Chapter Thirty Five: At The Ministry

A tremor ran down the length of Sirius' body. He shuddered in Remus' arms - as if a bolt of pure magic had run straight through him. Remus held him tighter - and planted a soft kiss on the top of his dark head. 'I'll get it,' he said.

The knocking came again.

They sat up … though Sirius seemed to not want to let go of Remus. Once again, Remus held him tighter. 'Get up and put some clothes on,' he said softly. 'I'll answer the door - you take your wand and go as far back into the room as you can. If they arrest me - I want you to run. Just - apparate away as far as you can, don't come back, don't look back - just keep going.'

'I can't leave you.'

He kissed him again - on the forehead and then on the lips. 'Yes - you can. I don't care what happens to me, Padfoot, but I will not let you go back there - not ever. Promise me - you will run.' He gazed at him, his eyes blazing, until Sirius dropped eye contact and nodded.

The knocking continued.

'Good - now go on.'

'I love you.'

'I love you - get dressed.' They held each other for one final moment - and then Remus broke away. 'I'm coming!' he yelled to the door, and the unseen knocker, and pulled his own clothes back on. He picked up his wand - and checked that Sirius was ready. Then he crossed to the door, raised his wand and said 'who is it?' His voice was sharp.

'Remus? It's Kingsley Shacklebolt,' the familiar, measured tones of their old friend called through to him. 'Dumbledore sent me. They are ready for you at the Ministry.'

'Why did they send an auror?'

'Dumbledore sent someone you would trust.'

He glanced back at Sirius - who nodded at him. 'Be ready to run,' he said, and then opened the door - levelling his wand at Kingsley.

'Remus, there is no need - you are not in trouble. I am not here to arrest you. Either of you,' he raised his voice to address Sirius as well. 'They would not send only one auror to take down notorious mass murderer Sirius Black … but they would send only one to escort the wrongly convicted Sirius Black to give his witness testimony to the wizengamot.'

'How do we know it's not a trap?' Remus asked.

Kingsley turned his dark eyes on him again. 'I would not agree to be a part of a trap for two men I now know to be innocent - for two men who were once my friends. Not even if Fudge himself insisted on it. I am here on Dumbledore's orders - no one else's. We are all of us loyal to Dumbledore - and he is loyal to you.'

Remus turned to look at Sirius, they held each other's gaze for a long while - as they both weighed up whether to believe Kingsley … and then Sirius nodded. 'Alright - we'll come.'

...

They apparated the 200 miles or so to the Ministry of Magic and arrived in the atrium - with its tall fireplaces and its golden statue and its peacock blue ceiling, which was covered in golden symbols moving and changing, erasing and rescribing themselves above their heads.

As it was now about half past three in the morning, the whole place was completely deserted - and their footsteps echoed through the empty hallway. Sirius and Remus both stared up at the enchantments on the ceiling … Remus very rarely had reason to be inside the Ministry. He had been here once, on the very worst day of his life, under arrest - and then a handful of times throughout the intervening years when changes in laws to the status of werewolves meant he had to come here to get his paperwork altered. The first time he had been too lost in his own heartbreak to see his surroundings, and the other times he had kept his head down - too lost in the shame of his condition and his need to be there at all to take the time to look around.

Sirius of course, had never been inside the Ministry - other than the brief hour they had held him in a dungeon while the order was signed to send him to Akaban without trial.

Now they gazed around at their surroundings - seeing for the first time the halls of power, and the might of the forces who had hunted them.

Kingsley led them over to the elevators. 'They have opened up the old courtrooms,' he told them, 'the wizengamot is gathered - we need to go down.'

Sirius faltered to a stop, his eyes were mistrustful and he looked about himself - as if seeking escape. But Kingsley seemed to understand. 'It is not you they are putting on trial, Sirius,' he told him, in his even voice. 'It is Peter. You will be on the witness bench - both of you. You need not separate.'

Remus wondered why he said that … wondered what Kingsley had already worked out for himself in the moments they had been with him … And he wondered how quickly everyone else would work it out. And what that would say and think … especially Harry.

