Title: Judging innocence (4/8)

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 4: The Push and the Pull

Not only the press is having a field day, thought Harry as he saw Snape's face as he sat down and swore to tell the truth. Snape had always wanted to get Sirius in the biggest trouble possible, and Sirius' trial was the best opportunity to do so. Harry was sure he'd twist the events as much as possible to make Sirius look like a murderer madman.

"Tell me, Mr. Snape, from where do you know Sirius Black?"

"We were in the same year at Hogwarts, although in different houses, if I may say so. I was in Slytherin and he was in Gryffindor. He was a nosey kid, trying to make my life at Hogwarts impossible. He even tried to kill me once, when I was 16"

Of course, the reaction to this dried every tear that Hagrid might have left lingering around and the cameras, which had been oddly quiet, shoot madly again. Everyone whispered and some even talked loudly. The jury had to wait several minutes and a live gavel banged madly until everyone calmed down and the questioner was allowed to go on. The press was divided between photographing Sirius and Remus' murdering glare or Snape's mocking straight face.

"He tried to kill you, you say?"

"He did, he played a joke on me involving Remus Lupin in a full moon that nearly got me killed. If it hadn't been for my reflexes, I'd be dead now"

Suddenly, Snape's wand, which was lying on his lap, started throwing sparks so furiously, Snape had to hold it not to fall. He seemed as bewildered about this as Harry was. Sirius, although, had his trademark mischievous smile in his lips.

"Please, tell the truth Mr. Snape" the questioner's glance landed directly on Snape's dark eyes.

Snape looked like he would have been willing to kill the jury before telling who really saved his life. "If it hadn't been for Potter, James Potter, I'd be dead now. He hold me off and made me back up just in time not to ran into Mr. Lupin as a wolf" The wand stopped throwing sparks.

"Please, tell me the events concerning the evening of June 6th 1994"

"Throughout that whole school year, I had been preparing Mr. Lupin the Wolfsbane potion…" he kept repeating the word 'Mr.' Like if it was an insult.

"That potion makes him keep his mind during transformations, right?"

"Correct. That day he had forgotten to take it, so I took a gobletful of it to his office, and I found it empty. I noticed a map of Hogwarts lying on his desk. It was very peculiar map, indeed. It showed the location of people around the castle. In this case, I saw Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger together with Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin running towards them. I went to their location in order to save the three children from the Azkaban escapee and someone who in just a few hours would turn into a werewolf. Once inside, even though I had saved them from Mr. Black's rage, Mr. Potter and Weasley and Ms. Granger attacked me for no reason at all. When I woke up, in the middle of the field near the Hogwarts castle, I noticed Mr. Weasley and his severely broken leg lying nearby and Mr. Black and Potter and Granger lying on the grass. Mr. Lupin was nowhere to be seen. I tied Black and conjured stretchers for the injured children, and brought them to the castle. They were taken to the hospital wing and Black was about to receive the Kiss when he escaped."

"This map you mentioned… do you have it with you?"

Snape shook his head and, far behind from where Ron and his dad where sitting, McGonagall stood up and presented a piece of parchment to the jury: The Marauder's Map. At the end of the year, Harry had lent it to the fake Moody and he never returned it. "This is it, it's been in possession of the staff since the end of the past term" The jury examined what, to them, was an old parchment "Unfortunately, I don't know how to work it"

Sirius stood up "If I may be allowed…"

"You know how this supposedly works?" asked the young wizard on the far left of Fudge who was examining the map.

"Yes, I helped create it" Sirius explained while approaching the High Table. He snatched the wizard's wand from the table (the yellow-robed guard launched himself forward to Sirius) and tapped the parchment. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good" The people in the room chuckled at it.

He returned the wand to his owner before the guard reached him and watched how the sight mesmerized the wizards and witches in the jury. A dot labeled 'Mrs. Norris' was patrolling near the Library and a dot labeled 'Argus Filch' was walking down the third floor corridor.

After each and every of the members of the jury had examined it, they gave it back to Prof. McGonagall.

