Title: Judging innocence (2/8)
Author: Fabs G.
Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify….
Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)
Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Daily prophet reporter Methilda Shotclear, Matilde Pettigrew, Normal Lathren and Questioner Andrae
A/N: I swear I tried not to make it a Remus and Sirius slash. I did. I think I succeeded. It took a lot of swearing from my part, but I think I did. Enjoy. Review!
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Chapter 2: Trial's eve
The Daily Prophet, July 14th, 1995
PETER PETTIGREW IS ALIVE AND WELL
AND IN YOU-KNOW-WHO'S SIDE
~º~
HE WAS CAPTURED YESTERDAY AFTER SETTING UP A DARK MARK.
By Methilda Shotclear
You-Know-Who's downfall official story goes that when he tried to kill little Harry Potter, he met his end, but there's more to the story that everyone knows.
Presumed Death Eater Sirius Black, who escaped from Azkaban two years ago, was imprisoned without a trial for killing his friend Peter Pettigrew, along with other 13 muggles. What very few people know was that Pettigrew, a very dear friend of Harry's family, had sought Black out after he discovered that Black had betrayed James and Lily Potter's trust by giving Voldemort their secret location. Pettigrew tried to take on Black himself, but Black was quicker and killed him, along with the rest of the witnesses, who were all muggles.
The biggest piece of Pettigrew found was a finger, which was sent to Mr. Pettigrew's mother, together with his wand and the Order of Merlin, first class.
The story, however, has changed drastically in the past twenty-four hours. Yesterday morning, the dark mark was seen hovering over the Weasley home. −Sirius and Remus felt their hangovers being momentarily replaced with the coldest of sensations in the pit of their stomachs.− Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Articles Office at the Ministry of Magic, his wife and 6 of his 7 children were out of the house yesterday, paying a visit to some relatives, and luckily no one was hurt. However, their third son, Percy, had just returned to his home when he saw the dark mark. Knowing the house was empty he did not panic for his family and this led to his easier capture of the man who was running from the scene. Percy Weasley works for the Ministry and therefore was shocked upon recognizing the man he had just petrified- none other than Peter Pettigrew, who had been dead for 14 years.
Percy Weasley took Pettigrew to the Ministry, where he was examined by mediwizards. These were shocked when they were checking him and, by sheer accident, discovered that Pettigrew is also an illegal animagus, who can transform into a rat. Pettigrew is now under heavy custody in a secret location. Ministry spokesmen and different employees have assured it is not Azkaban.
"Pettigrew is a Death Eater." confirmed one of the spokesmen " That we could confirm simply by looking at his left arm and seeing the dark mark tattooed there. We used the Prior Incantato on his wand and we are completely sure he set up the dark mark. Although Pettigrew confessed very little, the horizon looks a little clearer now for Black. The Ministry is willing to give Black a fair trial, because Pettigrew being alive matches the story Black repeated time and time again 14 years ago. Of course, Black would have to show up for that" he sneered finally.
The ministry is expecting to have word from Black at any second, and have assured that his safety and well being will be guaranteed should he-"At this point, Sirius felt like he could skip the rest of the article and sat down in the chair nearest to him, completely sure that if he didn't his knees would fail him. He still felt terrible from the biggest hangover in his life, but he could feel a tiny small smile was forming in his lips. A trial? He would have to come out of hiding. Was it wise? If the trial did not turn out the way he wanted, he'd be Kissed, and although the thought made him shudder, what worried him more about being Kissed was Harry and Remus.
Remus finished reading the article and kneeled in front of his friend. Sirius looked at Remus. Moony. What would happen to Moony if Sirius was Kissed? He'd probably have to spend the rest of his life- and the rest of his transformations- alone. He knew Moony too well to hope that he'd move on. If Sirius were in Remus' place he would not be able to move on.
And Harry. Sirius trembled visibly at the thought of leaving Harry to his relatives.
Remus shook his friend a little to get his mind out of limbo "Sirius" he looked at Remus "Now listen to me, carefully. This is what we will do. First, we will have a proper breakfast and a good dose of coffee because we can't even stand up properly thanks to our late night" Sirius chuckled and life returned to the previously lost eyes. This simple chuckle made Remus relax considerably "Then we will contact Dumbledore. I'll go by Floo to Hogwarts and bring him, so you can talk-"
Remus was cut short by a voice that came from the next room.
