Disclaimer: HP belongs to JKR/OCs belong to me

Chapter 45: End of the Line

"Avada Kedav…" Sirius began to yell out.

"Crucio," Tom broke in, and he watched with satisfaction as the last syllable of the word 'Kedavra' changed into a scream and the wand dropped from Sirius' hand at the shock of the pain.

After Tom finally released the pain spell, Sirius lay there panting as Tom summoned the wand that Sirius had dropped. "You will never try to kill yourself again, and you're going to get up and take this wand and do exactly as I say."

His legs shaking, Sirius now had little choice but to take the wand and listen as Tom outlined what Severus had told him.

"I know that the main entrance to Hogwarts is locked and so you'll need to find another way in." The only secret way that Tom was aware of was almost impossible to get into without getting wet and being able to speak Parseltongue. He also knew that Sirius could get in via the first years' entrance, but he wanted to see what Sirius had to say. "Do you know of any?"

"No," Sirius lied, now intent on doing everything he could to thwart the man.

"Tell me the truth," Tom demanded.

"I know of an entrance," Sirius had to admit.

"Where is it?" Tom asked.

The phrasing of the question allowed Sirius to pick an entrance of which he was aware, but was not the one he would use: the one he intended to use would hopefully mean that he would bump into less people. "I can get in via the boathouse where they take the first years but I'll have to swim across part of the lake to get into it."

"You'll do whatever you have to do," Tom said, before continuing. "Once inside the school, you'll go to Lupin's rooms and kill the boy."

"No."

"You don't have any choice," Tom reminded him, before going on. "Once you've done the job, get out and head for apparition point 73 in Hogsmeade, where I'll be waiting for you."

Sirius questioned Tom's plan. "Do you honestly think that I'll succeed?"

"That's your problem, not mine," Tom said, fully expecting Sirius to fail. "But if you're caught you'll say nothing about where you've been, who I am, what we've discussed, or what you've experienced since we first met." After his order, Tom took Sirius' arm and disapparated with him to the potions room before finishing his sentence. "But first we need to get you something for those shakes." Tom shoved a vial at Sirius. "Drink this."

Sirius drank the potion, and within a few minutes his shaking had subsided.

Tom nodded. "Good. Get your wand ready. When we arrive outside of the gates, I'll take the Aurors on the right and you'll kill all those on the left except for one. You won't alert them to my presence and you'll carry this part out in a manner that's as expedient as possible."

Tom grabbed Sirius' arm again and they vanished. The moon was slowly sinking in the sky as they reappeared in the bushes outside of Hogwarts and Tom pushed Sirius forward while he headed across to the other side of the trail.

Channeling his hatred of Tom, Sirius quickly killed the first Auror with a whispered, "Avada Kedavra." Across the darkened trail, a flash of green light also told him that Tom too was dealing with the Aurors as he had said he would.

Sirius' own attack had alerted the remaining two Aurors on his side of the woods to his presence and he now found himself facing a young woman who looked vaguely familiar, although Sirius had no idea who she was. This thought was put on ice though as Sirius was now presented with a choice. Another female Auror was with the woman he thought he recognized and, although he had no desire to harm either woman, he had to choose. And so, with Tom's warning about leaving an Auror alive still ringing in his ears, Sirius decided to kill the familiar woman's compatriot, while at the same time, firing back at the first woman.

Unaware that Sirius had sort of recognized her, Tonks was putting up a determined fight, but Sirius was an excellent dueler, even with just one wand and two opponents. In fact, Sirius had an innate talent for dueling. He had even defeated his school dueling teacher, Filius Flitwick, on more than one occasion, the first time as a fourth year, and, therefore, despite his rustiness and lack of a secondary wand, it was not long before he had killed Tonks' companion and then overcame Tonks.

From out of the fading darkness, Tom came casually sauntering over. Spotting three bodies lying on the floor, he turned furiously on Sirius. "I told you to keep one alive."

"I did," Sirius said, pointing out a darkened outline. "That one is just stunned."