Sirius, who was returning to his seat, looked at McGonagall "Wait, you have to erase it, professor" He walked to her, the guard on his heels, and looked at McGonagall. She looked at Sirius and, without the hesitation Harry thought she would have, she lent her wand to him, smiling a very rare McGonagall smile. Sirius smiled back at her, erased the map ("Mischief managed!") and gave her back the wand and the map.

The questioner looked at Snape, who looked disgusted by McGonagall's apparent trust in Sirius, and asked him a last question. "How do you stand concerning Sirius Black?"

"He proved to be capable of killing at age 16. I seriously doubt he wouldn't do it again."

-*-*-

The day went on like if someone was dragging it along. After noon, the jury announced an hour-long recess for lunch and Remus, Sirius, Harry and Hermione were invited by the whole Weasley family to have lunch at the small restaurant that was right in front of the Ministry. Luckily for everyone's moods, the twins provided a few good laughs, making them forget, at least momentarily, what was going on. Snape's testimony hadn't been able to make them forget Hagrid's emotional testimony.

Two yellow-robed guards stood in a corner of the restaurant, keeping a close eye on Sirius at all times

While Sirius and Remus were talking with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the twins took advantage of their distraction and whispered Harry and Ron a question that, evidently, they had been dying to ask. "Harry… why did Black say he helped create the Marauder's map?"

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione who were both grinning, and he noticed Sirius and Remus had the same prankish grins plastered on their faces.

Remus leaned and whispered to Sirius "They snatched the map from Filch's office and used it for five years until they passed it on to them"

Sirius' grin grew even wider, if that was possible. He muttered something along the lines of 'my boys' and then looked at his friend. They looked at each other and nodded. Their prankish grins made them look 10 years younger and suited them oddly.

Fred and George were totally lost as to what was going on, and they were even more lost when both Marauders extended their right hands at them, as though wanting to shake hands with them.

"I don't think we've introduced ourselves properly. I'm Padfoot, this is Moony, pleased to meet you"

The look on the twins' face was so priceless that everyone around the table, even those who had no idea as to what they were talking about, laughed at them. Even Percy couldn't resist it.

George looked at Harry "Are they joking?" Harry shook his head and laughed at George's bewildered face. He asked the same question to Ron and Hermione and got the exam same answers.

"Hey, shake it, mate. It's bad manners to leave a Marauder with his hand hanging around" said Remus, and he shook both of the twins' hands as Sirius did the same.

"Yeah, and it could leave you as the nasty target for pranks" said Sirius, managing as well as he could to hide his smile and serving some more potatoes on his plate. The twins were still gaping at them

"Snape did that once. You took revenge and tried dyeing his robes a bright yellow and ended up dyeing his hair along with it" Everyone around the table snorted on their food and laughed wildly at the mental image. Even Mr. and Mrs. Weasley laughed at it, unsuccessfully trying to cover it up.

"If I remember correctly, Moony, you did that because he called James the Flying Four-Eyed"

Remus thought for a while. "You're right. You placed dung bombs in Snape's robes because he didn't shake our hands."

Fred and George were delighted by this pranks exchange and made a mental note of getting them apart later to gather up ideas from the professionals.

"That's why you knew how to work the map… not because Harry told you, but because you created it"

"Co-created. Actually the locking and unlocking spells were provided by Harry's father while I provided the idea of the embedded person-tracker"

Fred looked at Harry "Your father?"

"Prongs" Fred 'wow-ed' loudly.

George's voice lowered a bit "And I guess Pettigrew was Wormtail"

Harry nodded. The mood had been killed.

Percy looked up from his food and, seizing the opportunity, looked at Sirius "I'm not allowed to say where he is" Sirius looked at him "But I assure, there is no way he can escape. Even if he transforms into a rat. And Fudge would rather see you as a Minister of Magic than letting him out"

Sirius grinned at him.

"Percy?" he called

"Yes?"

"I owe you one"

"The trial's not over yet"

"It doesn't matter. Even if I go to Azkaban, even If I get Kissed… I owe you one for capturing Peter"

Percy nodded. Seeing everyone grimacing slightly (Mrs. Weasley closed her eyes to emphasize it) at the mention of Sirius being Kissed, Harry had the wonderful feeling that no one around that table would give up Sirius' opportunity of freedom without a battle.

