A/N: Madam Bones, Sirius Black, and three drops of Veritiserum. Another press conference with the whole family. A message and instructions from Draco, Earl Malfoy. This was supposed to be posted on Sunday, but ff was glitching.
Disclaimer: We must expect reverses, even defeats. They are sent to teach us wisdom and prudence, to call forth greater energies, and to prevent our falling into greater disasters.
Note: personal letter
Chapter 37
The next few days raced by for the boys. With only a few days left until their return to Hogwarts, there was far too much to do and too little time to do it in. The day the Prophet's interview with Harry and Cedric had come out, Madam Bones contacted Eddie Spindle with the news that she had decided to suspend all active warrants for Sirius' arrest…on the condition that he testify before her under Veritiserum. After a bit of negotiation back and forth, it was decided that Sirius would be interviewed in Spindle's office rather than the Ministry itself. Madam Bones had initially been resistant to this idea, but had realized that Barty Crouch, Jr.'s "accidental" Kissing while in Ministry custody had set a terrible precedent. Also, Sirius Black was something of a special case.
At any rate, on the afternoon of the nineteenth of August, Madam Bones and a squad of aurors and Ministry solicitors went to the offices of Eddie Spindle and his partners. They were met there by Eddie Spindle, Polly Gallsworthy, Harry Potter, Cedric Diggory, Remus Lupin, Alistor Moody…and Sirius Black.
A short time (and three drops of Veritiserum) later, Madam Bones announced formally that, in her capacity as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she was suspending any and all warrants against one Sirius, Lord Black. She then informed all those present that she would be issuing warrants for the arrest of Peter Pettigrew for murder and accessory to murder, with other charges and warrants to be filed as indicated following a further review of the evidence presented to her.
"Sirius, I can't say how sorry I am," Amelia Bones said honestly. "Unfortunately, all I can do is cancel the warrants that are outstanding against you."
"Madam Bones, I completely understand," Sirius Black said, smiling from ear to ear. "Of course, you'll understand if my solicitor begins proceedings against the Ministry for false imprisonment, among other things."
Madam Bones winced, but really, it was nothing more or less than she had expected. "Lord Black, I'll try not to take it personally," she said.
"Please, don't, Millie," Polly Gallsworthy jumped in. "We know you had nothing to do with the travesty that was perpetuated on my client all those years ago, but still…over a decade in Azkaban, followed by years on the run as a hunted man for a crime he manifestly did not commit…what do you expect?"
"Polly, I said I understand, not that I had to like it. In fact, I don't much care for anything about the way this was handled…except for the recent actions by you and Lord Potter, that is," she smiled at Harry and her old friend. "In fact, I'm glad that you were finally able to see justice done, even if it was delayed."
"I assure you, Millie, we intend to make those responsible pay," Polly smiled.
Amelia Bones snorted. "And pay, and pay, and pay some more, you old pirate! Just remember, those are your tax galleons too, Polly," she laughed.
"Oh, indeed, Madam," Gallsworthy agreed. "And I can't tell you how it will please me to liberate those galleons from the clutches of our Minister, and place them back in the hands of myself and my clients, where they belong."
"Oh, shut it, Polly," Madam Bones snorted. "You're buying lunch, next time, just you wait."
"Madam Bones, it will be my pleasure," Polly Gallsworthy bowed deeply as Madam Bones and her entourage left his conference room.
The Ministry group hadn't been out of the room more than a few tics when Harry whooped and dove at his godfather.
"You're free! You're free! We did it!" the Gryffindor teen yelled, hugging his godfather for all he was worth.
"Urrrk! Harry…breathe…can't," Sirius gasped, then laughed when Harry eased up. "Yes, we did, oh Best Godson Ever! We certainly did!"
"If I might interrupt, my Lords," Eddie Spindle broke in, smiling. "I took the liberty of anticipating just such an outcome, and I've written up brief statements for both of you to use at the press conference."
"Press conference?" Sirius and Harry asked together, then looked at each other and laughed.
"Yes, my Lords, press conference," Spindle continued smoothly. "The press conference that will be starting in," he made a production of pulling out an enormous pocket watch and checking it, "two minutes from now."
