Chapter 7
Tuesday morning arrived, Cassandra and Richard brought the children to The Burrow for Molly to watch them while they attend Sirius' hearing, "Thank you, Molly," she laid the girls on the couch to keep sleeping.
"You are welcome…you are a good friend to Sirius to be there for him during this time."
She smiled softly, "Someone needs to defend him. I know Remus will be there to testify as well, I received his letter last night. Although he agrees with you and Arthur it does not look like he will win this case, but that does not mean we cannot try to convince the jury and judge that he did not do it."
Molly nodded, "You do what you must…now go or you will be late."
She nodded leaving with Arthur and Richard for the Ministry of Magic, they arrived and went to basement level ten where the courtrooms were. They entered the courtroom where the trial would be held, the room was full of people most of them Cassandra knew. When they entered the room looked at them and instantly went from full of chatter to silence her having a child out of wedlock, especially a half-blooded one it brought scandal to her family's name. Remus approached her moving through the crowd, "Cassie, thank you for coming," he gave her a hug.
She gave him a hug back, "I came originally to pay my respects to Lily and James, but I need to defend Sirius if I can. He would never betray them like this. He hated the values the death eaters and he-who-must-not-be named shared as I did yet he is being accused of this. If anyone truly knew him, they would know this is not him. Is Dumbledore or McGonagall here? They knew him very well, too."
"They are supposed to be, but McGonagall will not speak either she agrees he did it or she does not want to bring her name into this…Are you sure you want to bring your name into this?"
"My family's name? The people who disowned me for my beliefs and child? I could give a damn about that name."
He gave a small nod, "And…" he looked at Richard, "Cassie how do you know one of the wealthiest men in America? I thought you did not know the upper American class."
She looked at Richard who was just making small talk with Arthur, "Excuse me?"
"He is as wealthy and well-known in America as the Black family is here."
She was speechless and in disbelief, "Oh my god…This will ruin him being connected to me if it has not yet."
Remus started to say something, but the judge entered the courtroom making his way to his seat, "Come let's sit down," Remus led her, Arthur, and Richard to their seats. There were hushed whispers as they proceed to their seats what little she could catch was people discussing her being there and with the heir the Banks family enterprise. She sat down between Remus and Richard the whispers hushed as the judge reached his seat.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling the murder case against Sirius Black for the murder of Lily and James Potter. Is the court ready?" The jury stated they were ready, "Let us begin, bring in Mr. Black," Sirius rose in the middle of the room into a bird-like cage, "Mr. Black, today you are brought in for a hearing with the charges that you revealed the location of Lily and James Potter to he-who-must-not-be-named resulting in their murder."
He shook his head, "No…I would never betray my friends like this. I loved Lily and James; they were my friends. I am the godfather to their son."
"You also killed Peter Pettigrew. All that was left of him was a finger."
"These are lies! I never betrayed my friends; I am not a killer."
The judge ignored him looking to the jury, "Some of Mr. Black's friends are here with us to testify for his character," he looked at the papers before him, "Mr. Remus Lupin."
Remus stood up, "I have known Sirius, James, and Peter since our early days at Hogwarts. Sirius has always been a kind man, he cared deeply for his friends. He lived with James and his family after he left his parents' household until we graduated from Hogwarts afterward, he spent a majority of his time here in London or Paris."
The judge nodded, "That is all," Remus nodded and took his seat. The judge directed his attention back to Sirius, "Why were you in Paris? Is this location meetings were taking place of he-who-must-not-be-named?"
He shook his head, "I do not know…I was Paris, I will admit to that but not for meetings. I have been courting a young lady who resides there. She wanted to come live in London, but with the war, I felt it was unsafe for her. I would visit her each weekend unless I was helping fight the death eaters."
"Who is this woman?"
"Her name is Emilie Roux."
"Is she here today?"
His eyes shifted to his right where Emilie and her sister sat, "She is."
The judge looked at Emilie, "Ms. Roux, please stand," she slowly stood up, "Is what Mr. Black says to be true."
Emilie was a tall, thin woman with soft chocolate brown hair that was partially pulled back with a light blue bow that matched her coat dress to symbolize her confidence in Sirius winning the case, "It is, your honor," she twisted a diamond ring she wore upon her ring finger.
"Did he propose to her?" Cassandra asked Remus, he said nothing but gave a small nod. She looked at the two as Emilie's face looked very sad as she took her seat again.
Remus leaned closer to Cassandra, "I think he only proposed out of obligation."
She looked at him confused, "What?"
"She had a baby last summer around the same time Harry was born it is why he missed the birth of Harry; he was in Paris with her." Cassandra was in disbelief, "A daughter…her name is Cressida Noir. They did not want her to have the Black family name but still connected to her father in some way. Cressida is a constellation that means new beginning at least that is what Emilie says and Noir is the French word for Black."
The judge looked announced the next person to testify would be Cassandra, "Cassandra Rice, please rise."
She stood up, "Your honor," she gave a nod of her head to show some respect towards him.
"Tell the court how you know, Mr. Black."
