Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, and seeing as I'm not JK Rowling,
I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: 4/23 I uploaded this chapter days ago, but something went wrong and it didn't work! Ugh...I'm just realizing this now...
A/N: Chapter 20! Wow! When I started planning out this story months and months ago, I only thought it would be sixteen chapters or so... And this would have come out a LOT earlier, sorry guys, but my muse refused to cooperate...evil muse...
This chapter is dedicated to my grandfather who died in the early morning of March 4th, 2003.
"No one can put a chain around the ankle of his fellow man without at least finding the other end of it about his own neck."
--Frederick Douglass
Chapter Twenty-What Goes Around, Comes Around
Hermione was nervous.
She and Colette had come up with an amazing idea about getting Sirius to have a trial and incriminating Fudge for all the illegal things that he had done. They had all gone over the evidence needed for proving their point many times. They had planned how they would try to reason with Fudge. Mrs. Weasley had looked up the witness accounts from the Muggles who had been on the street that Pettigrew had blown up, to tie up some remaining loopholes. Remus Lupin had done some research on the person who was minister in 1981-apparently, he had found some very relevant information, although Hermione didn't know what it was. Colette had gone to Dumbledore with their information and evidence, who had quickly brought it all to the attention to members of the International Confederation of Wizards. When all the various research had been presented to them, they had wanted to go and fire Fudge right on the spot, but Colette had another plan in mind.
All in all, Hermione should have felt very confident, but she couldn't but help feeling a little apprehensive. She had seen Fudge at his most ignorant, his most stubborn, and she knew it was very hard to reason with him, if anyone could at all. And besides, the lives of innocent people were hanging in the balance.
*Don't be so foolish,* She told herself scoldingly. *Everything will turn out alright.*
She only wished that she had proof of that.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Cornelius Fudge had come into the Ministry that morning to find the majority of the building in a frenzy. People were running to and fro, some shaking their heads unbelievingly, others seemed in a state of shock. The general feelings that hung about in the air-confusion, panic-unnerved Fudge greatly, and his gut feeling was telling him that something was going on.
No one payed much attention to him as he hurried off to his office, trying to find some peace and sanity away from the outside world. The whole tone of the Ministry that morning and the fact that there was a quiet urgent-ness to everything reminded him eerily of the days when Voldemort had been in power, and everything had been wildly chaotic. Of course, he hadn't been the Minister of Magic then, but he still remembered it all quite well...
Shaking himself out of the memories that were suddenly swarming at him, he didn't bother to inform his secretaries that he was there, but just he rounded the corner to his office...and stopped dead.
Standing in front of his office door was a large amount of people: Remus Lupin, several members of the Weasley family, a bushy haired teenage girl whom he recognized to be a friend of Harry Potter, and Colette Villons.
He stared at them for several seconds in downright shock, and they stared back. After a moment, be broke the silence, although he was so surprised that he started speaking in chopped sentences. "What are you...why are you..."
"Hello, Cornelius," Colette said smoothly, stepping forward from the group. "How are you this morning?"
"F-fine," Fudge stammered, looking around at them all warily.
"Mm," Colette's murmur was the only sign that she had heard-or cared about--Fudge's response at all. But before she could speak further, Fudge stepped forward, standing up a little straighter. He had gotten over his initial surprise, and was beginning to feel a little annoyed.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked, mentally gathering imaginary power around himself and trying to sound imposing. "What's going on?"
"What's going on, indeed," Colette agreed, throwing Fudge's question back at him. He sputtered in surprise; he was beginning to get extremely confused. What, exactly, *was* going on?
Colette stepped up so that she was very close to him, motioning for the rest of her party to stay back. "Cornelius," Her voice was quiet with practiced ease, but unmistakably dangerous sounding at the same time. "Just tell me this-did you or did you not defy the International Confederation of Wizards?"
Fudge could only stare at her, his mind in turmoil. Had she gone *mad*? After a moment, he regained his composure and spoke. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yeah, you do!" Ron burst out suddenly, jumping forward. Hermione reacted first and tried to shush him, but it was no use. He was caught up in a large wave of fury. "You do know what she's talking about! You defied the Confederation! You're not giving people trials! You...you..." He waved his hands around wildly, trying to express the feelings he couldn't quite put into words. "I don't know why you're doing it, but you are! And you *know" you're doing it, you ridiculous, you pathetic, you evil, you...you-"
Mrs. Weasley obviously knew her son well enough to know what words were most likely going to fly out of his mouth next, and she grabbed his arm and roughly yanked him back. He tried to resist and had opened his mouth to yell some more when Hermione hissed at him, "Shut *up*, Ron! You're going to make it worse!" As soon as he felt the impact of his friend's words, he closed his mouth abruptly, his cheeks slightly pink-but with anger or embarrassment, none of them knew for sure. Hermione, noting unhappily that some of their chances were flying out the window, figured it was a mixture of both.
Fudge was starting to shake with barely suppressed fury, his teeth clenched together tightly. "How dare-how dare you let this boy speak like that in front of me! How dare-how *dare*--" He said hotly and loudly, his voice rising as the anger boiled up inside of him. Hermione could feel the dread growing in the pit of her stomach. This really wasn't going very well at all. "I have no idea what you're talking about! I don't know what's going on, and I would appreciate if someone told me!"
*He really doesn't know what's going on,* Colette observed with steadily growing disbelief, staring at the man in front of her. *He really doesn't. Ron's words are falling on deaf ears...* If truth be told, she would have liked to burst out into a shouting match with Fudge herself, but she bit her tongue and held onto something that Ron had not-composure. She took a deep breath.
Colette had begun to become slightly pale as she stepped even closer to Fudge, looking him steadily in the face. He stared back, beginning to feel a bit frightened by the fire that was burning in her blue eyes.
"Cornelius," She said shortly, then took another deep breath, pausing to choose her words carefully, something else that Ron had not done. "Are you aware that you have been committing an offense made strictly illegal by the International Confederation of Wizards? That certain decisions you have been making are likely to get you fired from your job?"
He stared at her again, before his pompous nature began bubbling up inside of him. "How could you-how could you accuse me of such a thing! I would never!" Indignation burst into his throat, and he found that he was unable to control himself, although somewhere inside of him a sick feeling was beginning to develop. "My decisions are made in the best interests of the public, no one else-"
"You make your decisions to help the public?"
"Yes! Yes, of course! I just said that, to help-"
"Even if those decisions are illegal?"
Fudge tried yell some more, but he found that his vocal cords had chosen this moment to stop working. He opened and closed his mouth wordlessly, no sound coming out. Colette took advantage of his speechless- ness and continued talking, drawing power into her voice.
"After the Dark Lord was defeated, many people who were suspected of being Death Eaters at the time were thrown into Azkaban without a trial. Why do you think that is, Cornelius?"
Fudge had found his voice again. "You can't blame me for that!" He cried, almost triumphantly. His composure was long gone. "I didn't have any power over the trials, I wasn't the minister at the time!"
"No, you weren't," Colette agreed slowly. Hermione had unhappily told her about that little fault in their plans before, but now-as Colette thought about it-she realized how everything was coming together, how it was all making sense. "You weren't Minister. But, Russell Neider was, wasn't he? Yes, of course he was. And he was a friend of your father's, was he not?"
"*What?*" The sound burst out of Ginny before she could stop herself, and she slapped her hand across her mouth to keep from shouting out more, her eyes wide.
There was silence in the room. Remus Lupin, who had been standing in the shadows behind the Weasleys and Hermione, found his mind working double time to figure out what Colette was getting at. They hadn't talked about his at all... But meanwhile, Hermione was giving herself a mental slap on the head. Russell Neider! Obviously! *How could I have not seen it before?*
Fudge, apparently, was confused as well. When he spoke, he tried to make his words sound imposing and reasonable, but he instead tripped over them in surprise. "Wh-what, exactly, are you saying?"
"I'm just *saying*," Colette answered with a casual air, waving her hand slightly. "That you could have been *influenced* by him, that is all."
"No," Fudge began angrily. Fudge might be blind at times, quite pompous, prejudiced, and ignorant, but he wasn't stupid. "You're saying that Russell Neider and I had some sort of conspiracy going on...not letting people get trials--"
"No, I'm not," Colette interrupted calmly. The Weasleys, Hermione, and Remus behind her couldn't help but admire how well she was handling the situation. "I am not saying that at all. I am saying that you were possibly *influenced* by Neider. He was a friend of your father's, you knew him personally, he helped you with your campaign. He taught you politics. You two probably had the same ideas on the same issues." After a moment, she added quietly, "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree."
"So-so you're saying that-that Russell taught me to disobey the law?" Fudge asked. He was trying to sound imposing again, but it didn't work as he began to stumble over his words as his former confidence began to dissipate.
"No," Colette replied evenly, never flinching or showing a drop in her composure. She was taking control of the situation, showing-and quite successfully, at that-that she had an answer to all of his questions and doubts. "I'm saying that both of you show similar patterns in the time that you were ministers. You both disobeyed the law when you thought what you were doing was right. Didn't you just say before that your decisions are made in the best interests of the people? That's always good to do, I applaud you for that. But one has to follow the law as well."
There was another silence. No one made a sound. Colette took yet another deep breath and continued.
"The laws for wizards weren't written hundreds of years ago as a list of suggestions, Cornelius, as I'm sure you already know. People were-and still are-expected to follow them, because they were created for that reason-to be followed. And that applies to everyone. We're all equal, right?" She paused, seeming to be genuinely waiting for an answer.
"Yes, of course we are," Hermione said quietly after a moment. "Everyone deserves the same rights."
"And that includes a right to a trial," Remus concluded, speaking up for the first time, making Fudge back away slightly, his face pale. "Everyone deserves the right to a fair trial. Everyone. How would you feel if you were sent to Azkaban for something you didn't do, and hadn't even been given a chance to prove your innocence?"
"But he's guilty! He's guilty!" Fudge burst out suddenly, making Ginny jump. Fred and George-who had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the confrontation--gave each other looks of annoyed exasperation. "Black is guilty, he's a guilty man! He doesn't need a trial, he's a murderer!"
"But how do you know that?" Hermione broke in, catching onto Fred and George's annoyance. "You don't know that, not for sure-"
"I do know that for sure!"
"How?" Hermione and Colette both burst out together.
"People saw him! People saw him blow up the street!"
"No," Mrs. Weasley said flatly, stepping forward. She took a deep breath, suddenly a little nervous, and then continued. "No, they didn't. They saw a street being blown up, never-in any of the witness accounts-did people say that they saw Sirius himself doing it. He's not guilty. Peter Pettigrew is."
Not for the first time during the present meeting, Fudge found that his vocal cords had refused to work and he was having trouble speaking. After a moment of incoherent sputtering, he turned on his heel, trying to leave the corridor while at the same time finding his voice.
"I-I-all of you, the whole lot of you-you've all gone bloody mad! Poor Peter is dead, killed by Black...you're all mad...bloody mad..." Muttering to himself in shock, he tried to leave the hallway, but Remus was in front of him in a split second, standing his ground and staring him down with set determination.
