A/N: Here I am again!

I would like to thank Guest for his/hers review. Unfortunately, I can only reply if you are logged in. I thank you for your encouragement on this story, and I thank you for your advice. I see you point on Neville's Story… But here's the thing: I write this for readers. Neville's Story is a bit more for myself. I have been dealing with the same insecurities Neville has, and although they are better now, I feel like I need to write them off. I can't explain it to myself, so I don't have a good explication – it just feels like something I need to do.

To mwinter1: thank you for your continued support!

To everyone else who is reading this: thank you, and enjoy!

On to the chapter itself, and please know that you're very welcome to leave a review!

"Mister Davidson, how are you and mister Potter related?", the judge asks slowly. She knows the answer, of course; but she can't just go blabbing on old cases.

Jane slowly makes a stand; all eyes are on her. "Harry Potter is my cousin."

Shock is showing on nearly everyone's faces. But Jane doesn't care about Malfoy, she looks to the only two people who didn't know (the rest is shocked she would go that far). Sirius and Remus look like they've been slapped in the face. And she knows it's because of her. More is yet to come.

But the judge wants this case over before the bomb can burst any further. "Then custody is hereby given to mister Davidson. Mister Davidson, you are to sign these papers. You too, mister Potter, mister Black, mister Lupin."

That shakes them out of their stupor.

As the paperwork is filed, Jane sneaks off. She doesn't want to have this discussion in the open. But unfortunately, the problems are not yet over.

"There, there. I'd never thought to see that face again," mister Malfoy says, in a cold way that makes her blood freeze.

But she's done. She has had it with his arrogant being. "You do remember you swore silence about what is discussed in there on your magic, do you?", she questions, feeling a small bit of satisfaction as he frowns. "I do hope the great mister Malfoy remembers to read what he signs."

And with that, she walks off.

Jane knows she can't stall the conversation that would surely follow. When she makes it home, she waits in the entrance hall for Harry, Sirius and Remus, and Henry.

"Henry, can you look after Harry? I think you should rest a bit," she says the moment they arrive. There's an icy silence from the other two that doesn't bode anything good.

Harry looks like he wants to object, but thankfully he thinks the better of it.

"When the fuck were you going to tell us this?", Remus exclaims. "That you and Harry are family?"

She sighs deeply. "Harry wanted to tell you immediately."

"So, he knew?", Sirius interrupts her.

"I asked him to keep it silent," she says quietly.

Suddenly, she feels very tired and alone. It must have been showing on her face, because when he continues, Remus sounds a lot calmer.

"But why?", he presses on.

"There are limited people who know. Not even Fudge knows. My boss in France knows, the head of the departments there, Harry, Henry and Lara."

"You sister? Is she Harry's cousin, too?", Remus asks quickly.

She nods.

"But why?", Sirius asks again.

She thinks for a while. "If you don't mind, I rather not speak yet of all details. What I can tell you is that my biological parents are dead," she says sadly.

Remus decides another approach. "How are you related to Harry?"

"My late mother was a sister of Lily Evans," she replies, settling down in a chair. Was she a sister, or is she a sister, even in death? She had no idea. It's a matter of opinion.

"I've never heard of her," Sirius replies.

She feels closed in, with these two taking turns in talking. "My mother fell ill at a young age. She moved to France, and attended Beauxbatons. Maybe Lily wanted to be with her, but wasn't accepted, I don't know. Maybe the possible loss of a sister at a young age tormented her. I don't know why she never told you anything about Rosemary. I truly don't."

"But why didn't you tell us? Why ask Harry to keep it between the two of you?", Remus presses on.

She stands up and walks to the closest by window, looking out of it. "I always knew Lucius Malfoy would try this, when Petunia was found unfit as a guardian. Neither of you could counter it; my family bond with Harry ensured Henry could. The fact that you rather saw him raised by an unknown family who has taken oaths then by Malfoy, convinced the judge that Malfoy was not the right choice. That would've been diminished if you knew who I was, and that we would take Harry in."

Both men nod.

"There's more to you, isn't there?", Sirius says warily.

She sighs again, deeper this time.

"I don't want to talk about it," she states firmly.

"You didn't end up directly in Henry's care. I come from an abusive home, Jane. I know how to see when someone has been abused. You jump at small sounds, your passion to be a Healer and to always help other. Shouting startles you. I can see the fear in your eyes the moment you wake up. You're guarded position. You don't trust many people. You know what that shouts to me, Jane? Abuse, even worse than Harry has suffered."

She looks at him, arms crossed. "Some truths best stay hidden, mister Black."

"You were the one who convinced me to see a Mind Healer," he replies.

A tear escapes her eye. He reminds her forcefully of Harry, who always sees right through her.

"Your point being?", she asks.

"We are here for you," Sirius says with feeling.

She can't doubt the serious grey eyes, attempting to drill holes in her head. She can't force out words, so she just nods.

Jane waits until they have taken their leave, and walks slowly towards Harry's room, trying to get her emotions under control.

Harry takes one look at her and jumps out of bed. He slowly guides her towards a chair. "That bad?", he asks, while brushing some hair out of her eyes.

"As well as to be expected," she replies.

"You should have told them about what happened after your parents' death," Harry states.

She sighs, and starts pacing. "We've had this discussion already."

"And we'll continue to have it until you see reason. Come on, Jane! Trust is the basis of every relation. How can they trust you when you are deliberately withholding important information?"

And there it is. Her problem in all the discussions they had about this. She can't deny Harry just scored a point. But still…

A knock on the door interrupts her thoughts. Sirius is there, to say goodbye to Harry; his trial will be held next week. Jane grasps his presence like a lifeline and excuses herself, while Harry attempts to drill holes in her back with his eyes.

