"And anyway, there was considerable uproar after Gorgorovitch dropped the quaffle for the fifth time in the match against Puddlemere United, and then it came out afterwards that he had broken the record for most quaffle drops in a season." Ron shoved an entire cauldron cake in his mouth as he finished talking.

Lily nodded again, trying to feign interest. Harry had wanted to her to ride with him on the train home and she'd agreed, especially since Christina had decided she was too old to be seen with her mum on the train and had immediately hurried away to find her friends. She hadn't realized sitting with Harry and Ron would mean so much talk about quidditch. If only James were here—he'd know what to say.

Lily hadn't been happy to leave Hogwarts. There was too much unfinished business there. What had Dumbledore been thinking, leaving Harry with the Dursleys? They would be at the platform today—Harry hadn't told them that he had other family now. He explained that he wanted to see the look on Vernon's face when the man realized he'd made an unnecessary trip to London.

A small grey owl bumped against the window. Hermione jumped up to let it in, and the little thing landed on Harry's lap and held out a leg with a letter attached.

"It's from Sirius!" Harry unrolled the parchment and began to read. "He and Buckbeak are safe, though he won't tell me where in case the letter gets intercepted. Hey, Hermione, you were right. He did send the firebolt!"

"I told you . . ." Hermione muttered.

"And Ron, he says you can keep the owl if you want, since you don't have a rat anymore."

"Blimey." Ron held out a hand to the tiny owl, who climbed up on his finger and began preening his feathers.

"And he's given me permission to visit Hogsmeade!"

"I can certainly sign your form too, though I suppose Sirius also has jurisdiction over this." Lily mused. "Either way, I'm glad you won't be sneaking in anymore."

"I told him not to!" said Hermione, exasperated. "I told him it was dangerous."

Lily laughed. "Harry, I like this one! She reminds me of myself when I was younger."

Hermione beamed. "Thank you, Mrs. Potter. I do think Harry and Ron would've died a long time ago without me."

"Shut up." Ron muttered. "No, she's right."

The train began to slow as it pulled into the station. Lily's knees began shaking as she looked out the window.

"They're not on the platform." Harry said. "They can't get past the barrier." "Right. Oh, I want to go and give them a piece of my mind." The train ground to a halt and people began taking down their luggage from the racks. They hurried down to the platform and met Christina, whose face was sticky with melted chocolate. "Well, are we ready to confront them?" Lily asked.

Harry shook his head. "Let me go first, Mum. I want to have a little fun with them. You two follow behind, but don't let them see you. Let's go." He took his trolley and strode toward the barrier. Lily took a pair of sunglasses from her bag and put them on, pulling her hair forward to obscure her face better. As soon as she and Christina were on the other side they stopped and pretended to examine the latches on Christina's trunk.

"You took your time, boy." Vernon growled. "Get in the car. We're late."

"No."

"Excuse me?!"

"I said no. I only came over to tell you I'm not going home with you this summer. At all."

"You stay with us over the summer, boy, and that's final. You're not allowed anywhere else, and besides, you have nowhere to go."

Harry smiled. "I have options. I might stay with my friend Ron again. Or I might stay with my godfather."

"You haven't got a godfather." Vernon snapped.

"Oh I do. He's a convicted mass murderer. He's really nice." Harry tried not to laugh as Uncle Vernon turned purple. "They're cool, but I've got one more option: staying here in London with my mum and sister." Harry looked over his shoulder and beckoned to them.

"Your mother is dead," Petunia snarled, speaking for the first time, "and you never had a sister."

"Oh she's very much alive." Harry turned and watched as his mum and sister came up to him. "Aren't you, Mum?"

"I am indeed." Lily took off her sunglasses and stared Petunia down. An awkward, tortuous silence fell, finally broken when Petunia said,

"Lily—sister—what a, um, pleasant surprise. Why don't you come back to the house and we can talk."

"I trusted you!" Lily shouted. "I trusted you, and so did Dumbledore! I thought, if anything happened to James and I, my child would be safe with my own sister! Then I hear from Harry about how he lived in a cupboard! A cupboard! You bragged to me so much about your rich fiancé, only to raise my son in a sodding cupboard and give him your crotch goblin's hand-me-down clothes!"

"There's no need for that sort of language!" Petunia squeaked in protest.

"Yes there is! You put bars on his window! You locked his school supplies in a cupboard and left his owl in a cage! Honestly, though, I didn't need to hear the specifics from Harry. I knew by the way he flinched when I mentioned your name!"

"It was nothing personal against the boy!" Petunia gasped in a desperate attempt to save face. "We—we made some decisions to stamp his m-m—his magic out of him, for his own safety."