"Don't you tell me that Pettigrew is dead," Remus snarled, a growl in his throat. Ginny, startled, instinctively took a step back. Hermione placed a hand on her arm, although she could see why her friend was reacting that way. If she hadn't known Remus very well and hadn't known for a long time that he was not dangerous, she probably would have reacted in the same fashion...because for a moment, Remus had looked truly terrifying...and he had sounded very much like a wolf.
"And don't you tell me that Sirius killed him!" Remus continued, the growl still in his voice, and his eyes flashing with anger. "Pettigrew was James and Lily's Secret Keeper, not Sirius! He was working for You-Know- Who, and he betrayed them! And he killed all those Muggles on the street, too! Sirius had tracked him down, Sirius was the only one who really knew what he was up to..." Remus paused for a second and gulped, overcome with emotion. "So Peter framed him, he made it look like Sirius had blown up the street, when it was really him who did it...and then he turned into Ron's pet..."
Fudge wasn't quite sure exactly what Remus was talking about, and frankly he didn't care, for in his mind the whole group of people standing in front of him had gone berserk...especially the man in front of him. He, certainly, was deranged-but then Fudge remembered who this was...of course, he was the werewolf! That explained it. Stepping backwards-half in fear, half in disgust--all Fudge knew was that he had had enough.
"Mad," He muttered, shaking his head slightly. "Bloody...bloody mad..."
"Mad we may be, Cornelius," Colette said agreed smoothly. "In fact, we all probably *are* mad-I really wouldn't be surprised. But that means that some very important people are mad as well." She reached into the pocket of her robes and produced a folded piece of parchment. Carefully unfolding it, she held it out to Fudge, who cautiously took it from her. He glanced down at the heading of the parchment-saw that it was from the International Confederation of Wizards-and looked back up at Colette, alarmed, his eyes questioning.
"This," Colette said slowly, answering his unspoken question. "Is an order given to me by the International Confederation of Wizards, as you already know. The Confederation wasn't very happy with you, Cornelius. Not very happy at all."
Fudge stared at her, not comprehending what was going on, fear and dread piling up inside of him as he felt a knot beginning to form in his throat.
"You aren't giving people trials, Cornelius," Colette continued, glaring at the Minister of Magic straight in the eye. "You've let at least one man be sentenced to Azkaban without a trial, and that man happens to be innocent of the crimes of which he supposedly committed. You've defied one of the most basic laws that the Confederation came up with-a man is innocent until proven guilty. That law is one of the main laws that has helped keep the magical society on its feet for hundreds of years. Also..."
She took a deep breath, carefully choosing her next words. "You have refused to even consider the fact that the most powerful Dark wizard of all time has returned. If you were an intelligent man, you'd at least look into the facts, but you will have none of it. If things continue going the way they are now, the Dark Lord will return in full measure. More people will die, because he will return more powerful than he ever was, holding more of the awful power that he held fourteen years ago."
She nodded towards the piece of parchment that he was holding in his hand, and Fudge looked down upon it again, frankly beginning to feel slightly terrified.
"What you have in your hands is an order from the International Confederation of Wizards, an order that greatly concerns you." She took a deep breath, letting this information sink it. "Cornelius Fudge, you're fired."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When Harry woke up, he was feeling extremely confused.
Slowly, struggling past his pounding headache, he opened his eyes and stared, startled, at the stark white ceiling above him. He froze for a second, and then closed his eyes quickly, his mind whirling.
Where *was* he?
Squashing down the fear that threatened to override him, he carefully opened his eyes again and stared, with growing terror, at the ceiling that was blurry above him. He distantly registered that he was lying in a bed, and couldn't help but wondering why his surroundings had a familiar feel, but he couldn't figure out why. Maybe if he could get a clearer view he would know...if only he had his glasses!
Harry tried to sit up, but stopped as soon as he felt a sharp pain shooting through his back. Sucking in air through clenched teeth, he quickly lay back down onto the bed and resigned to sliding his eyes toward the right, the feeling that he had seen this place before nagging in the back of his mind.
Through a blurry haze (He wanted his glasses!), Harry saw that he was in a hospital room of some sort...his head was pounding again, he was beginning to feel dizzy, and frankly was getting scared because he didn't know where he was, and couldn't quite remember what had happened before he had lost consciousness...
He looked over at the space to the right of him, trying to focus his eyes and failing miserably. He tried moving his head to the side, but was confronted with pain and stopped almost immediately, but not before he had caught a small glimpse of his surroundings.
Suddenly, he realized why this all seemed so familiar.
Sirius. He was in Sirius's room at St. Mungo's! What the...
Letting out a little squeak of surprise and doing his best to ignore the pain in various parts of his body, Harry turned onto his side and stared- his emotions ranging between confusion, joy, and downright shock-at Sirius sleeping peacefully on the bed beside him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Harry's back was aching.
He didn't dare move, however, hardly dared to breathe as his heart boomed like a cannon in his ears. He didn't know how long he had lay there in that position, simply staring at his godfather. At least ten or fifteen minutes, he judged, but he didn't take his eyes off Sirius long enough to search for a clock-and besides, even if he had found a clock he wouldn't have been able to read the time without his glasses.
After those long minutes passed by, he gathered up the nerve to try and wake Sirius.
"Padfoot...?"
Sirius made no move to show that he had heard his godson. He continued to sleep peacefully, chest rising and falling with each breath that he took.
Harry decided to try again. He knew that he ought to let Sirius sleep, but the need to talk to someone and to find out what was going on pushed him to open his mouth once more.
"Padfoot?" He whispered again, and again no response. "Sirius..."
The man on the bed beside him stirred slightly, and Harry froze, watching his godfather's pale face turn over to face Harry's bed, eyes opening slowly.
Sirius gave a small gasp as soon as he saw Harry, and Harry didn't even blink as he looked steadily back at him.
"Harry?" Sirius whispered in shock, his eyes very wide. "*Harry*? What are you...what in the blazes..."
Harry just shook his head mutely, once more ignoring his headache. "I don't know," He whispered. "Don't ask me what I'm doing here or how I got here, cause I can't give you an answer."
They stared at each other, and Harry stared into Sirius's eyes. It didn't matter that he didn't have his glasses on and couldn't see very well, he still found himself imagining another version of those eyes-eyes that were youthful and bright, not plagued with the horrors that they had seen.
The eyes that he had seen in 1981.
And then it all came back to him in a rush: falling asleep at the Weasleys, and his dream, then waking up in that barn...and being in Godric's Hollow...and seeing his parents...and then Sirius...and then Voldemort...
And then the Riddle House. And Voldemort, and Pettigrew, and...
For the first time Harry began to realize the implications of everything that had happened to him in the past...what? How long had it been since he had woken up in the barn? He suddenly realized with a start that everything fit together chronologically-he had spent the evening and a good part of the night in 1981, when he got back to 1995 it was still night, but then he had been unconscious and woken up around dawn. It all fit together.
"Your glasses," Sirius whispered, drawing Harry out of his thoughts as he nodded toward a small table next to Harry's bed, on which Harry dimly saw his glasses lying. Not speaking, he carefully reached out his arm- gritting his teeth to keep from crying out as his muscles screamed in protest. He had obviously been more hurt than he had originally thought... Grasping his glasses, Harry dropped them onto his face and the world quickly came into focus.
Yes, he recognized it more clearly now. Sirius's hospital room. He wondered for a moment where his bed had come from-he didn't remember there being an empty bed in Sirius's room before-but then again, nothing had been making much sense lately anyway, so he didn't dwell on it too long.
Harry turned again to look at Sirius, and as soon as he did, there came a knock at the door. They both froze, first staring at the door and then at each other. After a moment, Sirius cleared his throat softly and then opened his mouth.
"Come-come in..." He called out, his voice cracking slightly. The doorknob turned, the door was opened, and Harry found that he wasn't very surprised to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorframe.
"Hello Harry, Sirius," He said pleasantly, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. "How are you feeling?"
"Um, okay..." Harry said slowly, watching the older man carefully. It wasn't exactly a lie-he wasn't feeling awful, but he wasn't feeling at his best either.
Dumbledore nodded, smiling, and pulled out a chair from the corner of the room to sit in the space between the feet of each of their beds. He didn't say anything, just sat and smiled. Harry and Sirius stared at him, waiting for him to say something...
...which he never did. Apparently, he was perfectly happy to just sit and smile at his student and former student. Finally, Sirius sighed.
"Do you have something you want to tell us, Albus?" He asked, a small note of exasperation in his voice. Harry, however, was beginning to understand the way his headmaster's mind worked.
"Yeah, he does," Harry said, answering for Dumbledore. "But he's waiting for us to ask the questions."
Dumbledore turned to him, smiling wider now. "Correct, Harry. Now, what is your question?"
"What happened?" Harry said bluntly, not missing a beat.
"Yeah, I'd like to know that, too..." Sirius said slowly, giving his godson a curious glance.
"You mean what happened to you after you passed out at the Riddle House, or before?" Dumbledore asked reasonably, peering at Harry over his glasses.
Sirius gave a start at hearing the words, "the Riddle House," but to his credit he kept his mouth shut to let Harry answer, although his mind was racing.
"Uh, both..." Harry said tentatively. Silence. Finally, Harry could contain it no longer.
"Professor, do you know where I *was*?" Harry burst out, so savagely that he surprised himself. "I was in 1981! In Godric's Hollow! With my parents and...and..."
Sirius physically jumped in his bed, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly while choked sounds escaped from his throat. "What...what..."
"Hush, Sirius," Dumbledore said quietly. "I'll explain it all in a minute." He turned to Harry, who was watching his professor carefully, his emotions in turmoil. "Yes, that's where the Time Turner was directed. Godric's Hollow, on Halloween, 1981."
"Time Turner?" Sirius asked, staring. Dumbledore held up his hand for silence. "As I said a moment ago, I will explain everything to you shortly. But before I do-Harry, why don't you tell us what you've been doing recently, starting from when you got into bed last night."
So Harry took a deep breath and began, launching into falling asleep at the Burrow, and his dream, and then waking up in the barn down the street from Godric's Hollow. He then recounted in detail everything that had happened to him in 1981, and then coming back to 1995-right up until the moment that Dumbledore had found him in the Riddle House. The only interruption was when Harry was telling about spying on his parents and Sirius outside their home, and what they had said. At that point, Sirius could no longer keep quiet, giving a small gasp.
"I...I..." He muttered, staring at Harry. "I remember that...you were *there*? I remember that..." Harry shifted uncomfortably, a bit unnerved by the look in his godfather's eyes. After that, he wasn't interrupted again as he recounted his story.
It took a long time. When he was done, he swallowed hard-his throat was a little sore from all that talking, and he also couldn't remember the last time he had had a drink. He wanted water, but held his tongue. He wanted to hear what Dumbledore had to say about all this, if he had any explanations.
Dumbledore sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his index fingers into the corners of his eyes. After a moment of silence, Harry spoke up.
"Professor?" He asked quietly. "Do you think you can answer my questions?"