"Two minutes?" Harry squeaked, which made everyone else in the room laugh.
"Come on, pup, you know you can manage it," Sirius said with a grin.
"I…I suppose," Harry answered, then instinctively reached for his boyfriend's hand.
"Come on, Lord Prat," Cedric said, taking Harry's hand and pulling him off Sirius. He smiled as he pulled Harry into his arms. "You'll do fine…after all, it's not you and me they really want to talk to this time, it's Sirius."
"Okay, then," Harry smiled back. "And, since there's bound to be questions for us, too," he said, knowing a bit about how the press reacted anytime he was even remotely involved with anything, "you can take all of the questions about our kinky sex life."
Cedric's gobsmacked look was mirrored by Sirius' yelp of "What?" followed by Mad-Eye Moody breaking out in great, roaring laughs.
"Shut it, Moody," Remus said repressively. "You've created a monster, you have."
"I know," Moody gasped out between laughs. "I never should have put the Virgin's Ease on the boy in the first place."
"If you gentlemen would like to compose yourself, it would be greatly appreciated," Polly Gallsworthy said dryly. "After all, we have important information to convey today about Lord Black's innocence…and Lord Potter's particular perversions should most properly be the subject of another, separate press conference." His absolutely straight face belied the laughter dancing in his eyes.
Harry looked at his barrister for a moment before what Gallsworthy had said registered. "Hey!" he laughed. "My perversions are not open for discussion at a press conference."
"Too late, Lord Prat," Cedric grinned. "You already said I could take those questions."
"You are so getting a swirl pattern tonight," Harry mock-snarled, causing Moody and Sirius both to laugh, and even Remus to smile.
By the time the joke was explained to Spindle and Gallsworthy, they were a few minutes late for the press conference. However, the entire group was in a good mood at the time.
***
Somewhat surprisingly, Sirius' press conference was relatively tame. Of course, there were the obligatory questions about the evidence they had presented to have the charges dropped, which led to the story of Pettigrew's betrayal of the Potters being told. Also, the press wanted to know about the wrongful imprisonment suit that Sirius was bound to bring, but Eddie Spindle took that one with his usual aplomb and "we are, of course, still considering at this time which avenues for redress of this terrible miscarriage of justice we will be pursuing."
The most awkward moment came when a representative of the Daily Prophet—not someone Harry was familiar with, but a relatively new face—asked about Dumbledore's possible involvement in encouraging the Potters to change from Black to Pettigrew as secret-keeper for their Fidelius.
When he heard that question, Sirius paused and gathered his thoughts before replying.
"At the time, Headmaster Dumbledore's suggestion…that Peter be James and Lily's secret keeper…made perfect sense. It was common knowledge that James and I had been best friends and mates, even before we meet Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. So, it should have been relatively easy for the Dark Lord to realize that I was the most likely person for James to choose as his secret keeper. And, as both the Headmaster and James pointed out to me, very few people would have considered Peter a good choice for secret keeper…which, as it just so happened, turned out to be correct."
Here, Sirius closed his eyes and looked down for a long moment before raising his head again to go on.
"In hindsight, perhaps we were being too clever, trying to hide the secret in plain sight, as it were. Or, perhaps we should have been more insistent in getting James and Lily, along with little Harry, to move behind stronger wards than we could put up around Godric's Hollow. At any rate, we were all played for fools by Peter Pettigrew and the Dark Lord, and I can't say that Professor Dumbledore is any more or less at fault than any of the rest of us."
When Sirius finished, the room was silent for several seconds, until Eddie Spindle asked for the next question.
Rather quickly, the press ran out of questions for Sirius, and turned to Harry and Cedric. Of course, the lead-in to this was a question for Sirius about his views on his godson's announcement.
"I think that if Cedric Diggory is foolish enough to actually want to put up with the wretched little urchin, then Merlin help him," Sirius began, to general laughter. "No, seriously," he said, quieting the press crowd. "From what I've seen, Harry and Cedric are as devoted to each other as James and Lily were…and they have my full support."
