Twenty-one

Petunia Dursley was widow. Or at least, she would be a widow, once she got her bony little hands on her husband again.

"Mrs. Dursley," the officer escorting her said, "your husband was apprehended at Number 6 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, approximately twelve past ten this evening. A complaint has been lodged by the residents, and your presence has been requested at the local police station by your husband. If you would be so kind as to accompany us?"

Petunia only stared at the imposing figure that had gone through all of the hassle to track down her new address in Ireland to tell her that her husband had had another run-in with the law.

"I thought we were finished with all the funny business surrounding Surrey. I see I was wrong. I always thought it was the boy that had caused all the neighborhood gossip, but now I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't Vernon they were always whispering about. Of course, the boy is odd, so it may well have been them both…" her voice trailed off in contemplation. "No matter," she said, dismissing those thoughts with a shrug of her shoulders, "I'll be rid of all this madness soon enough."

Excusing herself, Petunia phoned Gloria, her new neighbor, and arranged for her to watch Dudley while she was gone. In her suitcase she placed a keepsake box that she hadn't opened since she'd gotten back from her honeymoon ten years ago. She had assumed at the time that she wouldn't need its contents, but couldn't quite justify throwing it away. Now, she was glad she hadn't. She had come to Ireland to be free, damn it, and she would not have her fresh start usurped by a selfish husband who couldn't leave well enough alone.

Decided, she added one last item - a telephone directory - and closed the door behind her.

Petunia Dursley was looking for a fresh start, and she was determined to get it – whether Vernon liked it or not.

Xxx

Sirius Black was not known for being patient or selfless. In fact, when discussing the recently exonerated man, most would describe him as the complete opposite. It should come as no surprise then, that his idea of showing his 'love' for his godson involved the will of the boy's late parents and the legal system.

"You're doing what?" Narcissa questioned for the third time. If it weren't for the utterly appalled look on her face, Sirius would have thought his dear cousin would have gone temporarily deaf. As it were, she was shooting him daggers across the dining room table while her husband and son looked on.

"I'm taking Loire to court. I want custody of Harry." He answered calmly. Really, was it that hard to understand? He was the boy's godfather, after all.

"But why? Harry seemed happy where he was. Don't you want that for him?"

"Of course I do. But more than I want him happy, I want him safe. Loire may love him, but love isn't going to keep crazed Dark wizards and Boy-Who-Lived fanatics from trying to abscond with him in the dead of the night."

"No, but the dozen Aurors stationed at his house will. Honestly Sirius, you're being irrational. Taking the boy away from his family isn't going to ender him to you." She argued.

"Family?" Sirius exclaimed angrily, "those Muggles aren't any family to him! They just took him in!"

"And a good thing they did, because according to Lucius his remaining blood relatives were horrifically abusive! Harry's happy where he is Sirius! Can't you for one minute put what you want aside and allow him that?"

The raven-haired man only shook his head in bemusement. "You don't get it, do you? James was my best friend; he and I were like brothers we were so close. Now that he's gone, Harry is all I have left of him. I can't just sit back and allow his safety to be put in jeopardy like it is. Even if she means well, Loire allows the Minister to parade the poor child about like a show dog. He's a child, not a trophy."

Narcissa narrowed her eyes in anger. "That's big talk for a man who's was just trying to argue custody of that same child by saying that he was 'all he had left' of his father. Because that doesn't just reek of infantile antics – 'he was my best friend's, so I should have him."

Sirius sputtered and turned red in anger. "I said no such thing!"

"No but you're thinking it! Harry isn't some toy to be fought over – he's a child. Getting custody of him won't bring his parents back from the dead!" she hissed venomously.

"I already lost James and Lily! I won't lose him too!"

"THIS ITSN'T ABOUT YOU! Harry has already lost two parents to the Dark lord! Would you really be so callous as to steal away another just so you can have him? You barely even know him!"

Sirius only scowled at the blonde woman. "It's my decision, and I stand by it."

"Fine!" Narcissa snapped, rising from the table with elegance that most would be hard pressed to produce when content, never mind distressed. "But when he hates you for what you've done, you'll have no one to blame but yourself!"

A long, tense silence followed her rather dramatic exit, broken only by the scrape of a chair as Draco excused himself from the table. After a few moments more, Lucius finally broke the searing quiet.

"Well," he drawled, standing and placing his napkin atop his plate, "I'd better get going – I've things to attend to. Narcissa will calm down eventually, but I feel I must caution you, cousin. Be careful what you wish for, and how you go about acquiring it – sometimes the things you dreamed of can become a nightmare." With that, he swept out of the room, leaving Sirius with his suddenly traitorous thoughts.

Xxx

Despite what many individuals would like to believe, Cornelius Fudge was by no means an idiot. The middle son of a middle-class Wizarding family, the stocky, slightly balding man had learned early on that the world he lived in consisted of three kinds of people: those who are born into privilege, those who ascend into privilege, and those who once held privilege, but now found themselves in disgrace.

Cornelius was more the latter than the former.

While his Father had not done something so scandalous as marry a Muggle, he had married a Squib, and that taint had flowed from his parents to their children. Growing up, Cornelius and his brother Constantine had been either scorned or pitied (and oftentimes both at once) for their parentage. And while Connie was the eldest and therefore the heir, Cornelius had no such title, and was, more often than not, shoved into a corner and forgotten about.

Cornelius had known even as a boy that Constantine's needs ranked higher on the scale than his own. He would inherit the family business someday, and (his parents hoped) bring glory upon the family again.

Imagine his parent's surprise when Connie ran off with his Muggle lover to become, of all things, an actor.

Devastated as his parent's were, Cornelius knew that with Constantine gone, he would be the important one now. So, like any good Slytherin would, he used the situation to his advantage as best he could. Connie's contacts became his own, and Cornelius used his social charm to weasel his way into the good graces of several important Ministry officials. By the time Cornelius graduated Hogwarts he'd acquired not only a wealth of allies, but a position on the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad. The Minister then, one Hadrian Bromstead, took a liking to him, and just before his retirement in 1962 had Cornelius promoted to the head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes – a position that he would hold for 28 years before being elected Minister himself in 1990.

Suffice to say that Cornelius's hard work had finally paid off, and he would not see all of it go to waste simply because some meddling ex-con couldn't leave well enough alone.

"Tell me why I should even deign your petition with the time of day, never mind a hearing." the portly Minister said, studying the man across his desk with disdain.

The man in question met his gazed with a determined one of his own, and replied "Because I'm his godfather."

"Really?" The Minister mocked, "Well, you didn't seem all that concerned with your duties as his godfather when his parents were killed. As a matter of fact, if I remember correctly, you left the poor child in the care of one Rubeus Hagrid – a known alcoholic – so that you could run off an confront Peter Pettigrew. Harrison Potter wasn't your main priority then, why should I believe that he would be so now? After all, you've only seen him a handful of time since you were released from Azkaban, and if the Aurors stationed at his house are to be believed, you haven't written him either.

"So, tell me again, Sirius Black, why I should support your position on his guardianship?"

"Because he's my godson." The man growled.

"So I heard. Is that your only argument? If so, it's not a very good one. You can file your petition if you like, but I won't be supporting it. And with your record, Wizarding Family Services wouldn't sign off on such a ludicrous idea even if I did. Get out of my office Black, and don't come back. I helped you prove your innocence; I've done my duty by you." That said, Cornelius gestured for the attending Auror to show the seething man out of his office.

Sighing, the Minister turned back to his paperwork. "Why is it that people assume that you're on their side just because you did your job and they benefited from it?" he mused aloud.

The portraits of the Ministers before offered no anwer.