Chapter 21: Easter Holidays Part 1
The next morning, even though it was Saturday with no classes, the group arose from slumber at half five and started on their routine of meditation and training of the Padawan's. After that was done and everyone was all cleaned up for the day they assembled by twos into formation behind the Pendragons and marched in step to the Great Hall and breakfast. The other students were used to this and didn't pay attention. If they had, they might have noticed a couple of extra chairs at the round table. Harry and Hermione split up, with Harry going right and Hermione going left around the table until they met again at their seats. The rest of their group stood until Harry held the chair for Hermione as she sat and then sat in his chair. The rest took their seats and dug into their breakfast. As they were eating Pansy and Draco entered the great hall and moved to sit at the Slytherin table with their classmates. With a nod from Hermione, Harry got up and walked over to the Slytherin table and stopped in front of the pair. Pansy and Draco looked up as Harry was approaching the table.
"Pansy," Harry said, "Would you and Draco like to join us at our table?"
"That would be lovely," Pansy replied, "thank you Guardian."
The rest of the school watched as the couple got up and followed Harry back to the round table where they sat and filled their plates with breakfast. After everyone was through eating Harry spoke up.
"Pansy," he said, "Hermione and I can feel the force running through you, so we would like to invite you to join us in training. Draco, you can come as well as we don't want to separate you from your betrothed. Who knows, with our training regimen you might discover you have some talent with the force as well. If nothing else we can help you stabilize your magical core."
"What's wrong with my core?" Draco asked.
"Harry and I can read auras and due to your father's family practices you core is taking longer than usual to stabilize," Hermione said, "We will teach you how to see your magic within and to connect with it. With a few basic exorcises you should be able to fix the fluctuations in your magic and be able to cast with confidence that the spell will work."
"Oh," Draco said, "I was wondering why my magic would work on one try and then the next time not. I am definitely interested in getting that fixed."
"Now that you are away from your father's influence, you can be the person you were meant to be instead of whom he wanted you to be," Harry said, "we will help you achieve your dreams. Study hard and you can accomplish anything you want."
"I know today is Saturday," Hermione said to Pansy, "you are welcome to join with our group for the rest of the day. The others can give you and Draco a rundown on what we are about and get you started on your training. Our normal day starts at half five in the morning with time to get cleaned up and presentable to our fellow students and the staff. You will still take classes with your house, so your schedule will not change. If you and Draco find you are interested in what we are doing you may join us in our dorm, which is apart from the Hufflepuff main dorms."
"Easter Break starts Monday next," Harry said, "And you two are welcome to join us in our carriage for the trip to London."
Draco and Pansy decided after the first visit and training exorcise that they wanted in on the action, so to speak, so they started coming to training early with their head of house, Professor Snape, approving of the shift to Lord and Lady Pendragon's residence within the castle. Even though Draco didn't have access to the force like his betrothed, he did benefit from the training as it taught him how to connect to his magic, making his lessons much easier to handle. Things progressed well within the group and soon it was time to return home for Easter Holiday. After breakfast the group lined up and marched out the front doors to the castle and boarded carriages for the trip to Hogsmeade station.
Upon arrival at the station the group noticed a new car had been added at the end of the train. The carriage had the Pendragon crest of a gold dragon on a black background on the side. The group turned and followed Harry and Hermione to their carriage, which was fashioned after an old fashioned railroad parlor car. The rail company had decided after they found out Harry and Hermione were magical king and queen they needed a special car due to their station.
"Wow," Hermione said looking around as they entered.
"Wow is right," Harry agreed.
"Everyone, make yourselves comfortable," Harry said, "If you have any last-minute homework, now would be the time to complete it. If you get through it during the trip, you won't have to do it while you are with your families."
"If anyone needs help just ask," Hermione said.
Most of the group pulled out rolls of parchment, ink and their school books to get started on assignments. Hannah raised her hand.
"Mistress Hermione? Could you help me with this question?"
"Of course," Hermione answered, "Let's see what we have here….."