Lily didn't reply, only punched Petunia in the face as hard as she could. "That's for everything you did to my baby. Don't you ever try to contact any of us again, or I will come and turn you and your soppy husband into fruit bats!"

Vernon caught Petunia and dragged her away without making eye contact. Lily snorted angrily and dusted off her hands. "I guess it wasn't very kind of me to call Dudley a crotch goblin." She mused. "He can't control who his parents are."

"He deserved it." Harry grunted. "Calling him a crotch goblin is an insult to actual goblins."

"Oh goodness, Harry." Molly Weasley bustled forward seemingly out of nowhere, Ron and the twins trailing behind her, and wrapped him in a tight hug. "How are you, dear?"

"M'alright." Harry wheezed as she crushed the air out of his lungs. "How are you?"

"We heard from Ron." Mrs. Weasley finally released him. "Sirius Black escaped, they had him in custody. Are you all right? And we heard your mother's alive." She turned to Lily. "How are you, Lily? It's good to see you again." She gave Lily another crushing hug.

"I'm all right." Lily managed to say before she started sobbing. "Harry's told me how let him stay over and how you'd make him Christmas sweaters. Thank you. I really can't thank you enough."

"Oh, it's nothing. Ron told me in his first year how awful Harry's muggle relatives were to him and I made sure to send him some things for Christmas. You know, I wrote to Dumbledore, all those years ago, and told him we'd take him on, but Dumbledore said Harry would be better off with the muggles. Something about them being blood relatives."

"Oh, believe me, Dumbledore and I have talked about already. I can't believe the nerve of him . . . but anyway, how have you been?"

"Oh, you know, busy with the kids and everything. No one came close to death this year and I only had to send two howlers, so all in all it was a quiet year for the Weasley family. Percy's graduated now and he starts work next month, sweet talented boy . . ." she trailed off, watching Percy and Penelope say their goodbyes.

Lily nodded. "We should probably head home. I need to show Harry our flat and . . ."

"Of course, of course. I don't mean to keep you. We should be going too. We'll be in touch about the world cup—I think Arthur might be able to get us good tickets. Fred, dear, did you remember your jumper?" She bustled off to see the twins.

"The absolute nerve of Dumbledore." Lily growled as she tossed Harry and Christina's trunks in the back of a cab. "Well, it's no matter. Harry, you haven't seen our flat yet, have you? No one's been there in a while, I guess. I was in the hospital for a while and then I went directly to Hogwarts. We'll probably have to clean up quite a bit."

But what they found inside wasn't a messy, musty flat. Instead the living room was neatly tidied up and Lupin was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Remus!" Lily dropped her bag in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I remembered this morning that your flat's been empty for two weeks. Besides, you needed another bedroom. I didn't think Harry would want to share with Christina. I put an undetectable expansion charm on the flat, take a look."

Harry led the way down the hall, where sure enough there was another bedroom identical to Christina's. It was furnished with a bed and a desk. The bedspread was printed was printed with golden snitches.

"I know we have't got much in there right now." said Lupin. "You can go ahead and unpack and decorate yourself."

"Wow." Harry looked around. He'd never had his own bedroom before.

"My landlord wouldn't like this if he knew about it." Lily looked around. "But thank you. I was planning to have Harry and Christina share until we could get a bigger flat and they would've probably come to blows at some point."

Remus shrugged. "Just doing what I can. Besides, what your landlord doesn't know won't hurt him." They both turned to watch Harry open his trunk and begin piling clothes on his bed. "So. Testimony tomorrow. I'll be there. Dumbledore mentioned that he might need me to back up parts of yours. Are you bringing the kids?"

"I think I will. They're old enough now. What about you, what are you doing now that you're out of a job?"

Remus shrugged. "Go back to my place. Figure out what comes next. Sirius told me if he gets cleared he plans to move in with me."

Lily nodded. "He'll probably trash your place. Hmm. Do you think we'll be able to clear him?"

"I think so. I hope so. Well. I'd better head home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"All right. See you then."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Harry, Christina, let's go." Lily pounded on Harry's door. "We've got to be at the ministry by 9! Christina, where are you?"

"In here, Mum." Christina was in the bathroom yanking a brush through her hair. "Is this outfit nice enough?" She turned to show off a neat blouse and skirt combo.

"It'll have to do. Neither of you have got dress robes." Lily was wearing a set of steel-gray robes. "Harry?"

"Right here." Harry emerged from his room in a slightly wrinkled button-down.

"Are you going to do something about your hair?"

"No. There's no point."