-*-*-

Half an hour later, back in court, Dumbledore was called to testify.

"Tell me what happened on the night of November 1st 1981"

"I was at Hogwarts when I heard about the Potters' death. I had met with James two weeks before, on October the 19th, and we discussed performing the Fidelius charm on someone so they would be safe. I offered myself because we had received word that someone close to James and Lily worked for Voldemort, but James insisted on using Sirius, saying that he would rather die before betraying them. I argued, but he was so determined I finally agreed. It was the last time I saw James alive. On the 24th I received an owl from him saying simply that the charm had been performed. He never mentioned that they had performed it on Pettigrew and not on Sirius.

As soon as I received word that they had been killed, I told Hagrid to go to the ruins of their house to see what had happened, because I had heard Voldemort had been defeated, but I never heard anything about Harry's death. I casually told Hagrid that if the child indeed was alive, he would have to live with his muggle relatives. I was flabbergasted when he returned to Hogwarts with Harry in his arms. I had just received an owl from the Ministry so I couldn't take him to his muggle relatives right away. I told Hagrid to take care of him and to go to the muggle's house that night so I would deliver him to his uncle and aunt. I did so, left him at their door with a letter explaining them what had happened. The next time I saw Harry was at his own sorting ceremony, on September 1991"

"Back in 1981, what did you think of Sirius Black?"

"I thought he was guilty. When I heard he had killed Peter Pettigrew this was only confirmed. I was amazed that someone who had been so loyal to his friends as a teenager could have betrayed them, but… I thought he was guilty"

Sirius had his head down, looking at his hands.

"You gave evidence to the ministry of his being the Potter's secret keeper, right?"

"Yes. On the 20th, James owled me saying Sirius had agreed. I presented this parchment"

"What were your actions on the evening of June 6th, 1994?"

"Professor Snape called me to the Hospital wing saying he had captured Sirius Black and that he had injured Ron, Harry and Hermione. I first talked to Sirius, he was locked in Professor Flitwick's office, and then I talked to Harry and Hermione (Ron was unconscious). The three gave me the same story, and I believed what they said, I still do of course, but there was nothing I could do. I left the Hospital wing and when I arrived to see Sirius again he had escaped."

"From 1994 onwards, why didn't you turn Black in?"

"Because he is innocent and I had no convincing proof to present and prove his innocence"

"Well, I was going to ask you how do you stand concerning Sirius Black, but I guess that's a given now."

"Yes. He deserves to be let free"

After Ron was called to testify, and after his very long recount of the events of 1994 and his vote in favor of Sirius, the Jury called for a recess until the next day. Much to his surprise, Fudge didn't bang the customary gavel, but the gavel banged itself. It seemed to be alive. Harry, tired of hearing the same story about June 6th 1994 a million times, was thankful for the recess.

Before leaving the Ministry building, and while the guard was taking Sirius his AntiAps, Ron and Hermione shoved Harry aside, away from them.

"How are you doing, Harry?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me" It was a lie. Hagrid's testimony had left him completely depressed and utterly tired.

"How was it that the muggles let you go?"

"They didn't. Remus came to their house as 'Professor Wolf' from my previous school and told them he wanted me to take me on a field trip"

"Ooh, first name basis, are we?" smiled Ron

"Shut up Ron." He playfully punched his friend on his arm "He told me the fourth word I ever learnt was his nickname, how was I supposed to deny calling him that?"

Hermione looked over Harry's shoulder, at Sirius and Remus, and lowered her voice "How is Sirius?"

"He's… good. He's calm. Last night was so awkwardly normal it frightened me. You saw him today at lunch, he was joking like if nothing was going on. And you saw him today morning, Hermione, he was grinning, sincerely grinning at your cascade of explanations and there was barely half an hour left till his trial began."

