A/N: Well, since my life is currently very boring (Thank you, God!), and I have nothing to say, I'll make a recommendation instead. People, go dedicate fifteen minutes of your life to read Teacher's Pet by Didoikali. And not the Fanfiction.net version. Go read the one listed in FictionAlley with pictures. It is truly a wonderful story and very well worth your time. This is the work of a very talented author as well as artist.

Also, I would like to hand a great big 'Decency Award' to the fine folks managing the website HarryPotter.com. I had a friend today tell me she and her son went on the website, and in registering onto the website, she told me they put up a message that stated that all the information that your child gives to them when they register on this site is kept private and is not shared with any advertisers. That it is used solely for that website and nothing else. So, HarryPotter.Com, congratulations for not selling out to advertisers and marketers who would likely love to get their hands on that information and for respecting the privacy of your website users.

Other than that, enjoy.

Tried And Convicted

CHAPTER SEVEN: ANSWERS

Remus sat in the same seat he had been in before in the courtroom. But this time he didn't have Harry with him. He had left the child again with the kindly witch next door, feeling it was better not to bring Harry to the verdict hearing.

Snape had also elected not to attend. He had parted ways with Remus as soon as they left the jail, stating he wanted to get back to Hogwarts as quickly as he could to begin work.

And so Remus sat by himself in the crowded courtroom. The room was again packed to overflowing with reporters and curious onlookers. Remus had arrived a half hour before the reading and already the room had been filled.

Right on schedule, the judges appeared and took their seats, followed shortly afterwards by Sirius being led into the courtroom.

Remus had never seen his long time friend look so lost. Sirius never even looked up as they led him in to see the faces of those who had come to watch. Not even to look for the one familiar, friendly face there. Instead he kept his attention focused solely on the ground before him, never once shifting his gaze in even the least bit.

The guards directed Sirius to the same chair he had been seated in before, each taking a position on either side of him.

The judges waited for the crowd to settle down as curious bystanders stood up to get a better look at the accused murderer. Sirius had been offered up in the papers as a high ranking Deatheater who had been captured by the ministry for the murder of James and Lily Potter. That he had then taken their young son into hiding, presumably to turn the infant over to the dark lord. But that he had been captured by the ministry before he had the chance to do so. Remus had scoffed at the story. Anyone with any sense would question it, he had told Dumbledore when it had first appeared in the news. Why had Sirius kidnapped the child instead of killing him? And why had he gone into hiding? Why not just take the child to Voldemort? And Sirius' capture had been weeks ago. Why was he just now coming to trial? And if the ministry had so much 'evidence' against him, why the use of Veritaserum? That was usually only used when there was clearly reasonable doubt as to the accused guilt.

No. Snape had been right. This was all to well arranged.

Remus sat watching Sirius as the judges finally called for quiet to settle the last few whispering voices in the courtroom. Finally the judge in the center of the other two turned to Sirius.

"The accused will stand to hear the verdict." He announced.

Sirius paused for a moment, then slowly rose to his feet and, at the prodding of the two guards, turned to face the judges.

"Sirius Orion Black, you have been brought before this court today for the reading of the verdict of your trial. Before the verdict is read, do you have anything to say?"

Sirius stood for a moment. The court fell absolutely silent to hear what the accused murderer had to say. Deatheaters almost always either plead their innocence or denounced the court, stating that Voldemort would free them and they would come back to wreak vengeance on all present.

But Sirius only stood for a few moments, then, still facing the floor, silently shook his head.

Remus could have screamed out at him to say something. Take those few precious seconds to profess his innocence once more to these idiots. Tell them what really happened. How he had protected Harry. Taken care of him. Everything he had been through and suffered, just to make sure his godson was cared for. How could anyone, hearing that, believe that he meant Harry any harm?

But Sirius had only shook his head, and remained silent.

"Very well." The judge continued stoically. "Sirius Orion Black, you stand accused of complicity in the murders of James and Lily Potter, of the kidnapping of the child, Harry James Potter, of association with and serving the dark lord, and endangering a minor child. You admitted to these acts in this courtroom under Veritaserum in the presence of our persons and thereby have convicted yourself by your own words. It is therefore the decision of this court that you be sentenced to Azkaban, there to be handed over to the Dementors to be administered The Kiss. The remainder of your life will be spent within the confines of the prison as a ward of that establishment."

Remus felt each word like a physical blow. No matter how he had prepared himself for this, he still couldn't stop the feeling of dread that welled up inside of him as he watched the two guards leading his friend off to a side door.