And so the train ride went with everyone studying and completing their assignments. The group enjoyed one of Hermione's lunches from her pick-nick-basket and before long the train was rolling through the outskirts of London. As the train rolled into London the group packed away their scrolls and ink in anticipation of debarking the train. Parents of the students waiting for their children's return noticed the extra carriage on the end of the train and all stood facing the carriage as their children joined them. First one off was Hannah Abbott, who ran to her parents followed by Susan Bones who ran to her aunt, Madam Bones, director of Magical Law enforcement. To the surprise of their parents, Pansy Parkinson and Draco Black stepped down together from the new carriage to join their parents. Dora Tonks was next followed by Sally Anne, who took up a guard position to the left of the vestibule steps. Neville Longbottom stepped down and took position to the right of the steps. Both called their light sabers to their hands and ignited them; with the snap hiss of the blades extending getting the crowds attention. Neville's was the white of a Padawan while Sally Anne's was yellow, indicating she's a Sentinel of the order. A sentinel knight is a balance of combat and scholarly pursuits, indicating Sally Anne exceled in her studies while being ready for combat at a moment's notice. When Neville qualified, his saber would be the blue of a Guardian because of his role as champion.
Neville and Sally walked ahead of the Pendragons to clear the crowd by occasionally touching their blades together which made a humming and popping noise as they touched.
"MAKE WAY," Neville called out, "MAKE WAY FOR KING HAROLD AND QUEEN HERMIONE PENDRAGON. GRAND MASTERS OF THE PENDRAGON ORDER OF THE JEDI KNIGHTS OF EARTH AND GUARDIANS OF THE UNIVERSE."
Harry and Hermione stepped down with Harry holding Hermione's hand as she stepped onto the platform. As they walked through the gathered parents and children, who all bowed their heads in respect, Harry and Hermione acknowledged the respect from their subjects by proudly holding their heads high as befitting a king and queen. At least most of them did; there were some dissenters in the crowd who were part of Voldemort's army in the last war. They stood mostly in the back so they wouldn't be noticed by the crowd.
"Everyone," Hermione called out, "please return to what you were doing before. Bonding with your family and loved ones is very important so please do so and have a good holiday."
The gathering broke up into family units and the noise of parents greeting their children resumed. Harry and Hermione, along with Sally Anne stepped through the portal to greet their parents who gave all three of them enthusiastic hugs. Jeeves pulled the car to the curb and stood to open the back door of the car for everyone to enter. Once everyone was comfortable, Jeeves expertly navigated through the traffic for the trip back to Crawley. After an uneventful trip home Jeeves drove around the circle drive to the Granger's front door where he stopped and held the doors to back of the Rolls open for the family to exit the car and enter the house. At the dinner table Mr. and Mrs. Granger could tell there was something bothering their daughter. Harry had tried his best to be there for her at school, but knew this was something only a parent could fix. As the family repaired to the sitting room and found comfortable seating, Mrs. Granger started the conversation.
"Hermione," she said, "your father and I can tell when something is bothering you. Would you like to talk about it?"
With a nod from Harry, Hermione burst into tears and ran to her father who put his arms around her.
"I had to do something horrible at school," Hermione said with her head buried in her father's chest, "sometimes I hate being the queen."
"It's alright Hermione," her father whispered to her, "I've got you and I'm not letting go until you are ready."
With a nod of her head she snuggled deeper into her father's embrace.
"Harry, please?" she whispered knowing he would hear her.
Sally Anne was sitting in her chair looking every which way trying to find out what was going on with her sister.
Harry began, "Sally, you remember the assembly we had at school a week ago?"
She nodded her head in the affirmative.
"What you didn't hear was the second half of the assembly since you were in class," Harry said, "The second half was for forth year and up because they are old enough to take notice of the opposite sex and have the desire to start the dating process. The second half was to explain to the older students why Abigale Johnson received her award."
Harry looked around the room catching the eye of each person in the room with the seriousness of what he was about to reveal.
"What Hermione was forced to do hit her very hard," Harry said, "Hell, it would hit anybody that had to do what she did hard. She has cried herself to sleep for the last week and a half in my arms."
"What did she have to do?" Mrs. Granger asked with trepidation.