"I'll do my best, Harry. What are they?"
Harry took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts, grateful that Sirius was being silent throughout this whole exchange-he needed to think, he had a lot of questions.
"Okay, um...how did Voldemort get access to Time Turners? The one that he had, and the one that I sort of took from Pettigrew?"
"That, Harry, I don't know the answer to," Dumbledore sighed, frowning slightly. "My best guess is that he has some connection of sorts in the Ministry, and they were able to somehow obtain two Time Turners for him. That will have to be investigated."
"Okay...what was all that about my dream? And how did *I* get the Time Turner from Pettigrew, and bring it back...?"
"Harry, you and Peter Pettigrew have developed some sort of bond, of implications that I don't know of yet," Dumbledore said in a soft voice that left Harry frowning slightly. "Somehow, inexplicably, you, through your dreams, entered where Pettigrew was, and physically *took* the Time Turner from him and brought it back to your physical body...quite unheard of..." He shook his head. "I don't know Harry. Your guess is as good as mine."
Harry bit his lip, remembering something. At the end of his third year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had told Harry that one day he might be very glad that he had saved Pettigrew's life that day in the Shrieking Shack. Was this the day? But no...Pettigrew hadn't done anything for him...he was feeling more confused than ever, but didn't voice his thoughts. Instead, he asked another question that had been on his mind.
"After Voldemort started yelling in the forest, the paralyzing spell that he had put on me stopped working and I was able to kick him. How...?"
"This, I believe, has nothing to do with bonds," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "If things happened the way you say they happened, then Voldemort was feeling very angry and frustrated, and his emotions were overwhelming him...a rare instance, indeed. His feelings overpowered him, and he lost control over the spell without realizing it."
Harry fought to understand. His head had started pounding again, and he was finding it harder to concentrate-but he really wanted answers, and he wanted them now. *Forget about your stupid head,* Harry told himself firmly. *Just ask questions...and listen to the answers...*
Forcing himself to focus, Harry asked yet another question. "Voldemort...he used powerful wandless magic in the Riddle House. Professor," He frowned. "I thought wandless magic couldn't be used for something huge like what he did..."
"It can't, at least to my knowledge," Dumbledore answered, glancing at Sirius and then watching Harry carefully. "Harry, whether we're happy with the fact or not, Voldemort is an extremely powerful man. Once again, I'm not sure how he did this, and it is..." He glanced at Sirius again. "...something to be concerned about."
Harry's head was swimming. He felt more dizzy than ever, and just wanted to sleep. But he had so many questions...and then there was this important one...
"Pettigrew," Harry muttered, fighting to stay awake as he felt drowsiness beginning to take him over.
"We're trying to get a confession out of him..." Dumbledore's voice trailed off in his mind, and Harry dropped off into sleep, pain and exhaustion once again taking its toll.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
By now, an hour after her confrontation with Fudge, Colette wasn't particularly excited or happy. She wasn't triumphant, she wasn't looking forward to what she had to do next, and despite the change that has occurred in recent events, she certainly wasn't jumping for joy.
Quite simply, she was tired.
So tired. She had known when she had accepted Dumbledore's request to get mixed up in all of this that sleep would become a precious rarity, and that her grainy eyes would plague her unmercilessly. Nevertheless, she found herself longing for her bed, and felt quite certain that if she lay down right there-in the corridor of St. Mungo's-she would fall asleep.
But she had to go see Black and Potter, simply had to. She had to explain to them what was going on, what had happened...the two of them had been through so much, she at least owed them that much, to keep them updated to what was going on. Besides, she may be tired, but if a boy who wasn't even quite fifteen yet could have a concussion, back injuries, and a pretty banged up left arm and still stand up to Lord Voldemort...well, she could certainly fulfill *her* duties.
Dumbledore had come to her not too long ago, telling her to go visit Black and Potter and fill them in, after he had left them himself earlier. He had been answering the questions that had arisen after Harry's adventures to the best of his ability, but when the boy had fallen asleep he had decided to go and tell the Weasleys and Hermione-who were extremely worried-exactly what was going on.
Colette had been there as Dumbledore told them all where Harry had been, listening to the story he recounted, disbelief slowly turning to shocked understanding. This was insane. There was no other word for it. Insane...
Continuing down the halls of St. Mungo's, she thought about how her life had been turned positively upside down in the span of a few days. First she had found out that the Dark Lord had indeed returned and that her old friend Sirius Black was innocent...and then that Fudge was not listening to *anyone*...and now all this business about the Dark Lord's plans and time travel...and now...and now...
Colette shook her head violently. She almost didn't want to think about who she was now, it was frightening her a bit...
A few minutes later, she stood in front of room 521 and paused, wondering if Potter was still asleep or whether Black would throw her out of the room now that Harry was there...she had heard that he had gotten very protective of his godson.
"Oh, well, here goes nothing," Colette muttered. She lifted a hand to knock at the door, but as soon as her knuckles came into contact with the door, it opened of it's own accord. She froze before remembering that time- it seemed so long ago-that Fudge had come bursting into the room and had broken the door. She sighed. So much had happened...
"Sirius?" Colette called out softly, carefully poking her head into the room. "Er, Sirius, are you-"
"Hello, Colette," Came the sound of her old friend's smooth voice. Slowly opening the door, Colette slipped inside the room. As soon as she was inside, she closed the door behind her and glanced around to see an awake Harry Potter sitting upright in his bed-obviously a new addition to the room--and watching her carefully. She gave a small smile, suddenly a little nervous, which was extremely unlike her. She was hardly ever nervous in these situations, and if she was, she was very good at not showing it.
She gave the teenager a quick nod before glancing at the other bed and her old friend who was lying in it. Spotting a chair in the corner of the room, she went over to it and pulled it out into the middle where she could sit and see both of the patients at the same time. Suddenly feeling a little awkward-another quality that was very much unlike her, she was usually extremely self-confident-she sat down in the chair and crossed her right leg over her left leg. A nervous habit that she had broken when she was a little girl.
She looked at the two of them, almost expecting one of them to speak first before she remembered that she was the one who had walked into *their* room. She mentally slapped herself on the head. Duh.
"We...uh. Need to talk," Colette said, shifting slightly as she decided to go straight to the point. "There are several things that you two should know that concern...many things."
Sirius quirked an eyebrow at her. "Such as...?"
"What has happened in recent events..." Colette restrained the urge to sigh and instead gave herself a little shake of the head. She normally didn't feel so uncomfortable...what was *wrong* with her? Why was she acting like this? If she was to be truthful with herself, it was frightening her a bit, but with everything that had happened to her recently, maybe her feelings were to be expected.
She took a deep breath and forcefully slowed her quickening heartbeat. She wasn't making any sense...this was not like her at all...
"Several things have happened," Colette began slowly, taking the time to carefully choose her words. "That the two of you should know about...involving such things as your trial, Sirius," She nodded toward the older man. "And Cornelius Fudge."
Out of the corner of her eye, Colette could see Harry shifting and his eyes darkening. He obviously hated Fudge, and Colette honestly couldn't blame him. Hell, she hated him, too.
Focusing herself on the task at hand, Colette decided that she just might as well tell them straight out what was going on, no beating around the bush. "Sirius, it's like I told you yesterday, before things got even more complicated...you are going to get a trial. A specific date has not been set yet, but it will be sometime in the very near future, so as to get this whole mess cleaned up as soon as possible."
There was silence for a moment as both Harry and Sirius gaped dumbly at her, not speaking, while Colette returned to them a calm, steady stare. She was beginning to feel more like herself again. Finally, Sirius made a sort of choking sound.
"What...*how*...?"
"Remember what Dumbledore was planning on doing, what he said before? How he was going to alter things so you could easily get a trial? Do you remember exactly what he was going to alter?" She asked, watching them carefully as confusion flooded their faces. Yes, they remembered, of course, but they didn't understand.
"Yeah, but-"
"To make a long story short," She interrupted Potter smoothly, holding up a hand, signaling him to wait. "Cornelius Fudge is no longer the Minister of Magic." She took yet another deep breath. "I am."
Colette carefully controlled her facial features like her mother had taught her so as not to wear her emotions on her sleeve, while at the same time watching Sirius and Harry to see their reactions. She noted with somewhat distant amusement that this unexpected news had rendered the two basically speechless. She didn't know the Potter boy all that well, but making Sirius Black go speechless was a rarity, indeed.
But apparently, Potter was a little better at dealing with surprise than his godfather.
"Of course!" He breathed. "That's what Dumbledore was planning to do...it actually *worked*? Wait a second..." He looked up at Colette, who could almost see the gears turning inside his head. "But when did this happen? I mean...how..."
Sirius was completely dumbfounded, staring from Colette to Harry, then back to Colette, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Colette stifled the urge to laugh at the sight of the expression on her old friend's face. Shifting slightly in her seat and regaining her composure, she focused on her current job-filling them in.
"Once again, to make a very long story short, your friend Hermione," She nodded towards Harry. "And I found out that Fudge wasn't going 'by the book', so to speak-he performing some extremely illegal actions..." Her voice trailed off. "If you want, you can get the details about exactly what he was doing later, it's pretty complicated to go into-but the point is, he didn't get away with it. The International Confederation of Wizards didn't like what he was doing and got him fired...so I'm, at least for the time being, taking over his job."
"He got fired by the International Confederation of Wizards? How did you get for that to work?" Harry asked, frowning slightly. Sirius just sat, listening quietly. "He must have done something really bad, something really illegal, for him to get fired for doing it, and on such short notice..." He looked at Colette, as if prompting her to go on. "Well? What happened?"
"It's complicated," Colette said shortly, as if that explained everything. "Do you really want me to go into *everything* now?"
Harry shrugged. "Give me the Cliff Notes."
Now both Sirius and Colette were staring at him, uncomprehending. "The *what*?" They both asked in unison, looking at him as if he had just sprouted another head.
Harry shook his head. "Just shorten it, okay? I have time."
"Yeah," Sirius added, apparently finding his voice and turning to look back at Colette. "It's not like either of us are going anywhere immediately."
Colette glared at them for a moment before sighing. "Fine, you win," She gave in. "Basically, to yet again make a long story short, Fudge and another minister weren't abiding by 'innocent until proven guilty.'"
"Another minister?" Harry asked, frowning. "Who-"
"Russell Neider," Colette answered before he had finished phrasing the question. She directed the answer to Potter, as Sirius would already know this. "He was the minister before Fudge, and he was a friend of Fudge's father. Supposedly, it was he who inspired Fudge to get into politics, and he taught Fudge about many of the things he had done as minister while Fudge was running for office. If you look at many of the choices taken by each of them, you can see that there are some parallels. Such as not giving people trials." She shook her head disgustedly.
"So is this Russell guy going to get prosecuted, too-"
Colette shook her head again, saying flatly, "Russell Neider is dead. He died a few years ago, he was very old...otherwise he would be getting the same treatment as Fudge. He wasn't giving trials to several people accused of being Death Eaters before You-Know-Who's downfall," She glanced at Sirius. "Simply because he thought that there was enough evidence saying that they were guilty. And now Fudge followed in his footsteps."