"You look troubled," a calm voice to her left says, and Jane jumps slightly. Troubled as she was, she wasn't as attentive as usual. "Is there a problem?", Remus asks.

She hesitates, wondering how best to explain this. "Harry and I … Have a difference in opinion."

"You fought?", Remus says. He sounds surprised; Jane argues, yes, but a real fight is unlike her.

She grimaces. "It happens to the best of friends."

"That bad?", he unknowingly echoes Harry's earlier words.

She sighs. "I… The problem is I can see his point, and he is at least partially right."

"But you think you have a point, too."

"I think Harry's point scores higher," Jane replies.

Remus raises his eyebrows. "Then you simply admit he was right?", he sounds confused now.

"But what if Harry's course of action could've severe implications for a friend of ours?"

His eyes flash to Harry's door, and Jane knows Remus knows she is talking about Sirius. "That complicates matters."

She sighs. "I can't be the reason he goes back to Azkaban. I can't. I won't be able to live with myself, and, how could I?"

"It's not your fault they made that decision so may years ago," Remus states, frowning concernedly.

She smiles sadly. "If only that were true."

It's a grim, gloomy day; Paris seems to hold its breath on the day of the trial of Sirius Black. Because of him, the procedure is entirely in English, with auto-quills translating to French for the jury.

The jury enters the court room. Jane feels a flash of stress as the official start of the trial is given.

"Mister Poulain, your first witness, please," the judge says.

"The state would like to call Mr. Harry James Potter to the stand," the man starts.

Harry's retrieved from the witness room close to the court room and takes the oath. After the standard questions about age, profession etc., his testimony starts for real.

"You are the accused's godson?", Achille Poulain states.

"Yes, although I only found out this year," Harry replies.

"Can you explain that?"

"Yes. I was not officially informed mister Black was supposedly hunting me until late October, begin November. My Head of House then informed me of that fact. She did not inform me of the fact that he is my godfather, I found that out when I listened in to a conversation that was not meant for my ears. That was how I found out the allegations against mister Black."

"That must have been hard to hear," the man continues.

"Indeed," Harry replies as short as possible.

"When did you first encounter mister Black?"

"In the last week of June, a few months ago."

"But wasn't there an attack before that?", Achille asks confused.

"Yes, but I didn't wake before he left the tower," Harry says with a defensive edge in his voice.

"And the portrait to your tower was damaged, your friend attacked?", the prosecutor questions.

"Indeed, but Ron was unharmed. All of us were," Harry replies.

"What did the authorities say?"

Harry hesitates. "To my knowledge, they were not informed. They never questioned me, nor – to the best of my knowledge – any of my dorm mates."

Achille Poulain's eyebrows raise like they are trying to escape. "On to when you really met mister Black. What happened then?"

"He took my friend Ron through a tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. When Hermione Granger and I entered the room, mister Black had Ron's wand. I don't remember all that has been said, but it wasn't all friendly. We managed to take back Ron's and our wands – he had disarmed us when we entered – and then professor Lupin came in."

"Did you feel threatened at any point?"

Harry is silent for a moment. "It is difficult to explain. I was scared of the mass murderer everyone had told me he was. But I wasn't scared of the man in front of me, who was standing armed before three teenagers, and made no move to attack. I had the feeling I missed part of the story."

"He didn't hurt you, then? You weren't attacked?", the man sounds incredulous.

"That's correct. Well, until professor Snape came in," Harry replies calmly.

In the public, Jane suppresses a smile. It is obvious the defendant will portray Sirius like a dangerous deranged man, and Severus like a hero. But Harry telling a different story will give a whole other impression to the jury. If Severus comes in trying to play the hero, the defendant will lose part of the faith of the jury.

"Professor Snape came to rescue you," Achille states firmly.

"Did he, now? Professor Lupin, who came before him, had the situation under control. He was the only armed person there. He was talking reasonably to Sirius Black. Then professor Snape enters, tries to kick me out of school, and threatens to feed the souls of both professor Lupin and mister Black to the Dementors. Look, I'm no expert, but I can ensure you the atmosphere didn't improve. Even after Black agreed to going to Hogwarts and turning himself in, he insisted on the Dementors."

Achille pretends not to hear Harry. "And then mister Black attacked professor Snape?"

Ah, Jane thinks. At least the man realised they'd probably check the trio for mind-altering spells. Witch meant his earlier statement, about them being confounded, was invalid.

"Is that the story he goes by now? It was my understanding he claimed that we were confounded," Harry says innocently.

"Mister Snape saw the error in his assumptions," Poulain replies, sounding defensive.

"Indeed. But his story is again untrue. He was attacked by Ron, Hermione and myself."

"Why?"

"Because he threatened me with his wand in his hand. I reacted with expelliarmus, only with the intention to disarm, not to harm. Unfortunately, with three spells at once, professor Snape was knocked into a wall and rendered unconsciously," Harry continues calmly.

Mister Poulain looks embarrassed. "I have no further questions, your honour."

Smart man, Jane thought. Instead of bringing up that Harry arrived at the embassy injured, he chose not to draw attention, because he thought – correctly – that Sirius didn't do that. Bringing it up from his side would only make the jury chose Sirius' side.

But unfortunately for the defendant, Peter knows that, too. "Mister Potter, it was my understanding that you arrived at the embassy injured without mister Lupin. Can you explain how that happened?"

"Yes. Mister Black agreed to walk to the castle to turn himself in. The moon was up, and since mister Lupin is a werewolf, he transformed. He ran into the forest. The Dementors attacked us, and I repelled them with the Patronus charm. Hence my exhaustion, and I simply passed out."

"Objection! The Patronus charm is NEWT level. How and where did mister Potter learn this charm?"

"Can you answer the question, mister Potter?", the judge said.