Sirius hesitated a moment longer. Kingsley waited for him patiently, and then - all tensed up and as if half expecting to be clapped in irons as soon as he took his first step - Sirius followed the auror into the elevator. When they were all inside, Kingsley pulled the grille shut and pressed the button for level nine.

They arrived in a dark corridor, where the torches did little to dispel the gloom and where there was one forbidding, black door right at the end. 'The Department of Mysteries,' Kingsley told them. 'They have already taken Voldemort's remains in there. The unspeakables are examining it even now. But we are headed elsewhere...'

He turned to the left and took them down a stone staircase, down to the final level of the Ministry. They had both been here before. Both recognised it. It was where the old courtrooms were located … and the dungeons. Remus felt Sirius tense beside him again and - with a glance at Kingsley, and ignoring the stinging of his burnt palms - he reached out and took Sirius' hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

If Kingsley noticed, he did not say anything.

When they stepped out into the passageway of the lowest level, they were suddenly overtaken by a sweeping feeling of cold - a wave of dread and misery passing over them. They saw the reason for it standing guard outside courtroom nine: the dark, shrouded presence of a dementor of Azkaban.

Sirius froze right up - and stopped walking once again.

'It is there for Peter - not for you, Sirius,' Kingsley said to him. But when Sirius still seemed disinclined to keep walking, Kingsley raised his wand and muttered 'expecto patronum'. A bright, silver lynx shot out of the tip of his wand, and stayed in front of the three of them, blocking them from the dementor as they passed it and entered the courtroom.

They both came to a stop - once they were over the threshold, and stared about themselves again - neither having been inside one of these rooms before. Remus had been rescued by Dumbledore before he had ever been officially charged … and of course Sirius had not been granted a trial.

The room was round. There were stone benches gathered in a semicircle and reaching all the way up to the high ceiling. These were now packed with stern, sombre and frankly tired looking witches and wizards who all made up the wizengamot. Facing the benches was a large, stone chair - with chains snaking up its arms. And chained in the chair, looking like he was about to faint with fright, was Peter.

Kingsley walked the pair of them straight past their erstwhile friend, and led them to the witness benches … where for some reason the wand maker, Mr. Ollivander, was sitting - looking extremely tired himself.

Cornelius Fudge, himself, was sitting on the front benches of the wizengamot - occasionally mopping his brow with a handkerchief. Dumbledore sat beside him - when the boys took their seats, he gave them the briefest shadow of a wink. A witch was sitting up in the judge's bench, ready to preside over proceedings, and Remus recognised her as Amelia Bones. She had been a few years older than them at school - and her brother had been in The Order. Somehow - knowing she would be in charge, and not Fudge - and not Umbridge - made him feel a whole lot better about the situation.

Remus and Sirius took their seats beside Ollivander … keeping a tight hold of each other's hands - and continued to look around themselves nervously. The only person who seemed more worried than they were was Peter - who was writhing beneath his chains, beads of sweat dripping down his face.

Once the pair of them were settled, Madam Bones banged her gavel and demanded quiet from the gathered crowd. 'Alright - let's get down to business - it's late, and most of us have a quidditch world cup final to be overseeing. Let's get this done quickly, shall we? Now - you should all have in front of you the testimony of one Sirius Black, one Harry Potter and one Hermione Granger as taken by Albus Dumbledore on the 6th of June of this year. Furthermore you should have the testimony of one Remus Lupin as taken on the 7th of June, as he was… indisposed the night of the sixth.'

Remus flushed. Sirius squeezed his hand. He became aware of the Ministry Hag high up on one of the benches, staring down at him. Her toad-like face was twisted with hatred and disgust.

'Now as you can see -' Madam Bones continued, 'each agreed - although interviewed separately - that Peter Pettigrew was still alive, that they had seen him that night and that it was he who had betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord all those years ago. At the time - we were not willing to take the word of a convicted mass murderer, two children and a werewolf. However … it is now plain that they were speaking the truth - for here is Peter Pettigrew right in front of us. Alive, if looking slightly the worse for wear.'

Peter let out a small moan and writhed beneath his chains once again.

'Sirius Black,' Amelia Bones' voice rapped out - and he jumped on hearing his name. 'Please rise and take the stand.'

With an alarmed glance at Remus, he stood up - took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and stared Madam Bones right in the face.

