Title: Judging innocence (6/8)

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 6: Getting to know you

July 19th, 9am

Harry opened the window to let the Daily Prophet owl in, paid her 5 Knuts, and unrolled the paper to read today's article.

First, he chuckled at the photograph.

When he finished the article, Harry chuckled at the article itself.

And then, as he read the last line, he called loudly for Sirius

"SIRIUS!" he yelled.

Sirius was already up and halfway down the stairs. "Shh! You'll wake up Remus!"

"I'm up!" yelled a groggy voice from the bathroom.

"What is it Harry?" Sirius asked, looking at the Daily Prophet in Harry's hand and Harry's contorted face (he was suppressing his laughter)

"Remus! There's an article you might want to read!"

Sirius looked at him and tried to snatch the newspaper from his hands "Since when do you call him Remus?"

"Since he practically forced me by telling me Moony was the third word I learnt"

"Fourth, you learnt Padfoot first" Sirius made another failed attempt at grabbing the newspaper.

"Not true" said Remus as he approached Harry and Sirius "He only managed to say 'Pafoo'" He looked immensely better than the previous day. 

Harry finally handed them the Daily Prophet ('Want to read about the little show?') and watched amused the different reactions.

The Daily Prophet, July 19th, 1995

LAUGHTER, TEARS AND WOLVES IN BLACK'S TRIAL

~º~
THE TESTIMONIES ARE MAKING US FEEL WE NEVER KNEW BLACK AT ALL

By Methilda Shotclear

[Much to Remus' dismay, and to Sirius' delight, today's picture featured Padfoot licking Remus' face many times]

No matter how many years we spent brooding over Black's homicidal personality, Peter Pettigrew being alive changed the whole picture we had of Black's nature. The trial that began on the 17th is letting us know we've barely started to know the true man.

Yesterday's witnesses included Pettigrew's aged mother, Harry Potter and Black's best friend, Remus Lupin.

Matilde Pettigrew, Peter Pettigrew's long suffered mother, painfully recalled the times the gorgeous Black and her son were friends. She described Black as a funny and helpful boy, as well as protective of Pettigrew himself. In spite of her doctors advising her not to attend trial, her firm determination of helping an innocent man to freedom got her to court, where she declared that his son's group of friends was strong, loyal and brave, and the only one who was vulnerable enough to change so much as to go over to the dark side, was her own son.

The Boy Who Lived came up next, and with much help from his very own godfather, his proved to be the most entertaining testimony to date. While describing the events from June 6th 1994 -the day Black escaped from Hogwarts- Harry revealed that Black is an illegal animagus. We finally got a glimpse of Black's much spoken about joking nature as Black obediently transformed into a gigantic dog, hopping onto the table and looking at the jury almost teasingly. Everyone broke into laughter as the illegal animagus turned around and seemed to enjoy licking his friends' face. [Remus covered his face with his hand and passed the newspaper to Sirius, so he'd finish reading it out loud] When Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge instructed him to change back, the attractive defendant did as told on the spot, and ended up sitting over the desk, waving his legs happily at the jury. 

Harry also expressed his feelings towards his godfather. "He has been there for me so much since I met him that it wouldn't be fair to hide that I consider him my friend." ["They've changed your testimony, Harry!"] If everything goes as Black and many in the wizarding community wants to, Harry might have the opportunity of leaving the muggles he's been living with since he was a year old and finally get a decent home with a fully grown –and very well built- wizard.

And finally, Black's werewolf friend, Remus Lupin provided the shock of the day. Lupin testified about Black's friendly nature and loyalty towards his friends, and after declaring how Black had kept track of the full moon ever since he knew about his friend's licanthropy back when they were 12 years old, even those who didn't know Black at all were convinced of Black's good nature. This was proven even further when Lupin, who was still giving testimony, fainted and Black ran to him to prevent his hitting to the floor. Black explained it was due to the weakness the 'pull' of yesterday's full moon subjected him to, and when the press was ushered out of the courtroom, Lupin still hadn't come around. When Black and Lupin finally came out, Black still holding Lupin's arm, Arthur Weasley, Ministry employee and the father of Harry's best friend, accompanied them.