"Certainly. I learned it during private lessons with mister Lupin, at the time the DADA teacher at Hogwarts."

"Objection overruled," the judge stated. "Save it for the interrogation of mister Lupin."

Harry walked out of the witness' stand. The morning continued with the testimony of Remus from that night. His account agreed with Harry's, and Ron's and Hermione's written ones (since the prosecutor never thought the defendant would agree to having both the trial about that Halloween night and the trial about what happened since he escaped, they had not asked Ron or Hermione to be present, only to write their statements to have an overview of what happened). Again, both Harry and Jane noted that no questions about the night the Potters died were asked. Snape's testimony would conclude the morning. As expected, he gave an entirely different version of the events. He stated that Black had attacked him when he turned his back to him, that he was keeping an eye on Potter (hence him being there). All in all, it was all Potters fault, that was his conclusion. He was out of bounds, despite the threat to his life. The cross-interrogation by Peter was more interesting.

"Mister Snape, you went to school together with mister Black. How would you describe him?"

"Black was an arrogant thing. Always picking on those who annoyed him, or when he was just bored, on everyone. Always ogling girls. He was insolent. He proved he was capable of murder at a young age- "

"What do you mean by that?", Peter asked calmly.

"Lupin is a werewolf. I asked him once were Lupin went once in a month, and he told me of the tunnel that lead to the Shrieking Shack. He wanted to kill me, they all wanted that, the arrogant little things. Always thought they were better than everyone else."

He was on his high horse, now, Jane thought. He wasn't thinking about the jury.

"Is that so? You believe mister Lupin was in on that, that he knew what was going to happen?"

"Yes."

"Do you have proof of that?"

A reluctant 'no' followed.

"But you weren't attacked. What happened?"

"Potter senior backed out, he pulled me back – but not before I caught a glimpse of that beast."

Peter pretends to be confused. "Mister Snape, you said my client attempted to kill you. And yet, he only told you how to enter the tunnel. Not to use it."

A long pause. It was clear that Peter was correct, but Snape wouldn't admit it.

"Either way," Peter continues, "it must have been hard, to teach alongside the person who allegedly had tried to kill you. And then you were confronted with the man who made it all possible. At the exact place where you were nearly killed so many year ago. That would affect everyone's decisions."

"It did not!", Snape hissed aggressively.

"Black agreed to surrender. Why did you insist on involving the Dementors?"

"There was a kiss-on-sight order- "

"Witch was not yours to execute. The process of surrendering overrules that order. Were you going to subject three thirteen-year olds to witnessing that, by the way?"

"I'm no lawyer. I didn't know. And if Potter couldn't handle it, he shouldn't have been there in the first place," Snape says aggressively.

"So, it's all Potter senior and Potter junior fault?"

Dead silence. It was clear he couldn't say yes to that; attacking a dead man wouldn't be good, in front of the jury. Snape was in control once more. He must have realised how petty he sounded.

"Would you change your course of action?", Peter asks.

"Of course not!", the man scoffs. "It was obviously a trick."

"Based on what?"

"Black would never surrender."

"Based on your own, biased opinion. Biased because you believe he tried to kill you. How can you judge objectively?"

"There's no need for that," Snape spites. "Black would have gotten what he should have gotten so many years ago."

Peter thanks him for his answer.

Jane looks at Harry, who is looking down sadly. She knows it hits him hard, what Snape just said – just because it was all said in spite. But juridically speaking, they had scored a point; Snape had just admitted that he thought Black should have been dead already, and that he couldn't look further then what he saw as an attempt on his life. Jane had no idea what to believe. She couldn't believe four teenagers were allowed to plot attempted murder, thus that part had to be untrue. But she also couldn't see Sirius just telling Snape their long-kept secret, that tunnel. She was definitely missing a part of the puzzle. She wondered about it during lunch, but couldn't find any answers.

After lunch, more testimonies of Hogwarts professors followed. None of them had much to say that was relevant: Sirius Black had been friends with James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. He had entered the castle once, on Halloween; all that had happened was a painting being slashed. While destruction of property was also an offence, Achille Poulain didn't focus too much on it. After all, he was trying to go for murder of Peter Pettigrew, terrorism, and involuntary manslaughter by gross criminal neglect on Lily and James Potter; combined with attempted murder on Harry Potter. Why he didn't add Hermione and Ron to the list was something none of them understood. Those testimonies concluded the first day of trial. Harry, Henry, Jane, Peter and Remus all went to a house Jane owned in France; Sirius was sent back to prison.

The next day was death boring, Jane thought privately. All that happened were officials talking about how they noticed Harry Potter had disappeared, at the end of the school year. She could imagine the panic that came with it when Snape reported that Harry was last seen in the presence of a supposed mass murderer. Prime minister Fudge had reacted like Jane had expected him to react: he had immediately taken measure to find Harry, and keep the press at bay. After all, losing The Boy Who Lived would've broken his career. Madame Bones, as head of the DMLE, was on scene roughly around midnight. She did the smart thing: she sent out search parties (for in case they were still on the castle grounds), made sure no one could get off the terrain unnoticed and had researchers come to try to find out what happened. It had been reported to her, at approximately one P.M., that a Portkey had been used near the lake shore. Each Portkey, she explained, has a signature, thus allowing identification. The Portkey was registered to the French embassy, and that, she explained, was a problem: they had no jurisdiction there. Prime Minister Fudge took along a team for his security – Jane had to suppress a laugh there; he'd wanted to start the search without the DMLE, to be able to claim that he had personally found and rescued Harry – and went to talk to the ambassador. The next morning, madame Bones concluded her testimony, she was informed that Harry and his class mates were safe, and that Black had asked asylum. The PM had taken over the case from there, and it was him who kept in touch with French authorities.

