The Last Marauder Revised

by FairyTale

It's the summer after fifth year - and now it's AU - The murder of one of his father's last friend puts Harry and the last Marauder through trying times. Things don't get better when Voldemort starts the war again...*Repost of altered version*

2. Truths

Chapter One: Truths

Fifty minutes later, Remus found himself in front of the side-door to the Ministry's biggest courtroom. He had been standing in front of the door to Sirius' cell until Dumbledore had come out again, but while the old headmaster had decided to remain with Sirius until he arrived safely in the courtroom, both had agreed that it might be better if Remus awaited Ron, Hermione and Harry in front of the courtroom and told them what had happened to bring Sirius into this dilemma.

Ron and Hermione had arrived shortly after Remus had come upstairs, but Harry was still nowhere to be seen. Under any other circumstances, this would not have really worried Remus, but today it did.

A Ministry official had been sent to fetch Harry from Privet Drive at the same time when Ron and Hermione had been notified, but so far nobody had shown up and told them anything about Harry's whereabouts. This and the fact that neither Ron nor Hermione had been in contact with Harry since they had parted at King's Cross a couple of weeks ago was enough to worry Remus.

Obviously both Ron and Hermione had sent him letters which had returned unopened. And though Ron said that this had happened before and could very well only be a sign that Harry's muggle uncle was trying to stop Harry's contacts to the wizarding world, Remus had a very bad gut feeling about this. And after all, his gut feeling had already proven itself to be true once today.

But before he could do anything about it, the side door opened and he, Ron and Hermione were bid into the courtroom where a bench in the front of the room had been reserved for them. Only two people were already sitting there: Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape.

Snape sneered as Remus sat down beside him, and from his left side he heard Ron mumble something about being glad not to sit next to the 'slimy git'.

"Come to enjoy the show, Severus?"

Remus didn't even look at the other man as he said those words. There had been a time when the two of them had gotten along quite well with each other, before Remus had become closer with Sirius, James and Peter when they had discovered his secret. Long before Sirius had sent Snape down the passage under the Willow. And though this event had destroyed the last remnants of friendship that might have been still there, Remus didn't hate the sour Potions master like Sirius did. He held an enormous amount of respect for the Snape and especially for what he was doing to provide Dumbledore and the Order with information about Voldemort.

Remus never had had the kind of personal vendetta Snape seemed to be having with Sirius (or the other way around, that was hard to tell with the two of them), but there was an enormous distance between the two men. Respect was one thing, but that didn't have to mean that they enjoyed each other's presence.

Snape sneered and also kept his eyes trained on the far off wall.

"Wouldn't want to miss it for anything, Lupin."

"I'm sure Sirius will appreciate that."

Snape snorted.

"I don't think Black appreciates anything at the moment other than not being fed to the Dementors. Do you expect anybody else?"

Remus was slightly startled at the sudden change of topic, and especially at the fact that Snape seemed to have realized the empty seat next to Hermione without even looking once. The rest of the room was filled with spectators and members of the press who were all craning their necks to see who exactly was sitting there in the front row. Remus quickly turned his attention back to Snape before the constant whispering and the clicking of the cameras could make him really angry. It seemed that Fudge had used the time since he had let himself get challenged into granting Sirius a trial with calling each and every newspaper and wizarding network station and inform them of it. There were nearly as many reporters present as other spectators.

"Harry hasn't arrived yet."

Snape nodded and sneered again.

"Of course, I should have known that Potter would be the one to arrive with a special entrance."

Remus wanted to reply something, but at that moment the side door to the courtroom opened and the judges entered.

As was common, there were three judges who would judge the case together, each of their votes having the same weight. Everybody in the room rose at their entrance while the court usher announced them.

"Today we try the case AC-12/822, the wizarding community against Sirius Black. Judges for the case are Judge Bernell and Judge Sanderson, Judge in charge is Judge Reynolds."

The judges, a stern looking woman and two middle-aged men, took their positions at the head table and everybody sat down again at their sign.

Just then, the door on the other side of the room opened and Sirius was led into the room by four Aurors who had all drawn their wands. They led Sirius over to the table that was reserved for the defendant and then took up position on chairs behind him. As soon as Sirius entered the room, the audience began to whisper excitedly. Albus Dumbledore was last to arrive and he confidently sat down next to Sirius.