"Good," Tom said, reiterating his instructions in a manner he believed would afford Sirius no way out. "After reviving her, make certain she gets you through the wards. Then take her weapons with you and stun her. Under no circumstances are you to cast a spell on her that will set off any wards. After that you will avoid the Dementors by whatever means necessary but you'll do it in a manner least likely to draw attention to you."

"I think that a bunch of Dementors chasing me is going to draw attention," Sirius remarked in a derogatory manner.

"Then tell me how you avoided them in Azkaban," Tom demanded.

Sirius had to tell him the truth. "I used my Animagus form to avoid them."

"Then you will do so again," Tom told him, before continuing with his instructions. "After avoiding the Dementors, you'll instantly move to gain entrance to the school, where you'll do nothing to give anyone any warning. If you make it successfully on to the fourth floor, then go to Lupin's rooms where you'll kill the Ellis boy."

"And if I run into opposition?"

"If you're discovered and have no choice but to attack, then use similar spells to your opponent as I don't want you using Dark spells and setting off the school wards. If they do so, then you too may use that option. Either way, make certain you kill them." Tom moved away. "I'll be waiting for you at the agreed rendezvous point. And you'll return to it as soon as you successfully complete your mission."

Sirius glanced over at the shadow in the moonlight. "And if I get caught?"

"Then I won't be seeing you again. Now revive her and carry out the plan," Tom ordered, fully expecting never to see Sirius again but unable to resist the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. He then vanished.

When Sirius revived her, Tonks began to struggle almost immediately, only stopping when Sirius whispered, "Imperio." Then he told her what he needed her to do.

As she walked through the school gates, Tonks quickly became aware that she was under attack and she began to fight against the curse's hold as she had been taught to during her training. But she snapped out of it moments too late, and she had helped Sirius gain access to the school before she could come fully to her senses. As she did, Sirius dropped the underpowered curse, his hope of Tonks fighting off the curse and yelling for help now gone, and he whispered one final spell, Tonks slumping in his arms.

Sirius shivered as he felt the cold wave that signaled the advance of the Dementors. Glancing over to where the shadow of the Whomping Willow stood against the fading night, Sirius came up with a plan, one which would not countermand Tom's orders, but would enable him to save at least one innocent person from a fate worse than death.

Once he had ensured Tonks' safety, Sirius stood just inside the Whomping Willow, the air temperature dropping all the more. He knew that the Dementors had to be outside and, as Tom had told him to, he was going to have to avoid them. Sirius was unfortunately aware, however, that once he had done so, apart from using a different entrance than the one he had told Tom he intended to use, he had no real margin for error for tinkering with Tom's instructions.

After leaving the Willow, Sirius reactivated the tree leaving Tonks safely inside, before changing into his Animagus form as the Dementors turned on him. Making the most of their confusion at the sudden disappearance of their prey, Sirius bounded across the grounds, heading for a large clump of bushes not far from the entrance to the school.

Once there, Sirius reverted to his human form. Placing his wand against a plaque that was covered in grass and moss, he uttered, "Loyalty above all else". He gave one last look over his shoulder at the Dementors that were milling around, before a slab drew back allowing Sirius both entrance to the school and an escape, before it slid back into place again, locking out the Dementors, who quickly dissipated.


Remus' Rooms

Dudley lay on the bed watching the arms of the clock on the wall move forward. Although he could have gotten dressed and gone down for breakfast, Dudley was far too lazy to do so, and so instead he got up and padded into the kitchenette off the sitting room, hoping he would not wake Remus up, who, for some reason Dudley could never work out, always knew he was up.

Dudley, of course, had no idea that Remus was a werewolf, and, because of that, Remus was not currently in his bedroom and was instead still locked up inside the Shrieking Shack, having only just transformed back into human form.

Dudley was walking back to his bedroom, having left everything out on the side he had used to make a sandwich, when he thought he heard a noise from outside the door. He then noticed the handle turning.

Suddenly very afraid, Dudley backed away in the direction of Remus' bedroom. When the handle was tried again, he bolted inside the bedroom, not bothering to knock.

"Remus, Remus, someone's trying to get in!"

Having not arrived at Remus' room until very late, due to a detention issued by Snape, which Harry just knew Snape had deliberately scheduled for a Saturday so that Harry would miss quidditch practice, Harry was still asleep. Therefore the sound of Dudley's yells came as something of an unwelcome shock, and Harry blearily sat up, trying to come fully awake.