"She castrated three seventh year students with her light saber and ordered three more in addition to the seventh years to have their magic bound and to be chemically castrated and sent to prison," Harry said bluntly, "That is why she is clinging to dad so hard. We may be older than you subjectively, but there are times when only the love of a parent can comfort you. And this is what Hermione has needed since that night. Abigale Johnson is a thirteen year old third year student who helped us break a gang of Slytherin students that thought it was okay to lure unsuspecting younger students to a room they had set up and then rape her over and over. They would obliviate the poor victim so she wouldn't remember who attacked her. In the past, some girls were impregnated when they were raped and in a pureblood run society that is very taboo as it can affect continuance of one's family line. This so called tradition in that house is probably responsible for some of the older families of Britain dying out. It also kept the girls in Slytherin House terrorized and we have finally put a stop to it."
"My word!" mum and dad Granger exclaimed.
Sally Anne was crying by the end of Harry's speech and was sitting next to Hermione with her arms wrapped around her, along with Mrs. Granger on the other side.
"We found out about this so called tradition when we took over ownership of the school," Harry continued, "We ordered Hogwarts to put guards in each of the boy's dorms and Dorm mothers in the girls dorms, both in the form of paintings that could report back to us. Hermione asked and I promised I would let her handle the problem when the time came. It was a terrible thing to have to do in a school of all places, but I know my Hermione will be all that much stronger because of her actions. She has decreed that castration is the law of the land for anyone caught for this crime."
"Good," George Granger said emphatically, "The same is being discussed in Parliament as well. It is a fitting punishment."
George looks down at his daughter, "You okay now sweetheart?"
She nodded as she looked up into her father's face.
"We will attend mass at Easter and you can ask for forgiveness from God if you feel you need to," Helen Granger assured her daughter.
Hermione stood from her father's lap and gave her mother a hug before returning to Harry's side.
"Okay now sweetheart?" Harry asked.
Hermione nodded yes as she snuggled into the arms of her husband.
ooOOoo
The next morning Hermione woke up feeling better than she had during the last week. She, Harry and Sally Anne went to the basement to get their morning workout completed. They had lots to do today. They decided on a three way spar and were dancing around each other with their sabers clashing, making sizzling noises. The Granger adults sat on the steps watching as their children danced. It came time for the spheres and the three had their backs to each other forming a triangle as they defended against the spheres. The trio moved and fought like a well-oiled team. After fifteen minutes of Sphere training Harry called a halt, so the trio quickly dispatched the spheres and after bowing to each other, turned to bow at their parents who were clapping excitedly at the show.
"We really missed watching you do that," Helen Granger said.
"Thanks mum," all three chorused.
Everyone went up the stairs to get cleaned up for the day while Jeeves prepared breakfast for the family. After cleaning up, the family returned downstairs to the informal dining table in the kitchen. Jeeves served up a typical English breakfast consisting of fried eggs, sausage, white and black pudding, baked beans, hash browns, and toast with half a fried tomato. Coffee was the preferred drink for the Granger family, along with orange juice and fresh scones.
"Harry," Helen Granger asked, "how are the caf beans doing?"
Harry looked up at her and then over to Hermione, who smirked at him.
"Actually, "Harry answered with an embarrassed tinge to his cheeks, "With all we had going on, I totally forgot to take them to school with me."
"Please remember to take them with you when you return son," George commented, "I'm looking forward to the day we can drink caf again."
"You know," Sally interjected, "we could probably make a killing by producing and selling the beans. Hogwarts could benefit from the sale of caf and we could even license out the plant for farms to grow."
"That's a good idea Sally," Hermione said.
"Okay everyone," Harry said, "I'm tying a string around my little finger now so I don't forget."
The rest laughed and continued with their meal. Once finished and with the dishes put away by Jeeves the family moved to the sitting room to plan out their Easter break week. As they were getting comfortable the doorbell rang. Jeeves proceeded to the front door to see who was calling this early in the morning as it wasn't even half seven yet. To no one's surprise Agent Hamilton walked in behind Jeeves.
"You're out a bit early," Hermione said, "What can we do for you?"