"It doesn't bother you that the Boy-Who-Lived is a ponce?" the question rang out from the back of the crowd.
Sirius looked towards the general area that the call had come from. "Not particularly, no, so long as he's happy."
"Lord Black, Gale Bottles, freelance," another reporter put her hand up urgently. When Sirius nodded at her, she continued. "What is your response to those people who feel that this type of relationship is deviant and unacceptable behavior, and should be discouraged rather than encouraged?"
Sirius grinned and tossed his head before he replied. "Usually, I start hexing before they have a chance to finish stupid remarks like that."
The freelance reporter nodded, then jumped in again before Sirius could move on. "Same question to Lord Potter, then."
Caught a bit off guard, Harry shook himself then stepped closer to where Sirius stood. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" he asked.
"I asked what your response is to those people who feel that a relationship of this type is deviant and unacceptable behavior, and should be discouraged rather than encouraged?" the reporter supplied.
Harry's eyes narrowed just the slightest bit before he answered. "I usually don't even bother to respond to people who are that…way," he finished, visibly cutting himself off before he could say what he really wanted to say.
"Why not?" another reporter jumped in.
Harry looked at the new questioner, cocking his head to one side before answering. "I try not to talk to people who believe that. No matter what I say or do, they're going to continue to believe what they believe, as am I. Since each of us is convinced that the other is wrong, and neither of us is likely to change out minds, then conversations like that tend to be annoying and pointless. No, I don't see any need for that kind of argument…I've got other things, like a returned Dark Lord, to spend my time on."
Most of the reporters seemed satisfied with that, and from there the questioning centered around Harry and Cedric's reactions to the press coverage of their announcement, as well as their future plans.
Cedric took his share of those questions. "I think the Prophet did a fair job of covering our interview, and both Harry and I are looking forward to see just how Witch Weekly and the Crystal Ball do with their articles. Oh, and yes, as it said in the Prophet, we are both planning to return to Hogwarts for the next academic year."
Eddie Spindle let the press conference run on for a decent length of time, then firmly brought it to an end when the questions began getting a bit too personal for Harry and Cedric's comfort. Then, after a quick debrief, mainly along the lines of 'you all did fine, don't worry about it' from Gallsworthy and Spindle, the entire gang, including Mad-Eye, apparated back to Number 12, Grimmauld Place.
***
Sirius was all for going out to celebrate that very evening; but after a long and rather heated conversation between him, Remus, Harry and Cedric he managed to be persuaded that waiting a day or so would probably be for the best.
"After all, Sirius, most of the public will still be thinking that you're a dangerous Azkaban escapee, and all it would take would be one over-zealous citizen going for his wand to ruin the entire evening," Remus argued persuasively.
"Sirius, please wait at least until tomorrow, for me?" Harry was using the full puppy-dog face, eyes and pouty lip and all. "Tomorrow's Prophet will have the article about Madam Bones' dropping the charges against you, as well as coverage on the press conference we just had. It'll be 'way safer, and just better for all of us," he whinged.
"Oh, all right, all right, turn off the pout action," Sirius laughed. "Can I at least celebrate here in my own home tonight?"
Harry smiled indulgently. "Of course you can…just as long as you promise not to sing," he said.
"Oi! I'll have you know that I have a wonderful singing voice!" Sirius protested.
"Really? Where do you keep it, then? A jar in the pantry?" Harry asked, then quickly ducked as Sirius tried to smack him.
"Cheeky monkey! Remind me again why I ever agreed to be your godfather," Sirius mock-grumped.
"Because you were drunk at the time?" Remus cut in, causing both Harry and Sirius to give him dirty looks.
The conversation went downhill from there.
***
Later that afternoon, Cedric and Harry got down to business. In Cedric's bag was a packet of letters written by Draco Malfoy's future version, with a cover letter that specifically instructed Cedric to open the packet only after Sirius Black had been exonerated of all charges against him and reinstated as Lord Black. Since Eddie Spindle had assured the boys that Sirius' reinstatement would only be a formality after the charges were dropped, they felt secure (and curious) enough to open the packet. What they found there was more than a bit surprising to them.
