"Ugh." Caelia muttered under her breath, resisting the urge to wipe her hands against the slime that came from dirty politics.

It had taken her the better part of a couple hours before she'd been allowed in to see him, and the look on his face when he'd seen her…

The hope had been painful to witness.

Three days. It had taken her three days to secure a trial for Severus, much less a release. She was tired, and hungry, and cranky, but the memory of his eyes- black and cold, with only a hint of the terror he must have been feeling- kept her going and awake.

Bagnold's grating voice curdled any hope of a good dinner, and it was only years of practice at a poker face that got her through the days.


Three Days Later:

This is ridiculous. Caelia watched, incredulously. What should have been a closed-door trial had somehow turned into a vicious media storm; Sirius entered even as she watched, side by side with Lily and James, and the flash of the cameras nearly blinded her. What- Bagnold and I are going to have a chat tomorrow. She promised privacy. This- whatever this is- is the opposite of private!

She remained seated, directly behind Severus' bench, though she was protected via a layer of Patronus charms. Severus had none of those comforts; he had to face Dementors with no protection other than the natural resistance most magicals had.

He is an Occlumens, she reminded herself. He is better equipped than most.

Still, Severus was pale and thin, from only a few days in Azkaban, and he looked rather desolate on the bench. Clenching her hands, she bit her tongue instead of getting up to talk. Settling for a poisonous glare at Bagnold, she waited.


The judges entered slowly, resembling nothing so much as a pair of giant hippos crowded on a bench. She knew all of them- Dumbledore, Griselda Marchbanks, and Augusta Longbottom, newly returned from her hiding as Secret Keeper to the Longbottoms. Based on the judges and the crowd, Caelia was tensed; anything could happen in this bubbling tension.

However, there was one way- one way- that Caelia knew of, to win this battle, but she didn't know if it was worth it…

One by one, the witnesses trooped up, driving the nails down into Severus' coffin. Caelia knew that she could call back any of them when it was her turn to defend him, but fury at the despair she could read in Severus' shoulders rose. He had turned his back on one of the most evil men in recorded history- and he'd spied for them!

All of you should be thanking him on bended knee, she thought viciously.

Then Sirius spoke, and the disdainful contempt in his eyes shattered any hope she had held for control.

The Light didn't understand, Caelia almost hissed, that they were losing all hope of reconciliation the longer they dragged on this farce of a trial. The Dark wasn't stupid; they could see that they had lost this round immensely, with Voldemort's death. What struck her was that no one else had recognized that each party was piled on opposite sides of the Wizengamot.

Divisions scar our world more than togetherness. Continue this, and I will bury you alive.

Sirius sat down; she could see the grief in some of the Dark's eyes and hatred in those of the Light. She waited for a brief moment, so that Albus could speak up; he could give evidence and she could reject the accusations with ease-

-Oh, my god. He's not going to say anything is he? Caelia thought, horrified, when she saw the regretful shake of his head at Severus.

I'm going to make you regret this day until kingdom come, Albus fucking Dumbledore.


Sirius watched dismissively as Caelia rose to defend him.

She could try; he knew vaguely that the two had been friends in Hogwarts. But more recently, he was certain that she hadn't contacted him since their wedding, and he was glad.

Oh, Caelia. Now you know the truth of Slytherin. Hopefully you can learn, from this lesson. See the darkness in his soul, defend him all you like. He deserves Azkaban, and no wife of mine will care for one such as him- of that much, I'm sure.

But her eyes weren't pointed at Severus with the shame and fury that should have been there; there were no tears at all.

What was there was a proud, unbending look, prouder than all the queens of ancient times. Her posture was straight, no despair showing. And for the briefest of moments, Sirius felt something almost like admiration, for the beautiful, defiant proud young woman in front of him.

In the next, it was gone, among thoughts of she can't possibly still believe him, she wouldn't defend him, I can't believe this! and he was left glaring at his wife with all the poisoned hatred he could muster.

"You may question the witnesses, Lady Black, or you may give a speech," Albus told her formally. Caelia nodded slowly, turning to face the people around them.

"I shall speak first, if it pleases the Court," she told him. At Albus' nod, she stepped through the divider between the court and the accused; almost instantly her face drained of color. Her eyes flicked over to the dementors, who floated a scant foot forward...

And she turned away from them as if they weren't worth her time. Murmurs swept through the court- it took a rare will indeed to allow someone to ignore dementors. Caelia didn't seem to notice.

"There are many things that change us," she began quietly, calming the entire Wizengamot with her gravity. "And many things that we learn as we grow. There are many things that mark us as adults, and not as children. According to Cassius Gamp, 'calling ourselves completely of Dark, or completely of Light, is a disservice not to ourselves but to others; we cannot see the good in others when we are taught that there is none in them.' Believing that our world is light and dark is easy, but it is not true- for there will always be grey.

"Our world is not one of black and white, as so many would have us believe. We are creatures of shadows and light, not shadows or light. The darkness that is present in all our souls is balanced by the light- forgetting this is what leads to genocides and mass killings. It is easy," She said softly. "To call this man guilty. He is guilty, of terrible crimes. But answer this: if the world turned its back on you, and you had none to rely upon. If everyone abandoned you, and in your darkest hour an angel's hand reached down and called you his 'right hand,' who among you would not answer his call?"

Her hands clasped tightly, and her voice hardened. "And if, once the light shone on the angel, it turned out to be a demon… who among us would not turn away? The answer is yours- but the truth of the question I ask today is this: should we punish such a man, who regrets his decisions, or should we help him, so the darkness and abandonment need never drag him down into confusion once more?"

There was a brief pause, as the entire court held its breath at her audacity.

Slowly, she raked her eyes across the people. "To that end, I would like to call one man up to the podium. He will answer your questions; he will tell you the truth of the triumphant celebrations you have held for the past week." She smiled thinly. "For oftentimes, it is so easy to mistake a reprieve for a pardon."

She can't mean what I think she meant. Sirius could feel fury twisting underneath his ribcage- just where his heart should have been. She cannot have meant that.

"This isn't standard," Albus said, stroking his beard.

"Oh, surely not, Albus!" Griselda Marchbanks answered, sternly. "Don't you want to find out?"

Augusta frowned lightly, as both of them turned to her, waiting for her input. "I think," she said slowly, "that we wish to find out what the Lady Black has to say."

Albus sighed. "Go on, then, Lady Black."

Slowly, Caelia smiled. It was cold, and harsh, and reminded Sirius of triumph he'd felt when the Death Eaters fell, tinged with the bitterness of hollow victory. "Then, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Court," she whispered, voice like blowing wind. "I would like to introduce you to Regulus Black."

What? Sirius didn't even notice that he was standing up on his seat. Regulus is alive?!


Hi all... This is the next chapter. Yes, it's early. *takes a bow* All of you ought to be directing your thanks to Eolas Eadrom, a fanfic writer who spent a long time composing a response yesterday. (You know, when I tell you reviews are inspiring, I meant them!) Also, she's stated that she's going to be leaving this fandom, so I could, just maybe, just maybe be adopting one of her fics.

Look out for that; and um, enjoy this one. It's only the first chapter on the trial, and while part of me really wants to add legal jargon, I had a long talk with some of my friends, and they told me that it worked better without. So, it has mainly speeches, etc, not legalese. I also wanted to add the entirety of the trial to this one, but I feel like it works better this way. So... enjoy the cliffhanger, because the next couple ones are going to be rather chock-full of revelations!

Reviews inspire me!

-Dialux