Title: Judging innocence (7/8)

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 7: Silence and noise

The day from July 19th to July 20th did not pass: it was stretched and dragged beyond recognition.

When they got back home, and after eating an oddly silent lunch, Remus went upstairs to get some well deserved sleep, and Harry set himself in his bed, hoping to get his mind lost in one of his Quidditch books.

A little while later, (it had actually been half an hour but Harry felt it as though it had been 3 hours) Sirius entered Harry's temporary room, and let him know he was going out for a while.

"What, going for a walk?"

"Not really… just… going for a walk, yes"

Harry eyed him intently "Where are you going, really?"

"You'll know, one way or the other, sooner or later. I hope it'll be later." He walked out of the room "I won't be too long. If there's ANYTHING wrong, wake up Remus."

"Okay"

THE BURROW, an hour later.

Mr. Weasley walked past his living room. He stopped just as he had passed it, frowned, and walked back the distance.

"Mr. Black! I knew I had seen an extra head in here"

"Call me Sirius, Arthur." He stepped out of the chimney.

"Sirius it is, then." He frowned again, but this time he was worried about something "Is there anything wrong? Is Harry all right?"

Sirius smiled "Yes, he's just fine. Nervous, if anything, but fine."

"I can totally understand it, everyone in here too. Ron especially. This trial brought him a couple more freckles." Behind him, wearing an apron and still holding a fork in her hand, appeared Molly Weasley

"Arthur, wha- Oh hi Sirius. Everything ok?"

"Yes. I came here to talk to you two actually."

The Weasleys invited Sirius to sit down and let him speak.

"I have heard about you and Harry. I've heard from Harry himself, from Remus, from Dumbledore, and all of them agree you've treated him far better than his relatives have."

Mrs. Weasley frowned at the mention of the Dursleys. Sirius looked at her.

"I personally have never met them, but Arthur has. And I am as worried as you are about a boy so sweet like he is having to stay with people like them"

"That's exactly what I'm speaking about. In five years, you have treated him like another son, while Petunia, his own aunt, has treated him like scum all his life. And I am extremely worried about what could happen to him if he has to stay two more seconds in that house."

"If we could do anything to help him…" began Mr. Weasley

"Actually there is. But it is something that I should have proposed a time ago because it requires a lot of thinking from you" The Weasleys looked at him, not quite knowing where he was going.

"I don't know what's going to happen to me tomorrow. Everyone says everything is going to be fine, even the Daily Prophet hopes that, but I don't want to run any risks, especially with Harry in between." He paused and searched for words "I am Harry's guardian, and If I sign the appropriate parchment, I can make anyone I want Harry's guardian"

Finally, the Weasleys understood.

"Sirius, we-"

He held up a hand "If something happens to me tomorrow, either Azkaban or get Kissed, Harry will have to spend the next two years, and maybe even more, with the Dursleys, not to mention that Voldemort back into power puts him, and everyone around him, in grave danger. I understand you already have to afford for 7 children. Four, maybe because three of them are grown-ups, but Harry has the necessary galleons to-"

Mrs. Weasley looked to his husband with pleading eyes, who nodded, and cut Sirius short in mid-sentence.  "Sirius… It's already pleasure that you trust us enough to even think about making us Harry's guardians. How could we not accept?"

Sirius closed his eyes, let out a relieved sigh, and smiled back at the Weasleys.

"Then, if you don't mind…" he put a hand in a pocket of his robes and unrolled a single parchment. He had retrieved it an hour ago from the Ministry, where he had signed it, and all it was left to be legal, was the Weasley's signature.

I, Sirius Black, godfather and guardian to Harry Potter, make Arthur Weasley and his wife, Molly Weasley, Harry Potter's guardians. As long as I am healthy of body and mind and free, this form will have no effect on Harry's life. However, if I lose my freedom or else, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley will respond for Harry as his parents would have.

He handed the parchment to the Weasleys, and once both of them read it, Mrs. Weasley magicked a quill from the next room. She didn't even hesitate to look up to Sirius or her husband, and signed the form, passing it then to her husband, and only then looking up at Sirius.

"I sincerely hope that by tomorrow afternoon this will have proven to be unnecessary"

-*-*-

If July 19th had been long at the Lupin house, the night to the 20th lasted forever. Everyone knew no one was sleeping, but it was better to lie in bed staring helplessly at the ceiling than spending the following 6 hours staring at each other stupidly or what would feel worse, making up boringly idle conversation.

Each of them had their own personal world of tortures.

Harry had the most horrible visions of Fudge pointing a long finger at Sirius and yelling 'Guilty' while a dementor gave Sirius it's deadly kiss. He saw time and time again Sirius falling to the ground, his soul sucked by the dementor and Sirius eyes' staring at Harry, a stare that was horribly empty. He fought hard not to scream at this, and it took all of his strength to do so.

Remus, on the other hand, also saw Fudge declaring Sirius guilty, but in his mind, Sirius was taken to Azkaban, where he was locked in a cell for the rest of his life and finally was driven mad.