Judge Reynolds nodded and gestured the prosecutor, an elderly small man with thinning white hair, to start. The man got up and looked imploringly at the judges, then around the audience which mainly consisted of hurriedly alerted news-reporters. When he finally began to speak, his voice was a tad bit high-pitched and scratchy, just as if he was nervous.

"The prosecution accuses Sirius Black of the following charges: Association with the Dark Lord, murder in the cases of the twelve muggles Mrs. Cassandra Arden, Mr. Steven Dasher, Mrs. Charlene Dasher, Ms. Emma Fisher, Ms. Sarah Fulton, Mr. David Masters, Mrs. Sondra Masters, Ms. Elizabeth Masters, Mr. Nicholas McPhee, Ms. Irene Porter, Mr. Gregory Summers and Mr. Tyler Walters as well as in the case of the wizard Peter Pettigrew. Furthermore, we charge Sirius Black with breakout from a legal institution and attempted murder on Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Ronald Weasley, as well as committed bodily harm on Mr. Ronald Weasley."

Ron drew in a sharp breath while the prosecutor sat down again.

"Needn't I have pressed charges against Sirius for him being accused of trying to murder me?"

Remus looked at him and shrugged his shoulders.

"I really don't know, Ron. But I guess they're trying to accuse him of everything they can think of. Once you tell them what really happened, I don't think the attempted murder or the injury will be a serious problem. At least I hope so."

Both looked up when Judge Reynolds spoke again.

"What does the defence have to say to those charges?"
Dumbledore rose gracefully from his seat.

"We will prove today that all those accusations are untrue and not to be upheld. Sirius Black has never been associated with Voldemort, he is not responsible for the death of any of the twelve killed muggles, he is also not responsible for the death of Peter Pettigrew because Mr. Pettigrew is not dead at all. Furthermore, Mr. Black did never attempt to kill Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Ronald Weasley, and while Mr. Weasley was indeed injured during their first encounter, this injury was completely unintentional on Mr. Black's part. And, last but not least, because Mr. Black is innocent of all the above charges, his breakout from Azkaban prison is not a crime he can be charged of, as his imprisonment there was unjust in the first place."

Dumbledore sat down again and the gathered crowd started murmuring upon his words. Albus Dumbledore was highly respected in the wizarding community, and the fact that he did not only defend Sirius Black, but also seemed to be convinced of his complete innocence, was indeed something worth talking about.

Judge Reynolds hit his table with his wand and silenced the crowd with the loud sounds this evoked.

"Silence. Prosecution, please call your first witness."

The prosecutor, the white-haired wizard named Stevens, got up from his chair and nodded.

"The prosecution calls Sirius Black."

Remus closed his eyes and sent a fervent prayer heavenwards. Dumbledore said something into Sirius' ear, and after nodding shortly Sirius rose and allowed the Aurors to lead him over towards the witnesses' chair. He sat down and two Aurors took up position on either side of him, wands ready at hand.

Judge Reynolds watched the whole procedure with a clinical interest. When Sirius was seated, he began.

"Mr. Black, you are aware of the charges pressed against you?"

Sirius nodded.

"Yes, I am."

"You are aware of your right as the defendant to refuse giving testimony?"

Again, Sirius nodded.

"Yes."

"Do you want to make usage of that right?"

This time, Sirius shook his head.

"No, I want to testify."

Judge Reynolds nodded.

"Are you willing to testify under Veritaserum?"

"Yes, I am."

"Very well. Court usher, please bring in the doctor in charge."

A Ministry official left the room through the side door and returned a short time later with a tall, young woman in tow. The woman also wore official Ministry robes and a name tag that identified her as Dr. Susan Branding. She pulled a small vial of clear liquid from the medical bag she was carrying and handed it over to the judge so that he could identify the seal. Then she took it back and broke the seal, verifying the Veritaserum with a quick tip of her wand against the vial. The liquid turned purple for a short moment.

Judge Reynolds nodded at her.

"Thank you, Dr. Branding. If you'd administer the serum now, please."

Seemingly un-scared of the 'deranged and dangerous killer' Sirius was said to be, Dr. Branding approached him and measured three drops of Veritaserum with a pipette. Sirius obediently opened his mouth and let the doctor pour the truth serum onto his tongue.