"My director knew you would be home today and wants to meet with you and your husband," Agent Hamilton said.
"Your director is well informed," Harry said.
Agent Hamilton just stood there looking at Harry.
"While this will save us having to contact you," Hermione said, "You need to improve your manners a bit. You need to understand that just because you work as an agent for the government you cannot expect everyone to jump when you say jump."
Hermione walked up to Agent Hamilton and with her right hand she gathered the front of his jacket in her fist and lifted him effortlessly from the floor. From there she took him out the front door to his car and set him on the ground.
"We have other plans for today," Hermione said, "Please tell your boss to call us after he has set up a meeting with the prime minister. You can add that we have the queen's ear since she is cousin to my Harry. Until then we have other plans that are more important to our family than sending criminals to another planet. You might want to see if her highness would like to take a trip in our spaceship. We can hash out details for her security and safety at the meeting. Good day to you."
Hermione turned around and calmly walked back into the house. Agent Hamilton straightened out his jacket, got into his government issued car and after giving another look at the house, drove off. Everyone stood when Hermione entered the room and walked over to the loveseat her husband was standing next to. She hooked her arm into Harry's and everyone sat.
"You still have the power to amaze me," Harry said to Hermione in awe.
"That's sweet Harry," Hermione said as she kissed him on his cheek.
"What plans do you have for today," Helen asked her daughter.
"We are going to the ministry today," Hermione answered, "To start the process of getting Harry's godfather out of prison and interview another prisoner that we think was not in control of her faculties when she committed the crimes she was accused of back in the seventies and early eighties."
"We want to bring Madam Bones along to make it official," Harry added.
"Sally, you can come with us," Hermione said, "You might learn something about the how the ministry works."
"I look forward to the lesson," Sally said, "shouldn't we wear our formal robes. You are going as King and Queen are you not."
"I believe we should," Harry agreed.
All three not so young youngsters went to their rooms to change into formal Jedi robes, which for Harry and Hermione were burgundy with green runes sewn within the green trim designating Consular in the Pendragon Order with their family crests in a triangle at their left breast. They also had two diagonal gold slashes on each sleeve cuff indicating Grand Master rank. The triangle consisted of the Pendragon crest on top with the Ravenclaw and Granger crests below for Hermione. On her right shoulder were the matriarch crests for Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. For Harry, his were arranged in a diamond with the Pendragon crest on top and the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin to complete the diamond. On his right shoulder were the crests for Granger and the minor house of Perks in honor of Sally Anne's birth parents. Sally sported the Pendragon crest on top with the Granger and Perks below on the left breast of her burgundy robes that were trimmed in a deep golden yellow, designating her as a Sentinel in the Pendragon order. She had a single gold stripe on her cuffs designating her as a Knight and master of the order. All three sported the Hogwarts crest on their left shoulder denoting ownership of the school. They all had their sabers clipped to their belts. When they came downstairs Helen Granger grabbed her camera.
"Don't you three look adorable?" she said as she raised her camera to take pictures.
"I suspect we will turn quite a few heads when we phase in to the ministry apparition point," Harry said.
"Good luck," George said to the children.
The three formed a circle and quickly phased out of view from the Granger's house and into view at the ministry apparition point. The auror on guard jumped a bit when he turned and saw three small people in what looked to him like formal robes of some sort appear silently in front of him. All of the aurors under Madam Bones were educated about these three and gave a salute to Harry as leader of the triad. Harry returned the salute and with his wife by his side and Sally behind left made their way through the ministry to the DMLE director's office. The group turned a few heads as they walked and when the receptionist saw them coming she alerted her boss. Madam Bones came out from her office and after greetings were exchanged the trio followed her into her office where Harry conjured comfortable chairs into which the three then sat. Hermione waved her hand and hers and Harry's chairs were brought together as one. She then snuggled into her husband's side.
"She's been a bit clingy after what she was forced to do last week," Harry said.
Hermione didn't comment on his remark and just snuggled a bit closer.
"I understand," Amelia Bones said.
"What brings you here on the first day of your vacation?" she then asked.