"You're right, he was" answered Hermione, thinking "But you know how McGonagall described him at class, he was always happy and joking. Maybe it's his way to cope with difficult situations. We really don't know him that much"

"Judging by that statement, you do," said Remus' voice from behind them. Harry turned around and, surprised, saw only Sirius was talking to a very nervous Daily prophet reporter. "He copes best with hard things pretending they're not happening. He says it lets him concentrate his energy in the real problem. James and I tried to changed that for 11 years but we never succeeded"

Harry was barely listening "He's… giving an interview?"

"Not really. The reporter suggested the only reason he was protecting you was because he wanted to avenge Voldemort later at home with my help… tomorrow night"

All four of them thought that the next day's Daily Prophet article was going to be something worth reading.

The Daily Prophet, July 18th, 1995

SIRIUS BLACK, THE DOGGED MISCHIEF MAKER

~º~
HIS TRIAL BEGAN YESTERDAY MORNING

By Methilda Shotclear

[Harry, Sirius and Remus saw in amazement how someone had captured the essence of Hagrid's testimony in a photo.

 The moving photo showed Remus putting his arms around his friend, Sirius squeezing Harry's hand

and Harry himself leaning towards Sirius to shield his face from the cameras, which from the angle the photo

had been taken it made him look like if he was resting against him]

Sirius Black's first trial ever began yesterday morning at the Ministry's main Court Room, and the testimonies given until the court's first recess couldn't have been further from the 13-year-long public's opinion about Black.

Black arrived protected by two very special bodyguards: his Hogwarts school friend Remus Lupin and none other than Harry Potter. Harry, as he was heard declaring, turned out to be Black's godson, appointed by Harry's father nearly 15 years ago. Both had their wands out and looked fiercely at anyone who tried to approach Black.

His teachers described Black as a loyal friend and a brilliant student, but also as an incorrigible prankster and a true charmer. "Nearly everyone in the school liked him, even in the staff." Said Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts' Transfiguration teacher, in her testimony "He probably got more detentions in one year than the average student did in 7, but that added to the… charm he seemed to have." According to Ms. McGonagall, he could have never become a Death Eater.

Nevertheless, Severus Snape, an old schoolmate of Black, gave a much different testimony. Mr. Snape, Potions teacher at Hogwarts alleged a 16-year-old Black played a joke on him which nearly got him killed. "If it hadn't been for James Potter, I'd be dead now. Potter held me off and made me back up just in time not to ran into Mr. Lupin as a wolf" Remus Lupin, Black's best friend, is a werewolf, as it was unofficially spread two years ago after he quit his position at Hogwarts.

But Rubeus Hagrid, the gigantic keeper of the keys at Hogwarts who was the center of attention only months ago due to his giant mother, provided the most tear-jerking testimony of the day. Mr. Hagrid, was the first person to be at the Potter's home after they were killed, and he rescued Harry himself from the smoking ruins. In an extremely emotional testimony that left no dry face in the room, he described how he and Black had cried and suffered together the Potter's death, while making useless attempts to make them look better. "I walked to [James Potter], wanting to check on him, you know, to see if he really was dead. He looked the same as Lily [Potter, Harry's mother], like he could've jumped at any time an yell 'gotcha' like he had done so many times before."

Luckily for Harry, Black seems truly committed to his godfather duties, even with the law in between "I promised James that I would take care of Harry and for twelve years I was unable to. Now I intend to fulfill my promise, no matter the jury's verdict," he declared after the court's recess.

Our exclusive reporter has gotten an unofficial word that today's witnesses will include Remus Lupin, Black's 23-year-old-werewolf-friend and former classmate and Harry himself.

Whether this jury will make justice or not, this trial has proven, and will surely continue to do so, to be extremely entertaining.

"My battle for freedom is entertaining?!"

"They couldn't skip the chance to humiliate Hagrid again!"

"Not to mention that the whole world now truly knows I'm a werewolf"

"I swear, this newspaper is losing its credibility" Sirius tossed the paper aside and landed on a corner of Remus' kitchen, where the three were having breakfast.