"Dudley?"

Dudley had met Harry on more than one occasion, although he still had no idea that they were related or that Remus was Harry's guardian while in school. He therefore immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion about Harry's presence in Remus' bed.

"That's just gross! You're half his age and a student."

More than a little annoyed with his cousin, Harry rolled his eyes as he shot out of the bed, grabbing his wands from the table beside him. "I have a girlfriend, Ellis. Remus is a friend and he's unavailable and so I said I'd stay with you."

"Okay, okay, but someone's trying to get in," Dudley repeated.

Now fully awake, Harry ran into the sitting room. Dudley was right and someone was trying the door handle. Harry immediately fortified the locking spell on the door from his side, hoping this would help. It did not, as a few moments later, the door burst open and a man walked in.

Sirius' heart sank as he spotted Harry, having recognized him from his pictures in the newspaper as well as being unable to miss Harry's marked resemblance to James. But having little choice but to continue with his mission, he closed the door behind him.

As he recognized Sirius, both from his wanted posters and from his visit to Azkaban, Harry yelled at his cousin, "Use the fireplace."

Dudley, however, froze, and it was left to Harry to stand up against the man Dudley knew had tried to kill him before.

Sirius immediately tried pleading with Harry, who was now standing between Sirius and Dudley. "Please move out of the way, Harry. I don't want to hurt you but I'll have to kill you if you stand against me."

Although he was scared, Harry refused to budge. "I won't let you touch him, Black, so if you want him you're going to have go through me. Reducto."

With Harry's refusal, Sirius had no choice and he returned fire. "Reducto."

Harry dove and rolled out of the way, repeating his first spell. "Reducto."

The two then fired several spells off against each other, the spells growing gradually darker on both sides, until finally Harry, who was quickly coming close to losing, used the only option he felt he had left.

"Avada Kedavra."

Sirius stood for a moment in shock that Harry had used an Unforgivable against him. This gave Harry a chance to again hurl the same curse at Sirius, who only just managed to avoid it, the green light of yet another Killing Curse hitting the wall behind him, swiftly followed by a bloodletting curse. "Minuo Maximus."

Sirius shielded against the bloodletting curse before returning the same spell back at Harry, who also shielded. "James would be proud of you."

"I could hardly say he'd feel the same about you!" Harry snarled, and he fired off a blasting spell, which was absorbed by Sirius' shield. Harry then winced at the power of the blasting spell that Sirius returned.

"You fight well for someone of your age, and I'm sorry to do this, but I have a job to do and you're in my way," Sirius said, as he continued to send blasting spells at Harry's shield as he realized that this was obviously a weakness in Harry's armor, all the time hoping that somehow someone would find them in time to stop him from killing Harry.

Harry was now unable to return fire or to speak as he was busy trying to maintain his shield, and he knew without a doubt he was going to lose. Backing up, he stumbled against a chair, causing him to lose concentration, and Sirius took advantage of the moment.

Thankfully Tom's use of the words 'similar force' had given Sirius his final loophole: he would still have to kill Harry but Sirius had the option to choose a curse of similar footing to one that Harry had used. Sirius therefore deliberately chose a curse that was a derivative of the bloodletting curse, and one that he knew might buy Harry a little time but not much.

"Lente Mille Vengradis Sectum."

Harry screamed out in pain as thousands of cuts opened up on his body and he collapsed to his knees in pain. He was also blinded as blood began to run into his eyes. Aware he was going to die, Harry spat out the blood that had filled his mouth from the cuts in it, before yelling at his cousin, "Get out, Dudley."

Aware that Harry would bleed out within minutes, Sirius unwillingly left him to die and turned to face Dudley, who had managed to reach the fireplace, cowering inside of it. Sirius wrinkled his nose in disgust as it was obvious that Dudley had lost all control of his body functions in his fear. Sirius looked down at the boy as he reluctantly said, "Avada Kedavra."

"Sanctum Potter," Dudley screamed out at the same time as Sirius cast the Killing Curse, throwing down green powder as a green light shot towards him.