To Cedric Diggory:
If you've followed my instructions, you've waited to read this until Sirius Black has been cleared of all charges and reinstated as Lord Black. Since you're the Hufflepuff poster boy, I'm going to assume that you have done as I instructed, otherwise this has all been for naught.
You'll find here two letters, which I would suggest that you post by a nondescript owl. Do NOT disturb the seal of either letter. You will note that one is to my father, and the other is to the current version of me. Knowing you (and especially Scarhead), I'll tell you what's in them. Basically, I encourage both my father and 'young me' to reconsider their allegiance to the Dark Lord, and give them a few things to consider in this regard. Don't worry; I won't betray any of your secrets, as it would be counterproductive. However, I would suggest that you have Black, in his capacity as Lord Black, write a letter to my mother which you send along with these two letters. Trust me; three will have more impact than two in this matter.
Have Black remind Narcissa that she is first and foremost a Black, and he can disown her from the family at will. Also, he should remind her that Blacks are rarely on the loosing side in conflicts like that which is soon to come, and that she and her husband and son should carefully consider just whom they choose to support. Encourage him to be polite but firm, as befitting the Lord Black…I'm sure he can fake it fairly well. Also, tell him to make sure the letter is blood-verified. He'll know what that means; have him explain it to you, and teach you and Potter the spell. I've done the same to mine, which should get the attention of my father and 'young me'.
Hopefully, you can get this done BEFORE the start of the Hogwarts term…ideally; all three of these letters will reach my family at Malfoy Manor simultaneously. I'd like them to have the chance to compare them, and discuss them, as soon as possible after they receive them.
Also, tell Scarhead to shake my hand when we meet on the train this September 1st, and try not to be too much of a jerk about it.
Oh, one more thing: don't EVER turn your back on Pansy Parkinson, for any reason. Walk carefully around the rest of the Slytherins, but stay away from Parkinson!
Draco, Earl Malfoy
When Cedric finished reading the cover letter, he handed it to Harry without a word, then sat quietly while Harry quickly read it through. When he finished, Harry leaned back with a sigh.
"Well, that's certainly interesting," he said, looking uncertainly to Cedric.
"You could say that," Cedric answered. "Now, the question is: what do we do with it?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know, you're the one who met this 'future Draco'. Do you think he's telling the truth?"
Cedric thought carefully before he answered. "He did say that he was helping me…helping us…as part of a life debt he owed you. And, he was one of the main team that cast the spell that took me there and back again."
"So, you think we can actually trust him?" Harry asked.
"I…I think so," Cedric said carefully, a bit surprised at himself that he actually believed that he could trust the Draco Malfoy he had met in that 'other' future. Of course, everything else that Draco had done for him, and Harry, had been spot on. So, if there was any chance at all that these letters would help separate the Malfoys from Voldemort….
"I think we had better do just as he asks," Cedric finished. "And that includes getting Sirius to write a letter—right now, if he will—to send off with these two as soon as we can."
"At least we know one thing," Harry said, then smiled when Cedric looked a question at him. "He's just as snarky in his letters as he is in real life."
***
To say that Sirius was shocked when the boys told him what they wanted would be a tremendous understatement.
"You want me to write to who?" he asked.
"Narcissa Malfoy, Sirius," Harry said, "and we need you to blood-verify it, and show us the spell for a blood-verification."
"Oh, all right. And I'll just send another little note to the Dark Lord, and the muggle Prime Minister, and the Queen, while I'm at it, eh?"
"Sirius, please. We wouldn't ask you if we didn't think it was important," Cedric said sharply.
"And am I allowed to ask just why you two think it might be important?"
"Er…no?" Harry looked down sheepishly when he answered.
"And why not?" Not surprisingly, Sirius wasn't going to let it go at that.
"Because…we think that we may have found a way to start separating the Malfoys from the Dark Lord," Harry replied.
"Oh?" Now Sirius was getting interested.
"Yeah, but we can't…we can't really tell you what it is, not just yet, anyway," Harry went on.