Peter didn't have many questions for her.

"Madame Bones, did any of your men report signs of a fight or struggle?", he asks politely.

"Other than in the Shrieking Shack, no."

"And that was caused by the fight between professor Snape on one side, and mister Potter, miss Granger and mister Weasley on the other side?"

"That's possible. There's no evidence of that, but none against it."

"Thank you. Is it customary for the PM to get involved?"

"The case was delicate. Mister Potter has quite the reputation, making him a target. Minister Fudge was on the scene when the events transpired; he felt responsible. When the embassy was involved, it turned to a potential political catastrophe. I have no jurisdiction there, so he went."

"But he hasn't any jurisdiction, either."

"No," she agreed, "but he knows the ambassador, of course."

"Are you saying he was worried for her safety?", Peter asked cautiously.

"Indeed," madame Bones said.

"Good. I was suddenly worried you meant that he hoped to resolve matters, without involving the necessary authorities."

She didn't say anything to that. Perhaps she didn't want to speak against her boss, or maybe she just didn't know. She had the ultimate poker face. Peter asked her his last question.

"Did you ever sent the documents of mister Black's trial to mister Poulain, over there?", he asked calmly.

"No. Minister Fudge said he would take care of that," she replied suspiciously. She clearly didn't know about the lack of trial.

The rest of the day was spent on a – way too deep, in Jane's opinion – analysis of the opinions of the experts that had searched Hogwarts. At four P.M. they had all agreed that it was strategy: they had obviously realised that after the testimonies of Harry, Lupin, Ron, Hermione and madame Bones, they wouldn't be able to press on with the attempted murder on the trio. Thus, they tried to put a distance between that, and the murder on the Potters. They tried to fill time, to make the jury forget about this first part of the trial. It was a risky thing to do; they would have gained more sympathy if they simply admitted their mistake. But they filled the second day with those useless testimonies, because the Achille Poulain couldn't admit making a mistake.

At the end of the day, they were all tense and tired. Henry, Harry and Jane knew what was about to happen, and neither was particularly happy about it: they would talk about the Potter's death next. And Jane would form the link between them. As Jane expected, Harry made one last, desperate move to persuade her not to testify. Jane had done her best to evade him since the moment they arrived home, something that didn't go unnoticed.

"There you are," Harry said, "We need to talk – and stop evading me, would you?"

She sighed deeply. "I don't want to discuss it. My choice has been made. Period. Full stop. Case closed."

"Then just listen. Come on, Jane, humour me!", he pleaded. She said nothing, but didn't leave either. "You know how dangerous testifying will be. The more you speak about it, the more secrets tend to come out."

"I know," she said sadly.

"You know what it will do to you, reliving that."

She looked away, through the window. The house was isolated as it could be; there was nothing to see but green in the area. "Yes," she agreed. "But can't you see not doing it is not an option?"

"Why? Why do you always have to sacrifice yourself? Now you have a choice. But you don't- "

"What can I do? Not testifying? You know better than anyone what the risks of that are, Harry – I might as well send Sirius back there myself."

"It will destroy you," he whispered. "I've already allowed for that to happen once. I can't make it twice."

"But it's not your choice! It's not your problem- "

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!", he yelled, letting out all insecurity and stress through anger. "HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO HENRY, TO LARA, TO ME?"

"THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO, HARRY? MAKE A CHOICE I KNOW I WON'T BE ABLE TO LIVE WITH? BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT THAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN," she yelled right back, losing her temper. The fact that she hadn't slept well ever since Sirius Black had appeared in the atrium didn't help.

"How can you ask me to stand by and watch you destroy yourself?!", he shot back.

"Don't you see, nothing can prevent that now! Testifying or not," she groaned. It was the dilemma she had been struggling with for so long.

"It's not your fault. Sirius wouldn't blame you- "

"No. I would," she finally turned around, tears in her eyes. "I don't know what to do anymore, Harry. There's no clean way out. Thus, I take the road with the least hitches."

"It's not! It's the road that eases the guilt you always felt! But it won't work, Jane. You can't just erase what happened!", he yelled. He saw her face pale and muscles twitch, and instantly knew he'd said the wrong thing. "Jane- "

"Get out," she whispered frostily, pain evident in her voice. "Get out! OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT!", she screamed.

He left.

She slid down onto the floor, crying loudly, for the first time she could remember. When she was young, they had insisted on not crying – so she learned to do it silently. It was a habit she couldn't break, until now, apparently.

Jane looked up when the door opened slowly, to show a concerned Remus. "You all right?"

"Fine," she replied while whipping her eyes. Under his sceptical look, she sighed and attempted a weak smile. "No, not so fine actually."

"I heard the fight," Remus admitted hesitantly, kneeling before her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Can't," she replied curtly, feeling guilty for being so short with him. It wasn't his fault, she thought, covering her eyes and sighing.

"Can I do something for you?", he asked quietly.

She thought for a second or two. "Can you get Henry? And check in on Harry?"

He stared at her for a moment, incredulously, before laughing out loud.

"What?", she asked curiously.

"You really reminded me of Lilly there. Such… empathy. I normally see it in Harry, too."

She sighed. "One day, you'll understand."

He nodded and made to leave. "Remus?", she said, waiting until he turned around, "If you don't want to see me after that, I'll understand. But keep in mind: Harry won't be so easy to convince to stay away from me." He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, just nodded and left. It wasn't long, before Henry entered. He studied her face for a while, before sitting down next to her.

"I take it you both vented a bit?", he asked quietly.

She smiled weakly. "A bit."

He looked at her. "Whatever he said that upset you, he didn't mean it like that."

"He said I can't erase what happened," she replied. The comment still stung.