We have been exclusively revealed that the ministry has, after days of futile attempts, contacted a long lost friend of Black that will testify today. Even though we are unable to print his name, we know for sure it is someone not even Black himself knows. Also, we have been told that if everything goes well, today might be the last day the testimonies are taken, and without any mayor obstacles, we will know the verdict on the afternoon of today or tomorrow morning.

As a muggle said in 1963, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Here's hoping the Minister and his men will, for once, do justice.

Mr. Black, if you are reading this, your charm has reached people past the courtroom. Methilda Shotclear's heart is with you!

Remus and Harry burst into laughter.

"Oh. My. God." Sirius simply kept staring at the final line

"The attractive defendant… the gorgeous Black" teased Remus

"Don't forget about very well built" appointed Harry and they burst into laughter again

"Oh. My. God."

"Seems you've made yourself a fan in the Daily Prophet's offices" Harry's sides were hurting now.

"Oh. My. God."

"Wasn't Shotclear one of the Ravenclaw first years when we were in our last? She'd be… about 30 or so by now" Remus smiled mischievously at him

"No… that was her daughter, Melinda Shotclear… Methilda is her mother…"

"So she's about… "

Harry did the summing up "About 50 years old!"

They burst into laughter again.

As they had breakfast, the conversation turned inevitably to the last lines of the article.

"Do you think…" Harry asked cautiously "If there's any truth to what they said about the verdict?"

"I think…" Remus stopped eating and stared at his toast "I think they have an inside contact in the ministry. They got yesterday's witnesses right, and all the background in his case didn't have one mistake."

"What I don't know…" said Sirius "Is who they could have contacted. 'Long lost friend' they said, but I can't think of anyone"

"Everyone who fairly knew us at Hogwarts has been in the trial. Maybe an old muggle friend, from your neighbourhood?"

"Nah, I stopped seeing them when I was 11… I don't know who could it be…"

-*-*-

"Mr. Lupin, are you feeling all right today?"

"Yes, I am." He could've mention that he always felt better after the moon had passed, but with so many people in the room, he chose not to.

"Very well, then. I have only a few questions left." He consulted a folder in front of her and looked at Remus back again "Did you help Sirius Black escape in the night of June 6th 1994?"

Remus scowled at him "How could I? It was a full moon night"

"From the day Black escaped form Hogwarts, did you keep contact with him?"

"Yes, we owled each other. He only came to stay at my house at the beginning of the summer"

"Were you involved in the joke Mr. Black played on Severus Snape?"

"Indirectly only. I was the main… element… in it, but I never knew what really happened until the next morning"

"It is obligatory for me to ask you this question, as obvious as the answer might be. How do you stand concerning Sirius Black?"

Remus chuckled and smiled at Sirius. "I'll say it with only three words: He Is Innocent."

 "Thank you Mr. Lupin"

The jury scribbled in their folders for a while and then Fudge looked at a red robed wizard to his left. "Let him in"

For a moment, Harry had the feeling Pettigrew was going to enter, but a very tall and dark haired man entered and sat in the testifying chair.

Much to his and Remus' surprise, Sirius knew him and before Fudge could even address him, Sirius was standing up, happily calling his name "NORMAN!"

Norman broke into the widest of smiles and went to meet Sirius "Sirius!" They hugged tightly but Fudge cut them short.

"Mr. Black, you'll have all the rest of the day to catch up with Mr. Lathren, SIT BACK" the live gavel banged loudly

Sirius did, though not before stealing another wide smile from Lathren.

Fudge performed on Lathren the wand-and-head spell "Mr. Lathren, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do" he sat back and the questioner began

"Mr. Lathren, most people do not know who you are, would you please talk briefly about you and how do you know Mr. Black?"