"Sirius, you know we have secrets, right?" Cedric asked. "Just like the things we couldn't tell you before you learned at least a bit of Occulomency."
Sirius just nodded, his expression neutral.
"Well, this is very much like that, part of a plan of ours that we really can't discuss with you right now," Cedric went on carefully. He hated having to keep secrets from someone who was so obviously on their side, but he still was uncomfortable telling Harry's family and friends the complete truth. Knowing that Harry felt the same way—they had discussed this very thing multiple times before—wasn't really helping him at the moment.
Fortunately, Harry was there to come to his rescue. "Sirius, you know that you can trust us, right? Well, this is one of those things that we'll just have to ask you to trust us on, for a little while. Please?" Harry asked, looking his godfather straight in the eye.
"Besides, Sirius, what can it hurt? At best, it will get Narcissa's attention, and at worst we're no worse off than we are right now." Cedric kept his voice calm and persuasive.
Sirius Black, Lord of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, sat back and thought about what he was being asked, and just who was doing the asking. Certainly, a letter to his cousin Narcissa informing her of his change in status was indicated, if only as a matter of courtesy. And, reminding her that he was backing Harry Potter wouldn't be amiss, assuming it was phrased properly. As for the other, he really wasn't sure that it would amount to anything more than wasted effort, but if it did…. Cutting the Malfoy fortune and influence away from Voldemort would do more to harm his cause than almost any other step they could conceivably take, barring Harry killing him outright. Given that, why not write a simple letter? After all, parchment was cheap….
"Alright, I'll do it, just like you want. But tell me…who told you two about the blood-verification spell?" he asked.
"Er, about that, Sirius," Harry said, blushing. "We really can't tell you that, either."
"Sirius, it's part of…the other thing," Cedric said carefully, willing Sirius to believe them.
"Well, all right," the Lord Black said, sighing. "Fetch me a parchment, and one of those nifty pens of yours, and let's get to writing."
Rather than running for writing supplies, Harry immediately jumped up and hugged Sirius tightly. "Have I told you lately that you're the Best Godfather Ever?" he asked, laughing.
"Hmm…no, not that I recall, no," Sirius chuckled. "So I think that you've been horribly negligent in telling me that."
"Oh, well, pardon me, oh Best Godfather Ever," Harry laughed. "I'm terribly sorry for my inexcusable oversight in the matter."
"Just be sure that it doesn't happen again," Sirius said, mock-sternly. "Otherwise, I might be forced to take steps."
"Oh, no, not that!" Harry laughed, clutching his hands over his heart and staggering back. "Anything but that!"
"If you two are quite finished," Cedric said, coming back into the room with parchment and pens.
Snickering, Sirius and Harry, with Cedric's help, sat down to write the letter to the Lady Narcissa Malfoy née Black.
A/N: Once again, writeheart gets the Disclaimer ID Shout Out! for (correctly) sending in the name of Friedrich Nietzsche, kudos to him. The first review Shout Out! goes to maggi22211, and to answer athenakitty's question: yes, I love chocolate-covered coffee beans, please send more IMMEDIATELY! *snicker* Just a reminder: 'future' Draco (from Once Upon A Cedric) is Earl Draco, and his title has nothing to do with his father's Lordship—it was (probably…we can only speculate, after all) awarded for his actions both during and after the Voldemort war. 'Current' Draco is still the same young speccy git we all know and loathe, Malfoy heir and Prince of Slytherin. Of course, he's about to have his cage rattled, just a bit…but that will come in the next chapter!
TheSiner (and some others—he/she/it just did it first) have reported difficulties in reviewing. *sigh* I have no answers for you, but you do get a Shout Out! for Latvia! And, as always, thanks to my beta, Miss Idina Malfoy, the ever-radiant. Thanks to all of the rest of you for your wonderful reviews, all of which are read and enjoyed, then fed to the plot bunnies. They are what keep me plugging away at the keyboard until the rays of the daystar peek into my window….
Also, this story has just passed the 25,000 hits mark. Wowzers!
Next Chapter: Breakfast and the morning post at Malfoy Manor.