"He meant that you can't put your safety at risk, just because you feel guilty – unrightfully so, I might add. He didn't mean that it doesn't matter what you do, he'll never be able to forgive you. He has forgiven you. We all have. You're the only stubborn one."

She looked down and nodded a bit. "Sounds like me," she said.

Henry puts an arm around her, and she leaned into his side, still crying. It took about half an hour, before her sobs subsided. Looking at her, he saw she felt asleep. "My beautiful girl," he whispered. "I hope one day your demons stop hunting you, and you'll realise there's nothing to forgive you, because you've done nothing wrong. I pray for that every day. Sleep tight, my sweet."

He carried her to bed and went to search Harry.

Harry had fled to his bedroom after the fight. He still couldn't see why what he'd said was so hurtful, but he certainly hadn't mean it that way. Part of him wanted to go back and apologise, but he knew they both needed time. He needed to think about what to say. He was that deep in thought, he didn't notice Remus Lupin entered.

"That was a nasty fight," he remarked.

Harry jumped a bit, then looked down. "How much did you hear?"

"All of it," Remus replied.

Harry nodded silently, staring out of the window in a way that reminded Remus of Jane a few moments earlier.

"Do you want to talk about it?", Remus asked, moving to stand next to him, looking out of the window, too.

"No," Harry replied. After a moment of thinking, he said: "I never meant to upset her like that. I'll apologise."

Remus nodded a bit. "You should."

Harry smiled a bit mournfully. "I shouldn't have let this build up so long."

Remus turned to him. "What was that all about?"

Harry sighed deeply. "Jane and I have a different opinion."

"So much I've gathered, thank you," Remus replied dryly, "about her testimony?"

Harry remained silent for a while. He couldn't tell Remus exactly what was going on, but he could tell the gist of it. "Jane… Knows something that could change the course of the trial."

"But?", Remus prodded when he fell silent.

"But … When some people know she knows that - that something, they'll be… unpleased, shall we say."

"You fear for her safety," Remus surmises.

Harry inclines his head. "It's so… difficult. Sirius would never ask this of her. I know that something, too; I know Sirius would never ask her to tell it. But on the other hand, Jane has a right to make this decision herself. But she doesn't hold her life as high in regard as I would like- "

"Her life?! You mean to tell me this could get her killed?"

Harry remains silent for a while. "The embassy is well protected. But some people would rather see her dead, when they know that she knows that something."

Remus eyes him incredulously. "How long have you been holding onto this?"

"The moment I regained consciousness in the embassy and didn't escape with Sirius, despite her giving me the possibility to do so."

"Have you talked to Henry?"

"Talked to me about what?", Henry asks from the door opening.

Harry remained silent, thus Remus replies for him. "The fact that he fears for Jane's safety after she testifies."

Henry nodded a bit and sighed. "I know. We do what we can to keep her safe, Harry; you know that. But I can't guarantee anything, and therein lies the problem, doesn't it?"

Harry nodded, still staring out of the window. "How is she?"

"She fell asleep after crying her heart out," Henry said a little sharply.

Harry sighed, and rubbed his tired eyes. "Do you have an idea what set her of the edge?"

Henry studied him for a while. "When you said that 'you can't just erase what happened', she thought you meant that no matter what she did, you could never forgive her."

Harry cursed under his breath, which earned him a reproachful look of Remus that he didn't notice. "I didn't mean that! I meant that she shouldn't risk her life, just to try and set things right."

Henry smiled sadly. "The only reason I didn't start shouting – you didn't mean it that way. But Harry, you have thought about this for a long time, haven't you?". At Harry's nod, he continued: "Look at it from her point of view. She knows the dangers, but this is her chance to show people she's different than those egoistic people – despite all that happened- "

"But she doesn't have to show it, we know it!", Harry rebuked.

Henry sighed. "Yes, we do. But she hasn't proven it to herself. And that's the real reason she was that upset – she still thinks of herself as one of them."

"Then what happens, she just randomly starts killing people?!", Harry exclaimed. "That's nonsense!"

"We all know that. But Jane needs to feel it," Henry replied calmly.

Harry sighed even more deeply. "I thought it was about faith – that she didn't trust my judgement enough, and that she thought I didn't trust hers."

Henry studies him for a while. "Go to bed, Harry. Apologise tomorrow. And yes, trust is part of it; but not all of it."

They bid each other goodnight, and Remus and Henry leave together.

"You sure you want Jane to testify tomorrow?", Remus asks. At Henry's raised eyebrows, he adds: "her safety… Harry mentioned he thought others would try to kill her- "

Henry shook his head while interrupting him. "That's not the entire truth – Jane has had mental issues. Harry's worried for a relapse of those, not unrightfully so, I might add. But sometimes, you need to set your personal interest aside, for the general interest. Jane feels she should do this very strongly; I can't bring myself to stop her from doing that." And with that, he left Remus.

The next morning, Harry sat across Jane's room at 6 o'clock, waiting patiently. The door opened around seven, and she raised her eyebrows.

"I do hope you didn't sleep here," she said.

Harry shook his head. "Can we talk?"

She gestured for him to come in.

"Jane, I apologise for what I said last night. I meant you shouldn't risk your life just to try and set things right, because you feel guilty about what you did when you were with those Death Eaters. It's not your fault. But that's not why I came. I don't want you to testify because of the dangers, because of what I said earlier and because I don't believe it necessary. I came to here why you think you should testify."

She let go of her breath she'd been holding. "Because it's the right thing to do. To prove to myself I'm not like these egoistic Death Eaters. Because if I had just talked after I got to Great-Britain, if I told who I was and what I'd seen, maybe Sirius would have had a trial. I… I just feel like this is something I need to do. I never spoke about it before; even in the mental facility I just wrote about it, but never spoke about it. I need to be able to tell what happened, to come to peace with it; I'll never be able to do that just because I need it – it'll bring so much distress to those around me…", she trailed off.