"Of course. Well, I first met Sirius when he and his parents moved to our neighborhood, about the time he was… 12. I'm two years older than he is. We normally wouldn't have even looked at each other, but I was attracted by him..." He watched truly amused the scene as the reporters scribbled madly in their notepads. "… by the fact that he was attending Hogwarts and I wasn't allowed to." He finished with the widest of smiles after a very misleading pause. The reporters crossed out what they had written "I am half blood, and my dad, who was a wizard, died when I was very small. My mum tried to raise me as best as she could in the wizarding ways, but when I received my Hogwarts letter, she forbid me to go. During the summer vacations, or at least the times he was there, Sirius taught me what he had learnt throughout the year. When he graduated and moved out from his house, we lost contact and eventually stopped seeing each other. When I came of age, I studied an accelerated course and eventually became a fully trained wizard. And for the Daily Prophet's interest, I'm married to a witch and have a pair of twin girls" The room broke into laughter.

"What do you do now?"

"I'm a Magizoology expert on Kelpies. It's the reason why I was out of the country, I was working."

"Mr. Lathren, would you please declare what you already told us privately? The reason you flew to the country?"

Lathren's face seemed to become graver, and he looked at Sirius for a long while "I was a Death Eater" Sirius' face fell to the floor. Lathren rolled up the sleeve of his left arm and showed everyone the dark mark, deeply tattooed in his arm. Lathren noticed Sirius' face and looked directly at him. "I never killed anyone, Sirius, I promise. That's why I am free, you can ask the ministry for proof of it"

"Mr. Lathren, when were you a Death Eater?"

"During the last years of Voldemort's power, from '78 to '81. Even thought the only one who knew who all Death Eaters were was Voldemort himself, I… I was close to him, and I never saw Sirius in there. If he indeed had been a Death Eater, I would have seen him, or Voldemort would have mentioned him to me. He loved sending people that knew each other on missions together. The one I did see, and several times, was Peter Pettigrew. I didn't knew he was Sirius' friend" he seemed to search for words "The story is, I knew Sirius was very close friends with other three people at Hogwarts, but the only I ever met, twice actually, was James Potter. They talked about the other two guys" he looked at Remus "specially about you, but if they ever mentioned Pettigrew's name I didn't register it. When I knew Voldemort had killed James, his wife, and nearly killed his son, and in the meantime got himself nearly killed, I completely back out of it. I went into hiding and as soon as I could, I flew out of the country. I returned a couple of years later and…" he waved his hands impatiently "had my trial, got myself let free, studied kelpies, married, had children… the old drill"

"So, Sirius Black was not a Death Eater?"

Lathren looked at Sirius, who finally looked back at him "No, he wasn't"

"Thank you Mr. Lathren, if you would please remain in the room…"

"Of course" he got up from the chair and found a seat near the end of the room, smiling at Sirius in the way.

"Mr. Black" Fudge called to Sirius "It's your turn"

After yet another wand-and-head spell with Harry's borrowed wand, the Questioner finally found her desires come true: It was her turn to question Sirius Black

"We'll go chronologically, Mr. Black. When did you become an Animagi?"

"The actual transformation, when we were in 5th year, but we had been researching and studying and trying since we were 12, right after we discovered about Remus" Remus lifted an eyebrow and looked at him significantly. Sirius got the absolute meaning of it and rolled his eyes "Fine, fine I discovered what you were, when James was doing his homework on werewolves and it suddenly hit me." Remus nodded approvingly "The three of us had a talk, we confronted Remus, and by the end of the day we had already had the idea of being animagus. I took us three years to do it."

Fudge leaned and whispered something in the questioner's ear "Mr. Black, would you accept becoming an official animagus, that is to say, it'll go into records, and paying the obligatory fine of 50 Galleons?"

"Sure. Saying I'm and illegal anything doesn't sound too good"

"Very well, then. Did Mr. Lupin coerce you into becoming and animagus?"

"No! No, he didn't. In fact, he was against it, but… well, we wanted to be with him during his transformations and we were stubborn 15-tear olds. We didn't listened to him"

"Mr. Potter was an animagus too, then?"

"Yes, he transformed into a stag"

"Tell me about your 'joke' on Severus Snape"

He looked at Remus "I think this is new to you too, Remus. Earlier that day, Snape had been mocking us like he usually did, but that day he found me on an especially cross mood. I seemed to be getting mad at anything, I don't know why. We fought, as usual, and he made the mistake of threatening me with throwing a hex at Remus and calling him…" He made a pause, looking at the people staring at him. "… something way too nasty to say out loud in this court with minors present" he leaned to the questioner and whispered something in her ear.