'These are complicated matters, Mr. Black,' she said to him, 'and I beg of you that you will show us patience when it comes to explaining everything that has transpired. But in order to understand we must go back to the events that happened immediately after the Dark Lord fell. Our understanding is that you were The Potters' Secret Keeper - that you betrayed them, as the Dark Lord's spy, that Peter Pettigrew hunted you down in vengeance - and you killed him, along with twelve muggles, with a single curse. Clearly - as we see today - some of that, at least, is not true. Can you explain the actual order of events as you remember them?'

Sirius glanced at Remus, who nodded encouragingly - and then he glanced at Dumbledore, who did the same. 'I convinced James and Lily to switch secret keepers at the last minute - as a double bluff,' he said. 'I thought no one would think to go after Peter. But he was a spy, and he turned them over to Voldemort…'

A shudder ran through the crowd.

'When I found out what happened, I was half mad with grief and rage. I chased Peter down. I was going to kill him - I wanted to kill him. But he was too quick for me. He cut off his finger behind his back - and blew up half the street, killing all those people … and then he transformed into a rat - he's an illegal animagus you see - and he got away.'

'I see - but, Mr. Black - could you please explain why you stood there - amid all that death and destruction - and laughed? You were still laughing when they took you away.'

He swallowed. 'Well - like I said, I was half crazed as it was, I know I wasn't in my right mind. And I thought he had blown himself up. I thought his wand had backfired and he had killed himself by accident and … at the time that seemed pretty funny. Poetic justice. I didn't realise he was still alive until I saw him in Fudge's paper last year. That's when I decided to break out of Azkaban.'

'But - you never told anyone you were innocent.'

'No one would have believed me. By the time I wasn't mad anymore, by the time I had come back to my senses and realised throwing my life away in Azkaban to pay for Lily and James achieved nothing … it was too late.'

'Very well - and so you hunted Peter for a year, as you testified on the 6th of June. You were caught - you escaped - and at this point you turned to Remus Lupin for help. Mr. Lupin - if you take the stand - perhaps you can both explain what has happened these past two months.'

And so - for the second time that night, they recounted their tale.

'But the sword of Gryffindor is made of silver,' Madam Bones said at the end. 'We have it here at the Ministry, we have examined it. Forgive me, Mr. Lupin - but a man with your condition should not be able to touch the sword of Gryffindor - let alone wield it.'

Remus felt his skin flush hot - as all eyes looked at him, he bit his lip. 'It burned me,' he admitted. 'My hands were ruined - until Dumbledore applied Dittany. But they're still … they're still not right.' He stretched his hands out to show the red rawness of his skin.

'That seems to be in order. Very well - thank you both, you may sit.'

And not quite believing that was it - and they were done - they sat back down.

Amelia Bones banged her gavel again. 'A few hours ago, Peter Pettigrew was brought into the Ministry, bound and unconscious. While he slept he was administered three drops of veritaserum and then questioned on awakening. I will now ask the court clerk to read out his testimony.'

Down on the front bench, an officious looking young wizard got to his feet and unfurled a long piece of parchment. He cleared his throat and began to read:

I, Peter Pettigrew, joined the ranks of You Know Who in the summer of 1980. I had, prior to that, been a member of Dumbledore's secret organisation The Order of the Phoenix - having joined with my friends straight out of school. However, as the war raged on, it became clear to me that our position was hopeless. Too many of our side were dying - and I knew it was merely a matter of time before it would be my turn. As a pure blood wizard, I decided the best course of action would be for me to throw in my lot with the Dark Lord - as the only means of survival.

'Cowardly little rat,' Sirius snarled under his breath.

I did not take part in any muggle torture or killings, but I did pass top secret information from inside The Order straight to You Know Who himself. It was I who gave the information necessary for the murder of the Bones and the Mckinnons to take place.

Up on the judge's bench, Madam Bones' lips had gone very thin and white.