There was a short silence as this information sunk in. Then Sirius spoke up, having obviously found his voice, although it was more to himself than anyone else. "That means that all those other people could be innocent, too..."
"Pardon?" Colette looked at Sirius intently, waiting for him to explain.
"Nothing, it's just..." Sirius began, then seemingly changed his mind about something and sighed. "Nothing, it's nothing."
"Yes, it is something," Colette insisted. She hated when people talked to themselves aloud about things they didn't want other people to hear. Why would they say it aloud, then?
"It's just...I was accused of being a Death Eater and sent to Azkaban without a trial, right? That could have happened to other people. Other people aren't Death Eaters and were sent to Azkaban without trials."
Colette cocked her head at him thoughtfully, then nodded slowly. "Yes, you know, that's probably true. I'm definitely going to look into that." She glanced at her watch. "Well, I should be going...now that I'm the minister, I have a lot of stuff to take care of..."
She got up, smoothed her robes, and began to walk towards the door. She had just placed her hand on the doorknob when Harry's voice stopped her.
"You know what this means, right? You could team up with Dumbledore now, like Dumbledore wanted to do with Fudge...about defeating Voldemort."
"Yes, definitely," Colette nodded. That boy was very perceptive...he thought a lot. "That's what I'm going to busy myself with immediately after this whole trial business is cleared up. I'm going to do something, especially after what almost happened to my cousin last month..."
"Your cousin?" Harry asked, confusion and curiosity evident in his voice.
Colette turned around, giving him a curious smile. "Yes, my cousin. She could have been seriously hurt in the third task back at Hogwarts in June." She shook her head. "I still can't believe how ignorant Fudge is..."
She was moving to leave again, but not before she noticed the look on Harry's face. She frowned. "Potter? Are you alright?"
"Y-your cousin?" He asked, his voice sounding oddly choked and his eyes looked as if they might pop out of their sockets. "Your cousin was in the third task?"
"Of course she was..." Colette said slowly, watching the boy warily. "Are you sure you're alright? Should I maybe call a nurse...?"
Sirius held up his hand, looking at his godson curiously, then staring at her. "I don't think it's a medical problem, Colette..."
Harry leaned back in his pillow, the color having drained from his face. Colette was truly concerned now. Maybe-
"Y-your cousin?" Harry muttered, interrupting her thoughts. "Your cousin is- "
"Fleur," Colette said, frowning at him. "Yes, Fleur Delacour...she's my first cousin, of course...our mothers are sisters...what, you didn't know that?" Understanding dawned on her. "Is that all?" She laughed suddenly. Oh, the boy was fine. "I thought everyone knew that, that it's common knowledge...you had me scared there for a second, Potter!"
Still laughing, Colette left the room.
Sirius was looking at Harry with an amused smile on his face. "Harry? You okay there, kid?"
"Fleur..." Harry said weakly, shaking his head in disbelief. "Fleur's her *cousin*...why didn't I see it before?" He laughed a little, first at his own ignorance, and then at how much sense it made. "They look alike! They've got the same long blonde hair and blue eyes...and veela! They've both got veela in their blood, that's why I was...and Ron!" He laughed again. "Of course! Ron had a crush on Fleur, and now on her cousin...he was taken by both of them...and 'Colette Villons'-that's a French name! Fleur is French!"
Harry was laughing in earnest now. It really wasn't all that much of a knee- slapping inducing situation or anything, but in light of recent events and how happy he was at the moment, (and not to mention how funny this coincidence was) it-to Harry-seemed downright hilarious.
After he had calmed down a bit, he noticed that Sirius was watching him with the amused look still on his face. Harry took a deep breath, giggled a little more, and then turned to Sirius with an expression of carefully controlled (and fake) calm on his face as Sirius spoke.
"I'm overjoyed that you find this all highly amusing, Harry, but I think it'll cheer you up even more when you fully understand what Colette-yes, that's right, Fleur's cousin..." He waited patiently for another moment as Harry laughed again, then continued. "When you fully understand what Colette said." He looked at his godson dead in the eye. "I'm going to have a *trial*, Harry. A trial that will prove my innocence. Once I'm proven innocent, that will mean that I am free. Free to..." He paused, his heartbeat suddenly quickening. "...adopt you..."
Harry stared. *Adopt* him...Sirius could *adopt* him...
"And now that Pettigrew is captured," Sirius continued, biting his lip. "He won't be getting in the way...so what do you say, Harry? Want a new home? With me?"
A knot was steadily forming in Harry's throat. Finally...after all these years of wanting a family, he would finally be getting one... He took a moment to find his voice before speaking. "Sirius." He took a deep breath. "What do *you* think I want?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow slightly before noticing the teasing glint in Harry's eyes. He decided to play along. "I think...that you want a home? I think that your answer is yes?"
"And I think you're correct," Harry said condescendingly, a small grin on his face.
The teasing glints and grins faded, and the two of them locked eyes for a moment as invisible waves of understanding passed between them. *Everything's going to be alright now,* Harry thought, relief flooding through him. *Everything's going to be okay...*
The moment passed, and Sirius broke eye contact first, settling down onto his pillows as Harry did the same. Then Sirius spoke again, very softly.
"Everything will be great now, Harry...you don't need to live at the Dursleys, you'll have a home..."
"It will be better than great, Sirius," Harry added quietly. "It will be amazing..."
They lay together in silence for a few more moments before Sirius spoke up again.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"You're going to live with me. This will be incredible."
Harry smiled and turned onto his side.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"You're going to be happier than you've ever been."
"I don't doubt it all."
Silence. Then-
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"You have a family."
Harry glanced at Sirius over his shoulder, feeling happier than he had in a long, long time. "Yeah...yeah, I really do."
More silence.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"Colette is Fleur's cousin!"
Harry burst into laughter once more, and at that single moment, he felt as if the missing hole in his heart was finally filled.
A/N: Well???? This chapter certainly ties a lot of loose ends together, huh? No more Fudge! Colette is minister! (Not to mention Fleur's cousin...) I'm actually surprised that none of you guys picked that up. I figured that I dropped enough clues to make it seem not so far-fetched--what Colette looks like (you know, the whole blonde-hair-blue-eyes-ice-queen beauty), that's she's French, she makes male heads turn, Ron's infatuated by her...and even her manner: calm, cool, and collected. Hehehe, that's even a little like Fleur!
The title refers to the fact that all that Fudge has done to people during his time as minister is now rebounding back to him. Cause and effect! Karma! It serves him right, eh? I think it also means a sort of circle is now completed, for Harry-he had a family and a home, then he didn't; now he does again. Speaking of Harry, if he seems a little out of character in part of this chapter, that'll be explained later.
Well, we're in the home stretch, guys! Only a few more chapters left, methinks! This was the longest chapter, by the way-just short of twenty pages! Yikes! Well, it's a nice long chapter after all that waiting on your part-you guys rock, I'm so glad you didn't boycott me or anything. *wink*
WeasleyTwinsLover1112: Lol you said something like, "Is Harry going to save Cedric?" You did! Lol whatever... Last July? You better update, then!
padfoot1979: Yay, I love getting new reviewers! I'm glad that you like my characterizations, when I started writing the story I was afraid I wasn't doing them very well. Wormtail's captured! WOO HOO!
Snape? Hmm...I hadn't planned on him being in the story, but I guess he could make some sort of cameo appearance, so to speak. Lol, maybe I can put him in somewhere.
celestial princess: Yeah, I had tons of fun with the trick wands thing! That was great. "better watch it, now the pressure is on!"
Anaxandra: That's a pretty name...combination of Anna and Alexandra, pretty...lol nevermind. Wow, thanks for all the compliments! Yay! Harry and Sirius (non slash, that just scares me) stories rock! Let's just say this story did involve a lot of planning things out...and thinking...and more thinking. Actually, a heck of a lot of thinking, when it comes down to it. I've had a lot of fun with Colette-you know, when the beginning of this story was written, and when I first started planning it out, Colette didn't even exist? But I think it's kind of refreshing to have an original character in a world where characters you didn't create are dominant. Sort of gives you room to play around. Yeah, Harry and Ginny *are* cute! Hehehe...
Hi Asia! I love cats! I have two; sometimes they try and attack my fingers when I'm typing, too. And sometimes lie on the keyboard. Cats rock, too!
Yuffie-Girl: Yeah, it is hard to find what you're looking for...especially in a huge section like Harry Potter, where like over twenty stories are updated every day and you need to go through pages and pages...blech. Yep, everything's coming together-and there be part of a chapter with something of that sort! It will be necessary to have...hehe well you'll see. Merci!
Crazy-Chan: Oh, thank you! Yeah, Sirius will be free! And Fudge isn't minister! Yay! You are in a hurry, aren't you? Well, I'm glad you like my story!
Child-of-the-Dawn: Colette/Sirius? Hehe well we'll see. And uh you know I was just wondering-what the heck is the energizer bunny? If I need something critiqued, I'll go you, but right now I just wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible before I'm chased down my block my various readers with kitchen knives.
Oh my gosh! If you read my profile, you'll see that I love Star Wars...and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon rock! Especially Obi-Wan. Lol, I read some of the Jedi Apprentice thingies when I was younger, and I vaguely remember who Tahl is. Just like I vaguely remember uh Bant? And Bruck? Am I right? I'll check it out when I'm not so swamped!
Silver Angel: Really? You love it? Yay! So many people love it, I feel so happy...
Angel of Hogwarts: Yep, Voldemort holding a teddy bear. How great is that? Well, here's what happened next!
LilyGinnyBlack: Let me guess-you love this story? Lol, as you can see, I continued. I'll check out your stories once I'm not so swamped with work and can breathe a little!
The Elfin Child: Yay! More story! Trust me, I'm dancing too, I'm so relieved to have finally gotten this chapter out!
Tinuviel: Your hard drive crashed? Ugh that really sucks. I would like have a heart attack if my hard drive crashed! Lol, I am the Queen of Procrastination. I honestly don't know how I ever get anything done at all, with my study habits!
Yeah, Harry fell asleep with a concussion, but he's not too badly hurt, see? I don't have the heart to torture poor Harry as much as another writer, neutral, has done. (If you like Sirius/Harry sort of bonding/adventure stories check her things out, she's an excellent writer, far better than I am I think!) Yay! Yay! Yay! Colette and Hermione are so smart! Girl power! And no more Pettigrew! Yay!
When I was writing that bit when Harry woke up and was talking to Dumbledore, I was actually reminded of something from the books. Yay! I don't mind exclamation points and "yay's"! I do it all the time! Yay! I'm even doing it now, see! YAY!!!
Your weird sometimes? Don't worry, we all are these days!
amy: Wow thanks! I'm not going to write about the school year in *this* story, cause it just wouldn't make any sense, although maybe as part of an epilogue...I don't know, I didn't originally plan on it...but then again, I didn't originally plan on Harry traveling through time or Colette even existing, so you never know! eHHeadjdadfd
A/N: 4/23 I uploaded this chapter days ago, but something went wrong and it didn't work! Ugh...I'm just realizing this now...