She looked at the courtroom quietly for a brief moment then looked at Sirius, "We have known each other since we were young children. Our families are friends and have been for centuries. We dated for a year during our sixth year but realized we were better as friends. We were close with Lily and James in school, him more than myself. I was friends with my goddaughters' parents, Ann and Patrick Porter who were killed in September by death eaters. We were all friends though, we spent most of our free time together close to the Black Lake. If I was not with them, I was with my…my friend Severus Snape. Although Mr. Black and his friends were not friends with him, therefore, he was not included in our group."
The judge listened to her words carefully, "Why would Mr. Snape not be included in the group if he was your friend?"
She looked at the judge, "I do not know. He did not have many friends as I did not either for being in Slytherin house."
"Did Mr. Black ever hurt anyone while he attended Hogwarts?"
She gave a small nod, "Him and James were never kind to Mr. Snape."
"What would Mr. Black do to Mr. Snape?"
"They liked to hang him upside down…just typical boy behavior nothing to cause any physical harm."
The judge nodded, "Please have a seat Ms. Rice. We will have a five-minute recess while the jury decides," he stood and left the courtroom with the jury following the behind him and Sirius returning to his cell to await his sentence this left everyone else in the courtroom to talk.
"I just ruined his chance…" Cassandra cried putting her head in her hands, "I should never have mentioned Severus…why did any of you have to treat him cruelly?" she asked Remus.
"We were children, Cas. None of us could have predicted this is where he would have ended up. Hopefully, your words do not make a big impact on the case," Remus bit his lip, "Excuse me…I am going to speak with Emilie."
She nodded as he left her, Richard, and Arthur, "I am going to speak with some of the others here to see how feel about the direction of the case," Arthur said standing then walking away.
Richard took her hand, "This is not your fault. You spoke the truth but if they cannot believe his friends and fiancée about his character then the courts are more corrupted than I thought."
She looked at their hands intertwined together, "The evidence and how I spoke about how he treated a half-blood."
Court returned five minutes later, the jury ruled that Sirius would be sent to Azkaban for life for the murder of Peter Pettigrew, releasing information to Lord Voldemort causing the murder of Lily and James. The courtroom filled with Emilie's cries, "No!" she cried standing with her sister holding her to comfort her, "He did not do it!"
"I will be alright, Emilie. I love you and Ida!" he said as he disappeared under the courtroom. Emilie and her sister quickly left the room with Emilie still crying as they exited the courtroom, the courtroom slowly emptied. Everyone was gathered in the hall gossiping about the trial, Remus excused himself and went to Emilie who was reunited at this point with Cressida who resembled Sirius more than her mother with her curly brown hair and greyish blue eyes, she was dressed in a similar color to her mother with the same hairstyle. He spoke with her and took a letter from the inside coat pocket handing it to her. She took it sadly putting the letter in her pocket, she gave each other a hug before she headed for the elevators with her sister and daughter.
Cassandra excused herself and followed Emilie, "Ms. Roux! May I have a word,"
She stopped turning to Cassandra, "Ms. Rice."
"I am sorry…I want to try and help I feel I am to blame."
She did not deny this, "Remus is going to help us. Sirius felt the case may go bad and had his money transferred to Ida for her care. I must get going," she got onto the elevator leaving with her sister and child.
Cassandra returned to everyone, "I want to try and speak with Sirius."
"They will not allow you to do that," Remus informed her, "What is done is done and cannot be undone. I am leaving London for Paris; I feel it is important that Ida grow up knowing someone from her father's life who can tell her the truth that he is a kind man."
She nodded as a man approached them with long bleach blonde hair and cold grey eyes, he had a woman on his arm with a cane with a snake's head in his opposite hand, "Ms. Rice," he spoke coldly ignoring the others around her.
"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy," she said looking from her conversation with Remus to them, "I am surprised you would appear at the trial."
"We came to support my wife's family. It is such a sad day for the Black family."
"It is a sad day for Sirius, not sure about the Black family though seeing as they disowned him years ago."
He stared her down, "Does your father know you have returned to London and with…" his eyes quickly glancing toward Richard who stepped closer to Cassandra as if to protect her, "with Mr. Richard Banks heir to Banks Real Estate and Investment Company. The wealthiest family in America I hear and pureblooded at that."
Richard placed a hand on her shoulder, "We came to pay respect to Ms. Rice's friends and show our support for her other friend…your wife's cousin if I am not mistaken."
"Ruining your reputation associating yourself with a blood traitor, Mr. Banks. What would your father think?"
Richard turned angry, "You listen here Mr. Malfoy, Cassandra is a wonderful woman with a kind heart. She took in two young girls who were not her own, she broke free of the brainwashing and abusive power her family held over her. She is a brave woman who I am proud to know. She does anything to help others, I do not care what my parents may think. My opinions are my own, if they cannot see the bravery of this woman then they do not deserve to know her. I may not know much about the way things are run here in Europe, but I know you will not speak down to her do I make myself clear?"
Lucius scowled at him, Astoria spoke softly, "We must be going…we will see you both at the party the ministry is hosting to celebrate the end of the war, yes?"
Richard looked at her, "We will be there, ma'am. We must be going now," he took Cassandra's arm and escorted her away.
"What was that?" she asked him
He looked at her, "No one should treat you like you are nothing certainly not from blood superior people. We will attend that party and prove to them that you are just as important as they are despite being cast out for having three half-blooded daughters."
"I just wanted to pay my respects, but you are right I cannot prove to the girls that I do not care if I do not stand up for myself when all of Europe has knocked me down."