The questioner's eyebrows shot upwards

"Well, I'd have gotten mad at him too, If I may say so" Sirius smiled triumphantly "Go on"

"That night, I made sure he'd get Madam Pomfrey, she's the school nurse, and Remus when she was taking Remus where he went to during his transformations. All I did was point out how to open the passageway that led there. But James was nearby, he caught me, screamed a few nasty things at me, and then ran to get Snape out of Remus' sight"

"Were you trying to kill him?"

"No! No, I wasn't. I was mad at him, I was just trying to scare him out of his wits"

The room broke into laughter.

"Tell me what happened on the night from October 31st to November 1st 1981"

The tale of what happened the night Harry's parents died was told once again, this time form Sirius' point of view. He certainly was in no mood to get teary eyed, or get the press teary eyed for that matter, so he kept it as short and clear as possible.

"How did you manage to escape from Azkaban?"

"In my animagus form. I was very, very thin so I could slip through the bars and then I swam to the mainland, to go after Peter and protect Harry"

"How did you find out about Pettigrew being Ron Weasley's pet?"

"When Mr. Fudge came to inspect Azkaban, I asked him for his newspaper, and I saw a photo of the Weasley family, after they... had won some prize of some kind"

The questioner looked at Fudge, who nodded "It's true"

"Tell me what Happened on June 6th, 1994"

"I was keeping an eye outside, when I heard some voices. I saw Ron running to get Peter… Scabbers… whatever, Ron was running to hold the rat. I tried to grab him, but to get Peter all I could do was drag Ron along with me, and I did. Once inside, Harry and Hermione came to Ron's rescue, and after a while, Remus appeared." He went on telling how Remus exposed Peter, Snape appeared, and Sirius was delighted to tell Snape's true actions. "He was quite harsh for someone who was trying to save them, actually" He looked terribly amused. "He tied Remus for no apparent reason, yelled at Harry and his friends, threatened them with expulsion, and then he threatened Remus and me with getting the dementors so they would kiss us… both" a collective gasp was born in the room. "He grabbed the ropes that were tying Remus and dragged him…" he closed his eyes briefly, bitter at the memory "After he threatened Remus with getting the dementors to kiss him, Harry crossed the room and blocked Snape's path out of the room. He was threatening me with his wand so I couldn't do a thing. He insulted James' memory, he insulted Harry, he even said that it'd have served him well If I had killed Harry" Lucky for him, Snape wasn't at court that day "After he yelled all this, Harry, Ron and Hermione used the disarming spell on him… at the same time. It was sheer luck, they didn't know they were doing it at the same time…" He seemed so amused it was nearly funny "That threw him to the wall and knocked him out, although it wasn't what they had intended. Hermione was quite worried about what they had just done, actually."

"Maybe I should have a little chat with Snape later" muttered Fudge under his breath, but Sirius was close enough to hear him.

"Why did you break Ron Weasley's leg?"

"It was an accident, I didn't mean to"

"As we have heard from other witnesses, you were then taken to the castle by Severus Snape, where I understand you were locked in Prof. Flitwick's office, right?" Sirius nodded "How did you escape from Hogwarts?"

"I forced the door the muggle way, transformed into a dog, and ran out of Hogwarts grounds as soon as possible"

The jury was quite pleased with Sirius' testimony.

After Sirius was dismissed, Fudge performed a special locking spell on the doors and windows with his wand and nodded at several yellow-robed wizards, who placed themselves in front of the doors. He looked at the other 8 wizards and witches besides him, who grabbed their wands, and then nodded at four red-robed wizards who were standing in front of two giant oak doors that were on the left. Two of them got their wands out and the other two opened the doors, as three people crossed the doorframe. Two of them were other red-robed wizards, and when the public was able to see who the third person was, the cameras went wild.

Peter Pettigrew was going to testify

Harry's, Sirius' and Remus' bitter and scowling faces followed Pettigrew as he sat down to testify. The red-robed wizards surrounded him. Amazingly, the wand-and-head spell showed he wasn't intending on lying.