Remus smiled as he saw Sirius make a face at the brew's taste. Snape sneered again. Remus guessed that if Snape had prepared the serum, Sirius would have like the taste even less.

Within moments, the truth serum took effect. Sirius' eyes glassed over and Remus thought he saw as lightly nauseated expression on his friend's face, something he could understand quite well.

The judge began Sirius' official hearing.

"State your full name, date and place of birth for the records, please."

Sirius immediately answered.

"Sirius Black, October 24th 1960, Edinburgh, Scotland."

Reynolds nodded and gestured prosecutor Stevens to start the questioning.

"Mr. Black, is it true that on November 1st 1981, in the early morning hours you were present at the explosion that took place in Daubing Street in muggle London? The explosion that killed the aforementioned persons?"

Sirius nodded.

"Yes."

Remus frowned. This was indeed a strange way to begin Sirius' questioning, and suddenly his bad gut feeling was back again.

"Is it also true that when the Ministry Aurors arrived at Daubing Street you were the only person still alive at the scene?"

"Yes."

Stevens got up from his seat and began to pace in front of Sirius' chair. Sirius didn't move, but also never let the prosecutor out of his eyes.

"Is it true that you were immediately arrested, charged with murder in thirteen cases and sentenced to prison?"

Again, Sirius nodded.

"Yes."

"What is going on there?" Hermione whispered to Ron and Remus. "Why does he ask Sirius those questions? They're only the half-truth and make him look like he's guilty."

Remus nodded.

"I guess that's exactly what they want to achieve."

The questioning continued.

"Is it also true, Mr. Black, that you were found guilty of association with the Dark Lord?"

Sirius clenched his teeth in obvious anger, but the truth serum did not leave him any other choice but to answer.

"Yes."

Stevens nodded.

"Mr. Black, please tell the court where you have spent the time between November 1981 and June 1993."

"I've been imprisoned in Azkaban."

"And what happened on June 14th 1993?"
"I escaped from Azkaban."

Stevens smiled smugly and leaned against his desk.

"After you broke out of Azkaban, Mr. Black, where did you go? What was the first place you were heading to?"
"Hogwarts."

Some loud gasps could be heard from the ranks of spectators. Many of them had children at Hogwarts and the thought that an Azkaban escapee had been deliberately trying to get to the school came as quite a shock for them.

"Is it true, Mr. Black, that after you arrived at Hogwarts, you tried to break into Gryffindor tower twice, the first time deliberately damaging the entrance-painting when it didn't want to let you pass?"
"Yes."

"Is it also true that you were found in front of Mr. Ronald Weasley's bed, carrying a large knife, during the second time you broke into the tower? And that only the scream of the woken up Mr. Weasley stopped you from doing what you had come to do?"

Sirius nodded.

"Yes."
And, Mr. Black, is it true that after you were arrested nearly a year after you had broken out of prison, that you once more evaded your capture by breaking out of the Hogwarts office in which you were being held?"

"Yes."
Anybody else might not have realized it, but Remus knew Sirius long enough to recognize his facial expression as one of barely withheld fury. Sirius too had realized by now what the prosecutor was trying to do, and he didn't like it at all. Under any other circumstances Sirius would long ago have given up his calm demeanour, but right now he could not afford to lose his temper. So far, it still worked and Remus' admiration for his friend's self restraint grew by the minute.

"And is it finally correct, that you spent the time since that escape from Hogwarts, two years, on the run from the authorities, evading arrest time and time again, until you were captured this very morning?"

Again, Sirius nodded.

"Yes."

Stevens nodded and could not hide another smug grin.

"No more questions. Your witness."
Dumbledore calmly got up from his chair and walked over until he stood close to Sirius.

"Now Mr. Black, I think we need to complete the information which Mr. Stevens has drawn from you a little. We already know that you have been present in the street where the explosion took place in November 1981. But what we don't know is why you have been there that day. Could you tell us the precise circumstances that surrounded the death of Mr. James and Mrs. Lily Potter on October 31st 1981?"

Sirius was about to start speaking when Stevens jumped off his chair.

"Objection! The Potters' death is not related to the case which is currently tried here. The question is irrelevant."

Dumbledore shook his head.

"I assure you that the connection between the death of Mr. and Mrs. Potter and the explosion in the street is most important for this case."
Judge Reynolds looked at his two colleagues, then he nodded shortly.

