Chapter 17
Harry decided to visit his only neighbours to tell them what had happened that morning, so he strolled across the wide meadows in the direction of Sirius' Manor. Keket bounced by his side, turning in circles a few times to take the new scenery in.
"You're welcome to go and explore," Harry told his beastly friend. "Just don't eat the coos."
Keket tilted her head in obvious confusion.
"The big, hairy things with the horns." Harry sighed in annoyance when Keket still blinked oblivious eyes at him. "The cows, Keket. You know what a fucking cow looks like. Don't eat them."
Keket clicked in amusement at Harry's frustrated response and then she loped off, looking like the nightmare version of a calf being let out into the pasture on the first day of spring.
"Dumb beast," V cawed in a very judgemental tone while he glared after Keket.
Harry chuckled and shook his head. "Sometimes I think she's actually smarter than the both of us."
V had nothing to say to that, but just turned his beak up in the air while releasing a haughty sniff.
For all that Harry had packed up Black Manor and moved it to its current location, he'd not yet set foot inside of it. He'd been far too busy putting his new country to rights, but he was curious what the building looked like on the inside.
Remus opened the door after Harry pounded on it a few times. "Harry! Come in. We're just going over some plans for the remodel."
The house had a lovely dark feeling to it, not as intense and suffocating as Grimmauld Place, but it was undoubtedly a home where many generations of dark wizards and witches had lived. They found Sirius and James in a large study, with several blueprints spread out on a table.
"You'll never believe what Dumbledore did this morning," Harry said before his godfather could even greet him. And he then told them all that had happened, leaving nothing out. Well, except for the bug that V ate, since Harry still had no idea who that had even been.
"I'm not sure if it was such a good idea to tell Barty Jr about the prophecy being fulfilled," Remus said carefully while both James and Sirius snickered at the idea of Harry being kidnapped by Fawkes.
"Actually, I think it's pretty smart," James said, much to his friends' surprise. "I much prefer that Voldemort knows Harry is not his prophesized enemy, to be honest."
"Well, when you look at it like that," Remus mused with a thoughtful look.
"Tea for the Master and his guests," a high-pitched voice suddenly said behind them, and Harry turned around to see a small creature with large ears carrying a tray full of a tea service.
"Thanks, Dilby," Sirius said, gesturing for the elf to put it on a nearby coffee table. It had to be a house-elf, Harry thought. He'd heard about them often enough from his family, but he'd never actually seen one.
"Hi," Harry said, addressing the house-elf as he crouched down to get a better look. "I've never met one of you before. It's a pleasure."
Dilby looked at Harry with wide eyes before ducking his head. "Oh, Master's guest is being too kind."
"You are a creature of magic, aren't you?" Harry asked with a small frown. "Have you been with Sirius for long?"
"Oh yes, Dilby is being magical. And Dilby's family is serving the Black family for many, many generations."
A slow smile spread across Harry's face. "So you must have deceased family members buried on the property somewhere?"
"Harry, no," Remus said at once, realizing where Harry was going with this.
Sirius looked confused for a moment, before he quickly scrunched his face up in disgust. "For fuck's sake, Harry, if you want a house-elf, just buy one."
Harry jumped to his feet, gesturing wildly with his hands. "That won't work. I can't shrink my castle with living things inside of it, so any staff needs to be dead."
"I don't think it's very respectful to force a dead house-elf to work for you without their consent," Remus said, not unreasonably. "They've worked long enough. Let them rest."
To everyone's surprise, Dilby spoke up. "Dilby's kin would be honoured to work even after death. We is being good servants, and we is loving to work, and we would work even after death if we could!"
"See!" Harry grinned at his friends while pointing at the house-elf. "He says it's fine!"
"Dilby's kin is being buried below the big beech tree beside the lake." Dilby nodded at Harry and disappeared with a pop.
"I don't even know if it will work," Harry said in an attempt to appease his friends, who still looked more than a little worried. "Magical creatures can be tricky to reanimate. I'll just try with one, just to see what happens."
Before Sirius or Remus could reply Dilby popped back into the room, holding out a scroll to Sirius. "Mail is arriving for Master Sirius."
"Thanks." Sirius quickly unrolled the scroll and as he read through it his eyes grew wider and wider. Once he was done and lowered the scroll he had a look of sheer amazement on his face. "They're giving me a trial. Tomorrow."
"What?" Remus all but yanked the scroll out of Sirius' hands as both Harry and James leaned over his shoulders to read it as well. "Sirius…this is what you need to become a free man again."