However it was the whereabouts and actions of James and Lily Potter that You Know Who seemed most interested in. He was particularly interested in their son, Harry, and there was no one better placed than I to give him the information he needed. He had tried to kill them three times, and each time they had thwarted him … although it was becoming clear to Dumbledore that You Know Who must be being passed information from inside their camp. He called those of us who were closest to the Potters to a top secret meeting - Rubeus Hagrid was there, and Professor McGonagall, the Prewett brothers, the Longbottoms, myself and Sirius Black, of course … only Remus Lupin was missing, as he was working undercover with the werewolves at the time.

We were informed there was a spy - although James refused to suspect any of us. However, in the aid of my own self protection, I took it upon myself to take Sirius to one side and plant into his mind the idea that Remus was the spy.

On the witness bench - Remus and Sirius turned to look at each other, their mouths opened in surprise.

It took all my cunning, for Sirius loved Remus and it caused him immense hurt to think badly of him. But I planted a seed of doubt … and left it to germinate … and sure enough Sirius became suspicious of Remus. And with no idea, and working so deep undercover, Remus would behave in ways that did nothing to allay those suspicions. I kept on stoking the flames, whenever I had Sirius to myself, and it was not long before Sirius was convinced Remus was the spy - and he had no idea that he had not come to that conclusion all by himself, that I had tricked him into believing it.

'You stinking, little rat!' Sirius had sprung to his feet - his face was thunderous, and his voice was a menacing growl.

Peter gave a cry of anguish. The court official trailed off from his reading, looking alarmed. The Wizengamot broke out into mutters and murmurings at the outburst. Amelia Bones banged her gavel for quiet.

Remus grabbed hold of Sirius hand and yanked him back down onto the witness bench. 'Sit down!' he hissed.

'But did you hear that? All these years I thought I betrayed you - and Peter had tricked me all along. I would never have suspected you if he hadn't told me too - and I didn't even know!'

'Well it's too late to -'

But Sirius was yelling at Peter again. 'Why did you choose Remus? Is it because he's a werewolf? Is that why you thought I would believe it was him? You hideous … bigoted …'

'Sirius!' Remus hissed. His face was flaming bright red and he was absolutely horrified. 'Please shut up!'

'I will have order!' Madam Bones banged her gavel. 'Mr. Black - if you interrupt again, I will remove you from the court.'

Once quiet reigned once more, the clerk continued reading Peter's statement.

'I was so successful, that when Dumbledore suggested to the Potters that they use the fidelius charm to keep themselves hidden, Sirius proposed that I should be the secret keeper - while everyone, including Remus, would believe that the secret keeper was him.

A week after we performed the charm, I divulged the secret to my master - and he went to Godric's Hollow where he met his downfall. On hearing the news, I travelled to the Potter's destroyed home, located You Know Who's wand and hid it within the village. Then I attempted to flee - But Sirius Black caught up with me - and I could tell he intended to murder me. The only card I held was that Dumbledore believed he was the secret keeper. So I yelled for the whole street to hear that he had killed Lily and James and then, with my wand behind my back, cast the curse that killed all those muggles. I broke open the sewer, cut off my finger, dropped my wand, transformed into my animagus form and ran away.

I found a wizarding family to take me in - and stayed with them - as a rat - for twelve years. But then I heard Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban and I knew he must be looking for me. He cornered me on the 6th of June- exposed my true identity to Remus and the Potter brat…'

Sirius growled … but the threat of being expelled from the courtroom kept him from speaking.

'I managed to escape my captors when Remus transformed - for it was the night of the full moon - and I set out to Godric's Hollow to reclaim my master's wand - and from there I travelled to London and caught The Flying Frenchman into Europe.

I attacked a wizard in a bathroom and stole his first class ticket - as I had seen Sirius and Remus on the train, I knew I was hunted and knew I needed to get far away from them. When I discovered that Madam Umbridge was an important member of the Ministry, I used my master's wand - reluctantly for he would not want me using it - to blow up her compartment. That got her out of my way - and sent her straight to Remus and Sirius. And just as I hoped, she discovered their true identities and they were forced to flee.

I remained on the train until Italy, where I bought myself a new wand of my own and then apparated across to the Balkan States. The Balkans were swarming with Ministry officials searching for Remus and Sirius - and I had no wish to draw attention to myself, so I travelled incognito - as a rat - until I reached Albania.