"Objection overruled. Mr. Black, please answer the question."
Stevens grimaced and sat back down in his chair.

"What was your relation to the Potter family, Mr. Black?"
"James was my best friend, we had known each other since our early childhood. After graduation we went to Auror training together. I was James' best man when he married Lily and I'm their only child's godfather."

"Mr. Black, is it true that in the course of 1981 James Potter and his family was in danger of becoming a target to Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters?"
A collective gasp followed Dumbledore's mention of the Dark Lord's name and Reynolds had to silence the courtroom with another knock of his wand against his table.

"Professor Dumbledore, I must ask you to call the Dark Lord by the name of You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named while in this court. Not everybody is so bold to call him by the name you just used, and certainly not everybody is comfortable in hearing this name."

Dumbledore nodded his consent.

"Then, Mr. Black, is it true that James Potter was being targeted by You-Know-Who during the year of 1981?"

Sirius nodded.

"Yes. James had climbed the career ladder in the Auror department quite quickly after he joined, and in January 1981 he and his team discovered a large Death Eater hideout near Birmingham. Many Death Eaters of the inner circle were arrested, and ever since that day James was one of the Dark Lord's primary targets."

While Sirius told this, Remus was indeed quite glad that Harry had not shown up yet. Hearing his parents' last months of life was certainly something he didn't need to, not in a courtroom at least.

"Why was James Potter not able to, well, to just go into hiding?"
Sirius sighed.
"He did, but wherever he, Lily and Harry went, it only took a couple of weeks at the most until the Death Eaters had found them again. Somebody was passing on information about them, and it was somebody close to them. One of their friends."

Dumbledore nodded.

"And in that situation the Potter family decided to perform the Fidelius Charm upon my suggestion, isn't that right?"
"Yes."

"Tell us, Mr. Black, who was supposed to be their Secret Keeper?"

"I was."

Another gasp from the audience interrupted what Sirius had been about to say. Of course everybody knew how James and Lily Potter had died, and from what Sirius had just told them it looked as if their murderer was sitting right in front of them.

Remus tensed unconsciously, and his left hand moved towards his wand.

Judge Reynolds silenced the crowd again before Sirius could continue.

"I was supposed to be their Secret Keeper. James didn't ask me to do it, I offered him to do it. I knew he trusted me. But then, two days before the charm was performed, I went over to their hiding place and suggested James to switch to Peter Pettigrew instead."

Dumbledore nodded.
"And why did you do that?"

Sirius bit his lower lip for a moment before he continued.

"Because I didn't fully trust myself. I would have never given them away willingly, but I just didn't know if the Death Eaters wouldn't be able to torture it out of me. It was just so obvious that I would be the Secret Keeper. So I thought if the Death Eaters were searching for me, making Peter the Secret Keeper would be the perfect decoy. Because even if they caught me, they would not be able to get anything out of me because I would not have known anything. Peter would never be suspected and James and Lily would be safe.

I told James and Lily about it and in the end they agreed."

"So, do I get this right, you have never been the Secret Keeper of James and Lily Potter?"
Sirius shook his head.

"No, I haven't been. Peter was."

Stevens jumped off his chair again.

"Objection! I can only repeat that this is completely irrelevant for the charges laid against Sirius Black today. This has nothing to do with the explosion and the deaths he caused!"

Judge Reynolds shook his head.

"Objection overruled. But, Professor Dumbledore, you'd better come to the point now."

Dumbledore nodded.

"Of course. Mr. Black, please tell the court what happened on the evening of October 31st and in the morning of November 1st that led to the aforementioned explosion."

Remus closed his eyes. He had been around Sirius for slightly less than a year now, and during all this time his old friend had flat out refused to talk about what Dumbledore had just asked him. Sirius didn't like thinking about it, let alone talk about it. He had blocked out every of Remus' attempts to take away his guilt for what had happened, and Remus was fairly sure that this was not the best of situations in which to talk about it for the first time. But there was nothing he could do to change that right now.