Sirius was left standing staring at the empty fireplace and he wondered if the boy had survived or not. His mission now over, he grabbed floo powder to leave, only to be halted in his actions as the door flew open and Remus came dashing in: Remus had found Tonks unconscious in the tunnel and had revived her, Tonks quickly filling him in on what had happened, before Remus had set off for the school at a speed that meant he had left Tonks behind.

Inside the room, Remus took one look at the bloody state of Harry and aimed his wand at Sirius. "Avada Kedavra."

His spell was sent awry as Tonks, who had finally caught up with him, using a speed spell to do so, flew at Remus, sending his wand flying. "Professor, no!" She then turned her wand on her cousin. "You're going to pay for what you've done, Black."

"I've already beaten you once, girl," Sirius reminded her, as he faced off against Tonks and a wandless Remus, Tonks having Remus' secondary wand.

As Tonks sent the Reductor Curse at Sirius, Remus took him by surprise by running towards him at full speed. Sirius swung his wand around, using the same spell as Tonks had used on him. "Reducto."

Although the spell blew a hole straight through Remus' shoulder as he ducked left, the spell just avoiding his heart, he kept on going, smashing into Sirius and pushing him into the wall. He then closed his fingers around Sirius' throat and began to choke him.

"You're going to die as you should've done years ago, you son of a bitch!"

Tonks now changed her aim as Sirius' frantic scrambling at Remus' hands grew weaker. "Stupefy." Remus still kept going and so Tonks put more power behind her spell. "Stupefy."

This time Remus slumped forward and Tonks then aimed her wand at Sirius, who was coughing and sucking in air. "Incarcerous." She then repeated the spell on Remus as well as applying a temporary field dressing on his bleeding shoulder, before rushing over to Harry. "Arresto Minuo."

After glancing in both bedrooms and not finding Dudley, Tonks set off at a run for the infirmary, aware that Harry needed blood replenishing potions and as quickly as possible.

Remus came to a few moments later, the spell having quickly worn off, only to discover he was tied up with rope. Using his lupine strength, he managed to break free from the rope around his arms and he quickly tugged off the remaining ropes holding him. After checking on Harry, and hoping that Tonks had used her commonsense, he did the same as Tonks had and checked for Dudley, before hurrying back to Harry's side. Remus glared at Sirius, every instinct in him screaming at him to kill him, particularly when Sirius asked after Harry in a hoarse voice.

"Will he live?"

Remus forced himself to remain where he was. "He's not fucking breathing, and if he doesn't make it, I swear, Black, I'll rip out your heart with my bare hands."

"I didn't want to do it, Remus."

"Just fucking save it!" Remus snarled. "Because if you don't, I can't answer for what I'll do."

At that moment, Tonks ran in, surprise on her face as she took in Remus holding Harry. "How did you get out?"

"Does it matter?" Remus snapped as he held out his hand. "Have you got blood replenishing potions?"

"Of course," Tonks said, holding up four vials.

"Is he going to make it?" Sirius asked, still concerned about his godson.

Remus turned in anger and, afraid of what Remus might do, Tonks aimed her wand at her cousin. "Stupefy."

With Sirius out of the picture, Remus turned back to Harry and, after picking up his wand from the floor and clearing Harry's airways of blood, he gave Tonks instructions. "I'll massage his throat and you can feed him the potion. Then we can try and get his heart going again."

Tonks slowly poured the potion into Harry's mouth. "Madam Pomfrey will be here shortly."

"I'm glad to hear it," Remus said as Tonks poured the second vial in and he began massaging Harry's throat again. Having decided that there was now enough blood replenishing potion inside of Harry to sustain him, Remus placed his wand on Harry's chest, barking out the spell he knew might save him. "Revivio."

On Remus' third attempt, Harry jolted upright, gasped in air, and opened his eyes but he was still rather woozy.

Tonks let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin." She then passed Remus a third vial. "Here."

As Remus administered the third vial, Harry able to swallow himself, Tonks looked across at Remus. "You do realize that I'm going to have to report what you did."

Remus shrugged. "The bastard deserved to die."

"Not by your hand," Tonks said, uncorking the fourth vial.