A/N: Chapter 20! Wow! When I started planning out this story months and months ago, I only thought it would be sixteen chapters or so... And this would have come out a LOT earlier, sorry guys, but my muse refused to cooperate...evil muse...
This chapter is dedicated to my grandfather who died in the early morning of March 4th, 2003.
"No one can put a chain around the ankle of his fellow man without at least finding the other end of it about his own neck."
--Frederick Douglass
Chapter Twenty-What Goes Around, Comes Around
Hermione was nervous.
She and Colette had come up with an amazing idea about getting Sirius to have a trial and incriminating Fudge for all the illegal things that he had done. They had all gone over the evidence needed for proving their point many times. They had planned how they would try to reason with Fudge. Mrs. Weasley had looked up the witness accounts from the Muggles who had been on the street that Pettigrew had blown up, to tie up some remaining loopholes. Remus Lupin had done some research on the person who was minister in 1981-apparently, he had found some very relevant information, although Hermione didn't know what it was. Colette had gone to Dumbledore with their information and evidence, who had quickly brought it all to the attention to members of the International Confederation of Wizards. When all the various research had been presented to them, they had wanted to go and fire Fudge right on the spot, but Colette had another plan in mind.
All in all, Hermione should have felt very confident, but she couldn't but help feeling a little apprehensive. She had seen Fudge at his most ignorant, his most stubborn, and she knew it was very hard to reason with him, if anyone could at all. And besides, the lives of innocent people were hanging in the balance.
*Don't be so foolish,* She told herself scoldingly. *Everything will turn out alright.*
She only wished that she had proof of that.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Cornelius Fudge had come into the Ministry that morning to find the majority of the building in a frenzy. People were running to and fro, some shaking their heads unbelievingly, others seemed in a state of shock. The general feelings that hung about in the air-confusion, panic-unnerved Fudge greatly, and his gut feeling was telling him that something was going on.
No one payed much attention to him as he hurried off to his office, trying to find some peace and sanity away from the outside world. The whole tone of the Ministry that morning and the fact that there was a quiet urgent-ness to everything reminded him eerily of the days when Voldemort had been in power, and everything had been wildly chaotic. Of course, he hadn't been the Minister of Magic then, but he still remembered it all quite well...
Shaking himself out of the memories that were suddenly swarming at him, he didn't bother to inform his secretaries that he was there, but just he rounded the corner to his office...and stopped dead.
Standing in front of his office door was a large amount of people: Remus Lupin, several members of the Weasley family, a bushy haired teenage girl whom he recognized to be a friend of Harry Potter, and Colette Villons.
He stared at them for several seconds in downright shock, and they stared back. After a moment, be broke the silence, although he was so surprised that he started speaking in chopped sentences. "What are you...why are you..."
"Hello, Cornelius," Colette said smoothly, stepping forward from the group. "How are you this morning?"
"F-fine," Fudge stammered, looking around at them all warily.
"Mm," Colette's murmur was the only sign that she had heard-or cared about--Fudge's response at all. But before she could speak further, Fudge stepped forward, standing up a little straighter. He had gotten over his initial surprise, and was beginning to feel a little annoyed.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked, mentally gathering imaginary power around himself and trying to sound imposing. "What's going on?"
"What's going on, indeed," Colette agreed, throwing Fudge's question back at him. He sputtered in surprise; he was beginning to get extremely confused. What, exactly, *was* going on?
Colette stepped up so that she was very close to him, motioning for the rest of her party to stay back. "Cornelius," Her voice was quiet with practiced ease, but unmistakably dangerous sounding at the same time. "Just tell me this-did you or did you not defy the International Confederation of Wizards?"
Fudge could only stare at her, his mind in turmoil. Had she gone *mad*? After a moment, he regained his composure and spoke. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yeah, you do!" Ron burst out suddenly, jumping forward. Hermione reacted first and tried to shush him, but it was no use. He was caught up in a large wave of fury. "You do know what she's talking about! You defied the Confederation! You're not giving people trials! You...you..." He waved his hands around wildly, trying to express the feelings he couldn't quite put into words. "I don't know why you're doing it, but you are! And you *know" you're doing it, you ridiculous, you pathetic, you evil, you...you-"
Mrs. Weasley obviously knew her son well enough to know what words were most likely going to fly out of his mouth next, and she grabbed his arm and roughly yanked him back. He tried to resist and had opened his mouth to yell some more when Hermione hissed at him, "Shut *up*, Ron! You're going to make it worse!" As soon as he felt the impact of his friend's words, he closed his mouth abruptly, his cheeks slightly pink-but with anger or embarrassment, none of them knew for sure. Hermione, noting unhappily that some of their chances were flying out the window, figured it was a mixture of both.
Fudge was starting to shake with barely suppressed fury, his teeth clenched together tightly. "How dare-how dare you let this boy speak like that in front of me! How dare-how *dare*--" He said hotly and loudly, his voice rising as the anger boiled up inside of him. Hermione could feel the dread growing in the pit of her stomach. This really wasn't going very well at all. "I have no idea what you're talking about! I don't know what's going on, and I would appreciate if someone told me!"
*He really doesn't know what's going on,* Colette observed with steadily growing disbelief, staring at the man in front of her. *He really doesn't. Ron's words are falling on deaf ears...* If truth be told, she would have liked to burst out into a shouting match with Fudge herself, but she bit her tongue and held onto something that Ron had not-composure. She took a deep breath.
Colette had begun to become slightly pale as she stepped even closer to Fudge, looking him steadily in the face. He stared back, beginning to feel a bit frightened by the fire that was burning in her blue eyes.
"Cornelius," She said shortly, then took another deep breath, pausing to choose her words carefully, something else that Ron had not done. "Are you aware that you have been committing an offense made strictly illegal by the International Confederation of Wizards? That certain decisions you have been making are likely to get you fired from your job?"
He stared at her again, before his pompous nature began bubbling up inside of him. "How could you-how could you accuse me of such a thing! I would never!" Indignation burst into his throat, and he found that he was unable to control himself, although somewhere inside of him a sick feeling was beginning to develop. "My decisions are made in the best interests of the public, no one else-"
"You make your decisions to help the public?"
"Yes! Yes, of course! I just said that, to help-"
"Even if those decisions are illegal?"
Fudge tried yell some more, but he found that his vocal cords had chosen this moment to stop working. He opened and closed his mouth wordlessly, no sound coming out. Colette took advantage of his speechless- ness and continued talking, drawing power into her voice.
"After the Dark Lord was defeated, many people who were suspected of being Death Eaters at the time were thrown into Azkaban without a trial. Why do you think that is, Cornelius?"
Fudge had found his voice again. "You can't blame me for that!" He cried, almost triumphantly. His composure was long gone. "I didn't have any power over the trials, I wasn't the minister at the time!"
"No, you weren't," Colette agreed slowly. Hermione had unhappily told her about that little fault in their plans before, but now-as Colette thought about it-she realized how everything was coming together, how it was all making sense. "You weren't Minister. But, Russell Neider was, wasn't he? Yes, of course he was. And he was a friend of your father's, was he not?"
"*What?*" The sound burst out of Ginny before she could stop herself, and she slapped her hand across her mouth to keep from shouting out more, her eyes wide.
There was silence in the room. Remus Lupin, who had been standing in the shadows behind the Weasleys and Hermione, found his mind working double time to figure out what Colette was getting at. They hadn't talked about his at all... But meanwhile, Hermione was giving herself a mental slap on the head. Russell Neider! Obviously! *How could I have not seen it before?*
Fudge, apparently, was confused as well. When he spoke, he tried to make his words sound imposing and reasonable, but he instead tripped over them in surprise. "Wh-what, exactly, are you saying?"
"I'm just *saying*," Colette answered with a casual air, waving her hand slightly. "That you could have been *influenced* by him, that is all."
"No," Fudge began angrily. Fudge might be blind at times, quite pompous, prejudiced, and ignorant, but he wasn't stupid. "You're saying that Russell Neider and I had some sort of conspiracy going on...not letting people get trials--"
"No, I'm not," Colette interrupted calmly. The Weasleys, Hermione, and Remus behind her couldn't help but admire how well she was handling the situation. "I am not saying that at all. I am saying that you were possibly *influenced* by Neider. He was a friend of your father's, you knew him personally, he helped you with your campaign. He taught you politics. You two probably had the same ideas on the same issues." After a moment, she added quietly, "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree."
"So-so you're saying that-that Russell taught me to disobey the law?" Fudge asked. He was trying to sound imposing again, but it didn't work as he began to stumble over his words as his former confidence began to dissipate.
"No," Colette replied evenly, never flinching or showing a drop in her composure. She was taking control of the situation, showing-and quite successfully, at that-that she had an answer to all of his questions and doubts. "I'm saying that both of you show similar patterns in the time that you were ministers. You both disobeyed the law when you thought what you were doing was right. Didn't you just say before that your decisions are made in the best interests of the people? That's always good to do, I applaud you for that. But one has to follow the law as well."
There was another silence. No one made a sound. Colette took yet another deep breath and continued.
"The laws for wizards weren't written hundreds of years ago as a list of suggestions, Cornelius, as I'm sure you already know. People were-and still are-expected to follow them, because they were created for that reason-to be followed. And that applies to everyone. We're all equal, right?" She paused, seeming to be genuinely waiting for an answer.
"Yes, of course we are," Hermione said quietly after a moment. "Everyone deserves the same rights."
"And that includes a right to a trial," Remus concluded, speaking up for the first time, making Fudge back away slightly, his face pale. "Everyone deserves the right to a fair trial. Everyone. How would you feel if you were sent to Azkaban for something you didn't do, and hadn't even been given a chance to prove your innocence?"
"But he's guilty! He's guilty!" Fudge burst out suddenly, making Ginny jump. Fred and George-who had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the confrontation--gave each other looks of annoyed exasperation. "Black is guilty, he's a guilty man! He doesn't need a trial, he's a murderer!"
"But how do you know that?" Hermione broke in, catching onto Fred and George's annoyance. "You don't know that, not for sure-"
"I do know that for sure!"
"How?" Hermione and Colette both burst out together.
"People saw him! People saw him blow up the street!"
"No," Mrs. Weasley said flatly, stepping forward. She took a deep breath, suddenly a little nervous, and then continued. "No, they didn't. They saw a street being blown up, never-in any of the witness accounts-did people say that they saw Sirius himself doing it. He's not guilty. Peter Pettigrew is."
Not for the first time during the present meeting, Fudge found that his vocal cords had refused to work and he was having trouble speaking. After a moment of incoherent sputtering, he turned on his heel, trying to leave the corridor while at the same time finding his voice.
"I-I-all of you, the whole lot of you-you've all gone bloody mad! Poor Peter is dead, killed by Black...you're all mad...bloody mad..." Muttering to himself in shock, he tried to leave the hallway, but Remus was in front of him in a split second, standing his ground and staring him down with set determination.