But the worst world of the three was Sirius' one. Unlike Remus and Harry, Sirius knew what expected him if the jury declared him guilty. He knew what it was to have no happy feelings at all, to try and remember something good, something remotely happy… And all that would come to him was a deep depression, feelings of helplessness and sadness, wanting to yell out so loudly, as if yelling would make him feel better. He knew what was recalling his life and all he could remember and feel were the saddest moments in his life, brooding all over again on them. His parent's death. James' death. Seeing James' dead body. Lily's death. Seeing Lily's dead body. Remus being so angry with him after his joke on Snape, Sirius sincerely feared he would lose his friend. On the worst days though, only one feeling would come to him: wanting to die just to stop feeling that way.

That of course, if they didn't sentence him to a Dementor's kiss.

Sirius closed his eyes and tried to erase those thoughts from his mind. He tried thinking the testimonies had gone even better than he had thought, that even the long-lost Norman had appeared and revealed to the world his dark past to help Sirius. But what truly calmed Sirius down considerably was knowing that Harry would be the Weasley's responsibility, a whole wizarding family, and not the Dursley's, muggles as ignorant as there could ever be.

He let out a groan.

"Can't sleep?" asked an extremely awake voice from his left.

"Sleep? What's that?" he sat up in his bed and looked at Remus, who was standing next to the window, staring at the waning moon. So lost he had been in his thoughts, he never heard Moony got up from his bed.

He got up too, went to the window, and looked outside. You could see Moony's garden from this window, very carefully preserved. Harry's snowy owl flew passed the window, heading for Harry's room with a dead rat in his beak. The light of the moon gave everything a blueish light, making the view from the window eerie, but beautiful.

"I'm going to try and make myself some mild sleeping potion" he said to Remus "Wanna help?"

He nodded, and went downstairs. Harry, who had just been to the kitchen for something to eat, met them halfway, and with his help the sleeping potion was ready in half an hour. They prepared enough sleeping potion to make them sleep for days, and no matter how badly they wanted to sleep for weeks and forget about the entire world, they only took five drops, for the five hours they wanted to sleep.

-*-*-

The Daily Prophet, July 20th, 1995

VERDICT FOR BLACK TO BE ANNOUNCED TODAY

~º~
WATCH FOR THE EVENING EDITION OF THE
DAILY PROPHET

By Methilda Shotclear

[Today's picture featured a very scared Peter Pettigrew quivering and shaking]

For three days, over 20 people have declared in Black's trial, and after last week's capture of Peter Pettigrew, none of them thinks Black is guilty of anything but charming the people's hearts.

Yesterday morning was Pettigrew and Black's turn to testify, as well as Norman Lathren's, a long-lost friend of Black.

Right after Black's friend Remus Lupin finished his testimony, which was interrupted yesterday due to Mr. Lupin's licanthropy, Norman Lathren, a 37-year-old Magizoology expert who was abroad working, was called in to testify, and he swore to a testimony that helped Black greatly. It came as shock to everyone, even to Black himself to learn about Lathren's dark past, when he claimed that from the years 1978 to 1981 he was a Death Eater for You-Know-Who.

He and Black had met when they were 12 years old, after Lathren's mother had prohibited him to go to Hogwarts. Lathren claimed that over the summer Black taught him what he had learnt throughout the year. It was during one of these summers that Black brought his dear friend James Potter to meet Lathren. Lathren never met Lupin or Pettigrew.

In 1981, when Lathren was still a Death Eater, he heard about the Potter's death and realizing in which side he truly was, he backed up, renounced to You-Know-Who and fled from the country. Lathren returned to the country years later; had his trial and, as he promised Black at court, he had killed no one, he was let free.

Lathren's enormous help to Black came when he declared to have seen Pettigrew many times with You-Know-Who but never seen Black among them.

Black declared next, and as it has become customary of him, he added the humorous quota of the day. He said that his 'joke' on Severus Snape back when they were at Hogwarts was the result of Snape himself calling Remus Lupin (and I quote) "something way to nasty to say out loud in this court with minors present." Black whispered the nasty insult into the Questioner's ear, and the questioner herself declared that she also would have gotten mad at Snape. We can only speculate about Mr. Snape's vocabulary.

The room broke into laughter as Black declared that all he had intended to do was to simply scare Mr. Snape out of his wits.

Black also declared about the events that happened on June 6th, 1994, and the jury, and Fudge himself, was shocked to hear what Snape had hidden in his declaration. Black declared that Snape not only had threaten Harry and his friends with expulsion, but most of all, appeared to be extremely serious about getting the dementors not only to Kiss Black, but also Remus Lupin. Will the Minister and his men take action on this new information?

And then, the last to declare in Black's trial, and the one who everyone had been expecting, was Peter Pettigrew.

