May 2nd 1998

"No."

"Sirius …" Addie sighed.

"Absolutely not." Sirius took one look at her expression and closed his eyes. "Don't give me that look. No."

"You promised," Addie said.

"I did not …" Sirius turned to Hermione, who was watching them with some amusement, which was a nice change from her earlier despondent attitude. "Did I promise? Did you hear me promise?"

Hermione laughed, wiping away the last of her tears. When Addie had left for Hogwarts and Sirius had stayed to comfort Leona, she had slipped away to mourn the life she could have had. Neither of her parents had let her stay in that state for too long though. "I don't think so."

"Well, of course not, Hermione wasn't there," Addie said. "I told you you'd make a great teacher, and you told me that you'd teach when I became Headmistress."

Sirius opened and closed his mouth a few times. "Well, I didn't …"

"You could spend the whole year with us, Dad," Hermione said brightly.

"Well …"

"Not to mention," Addie said, "I'm due in the middle of November. If you were teaching, you'd be right there in the castle with me."

Sirius sighed. "I always knew you two would gang up on me."
"Obviously," Addie said with a smirk. "But you love us."

Sirius cracked a smile. "Yeah, I know. Alright, I'll take the job. I just hope you know what you've let yourself in for."

May 5th 1998

Sirius and the Potters had been given three days to decide whether they wanted to press civil charges against Peter.

James and Lily had an easy decision of it, but Sirius found it harder. He spent many hours mulling over the situation.

In the end, it was Hermione who finally put it into words. "Dad, if your gut response isn't a yes, then surely it's a no."

When Peter was brought back to the chamber for sentencing, James and Sirius voiced their decisions for the first time.

James stood first. "Lady Potter and I are in agreement. Upon hearing the evidence, we agree that the actions taken were to protect an innocent victim and that all efforts were made to ensure our safety. Furthermore, we are satisfied that, without Albus Dumbledore, that night would never happen. We do not wish to press charge."

"Thank you Lord Potter," Jen said. "Scribe, please amend the records. Lord Black?"

Sirius rose to his feet. "Had you asked me a year ago, I would have wanted to press charges. However, the evidence makes it clear that framing me for murder was not the intended outcome. Could he have spoken up sooner? Yes. Was he burying his head in the sand a bit? Probably. Has be been a colossal idiot? Absolutely."

A few people chuckled, and even Peter gave a sheepish smile.

"Then again," Sirius continued, "I've been a colossal idiot a few times in the past as well."

"Don't sell yourself short," James said. "It was more than a few times."

Now real laughter broke out, and Jen banged her gavel, unable to help her own giggles. "Merlin help me, I'd forgotten the difficulty of dealing with you two. Behave yourselves please, and Lord Black, please get to the point."

"Right." Sirius cleared his throat. "Being an idiot is not a malicious act, and there is still sentencing to be made for today. I do not wish to press charges."

Jen raised an eyebrow, but accepted his decision. "Scribe, please amend the records. In that case, we can get it over and done with quickly. Mr Pettigrew, for obstruction of justice and twelve counts of manslaughter, you are sentenced to twelve years in Azkaban."

It did not escape her notice that it was the same sentence that Sirius had served before his escape.

Sometimes poetic justice was unintentional.

May 6th 1998

The day after the hearing, Lily was looking for Harry. She knew he wasn't with Hermione, because she was with Addie, shopping for the nursery.

Once she had checked all the obvious places, she finally went to the library, and found him hidden in the back with a Defence textbook.

"I'd have thought you'd have had enough of that," Lily said with a smile, coming to sit beside him. "You know your sixth year exams are cancelled."

"I know," Harry said, closing the book. "I've actually only done three sets of exams since I started - first, third and fifth. It's actually kind of fitting the sixth year were cancelled as well."

Lily shook her head. "Honestly, it's amazing how well you've done at school under those circumstances."

Harry turned a little red. "I was just doing a bit of extra research. I know that Addie's planning on teaching Defence again this year, but she can't really do both - I was thinking of applying for the job when I graduate."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Lily said immediately. "I heard about the DA - by all accounts, you're a great teacher."

She was gratified to see that this did not evoke a blush - he was clearly aware of his ability in this sector. "Thanks Mum. Were you looking for me?"

