Part Twenty Six: "Trial"

The two Lawyers moved through the remaining witnesses quickly and efficiently. Mr. Olivander tested the remains of Sirius' wand for any killing spells and found none. Ms. Rutledge objected and had the evidence thrown out on the grounds that Mr. Olivander was biased towards Mr. Black.

The scientimagus provided a diorama, poked around with it, and treated the court to a detailed explanation as to how the Killing Curse worked. With the diorama he conjectured how the final confrontation between Black and Pettigrew probably went.

The scientimagus made a very convincing case for the probability of the curse killing Peter Pettigrew and the thirteen Muggles. However, it was hinged on the fact that the wind was traveling south-east at the time, and no one could seem to prove whether or not it was on the day in question.

There was a one in eight chance, therefore, that although Sirius may have cast the spell, there was no way it could actually have killed all the people in all the places it had.

The wizard from the gallery, who appeared to have studied the geometry of charms, suggested that Sirius had moved forward three paces further than the diorama conjectured. It would have been a certainty if Black had cast the curse from that position.

Donia objected that Sirius would have had to have been sitting on Pettigrew, then. There were no eyewitness accounts of Black standing on Pettigrew's head.

The wizard shrugged lamely, and the Jury made notes.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Remus were called up in quick succession. Each recounted their third year at Hogwarts. They were each thoroughly cross-examined, but the stories came out essentially the same each time. They told the story of Sirius' escape, how he protected Harry from the Dementors, Pettigrew's revealing as having masqueraded as Ron's rat Scabbers, and Sirius' flight from Dumbledore's office with Buckbeak.

Dumbledore himself was called upon to verify Sirius' participation in the new Order of the Phoenix. Ms. Rutledge treated him with a sort of awed respect and instead of jumping on any tiny discrepancy he might have made as she did with the other witnesses, she took almost everything he said at face value.

No one mentioned the face that Peter Pettigrew had been recaptured Hallowe'en night.

There was a two-hour long lunch recess, and Ana spent it with Sirius. No one brought them anything to drink, but they were left alone to talk, fingers twined tightly together. Their words were heated and intense, encouragements whispered too low for the prying press to hear.

Petunia Dursley approached Harry cautiously, and everyone who knew her watched with awe as she cried out, dropped her purse, surged forward and wrapped Harry in a tight embrace.

She sobbed into her nephew's shoulder, as he was taller than her by at least a head, and Harry patted her back awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she wept over and over, "Lily, Lily, I didn't know, I'm sorry..."

Flashbulbs began to go off.

Harry and Remus ushered Petunia outside into the small garden that was reserved for members of the trial. No reporters would bother them there.

A few minutes before the recess ended, they returned, Harry and Petunia looking red-eyed and blotchy faced from tears. Remus looked triumphant.

Mr. Fudge was asked to the bench as soon as the trial resumed, and Donia cross-examined him so thoroughly no one was left with a doubt in their mind as to his incompetence and his hasty grab for approval when it came to Sirius' first non-trial.

The end of the day was growing near, and things were starting to look up for Sirius. Ana was feeling much better. She may not have to use her ace, after all.

Then it was her turn.

"The prosecution calls Anathema Oldwyn to the stand," Ms. Rutledge, who had long since lost her cool demeanour along with her rumpled suit jacket, said. She glared hard at Ana.

Ana stood and moved slowly to the stand. She swore in and stared with cold eyes at what she had mentally dubbed, 'the enemy.' She kept one hand in her pocket. She waited.

Ms. Rutledge paced, hands behind her back and head down, making a show of collecting her thoughts.

"Undead bitch!" a chilling voice hissed from the back of the gallery. Everyone turned in their seats to find a tall blonde boy standing on his bench, pointing at Ana and cursing. "Useless monstrous Vampire!"

The proceedings paused as Draco Malfoy was marched out of the room by the purple-robed Aurors, but the damage was done.

Ana's guts twisted again as she realized that the jury was now looking at her with suspicion and distaste. Wizards and Witches hated Vampires and thought the worst of them, automatically. Malfoy had unknowingly re-ignited the prejudice in all of them.

Or, maybe not so unknowingly.

Now that the jury had been reminded that both she and Sirius were Vampires (and therefore automatically untrustworthy) it would take a lot of work to get them back to the point where they thought Sirius was innocent.