"Two things actually," Harry started out, "The first I should have done when I received my inheritance. The second we found out when we healed the Longbottoms."
"Go on," Amelia prompted.
"I believe if you look through your court records you will find that Sirius Black never received a trial for his supposed crimes. According to my parent's will, Peter Pettigrew was their secret keeper. Besides, my godfather took the oath required of godparents. He could not have done anything to harm me as a young child." Harry stated.
Madam bones immediately called her receptionist in and sent her to the records department in search of Sirius Black's file. After waiting a few minutes she came back with a very thin folder.
"This is it?" Amelia asked incredulously.
"Yes ma'am," the receptionist confirmed.
Amelia opened the file and there was a single sheet of parchment inside that was an order to put Sirius Black into the high security ward of the prison. The parchment was signed by then minister Bagnold, Barty Crouch, who was director of Magical Law Enforcement and Albus Dumbledore as Chief Warlock. After reading it over Amelia handed the parchment to Harry. He read it with Hermione looking on.
"Sally," Hermione said, "This is a classic case of someone being 'moved out of the way' for political or personal reasons by a government official. We saw a bit of that in the Corusca Galaxy when we were helping them rebuild their government. In this case it was most likely Albus Dumbledore trying to gain control of Harry because of an obscure prophesy that has already been fulfilled."
"Could you explain all of that for me?" Amelia Bones asked, "I seem to have been left out of the loop on this one. I, like everyone else, thought Sirius Black was the Potter's secret keeper. And what is this about a prophesy?"
"Everything that has happened to my Harry started before he was born. Albus Dumbledore heard a prophesy that could have pertained to one of two families at the time. One family was the Longbottoms and the other was the Potters. The first two lines of the prophesy were heard by a death eater who had been eaves dropping on the meeting. He was caught out and ejected from the pub where the interview took place."
"Sirius being sent to prison is how Dumbledore kept him from taking over care of Harry when his parents were killed. The prophesy in the Department of Mysteries basically states that Harry is the only one that can get rid of Voldemort. The problem with this prophesy, like most prophesies, is that it is obscure enough that it could be interpreted several ways. Because of the order of the wording, we think the prophesy about Harry and Voldemort has been fulfilled. It states that he would mark the one born at the end of the seventh month to be his equal and that the marked one had the power to vanquish the dark lord. This could have been either Harry or Neville Longbottom. He chose Harry as his first target, probably because like him Harry was considered a half blood while Neville is a pureblood. If the prophesy was to be fulfilled in the order of the wording, then it has already been fulfilled. Voldemort marked Harry and then Harry vanquished Voldemort through his mother's protective spell work. The last part states one can't survive while the other is living. Harry is certainly living while Voldemort is merely surviving as a wraith currently inhabiting Professor Quirrell's body. He thinks the Philosophers stone will give him a new body and immortality. He doesn't know the truth about what the philosophers stone actually does, or that the stone in the castle is a fake."
"So, if I understand you correctly, Dumbledore started this whole thing with Sirius being thrown in prison without a trial and Harry being left with his muggle relatives which was against the wishes of your parents as stated in their will."
"That is correct," Harry said.
"It should be mentioned that Dumbledore doesn't remember any of this," Hermione said, "I put anti wizard wards around the Dursley's home when my family had them sign over guardianship of Harry. Part of the wards will make anyone trying to apparate onto the property with a negative agenda against Harry Potter to be bounced into the next county with all knowledge of Harry Potter erased from their memory. Professor Dumbledore tried that very thing the evening of the day I set the wards. When we got to school on September 1st we were treated the same as the other students. At least until our ownership came into play. Even then he acted in the appropriate manner of a school master interacting with the owners of the school."
"I think your wards probably extended his life span by taking the stress of what to do about Voldemort from his mind," Harry said, "We have assured him that Voldemort will be taken care of when the time is right. The main problem will be with his leftover death eaters trying to push their purebloods are better attitude. One of our jobs as Guardians is to send all of his marked followers to the Creator for judgement. If the creator judges any of them to be redeemed, they will be returned with their memories of the event removed."