Remus didn't remember getting to his feet, or pushing through the crowd as he left the courtroom. The only thought on his mind was that he had to get to Sirius. He had to see him before they took him to Azkaban. Tell him that he was going to see Dumbledore. That they would find a way to appeal his case and stop the sentence from being carried out.

Anything to give his friend hope.

Deep in mazes of hallways and corridors that made up the dungeons of Hogwarts castle, Snape stood before a table set with vials of various sizes, shapes, and colors. It was here, in his element, that he was most comfortable. Most at peace. Even now, working to try and save the life of a man he detested in a manner few people could ever understand, he found peace working in his private chambers.

Snape looked over the wide array of potions. Some were bubbling over small flames. Pale green potions that warned people away as they emitted horrible odors. Still others sat deceptively innocent, enticing the unwary with their bright colors and pleasant smells.

But the one that held his interest presently was the one in his hand, which he had held up as he passed the lit tip of his wand behind it several times.

A frown etched itself in his face. One that grew deeper every time the wand passed behind the glass vial. But finally Snape returned the vial to its stand, a look of utter astonishment on his face.

He had to get to Dumbledore and tell the Headmaster what he had found.

"Allergic?" Dumbledore asked.

Snape was sitting in Dumbledore's office, having gone by fire. He had just poured out his results to the Headmaster.

"To one of the main ingredients of Veritaserum." Snape confirmed. "There is no way that they could have given it to Black within five days of his trial that he could have testified from anything but a hospital bed. The reaction would have been quite severe indeed."

Dumbledore was already headed for the door of his office.

"We have to get to the ministry. We have no idea how soon they'll take Sirius to Azkaban and turn him over to the Dementors."

But just as the Headmaster reached for the door , Remus came flying into the room, nearly knocking Dumbledore over in his haste.

"Sirius!" Remus gasp for breath. "He's gone, Albus."

Dumbledore helped Remus steady himself. He was so out of breath he could hardly stand. Snape had already grabbed a chair and was shoving it under the man as he collapsed into it.

"Gone?" Dumbledore asked quickly. "What do you mean 'gone'?"

Remus gasp in one long breath. "They've taken him, Albus. Right from the courtroom."

"Who?"

"The ministry." Remus paused and took another deep breath. "Albus, they've taken him straight to Azkaban."

Snape jumped into the harried conversation suddenly. "What!? That's unheard of!" He protested. "Prisoners are given at least one full day before they're taken to Azkaban. To settle their affairs if nothing else. Who........" But Snape stopped suddenly as a sneer crawled across his face. "Trennerson."

Remus looked up at the sound of the name. "Trennerson? What has he to do with this part of it?"

"Likely, everything, would be my guess." Snape answered. "He's probably the one who arranged for the immediate transfer for Black. If nothing else good can be seen in this, it shows how worried he is. He likely saw us when we went to see Black, and recognized me. Now he's just running scared. He probably suspects we're putting things together. If Trennerson didn't do whatever it took to hurry things up and get rid of Black as soon as possible, and heaven forbid Black ever pulled himself together enough to start talking, repeating for people the things we told him, everything would come back to Trennerson." Snape looked up at Dumbledore. "He's trying to destroy the only piece of evidence that could put him in Azkaban in Black's place. Black himself. Once Black is nothing more than a babbling idiot, Trennerson is in the clear. Black is the only one who can convict him."

"Unless they shove a vial of Veritaserum down Trennerson's own throat." Remus growled in a low voice.

"That will never happen." Snape replied.

"Why not?"

"Because Trennerson knows too much to be left a walking liability if Black isn't disposed of. He's currently a danger to everyone. For the Deatheaters and Voldemort, he knows Black is innocent of the crimes he is now convicted of and who is truly responsible. For the ministry, if they had even the vaguest knowledge of what was going on during Black's trial, Trennerson could be a horrible embarrassment is he ever started talking under Veritaserum. No, Trennerson would never survive to a trail, I'm pleased to say."

Dumbledore quickly headed for the door. "Regardless of Mr. Trennerson's part in all this," he stated, "one thing remains. We need to get to Azkaban as quickly as possible."

Q&A

Lotesse: *Puts head on desk and cries.* Ohhhhh, the unfairness of it all! No snogging pictures! THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!

O.K.. Not much better, but at least I got that off my chest. Yes, I have found several lovely sites for pictures. ArtisticAlley. org and Sugarquill among them. And actually, I think I do know the URL your talking about. I believe I've been to that one under mydirtymind.com.

Three weeks on a sailboat is a good thing? P.A.R. does not agree with this. Three weeks in a mountain cabin by a stream. THIS is a good thing.