"You could at least try." Lily dragged him into the bathroom and ran a comb through his hair. "To think your grandfather was the inventor of Sleakeezy's Hair Potion, and neither his son nor his grandson could be bothered with proper grooming. Sit down, you're too tall for me to see the top of your head."

"Wait, my grandfather invented Sleakeezy's? I've seen Hermione use that stuff."

"Where do you think the Potter family fortune came from? I ought to buy you a bottle of that stuff." Lily set down the comb in frustration. "This'll have to do. We've got to go, come on." She hurried them out of the bathroom, out of the flat, and down the stairs. "We'll go in through the visitors' entrance today. Hold on." She grabbed each of their arms and disapparated, reappearing outside a red telephone box.

"Mum, what are we—"

"Get in. This is the way visitors get in to the ministry." She reached over Harry's shoulder to dial a number, and as she did so the box began to sink through the pavement. "Christina, might want to take off the choker. It's a muggle fashion and I don't know if Fudge will take kindly to it."

"The minister himself is gonna be there?" Christina asked.

"Mhm. He'll be there, plus whoever's on the wizengamot. They'll ask me some questions and I believe they'll deliberate before reaching a verdict." The telephone box opened and they stumbled out into the ministry's atrium.

"Over here." The witch at the check-in desk waved to them. "Name and business, please."

"Lily Potter, here for questioning by the wizengamot."

"Right, right." The witch took Lily's wand and examined it. "I heard about that from my niece. Apparently you were at Hogwarts recently?"

Lily nodded. "Long story. Everyone thought I was dead. Going to talk to the minister about it today."

"Got it. Did either of the children bring wands?"

"No."

"All right. You're good to go. Take the lift to level one. I believe Madame Bones will meet you there."

"Thank you." Lily led the way across the atrium to the lifts and herded Harry and Christina inside. "You two will go to the seating area once we get to the courtroom. I think Remus will meet you there." The golden grilles ground their way open and they exited the lift into a dark hallway with gleaming tile floors.

"Ah, Mrs. Potter." Madam Bones was waiting for them. "You and I will come through this door to get situated. Harry, Christina, please enter the courtroom through that door. Go up the stairs into the seats. I believe Remus Lupin, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall are all waiting for you there. Mrs. Potter, this way." She led the way through a small door into the courtroom, which was immense and dark, tall-ceilinged like a well of dark liquid.

In the center of the room was a high-backed wooden chair, which Madam Bones motioned for her to sit in. As she did so, chains appeared and shackled her hands in place.

"Don't mind the chains." said Madam Bones calmly. "Those are just to keep you still while we question you. Llewellyn, the veritaserum please."

A ministry witch came forward with a vial of clear liquid, which Lily gulped down. As the potion took affect her eyes went blank and focused on Fudge.

"We're ready." Madam Bones took her seat at the front of the wizengamot and straightened a sheet of parchment with her list of questions. "Interrogation of Lily Potter about the crimes of Sirius Black."

"Order." Fudge took his gavel.

Madam Bones straightened her spectacles and looked at Lily. "Please state your full name."

"Lily Potter, nee Evans."

"Thank you. Please state your date of birth."

"30 January 1960."

"And your current place of residence?"

"London."

"Thank you." Madam Bones scanned her list of questions. "Next I'm going to ask you some questions about what happened in 1981. Who was your secret keeper at the time of the dark lord's attack?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"And was he always your secret keeper?"

"No. Sirius Black was our first secret keeper. He thought it would be too obvious if he were our secret keeper, so he encouraged us to switch."

"Do you believe Black had any malicious intent in this decision?"

"No. I've never had a reason to distrust Sirius."

"Do you believe Sirius was in league with the dark lord?"

"No."

"And what about Pettigrew?"

"Yes. He betrayed James and I to Voldemort. He's the only one who could have done it."

Madam Bones nodded. "How did you survive the attack in 1981? Tell me from the beginning."

"I was downstairs with my husband and son when the dark lord came. My daughter was asleep upstairs. He strode right in and we realized that Peter had betrayed us. My husband told me to take the children and run. Voldemort killed him after I got upstairs. I took Harry into Christina's room and took the emergency portkey. Voldemort came in and told me to step aside but I refused. I was holding both the children, but Harry wiggled out of my arms. The portkey went off just as I tried to grab him. The portkey took us to Tottenham court road, where I fell and hit my head and lost my memory."

"Thank you. Have you seen Pettigrew since then?"

"Yes. I saw him on Friday, at the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade." Curious whispers flitted through the room.

"Remember she is under veritaserum!" Madam Bones called over the noise. "I find it highly unlikely that she has found a way to lie under veritaserum! Mrs. Potter, Peter Pettigrew has been believed to be dead for more than twelve years! Can anyone confirm this story?"

