"Sirius Black Innocent!

In a historical event that marked a first in the history of the Ministry of Magic, the Wizengamot reopened a decade old case. As evidence made abundantly clear, grave injustice had been dealt out.

In November 1981, shortly after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's fall, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement sullied itself with a shocking atrocity.

Sirius Black, best friend to Lily and James Potter, was unceremoniously sent to Azkaban – for crimes he did not commit. In an attempt to capture the real culprit responsible for the Potters' untimely end and the death of twelve muggles, Mr Black found himself framed for those very sins. Perhaps the former Hit Wizard had not yet been worried at that point.

Little did he know that his own superior would send him to the hellish prison without giving him a chance to explain himself. Mr Black was denied his day in court; a trial never took place on the orders of late Minister Bagnold and Bartemius Crouch, Black's former supervisor. This very grave mistake not only left an innocent man a prisoner, but his daughter effectively an orphan.

Once the young Miss Marina Black learned of her father's predicament, she and her guardians did everything in their power to see his name cleared. Ms Black, for the past twelve years a ward of her father's cousin, expressed her outrage at his wrongful imprisonment and her grievance at how it had deprived her of the only parent she had left – as much as it had deprived the Boy Who Lived.

Mr Black is young Harry's godfather, a fact that has been kept quiet for over a decade. Sources tell us that Ms Black informed her friend of the situation even before any action was set in motion. And as life would have it, both children were present when Mr Black finally received his day in court. Accompanied by an impressive entourage of friends and family, they sat in on the trial that should have taken place in '81. Old and new evidence, as well as Mr Black's long overdue testimony was presented to the entire Wizengamot. Confronted with the overwhelming truth, our highest judges ruled Mr Black innocent and ordered his immediate release from Azkaban.

It stands to question, as Great Wizard Albus Dumbledore cheerfully announced the verdict, why he did not see justice done twelve years ago. An internal investigation has been launched to closely examine Mr Crouch's professional conduct. Imagine what it would mean if Mr Black was not the only one Crouch so unfairly locked away.

Now that his name is cleared, Mr Black has immediately reclaimed custody of his daughter and has been granted, as per the wishes of the late Potters, custody of his godson as well.

It is questionable whether the 50,000 galleons in damages for each year Mr Black spent wrongfully imprisoned the now free man has been given, are enough to make up for the horror he's been put through. A terrible wrong that, perhaps, does not yet see him fit to care for the children. The Daily Prophet will follow up and wishes all the best to the reunited Family Black.

Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet"

"Someone sure put a muzzle on her," Carmen commented after reading the article and put the paper down. "Hardly any snide comments about Sirius and you."

"Even Skeeter can't pull that right now," Marina snorted. "Not after Dad spent twelve years in prison. The editor must've reigned her in to prevent any public fallout."

"How is he?" David asked, putting down the copy of Cooking the Muggle Way he'd started reading a week ago.

"Hanging in there," she replied with a sigh and leaned back in the armchair, absently petting Starlight. "The Ministry awarded him custody of Harry, yet Dumbledore still seems to think he has a say in where Harry lives from now on."

"Did you tell him about the muggles?" Carmen asked and resumed polishing her broomstick.

"No. That would be a bad idea. He might end up hexing them."

That would get him back locked up in no time.

"Why is Dumbledore so insistent on keeping Harry there?" Bianca asked, not once looking up from the letter she was writing to her soon-to-be fiancé.

"Something about a blood ward," Marina shrugged. "The same protection that kept him alive because of Lily's sacrifice is still active. Except I really don't care. Not with the way they're treating him."

"Which would be?"

All four of them jumped at the question. His voice was still more of a hoarse rasp than anything else.

Marina turned around. She still couldn't get over how different he looked. First thing out of prison, Remus had taken him shopping. Clean robes, a shaven face, a new haircut, and her Dad almost looked healthy again. His hair was even black again. He was still way too thin though, and the haunted look in his eyes probably wouldn't disappear anytime soon.

"Please tell me you didn't run out on Teresa again," she pleaded. "She hates that."

It had been on hell of an argument to get him to see the mind healer in the first place.

When he was home, he refused to sleep anywhere but on the floor next to her – in his animagus form. Marina wondered if he would keep that up once they had their own place.

There was a part of her that felt immensely guilty about moving out with him and not staying with the Tonks. Dromeda and Ted had assured her there was no reason and Dora's response had been something along the lines of Don't be stupid. Until they found a house, her Dad was staying with them – just not on the full moon. He'd apparated to Remus' place and spent the terror of the night with his best friend.