Fucking little Malfoy bastard.

Ms. Rutledge cleared her throat and smiled in a way that said it was time to get down to business. "Ms. Oldwyn, would you kindly repeat for the court the nature of your relationship to the accused?"

Ana narrowed her eyes. "Sirius Black, the accused, is my boyfriend, my lover, and my childe."

"Your childe," Ms. Rutledge enunciated the word so that everyone could hear. It was said with such distaste that some of the jury members actually frowned. "And just what exactly does that make you? This may seem redundant but I feel it's necessary for the jury to understand."

Ana snarled silently. She was doing this on purpose. "It means that I sucked all of the blood out of Sirius' body, filtered it through my veins, and fed it back to him. It means that Sirius is a vampire and I made him so. I am his Sire."

The lawyer smiled gently, the cool confidence returning to her bearing. "And as such a Vampire as well." Ms. Rutledge smiled serenely as if she had already triumphed. "What you are saying then, Ms. Oldwyn, is that you took a human man, one Sirius Black and changed him into a creature such as yourself. You took a human life, did you not?"

Ana actually grimaced enough to bare her teeth at the woman. She forced her lips closed and into a fake smile. "At his request."

Ms. Rutledge frowned slightly. "Was it his request that you drain his blood in the first place? Or was that a choice he made when faced with a death that you brought upon him?"

Ana closed her eyes and covered them with her hand. Oh, god. No. Ask me anything but that. She didn't want to answer.

Ms. Rutledge noticed Ana's distress and pressed further in for the metaphorical kill. "Answer the question please, Ms. Oldwyn, and might I remind you that you are under oath."

"No," she said softly, her voice cracking. "No, I did not have permission to drink Sirius' blood when I did so the first time." She dropped her hand to the railing and looked up sharply, "But I was protecting Harry!"

"Protecting Harry?" Ms. Rutledge echoed in confusion. "Protecting him from Sirius you mean? Correct me if I'm wrong, but why would you feel the need to protect Harry from an innocent man?"

Ana gestured helplessly. "I didn't know Sirius was innocent at the time. All I knew was what I'd read in the Daily Prophet."

Ms. Rutledge smiled a mean smile. "So based on something you heard you reacted with deadly force in regards to Mr. Black. What made you change your mind about his guilt?"

"Harry stopped me. He wouldn't have stopped me if Sirius was guilty. He would have let me kill him."

"Harry stopped you," Ms. Rutledge chewed on this statement for a moment. "Tell me Ms. Oldwyn, was Harry there during the scene of the crime Mr. Black is being accused of? Did he actually witness the deaths of all those Muggles?"

Ana felt offensive and petty. "Why don't you ask Harry?" she snipped.

Ms. Rutledge smirked, obviously amused by Ana's discomfort. "I don't think it will be necessary. I think it can be considered common knowledge among the court that Harry was not old enough to have witnessed either Sirius Black or Peter Pettigrew commit the crime. My question to you Ms. Oldwyn was why did you believe the word of a child so easily?"

Ana looked down at her hands, folded in her lap. "I... tasted it."

"Tasted it?" Ms. Rutledge grimaced.

"In his blood."

"In this man's blood. When you attempted to kill him." Ms. Rutledge lifted a prim eyebrow to the jury. "Tell me, how can the jury trust that what you 'tasted' is accurate? How do we know this isn't simply a Vampire's trick? It seems fairly flimsy as far as proof is concerned."

Ana gestured, frustrated. "I don't know how to prove it to you. When I drank Sirius' blood, I tasted it. It was his concern for Harry. His unexplainable worry. A person's emotions flavour the blood..." Ana loathed admitting it. "I can tell what the person is feeling by... by what their blood smells and tastes like. Why would Sirius be scared that I would hurt Harry if he wanted him dead anyway? It made me think. I listened to what they had to say and I believed them."

Her eyes locked momentarily with Sirius'. He looked miserable, and she looked desperate. She wanted to reach out to him. To hold him. To be held. This was awful.

'Canada,' he mouthed, and she smiled slightly. It was enough to buoy her spirits a little. But what could she say in the face of all this bigotry?