"That brings us to our second agenda for coming to see you today Madam Bones," Hermione said, "We have reason to believe that one of the worst offenders is actually innocent as she had no control over her actions due to a control ritual that we suspect she was forced to take part in as part of her betrothal contract. This we learned from Frank and Alice Longbottom as we healed them. This person probably saved their lives by putting a block on the Longbottoms minds for higher functions. She basically trapped them in their minds so they wouldn't feel the cruciatus curse used on them."
"You couldn't mean Bellatrix Lestrange could you?" Amelia Bones asked.
"The very same," Harry said, "Frank confirmed it while I was in his mind. What we need is for you to accompany us to Azkaban to interview both prisoners. If she hadn't been sold to the Lestrange family by her parents through a betrothal contract she would have been my aunt through her marriage to Alden Granger the older brother of Hermione's dad."
"Please keep in mind this happened during the Bagnold administration. The current minister was not involved and with our status we just need you to help handle any problems," Hermione said.
"We have other things to tell you, but those can wait until we return," Harry said.
Madam Bones called in her receptionist to hold all appointments until she returned.
"If you will follow me I will take you to the auror's disaparation point," she beckoned.
"That won't be necessary," Harry stated, "Take my hand and we will phase you to the ferry dock. We could just phase into the prison, but we don't want to startle the warden.
Harry and Hermione stood and had the group form a circle.
"Hold hands everyone," Harry instructed.
They did so and the next thing Madam Bones knew they were standing at the entrance to the dock house where the ferryman stayed. With a knock on the door Madam Bones instructed the ferryman to take them to the island prison. A short while later the group arrived at the island where Madam Bones led the three Pendragons to the prison gates, which opened on their approach with a wave of Harry's hand. They were then led to the warden's office. Upon entrance the warden stood to great her.
"Madam Bones," Warden Rawlings said, "I wasn't expecting you today, and with three children. This is not a good place for children to be."
Harry stepped forward.
"You should know by now warden that when magic is involved things may not be as they appear," he said, "I am Harold Pendragon and this fine lady next to me is my wife of thirty nine years Hermione Pendragon. The other young lady is Hermione's adopted younger sister Sally-Anne Perks-Granger and our ward. She is twenty three years of age and a Knight in the Pendragon order of the Jedi Knights of Earth. Through divine intervention we appear as the children we would have been if the Creator hadn't picked us as his representatives in this universe."
"I can vouch for them," Madam Bones said, "Everything he said is true. He and his wife are also the magical king and queen of all Britannia."
Warden Rawlings looked at the pair with raised eyebrows. Harry pulled Excalibur from his now visible scabbard and held it up for the warden to see.
"Is that real?" the warden asked.
Harry turned the sword handle up and drove it into the stone that made up the warden's floor.
"Try to remove the sword," Harry said, "Like me; you need to be convinced as we may need your services in the future."
Warden Rawlings took hold of the hilt of sword and gave a pull. It wouldn't budge for him and when Harry then reached out with one hand and pulled the sword easily and re-sheathed it he was convinced.
The warden took a knee with his head bowed.
"How can I help you, sire?" he asked.
"We would like to interview two of your inmates in separate rooms," Hermione said, "Sirius Black is one as we have evidence he never received a trial."
Madame Bones handed over the folder with the imprisonment order.
"This is all the records we have on him," she said.
"The next one will be a bit of a surprise. It certainly was to me when I discovered it." Harry said, "New evidence has come to light showing the second inmate we want to interview has been under a control ritual since she graduated Hogwarts. If things had gone the way she wanted, she would have been my aunt by marriage to Hermione's dad's brother, Alden Granger."
"That could only be Bellatrix," Warden Rawlings said, "It was such a tragedy when Alden was killed right after graduation. He was one of my friends in school. I suspect the Black family had something to do with it."
"They did," Harry said, "Bellatrix was sold to the Lestrange family as a wife for Rodolphus. She was put under their control with a ritual almost immediately. I discovered this when I healed Frank Longbottom."
"I had heard they were cured and back on their feet," the warden said.
"Yes they are," Hermione said, "Our friend Neville has his parents back and couldn't be happier."