"I was actually,' Lily admitted. "I wanted to ask you about my sister."

If she hadn't been watching for it, she might have missed the way Harry stiffened a little.

"You weren't supposed to go to her," she said gently. "James and I thought we had ensured that."

"I know," Harry said. "It wasn't that bad."

"Jen did tell us quite a bit, Harry," Lily said. "It sounds bad."

"She didn't love me," Harry admitted. "I wouldn't expect her to be nice."

"I would have," Lily said. "I knew she wouldn't be, but I would like to think that she would at least treat a child with kindness. Harry … Sweetheart, can you please look at me?"

Harry hesitated, but raised his gaze to hers.

Lily smiled sadly. "I know you don't want to talk about it, sweetheart. But I do need to ask - did they ever spend any money on you?"

Harry thought about it - which answered the question on its own. "They took my to the zoo once on Dudley's birthday. But that was because they didn't trust me enough to leave me at home on my own. I guess they must have done when I was really little, but I don't remember. I only ever wore Dudley's leftovers and I ate what was left when they'd finished."

"What if there wasn't anything left?" Lily asked.

Harry shrugged. "Then I didn't eat. Jen fed me most of the time. Does it matter anymore?"

"Actually, yes," Lily said. "You see, James and I set up more than just a Will at the bank. Whoever took custody of you, if we were unable to do so, would get a monthly stipend to pay for your care - raising a child is expensive, after all. We've checked with Gringotts and that, at least, was adhered to, and it definitely went to them."

Harry gave a humourless chuckle. "And they complained how much it cost them to keep me. Wouldn't Jen have picked that up when she took me to the bank?"

"Probably not," Lily answered. "It wasn't an unexpected outgoing, so it wouldn't have been flagged as a concern. We'll get the lawyers involved and get the money back, with interest."

Harry nodded. "Was it a lot?"

Lily touched his hand gently. "That's not the point, Harry. I wouldn't begrudge you a single Knut. I do begrudge the fact that we gave it to them to help them take care of you, and they didn't spend a penny of it on you. Quite frankly, I am done with giving Petunia a free pass just because she's my sister."

At that moment, the front door opened and closed, but with no signal of who had entered the house, which was unusual.

Lily frowned, and cast a quick spell to check the wards, which had the benefit of also telling her who had entered the house. "George?" She called, getting to her feet. "Is everything okay?"

She didn't get an answer and she wasn't surprised when Harry followed her out of the library.

They found George still in the entrance hall, a blank look on his face.

"George?" Lily repeated gently. "I thought you were at work."

George blinked, as though he'd only just seen her. "Hi Lily. I'm really sorry … I wasn't sure where else to go."

"It's alright," Lily said soothingly, taking his arm. "Why don't we come and sit down? Harry," she said in an undertone. "Run and find your father, would you?"

Harry nodded, darting off.

"Come on," Lily said, tugging him in the direction of the family room. "Let's sit down. What happened?"

"Couldn't go to Ravenscroft," George murmured. "Can't tell Fred."

"Fred's still unconscious, sweetheart," Lily said, as they sat down. "George, can you tell me what happened?"

"Can't tell Fred," George repeated.

"Dad's just coming," Harry said, jogging back in. "What's going on?"

"He's in shock," Lily answered. "Was there anyone else working with him?"

"I think Alicia was there today," Harry answered. "I can go and find her."

Before Lily could response, and as if on cue, the front door opened and closed again.

"Mr and Mrs Potter?" Alicia's voice called. "Is George here?"

Lily sighed in relief. "In here, Alicia."

Alicia hurried in. "Oh, thank goodness. I've contacted the aurors but he disapparated while my back was turned."

"Aurors?" Lily asked sharply. "What happened? I can't get a word out of him."

"It's just awful," Alicia said. "There was a fire at the shop."

"That can't be too bad," Harry said. "It must have been under control fairly quickly, right?"

"Normally, yes," Alicia said. "But there were five different ignition points inside, and we'd just evacuated everyone to deal with it, when someone threw a curse at the shop. The aurors are still trying to put it out now."

"So it wasn't an accident," Lily concluded grimly. "It was arson."