"You are asking this jury to take what you say on faith," Ms. Routledge said, slapping her hand down on the banister before Ana, then putting it in her own pocket. "But this court demands proof. So far you have given none except for proof of your own instability." Ms. Rutledge paced the court room, working up her next argument. "You had admitted to a sexual relationship with Mr. Black, correct?"

Ana balked. "I... uh... yes."

"And when did this develop?"

Ana looked to Donia desperately. Donia scowled, obviously not liking the question, but there was nothing in it to object to. Ana would have to answer.

"Um... er, he began to flirt with me as he was healing. After he became a Vampire we... um... saw each other casually. Um, Sirius and I decided to ...ah... be together only after he was arrested and placed in custody."

"So until this point you were single then? You saw no one else in a romantic sense?" Ms. Rutledge looked over her notes as she spoke.

Donia shot to her feet. "Objection!" She slammed a fist down on the table. "Who Ana was seeing before hand is irrelevant!"

The Judge shook her head. "Overruled. Ms. Oldwyn, answer the question."

Ana sucked in a deep breath, her chest hitching suddenly and her hands twisting in her lap. She looked at Remus, whose head was bowed, his face obscured by the waterfall of his white-shot hair.

Panic started to flutter in her breast.

"We're waiting Ms. Oldwyn,"

"I ... I was ... I spent some time with Remus Lupin."

"Some time?" Ms. Rutledge arched an eyebrow. "In a romantic sense? Are you telling the court that you were sexually involved with both the accused and his best friend?"

"No...! Yes... not at the same time!"

"Tell me then Ms. Oldwyn, what made you choose Mr. Black for your partner? Did it have anything to do with your pre-existing relationship as his Sire?"

"A... a little, I guess. I never really thought about it. I just ... I love Sirius. I like Remus, and I care about him. But Sirius came first. Sirius is more important to me. Sirius understands me. It's Sirius I love."

"You admit that your Vampiric connection binds you to Sirius in a way that can never be so with Remus, correct?" Ms. Rutledge spoke casually, but her eyes had narrowed.

Ana's eyes roamed the room, looking for help from anyone who would offer it. No one said anything. Molly Weasly nodded to her encouragingly, but that was it. Ana hung her head. "...yes... I... I... I can command the wolf in Remus but... but Sirius is my childe."

Ms. Rutledge ran a hand through her hair, looking as if she could already taste sweet victory. She took a stable, calming breath and let it out with a satisfied sigh.

"Ms. Oldwyn," she said almost airily, "your testimony has shown an alarming amount of indecision and a number of character flaws. Are you sincerely asking this jury to believe a convicted killer to be innocent simply because you have a loyalty to him based upon the fact that you killed him and then changed him to one of your kind? Are you asking these people to trust the word of a Vampire with no more evidence than the apparent 'taste' of this man's blood? You too have proven yourself capable of murder evidenced in your willingness to take Sirius Black's life. While the intent to protect young Mr. Potter was commendable, the results have been disastrous. You have admitted to an affair with both the accused and his closest friend demonstrating an inability to be trusted. You seem to expect the jury to trust you, and yet you admit to being able to mentally control both Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black. I posit that your character and testimony is sketchy at best. Can you say anything to defend yourself?"

Ana's mouth opened and closed few times, soundlessly. Tears filled the bottoms of her eyes, not falling. "I... but... Mr. Black isn't dead. He's sitting right there..."

"Yes he is." Ms. Rutledge shot a look to Sirius before continuing. "But he's not what he was, and he has you to thank for that. You were willing to take his life, and equally as willing to make him into one of your kind. You have admitted so yourself. I'm offering you the chance here Ms. Oldwyn to defend what you have done, though I hardly think it possible."

Ana shook her head, her hands fisting on her lap. "This is unfair. This is bigotry! If I weren't a Vampire... if I had just stabbed him in the shoulder instead of biting him, if my weapon had been a knife and not fangs, you wouldn't be calling me a murderer!" She glared hatefully at the smiling lawyer.

A murmur swept the room, but all the faces remained stony.

Ms. Rutledge was grinning. "It's not bigotry in the slightest to question your stability and reliability as a witness. Is it not true that Mr. Black would have died as a result of your actions had he not requested you change him?"