"Still, Sirius" Remus looked at him "You seem to be quite the charmer"

Harry swallowed a laugh while Sirius tossed a muffin in Remus' way "Don't start"

"What?" Remus managed an innocent face that Harry and Sirius didn't buy. "You certainly left the Weasley twins speechless"

"Yeah, and you didn't help at all. You were delighted to go back to you MarauderMoony mode! You should do that more often, it makes you look younger" said Sirius, finally giving up his attempts to stop trying to hide his laugh and barked one loud one.

"I never denied it. Save the newspaper, I like the photo" said Remus, standing up to clear the table. He took Sirius' plate, Harry's and his own, but as he was about to reach the counter, an impressive dizziness came to him and he dropped the plates, reaching for the still far away counter to hold on to.

Quick as lighting, Sirius was up from the table and had his friend in his arms, preventing his falling straight to the floor. Harry had gotten to his feet too, and after repairing the broken plates to get them out of the way, he pulled out a chair for Sirius to seat Remus.

"Moony?" He got nothing but a weak nod from his friend, who had fainted. "Harry, go to the bathroom and open the first-aid cupboard, you'll find a tall violet bottle with a green liquid that says 'DeadUp', bring it here" Harry did so, and was back in no time. Sirius opened the unconscious Remus' mouth and held his head back, dropping the liquid in his throat "Drink this, Moony, come on... that's it… more… good" he placed the bottle on the table and slapped his friend "Moony, weak up dammit"

Finally, Remus opened his eyes. The color had returned to his face, and now he could sit straight. "It's ok, I'm fine"

"Fine my arse. You're going to bed right now, and you're not coming to the trial."

"Of course I am!" he tried to stand up but Sirius still had his arm clasped tightly in his hand and did not let him stand up. "The Daily Prophet said that I might be called to testify today as well as Harry, I am not missing that"

"You need your rest for tonight, the nerves of my trial and the lack of sleep are doing you no good"

"Being here alone all day while your life is being dissected by Fudge's men will be even worst!"

Sirius looked intensely at Remus and his eyes reminded Harry of the penetrating gaze they had shared back in the Shrieking Shack two years ago "Fine. Fine, you'll go, but if you faint again, I'm taking you back home"

Undoubtedly encouraged by the Daily Prophet's new view on Sirius, even more people attended trial the next day. Outside, the street had now been filled with people flying on their brooms (and who were charmed down hastily before they could really see anything). Inside, the press chairs downstairs were filled, some even twice, and some people had been as audacious as to hang a camera around their necks and declare they were from the Daily Prophet. By the end of the day, the 'Daily Prophet' had sent over 100 reporters.

As soon as Sirius entered, the guard placed again the AntiAps on his wrists.

The balcony upstairs was as crowded as it could be and Harry was afraid it could fall down at any minute.

The whole Weasley family and Hermione came again and Ron, having already declared, was now up in the balcony with his dad, waving madly at him until Harry finally saw him. He looked at Ron and with surprise he saw some of his own school friends up on the balcony. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were two rows up from Ron and his family, and some seats to their right, were Colin and Dennis Creevey, waving madly at him.

In the place were Ron had been yesterday were several people who looked the age of Sirius and, in the far extreme, a short and very thin witch with a long box in her hands. She had white hair; her face was very white and very wrinkled. Her eyes seemed so lost... Her face rang a bell on Harry, and he had the funniest feeling that she was Pettigrew's mother.

That day, the jury started the day calling Sirius and Remus' old school friends, who talked about the same as McGonagall had, although form the point of view of someone who had been a student at the time. None of the denied at least a smile in Sirius' way remembering his jokes. For 13 years, they had all believe he had killed Pettigrew, but when the rat was caught alive and well, Sirius' apparent 'dark side' was now tumbling in their minds.

Of course, some of those students had been Slytherins at the time, and helped Sirius as much as Snape had. That is, they made him look like a murderer whose sense of humor was way over the top.

The jury dismissed the last of the former Slytherin students and called their next witness.

"We call to testify… Matilde Pettigrew"

Harry's feeling had been correct. The little witch was Peter Pettigrew's mother.

~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONTINUED || ~~~~~~~~~~