"I didn't," he grumbled. "Not that I really need it."

Marina bit her tongue. They'd had this conversation before and she wouldn't rehash it in front of her friends.

"How are the muggles treating Harry?" her Dad asked quietly, proving that his mind was a lot more focused than it had been at his release already. She sighed.

"Awful," she told him succinctly. "They hate magic, they hate us and from what I know... they hate Harry."

Outrage flashed through her father's eyes and he let lose a growl strangely reminiscent of his dog form.

"And Dumbledore knows this?"

"I would think so. Dumbledore knows everything," she huffed. "At least it seems that way sometimes."

He turned on his heels and walked away. Marina scrambled out of the armchair, much to Starlight's outrage, and ran after him.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as he stopped next to the furnace, his eyes on the floo powder.

"Having a conversation with your headmaster," he countered.

She pulled him back; the fact that it worked showed that he was still weak from Azkaban.

"Not as angry as you are right now, you're not," she shook her head, "Your fuse is still too short."

His temper had been hell on earth since he'd got free.

He met her worried eyes and visibly reigned himself in.

"It doesn't really matter anymore how they've been treating him," Marina told him grimly as he slung an arm around her. "Because we're getting him out, whether Dumbledore likes it or not."

Privet Drive, August 27th 1993

She felt beyond weird, walking down the muggle street with an Irish Wolfhound on the leash he'd really not wanted to have put on. But he couldn't very well march down the street in human form, what with his face crossing every TV nowadays. The Ministry had contacted the muggle Prime Minister, the only British official in on the big secret, and now even the muggles were getting plastered with press releases that her Dad was innocent. Unfortunately, even then he would draw a crowd of curious morons, and they couldn't have that. Harry was being rescued from his awful relatives today, and no gawking was getting in the way of that.

The house Harry lived in was cosy enough, but she knew that it was more like a prison for him. She knocked at the door sharply. There was some shuffling and then a very thin, haughty looking woman opened the door.

Petunia barely had any time to blink in surprise before her Dad pulled her into the house, past the startled owner.

"Who do you think you are?" Petunia demanded with a distinct shriek.

Dear Merlin, Harry probably had migraines on end here.

"We've come for Harry," Marina replied, not bothering to look at the woman.

Two very... large people joined them in the hallway. Vernon Dursley was groomed well enough, if overweighted. But the teenager... Dudley was fat, plain simple. He was the poster child for eating too much, doing too little and being spoiled. Marina's disdain over Harry living here tripled.

"We?" Vernon asked, mocking and disgust clear in his voice.

Marina smiled a grim smile, not a friendly expression, and unhooked her father's leash. He changed back to human in seconds.

Petunia screamed in horror, Vernon rambled in outrage and Dudley fled into another room. Apparently, the boy still hadn't gotten over his encounter with Hagrid. She'd have to help him with his giant spider friends for that one.

"Marina?"

She looked up the stairs and saw her brother standing on top. He was wearing a shirt that was obviously second-hand and reached almost down to his calves. The jeans was held in place by a belt he'd had to tie together because there weren't any holes he could use. Once again, he was paler than even her – except for his reddened and chafed hands.

"Get your stuff, Harry," she told him calmly. "We're leaving."

That's when his eyes found her Dad. She'd only ever seen him smile as happily when he'd won his first Quidditch match. He turned around and scrambled to pack.

"You his new escorts then?" Dursley huffed and crossed his arms.

"More like his new family," she retorted without looking at him.

"He has no family," Petunia sneered, standing at her husband's side.

"He does now," she said through clenched teeth.

Maybe it was herself Marina should have been worried about instead of her Dad. She had a mighty hard time not pulling her wand and jinxing the lot of them.

"He can't leave here. We're his legal guardians," Vernon announced.

It was amazing; they loathed Harry's living with them and yet they'd put up with it just to see him miserable. Her Dad must have reached the same conclusion, because he let lose one of his signature growls worthy of any hound.

"Not anymore, you're not," Marina huffed and took her father's hand to calm the both of them down. "Dad is Harry's godfather. Lily and James wanted him to raise Harry and now that his name is cleared, the Ministry granted him immediate custody."

"You-" Petunia started but Marina had had enough.

"No," she snapped and pulled her wand, pointing it at the horrible woman. "You've made his life a living hell for twelve years. It's over and he's coming with us. And I suggest you do not piss me off right now. Or Dad for that matter; innocent or not, twelve years in prison did a number on him."