"Except for Grindewald, I have never, ever taken a human life of my own volition before I turned Sirius!"

"Oh, so you've taken lives before?"

The jury frowned and talked to each other. Ana felt her calm control slipping away.

"My Master made me do it!"

Ms. Rutledge stared at her, her voice cool and collected. "The bottom line Ms. Oldwyn, is that you have taken a human life. Sirius Black is now a Vampire on top of being a murder suspect. Why should this jury believe your word knowing what you are capable of?"

Ana stared at her, open mouthed. Her voice, when she spoke, came out small and scared. "Be... because," she said, sounding awed at the lack of comprehension in her 'enemy'. "It's true."

Ms. Rutledge smiled, satisfied, and turned to the jury. She threw her hands up in a gesture of finality. "There we have it ladies and gentlemen. The testimony of Ms. Anathema Oldwyn, a Vampire and Sire to the accused. We should believe everything she says 'because it's true'. No further questions."

Ana rose, the tears finally falling down her face. She began to reach into her pocket.

Donia shot to her feet and cried out, "I request a recess!"

Ana froze, her fingers curled around her ace.

Then she sat slowly, crumpling into her chair, shocked out of her rage. Judge Lalonde watched her carefully before asking, "On what grounds?"

"To allow Ms. Oldwyn to collect herself before I continue with the cross-examination."

The Judge nodded. "Agreed. Twenty minutes, no longer."

The spectators from the gallery spilled out into the halls, shouting at each other. Some thought Sirius was Innocent, some Guilty, and all said so loudly. Reporters were snapping pictures and trying to recreate the questioning. The other witnesses shot to their feet, either going out into a waiting room with triumphant smirks, or to try to comfort Ana.

Ana herself shoved them away and sat in the witness box, alone, sobbing, face hidden by her hands.

He whole body was shaking with her tears, and all the fear, the hatred, the vulnerability that she had been bottling up since she and Remus had been rescued on Hallowe'en night boiled out.

She forced herself to stop, to take her friend's hands and words of comfort, to go to Sirius and embrace him. She vaulted over the railings around him and squeezed him for all she was worth.

"I'm so so sorry," she hiccoughed into his hair. "I fucked it up for you. I totally fucked it up for you."

"No, no," Sirius whispered, "It's okay, it's okay."

"I killed you. I murdered you."

Sirius grabbed the sides of her head and forced her to meet his eyes. "You did not kill me. I asked you for this and I don't regret it. You attacked me to protect Harry, and I can't begrudge you that."

"I'm sorry."

"I know." He lifted her face to his and kissed her long and deep. "Promise you'll stake me?"

He meant it as a joke. Ana didn't find it funny at all.

She cried into his arms for another few minutes. Donia pulled her away from him and sopped the tears off her face with a paper tissue. Molly and Arthur Weasley came down to the pit to try to keep her mind off what had just transpired. Fudge leered at them.

Ana greeted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley with warm hellos and handshakes. She inquired as to the health of the family (all fine, and all present - Molly waved at a row of seats populated entirely by red-heads), trying to get her mind off of the pain of the last round of questions.

They spoke briefly about how Kreacher was working out as the Burrow House Elf. He was surly and muttered a lot, but he did what he was asked, and was softening slightly. Arthur feared he would never be in a right frame of mind ever again, not after being left alone for fifteen years with nothing but the portrait of Mrs. Black, but they were thinking about hiring someone to come and try to counsel the elf. They were genuinely worried about his welfare, and that was touching to Ana.

The Weasleys were good people.

The judge came back in and Ana was forced to re-take the witness box. The recess ended.

Ana smiled up at the Judge weakly, feeling slightly more calm and a little better. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Ace. She and Donia had spoken about this in the jail. Now was the time.

The Jury may distrust both her and Sirius because they were Vampires. Ms. Rutledge may have completely undermined all of Donia's work by playing on simple prejudice, but Ana had the one piece of incontestable proof in her hands.

Sirius Black had not murdered Peter Pettigrew.

If she could prove that, then all the other charges would be dropped.

Vampire or no.

After she reminded of her oath, the Judge gestured to where she was keeping her hands cupped together in her lap and asked, "What's in your hands?"

Ana stepped out of the box and walked over to the Judge. She reached up and placed a thin, wriggling, brown and diseased looking rat with a small silver paw on her desk.