"On Halloween evening I wanted to check on Peter in his hiding place again, but when I arrived there Peter was nowhere to be seen. There were also no signs of a struggle and suddenly I had the bad feeling that something was not right. I took my motorbike and went to Godric's Hollow, that's where James and Lily were hiding, but I was too late. The house was in ruins when I arrived there, with the Dark Mark in the sky above it."
Sirius stopped for a moment and bit his lower lip again. His chin was trembling and Remus was sure he was close to crying. He didn't know whether anybody else in the room realized this, whether they even paid that much attention to what Sirius was feeling. After all, they were used to seeing him as a deranged killer for so many years now, that wasn't the kind of person who was normally associated with emotions about the ones whom he killed. But Remus knew that Sirius was far from feeling good or confident at the moment, and he also knew that if Sirius was this close to breaking down and cry, things were serious. He had hardly ever seen Sirius cry before, not in all those years he knew him.

After a moment, Sirius continued.

"James was lying where the front door had been. He looked as if he was just asleep, but his eyes were open and his glasses were broken. I…I don't know, I think I've not been in the best of shapes then. I remember that I shook James and yelled at him to wake up, I don't know for how long.

When I…when I searched the rest of the house, I found Lily in what remained of the nursery. She was lying next to Harry's crib. I wanted to take her out to James, I don't really know why, I just thought they should be together in all this mess, they were always together if possible and I thought they wouldn't want to be apart. I guess I wasn't in a state to think clearly at that time. And then I heard Harry cry. Harry was alive, I didn't know how and why, but he was alive. I'm his godfather, I had promised James to take care of him should something happen to James and Lily, and so I wanted to take Harry with me.

I was trying to calm down Harry when Hagrid arrived."
"You're talking about Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper?"

Again, Sirius nodded.

"Yes. He said that you had asked him to take Harry to his relatives. I didn't want to give Harry to him, after all I was his godfather and James and Lily had not wanted him to live with those muggle relatives of his, but in the end I gave in. I handed Harry to Hagrid and told him to use my bike to get there.

I…I wasn't really thinking clearly, I guess. I wanted to go after Peter. He had been the Secret Keeper, there was no way the Death Eaters could have found James and Lily if he had not given them away. Peter had been the spy and I planned on finding and paying him back for it."

"What was your intention for Mr. Pettigrew once you had found him?"

"I wanted to kill him."
Again, the crowd gasped. Stevens jumped off his chair again.

"Objection! So far, this questioning had brought no new insight into the case. Black had the intention to kill Pettigrew, and so he did. What is this all about?"
Dumbledore raised his hand.

"Just one more moment of patience, please."
Judge Reynolds didn't seem convinced, but he nodded nevertheless.

"Objection overruled. Continue."

"What happened when you found Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Black?"
"It took me the entire night to track him down, and early in the morning I finally managed to. I cornered him in a street in muggle London with the sole intention of killing him, but before I could do anything he had started shouting for everybody to hear that I had betrayed James and Lily, and how could I, and all of a sudden he blew up the street."

"So you want to say that it was Mr. Pettigrew who caused the explosion?"

"Yes. He had hidden his wand behind his back, and he blew up the street before I even realized what he was doing. He cut off his finger so that it would look as if he had blown up along with everything else, caused the explosion and escaped. It was so brilliant, the perfect plan. I would be blamed for everything, just because I had been too blind to see who the traitor had been. Small, talent-less Peter Pettigrew, I should have known. He had always been attracted by those who were more powerful than he."

Stevens gestured Sirius to stop.

"Mr. Black, if Mr. Pettigrew would have caused the explosion, how could he have escaped? There were witnesses around, but other than you they haven't seen any living human being in the street after it blew up. Pettigrew could not have escaped unnoticed."

Sirius looked at Stevens and shook his head.

"Peter escaped through the gutter. He's an illegal animagus, in the form of a rat."

"What?"

Steven's face turned deep red.

"That can't be true. There's something wrong with the Veritaserum. One moment you call Pettigrew talent-less, then next you say he became an animagus, something which is very difficult to achieve?"

Sirius nodded.

"We helped him, James and me."

Judge Reynolds raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want to say with this, Mr. Black? What is behind this story?"

Sirius sighed and glanced apologetically into Remus' direction. Remus smiled in what he hoped was an encouraging way and tried to ignore the burning looks of McGonagall to his right. If there was something he didn't want to at the moment, then it was facing their former Transfiguration teacher while Sirius explained how they had achieved this illegal and highly dangerous Transformation during their fifth year, straight under her nose.