"But why now?" Sirius asked, eyes looking a little watery.
"Oh," Harry said as he remembered what he'd done. "When I was at the Ministry a couple of weeks ago to get information on the prophecy, I spoke to Amelia Bones and told her you never had a trial. She said she'd personally look into it."
"And she came through," James concluded before floating up to Sirius with a wide grin on his face. "Padfoot, you'll finally be able to get the truth out there. You deserve this."
Harry felt the need to point something out, even though he was happy for his godfather. "You don't have to go if you don't want to. You can simply stay here and be a free man."
Placing a hand on Harry's shoulder, Sirius gave him a tremulous smile. "I know, and I'm grateful, believe me. But I want to be free in my country of origin. You'll be there, right?"
"Of course," Harry said at once.
"We'll both be there," Remus quickly added. "Witnesses for the defence."
"Let's make a plan," James said, clapping his hands together.
And that is what they did for the rest of the day. Harry summoned his family members, to share the good news and to hear any advice they had to give, since they were far more experienced with all things Wizengamot than Harry was. Harry returned to his castle just after midnight, a strange feeling in his stomach.
"Bad, bad," V chattered as he hopped onto the headboard of Harry's bed.
"Yeah, buddy, I feel it, too." And Harry did feel a giant sense of unease about the whole thing. He knew he'd requested Bones to look into Sirius' lack of trial, but somehow he hadn't thought getting his godfather a trial this quickly would be this easy. "Well, whatever happens, we'll deal with it." And yet he lay awake for a long time, staring up at the darkness, worrying what was going to happen the next day.
Remus insisted they apparate to a deserted alley in Muggle London and use the visitor's entrance of the Ministry. Harry, who well remembered his disastrous floo trip, didn't object. They crammed themselves into the red, glass box and stood quietly while it took them down into the Ministry.
Trouble started the moment they stepped out of the box into the enormous atrium. A few large men in red robes, which had to be Aurors, approached them at once. Behind them floated two of the foulest creatures Harry ever had the displeasure of meeting.
Sirius started trembling, a small keening noise escaping his throat, while Harry stepped in front of him at once. The foul beings, which had to be dementors, swooped around the Aurors and came rushing at Sirius with a chilling wail, rotten hands outstretched.
Harry's first instinct in any unknown, threatening situation was to throw out his necromancy powers, and at once he felt the tormented souls captured deep within the foul beings. Harry couldn't stop the sinister smirk from briefly appearing on his face as he wrapped his powers around those poor souls and yanked them out of the dementors, right through their rotten flesh.
Souls were Harry's domain, after all, and he had complete control of them if he wanted to.
The dementors released unearthly screeches while their whole bodies trembled before folding in on themselves, resulting in a small explosion of black bits of fabric, ashes and rotten flesh.
"What the hell," one of the Aurors said, looking around in shock as bits of rotten dementor rained down on his hair.
Harry kept a perfectly calm expression on his face. He hadn't physically shown he was using his powers, so as far as those Aurors were concerned they hadn't a clue what had just happened. "It seems your demons were defective," Harry said, keeping a steady hand on Sirius' shoulder. "We would appreciate an escort to the courtroom."
"Fine, this way." One Auror preceded them, leading them through the busy atrium, while the other two followed them all closely, wands out.
"It'll be fine," Harry whispered to his godfather, who'd stopped trembling the moment the dementors were gone. "I promise, it'll be fine." But honestly, Harry wasn't sure anymore if it was going to be fine.
"Bad, bad," V chattered softly, pulling on Harry's hair right above his ear.
"I know. Keep your eyes open, V."
They reached the courtroom without any other surprises and found it packed with both Wizengamot members and visitors.
"This way," the Auror said, and gestured for Sirius to sit down on a large wooden chair. The moment Sirius did, thick, steel chains wrapped themselves around his arms and legs.
"Is that really necessary?" Remus asked the Auror. "He came here willingly."
"Just standard protocol," the Auror said in a dismissive voice, and then the three men spread out around the courtroom floor, wands in hand but aimed downward.
Harry slowly looked around, hand still firmly on Sirius' shoulder. With his free hand he reached for his amulet and tucked it behind his shirt. While he did so, he brushed his thumb across it and summoned his entire family, just like they'd agreed to. Of course, only Harry could see them.
"Oh, a full house!" Auntie Eustice exclaimed as she twirled around.
"I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not," Dorea said, sharing a knowing look with Charis.