I'm glad I made your homecoming a happy one, Lotesse.

The day that boy hugs anybody, you can just color me impressed. (The Mrs. Wesley thing don't count. She started it.)

I thought I was being quite subtle with Trennerson. But as that everyone jumped right on him, apparently not.

Actually, P.A.R. is doing a MWPP story called Reputation. And Proper Friends I suppose also fits in there, although it centers more on the Snape-Remus friendship. (Better? See. No slashy stories. Yet.)

Severus' position is a bit.....tenuous. Voldemort, by the way, is not 'gone'. That part of the story is canon. Voldemort is weak, but still very much alive. Severus, also canon, left the Deatheaters before Voldemort's fall. He is indeed, acting currently as a spy. Why does he seem so put out? Well, that's just Severus. It's hard, after all, to put your life back together right after having most of your ideals come crashing down around you.

As stated in this chapter (and I believe was in an earlier one as well), Harry is left with the witch living next door to Remus, who is the same one he was left with in The Bonds That Tie.

And right on to try and clear up that nasty confusion. Tried And Convicted is the sequel to The Bonds That Tie (by reader request) and takes place about a month later.

I've lost it many time, Dear. I keep finding it again, only to lose it once more. Don't let it bother you.

What? Poor Remus started to sound like me? Oh, dear. I've never been accused of 'voicing-over' one of my characters before.

Chapter four, ahoy? Dear, you were on that sailboat a littttttle too long.

I have no idea about the 'Da' sequence. It didn't ring any bells with me, and I've read all of Whisp's stuff. For me, it was a carry over from The Bonds That Tie scene near the end.

Remus has a nice soapbox, doesn't he? Nicely painted. Strong and sturdy. He could get up on that thing and probably badger a nun.

Sorry, I was aware of the 'Vile' error and thought I had corrected it in all the chapters. Apparently not. For the rest of it, I redirect you to my biography page as my only defense.

The reason Voldemort is doing all this is something not too terribly far off from Trennerson's reasoning in Chapter Six. The short version? He thinks it's amusing.

Oh, yes, Dear. P.A.R. has been to more conventions than she can remember. I've been doing this stuff since....well, a lonnnnnng time ago. Dragoncon is, without a doubt, a lost weekend in the making. Now, mind you, I haven't been to Dragoncon in a few years due to a lot of politics behind the scenes I'm privy too. And it was one of my favorites because I have a lot of friends up that way. And the parties are usually pretty good, if you go to the right ones. I could take you to parties that ain't on the party board. But to really have fun, you have to go room-party hopping on Saturday night. Capped off with a good old fashion all night live role playing game. Ahhhhhh, those were the days! (Currently P.A.R. is paying off a Student Loan and can not afford to have fun yet.) However, I'll give this one to your parents. DO NOT go to DragonCon alone! Go with a group. This thing is huge and sadly, yes, can be very dangerous in some regards. You're best bet? Go with someone who's gone before. That's how you'll have the best time. (And stay away from the alcohol and any open container. You have no idea what's really in that stuff. And I've SEEN what they put in that stuff. Nasty! Usually, to be safe, I followed one general rule. Only eat or drink what you brought, bought, or was in the Consuite.)

By the way, my last paid admission was 135.00. Have you heard what it is up to now for a full admission? Just curious.

Whisp! Awwwww. *Hugs Whisp.* I'm sorry, Whisp. But, Dear, that's what 'Author Alert' is for.

Ummmmmm, sorry again, but yeah, Harry is jus there to look cute for now. HE has a part to play in all this. But whether what he does is 'saving' Sirius is open to interpretation.

Awwwww, that last part was the nicest thing anyone's said to me in.....well, days! Thank you! (Seriously.)

Fire Spirit: I think it would particularly suck for Sirius.

Sailor Sol: I would love to tell you the name of the book, Dear. The problem is what I am doing here on Fanfiction.net is against my contract with my publisher. So I have to stay anonymous for now.

A senior in high school, huh? Some advice, Dear. Don't waste it looking forward to college too much. When you get to be my age, and you've lived life a little, you'll look back on this year with a great deal of longing. Believe me.

Dark Whispers: Oh, dear. Poor Trennerson. The man is in trouble then, isn't he?

Nagini: I am SOOOOOOO disappointed, Nagini! Bad snake! No rats!

Hated algebra. P.A.R. is no good at math. Never took Latin. But I'm Catholic! Does that count?

Hey, by the way, Nagini.........This is the song that never endssssssss, yes, it goes on and on my friend.............!

Storyspindler: Indeed, if Sirius had a nice quiet life he wouldn't be very interesting to write about.