"Remus? Sirius?" They recognized Dumbledore's voice.
"In here!" Yelled the two marauders.
Sirius did not trust himself to stand up. Remus did, and met Dumbledore in the doorframe, who before saying or doing anything, gave Remus a gobletful of the Wolfsbane potion. Remus drank it till the last drop and sat besides Sirius, who was very pale.
"Let me guess" Dumbledore said. He looked very amused by Sirius's wild bed hair and Remus' constant yawning. "Late night, catching up, alcohol included. If my memory still works and if you haven't changed your Hogwarts habits, GoodElf Beer and some Billywig peanuts"
Sirius and Remus couldn't help but burst into laughter at Dumbledore's astonishing memory, and they pointed at the dustbin near the fridge, with too many empty Billywig Peanuts packages and a good amount of empty beer cans.
The ice had been broken, and Dumbledore took the newspaper that had been forgotten over the table. "I see you've received the news"
"Is it true? Am I finally going to have a trial? A fair one?"
Dumbledore nodded gently. "If they get word from you today, the trial will probably begin next week. That is to say, in three days. They've already contacted me and Hagrid and I'm sure they'll contact you, Remus, and Harry and Ron shortly"
Sirius' head shot upwards and looked at Dumbledore. "Ron? Contact Harry? He will testify?"
"Of course"
"Someone has to get to him before he gets the owl. He can't receive such news in that way"
"Yes, that's partly why I'm here. Remus, would you be so kind to go to 4 Privet Drive and bring Harry here?"
"What about his… protection?"
"I've momentarily disabled some of the spells there and I'm working on setting up most of the protection spells around here, the usual no apparition, anti-Death Eater, the basic ones."
Remus went upstairs briefly to change into some less worn out muggle clothes and returned back downstairs. Before dissaparating, he took the Daily Prophet and put it in the back pocket of his jeans; then he looked at Sirius and flashed him a crooked grin "Don't do anything stupid" And with a 'pop' he was gone.
4 PRIVET DRIVE
Vernon Dursley wasn't in a good mood. Actually, he hadn't been in a good mood since some days ago, when his nephew had returned from that school. Luckily for Vernon, Harry seemed to despise him as much as he despised Harry, so they avoided each other as much as they could. That is, Harry stayed in his room nearly all the time reading those wretched books.
And Harry couldn't have asked for a better way to spend his summer. Well, he could have, but pondering the possibilities, this was considered bliss in the Dursley residence: See no Dursley, hear no Dursley, speak no Dursley.
But every blessing has its little nightmares, and for Harry these were breakfast and dinner. That morning Harry went into the kitchen, fully expecting to have aunt Petunia yell at him- he was up later than usual- and commanding him to prepare breakfast. But when he went into the kitchen, he almost fell backwards of the shock.
Remus Lupin was sitting at the kitchen table, chatting very amiably with his aunt and uncle.
And what was even more shocking, Vernon and Petunia seem to like Lupin.
Harry went through various theories as to why he was there. He first thought he was still asleep. He had to be, Lupin would never be in that house. But the theory went to the trashcan after he pinched himself and it hurt.
Then he thought he had forgotten his glasses and wasn't seeing properly. After feeling the cold frame against his skin, he shut his eyes very tight and then opened them again to find a very amused Remus staring at him.
And the last theory, and the one that made more sense and the one that Harry feared the most, was that something bad was going on. If this train of thought was indeed correct, If Sirius was safe, he would never make it there without being captured; Dumbledore was way too busy to visit the muggle world; Mr. Weasley had surely had enough of the Dursleys for a life time; Mrs. Weasley didn't even know where Harry lived, and Lupin, as far as he knew, was available.
Remus squinted at him as if he was reading something stamped on his forehead and flashed a crooked grin at him. It made him look nearly 10 years younger. If he's grinning, Harry thought, then nothing can be terribly wrong. "Harry! Glad you could join us! Come, sit here beside me" He patted the chair to his right, which was dangerously close to uncle Vernon.