"Peter Pettigrew, you have been accused of being a Death Eater, do you deny it?"

Pettigrew did not lift his eyes from his lap. He was trembling violently. "N-No"

"Do you deny setting up the dark mark above Arthur Weasley's home?"

"No"

"Why did you set up the dark mark?" Pettigrew stayed silent, his eyes still fixed on his lap. "Mr. Pettigrew, did you hear me?"

"I-I did" More silence

"Mr. Pettigrew, I have to tell you that any questions you won't answer willingly we will ask you under the influence of Veritaserum, and all it will figure in your record will be that you did not collaborate. And I have to tell you, it is not something good to have on your record"

In an impressive demonstration of something that could have been called braveness, he raised his head and looked at the Questioner and the rest of the Jury "I will not betray my master"

As the people in the room gasped in horror, Remus grimaced and Harry scowled but Sirius could not stop his impulsive nature "But you certainly could betray your friends" Pettigrew trembled even more violently, and his lower lip trembled slightly.

"Mr. Black, silence please"

"You betrayed and ruined the lives of the people who would have died for you, why protect this sorry son of a bitch who doesn't even think about protecting you?" The crowd was now horrified at the thought Voldemort being alive.

"Mr. Black…"

Remus placed a very white hand over Sirius' arm, Sirius nodded at him, and he didn't talk to Pettigrew again.

"Mr. Pettigrew, are you planning on telling anything to us?" Pettigrew's eyes were fixed in his lap again. He shook his head "Give him the Veritaserum" he called to one of the red-robed wizards.

The wizard magicked the bottle to Pettigrew's mouth and, forcefully, dropped four drops into his mouth.

And like if someone had turned on a switch in Pettigrew's head, he answered every single question he was asked. Not only did he speak about the Marauder Times, and how much fun he claimed to have had, but he also spoke up about deciding he rather saw himself alive and in the dark side than dead by the hand of most powerful evil wizard ever. The room cheered and some let a collective sigh when Pettigrew finally admitted his being the Potter's secret keeper. He told, with details, how he fought with himself for a week, and on October 31st, he revealed to Voldemort the location of the Potters.

Ron hugged Hermione while she started crying; Mr. Weasley kissed Mrs. Weasley, and the other Weasley children comforted Ginny as she also started crying. (And tried not to get to teary-eyed in the mean time)

Remus closed his eyes and the tiredness of the past couple of days washed over him. Harry let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair.

Sirius held his head in his hands. His, was the biggest, saddest and most sincere sigh of all.

Pettigrew then gave testimony of the June '94 events (or rather spit it, because the Veritaserum influence was so great on him he seemed to have been put in fast forward). Much to the room's terror, he also told how he escaped to be reunited with his master… to help his master, and how he succeeded.

But by this time they had gotten out of Pettigrew all the confession they needed for Sirius' benefit, so Fudge quickly dismissed Pettigrew, who kept babbling about anything he was asked, before he could say anything too serious to get the Voldemort rumors out of Fudge's controlling hands.

After a good while when the jury scribbled madly on their folders, Fudge finally stood up and talked to the courtroom, but most especially to Sirius.

"Mr. Ollivander, an expert in wands as I'm sure you all know, has previously examined both Mr. Pettigrew's and Mr. Black's wands. Mr. Black's wand has been in possession of the Ministry for the last 14 years, locked in the Ministry's evidence room. Mr. Pettigrew's wand was in possession of his mother, when it was given to her after her son was believed dead. As you all saw, Matilde Pettigrew personally handed me the wand yesterday. Mr. Ollivander examined Sirius Black's wands, and indeed, found no traces of a Fidelius Charm on it. However, he did find traces of the charm in Peter Pettigrew's wand."

He looked to the other jury members, who whispered something inaudible to him.

"We have heard all we needed to hear about Mr. Black, and we have presented the little physical evidence there is for this case. The verdict will be the majority of our votes, and it will be pronounced in this same room, tomorrow at 10 am sharp." That live gavel banged once as Fudge dismissed everybody and the jury dissaparated.

Suddenly, the next day seemed to be very far for Harry.

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