"He killed my friends and I can't think of anyone better to kill him," Remus angrily said. "Except maybe Harry."

"You probably know as well as I do that Black is a brilliant dueler. I'm a fully trained Auror and he wiped the floor with me," Tonks said, as Remus tipped the contents of the final vial into Harry's mouth. "Harry didn't stand a chance against him."

"I tried," Harry softly said, and it was obvious from the strain in his voice he was in pain.

"I know you did," Remus said, and he felt horribly guilty. "I should never have asked you to stay with Dudley." He then addressed Tonks. "I've got both sleeping and pain potions in the cabinet in my bathroom."

"Did you actually believe that Sirius would come in here and try to kill him?" Tonks asked, as she came back in guessing that Remus was feeling guilty.

"Of course not," Remus said, as he fed the potions to Harry, who sighed and drifted off to sleep. "I just imagined it would be a simple babysitting job."

"And I can see from the two bodies outside of the door that there were Aurors charged with protecting the boy," Tonks told him. "Just as I know that there were Aurors outside of the gate to the school, myself included."

"And yet out of everyone he left you alive, although I have no idea why," Remus said, after applying a temporary field dressing to Harry's head, picking him up and placing him on the sofa.

Poppy chose that moment to come waddling in, Amelia Bones right behind her together with a contingent of Aurors, two of whom were the guards from outside of Remus' room, Sirius having only stunned them in order not to set off any alarms, although both Remus and Tonks had not stopped to check, believing them to be dead.

Poppy immediately began to tend to Harry, although she could already see that Remus had done enough to stabilize him and make him comfortable.

Amelia turned to Tonks. "Report."

Tonks outlined what she knew and Amelia turned to Remus.

"Remus Lupin, you're under arrest for the unauthorized use of an Unforgivable and for attempted murder. Anything you say can be used against you during your trial. After you've been treated for your injury, you'll be remanded into custody until such trial can be arranged where you'll be tried for these crimes. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Remus said, not bothering to offer up an argument.

Amelia barked out an order. "Remove Professor Lupin."

Remus let two of the Aurors place magical restraints on him and he was led out of the room.

Amelia aimed her wand at Sirius, who groaned and opened his eyes. His first thought was to apologize.

"I'm sorry."

Amelia ignored the apology. "Did you kill Dudley Ellis?"

"I don't know." Sirius' answer, however, made it obvious that he had tried. "He flooed out."

"Did you try to kill Harry Potter?"

"I'm sorry, I made an effort…"

Amelia interrupted him. "I don't want your excuses, Black; I just want to know whether you tried to kill Harry Potter or not."

"Yes," Sirius admitted, although he knew he was likely signing his own death warrant by doing so. "But…"

Given what had happened, Amelia was far from in the mood to listen to Sirius' excuses or his pleading, and she turned away from him to speak to Tonks. "Auror Tonks, would you bear witness to the fact that Sirius Black confessed to the attempted murders of Harry Potter and Dudley Ellis at," here she looked at the clock, "7.52 a.m.?"

Sirius gasped as he heard Tonks' name, now understanding why he thought he had recognized her. "You're Andy's daughter?"

"Yes," Tonks said, barely able to take her eyes off a man her mother had once said she had believed was one of the most loyal followers of the Light she knew. She asked the same question Remus had a few moments earlier. "But what I don't understand is why you simply didn't kill me. You obviously didn't know who I was until now. Why use a sleeping spell?"

Amelia thought she knew. "He obviously needed you to get in and he was afraid of setting the wards off. I think that's why the guards outside of this room survived."

"But he could have left me on the grounds to the Dementors," Tonks pointed out. "But he didn't. Why did you leave me alive?"

"I had no reason to kill you," Sirius answered, unable to say more.

"And what about Harry Potter?" Amelia interrupted. "He was your godson."

"I didn't want to hurt him," Sirius said, his voice heavy with guilt. "But he refused to listen to me."

Amelia was disgusted. "Tonks, please arrest him formally."