"And I'm not sure if I like the look on Dumbledore's face," Patroclus said, staring up at the elevated platform on which the Chief Warlock stood.
Harry looked at the old man as well and knew at once what his great-grandfather meant. While Dumbledore's face displayed his usual genial mask, his eyes shone with something sharp and satisfying.
Dumbledore looked triumphant.
At once Harry knew they walked into a trap. Behind them the doors closed with a heavy bang.
"Very bad," V chittered. "Very bad."
"Sshh." The noise around them died down as everyone took their seats and Harry didn't want V to give away they knew what was happening. Harry looked around, trying to see if they had any allies in the room who might side with his godfather.
He found none. He saw Moody the imposter sitting in the stands, an older gentleman with a grey beard seated beside him and whispering in his ear. Moody didn't acknowledge Harry in any way, couldn't because he had a role to play. Even Amelia Bones looked straight ahead with a rather resigned expression, not meeting Harry's eyes even when he stared at her.
They were alone, surrounded by enemies, and his godfather's life was very much on the line.
Harry had no doubt this was Dumbledore's doing. Punishment for Harry daring to speak out against the prophecy, for Harry publicly humiliating him during the wand ceremony.
Some would disagree with James and Lily's firm assessment that Harry would have been a Gryffindor had he attended Hogwarts, but they'd be wrong, because Harry's first instinct was to fight his way out of there. Harry did a quick assessment of the people around him. He could, easily enough, yank the souls out of the bodies of the strongest people in the room. Dumbledore, Bones, the Aurors. He could then send out a wave of powerful magic to put everyone else on their arses while Harry blasted the doors off their hinges. Anyone who dared pursue them would have their souls yanked out of their bodies as well.
If they were lucky, they'd make it to the atrium, where they'd hopefully find the exits not blocked by any building-wide security measures.
Harry inhaled a deep breath as he realized that even if they did manage to get out of such an escape attempt alive, Harry still had that blasted tournament he had to attend. Because if he didn't, that binding magical contract would have his magic as recompense. And Harry was quite sure that if he murdered a bunch of people now to save his godfather, a whole battalion of Aurors would be waiting for him at the start of the first task.
They were well and truly trapped, and Harry knew it. Worse yet, Dumbledore knew it, too, if the gleeful smile he gave Harry was any indication.
No, Harry had to use his brain, not his brawn, to get out of that situation. There was no doubt in his mind they were going to give Sirius the death penalty one way or the other. Those dementors had been there for a reason. But Harry had sent a very clear signal to the dementors not to come near his godfather ever again, and according to the stories his family had told him, dementors had some sort of hive mind and could communicate across great distances. So that meant they'd have to use the other method of execution available to the Ministry.
The veil.
And Harry had a very good idea what the veil was exactly. And he also had enough confidence that should his godfather be tossed through the veil, Harry could save him.
He hoped. Well, he was willing to bet his godfather's life on it that he could, at any rate.
"We are gathered here for the trial of Sirius Black," Fudge said, and Harry focussed on the Minister, realizing the trial had already begun.
"Hem, hem," a witch wearing a bright pink cardigan under her purple ceremonial robes spoke over the Minister. "So sorry to interrupt, Cornelius, but that man is a werewolf, the very one that terrorized Hogwarts last year." She pointed a stubby finger at Remus. "And werewolves are not allowed on the courtroom floor."
Sirius called out a protest, but Remus was quick to silence him with a gesture. "It's fine. I'll go. Good luck, Padfoot."
Harry pulled Remus towards him, as though to give him an awkward hug. "Wait for us in the atrium near the visitor's exit," Harry whispered hurriedly in Remus' ear. "No matter what happens, wait for us there."
With a nod, Remus pulled back and walked out of the courtroom with his head held high, but with his shoulders slightly slumped.
"Well, now that's settled," Fudge continued, opening a large scroll and holding it up to his face to read from it. "The charges against Sirius Black are as follows. The murder of the wizard Peter Pettigrew. The murder of twelve muggles. The betrayal of James and Lily Potter to You Know Who. Escaping Azkaban. The attempted murder of Severus Snape, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Ronald Weasley. Breaking and entering into Hogwarts multiple times and causing property damage to priceless magical artifacts."
"What?" Sirius cried out, looking from Fudge to Harry with his mouth opened. "That's a load of codswallop!"
"Sirius," Harry whispered as he leaned over to speak directly into his godfather's ear. "You have to trust me. I will get you out, I promise. Play along."
Sirius gave a small nod, but his eyes shone with fear and uncertainty. "They're not going to let me go," he whispered back.