Harry chose that exact moment to be done with packing and snorted a laugh as he stood at the top of the stairs, his trunk in one hand, his wand stuffed into his waistband and Hedwig's cage in the other hand. The owl was missing, presumably out hunting. She'd find them though.

"Your broomstick?" she questioned as he all but jumped down the stairs, clearly eager to get out of there. His eyes flicked over to the door underneath the stairs. Marina pointed at the lock.

"Alohomora!"

The Dursleys flinched in unison as the door sprung open on its own and she walked over to get the broomstick. She thought it best not to tell her Dad that Harry had lived in there for ten years. He might just end up strangling the muggles. With a mumbled "Reducio" she shrunk the broomstick down she she could hide it in her jacket.

"Alright then, let's get out of here," she said cheerily and Harry grinned broadly.

None of the muggles dared move while her Dad turned back into a dog and only grumbled a little as she put the leash back on. The three of them had to make a very odd picture as they left the house without a backward glance.

"Does Dumbledore know about this?" Harry asked after a minute or so, concern sounding through.

"Yes. He wasn't exactly thrilled but he's on board. We're going back to Dromeda's place for now. We can't move into our new house yet - Dumbledore and just about everyone else aren't done warding it yet."

"Where is it?" Harry asked, trying – and failing – not to sound exited.

"Turner's Hill, Crawley, South of London," Marina smiled. "One and a half hours by car so I'd say about half that time by broomstick. Not that we'll ever be going by broomstick but still."

"A muggle town?" Harry asked, a bit surprised.

"Yes. But no worries, the wards will repel them from the house itself. And Dad bought one with a lot of forest right by our backyard, so you can fly and train for Quidditch."

"What about you and the Duelling?" he wanted to know and leaned against her a bit, causing her Dad to smile – weird though as that looked on a dog, you could still tell.

"Remus and the others are warding the backyard under a thousand spells, making it basically invisible for muggles. And soundproof. When they're done, I can train all I want. Speaking of which: I have my first official duel tomorrow. You wanna come?"

August 28th, 1993

"That was amazing!" Harry grinned and hugged her as she made her way over to them. She'd won the duel despite her opponent being a year older. Having a bunch of aurors in the family definitely had its perks.

"Thanks," she grinned and hugged him back. They still didn't really do that in front of people other than her extended family – especially at Hogwarts.

"Well done," her Dad agreed, paternal pride all but seeping out his pores. He'd been added to the list of her sponsors and Marina dimly thought that was a good thing. Meeting Mad-Eye needed preparation and Harry wasn't quite there yet.

"Let me get changed, then we can take off for The Burrow," she told them and hurried to do just that.

The Weasleys had been surprisingly patient – she would have expected Molly to insist on seeing Harry the second they got him away from the Dursleys. She suspected Arthur had talked her down, and now they were due for dinner.

"Nice work," someone said behind her before she could enter the locker room. Marina whirled around in surprise.

"I thought you were on duty today," she grinned and hugged him back when he pulled her into him. As per usual, he was in auror robes.

"I was. The next shift took over early. Elias and I are just going to have to do the same when they need to get off early," David replied, clearly proud of himself.

For the first time in years though, Marina could sense something else off him. Something she had little to no personal experience with. But she knew exactly what it was since she got the same vibe off Bianca on a regular basis.

David was in love.

"And you have nowhere better to be?" she teased and took a step back.

"What, and miss the result of my handiwork? Not likely," he teased right back.

This time, something else poured off him, though. And it made her stomach clench.

"Why are you worried?" she asked him quietly, looking around to find his partner. He wouldn't be alone.

"I guess I should know better by now," David sighed.

"Now you know how Dromeda and Ted feel," she mock-commiserated. "Spill."

"Elias is out there, filling in Sirius right now," he told her, rather reluctantly. "At least that means we don't have to explain things to Harry. Your father can do that."

"Explain what?" Marina demanded, on edge herself at that point. It wasn't like David to talk in circles.

David, to her surprise, took both her hands in his. Suddenly, fear broke through his concern.

And somehow, Marina knew what he was going to say before he did. There was only one thing that had ever scared him like this.

"The Lestranges escaped Azkaban last night."

Bellatrix is free. Merlin help us all.

Author's Note:

I am so sorry it took this long. I was in the hospital for two months so my writing/re-writing was basically non-existent.

But here it is, hope you like it. The next chapter will come sooner...