Tonks gladly did so. "Sirius Orion Black, you're under arrest for the attempted murder of Dudley Ellis and Harry Potter. You're also under arrest for the murders of Emily Robirch, Tamsin Dunst, Robert Halliwell, Keith Right, and Matthew Gladwing. I'm therefore remanding you into custody until a trial can be arranged where you'll be tried for these crimes. Do you understand?"

Sirius nodded. "Yes."

Amelia knew that with Sirius' confession about trying to kill Harry, a trial would not be necessary, but Tonks had a procedure to follow. When Tonks had finished speaking, Amelia vanished the ropes from Sirius' upper body, allowing one of the Aurors to fit Sirius with magical handcuffs, before she also vanished the ropes on Sirius' lower half. Sirius was then frog-marched out.


When Harry came to again, he discovered he was in a private room in the infirmary and Amelia Bones was sitting next to him. "Dudley?"

Amelia was able to pass on good news. "He's shook up but alive, Harry."

Harry closed his eyes in relief. Although he disliked his cousin immensely, he was glad to hear that he had survived. "Thank you."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Harry sat up and reached out to take some water, ignoring the question. "I thought Remus or Aunt Molly would be here."

"Mrs. Weasley came by earlier but we assured her that you're doing just fine," Amelia said, avoiding mentioning Remus, with whom she knew that Harry had a very good relationship.

Harry, however, was not about to let her off the hook. "And Remus?"

"He's in Azkaban," Amelia said, well aware that what she had to tell Harry would not go down well. "He tried to deliberately murder Sirius Black, and so I had no choice but to arrest him. And given that I have no idea what happened between you and Black, as Black will only tell me that he tried to kill you and your cousin, I need to see your memory of what happened."

"Black won't tell you what I did?"

"He said that his confession should be enough and that I should leave you alone to recover."

Harry was a little shocked as he realized that, for some bizarre reason, Sirius was trying to protect him by not telling Amelia about the curses Harry had used. "I know it sounds mad but I think he's trying to shield me."

"Why would he do that?"

Given that Amelia was going to see what happened anyway, Harry made a clean breast of things. "I don't know. But I think it's because I tried to kill him."

"How?" Amelia asked, hoping that Harry had not gone as far as Remus.

"I knew he was going to beat me, so I used the Killing Curse before he did," Harry said, not bothering to lie.

"Then it was in self-defense?" Amelia asked.

Harry nodded, as this was the truth. "Yes."

Amelia was rather relieved. "Very well. After I've seen your memory of the event, I'll be able to ensure that you aren't charged."


It was over an hour later when Amelia returned and by now Harry was rather worried. "Are you going to charge me?"

"I need to ask you a few questions first before I make any decision," Amelia said, sitting down at Harry's bedside. "Some of the spells you first used on Black weren't fourth year spells, in fact they're almost borderline Dark Magic. Would you care to tell me where you learned them?"

"I can't," Harry quietly said.

"Then I have no choice," Amelia told him and she withdrew Veritaserum. "I've already received permission from Molly Weasley to administer this."

Harry knew why Molly would have said yes – although she knew what Remus was, unlike Arthur, she had no idea about what Remus was teaching him, both men well aware that she would never have allowed it, but both men believing it to be in Harry's best interests.

"I still won't be able to tell you."

Amelia frowned but she made a demand of Harry. "Stick out your tongue."

As Harry stuck out his tongue, Amelia administered the drug and then she began to question him. "Who taught you those spells?"

Harry began to sweat as his oath to Remus warred with the truth drug. "I can't…"

"Fine, you don't have to answer that question," Amelia snapped, aware that Harry must have sworn some sort of oath, although she had suspected it would be the case from the moment Harry had said he would be unable to tell her the truth. "I now know that you can cast the Killing Curse with ease, so it's obvious you've been practicing. Have you?"

Harry had little choice to admit he had. "Yes."

Amelia pressed on. "And did you deliberately use the Killing Curse against Black when you could've used a different spell?"

"No," Harry immediately said. "I thought I was going to die if I didn't."

"Did you already know any of these spells before you came to BritAD for your initial training?"

"No."

Amelia wondered when Harry had learnt them. "How about the second time?"

"Yes."

"Did you really need any of the training you received at BritAD the second time?" Amelia asked, wondering if Harry had been wasting her time.