Harry sighed. "I know it doesn't matter to you, I know you won't believe it – but we do know you're nothing like those Death Eaters, Jane. Nothing at all. But okay, if this is what you want… 'you have my blessing' sounds strange… But I support you, okay? I'll be doing cross-interrogation about that, so I'll go easy."

She nodded. He smiled. "Time to get ready, Jane. Time to show them the truth."

It wasn't much later when they found themselves in the court room, for the third day of Sirius' trial. Jane sat in her seat in the back of the court room, eyeing Harry on his front row. She swallowed. She really wasn't looking forward to this; she never talked about this. It's for the good cause, she reminded herself. You know what happens if they find Sirius' guilty – he'll be back in Azkaban. How long before Harry does something rash to break him out?

Mister Poulain stood. "We would like to call ambassador Jane Davidson to the stand."

She took a slow, deep breath, and walked to the stand. He started off easy – how long was she in this position, why only now, etc. But then it started.

"Miss Davidson, were you there when mister Black, mister Potter, mister Weasley and miss Granger arrived?"

"Yes," she replied. "They were all unconscious. I checked up on mister Potter while the Healers were tending to the rest of them. Once I realised that mister Black was there, I had him secured outside the Hospital Ward."

"But you didn't contact the British government?"

"No. I wanted to be certain. It could be an imposter under Polyjuice Potion, while the real mister Black was waiting outside until we lowered our defences, to allow the British in," she replied. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the entire truth either.

"What happened after that?"

"I talked to mister Black when he was awake. He said he was innocent."

Achille Poulain raises an eyebrow. "Did he elaborate on that?"

"No. I got word the English PM had dropped by unannounced and went to meet him, so mister Black didn't have the chance."

Poulain nods. "And after that?"

"We talked for a bit – there was a bit of a discussion about minister Fudge wanting to search the grounds, but that would be a breach of our integrity – and then I got word that mister Black had requested asylum, for fearing unrightful imprisonment."

Achille decides to start another topic. He wants to end with the dramatic climax. "Where mister Potter, mister Weasley or miss Granger injured?"

"Yes. All of them had been exposed to Dementors, mister Potter even nearly being kissed," she said, ignoring the murmurs in the room, "and mister Potter had a case of mild magical exhaustion."

"According to you, what happened to them?"

She sighed. "I'm not an expert, but based on the opinions I've asked from Healers, they think that mister Potter fend off the Dementors with a corporal Patronus. Hundreds of them."

"Miss Davidson," he says – time for the climax! – this wasn't the first time you saw mister Black, was it?"

"No. I went along with Prime Minister Fudge on an inspection of Azkaban," she says. Jane knows that it's not what he wants to hear, and stalling will help no one; and yet, she can't help herself.

Achille Poulain decides on another approach. "Miss Davidson – that's not your real name, is it?"

"No. It's Arya. Arya Johnson," Jane replies. "I'm in the witness protection project."

Achille pretends to be surprised. "And why is that?", he asks, ready to rebuke any comments from the defendant he knows are coming – only they don't.

"My mother is – was – Rosemary Evans, sister of Lily Evans. When Voldemort went after the Potters, and when he realised, they were well protected, he sought someone who might know more about their protections. He found my parents here in France. My mother, then ambassador, helped fugitives out of Britain alongside the Potters. They held close contact; as such my mother knew where they were hiding and with which protective charms. When Voldemort came to our house, they obliviated themselves. I was there, too; my three-years old sister was with friends. I couldn't go, because I was a little feverish. Voldemort abducted our entire family. I don't know why, but I was taken, too. He tortured my parents for the location and name of the protective charms the Potters used. They couldn't give it, because they obliviated themselves." Jane takes a moment to steady herself, and eyes Remus. Based on the look of disgust and horror on his face, he can already guess what is coming. Sirius looks at her sadly; maybe he didn't realise yet what is bound to happen in her story. "Voldemort truly needed the location. My father had died due to a heart condition. My mother was alive, but he couldn't afford to lose her, and she knew that. Thus, he tortured me instead," she whispers.

Shouts of outrage echo through the court room, but she pays them no mind. She watches Remus, who eyes her sadly; she watches Sirius, who looks at her in horror and shock; she watches Henry and Harry, who nod encouragingly. Loudly, the Judge demands silence.

When the order is restored, she continues. "I was a year old, when this happened. The Cruciatus Curse is based on building the illusion of pain in the brain, thus causing agony. My brain was still developing and couldn't take the curse. I suffered some brain damage. In the brain of such a young child, the ends of the neurons – which built up the brain – are still relatively supple. They are called axons; and they can still change position, to some extent. The only positions that remain are those that are frequently used. The curse destroyed some fragile connections. Because of the relative flexibility of my brain then, new connections were formed. Only, some of them are not meant to be made. Hence my ability to read minds, to see auras and emotions, to project shields, to remember everything."

She takes a break, and Achille nods encouragingly. "At some point, my mother broke and tried to say the address, but she couldn't. That's probably because of the Fidelius' charm that had been set in place. I don't know that for sure, but based on the timeline… Anyway, Voldemort got angry when he realised, she couldn't say it. I saw in his head and emotions he would kill her and shouted a warning, but it was too late; he killed her. After so many days of no sleep, torture, she just couldn't move in time. But that warning saved my life; he realised I had some tricks up my sleeve, and decided to keep me."

Achille nods, and tries to put on a concerned face; he doesn't entirely pull it off to hide his triumph. "Did you hear the person who betrayed the Potters?"

The room seems to collectively hold its breath. "Yes. I was still in the room when the betrayer entered, told the secret. They immediately left for the Potter's house."