In order not to spoil any story Lupin might have made up, Harry utter a simple 'hi', placed his best bewildered look on his face –which, in the end, was completely sincere- and sat down besides Lupin, discreetly moving the chair towards Lupin and far from uncle Vernon.
"Harry, do you know why I'm here?"
"Uuhh… no"
"I thought so. You do remember me, from your primary school? Mr. Wolf, your Natural Science teacher."
Harry swallowed the laughter and quickly shifted into his best actor mode "Of course, yes. How couldn't I?"
"Very well, very well. I'm here, because I need an assistant in a field trip to a not so nearby forest I'll take today, and remembering you from my classes, I thought you'd be useful to me, you know to carry all my things. Your aunt and uncle have already agreed to it" he added quickly, smiling to Harry's relatives such a fake smile, Harry fought hard not to laugh.
It didn't matter where Lupin was really taking him; Harry nodded fervently. Anything Lupin-connected was better than where he already was "Field trip? Oh I'd love to! How long-?"
"Well, I quite don't know the length of my trip, maybe it'll be a week, and maybe it'll be two months, it's very dependable on the circumstances. Of course, you'll be back in time to go to St. Brutus's"
"We have no problem" uncle Vernon smiled his best fake smile at Lupin, and Harry was sure that under the table, he was crossing his fingers.
"Excellent then! Harry, if your aunt and uncle allow, would you please show me to your room, and I'll tell you what you need to get"
Finally upstairs, Harry closed tightly the door. "Professor, what-?"
He was cut short by Lupin, who held two fingers up in the air. He took his wand out of one of his pockets, and pointed it at the door, muttering something under his breath.
He took his wand to his lips and spoke to its tip like if it was a microphone "OK, Harry. Yes, you will definitively need this… and bring some of those over there… Here, I have this bag for you. Put them in, now. No, no, NO! Don't even think about bringing that!" He directed his wand again at the door, muttered something under his breath once more, and then finally faced Harry. "I'm so relieved that you're a much better actor than your father was! His definition of acting was burst into fits of giggles…"
"Professor, Lupin, what-?"
"I have three things to tell you. The first of which, that was the marauder's version of a silencing charm. If your uncle decides to eavesdrop, he'll hear what I just spoke to the wand, or different versions of it, and not what we really are saying, but we will be able to hear them from here.
The second thing I have to tell you… Harry, I'm not your professor anymore, I practically saw you being born, and the fourth word you ever learnt, after mom, dad and Padfoot, was Moony. I think it's time for you to call me Remus"
Harry smiled at him "Sure. I'll try"
"And the third thing I have to tell you…" he sat down on the bed, next to were Harry was. He sighed loudly "Peter was captured"
Harry felt as if all the air in the room had suddenly being sucked out of it, and left him gasping for more. He tried to find the words to ask the million questions that had been born in his mind, but he seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
Remus handed him the morning edition of the Daily Prophet, and after Harry finished reading the article, he had to lean back on the bed. So much information, at once, plus the mild heart attack he got when he feared that Ron or his brothers or his parents had been hurt made him extremely dizzy.
"Harry, are you ok?"
"Yeah, just… amazingly dizzy. For a moment, I thought that Ron…" throat to tight to speak, he trailed, knowing that Lupin would understand perfectly what it was to fear, and suffer, the loss of a friend.
"Of course" he squeezed Harry's hand and smiled a sad at him "Plus, all the amount of information. Stand up Harry" He stood up from the bed, muttered some words to Harry's trunk while pointing his wand after taking Harry's wand out of it, and held a hand for Harry to stand up.
"What…" he still felt his head like in a merry-go-round.
"I'm going to apparate you at my house, don't worry about your trunk, I placed a locking spell on it." Harry nodded gently "Now, apparating oneself is easy, but apparating someone else is a little more complicated. You try not to think in any place in particular, I'll be doing that part. If you can keep your mind blank, even better. And... come here" he hugged Harry tightly "Close your eyes, and hold on to me as closely and firmly as you can, or we'll get ourselves splinched. Ready?"