"Some," Harry honestly said.

"And now?"

"Not really," Harry told her, able to see how angry she was.

Amelia administered the antidote, having only received permission to question Harry about the spells he had used, her questions already stretching Molly's proviso for administering the Veritaserum.

"I'm afraid that I have little choice but to charge you with the repeated use of an Unforgivable Curse. Once you've recovered, you'll be formally arrested and taken to Azkaban to await trial. In the meantime, you'll remain locked in this room and won't be allowed visitors except for medical and Auror personnel. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Harry said, in a steady voice, although inside he was quaking at the thought of having to spend time in Azkaban.

After giving instructions to Poppy about Harry's incarceration, Amelia returned to BritAD with a heavy heart. She truly did like Harry but his actions had left her smarting, especially given what she believed she had done for him. Her mood was not helped when, after glancing down at her desk, she noticed an urgent communiqué, which she opened.

"Ignotus!"


The Next Morning

Ignotus greeted Amelia politely as he walked into her office. "Good morning, Madam Bones. As you obviously didn't receive my message, I thought I'd come and see you."

"Ignotus," Amelia said stiffly, having ignored Ignotus' letter. "I suppose you want to speak to me about Potter?"

"Actually no. It's about Remus Lupin - you're to drop all charges and release him," Ignotus demanded, although he was aware that he was likely going to have to blow Remus' cover in order to be able to free him from Azkaban.

Amelia snorted. "I'll do no such thing."

"He's an Unspeakable, Amelia," Ignotus revealed, showing her Remus' papers. "And Harry Potter's bodyguard."

Amelia's lip pursed together as she saw that Remus was indeed an Unspeakable. "So that's where Harry learnt how to cast so many borderline Dark Arts spells and the Killing Curse."

Ignotus knew that Amelia had questioned Harry, even though she had tried to keep things quiet. However, he had fingers in more pies than she knew about. "So what if he did?"

"Harry used the Killing Curse in a duel against Black, Harry choosing to use it first. And it was also more than a little obvious from the ease with which he used the Curse that he's used it before, something he admitted to, and so tomorrow I'll be charging him with the unauthorized use of an Unforgivable, and unlike your boy Lupin, he doesn't have your protection," Amelia ranted, taking her anger and disappointment out on Ignotus. "And…"

"I'm afraid you're quite wrong, Amelia. You see, Harry has exactly the same protection that Remus does," Ignotus interrupted, taking some pleasure from the furious look on Amelia's face, there being no love lost between either of them.

"I need to see proof," Amelia demanded, scarcely able to believe that a boy as young as Harry was an Unspeakable, even if he was the Boy Who Lived.

Ignotus left the office before returning to show her the paperwork pertaining to Harry. "As usual, under your oath, this will remain between us. You will, of course, hand over any copies of any memories you've taken from Auror Tonks, Sirius Black, Remus or Harry pertaining to this event that may incriminate either Harry or Remus. I will, of course, be dealing with the removal of any pertinent memories from the staff of Hogwarts. And I believe it would be in Auror Tonks' best interests if she was to pay me a visit."

Amelia had no choice but to agree. However, she did give Ignotus a warning. "Fine, but if you or Lupin ever dare to ever piss in my pool again, I swear I'll make you both sorry that you ever joined the bloody Unspeakables."

Ignotus smiled inside of his hood, aware that this was an empty threat. "I'll piss wherever I choose to, as will Remus and, of course, Harry."

"And you can tell Potter that he's no longer welcome at BritAD," Amelia said, in frustration, well aware that Ignotus could literally do almost anything he wanted. "He's wasted my time and that of my Aurors."

Ignotus was completely unfazed by Amelia's anger. "It was necessary for appearances' sake."

This just angered Amelia all the more. "I don't give a shit. He's no longer welcome. And I'd revoke his Level One Clearance but I suspect that would be a waste of time, wouldn't it?"

Ignotus smiled, although he knew Amelia would be unable to see that under his hood. "I suppose it would, and now that this meeting is concluded, I do believe that I'd like Remus released from Azkaban." He then turned and left.