"Yes. I was there with several other people. Remus Lupin, Harry and Christina Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Sirius Black."

More whispers fluttered through the courtroom. "He's dead!" Someone yelled. "He was blown to bits! We sent his finger to his mother in a box! How do you explain that, Potter?"

Lily blinked and opened her eyes a little wider. "While we don't know for sure how he survived, we have a theory. You see, Peter Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus who takes the form of a rat."

"Order, order!" Fudge slammed his gavel down, his lime green hat knocked askew. "Mrs. Potter! That is a very, very serious accusation! What proof do you have?"

"I was first told by James Potter in 1978, but I didn't see Pettigrew transform until last Friday. He was in rat form and Remus Lupin forced him to turn human. Madame Bones, do you want me to explain how he survived the explosion?"

"Go ahead. The sooner we clear this up, the better."

"We know that Pettigrew confronted Black right before the explosion. The biggest piece of him you found was a finger? Pettigrew's rat form is missing a front toe, a fact that Harry and Ron can verify. Pettigrew likely cut off his own finger, confronted Sirius, set off the explosion, transformed, and then slipped down the sewer with the other rats."

The court broke out in whispers again as Fudge and Bones looked at each other. "We have a motive for Pettigrew to do the killing." Madame Bones muttered.

"That's not proof." Fudge muttered back.

"Do you have Sirius Black's wand?" Lily asked. "If you have either wand, you can see what their last spell was."

"We do have Black's wand." Madame Bones said. "It's stored in a secure Gringotts vault—the ministry has a handful of vaults where we store evidence from violent crimes."

"Well go get it then!" Lily snapped. "Didn't you do this the first time around?"

"Order!" Fudge slammed his gavel down again. "Enough! The court will adjourn until Black's wand can be fetched!" He waved his wand and the chain binding Lily vanished. "Don't go too far. We expect to have the wand within the hour!"

Lily stood up and hurried over to the stands.

"What do you think?" Remus asked. "Your testimony established a motive for Pettigrew to do the killing, and veritaserum makes this iron-clad. But we don't have proof yet."

"I told them to take the wand and look at it." Lily grumbled. "Did they not do that the first time around?"

Remus shook his head. "They didn't. It looked like a pretty open-and-shut case."

"Do you think the ministry wants more information from us?" Harry asked. "I have a photo of Scabbers where you can see the missing toe. Um, Scabbers is wearing an ill-fitting bow tie in the photo, but you can see the toe." Everyone was looking at him curiously.

"He's wearing a bow tie?" Christina asked.

"This was in second year. We put him in a bowtie and we put Neville's toad Trevor in a veil and had a wedding ceremony for them. We were bored, ok?"

"Do you still have this photo?" Remus asked.

"Yeah."

"We ought to bring that in. Lily, do you want me and Harry to run home and get that photo?"

Lily nodded. "I don't think I'm allowed to leave. But you two should get that photo and anything else you think might be useful."

Harry and Remus nodded and scrambled out of the room.

Lily shook her head. "A wedding ceremony? Honestly, that's an appropriate punishment for Peter, to live in a dorm with a bunch of pre-teen boys."

Christina grinned. "Hermione's cat tried to eat him several times. And I think Ron once had to practice transfiguration on him."

"Good, good. I can't imagine the Weasley household was a quiet place to live. I hope it was stressful for him. Ugh. Madam Bones, could I get some water?"

Madam Bones came over and conjured a glass of water. "Here. You're allowed to walk around and get water and use the loo, but don't go too far. I think we're done questioning you until further notice. You know, we thought the case was so clear the first time around that we didn't need to check wands. Obviously your testimony changes things. We had no idea Pettigrew was the secret-keeper."

Lily nodded. "That was kind of the point."

Madam Bones nodded. "Oh, what a mess this all is. the Prophet is going to have a field day."

"Madam Bones! Minister Fudge!" A ministry wizard appeared in the doorway. "We've been able to locate Black's wand in the Gringotts vault. Two of my colleagues are performing the priori incantatem charm as we speak."

Madam Bones nodded. "Mrs. Potter, we'll take the results of priori incantatem and then if the evidence is convincing one way or the other we'll begin to deliberate. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a simple process, though. Even if the results are clear, we may spend more time hearing witnesses and reviewing evidence before we come to a verdict."

Lily nodded, trying to swallow the nervousness in her throat as they both gazed at the door. Finally it opened and two ministry wizards came through it, carrying a flat box between them.

"Minsiter?" The taller of the two spoke up. "The last spell performed with Sirius Black's wand was protego."