"They won't, but I will." Harry gave Sirius' shoulder one last squeeze before righting himself.
"What has the defendant to say to the charges?" Dumbledore asked.
"Not guilty!" Sirius called out in a trembling voice.
"We request the use of Veritaserum," Harry said, staring directly at Dumbledore, who took great delight in slamming his hammer down, never breaking eye contact with Harry.
"Denied. The defendant has not been in custody long enough to rule out the use of an antidote to Veritaserum." Dumbledore looked the picture of regret. "If the defendant had wanted Veritaserum to be used he should have placed himself in custody at least twenty four hours before the start of the trial."
Yeah, and if Sirius had done that he conveniently would have ended up kissed by a rogue dementor before the trial had even started.
Fudge held up a few scrolls. "I have here a sworn statement from Albus Dumbledore that James and Lily Potter told him Sirius Black was their secret keeper."
James and Lily made outraged noises as they stood on either side of Sirius. "I told you we should have told Dumbledore the truth," Lily hissed at James.
"I also have the report of the Aurors who initially arrested the defendant, that Sirius Black confessed right then and there to the murder of James and Lily Potter, Peter Pettigrew and the twelve muggles." Fudge held up a final scroll. "And I have here a sworn statement of Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts, that the defendant attempted to murder him and three of his students last year at Hogwarts, which ultimately caused great bodily harm to Ronald Weasley."
Harry remembered Ron telling him he'd broken an arm and an ankle during the scuffle at the Shrieking Shack, but the boy hadn't seemed very traumatized by it.
"I didn't try to kill them," Sirius called out in a futile attempt to save himself. Harry couldn't blame him, even though it had no use to do so.
The trial had already been decided long before it even started. Dumbledore had made sure of that.
And much to his shame, Harry now realized he'd underestimated Dumbledore, had not seen how conniving the old man could truly be, nor how cruel.
Harry refused to play by Dumbledore's rules? Then Dumbledore was going to take away the only family Harry had left, just because he could. Of course, Dumbledore had no idea what was happening with Harry behind the scenes, and Harry couldn't wait for the day that Dumbledore found out Harry had his own fucking country, but before any of that happened they had to get out of that courtroom alive and well.
"How did none of you see this coming?" Auntie Eustice hissed at the other family members around them. "Some spies you are!"
"I swear, Amelia Bones only got word from Fudge a trial was to be held yesterday morning, and since an owl had already been sent to Sirius I didn't think I needed to rush to report it," Bernadine said in a pleading tone.
"And I only saw Dumbledore hand over a few scrolls to Undersecretary Umbridge," Henry quickly added. "Fudge decided to hold the trial, sent the owl to Sirius, and that's all I saw."
"Then how was this set up?" Auntie Eustice demanded.
"Last night," Patroclus suggested in a monotone voice.
"When we were all together planning Sirius' trial, Dumbledore and Fudge must have had a meeting," Charlus agreed quietly.
Fleamont shook his head. "By Merlin's baggy underpants. I cannot believe we missed that. It might cost Sirius his life."
"Harry has a plan," James said with full confidence as he glanced at his son. "Harry always has a plan. Have faith."
Harry ignored his family's voices and he tuned out some of the discussion that happened around the room between some Wizengamot members who had questions to ask, and some of the objections that Sirius shouted, because none of that mattered anymore. All they had to do was wait for the inevitable verdict.
Finally, Fudge yelled, "Who gathered here finds the defendant guilty on all charges?"
As predicted a good majority of the wands went up around the Wizengamot.
"No," Sirius whimpered, while Harry squeezed his shoulder as hard as he could. Around them his family were gasping in shock and fury.
"Very well." Fudge banged his hammer three times. "Then I hereby sentence Sirius Black to receive the dementor's kiss."
Before anything else happened an Auror approached Fudge from behind and whispered urgently in his ear.
Fudge looked rather surprised for a moment before he banged his hammer again. "I just got word there seems to be a problem with the supply of dementors today. I hereby sentence Sirius Black to be thrown through the Veil of Death immediately following this trial."
"Harry," Sirius looked up with wide, terrified eyes. "Harry, help!"
"I'm sorry," Harry said loudly as he grabbed Sirius in a tight hug. "Trust me," Harry whispered urgently before pulling back again and yelling, "I can't watch you die, Sirius, I'm sorry." And though it broke his heart to see his friend look so terrified and alone sitting there bound in chains, a cacophony of people talking and yelling around the room drowning out Sirius' whimpers of despair, Harry walked backwards with strong steps.