I stopped in wizarding towns to try and find out rumours - and spoke to Ivan Karakaroff, who told me where I might find my master. The night before I returned to him, I bumped into Bertha Jorkins - who I had known from school. She was greatly surprised to see me as she believed me to be dead - but I convinced her to go for a moonlight walk with me. I overpowered her, and brought her to my master.

He … he possessed my body for a time. For that was one of the few powers he had left to him. And he used me to torture and then kill Bertha Jorkins. He did … terrible things to her. And then he left me - and gave me instructions to brew a potion that would give him form of his own.

It was then that Remus and Sirius caught up with me - but my master also retained the power to make men see their worst fears. And he caused the moon to grow full - and Remus was forced to transform … and in that time I got away. I brewed the potion - and made my master a new body.

It was a small, helpless, weak little thing - but he had form once more. He could hold his wand - and that made him the most powerful wizard alive and I knew I must serve him or die.

We found Remus and Sirius surrounded by Ministry officials - being arrested. Some had been knocked out - and my master killed the others. He set his snake, Nagini, to eating them, but Remus and Sirius protected the downed officials and tried to fight my master. They were outmatched, of course - and we left them behind and from then on we journeyed by nightfall all the way across the continent and back home.

We arrived earlier tonight in the village of Little Hangleton and set up in the home of my master's father. We were planning to make my master whole again - so he could rise greater and more powerful than he had been before. But then the door opened and Sirius came in and … that is the last thing I remember.

The clerk cleared his throat again - and sat back down. 'Thank you,' Madam Bones said. 'As we have heard, what happened is Mr. Black stunned Pettigrew and then Mr. Lupin killed the … creature that has been taken to the Department of Mysteries. Mr. Ollivander?'

Ollivander got to his feet, he was looking extremely weary by now.

'This wand was found in possession of the creature Mr. Lupin killed. Would you please identify it for the court?'

Ollivander stepped down from the witness bench and crossed the courtroom, taking the wand from Madam Bones' hand. He held it gently, in the tips of his fingers - sniffed it, tested the pliability and then gave it a shake. Sparks flew out of the end. 'Yew and Phoenix feather. 13 ½ inches. Rigid - but powerful. This is a wand I sold over 50 years ago, Madam Bones, to a boy who was then known as Tom Riddle. He has since become known by a name we all fear to speak.'

'It is your expert opinion that this is the wand of He Who Must Not Be Named?'

'Yes - it is indeed.'

'Thank you - ' she turned to the clerk, 'is there any word from the unspeakables yet?'

'A memo arrived not five minutes ago, Madam Bones. Bode is outside waiting to be called in.'

'Very good - bring him in.'

The doors opened, and a middle aged wizard with a rather glum face came inside. He nodded his head respectfully to Madam Bones. 'We did as you asked,' he informed her. 'We can confirm that the … remains … had been the container for a human soul as recently as a couple of hours ago. We can further confirm that the soul that dwelt within was not whole - but monstrously fragmented and unstable - which accounts for the condition of the body. Although we cannot definitively say it was the soul of You Know Who - we can tell you it can only have belonged to someone who has caused more deaths than we can count, and feels not one shred of remorse about it.'

Dumbledore got to his feet then. 'I think we can all agree that description only fits one person. And with all the other evidence we can be in no doubt that the Dark Lord truly did attempt to rise again. That he was this night in Little Hangleton - aided and abetted by Peter Pettigrew and that is only by the unusual valour shown by Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin that our world remains safe for another day.'

There was a smattering of applause from some of the wizengamot. Ollivander patted Remus on the back. 'Cypress wand,' he said, knowingly. 'I knew when I sold it to you, my boy...' High up on the benches, however, the Ministry Hag looked furious.

'Very well,' Amelia Bones brought her gavel down again. 'Mr. Pettigrew - is there anything you can say in your defence?'

Peter opened his mouth - but no sound came out. He just gulped- and then sweated some more. He dared a half glance towards Remus and Sirius - but then seemed to catch sight of the furious expression on Sirius' face and looked away again.

'Members of the wizengamot,' Madam Bones said, 'raise your hands if you find Peter Pettigrew guilty of passing information to the Dark Lord during the war?'

All hands went up - though the Ministry Hag seemed very reluctant.