It's all right if you miss a few, Dear. At least you review. I got about a thousand people out there who don't, so who am I to say anything to the people that do? And by Heavens, I even love the people who don't! At least someone is reading this stuff!

sweets: WHY do you want to move to Florida, Dear? It's hot, it's full of mosquitoes, and we have enough darn peopl........oh, never mind. Who am I to try and convince someone else not to come here. I've been here for.....a very long time, and I would never live anywhere else. Mosquitoes and all.

Trennerson is indeed not a 'good guy'.

And where as I'm all for Rowling coming up with unusual names for her characters, where did you come up with 'Sirius', woman? It makes for some very difficult sentence structuring sometimes.

UnrepentantReader: I don't remember the title being that, but you indeed have the right one. I remember that name, Amberdulen. That was definitely the author. And yes, the reviews were almost as funny as the 'story'.

Yup, 'so far' Sirius has ended all of my stories alive.

Oh, heavens! Now THAT'S a question! Would Remus contact Sirius's family? I'll answer that one two ways. First of all, I'll go with what you said. The relationships are....complicated. Second, Sirius' family never really enters into this story because they were, at the time, redundant to the plot and I only have so much time. In my defense, *Holds up PoA and GoF.* the man's been out for two years, Rowling's! Where's his family? Does he have one? Do they care? A little background, please.

Mayleesa: What!? Snape? When did I point the finger at Severus?

How do I do it? I'm not sure. I sit in front of my computer, staring at the screen until I get bored with that, then I put something on it so I have something else to look at. Get bored with that, put something else on.......and so it goes. Eventually, I have a story.

Zimmy Russell: Yeah. Voldemort really kills them at parties. (All the puns are intended.)

Why is Snape in trouble? Trennerson, maybe. And I'll give you the Sirius thing.

The traffic in Orlando is indeed bad. And there is a lot of it. Probably one of the major reasons I do not feel compelled to add to it.

As far as 'need to know', I do try to put most of my cards on the table by the end of the story.

Proper Friends, unfortunately, is not due out until next year. But you'll be working your way through Family Relations until then.

I try to read books, Dear. But I have exactly two choices here. Read 'em or write 'em.

Doom Song: Sorry, no Peter. *Peter Haters all applaud and nod approvingly.* I really can't comment much on the rest of what you ask because a lot of it was answered with this chapter. Of course, I don't know that Sirius being allergic to Veritaserum will get the ministry 'off' of him, so to speak. I mean, they still don't have any 'other' suspect in James and Lily's murder, plus, they have one they do like. So, it remains to be seen if the ministry is ever going to leave poor Sirius alone.

purple water: In regards to what Voldemort is getting out of this besides just amusing himself. You have to look at the larger picture here. It's a rather sinister thing when you think about it. You have a group of ministry people, supposedly working for the light side, and who are figures in authority over, say, a bunch of underlings, also working for the light side, who supposedly look up to these leaders. Now, these leaders first, take one of their own (Sirius, remember, was an Auror. And a very high placed one at that. He was respect, well-liked, and good at his job.), accuse him of a horrible crime, convict him, and then (possibly) execute him. Then say, a week later, Voldemort stands up on his soap box one day and announces (or lets it be known some way) that he, in fact, was the one responsible for the murders and not Sirius. First of all, the underlings are already upset that one of their own was a) accused as a suspect, and then b) executed for the crime. Now they find out that their so called leaders, oops!, made a mistake, and executed the wrong person. One of their own, no less. How do you think that it going to sit in the lower ranks?

So, you were definitely headed down the right track on what Voldemort's purpose in all this was. Basically, dissension in the ranks. A very effective ploy. You can't control or command people who don't respect, like, or have any confidence in you. So, discredit the leaders, and you effectively destroy the army from the inside.

You don't think Katlin is suited for the task of being the next dark lord? Dear, why ever not? She's deceptive, intelligent, cunning, ruthless, and you couldn't have stuffed her conscience in the navel of a Barbie doll. Dear! She's perfect! It is, though, not her purpose in life to become the next dark lord, not matter how good she would be at it. She's sort of just 'daddy's little girl' and is happy just doing what she's told as long as she can do it how she pleases. Sorry, by the way, if I implied that was what that was all about.

lilahp: Check out UnrepentantReader's review. They have the title and author of that 'story' listed. And it was very funny.

Oh, dear. What can I say? It looks very much like Sirius is headed for 'The Rock'.

Ummmmm, Sirius doesn't know he's innocent. In the last chapter Snape only had a theory, but no proof. And even though they now have proof, Sirius still doesn't know that.