"At school, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and me shared a dormitory with Remus Lupin. In our second year we found out that he was a werewolf. And…well, because his transformations were always so difficult for him and there was no way we could help him while we were being human, we searched for a way to become animals. It took us three years of research and failed attempts, but in our fifth year we finally managed the transformation and became animagi."

Remus bit his lip, he didn't dare to look up. Especially not to his right. After some moments, he dared a glance and met the face of a smug looking Snape and a completely confused McGonagall. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water and stared between Sirius and Remus and back again. Remus scratched his head and mumbled a 'sorry' into her direction, but this only made her shake her head even more.

"You are an animagus, Mr. Black? And Mr. Pettigrew was one, too? Can you prove that?"

"I can prove that I am an animagus."

Reynolds eyed him for a moment, then nodded.

"Go ahead, then. But only change and then back again. One wrong movement, and the Aurors will immobilize you immediately."

Sirius nodded and got up. Within the blink of an eye, he changed into Padfoot and back again. Once more, the crowd gasped as suddenly the enormous black dog appeared where Sirius had been sitting. When Sirius had changed back, Remus risked another glance into the direction of McGonagall, and this time he had to stifle a laugh despite the seriousness of the situation as he saw the look of barely concealed pride on her face. Well, Sirius had always been one of her most talented students, so Remus guessed a bit of pride was in order here.

He only turned his head back towards the other side of the room when the commotion had been silenced and the questioning continued.

Dumbledore walked up and down as if he was inwardly summarizing what had just been said.

"To sum it up, Mr. Black, is it correct that you have never been the Potters' secret keeper, but Mr. Pettigrew was, that he betrayed them to the Dark Lord and that he was the one who blew up the street and killed all those muggles when you cornered him there?"
"Yes, that's the truth."

"And you know that Mr. Pettigrew is not dead as we had all thought because…?"

"Because I have seen him. He lived disguised as a pet rat for the twelve years following the Potters' death. When Minister Fudge made his annual visit to Azkaban in the summer of 1993, I asked him for the paper he was carrying. And on the front page was a photo of the Weasley family, they had won some sort of prize I think. And on the shoulder of the youngest son sat Peter, in his animagus form. I immediately recognized him. The article said that the boy would return to Hogwarts after summer, where Harry was.

A couple of days later, I broke out of prison in my animagus form. I headed for Hogwarts to finish what I had failed to do all those years ago. I could not allow Peter to also harm Harry, not after I had already failed James and Lily."
Dumbledore nodded.

"So your breakout of Azkaban had nothing to do with Dark Magic?"

Sirius snorted.

"No. I don't know any Dark Magic other than the little that is demonstrated in later Hogwarts years and in Auror training. It was solely my animagus form that helped me keep my mind and escape without the Dementors noticing."

"And you tried to break into Hogwarts and there into Gryffindor Tower because you were searching for Mr. Pettigrew there?"
"Yes."
"You did not intend to hurt Mr. Potter or Mr. Weasley?"

Sirius vigorously shook his head.

"No. I would never hurt Harry, and I also did never intend to hurt Ron."

"One last question, Mr. Black. Did you ever see Mr. Pettigrew after you broke out of Azkaban?"
Sirius nodded.

"Yes, I did. Slightly less than a year after I escaped I finally managed to get hold of the rat. That was the night when I unintentionally broke Ron's leg. Ron, Harry and Hermione were present when Remus and I forced Peter back into his human form. They have all seen that he is alive. But unfortunately it was a full moon night, and after we set off towards Hogwarts castle again Remus transformed. I changed into my animagus form and tried to hold him away from the children, and during this commotion Peter changed back into a rat and escaped."

Dumbledore nodded.

"Let us summarize everything that you've said so far, Mr. Black. And I must ask the judges to remember that Mr. Black is currently under the influence of Veritaserum. It is not possible for him to lie."

Dumbledore turned back towards Sirius.

"Mr. Black, are you or have you ever been associated with You-Know-Who in any way?"

"No."

"Have you been the Secret Keeper of James and Lily Potter?"

"No."

"Who has been their Secret Keeper?"
"Peter Pettigrew."
"Who caused the explosion in Daubing Street on November 1st 1981?"
"Peter Pettigrew."

"Who caused the deaths of the twelve muggles that died during this explosion?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Is Peter Pettigrew dead?"

"No. He faked his death."