"What is the meaning of this?" Judge Lalonde bellowed and the prosecuting lawyer smothered a snicker.

"Forgive me my impudence, Your Honour, but I assure you that all will be made clear in a moment."

"Very well," the Judge said, her nose wrinkling briefly at the odour the vermin gave off. "But be quick."

"It is has been previously stated that Peter Pettigrew was murdered by Sirius Black on November first, 1983, correct?"

"Yes."

"Blown apart with only his right thumb left to prove he was even there?"

"Yes. Your point?"

"If I can prove that Peter Pettigrew is alive, and in actuality sitting in this very courtroom, would you question him, despite your edict earlier that the charm would no longer be used in this trial, and place the Veritus curse on him as well, and make him testify?"

The Judge thought about it. "If you can produce Pettigrew, I will allow it."

"Objection!" Ms. Rutledge pounded her fist on her desk. "We've already established that Ana Oldwyn is unstable and untrustworthy!"

"Overruled. That is merely your opinion, Ms. Rutledge. Proceed, Ms. Oldwyn."

Ana put her hand down on the rat's back, which had been quivering, and pinched its neck between her thumb and forefinger gently. She forced its gaze to meet her own. It squeaked and squealed, sounding terrified, but could not break away without breaking its own neck. "Peter," she addressed the rat, "Transform into your human state."

She rat shuddered once and then suddenly a sunken, pointed man with a silver right hand rolled off the judge's podium and hit the floor hard. Ana did not move to help him to his feet, and remained standing by the Judge's box, arms crossed.

She was definitely feeling more like her old self. Fuck you, bitch, she thought merrily at the prosecuting lawyer.

"Stand."

"M-master," he gasped, clutching his side. He had broken at least one rib in the fall - everyone had heard the loud snapping sound as he had landed.

"I have no sympathy for traitors. Stand."

The entire courtroom watched with wide eyes as the shrunken figure uncurled itself and stood. As he lifted his head, the Judge couldn't refrain from gasping in horror. "Pettigrew!"

"Alive and ..." Ana smirked. Oh, yeah, she was most definitely feeling better now. "Mostly well."

The man was battered, bruised from his fall and aching, sick and thin, what was left of his hair shot through with grey.

Constable Ogle came forward immediately and cast the Veritus charm, rather harder than she should have. She had a malicious grin on her face.

The judge turned to Ana. "How?" she asked at the exact same time Ms. Rutledge shrieked, "OBJECTION!" Peter screamed in pain. No one seemed to care.

"Overruled!" the judge barked. "How?"

Ana smirked.

"From the moment he faked his own death, Peter Pettigrew, an unregistered Animagus, lived in his rat form waiting for the day when Lord Mouldy Voldy" (here there were some unhappy murmurs) "rose back into power. Peter here always allies himself with the biggest bully on the playground, dontcha Petie?"

Pettigrew sniffled messily and answered, "Yes. I hate you."

"Isn't that nice? He later masqueraded as Ronald Weasley's pet rat Scabbers to gain access to Harry Potter at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry and Ron themselves, along with Remus Lupin and Sirius Black have told you that part of the tale. Suffice it to say, he was discovered and returned to Mouldy Voldy who, by then, was amassing his power anew. He served as Voldie's retainer - Harry has told you about how he lost his hand. I come in sometime around this summer. Pettigrew, in the attack on this past Hallowe'en against Hogwarts, was unfortunate enough to get bitten by a Werewolf, thus making him a wolfie himself. And I, luckily enough, have the ability to control weak-willed werewolves - is what I've said entirely true, Peter?"

The man cringed and ducked his head, but nodded. He was holding his ribs. "Yes, master."

Ana just smiled and took her seat in the witness box and bowed her head.

There was a four second sound vacuum. Everyone in the courtroom was floored. Finally the Judge regained enough composure to clear her throat -a sound which emitted a booming echo in the silent space. "And what magics do you posses to be able to control werewolves, Ms. Oldwyn?"

Ana smiled a toothy grin and when she looked up, the gaze that swept the faces in the gallery was entirely crimson. "Why, you honour... as Ms. Rutledge has so thoroughly proven, I'm a Vampire."

The courtroom exploded.