Amelia picked up her in-tray and threw it across the room, letting her anger spill over. "Sanctimonious arsehole!" She then vanished from her room, having little choice but to arrange for Remus' immediate release.


Three Hours Later

A tired Remus stood facing his boss, worry over Harry meaning that he had gotten little sleep in Azkaban, even though he had not been held in a high security area and therefore not exposed to the Dementors. "I'm in deep shit, aren't I?"

"You let your personal feelings dictate your actions, Remus," Ignotus said, his voice heavy with disappointment. "And given that this is the second time this year I've found it necessary to bring you up on disciplinary action, I'd normally suspend you from duty but I need you in Hogwarts. Instead I'm going to demote you from your current position back to Unspeakable First Class, dock three months' wages, and warn you that if anything like this happens again, you'll be left to face the consequences."

"I understand, Sir," Remus acknowledged, but his punishment was the least of his concerns. He was more worried about the two boys who had been attacked. "What about Harry and Dudley?"

"Dudley is safe and I'm going to see Harry this afternoon." Ignotus stood up. "That's all."

Remus left, aware that although he and Ignotus had a very good relationship, he had been very lucky not to be left to rot in Azkaban.


Harry put down his book as a cloaked man came in. He knew he was too thin to be Remus, and he suspected it might be Ignotus, although only having met him once before he was not certain. "Can I help you?"

Ignotus closed the door. "You can, Harry. It's Ignotus."

Harry almost unconsciously straightened up and he paled as his fears were confirmed. "Good afternoon, Sir."

"Do you know why I'm here?"

Harry hazarded a guess. "To take me to Azkaban?"

Ignotus swiftly allayed this particular fear. "No, no charges have been filed against you, although to get those charges dropped I'm afraid that I've had to reveal to Bones about your status as an Unspeakable."

"I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault, Harry," Ignotus gently said, not wanting Harry to blame himself for something he had been unable to prevent. "After seeing your memory of taking on Black, I believe you were lucky to survive and, contrary to what Bones might believe, your use of those curses were necessary, so don't let yourself think otherwise."

"I won't, Sir," Harry said, feeling a sense of relief that Ignotus had approved of what he had done.

Ignotus moved on. "Now tell me, how are you feeling?"

"Sore and itchy," Harry admitted, still aching despite the potions he had been given. "Black made a bit of a mess of me, but I should be up by tomorrow." He then asked after his mentor. "Is Remus okay?"

"Remus has been released from custody and will no doubt drop by later to see you," Ignotus said, before he passed on Amelia's words. "Speaking of Remus, you should know that we've all pissed off Bones in a big way. I'm afraid you're no longer welcome at BritAD and, I suspect, her home, although she didn't say that."

Harry winced. "I wonder if Susan will still want to be my friend."

"That's between you and her," Ignotus said, and then he moved on to the subject of Sirius. "I should tell you that Sirius Black won't be receiving a trial since he confessed to your attempted murder, and so his execution is due to take place in a week's time."

Harry's face tightened with hatred. "Good. Is he getting the Kiss?"

Ignotus also noticed Harry's hands reflexively grip his bedding. "Yes."

"I want to be there," Harry demanded, his knuckles turning white as his grip grew even tighter.

Noting Harry's reaction, Ignotus refused his request. "I don't believe it would be to your benefit, Harry."

"I don't care," Harry argued. "I want to see that man die. He killed my girlfriend's mother, my best friend's father, my relatives, my family, countless others, and…"

Ignotus held up his hand. "I get your point but I'm also well aware that your previous witnessing of such an event traumatized you badly enough to have to be obliviated afterwards."

"I'm not eleven anymore," Harry pointed out. "And look at what I've done since then."

"Are you talking about nearly killing Black or the Death Eater you killed?"

"Both."

Ignotus sighed at Harry's implacable face. "Very well. Just promise me though that you'll think carefully before you make the final decision to watch Black's death."

"I promise," Harry said, although he had every intention of watching Sirius go the same way he knew his aunt had.

Ignotus stood up. "I hope I don't see you there, but I have the feeling I will. Take care, Harry."

"I will, Sir," Harry said, and he flopped back against his pillows as the door closed, his mind on Sirius Black and his upcoming execution.