Warden Rawlings called his deputy into his office and gave him orders to bring the two prisoners to separate visitor's rooms. After waiting for a few minutes the deputy returned and reported the prisoners had been moved. Warden Rawlings led the group from his office to the room that Sirius Black had been taken to. Unknown to everyone when Harry drove his sword into the floor of the wardens office, he also drove it through the control node for the dementors that had been embedded within the stone millennia ago by an unknown person.
ooOOoo
Sirius Black was curled up into a ball in his animagus form of a grim like dog to help stave off the cold of the North Sea. His cell was always damp from the sea air which left a salty taste to everything he ate, including the occasional rat that ventured into his cell. As he was laying there he heard footsteps approaching and wondered who could be coming as it was not the right time for his daily meal. He swiftly changed back into his human form and sat up on the stone platform that served as a bed. The footsteps became louder as they approached his cell. The footsteps stopped in front of his cell and with a barely heard spell, the door swung open.
"Come on Black," the guard said, "You have important visitors."
"Who?" Sirius croaked as he tried to think of who would want to see him after nearly twelve years of no visitors.
"You'll see soon enough," the guard said as he prodded Sirius to go ahead of him with his wand pointed at him as he exited the cell.
The pair walked through the hallways with Sirius in front and the guard behind until the came to a door labeled visitor one. Sirius opened the door and walked over to the single chair on the prisoner's side of a table.
Bellatrix Lestrange was sitting on her slab reliving all of the horrors she was forced to commit on others feeling miserable and self-loathing of herself. The control ritual which required regular dosing with a potion had long since worn off and she was in her right mind again. She relived the tragic day her Alden was killed by a death eater that was in the same year as them and had a grudge against him. She relived the day her father sold her to the monster that was to be her husband and the horrid ritual she was forced to go through. As she was sitting there she felt the influence from the dementors decrease as they moved away from her cell. She heard the approaching footsteps of a guard and the muttered spell to open her door.
"Come on Lestrange," the guard said, "you have important visitors."
She got up and quietly let the guard prod her to the visiting room for her interview. She sat in the single chair on the prisoner side of the table and waited with her head bowed.
ooOOoo
Sirius sat at the table waiting, curious as to who would want to visit him. He turned his head at the sound of the door on the visitor side opening. A group of people walked through the door. He recognized the warden and Madam Bones but didn't recognize the three shorter people as they had their hoods up. They were wearing peculiar looking robes of a design he had never seen before. Had fashion changed since he was incarcerated? Two of the shorter visitors and Madam Bones sat at the table while the third short person turned their back and took up an alert stance toward the door. Obviously the person was guarding the others.
"Hello Siri," Amelia Bones started.
"It's good to see you Amy," Sirius croaked.
One of the two shorter visitors waved a hand and a glass of water appeared next to Sirius who drank it down with a nod of his head to the one who conjured it for him.
"These two brought to my attention that you had not been tried for your supposed crime of killing Peter Pettigrew and thirteen muggles on September third of 1981," Amy said.
Sirius looked over at the pair and watched as they reached up and lowered their hoods. He looked the pair over noticing both had an air of confident authority. The girl had brown hair that was a little frizzy on the ends while the boy had jet black hair that reminded him of his best friend's hair. He paused on the boy examining his face. Besides the hair, he had fair skin and vivid green eyes. It took a moment for his foggy mind to catch up. Sirius sat up in his chair.
"Harry?" he asked.
Both of the children smiled at his recognition.
"Yes," Harry replied, "My name is Harry. It's good to see you again."
This caught Sirius by surprise, "You can remember that far back?"
"Not exactly," Harry said, "we will tell you all about it after your release."
"Who's your lady friend?" Sirius asked.
"This beautiful lady happens to be my wife Hermione," Harry said with a smile.
Hermione wrapped her arm inside of Harrys and snuggled into him a little closer.
"We may appear young, but we have been married thirty-nine years," Hermione said, "As my Harry has said we will give you the details after we get out of here."
"Even though you don't really need one, we will give you a trial so the public will know of your innocence," Madam Bones said, "I will remand you into the custody of your godson and his wife until then. We have one more prisoner to interview and then we will all go home."
