Disclaimer: I don't, haven't, and never will own Harry Potter unless someone has some Polyjuice Potion and lots of JKR's hair….but that will never happen…
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The trip back to Hogwarts was uneventful; the whole group was quiet along the way. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were lost in their thoughts. McGonagall and Snape had already recovered from the shock at the turn of events. To bring Pettigrew, who was still in Full Body Bind, to Hogwarts, Dumbledore had to levitate him. Sirius had changed back into a dog, as he didn't want people to attack him when he reach Hogwarts.
It certainly was an odd sight as the group entered the castle. Several students who couldn't go to Hogsmeade were in the Great Hall. Some mainly paid no attention, as Hogwarts had strange things going on all the time. A few of the first years stared, but they continued their games of Exploding Snap.
It didn't take long for them to get to their destination, Dumbledore's office. "Lemon Drop." Dumbledore uttered the password, the gargoyle moved aside, allowing them passage into the office. Once they were securely inside the office, Sirius changed back to human form and undid the Body Bind on Pettigrew. It took all of Sirius' will power not to kill Pettigrew that instant.
"Are you willing to make a confession now, Peter?" Dumbledore asked him, his tone serious. Peter merely kept his mouth shut, and hoped they wouldn't think of using the Truth Potion on him.
"No? Severus, please—" What Dumbledore was saying was cut off by an enraged Sirius. "You filthy bastard. Just tell us why the hell are you here!" He uttered through clenched teeth, looking very menacing, he advanced towards Pettigrew, but was quickly held back by Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They really didn't want Sirius to end up killing their one piece of evidence.
Hermione suddenly had an idea, "Um, Professor?"
"Yes, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore's eyes were still fixed on Pettigrew. It looked as if he was reading right through Pettigrew's mind.
Hermione bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Never mind."
"As I was saying Severus, could you please go send owls to Minister Fudge and Mr. Lupin? They need to come immediately. Don't tell them why." Dumbledore pulled out a lemon drop and chewed it with his stare still fixed on Pettigrew. Snape nodded curtly then left hurriedly.
"Yeah, we don't want Fudge to bring the Dementors with him. We still need this slimy two-faced git for the trial," said Ron, in a sudden outburst.
"RON!" Hermione was shocked that Ron would say such thing in front of Dumbledore.
"Sirius," said Dumbledore, as he finally turned tore his gaze away from Pettigrew, "we all want to know what exactly happened between you and Mr. Pettigrew."
"Pettigrew," he spat the word with such hatred, his face filled with loathing, "had come upon me in the Forbidden Forest, with the probable intention of capturing me. Stupid of him, he came with his wand inside his pocket. I managed to get the wand and placed a Body Bind on the slimy bastard."
Dumbledore looked at the Sirius's angry demeanor, not saying anything. The rest of them listened intently to the story of Pettigrew's defeat. Sirius was in the midst of telling them about trying to find someone in Hogsmeade for assistance, when Fudge stormed inside the room.
The first thing he noticed was Sirius. His eyes grew wide, "SIRIUS BLACK!" he yelled in surprise. Sirius Black, was the only man ever to escape Azkaban, the man who murdered eleven muggles and Peter Pettigrew, was sitting in Dumbledore's office. His eyes darted away from Sirius to look who else was in the room. He did a double take when he saw a pudgy, slightly balding, short man, quaking in fear by the side.
"P-P-Pettigrew? You're supposed to be dead! What the HELL is going in here?"
"You bloody idiot. Peter was very much alive but I was imprisoned for 14 years for a crime that I didn't commit." Sirius said, his voice had a hardened edge on it. He wanted to strangle Fudge for all the years he suffered inside Azkaban.
Fudge was outraged. He turned to face Dumbledore, "You believe this criminal?" pointing an accusing finger to Black, "That isn't Pettigrew, he's dead! We…we found his finger in the street!"
As always, Dumbledore remained calm, he looked at the other occupants of the room and warned them to be quiet. They all silently agreed. Fudge would twist whatever they said around. "Yes Cornelius, I trust Sirius. He was not the Secret-Keeper for the Potters. Peter was…Peter was the one who betrayed the Potters." Dumbledore was cut off yet again by Sirius.
"It was Peter who blew up the street," said Sirius, his face an angry mask, "It was Peter who faked his death. It was Peter who cut of his bloody finger. He's also the one who made Voldemort come back to full power. You might think Harry's mental state is questionable and doesn't know what he's talking about, don't you? But you're dead wrong." Sirius wanted to say more but Dumbledore gave him a look. He finally calmed down and kept quiet.
Fudge was still torn between disbelief and wanting to take in Sirius and Dumbledore's word. Finally, he said, "You'll get your trial. You'll need to come with me to the Ministry's holding cell." With a wave of his wand, Sirius had invisible handcuffs on. Another wave and he found himself in a Ministry holding cell.
It was a small room, housing only a small bed. He pulled his tattered shoes off, and flopped on the bed. It creaked so much when he did that, he was afraid the he would be hitting the floor in a pile of wood. He sat there, willing himself to fall asleep. Eventually he did manage to fall asleep and dreamt of freedom.
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A/N: I'm sorry it's so short, and I'm also sorry it took so long. It was originally going to be longer than this, but I got writer's block, and figured that this was better than nothing.
Special thanks to Caitlin Allyana, my beta reader who was very right in thinking Sirius probably wouldn't be joking around as much as I had him doing, and who also is my hundredth reviewer over all!
Thanks to all of you who reviewed. If it wasn't for you guys, I don't think I'd have written anymore…
I'd also appreciate it if you read my other stories, although I believe that this one is by far my best work to date…
Long live the Bobs,
Zapper/Sarah