda was dreading and it was also the most important one.

"Yes, it was the only thing he was ever any good at. We all took pleasure from him."

Andromeda turned sad eyes toward Harry, silently judging the effect this line of questioning was having on the boy. Noticing the tear filled eyes, she glanced to her husband and cousin and gave a slight inclination of her head signaling to them to join Harry. It was a signal that Andromeda and Ted used regularly in many situations.

Sirius was thankful for the Calming Drought that Ted had given him as Vernon testified; he knew that if he hadn't taken the potion he would have gladly inflicted bodily harm to the stupid muggle. When Andromeda gave the signal Sirius jumped from his spot and went up to his godson, immediately wrapping him in a tight protective hug while Ted sat in the chair that Andromeda had vacated at the beginning of the questioning.

Andromeda questioned the remaining two Dursleys in the same fashion before she called Remus up to the stand. "You went to Mr. Potter's house the night he was removed, did you not?"

"Yes I did," Remus answered. "Professor Dumbledore called me to his office and requested that I go and get Harry's things from his relatives."

"And what did you find when you were there?"

"The walls in the room that I found Harry's things in were covered in blood as was the bed. The bed also had chains on the posts and the room smelled strongly of sex. There were also many whips and belts all covered in blood."

"Do you know if it was Mr. Potter's blood?"

"It smelled as if it was his room, his scent was strongest there. The wolf in me noticed Harry's scent right away even masked as it was by the other scents."

"Did you happen to see Mr. Potter at any point that night?"

"Yes, I did," Remus stated with sad eyes. "After I returned from the Dursleys house I went to the Hospital Wing immediately to see Harry."

"And how was he when you saw him?"

"By that time Madam Pomfrey was able to heal most of the physical injuries. However there were still several bruises and scars that Pomfrey was unable to heal; as there were too many potions and healing spells in his body. Harry was lying in one of the hospital beds sleeping fitfully and calling out for someone to stop."

Andromeda asked Remus a few more questions before she excused him and turned to the Wizengamot members. "With the testimony presented here and the memories viewed it is my wish that you find in favour of my client, Mr Potter. There is nothing we can do to take a way the pain that he has suffered but it is my hope that finding the accused guilty will help him start to heal."

The members of the Wizengamot rose as Andromeda finished her plea and huddled together in a far corner for a few minutes, occasionally glancing at the three muggles sitting behind the other table. There was much to consider here - they were muggles and this meant that there were few places to put them. The wizarding world did not have very many prisons that were fit for muggles. They could not put the three in Azkaban nor did they want to have to incarcerate a fifteen year old. But the severity of the crimes all three of them had committed screamed for some form of justice.

After several intense minutes of deliberation the seven members of the council returned to the table and sat down to deliver their verdict and the sentence they had arrived at.

"We, the members of this council, have come to a verdict," Dumbledore said from his seat in the middle of the table. " Vernon , Petunia and Dudley Dursley, we find you all guilty of abuse and endangering the life of Harry James Potter. Vernon and Petunia Dursley you are sentenced to ten years in the custody of Merriweather Prison, a medium security Wizarding Prison for Muggles, while Dudley Dursley; having taken into account your age, will be sent to the juvenile equivalent of Merriweather, Darksmith Correction Centre. While you are there you will be attending counseling sessions as well as correspondence classes so your education will not be interrupted. You will stay there until you are eighteen at which time we will determine if you are ready to be integrated back into society."

"The Court has further determined that it would be beneficial for Harry James Potter to seek the help of a Councilor as agreed upon in the ruling yesterday. This court is now adjourned."

As the members of the Council were leaving and the Aurors were leading the Dursleys a way to their new homes, Dumbledore approached Harry, Sirius and the Tonks family. "Sirius, a word if I may. You too, Remus," Dumbledore added as the werewolf made his way to the front of the room.

When the two wizards nodded, Dumbledore led them to a corner of the room not too far from where Harry remained seated being comforted by both Andromeda and Nymphadora. "Harry is going to need you both," Albus began, the twinkle that had been absent through the proceedings making itself known once more. "I have been tossing ideas to keep the three of you together through my head since yesterday and believe I have come up with a solution. I find myself in need of two professors and would like the two of you to join the staff. Now, Remus, I met with the Minister earlier this morning and with a few extra precautions there is no reason that you can not teach once more."

"To that end I will request that Sirius accompany you on the night of the full moon as well as you taking the Wolfsbane Potion," Dumbledore continued. "We will also be setting up a network of sorts that will ensure that you take the potion; Poppy will have extra on hand should Severus be unable to brew it. With these precautions in place there should not be a repeat of the events of a little over a year a go."

"It is my belief that this would be the best solution since as Professors you both will be able to see Harry as often as you want and as Order Members you will be protecting the school."

"What positions, sir?" Remus asked this was what he had always wanted, he had always wanted to teach; however, being a werewolf had stopped him at every turn. Two years ago, when Dumbledore had offered him the DADA position he had jumped at the chance; but then the fiasco at the end of the year had happened and Remus was sure his dream had died its last death. That he would never again get to teach.

"Remus, I would like you to be the new Muggle Studies Professor, I seem to recall that you and Lily both had the highest scores in your class. Sirius, as you have proven time and time again you are a survivor and it is my belief that because of that you would make a brilliant addition as the new DADA Professor. Your skill as an Auror has only been duplicated or surpassed by two others, both of whom you worked with."

Sirius eyes began to tear up at the reference to his old friend and partner and that of his mentor. He and James had spent many late nights debating what they would do once Harry started Hogwarts. In those late night talks they had thrown around the idea of one taking over as the DADA professor just to be close to Harry and to protect him. Even back then Sirius had been protective of his pup, the youngest member of their pack. Right now, he knew his pup needed him more then any other time and he was torn as to what to do. He wanted to be there for Harry but he also knew that with the war going in there was a great need for more Aurors.

"I believe, gentlemen," Dumbledore broke into both of their musings. "That there are guests waiting for you." With his usual flourish Dumbledore left the room.

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A/N: Next chapter enter the Weasley's.