"Don't you tell me that Pettigrew is dead," Remus snarled, a growl in his throat. Ginny, startled, instinctively took a step back. Hermione placed a hand on her arm, although she could see why her friend was reacting that way. If she hadn't known Remus very well and hadn't known for a long time that he was not dangerous, she probably would have reacted in the same fashion...because for a moment, Remus had looked truly terrifying...and he had sounded very much like a wolf.
"And don't you tell me that Sirius killed him!" Remus continued, the growl still in his voice, and his eyes flashing with anger. "Pettigrew was James and Lily's Secret Keeper, not Sirius! He was working for You-Know- Who, and he betrayed them! And he killed all those Muggles on the street, too! Sirius had tracked him down, Sirius was the only one who really knew what he was up to..." Remus paused for a second and gulped, overcome with emotion. "So Peter framed him, he made it look like Sirius had blown up the street, when it was really him who did it...and then he turned into Ron's pet..."
Fudge wasn't quite sure exactly what Remus was talking about, and frankly he didn't care, for in his mind the whole group of people standing in front of him had gone berserk...especially the man in front of him. He, certainly, was deranged-but then Fudge remembered who this was...of course, he was the werewolf! That explained it. Stepping backwards-half in fear, half in disgust--all Fudge knew was that he had had enough.
"Mad," He muttered, shaking his head slightly. "Bloody...bloody mad..."
"Mad we may be, Cornelius," Colette said agreed smoothly. "In fact, we all probably *are* mad-I really wouldn't be surprised. But that means that some very important people are mad as well." She reached into the pocket of her robes and produced a folded piece of parchment. Carefully unfolding it, she held it out to Fudge, who cautiously took it from her. He glanced down at the heading of the parchment-saw that it was from the International Confederation of Wizards-and looked back up at Colette, alarmed, his eyes questioning.
"This," Colette said slowly, answering his unspoken question. "Is an order given to me by the International Confederation of Wizards, as you already know. The Confederation wasn't very happy with you, Cornelius. Not very happy at all."
Fudge stared at her, not comprehending what was going on, fear and dread piling up inside of him as he felt a knot beginning to form in his throat.
"You aren't giving people trials, Cornelius," Colette continued, glaring at the Minister of Magic straight in the eye. "You've let at least one man be sentenced to Azkaban without a trial, and that man happens to be innocent of the crimes of which he supposedly committed. You've defied one of the most basic laws that the Confederation came up with-a man is innocent until proven guilty. That law is one of the main laws that has helped keep the magical society on its feet for hundreds of years. Also..."
She took a deep breath, carefully choosing her next words. "You have refused to even consider the fact that the most powerful Dark wizard of all time has returned. If you were an intelligent man, you'd at least look into the facts, but you will have none of it. If things continue going the way they are now, the Dark Lord will return in full measure. More people will die, because he will return more powerful than he ever was, holding more of the awful power that he held fourteen years ago."
She nodded towards the piece of parchment that he was holding in his hand, and Fudge looked down upon it again, frankly beginning to feel slightly terrified.
"What you have in your hands is an order from the International Confederation of Wizards, an order that greatly concerns you." She took a deep breath, letting this information sink it. "Cornelius Fudge, you're fired."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When Harry woke up, he was feeling extremely confused.
Slowly, struggling past his pounding headache, he opened his eyes and stared, startled, at the stark white ceiling above him. He froze for a second, and then closed his eyes quickly, his mind whirling.
Where *was* he?
Squashing down the fear that threatened to override him, he carefully opened his eyes again and stared, with growing terror, at the ceiling that was blurry above him. He distantly registered that he was lying in a bed, and couldn't help but wondering why his surroundings had a familiar feel, but he couldn't figure out why. Maybe if he could get a clearer view he would know...if only he had his glasses!
Harry tried to sit up, but stopped as soon as he felt a sharp pain shooting through his back. Sucking in air through clenched teeth, he quickly lay back down onto the bed and resigned to sliding his eyes toward the right, the feeling that he had seen this place before nagging in the back of his mind.
Through a blurry haze (He wanted his glasses!), Harry saw that he was in a hospital room of some sort...his head was pounding again, he was beginning to feel dizzy, and frankly was getting scared because he didn't know where he was, and couldn't quite remember what had happened before he had lost consciousness...
He looked over at the space to the right of him, trying to focus his eyes and failing miserably. He tried moving his head to the side, but was confronted with pain and stopped almost immediately, but not before he had caught a small glimpse of his surroundings.
Suddenly, he realized why this all seemed so familiar.
Sirius. He was in Sirius's room at St. Mungo's! What the...
Letting out a little squeak of surprise and doing his best to ignore the pain in various parts of his body, Harry turned onto his side and stared- his emotions ranging between confusion, joy, and downright shock-at Sirius sleeping peacefully on the bed beside him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Harry's back was aching.
He didn't dare move, however, hardly dared to breathe as his heart boomed like a cannon in his ears. He didn't know how long he had lay there in that position, simply staring at his godfather. At least ten or fifteen minutes, he judged, but he didn't take his eyes off Sirius long enough to search for a clock-and besides, even if he had found a clock he wouldn't have been able to read the time without his glasses.
After those long minutes passed by, he gathered up the nerve to try and wake Sirius.
"Padfoot...?"
Sirius made no move to show that he had heard his godson. He continued to sleep peacefully, chest rising and falling with each breath that he took.
Harry decided to try again. He knew that he ought to let Sirius sleep, but the need to talk to someone and to find out what was going on pushed him to open his mouth once more.
"Padfoot?" He whispered again, and again no response. "Sirius..."
The man on the bed beside him stirred slightly, and Harry froze, watching his godfather's pale face turn over to face Harry's bed, eyes opening slowly.
Sirius gave a small gasp as soon as he saw Harry, and Harry didn't even blink as he looked steadily back at him.
"Harry?" Sirius whispered in shock, his eyes very wide. "*Harry*? What are you...what in the blazes..."
Harry just shook his head mutely, once more ignoring his headache. "I don't know," He whispered. "Don't ask me what I'm doing here or how I got here, cause I can't give you an answer."
They stared at each other, and Harry stared into Sirius's eyes. It didn't matter that he didn't have his glasses on and couldn't see very well, he still found himself imagining another version of those eyes-eyes that were youthful and bright, not plagued with the horrors that they had seen.
The eyes that he had seen in 1981.
And then it all came back to him in a rush: falling asleep at the Weasleys, and his dream, then waking up in that barn...and being in Godric's Hollow...and seeing his parents...and then Sirius...and then Voldemort...
And then the Riddle House. And Voldemort, and Pettigrew, and...
For the first time Harry began to realize the implications of everything that had happened to him in the past...what? How long had it been since he had woken up in the barn? He suddenly realized with a start that everything fit together chronologically-he had spent the evening and a good part of the night in 1981, when he got back to 1995 it was still night, but then he had been unconscious and woken up around dawn. It all fit together.
"Your glasses," Sirius whispered, drawing Harry out of his thoughts as he nodded toward a small table next to Harry's bed, on which Harry dimly saw his glasses lying. Not speaking, he carefully reached out his arm- gritting his teeth to keep from crying out as his muscles screamed in protest. He had obviously been more hurt than he had originally thought... Grasping his glasses, Harry dropped them onto his face and the world quickly came into focus.
Yes, he recognized it more clearly now. Sirius's hospital room. He wondered for a moment where his bed had come from-he didn't remember there being an empty bed in Sirius's room before-but then again, nothing had been making much sense lately anyway, so he didn't dwell on it too long.
Harry turned again to look at Sirius, and as soon as he did, there came a knock at the door. They both froze, first staring at the door and then at each other. After a moment, Sirius cleared his throat softly and then opened his mouth.
"Come-come in..." He called out, his voice cracking slightly. The doorknob turned, the door was opened, and Harry found that he wasn't very surprised to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorframe.
"Hello Harry, Sirius," He said pleasantly, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. "How are you feeling?"
"Um, okay..." Harry said slowly, watching the older man carefully. It wasn't exactly a lie-he wasn't feeling awful, but he wasn't feeling at his best either.
Dumbledore nodded, smiling, and pulled out a chair from the corner of the room to sit in the space between the feet of each of their beds. He didn't say anything, just sat and smiled. Harry and Sirius stared at him, waiting for him to say something...
...which he never did. Apparently, he was perfectly happy to just sit and smile at his student and former student. Finally, Sirius sighed.
"Do you have something you want to tell us, Albus?" He asked, a small note of exasperation in his voice. Harry, however, was beginning to understand the way his headmaster's mind worked.
"Yeah, he does," Harry said, answering for Dumbledore. "But he's waiting for us to ask the questions."
Dumbledore turned to him, smiling wider now. "Correct, Harry. Now, what is your question?"
"What happened?" Harry said bluntly, not missing a beat.
"Yeah, I'd like to know that, too..." Sirius said slowly, giving his godson a curious glance.
"You mean what happened to you after you passed out at the Riddle House, or before?" Dumbledore asked reasonably, peering at Harry over his glasses.
Sirius gave a start at hearing the words, "the Riddle House," but to his credit he kept his mouth shut to let Harry answer, although his mind was racing.
"Uh, both..." Harry said tentatively. Silence. Finally, Harry could contain it no longer.
"Professor, do you know where I *was*?" Harry burst out, so savagely that he surprised himself. "I was in 1981! In Godric's Hollow! With my parents and...and..."
Sirius physically jumped in his bed, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly while choked sounds escaped from his throat. "What...what..."
"Hush, Sirius," Dumbledore said quietly. "I'll explain it all in a minute." He turned to Harry, who was watching his professor carefully, his emotions in turmoil. "Yes, that's where the Time Turner was directed. Godric's Hollow, on Halloween, 1981."
"Time Turner?" Sirius asked, staring. Dumbledore held up his hand for silence. "As I said a moment ago, I will explain everything to you shortly. But before I do-Harry, why don't you tell us what you've been doing recently, starting from when you got into bed last night."
So Harry took a deep breath and began, launching into falling asleep at the Burrow, and his dream, and then waking up in the barn down the street from Godric's Hollow. He then recounted in detail everything that had happened to him in 1981, and then coming back to 1995-right up until the moment that Dumbledore had found him in the Riddle House. The only interruption was when Harry was telling about spying on his parents and Sirius outside their home, and what they had said. At that point, Sirius could no longer keep quiet, giving a small gasp.
"I...I..." He muttered, staring at Harry. "I remember that...you were *there*? I remember that..." Harry shifted uncomfortably, a bit unnerved by the look in his godfather's eyes. After that, he wasn't interrupted again as he recounted his story.
It took a long time. When he was done, he swallowed hard-his throat was a little sore from all that talking, and he also couldn't remember the last time he had had a drink. He wanted water, but held his tongue. He wanted to hear what Dumbledore had to say about all this, if he had any explanations.
Dumbledore sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his index fingers into the corners of his eyes. After a moment of silence, Harry spoke up.
"Professor?" He asked quietly. "Do you think you can answer my questions?"