Of course, 'declare' is the usual word used in these occasions, but the last thing Pettigrew did was declare. He muttered a 'no', babbled an 'I did' and as the jury was beginning to get angry, Pettigrew said the only sentence he was going to utter willingly: "I will not betray my master"

Pettigrew was administrated Veritaserum, and he answered every question like if his life depended on it. Which in the end, it's probably true, of course.

Under the influence of Veritaserum, and much to Black, Potter and Lupin's (and this reporter's) relief, Pettigrew admitted to selling the Potter's location. Black's charm and sincere kindness and wittiness seems to have reached well beyond his tight circle of friends, and the whole room seemed relieved upon this declaration.

All suspicions of You-Know-Who being back to power were later denied by the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge.

And as the last action of this trial, Fudge presented the little physical evidence for this case: Black and Pettigrew's wands. Black's was in possession of the ministry and showed no traces of the Fidelius Charm, whereas Pettigrew's, which was in possession of his mother, did.

Although the Jury took nearly a whole day to decide the verdict, nearly everyone is hopeful that today at 10 am sharp, the Jury will make justice and declare Black innocent. Pettigrew, on the other hand, is widely hoped to be left in a cell and leave him to rot for the inhuman act he did

Mr. Black, I have talked to many people about you over the last few days since Pettigrew was captured, and you have to possess quite a personality to charm the wizarding community in such a short time.

The Daily Prophet is with you.

-*-*-

Slow motion. Everything was in slow motion and yet happening so quickly.

Harry wanted the hours to be stretched till eternity to have more time with Sirius, but at the same time he also wanted everything to end up once and for all, as quickly as possible. The funny thing was, Remus was feeling exactly the same. The courtroom was so silent it reminded Harry of a funeral. Oddly enough, even the press was being silent, and the only sound heard where people softly walking around. Which of course, added more of an element to the funeral atmosphere.

As he entered, Ron and Hermione tried to speak to him, but Harry looked at them in such a way that made them back up and chose to speak to him after the verdict, whatever it was.

Harry had barely noticed, but Sirius had had his hand clasped tightly in his own all the time.

Fudge stood up and addressed Sirius. "We have reached a verdict. Mr. Black, raise and stand before us." Harry now realized Sirius had been holding his hand and let go of him with a final squeeze. A small pause as Sirius walked to stand before Fudge. "By the majority of votes of eight against one, the Ministry of Magic grants you our full pardon and declares you completely innocent and free of any charges that might have been held against you."

Harry couldn't see Sirius' face, but it must have been one of a great shock, and great happiness, because he had to back up and support himself from the desk. Fudge started mentioning something about a ceremony, but he was silenced by the Weasley's cheers, and the room's applause.

Behind Sirius, Harry hugged Remus. For the first time in his life, Harry cried in public.

The live gavel banged once, but so loudly it left everyone in the room nearly deaf.

"Mr. Black, it is customary in these cases to perform a small but obligatory ceremony in which you are given back your personal items that are in our possession, and any papers or forms or anything you might need to get back to society. It is a private ceremony, which only your family and closest friends, and of course the press, can attend. Guard." Fudge looked at the yellow-robed guard, who approached Sirius and not only took the AntiAps from Sirius' wrists, but also the tracker he had placed three days before.

"The ceremony will be performed this evening, at 7.30pm in the plaza that's a block from here. Until that moment…" the live gavel banged once normally and the jury dissaparated from the room. The guards kicked the press out of the room, saying that Black will declare later if he wished to do so.

Remus got up and stood in front of Sirius. He smiled broadly at him and they embraced each other like they had done two years before in the Shrieking Shack.

"I told you you'd be let free. I told you"

"I should have known. You are always right." He let go of him a very long moment later and Sirius turned around and looked at Harry, who was still sitting in his chair. "Aren't you happy?" he asked, obviously knowing the answer.

"Of course I am… I just don't trust myself to stand up" Harry smiled at him.

Sirius saved Harry the effort and pulled him up in a fatherly hug, only letting go when the 9 Weasleys and Hermione arrive, panting and gasping for air.

Hermione and Ron arrived running, happy as they had ever been, shouting "You're free! You're free!" The rest of the Weasleys took turns to congratulate him (which, given the fact there were 8 people, it took quite a while.)

Then, much to Harry's surprise, Mrs. Weasley gave a piece of parchment to Sirius. "I am so glad it turned out to be unnecessary"

Sirius took the parchment, smiling at her and then looked at Harry. "Let's start my freedom without secrets. This is what I did yesterday"

Harry took the parchment and, with Ron and Hermione peeking over his shoulders, he read it out loud. When he finished, Harry was astonished, Ron was gaping and Hermione was biting her lip.

"I didn't want you to go back to the Dursleys"

Harry smiled a very grateful smile to the Weasleys, and then he handed the parchment to Sirius.

"Rip it." He said, and Sirius gave him a questioning glance "Tear it to shreds. You don't need it anymore"

And with a loud rip that everyone was more than happy to hear, Sirius was Harry's guardian again.

~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONCLUDED|| ~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Don't go just yet! Don't miss the ceremony and Harry's birthday!