The man nods. "And would you recognise that man's or woman's voice?" Achille Poulain waits again for an objection that doesn't come.

"Yes," she says softly, looking directly at Sirius, who is by now openly crying. Remus is looking down, shoulders suspiciously shaking. Henry places a hand on his shoulder.

"Miss Evans – or Davidson, whichever you prefer – was it Sirius Black's voice?", he can't keep the tension out of his own voice anymore.

She looks at Achille Poulain. "No," she says.

Shock breaks out at the prosecutor's table. "Are you sure?", he asks desperately. "Perhaps you are mistaken?"

She shakes her head determinedly. "No, it wasn't him. That man's voice was higher, less sure of himself. It's a difference that, according to experts, is different to mimic."

Achille Poulain is trapped. He addresses the judge. "You honour, this is a complete surprise."

But now Peter stands, too. "You honour, this is only a surprise because mister Poulain never asked the witness prior to this day if she recognised my client. That's not her fault; have mercy on this fourteen-year old who has just relived a tragedy. Let her finish her testimony now, and recover from this."

The judge thinks for a minute. "Miss Davidson – or Johnson – let me remind me you are still under oath," he waits until she nods, "did mister Poulain ask for an identification prior to this day?"

"No, he only asked if I was sure of what I've heard," she says, repressing a smirk. That's what you get from being hasty.

"Then continue, mister Poulain," the judge decides.

But Achille is a quick thinker, and he continues without hesitating. "Miss Davidson, what happened after that?"

She represses the urge to hit him in his arrogant face. Just because she didn't agree with him, he's now going to portray her as a complete lunatic. But the jury won't appreciate it; either. Again, he chooses to maintain his reputation, rather than telling the jury he was wrong.

"Voldemort didn't return from the Potters," she says, proudly nothing that the previous wobble in her voice disappeared, "but he'd left his instructions: I would serve them. The Death Eaters stayed in a manor that belonged to the Lestranges. I did, too. They gave me food and shelter, and tried to instil their pureblood supremacy believes in me. A couple of English werewolves had come with them. If I questioned them too much, or later when I was older and started to rebel, they would hit me with cutting charms and look me up in the shed with them. They would have me with them when the werewolves attacked English and French villages. I saw people die at theirs and those Death Eater's hands. But like I said, I started to rebel. Once, I got out long enough to inform the Aurors. I went back to gather evidence against everyone present. I was undercover for a year. By the time I was seven, the manor was raided after I weakened its protections enough to allow the Aurors in. I was first sent to an orphanage. But my sister, who was with friends on the night of the attack, was in a foster family in the UK. She told them about their sister, and they filled a missing person report with the French authorities. When I was in the orphanage, they did a DNA test and found out we were sisters. I went to the same foster family as Lara."

Achille Poulain nods a bit. "That must have had quite the impact on you, dear child."

She curses under her breath. If she says no, she will sound like an insensitive bitch; if she says yes, he'll portray her as a lunatic. "Yes," she replies curtly.

"And after that, your foster mother died, didn't she?", he asks.

She narrows her eyes at him. "I don't see how that's relevant, but yes," she replies.

"Did it occur to you that that might have been done by Sirius Black?", he asks pleasantly.

She stares at him in shock and confusion. She hadn't expected him to be so desperate he would go with far-fetched theories. "No, there was no evidence for that."

"Perhaps he payed someone to do this?", he prods.

"Objection!", Peter says, rising. "There is no proof of such a thing. It's speculation."

Before the judge can reply, the man apologises and proceeds like nothing has happened.

"After that, you spend some time in a mental institute, is that correct?"

"Yes," she admits reluctantly.

"No further questions, your honour," he concludes.

Jane lets go a sigh of relief as a break for lunch is denounced. No one notices the small figure quickly making it to the door of the court room in the common hectic such an announcement causes; no one notices the rarely used back door the building has opening for a small figure, who sped onto the streets to make a phone call.

"You won't find her here," Harry says to Remus, who was scanning the crowds before entering the room were Sirius was in.

"That was why you didn't want her to testify, wasn't it?", Remus asks.

"Yes. We knew it would end like this, with Poulain trying to portray her like mad. But he provided us the means to allow her mind healer to testify about her mental state of health, so rebuking that won't be a problem- "

"That's not what we are talking about!", Sirius interrupts him. "The Death Eaters will want her head! She knows to much about their weaknesses and identities to be left alone!"

Harry shakes his head already. "We knew that."

Remus curses under his breath. "The sacrifices that this girl has made, sweet Merlin. How she is so relatively normal is beyond me."

Harry smiles gruffly. "You're not the only one," he replies.

"Why does she think I wouldn't want to see her now I know this? I've got to admit, I admire her strength and will power more than ever," Remus asks.

Harry raises his eyes to the ceiling. "Jane is convinced that, by spending so many time with the Death Eaters, she is dangerous. She thinks she might be a danger to all of us. She had always feared that one day she would turn against us; she can't understand people see it differently."

"That's bullshit," Sirius says. Remus nods in agreement.

Harry raises his eyebrows. "Do me a favour, tell her that."

Lunch break was only an hour long, and after that, the defence did a short cross-interrogation of Jane.

"Miss – we've heard many names," Harry starts of mildly, "witch do you prefer?"

"Davidson," she replies, smiling faintly.

"Miss Davidson, about your mental health – is there anything else you would like to be known?"

"Yes. I have here, with me, the conclusions of my personal mind healer. It says that I'm sane and that I have no delusions." She hands over the paper to the Judge.

"Why didn't you say that to mister Poulain, over there?", Harry asks, pretending to be surprised.

"I did," she replied, "before I was allowed to testify, he asked – for in case the defence tried to portray me like a lunatic." That was a smart move, she thought. They had now proven that Achille had known very well she was sane, but had tried to make the jury believe otherwise, because he didn't want them to believe what she said.