"I'll do my best, Harry. What are they?"
Harry took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts, grateful that Sirius was being silent throughout this whole exchange-he needed to think, he had a lot of questions.
"Okay, um...how did Voldemort get access to Time Turners? The one that he had, and the one that I sort of took from Pettigrew?"
"That, Harry, I don't know the answer to," Dumbledore sighed, frowning slightly. "My best guess is that he has some connection of sorts in the Ministry, and they were able to somehow obtain two Time Turners for him. That will have to be investigated."
"Okay...what was all that about my dream? And how did *I* get the Time Turner from Pettigrew, and bring it back...?"
"Harry, you and Peter Pettigrew have developed some sort of bond, of implications that I don't know of yet," Dumbledore said in a soft voice that left Harry frowning slightly. "Somehow, inexplicably, you, through your dreams, entered where Pettigrew was, and physically *took* the Time Turner from him and brought it back to your physical body...quite unheard of..." He shook his head. "I don't know Harry. Your guess is as good as mine."
Harry bit his lip, remembering something. At the end of his third year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had told Harry that one day he might be very glad that he had saved Pettigrew's life that day in the Shrieking Shack. Was this the day? But no...Pettigrew hadn't done anything for him...he was feeling more confused than ever, but didn't voice his thoughts. Instead, he asked another question that had been on his mind.
"After Voldemort started yelling in the forest, the paralyzing spell that he had put on me stopped working and I was able to kick him. How...?"
"This, I believe, has nothing to do with bonds," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "If things happened the way you say they happened, then Voldemort was feeling very angry and frustrated, and his emotions were overwhelming him...a rare instance, indeed. His feelings overpowered him, and he lost control over the spell without realizing it."
Harry fought to understand. His head had started pounding again, and he was finding it harder to concentrate-but he really wanted answers, and he wanted them now. *Forget about your stupid head,* Harry told himself firmly. *Just ask questions...and listen to the answers...*
Forcing himself to focus, Harry asked yet another question. "Voldemort...he used powerful wandless magic in the Riddle House. Professor," He frowned. "I thought wandless magic couldn't be used for something huge like what he did..."
"It can't, at least to my knowledge," Dumbledore answered, glancing at Sirius and then watching Harry carefully. "Harry, whether we're happy with the fact or not, Voldemort is an extremely powerful man. Once again, I'm not sure how he did this, and it is..." He glanced at Sirius again. "...something to be concerned about."
Harry's head was swimming. He felt more dizzy than ever, and just wanted to sleep. But he had so many questions...and then there was this important one...
"Pettigrew," Harry muttered, fighting to stay awake as he felt drowsiness beginning to take him over.
"We're trying to get a confession out of him..." Dumbledore's voice trailed off in his mind, and Harry dropped off into sleep, pain and exhaustion once again taking its toll.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
By now, an hour after her confrontation with Fudge, Colette wasn't particularly excited or happy. She wasn't triumphant, she wasn't looking forward to what she had to do next, and despite the change that has occurred in recent events, she certainly wasn't jumping for joy.
Quite simply, she was tired.
So tired. She had known when she had accepted Dumbledore's request to get mixed up in all of this that sleep would become a precious rarity, and that her grainy eyes would plague her unmercilessly. Nevertheless, she found herself longing for her bed, and felt quite certain that if she lay down right there-in the corridor of St. Mungo's-she would fall asleep.
But she had to go see Black and Potter, simply had to. She had to explain to them what was going on, what had happened...the two of them had been through so much, she at least owed them that much, to keep them updated to what was going on. Besides, she may be tired, but if a boy who wasn't even quite fifteen yet could have a concussion, back injuries, and a pretty banged up left arm and still stand up to Lord Voldemort...well, she could certainly fulfill *her* duties.
Dumbledore had come to her not too long ago, telling her to go visit Black and Potter and fill them in, after he had left them himself earlier. He had been answering the questions that had arisen after Harry's adventures to the best of his ability, but when the boy had fallen asleep he had decided to go and tell the Weasleys and Hermione-who were extremely worried-exactly what was going on.
Colette had been there as Dumbledore told them all where Harry had been, listening to the story he recounted, disbelief slowly turning to shocked understanding. This was insane. There was no other word for it. Insane...
Continuing down the halls of St. Mungo's, she thought about how her life had been turned positively upside down in the span of a few days. First she had found out that the Dark Lord had indeed returned and that her old friend Sirius Black was innocent...and then that Fudge was not listening to *anyone*...and now all this business about the Dark Lord's plans and time travel...and now...and now...
Colette shook her head violently. She almost didn't want to think about who she was now, it was frightening her a bit...
A few minutes later, she stood in front of room 521 and paused, wondering if Potter was still asleep or whether Black would throw her out of the room now that Harry was there...she had heard that he had gotten very protective of his godson.
"Oh, well, here goes nothing," Colette muttered. She lifted a hand to knock at the door, but as soon as her knuckles came into contact with the door, it opened of it's own accord. She froze before remembering that time- it seemed so long ago-that Fudge had come bursting into the room and had broken the door. She sighed. So much had happened...
"Sirius?" Colette called out softly, carefully poking her head into the room. "Er, Sirius, are you-"
"Hello, Colette," Came the sound of her old friend's smooth voice. Slowly opening the door, Colette slipped inside the room. As soon as she was inside, she closed the door behind her and glanced around to see an awake Harry Potter sitting upright in his bed-obviously a new addition to the room--and watching her carefully. She gave a small smile, suddenly a little nervous, which was extremely unlike her. She was hardly ever nervous in these situations, and if she was, she was very good at not showing it.
She gave the teenager a quick nod before glancing at the other bed and her old friend who was lying in it. Spotting a chair in the corner of the room, she went over to it and pulled it out into the middle where she could sit and see both of the patients at the same time. Suddenly feeling a little awkward-another quality that was very much unlike her, she was usually extremely self-confident-she sat down in the chair and crossed her right leg over her left leg. A nervous habit that she had broken when she was a little girl.
She looked at the two of them, almost expecting one of them to speak first before she remembered that she was the one who had walked into *their* room. She mentally slapped herself on the head. Duh.
"We...uh. Need to talk," Colette said, shifting slightly as she decided to go straight to the point. "There are several things that you two should know that concern...many things."
Sirius quirked an eyebrow at her. "Such as...?"
"What has happened in recent events..." Colette restrained the urge to sigh and instead gave herself a little shake of the head. She normally didn't feel so uncomfortable...what was *wrong* with her? Why was she acting like this? If she was to be truthful with herself, it was frightening her a bit, but with everything that had happened to her recently, maybe her feelings were to be expected.
She took a deep breath and forcefully slowed her quickening heartbeat. She wasn't making any sense...this was not like her at all...
"Several things have happened," Colette began slowly, taking the time to carefully choose her words. "That the two of you should know about...involving such things as your trial, Sirius," She nodded toward the older man. "And Cornelius Fudge."
Out of the corner of her eye, Colette could see Harry shifting and his eyes darkening. He obviously hated Fudge, and Colette honestly couldn't blame him. Hell, she hated him, too.
Focusing herself on the task at hand, Colette decided that she just might as well tell them straight out what was going on, no beating around the bush. "Sirius, it's like I told you yesterday, before things got even more complicated...you are going to get a trial. A specific date has not been set yet, but it will be sometime in the very near future, so as to get this whole mess cleaned up as soon as possible."
There was silence for a moment as both Harry and Sirius gaped dumbly at her, not speaking, while Colette returned to them a calm, steady stare. She was beginning to feel more like herself again. Finally, Sirius made a sort of choking sound.
"What...*how*...?"
"Remember what Dumbledore was planning on doing, what he said before? How he was going to alter things so you could easily get a trial? Do you remember exactly what he was going to alter?" She asked, watching them carefully as confusion flooded their faces. Yes, they remembered, of course, but they didn't understand.
"Yeah, but-"
"To make a long story short," She interrupted Potter smoothly, holding up a hand, signaling him to wait. "Cornelius Fudge is no longer the Minister of Magic." She took yet another deep breath. "I am."
Colette carefully controlled her facial features like her mother had taught her so as not to wear her emotions on her sleeve, while at the same time watching Sirius and Harry to see their reactions. She noted with somewhat distant amusement that this unexpected news had rendered the two basically speechless. She didn't know the Potter boy all that well, but making Sirius Black go speechless was a rarity, indeed.
But apparently, Potter was a little better at dealing with surprise than his godfather.
"Of course!" He breathed. "That's what Dumbledore was planning to do...it actually *worked*? Wait a second..." He looked up at Colette, who could almost see the gears turning inside his head. "But when did this happen? I mean...how..."
Sirius was completely dumbfounded, staring from Colette to Harry, then back to Colette, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Colette stifled the urge to laugh at the sight of the expression on her old friend's face. Shifting slightly in her seat and regaining her composure, she focused on her current job-filling them in.
"Once again, to make a very long story short, your friend Hermione," She nodded towards Harry. "And I found out that Fudge wasn't going 'by the book', so to speak-he performing some extremely illegal actions..." Her voice trailed off. "If you want, you can get the details about exactly what he was doing later, it's pretty complicated to go into-but the point is, he didn't get away with it. The International Confederation of Wizards didn't like what he was doing and got him fired...so I'm, at least for the time being, taking over his job."
"He got fired by the International Confederation of Wizards? How did you get for that to work?" Harry asked, frowning slightly. Sirius just sat, listening quietly. "He must have done something really bad, something really illegal, for him to get fired for doing it, and on such short notice..." He looked at Colette, as if prompting her to go on. "Well? What happened?"
"It's complicated," Colette said shortly, as if that explained everything. "Do you really want me to go into *everything* now?"
Harry shrugged. "Give me the Cliff Notes."
Now both Sirius and Colette were staring at him, uncomprehending. "The *what*?" They both asked in unison, looking at him as if he had just sprouted another head.
Harry shook his head. "Just shorten it, okay? I have time."
"Yeah," Sirius added, apparently finding his voice and turning to look back at Colette. "It's not like either of us are going anywhere immediately."
Colette glared at them for a moment before sighing. "Fine, you win," She gave in. "Basically, to yet again make a long story short, Fudge and another minister weren't abiding by 'innocent until proven guilty.'"
"Another minister?" Harry asked, frowning. "Who-"
"Russell Neider," Colette answered before he had finished phrasing the question. She directed the answer to Potter, as Sirius would already know this. "He was the minister before Fudge, and he was a friend of Fudge's father. Supposedly, it was he who inspired Fudge to get into politics, and he taught Fudge about many of the things he had done as minister while Fudge was running for office. If you look at many of the choices taken by each of them, you can see that there are some parallels. Such as not giving people trials." She shook her head disgustedly.
"So is this Russell guy going to get prosecuted, too-"
Colette shook her head again, saying flatly, "Russell Neider is dead. He died a few years ago, he was very old...otherwise he would be getting the same treatment as Fudge. He wasn't giving trials to several people accused of being Death Eaters before You-Know-Who's downfall," She glanced at Sirius. "Simply because he thought that there was enough evidence saying that they were guilty. And now Fudge followed in his footsteps."