With a wave of Hermione's hand, Sirius was cleaned up and dressed in a nice set of robes. The group left the visiting room and walked a few meters down the hallway into the second room. Harry and Hermione put their hoods back up so the next prisoner couldn't see who they were. Bellatrix watched as they entered the room and sat as they did in the first one with Sally guarding the pair by facing the door. Her eyes widened when she spotted her cousin.
"Siri?" she whispered.
"Yea, it's me Bell," Sirius said, "I'm not sure what's going on here, but I have been promised a trial to clear my name."
"Bellatrix Lestrange," Madam Bones said, "New evidence has come to our attention about your part in the last war. These two wanted to talk to you about what happened to you."
Harry and Hermione lowered their hoods to reveal their faces. Bell looked Harry over and then looked at the girl.
"Alden," Bella gasped and then started weeping.
"Alden would have been my uncle and you would have been my aunt if he hadn't been killed. My name is Hermione Potter-Pendragon nee Granger," Hermione said, "We found out what happened to you when we healed Frank and Alice Longbottom. We found out you and they were best friends in school and wish to confirm with you the details of what happened to you."
"Frank and Alice are okay?" Bell asked.
With a nod of the Pendragons heads, a smile lit up Bellatrix face; the first one in a very long while.
"My plan worked," she whispered, "I'm so happy for them."
"Tell us a little about yourself," Harry prompted.
"You know what I did during the war," she said to nodding heads all around.
"I'm not very proud of what I did. I had no control over my actions thanks to my so called husband. Alice and I were best of friends from first year on. We did everything together; we had it all planned out. She would marry Frank and I would marry Alden after graduation. We made a pact to never harm the other you know. Rodolphus was always jealous of Alden and went behind my back to our parents to arrange a marriage between us. He also arranged to get Alden killed, which devastated me at the time. I was in a stupor over the loss of my boyfriend and don't have any memory of being forced into a control ritual by the Lestranges and my parents. I remember going to bed one night and the next I was a slave to Rodolphus and his family."
"She's telling the truth," Harry said.
"Hold out your left arm," Hermione commands.
Bellatrix held out her left arm and with a pull of the sleeve with her right hand, exposed the dark mark on her arm. Harry and Hermione placed their hands on the mark where they started to glow brightly. Everyone had to turn their heads away to keep from being blinded. When the light started to diminish, everyone looked back at the arm and when the light vanished, the arm was smooth and clean. Bellatrix could not believe her eyes.
"Thank you," she whispered several times with tears in her eyes.
Harry looked Hermione in the eyes and with a nod they turned to look at Bella.
"Bellatrix Lestrange," they chanted, "By royal decree your marriage to Rodolphus Lestrange is hereby dissolved for marrying you under false pretenses. You will hereafter be known as Bellatrix Black until such time as you find a suitable husband if desired."
"You will find your sister, Narcissa Black, is staying with your older sister Andromeda," Madam Bones added.
Harry and Hermione stood up and walked around the table where they gently lifted Bellatrix to a standing position. They each put a hand on one of her shoulders and with their eyes closed in concentration a soft peach colored glow started to gather at the Pendragon's hands and spread until it covered Bell's whole body.
"We return to you that which was stolen from you when you were seventeen," the Pendragons chanted.
"Oh," Bellatrix said as she felt her health and virtue returned to her.
With tears in her eyes Bellatrix wrapped the two children in her arms. The others in the room noticed a soft glow behind Harry and Hermione's right ears as they were healing Bellatrix. While this was going on Sally was becoming more alarmed at what she was sensing outside the room and moving up the corridor towards them.
"Masters," she called out urgently.
Harry and Hermione turned towards her, "Sally?"
"There is a malicious presence approaching from the lower depths of this fortress," she reported.
A loud siren started to call out as Harry and Hermione extended their senses to beyond their immediate surroundings. The others in the room could feel the temperature falling rapidly. Bellatrix and Sirius pulled into themselves cringing as they knew what the malicious presence was. A scream was heard outside the door.
ooOOoo
Thanks for reading.