'And who finds him guilty of the mass murder of those twelve muggles?'

Again all hands went up - and despite the seriousness of the situation, Remus felt his face break into a huge grin .. for that was it. If Peter was guilty then Sirius was not. He was free. Truly free.

'And who finds him guilty of aiding and abetting in the kidnap and murder of Bertha Jorkins?'

Again all hands went up - and once again, Remus felt light headed with relief - that was another crime they were no longer considered guilty of.

'And who finds him guilty of aiding and abetting in the murder of three aurors who were, at the time, trying to arrest Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin?'

Once more, the vote was unanimous … even from the Ministry Hag - though she was seething. Once more Remus and Sirius were found innocent by default of Peter's guilt. Peter had begun to tremble. So too had Sirius … but for very different reasons. Remus wrapped an arm around him.

'And finally - who finds Mr. Pettigrew guilty of attempting to raise the Dark Lord back to power and destabilise all that we have worked to rebuild these past thirteen years?'

The hands went up. The gavel came down. 'Guilty on all charges then. Mr Pettigrew, I hereby sentence you to life in Azkaban.'

If it was at all possible, Peter went even more pale. He slumped in his chair and moaned. The door to the courtroom opened - and the dementor glided in. Peter was unchained and handed over and taken away on trembling legs. As he walked away, he looked over his shoulder - and made eye contact with Remus. His eyes were terrified - and they glistened with tears … and Remus wondered if he was at all sorry for everything he had done, for Lily and James - for Sirius' wasted life … or if he was just sorry he was caught.

He wanted to know. He was sorry it had come to this. When he thought back to their time as boys - the four of them together - he would never have wanted it to end like this. For all he had done, it hurt to see Peter taken away - just as it had hurt when it had been Sirius.

The door closed. The wizengamot began to shuffle and get to their feet. Remus and Sirius looked at each other, unsure as to whether they were allowed to leave. They looked at each other - and shrugged. They got to their feet. No one stopped them. They shuffled along the bench …

'Hem hem,' the Ministry Hag was standing there. There was a frown on her wide and toadish face. 'You have had a very lucky escape,' she said to them - her high, girlish voice had no trace of the saccharine in it now. It was hard - and angry.

'Ha!' Sirius gave an incredulous bark of laughter. 'There's no luck about it - we never did anything wrong. You were hounding us every step of the way. If we had failed … that would have been your doing. It's you that had the lucky escape. From Voldemort rising again thanks to your actions.'

'So silly of me - but it sounds like you think I should shoulder some of the blame.'

'Yeah - that's what I said.' He glowered down at her.

She pulled herself to her full height - which was not impressive - and bristled with indignation. 'You have not acted like an innocent man, Mr. Black. I was doing my duty. And the wolf - he is responsible for a great deal of damage to The Flying Frenchman, for which he should have to pay reparations, at the very least - and let's not forget the time he attacked me. For no reason.'

'He did not attack you - he saved your life, you stupid hag. And you didn't deserve it.'

She bristled again. 'This isn't over.' She turned on her heel. Sirius pulled his wand out.

'Leave it,' Remus said. 'Let's not get arrested just as our names are cleared. She can be as horrible as she wants - we're still free.'

They stepped down from the witness benches and - still looking around and half expecting to be stopped at any moment - they began to cross the floor. They met Dumbledore before they reached the door. He beamed at them and shook their hands. 'This is an excellent result,' he told them. 'You should be very proud. And now you have the rest of your lives to enjoy together…' There was a definite twinkle in his eye that told Remus that Dumbledore knew exactly what he was saying.

'Minister -' Dumbledore called Fudge over to them. 'I'm sure you want to congratulate our heroes?'

Fudge came over to them. He looked sweaty and hesitant. 'Ahem - yes - very well done to you both. I must offer my deepest regret at the way you have been treated these past thirteen years, Mr. Black … of course I was not Minister when you were arrested. But still … the Ministry must take some responsibility…'

Sirius' eyebrows shot up so high at that that they disappeared into his hairline.

'Still, no hard feelings, eh?' Fudge said - and held out his hand for Sirius to shake. Sirius took it … but his expression suggested there were still very much hard feelings on his part.