There was a short silence as this information sunk in. Then Sirius spoke up, having obviously found his voice, although it was more to himself than anyone else. "That means that all those other people could be innocent, too..."
"Pardon?" Colette looked at Sirius intently, waiting for him to explain.
"Nothing, it's just..." Sirius began, then seemingly changed his mind about something and sighed. "Nothing, it's nothing."
"Yes, it is something," Colette insisted. She hated when people talked to themselves aloud about things they didn't want other people to hear. Why would they say it aloud, then?
"It's just...I was accused of being a Death Eater and sent to Azkaban without a trial, right? That could have happened to other people. Other people aren't Death Eaters and were sent to Azkaban without trials."
Colette cocked her head at him thoughtfully, then nodded slowly. "Yes, you know, that's probably true. I'm definitely going to look into that." She glanced at her watch. "Well, I should be going...now that I'm the minister, I have a lot of stuff to take care of..."
She got up, smoothed her robes, and began to walk towards the door. She had just placed her hand on the doorknob when Harry's voice stopped her.
"You know what this means, right? You could team up with Dumbledore now, like Dumbledore wanted to do with Fudge...about defeating Voldemort."
"Yes, definitely," Colette nodded. That boy was very perceptive...he thought a lot. "That's what I'm going to busy myself with immediately after this whole trial business is cleared up. I'm going to do something, especially after what almost happened to my cousin last month..."
"Your cousin?" Harry asked, confusion and curiosity evident in his voice.
Colette turned around, giving him a curious smile. "Yes, my cousin. She could have been seriously hurt in the third task back at Hogwarts in June." She shook her head. "I still can't believe how ignorant Fudge is..."
She was moving to leave again, but not before she noticed the look on Harry's face. She frowned. "Potter? Are you alright?"
"Y-your cousin?" He asked, his voice sounding oddly choked and his eyes looked as if they might pop out of their sockets. "Your cousin was in the third task?"
"Of course she was..." Colette said slowly, watching the boy warily. "Are you sure you're alright? Should I maybe call a nurse...?"
Sirius held up his hand, looking at his godson curiously, then staring at her. "I don't think it's a medical problem, Colette..."
Harry leaned back in his pillow, the color having drained from his face. Colette was truly concerned now. Maybe-
"Y-your cousin?" Harry muttered, interrupting her thoughts. "Your cousin is- "
"Fleur," Colette said, frowning at him. "Yes, Fleur Delacour...she's my first cousin, of course...our mothers are sisters...what, you didn't know that?" Understanding dawned on her. "Is that all?" She laughed suddenly. Oh, the boy was fine. "I thought everyone knew that, that it's common knowledge...you had me scared there for a second, Potter!"
Still laughing, Colette left the room.
Sirius was looking at Harry with an amused smile on his face. "Harry? You okay there, kid?"
"Fleur..." Harry said weakly, shaking his head in disbelief. "Fleur's her *cousin*...why didn't I see it before?" He laughed a little, first at his own ignorance, and then at how much sense it made. "They look alike! They've got the same long blonde hair and blue eyes...and veela! They've both got veela in their blood, that's why I was...and Ron!" He laughed again. "Of course! Ron had a crush on Fleur, and now on her cousin...he was taken by both of them...and 'Colette Villons'-that's a French name! Fleur is French!"
Harry was laughing in earnest now. It really wasn't all that much of a knee- slapping inducing situation or anything, but in light of recent events and how happy he was at the moment, (and not to mention how funny this coincidence was) it-to Harry-seemed downright hilarious.
After he had calmed down a bit, he noticed that Sirius was watching him with the amused look still on his face. Harry took a deep breath, giggled a little more, and then turned to Sirius with an expression of carefully controlled (and fake) calm on his face as Sirius spoke.
"I'm overjoyed that you find this all highly amusing, Harry, but I think it'll cheer you up even more when you fully understand what Colette-yes, that's right, Fleur's cousin..." He waited patiently for another moment as Harry laughed again, then continued. "When you fully understand what Colette said." He looked at his godson dead in the eye. "I'm going to have a *trial*, Harry. A trial that will prove my innocence. Once I'm proven innocent, that will mean that I am free. Free to..." He paused, his heartbeat suddenly quickening. "...adopt you..."
Harry stared. *Adopt* him...Sirius could *adopt* him...
"And now that Pettigrew is captured," Sirius continued, biting his lip. "He won't be getting in the way...so what do you say, Harry? Want a new home? With me?"
A knot was steadily forming in Harry's throat. Finally...after all these years of wanting a family, he would finally be getting one... He took a moment to find his voice before speaking. "Sirius." He took a deep breath. "What do *you* think I want?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow slightly before noticing the teasing glint in Harry's eyes. He decided to play along. "I think...that you want a home? I think that your answer is yes?"
"And I think you're correct," Harry said condescendingly, a small grin on his face.
The teasing glints and grins faded, and the two of them locked eyes for a moment as invisible waves of understanding passed between them. *Everything's going to be alright now,* Harry thought, relief flooding through him. *Everything's going to be okay...*
The moment passed, and Sirius broke eye contact first, settling down onto his pillows as Harry did the same. Then Sirius spoke again, very softly.
"Everything will be great now, Harry...you don't need to live at the Dursleys, you'll have a home..."
"It will be better than great, Sirius," Harry added quietly. "It will be amazing..."
They lay together in silence for a few more moments before Sirius spoke up again.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"You're going to live with me. This will be incredible."
Harry smiled and turned onto his side.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"You're going to be happier than you've ever been."
"I don't doubt it all."
Silence. Then-
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"You have a family."
Harry glanced at Sirius over his shoulder, feeling happier than he had in a long, long time. "Yeah...yeah, I really do."
More silence.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"Colette is Fleur's cousin!"
Harry burst into laughter once more, and at that single moment, he felt as if the missing hole in his heart was finally filled.
A/N: Well???? This chapter certainly ties a lot of loose ends together, huh? No more Fudge! Colette is minister! (Not to mention Fleur's cousin...) I'm actually surprised that none of you guys picked that up. I figured that I dropped enough clues to make it seem not so far-fetched--what Colette looks like (you know, the whole blonde-hair-blue-eyes-ice-queen beauty), that's she's French, she makes male heads turn, Ron's infatuated by her...and even her manner: calm, cool, and collected. Hehehe, that's even a little like Fleur!
The title refers to the fact that all that Fudge has done to people during his time as minister is now rebounding back to him. Cause and effect! Karma! It serves him right, eh? I think it also means a sort of circle is now completed, for Harry-he had a family and a home, then he didn't; now he does again. Speaking of Harry, if he seems a little out of character in part of this chapter, that'll be explained later.
Well, we're in the home stretch, guys! Only a few more chapters left, methinks! This was the longest chapter, by the way-just short of twenty pages! Yikes! Well, it's a nice long chapter after all that waiting on your part-you guys rock, I'm so glad you didn't boycott me or anything. *wink*
WeasleyTwinsLover1112: Lol you said something like, "Is Harry going to save Cedric?" You did! Lol whatever... Last July? You better update, then!
padfoot1979: Yay, I love getting new reviewers! I'm glad that you like my characterizations, when I started writing the story I was afraid I wasn't doing them very well. Wormtail's captured! WOO HOO!
Snape? Hmm...I hadn't planned on him being in the story, but I guess he could make some sort of cameo appearance, so to speak. Lol, maybe I can put him in somewhere.
celestial princess: Yeah, I had tons of fun with the trick wands thing! That was great. "better watch it, now the pressure is on!"
Anaxandra: That's a pretty name...combination of Anna and Alexandra, pretty...lol nevermind. Wow, thanks for all the compliments! Yay! Harry and Sirius (non slash, that just scares me) stories rock! Let's just say this story did involve a lot of planning things out...and thinking...and more thinking. Actually, a heck of a lot of thinking, when it comes down to it. I've had a lot of fun with Colette-you know, when the beginning of this story was written, and when I first started planning it out, Colette didn't even exist? But I think it's kind of refreshing to have an original character in a world where characters you didn't create are dominant. Sort of gives you room to play around. Yeah, Harry and Ginny *are* cute! Hehehe...
Hi Asia! I love cats! I have two; sometimes they try and attack my fingers when I'm typing, too. And sometimes lie on the keyboard. Cats rock, too!
Yuffie-Girl: Yeah, it is hard to find what you're looking for...especially in a huge section like Harry Potter, where like over twenty stories are updated every day and you need to go through pages and pages...blech. Yep, everything's coming together-and there be part of a chapter with something of that sort! It will be necessary to have...hehe well you'll see. Merci!
Crazy-Chan: Oh, thank you! Yeah, Sirius will be free! And Fudge isn't minister! Yay! You are in a hurry, aren't you? Well, I'm glad you like my story!
Child-of-the-Dawn: Colette/Sirius? Hehe well we'll see. And uh you know I was just wondering-what the heck is the energizer bunny? If I need something critiqued, I'll go you, but right now I just wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible before I'm chased down my block my various readers with kitchen knives.
Oh my gosh! If you read my profile, you'll see that I love Star Wars...and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon rock! Especially Obi-Wan. Lol, I read some of the Jedi Apprentice thingies when I was younger, and I vaguely remember who Tahl is. Just like I vaguely remember uh Bant? And Bruck? Am I right? I'll check it out when I'm not so swamped!
Silver Angel: Really? You love it? Yay! So many people love it, I feel so happy...
Angel of Hogwarts: Yep, Voldemort holding a teddy bear. How great is that? Well, here's what happened next!
LilyGinnyBlack: Let me guess-you love this story? Lol, as you can see, I continued. I'll check out your stories once I'm not so swamped with work and can breathe a little!
The Elfin Child: Yay! More story! Trust me, I'm dancing too, I'm so relieved to have finally gotten this chapter out!
Tinuviel: Your hard drive crashed? Ugh that really sucks. I would like have a heart attack if my hard drive crashed! Lol, I am the Queen of Procrastination. I honestly don't know how I ever get anything done at all, with my study habits!
Yeah, Harry fell asleep with a concussion, but he's not too badly hurt, see? I don't have the heart to torture poor Harry as much as another writer, neutral, has done. (If you like Sirius/Harry sort of bonding/adventure stories check her things out, she's an excellent writer, far better than I am I think!) Yay! Yay! Yay! Colette and Hermione are so smart! Girl power! And no more Pettigrew! Yay!
When I was writing that bit when Harry woke up and was talking to Dumbledore, I was actually reminded of something from the books. Yay! I don't mind exclamation points and "yay's"! I do it all the time! Yay! I'm even doing it now, see! YAY!!!
Your weird sometimes? Don't worry, we all are these days!
amy: Wow thanks! I'm not going to write about the school year in *this* story, cause it just wouldn't make any sense, although maybe as part of an epilogue...I don't know, I didn't originally plan on it...but then again, I didn't originally plan on Harry traveling through time or Colette even existing, so you never know! eHHeadjdadfd