"No further question, your honour," Harry says. The other side is surprised – they'd thought Harry would try more to portray her better, as they thought they would score the next part – little did they know that wouldn't be the case.

The rest of the day consist of various officials, who came to the street Sirius supposedly blew up after the death of the Potters. Most of them didn't have much to say; they'd interrogated witnesses – all Muggles. Harry asked them all the same question: did the person have a clear view on the drawn wands? The answer was always no. Did they attend the trial? The answer was also no. That made only sense; after all, the people who stood close enough to have a good visual, where dead. Most of them heard what Pettigrew said, but hey, anyone could say that. The only other remotely interesting testimony was the one Fudge gave. He blabbed on and on and on, but his story could be briefly summarised: they'd had an alert about a catastrophe involving Muggles. Upon arriving, they'd arrested Sirius Black, who didn't resist. They'd questioned and obliviated the Muggles, who all said the same thing: Black had blown up the street, killing Pettigrew and several Muggles.

"Minister Fudge, good afternoon," Harry starts. "A few quick questions. Did you check mister Black's wand?"

Fudge looks guilty. "The circumstances were clear- "

"Would the witness answer the question!", the Judge thunders from above him. Politicians; always avoiding the question.

"Eh – no. We thought- "

"Minister Fudge, your job wasn't to think, but to investigate," Harry talks over him. "Did mister Black confess, to your knowledge?"

"Not right then and there, no," he mumbles.

"Have you made it to his trial, minister?"

Fudge looks around sheepishly. "No…"

"No? Thank you for your answer," Harry concludes. Panic on the other side of the court room; they'd thought he would've been bickering for longer.

The prosecutor rests his case, shaking his head. All he can do now is hope he can rebuke the testimonies of the defendant.

Only, there wasn't much to rebuke. A few old friends of Sirius testified; all they said was that James Potter and Sirius Black were like brother, that they were shocked beyond believe that he'd ratted them out. They couldn't believe it; but then they were presented with the fact that he was off to Azkaban, and they never received word he was not guilty. It had been such a dark time for all of them; they just wanted to celebrate the fall of the Dark Lord – and then, they just assumed there had been a trial and Sirius was found guilty. But none of them had ever testified.

The next day started of more exiting, with the interrogation of the person who should've provided them all with the paperwork around Sirius' arrest and trial. Of course, there was not much of that, and it was a brief testimony. Next up was Remus' testimony, who talked a bit about his friend Sirius, who had been an energetic young man, always fighting to do the right thing, and trying to protect his friends.

"Mister Lupin, how did your friends react when they found out you are a werewolf?", Harry asks calmly.

"I'd expected them to turn their backs on me, but nothing of sorts. It was Sirius who started researching things that could help me; it was Sirius who found out that animals could calm a werewolf down. James and Sirius then researched what would happen if they could become Animagi; and then they and Peter trained to become one."

"Objection! There's no registration of that on the official list!", Achille Poulain shouts.

"The witness can explain that," Harry replies.

The judge motioned for him to do so; and Remus explained that they were to young to transform when they started. The ministry didn't allow it. When they were of age, there was a war raging. They had an advantage, and they wanted to keep it secret.

After that follows a brief testimony of professor Dumbledore; who admits telling the ministry that he thought Sirius was the Secret Keeper. He amends that he mentioned that he wasn't present when the spell was performed, as Lily had insisted to do it herself. He admitted that it was possible the Secret Keeper was changed.

"The defence would like to call Sirius Black to the stand," Harry states. He is the final witness, and rumours erupt everywhere: it's very uncommon that the accused himself testifies, as he can be cross-interrogated by the prosecutor, which isn't allowed if he doesn't testify. Veritaserum is administered with the consent of the accused, and a Healer confirms he's under its influence.

"Mister Black, were you the Secret Keeper of the Potters?"

"No," he replies.

"Who was?", Harry asks, feigning surprise. On the other side, Achille Poulain tries to disappear behind his table.

"Peter Pettigrew," Sirius says.

"Is that why you hunted him down?"

"Yes."

"What happened when you found him?"

"He began yelling I'd betrayed Lily and James, drew his wand behind his back, and pointed a fire spell at the ground. The gas line was hit and I only just managed to perform a Protego. Before the dust settled, he had transformed into a rat and dove into the sewers."

"You stayed. Why?"

"I was stricken that I had indirectly helped my friend's murderer escape by teaching him how to become an Animagus. I was shell shocked… I just found my friend and his wife death in their house, while I thought they were safe. I had told them to switch… It was bluff. And all those innocent deaths; I'd wanted to prevent them by appointing Peter as the Secret Keeper, while I in fact caused them."

The prosecutor declines cross-interrogation. Achille Poulain tried in his final statement to convince the jury that Sirius Black had knowingly switched to Peter. He tried to convince them that Sirius had been a Death Eater, knew that Peter was the same. When he switched Secret Keepers, he could pretend to be innocent.

But Achille Poulain failed, for the first time in his career.

The decision of the jury only took five hours. "We, the jury, find the accused, Sirius Black, innocent on all charges."

Cheers erupted from the defendant side. An innocent man had been freed.

Achille Poulain is my first word joke – Achille is the French version of Achillus, the man from the Greek mythology (you know, the one who had only one vulnerable spot, on his heel). Poulain is French for 'foal' (and more specifically, a colt or male foal). This man has a tendency to be impulsive and reckless. The same is said of colts. Achille Poulain's weak spot is his arrogance – which will lead to his fall in this trial.

Sorry for the delay – this chapter is longer, but I wanted to be done with this trial. See you in two weeks! (or earlier in a review, hopefully…)