'And - er - Mr… Lupin, well … I suppose we owe you something of a... debt of gratitude … that was a … a noble sacrifice on your part, using the sword that way … ahem …' He hesitated and then held his hand out for Remus to shake. Once they were done, he wiped his hand on his robes… Remus pretended not to notice. Sirius growled.

Dumbledore looked between the three of them. His lips were twitching. 'You know - Minister - all things considered, I do believe Orders of Merlin First Class are probably in order. Stopping the Dark Lord from rising again … all while under considerable pressure from your own Ministry.'

Fudge coughed and looked more uncomfortable than ever. 'Yes - well - I suppose certainly Mr. Black has more than earned…'

'What about Remus?' Sirius asked. There was a dangerous note to his voice - and clearly Fudge heeded it, because he shuffled and flushed and looked more awkward than ever.

'Well - ahem - it would … would hardly be … appropriate… they are for wizards not for … not for … Mr. Lupin's … kind.'

'Remus is a wizard,' Sirius said coldly. 'He is the wizard that single handedly stopped Lord Voldemort from returning and did so at great personal cost and causing himself massive and painful injury… If you're not giving him an Order of Merlin, then I don't want one either. You can stick it. Stick it where the sun don't shine.'

'Sirius!' Remus tried to sound stern - but he had to bite his lip to stop himself from smiling.

Fudge on the other hand had gone bright red. 'Well ... really …' he bristled - and then stormed off, with an angry glance at Dumbledore … who suddenly seemed very interested in the candles floating near the rafters.

Once the Minister was gone, he looked back at the boys. 'You are both free now, the record will be amended, your names will be cleared … It's lucky for you this coincides with the quidditch world cup, or else you no doubt would be dodging reporters left, right and centre wanting to hear your thrilling tale. Go home, boys - you have earned the right to enjoy yourselves. Make sure you do.'

...

They apparated back to Little Hangleton, back to room four - planning to collect their things and speak to Frank Bryce once the sun rose.

But after such an eventful and exhausting night, they slept late - and did not wake up until they heard a persistent tapping at their window.

Hedwig was outside - a letter tied to her foot. Yawning, Sirius crossed the room, opened the window and let her in.

Dear Sirius and Remus,

I'm going to Ron's for the world cup final - Mr. Weasley has got us all tickets. I can't believe I get to leave the muggles two weeks early. It seems too good to be true - though I wish I was going to get to stay with you.

My scar hurt last night. I had a strange dream. You were both in it - and so was Wormtail … and I think Voldemort, but I didn't see him. He was torturing you both and then Remus grabbed a sword and stabbed him … only the sword was silver and Remus was horribly hurt. But then my scar hurt so badly that I woke up … it was just a dream though, wasn't it? You are being careful? And Voldemort hasn't risen again and he isn't close by?

I hope you write back soon - because I will worry until I hear back from you.

Harry.

Remus sat up in bed, and watched sleepily as Sirius fired off an immediate response.

Dear Harry,

We are free men! We have been exonerated and Peter is in jail. Don't panic - but no it wasn't just a dream. We really did fight Lord Voldemort last night. We stopped him from rising - and then Dumbledore spoke to the Ministry for us - there was a big trial and we had to give testimony and now we're free. And Remus did stab Voldemort with a silver sword (it was the sword of Gryffindor) and his hands were utterly destroyed - but they're alright now. A bit sore, but he'll live.

We're going home today (I hope Buckbeak's alright - we weren't planning on abandoning him for over two months when we left) and then… we'll have to figure out what to do with the rest of our lives. Have a wonderful time at the world cup - and if you fancy coming to stay with us before the end of the holidays, we would love to have you. But if you'd prefer to stay with Ron - that's fine too - there's always next summer.

Our best to Ron and Hermione, And tell Percy (whoever he is) that even the Minister for Magic himself admits we're not guilty.

Sirius and Remus.

He tied the letter onto Hedwig's foot and then carried her back across to the window. Once she was gone, he got back into bed with Remus and gave him a kiss. 'So,' he grinned, 'today is the first day of the rest of our lives. What are we going to do?'

Remus grinned back. 'Let's have a cup of tea.'