I'll have to look up this group, Dear. Thanks for the information. I do indeed have a suggestion for them in the speaker category. (Yeah, P.A.R. could use a free weekend with accommodations.)

My father is still making very good progress and is doing well. Thank you for asking.

Karla: Goodness! The review was almost as long as the chapter. *Smiles.* P.A.R. likes that!

*Lays head on the desk.* Oh, no!!!!!! Not continuity errors again!

O.K., let me see if I can dig my way out of this. To start, Snape was a Deatheater. Let's get that firmly established. So yes, you were right. Snape was once a Deatheater and a traitor to the light side.

O.K., now, he was a Deatheater before he started teaching at Hogwarts. He came to teach at Hogwarts after he came to Dumbledore and said 'I want out of the Deatheaters'. That's when he turned spy for Dumbledore. So now he's an ex-Deatheater and a traitor to the dark side.

Moving right along, the 'past mistakes' Dumbledore was reminding Snape of was indeed his past as a Deatheater. And Remus did indeed think Dumbledore was referring to the Whomping Willow incident.

Now it gets a little hazy. Let me see if I can help due to things not mentioned in the story and reasons why I should not write these things out of order. Remus and Dumbledore both know Snape was a Deatheater. The only person not in on this at the moment is Sirius, and it's important to the story that he doesn't know, and Harry, who doesn't care at the moment.

Now, Dumbledore and Remus both know that Snape is no longer a Deatheater. How? Well, because Snape told them. When? Well, obviously not at the same time. Remus found out Snape was a Deatheater in Proper Friends, which has not posted yet, but obviously should have. He also knows Snape isn't one any longer, because Snape told him and Remus, for whatever reasons, believed him. In the situation you're referring to, Remus just didn't make the right connection, is all. He just thought Dumbledore was talking about the Whomping Willow incident because it was the first thing to come to mind.

Any better?

Let me see.......Trennerson works for the Deatheaters, is, therefore, a Deatheater, and you're asking is he stupid? Isn't that question a bit redundant, Dear?

Yes, the questioning was meant to go further and Trennerson did mess up. *P.A.R. looks around for that gold star.* O.K., now I can tell you what you're getting this thing for. You were the first one to STATE, in WRITING (others realized this, but didn't put it in until later), that Sirius was fighting the potion in the courtroom. He started out answering the questions without any problem. But then he started to pause, and finally stop altogether. He did this because he was fighting the effects of the potion. And quite successfully, too. So, *Hands over gold star.* go add that one to your collection. Trennerson, by the way, did mess up badly in that he did not prepare for the possibility that Sirius would be able to fight the potion he gave him. Snape also made the vague comment, I believe, that Trennerson wasn't the most competent potion brewer in the world. But then, against our dear Severus, who is?

No, Voldemort isn't exactly known for his forgiving nature. As I stated before, you don't exactly get 'fired' from your position in his fanclub, do you?

Snape did go to the jail prepared. He presented himself as Sirius' solicitor (lawyer, for all our friends in the States.). Also, Snape doesn't want Trennerson's spot. It's fairly dangerous. He would be much closer to Voldemort and likely watched much more closely as well as have to actually do thing for the dark lord. Currently, he just has to be a good little Deatheater and attend meetings.

Yes, Voldemort is alive and kicking. As powerful as ever? No. This part is fairly canon. Voldemort tried to attack Harry and lost most of his powers. However, he still has faithful (albeit stupid) followers who, while he is recooping, still do whatever he asks of them in the hopes that when he is back to his bad old self, will greatly reward them for staying loyal.

And I know this sounds bad, and I hate putting it like this, but I have no other way to say it, people. So take it with a grain of salt. Yes, I am the author, and I can do what I want. Ohhhhhhhhh, that sounds so........megalomaniactic!

Silverfox: People............people HATE Severus!? How..........., *P.A.R. pauses, thinks, then smiles.* noooooooooo, you must be mistaken.

I'm glad you liked the Snape-Sirius interaction last time out. I do like pairing those two for a little social intercourse. (CONVERSATION! Oh, get your minds out of the gutters, people. I used a hyphen and not a slash mark, like Lotesse suggested.)

Anyway, I have no idea abouthte Author Alert problem, but there does seem to be one based on people telling me they have missed my postings. But honestly, people, I'm much more dependable currently then Author Alert apparently. I post Sundays and Wednesdays, between approximately 6PM and 10PM EST, barring bad things happening, like website crashes and such.

Anyway, reviews are as of 09012002. Say if I missed you. I hope you all enjoy your long weekend.

And can somebody get me this doormat?

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