Harry was too dizzy to feel uncomfortable. His muffled voice came from somewhere a littler lower than Remus' chest "As I'll ever be"
Harry thought he'd feel a whirl, or something similar to the portkey, but after merely two seconds, Remus spoke again "That's it. You can open your eyes"
"Really? I feel myself twirling."
"Everything's quiet around Harry, I promise. Sirius take him, he's not feeling too well." At the sound of Sirius' name, Harry opened his eyes and let go of Remus, who immediately went into the next room.
He was standing in a corner of a cozy kitchen, and sitting at the table in the middle of the kitchen, were Dumbledore and Sirius. As soon as he heard Remus' words, Sirius crossed the kitchen and held Harry by his arms, fearing he might fall.
Sirius looked much better than he had when Harry had seen him in the cave. For a start, his hair was shorter and cleaner, and someone had provided him with new robes. Now that he was eating on a daily basis, his body had begun to fill again and his muscles were growing. Sirius seemed to be one of those people that got a very good body without much effort. He was again the handsome man that smiled and waved from the Potter's wedding photograph.
Remus returned to the room with a huge bar of chocolate ("Eat it. Don't leave a piece"), and after explaining how much Harry knew and what had happened, he sat Harry in a chair and crossed his arms, fixing his eyes on him.
Harry looked up at him from the bazillionth piece of chocolate. "Don't look at me like that, you remind me of Madam Pomfrey"
Sirius, who had kneeled besides Harry, barked a laugh and Dumbledore's voiced everyone's thoughts "You actually do, Remus"
Remus laughed and sat down. Dumbledore eyed everyone and spoke very clearly and very slowly. Finally, he looked at Sirius.
"OK, listen to me very carefully. I will now go to the Ministry and tell them that you are going to attend at your trial. I will tell them that you will go to the Ministry the first day of the trial, that you will not reveal where you are hiding, and will assist with two conditions, or more if you want to. The first condition is that there will be NO dementors anywhere near the place, and the second condition is that as they will have their guards, Remus will be your own personal bodyguard, and will be with you at all times. And of course, you will not be taken to Azkaban. Agree?"
Sirius and Remus nodded, but Harry looked at Dumbledore, determination flashing through his eyes "I will be with Sirius all the time, too. I will not leave him with Fudge's people"
"Remus will make sure nothing happens to him"
"I know, and I know he will, but nonetheless, I will be with him too. If Fudge refuses to accept the simple fact that Voldemort is back to power, he won't accept something like Sirius being innocent. He's too narrow-minded"
Dumbledore nodded and stood up, ready to leave. "I am extremely busy, and I've already talked to Sirius, so I trust he'll answer any questions. I'll owl you with the date and time of the trial. Harry, are you feeling better?"
After seeing Harry nod, he took some Floo powder from his pocket, went into the fire and they saw him disappear.
"I will have to testify, won't I? That's why Dumbledore wants me out of Privet Drive"
Sirius nodded. "And Ron too, you'll have to owl him soon"
"Ron? Why Ron?"
"I practically kidnapped him? I broke his leg?"
Harry accepted these as good reasons as to why Ron had to testify
"How long do wizard trials last? The muggle ones can be very long, months some of them"
Remus shook his head "Usually they don't last that long. Sirius' case is a complicated one but they only have witnesses, and very few –I'd say none- material evidence. I'd give it a week the most. Two in the most remote of cases, but I seriously doubt it. Sirius' fate could be decided in a day if they are not in the mood to drag the trial very much. The questioners -they're special wizards whose sole purpose is to ask- usually grow tired very soon and use Veritaserum"
"They'll probably use it just on Peter and me"
Remus nodded and for some moments everything was silent.
Harry started thinking out loud "I have to owl Hermione, she will want to be in the trial. And Hagrid, he thinks you're a murderer. Actually, he would murder you himself, but…"
Sirius found this amusing, and chuckled "Dumbledore already talked to him"
"Still, I want to owl him, I don't want him to think I don't trust him"
Remus smiled at Harry "And making sure he'll say things in Sirius' favor"
"And added bonus, of course"
They were all silent again for some minutes, deeply lost in their thoughts.
Finally, Sirius uttered something, which the three of them had been feeling in their bones "This is going to be a very long week…"
~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONTINUED || ~~~~~~~~~~