"This was never a fair trial," Harry yelled, thinking it would be a good idea to keep up the charade of grieving, outraged godson. "None of you wanted to find out the truth!"
"Now, now, Mr Potter," Dumbledore said, unable to hide his satisfied smirk. "Justice was done here today."
Harry ignored him, turned around and rushed out of the courtroom. He needed to find a private spot he could lock and he needed to find it fast. To his left he saw a sign for restrooms. Not ideal, but it would have to do. He quickly conjured an out of order sign which he stuck on the outside of the door and after a quick inspection to make sure he was alone, Harry used Santireen magic to lock the door, so anyone trying to break the spell would be in for a surprise. With a swipe of his thumb across the amulet, Harry dismissed his family because right now they were only a distraction, with their loud protesting noises about Sirius' treatment.
"Get ready, V," Harry said as he whipped his wand out and started drawing a circle on the tiled floor. It was a little cramped but Harry made it work, inscribing the runes he needed as fast as he could. He had no idea how long it would take for Fudge and Dumbledore to toss Sirius through the veil, but his godfather was in very real danger the second he entered the deathlands.
Because that was what Harry was betting everything on, that the Veil of Death somehow was a permanent portal to the deathlands.
And nowadays, Harry happened to be very good at walking the deathlands.
"Hurry, hurry!" V sat bobbing up and down on top of a stall, peering down at Harry's artistry with a critical eye.
Thankfully, since Harry was experienced at walking the deathlands, he didn't need the full ritual anymore to open a portal. V flew down onto his shoulder the moment Harry stepped into the circle, and right when Harry moved his hand around in a fluid motion, a small black portal started to grow.
It didn't take more than five minutes for the portal to grow large enough for Harry and V to step through. Once Harry had been terrified to walk the deathlands, but nowadays it was second nature to him. Harry was a seasoned, experienced, fearless necromancer. Death held no threat to him, not anymore.
"Find him!" Harry called to V, who immediately took off, flying through the dark, bleak mirror world of the deathlands. The good things was that any physical barriers in the real world, such as doors and walls, were incorporeal in the deathlands, and Harry could walk right through them. Around them small demons scattered away, out of Harry's path. In the distance, terrifying wails sounded of larger creatures, but Harry paid them no mind.
The moment Sirius was tossed through the veil his life-clock started ticking. Any living thing that ended up in the deathlands had a very short expiration date. If they stayed too long they would morph into a demon of sorts, their souls forever trapped in the guise of the soul-seeking monsters that inhabited the deathlands.
"Out of my way." Harry kicked a particularly stubborn little demon and sent if flying as he stormed into the direction of the Department of Mysteries.
"Find, find," V cawed as he flew ahead, straight through the walls, in search of the veil.
Harry wasn't sure where in the Department of Mysteries the veil was located, but he could sense souls, even in their home dimension, and there were a whole bunch gathered around the veil in the outside world. He used those as a beacon to lead him to where he needed to be.
"There, there," V called, and in the distance, in what looked like a large arena in an even larger room, stood a brightly lit portal that connected the two realms.
"Who is fucking stupid enough to keep a portal open like that?" Harry muttered as he ran in that direction. "Don't they know what might come through?"
Right when Harry reached the portal, Sirius fell through with a loud scream.
"Quiet!" Harry caught his godfather with strong arms. "Be quiet, Sirius. You don't want the big demons to know you're here. This way, quickly now."
"Quick, quick," V cawed as he flew in the direction of their portal in the bathroom, leading the way.
Harry had a firm arm wrapped around Sirius's waist and hauled his godfather along, ignoring Sirius' whimpers and stammering questions. Thankfully, nothing bigger than the small, annoying demons crossed their path and they made it to the bathroom portal in one piece. Harry pushed Sirius through it without ceremony, not even bothering to catch his godfather as he fell face first on the tiled floor. He needed to close the portal as quickly as he could.
"Safe, safe," V crowed as he settled on top of the stall again.
"Almost," Harry agreed, and the moment he had the portal completely closed he released a sigh of relief. That was done, now they still needed to escape the Ministry itself. "Here." Harry plucked the invisibility cloak from his satchel and tossed it on top of Sirius, who sat up, looking around with a dazed expression.
"I need you to be quiet," Harry said as he pulled Sirius to his feet and draped the invisibility cloak over him. "I need you to keep it together. Once we're in Silgram you can completely lose your shit, Sirius, I promise, but for now you need to stay calm. Understood?"
