Card the moon

Chapter 48 – The last mad dash

It was a long way up to Flitwick's office, strait up, the outside of the tower.

"I don't like this! I do not like this!"

Hermione, as Harry discovered, did not like heights.

"Hermione? Hermione, you're hurting my arm," the girl had quite a grip.

"Deal with it." She wasn't letting go.

"A little snappy, are we."

She opened her eyes just enough to glare at him, "It's been a long day, and that was even before you ran off to do Merlin knows what after we traveled back in time and NOW, we're being floated up the side of a tower on a cloud so YES, I'm a little snappy and I have every right to it."

Harry just smiled at his sourly clinging friend. She'd had a rough night.

"Would you like me to tuck you in when this is all over?"

"I will throw you off this cloud."

Luckily for Harry, before he could annoy his friend any further, they arrived. A quick peek inside revealed Sirius and no one else. They were THROUGH the wall and back on solid footing within moments. The prisoner of Azkaban was rightly surprised to see them.

"How?"

"Just abusing time travel for fun and profit—oof!"

Harry wasn't sure if it was his remark or Hermione's elbow that got his godfather laughing; either way it was good to hear.

"We need to get him out of here," said Hermione. "Luna, can you—can you float us back down the tower."

"No," Harry said before Luna had time. "He's not leaving, not yet."

"Wha! But Harry, he's about to be kissed," said Hermione.

"If my plan works, he needs to be close," said Harry, "That's why I brought this."

The shimmering cloak slid from his pocket; Sirius face lit up at the sight.

"I remember that," he said. "Barely, but I remember it. What's the plan?"

Harry quickly explained the relevant details then Luna led them on a tour THROUGH the walls, back to the hospital wing where they were just in time to see themselves disappear.

"Perfect. You two hide here, under the cloak. As for you, into bed young lady."

He scampered out of reach of her throttling hands and hopped back into his own bed, pulling up the covers to hide.

"You!" she growled.

It was a sign of how tired he was, he was getting silly.

Hermione had just settled in and Harry was beginning to wonder what would happen next when the doors to the hospital wing were flung open and Snape came storming in with Dumbledore and Fudge close behind.

"HE'S GONE!" Snape shouted, looking straight at Harry with clear accusation.

Harry fought to keep a straight face, "Yeah?"

His simple answer, all he could get out without cracking a grin, stoked Snape's fury and he watched the man draw his wand. It was surprisingly fast, but even if he'd been able to counter draw, he wouldn't have.

Play the part. Act dumb.

"My god man calm down. You can't seriously think he had anything to do with it," Fudge protested reasonably.

"He did! I know he did. He helped a wanted criminal escape!"

"NO HE DID NOT!"

The booming defense drew everyone's attention to the steely, older woman marching into the hospital wing flanked by a pair of maroon clad aurors.

"Madam Bones," Dumbledore greeted.

"Amelia! What are you doing here?" said Fudge.

"My job Cornelius," she said shortly, handing the man a piece of parchment before moving on to Snape. "Lower that wand, now."

Her tone brooked no descent and gave no room for complaint. Snape did as ordered, but his expression relayed just what he thought of that order; it rather looked like someone was twisting the log he had shoved up his ass.

"WHAT! Amelia, this can't be right!" cried Fudge.

"It's right," she said calmly.

"What's right?" asked Harry.

"It would seem," said Dumbledore, who'd been reading over Fudge's shoulder, "That all orders concerning the capture and execution of Sirius Black have been canceled."

"WHAT!" shrieked Snape. "The man's a murderer!"

"That is pure speculation," she said.

"Amelia, this can't be right. He's a convicted criminal," argued Fudge, with a bit more pleading than was probably proper for a minister.

"You're mistaken Cornelius. To be convicted, he would first need to have been tried for his crimes. He was not."

The portly minister paled, "You—you must be mistaken. E—everyone knows…"

"What everyone 'knows' is so seldom the truth," she cut him off sharply. "But, since it was before my time, I never gave it much thought, till I received a letter that suggested I ought to, so I did. I took every clerk in the archives and every auror not in the middle of something and we scoured the records for anything concerning Sirius Black, and do you know what we found Cornelius?

"We found the record of his arrest, and the file for his incarceration. Do you see something missing between those Cornelius?"

"It's—it's not possible—I…"

"It's more than possible. Sirius Black was thrown into Azkaban without anyone ever finding out if he was guilty or not. There was no trial."

The room boomed with silence, shattered only by the ministers heavy wheezing. He looked to be having a panic attack.

"I believe it's three months, isn't it Amelia?" queried Dumbledore 'innocently'. "The maximum amount of time a prisoner can be held without being charged."

"That's correct. At this point, even if he is guilty, we can't arrest him. Sirius Black is a free man."

Harry let his grin show through this time, which did nothing for Snape's spitting fury. It looked like he might start cursing any second. He was ready for it. What he was not ready for was his godfather to appear out of nowhere and promptly declare, "That's not good enough."

Several things happened in rapid succession. Snape turned, murder in his eyes and a curse on his lips. His wand flew into the air and the greasy potions professor toppled unconscious to the ground before Harry'd even time to blink.

"Whoa!"

Amelia Bones calmly lowered her wand, "Something very wrong with that man."

Several smart remarks were stifled under the severity of the atmosphere, the same atmosphere that was making it so hard for the Minister of Magic to breath.

"So, the infamous Sirius Black."

Sirius gave an overdramatic bow, "And you are, Madam?"

"Amelia Bones, Head of Magical Law enforcement."

"Perfect," he said with far more chipper than he looked like he should have.

"Is it? I suppose it would be, I've just declared you a free man after all."

"Well, yes that's nice and all, but it's not good enough."

"So you said," she said, giving him a very McGonagall stern look, "and what exactly is it you want."

"I want my trial."

The seemingly unflappable woman stared, "Why?"

"Because I'm innocent," he said, "but no one's going to believe it because I'm out on a technicality. So, I want my trial, and just to be sure, I'm going to have to insist on 'the serum'."

Harry didn't know what 'the serum' was, but anything that came with that kind of emphasis must be important.

"People have been smearing my name for over a decade while I languished in that hell; I think I'm owed at least this much."

There was calculation in the way she looked at him. She wasn't slow, that Amelia Bones.

"Shack. Take Mr. Black into custody."

The big black auror stepped up with a pair of cuffs and Sirius offered his hands.

"Albus, you're head of the Wizengamot. How fast can you assemble a quorum?"

The wily old man smiled, "I'll just go make some calls then, shall I."