Sirius was paler than the average corpse and stood shaking on his legs, but he managed to nod before Harry pulled the cloak over his head.
"Hold onto my back," Harry said, turning his back to his godfather so he could grab a handful of Harry's furry cloak. "Remus is waiting for us in the atrium. Stay calm, and we'll be out of here in no time."
Harry quickly charmed away any evidence of the ritual circle he'd used as best as he could, though a few black smudges remained on the floor, the runes having burned into the tiles once they were activated. But they weren't recognizable anymore as more than magical stains, so Harry wasn't worried.
"Okay, here we go. Hang tight, Sirius." Harry pushed the door open while V landed on his shoulder again, and after making sure the corridor was empty, Harry hurried out of the bathroom and made his way to the stairs, Sirius hanging onto his back for dear life. The stairs were their safest bet, and they climbed the staircases as quickly as they could until they reached the atrium level. Harry looked around the door again to see if the coast was clear. The atrium was busy, as usual, but there was enough space for Harry to lead his invisible godfather through without anyone noticing.
Which is what they did, successfully, until about halfway through they ran into Fudge and the hideous pink witch.
"Ah, Mr Potter," Fudge said with a big smile. "Such a pleasure to meet you."
"Fuck right off!" Harry kept marching along, Sirius stumbling after him and V cackling with laughter on his shoulder. Both Fudge and the witch made outraged noises but Harry couldn't care about that. Other people who looked like they wanted to approach him seemed to change their minds at the last moment considering Harry's expression probably resembled a thundercloud about to let loose some serious lightning.
"Remus." Harry grabbed the other man's arm and hauled him towards the box.
"What?" Remus protested quietly. "What happened? Where's Sirius?"
"Just come along, now!" Harry pulled Remus inside the glass box, making room so Sirius could slip in after him, before shutting the door with a bang. The box took them to the surface level and Harry counted every anxious second until they stepped out into the fresh air of the muggle street. Harry didn't even bother finding an alley to apparate out of, he simply cast a wandless notice-me-not charm and grabbed Remus and Sirius by the shoulder, taking them along as he apparated to Silgram, landing right in front of his castle.
Sirius ripped the invisibility cloak off, threw it away and fell to the grass on his knees, screaming in pain and grief, pulling up clumps of dirt and grass as he yanked at the ground in impotent fury.
"What happened?" Remus asked, face pale and eyes as wide as Harry had ever seen them. "I heard they had executed him?"
"They did," Harry said with a deep sigh, his body trembling slightly now that the adrenaline was wearing off. "Tossed him through the veil. Thankfully my bet paid off, and I was able to yank him out of it again."
"Why?" Remus asked, as a few tears gathered in his eyes and dripped down his cheeks. "Was it all a trap?"
"Yep." Harry rubbed his own arms, suddenly chilled. "Dumbledore orchestrated this, I'm sure of it."
"Oh, to punish you," Remus said in an understanding tone while hanging his head. "You defied him, and Sirius defied him as well by disappearing and throwing his lot in with you."
"Yep."
"That motherfucker!" Sirius yelled as he sat back on his arse in the grass, screaming up at the sky. "That fucking wanker! I gave him everything! I disowned my own family, my own blood, for that fucker's cause and this is how he repays me?"
"Yep," Harry said again, now noticing a large owl sitting on one of the flagpoles of his castle. The moment the bird noticed him looking, it came soaring down towards him. It was a beautiful eagle owl, slightly larger and darker than Poppy.
"I swear, I will never side with that old man again," Sirius said, now sounding completely out of breath. "He fucking betrayed me the first time he threw me in Azkaban, and now he fucking betrays me to my death. He fucking knows I didn't try to murder Snape and those kids! He knows!"
"Yep." Harry accepted the letter the eagle owl dropped in his hands, opening it while listening to Sirius' rant with half an ear. Remus sat down beside Sirius and threw his arm around Sirius' shoulders, pulling him close to comfort him.
"I am done," Sirius said, punching his fists into the grass, a grimace on his face. "I am completely fucking done, I swear it. From now on, I'm doing what I want to fucking well do, and I don't care what anyone else expects of me. You can do whatever the fuck you want, too, Harry. Raise all my dead house-elves, side with Voldemort himself for all I care, as long as I never, ever need to have anything to do with that old goatfucker ever again!"
"Oh, good," Harry said while folding the letter back up in his hands. "I'm glad you said that, because Voldemort is asking for a tour of our country."