"Was harming Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley or any other student or teacher for that matter your intention when you were heading for Hogwarts in summer of 1993?"

"No. I wanted to find Peter Pettigrew and stop him from harming Harry."

"What would you do in case this court declares you innocent, Mr. Black? What would be your first actions?"

Sirius shrugged.

"I'd get Harry out of his relatives' care and bring him to my family's house once it's shaped up a bit. He needs somebody to look after him, somebody who really cares."

Dumbledore nodded.
"That would be all. Thank you, Mr. Black."

He turned around and walked back towards his desk, but after half the distance he turned around as if he had forgotten something.

"Just one more question, Mr. Black. Why haven't you made the same confession under Veritaserum after you were arrested in 1981? It would have been your right to do so during your trial."

Sirius' jaw set into a firm and angry line.

"I was never given a trial. I was arrested, charged and carted off to Azkaban without seeing a judge, a courtroom or Veritaserum at all. Barty Crouch senior took care of that."

Dumbledore nodded while the courtroom broke into loud murmuring again.
"Thank you Mr. Black."

Judge Reynolds looked thunderstruck for a short moment, then he leafed through the files that lay in front of him, as if searching for a confirmation of what Sirius had said in his last sentence. The look on his face showed clearly that he didn't believe anybody would be sent to Azkaban without being given a proper trial. It took him some moments until he had made a decision on how to go on. He called in the doctor again to administer the counter-potion to the Veritaserum and the Aurors led Sirius back to his desk.

As he sat down again, Sirius realized that he had started shaking. He knew what side effects Veritaserum could have, but so far he had never had the chance to experience any of this first hand. Dumbledore helped him to sit down and as soon as he was firmly seated in his chair, Sirius buried his head in his hands and tried to block everything out.

His testimony had left him exhausted and drained, at the moment he didn't even really care what would happen to him next, he only wished that this trial was over as soon as possible. He wanted to curl up somewhere and rock himself to sleep, and not wake up until absolutely necessary.

A distinct part of his brain realized that Remus was being called as a witness, he heard his friend's voice answer questions but he didn't understand the meaning of what was said. Sirius didn't have the strength left to focus on anything other than the pattern of the wood on the table in front of him.

After Remus had finished speaking Hermione was called up and later Ron, but Sirius didn't look up once. He closed his eyes and just focused on breathing. In – out. In – out. In – out. How many times would he have to breathe in before all this was over? Before he could either go home or before they would send him back to the Dementors?

"Harry Potter."

Sirius' head jerked up.

Harry? What about Harry? Oh, Harry was being called for his testimony, now he remembered. Well, he had not seen the kid for more than three months, he was looking forward to seeing Harry even if it was under these circumstances. And maybe it was the last time he'd ever see him, so Sirius better not let it pass unused. But when Sirius looked up, he could not find a trace of Harry anywhere in the courtroom. Instead, a Ministry official made his way up to the judges' table and spoke to the three judges in a low voice for some moments. A surprised frown crossed judge Reynolds' face, but then he nodded and the Ministry official left the room again. Reynolds gestured Dumbledore and Stevens to his desk and spoke to them, obviously telling what he had just been told by the Ministry official.

After some moments, Dumbledore sat down next to Sirius again.

"What is wrong, Albus? Where is Harry?"
Dumbledore turned towards him.

"A Ministry official was sent to fetch him for the trial, but Harry's relatives stated that he's too sick to attend."

"Sick?"
Sirius was immediately worried and sat up straight in his chair.

"What do they mean, sick? What's wrong with Harry?"

"Calm down, Sirius. They said it's just a flu bug, but that he has quite a fever and it would be better for him not to leave his bed today. And as he would have only confirmed Ron's and Hermione's testimony, having him here is not absolutely necessary."

Sirius nodded slowly, but obviously Dumbledore's words had not managed to calm Sirius' worries. Not at all.

Judge Reynolds addressed Dumbledore again.

"Is there something you want to say before we retreat to find our judgement?"

Dumbledore nodded and got up.

"I just wanted to ask one thing of you: When you think about your judgement, don't think about everything that you might have heard about Sirius Black during the past fifteen years. Just think about what you heard this afternoon. Keep in mind that Mr. Black was under the influence of Veritaserum, he could not have lied even if he had wanted to. What he said was the truth: He was never associated to You-Know-Who, he has not caused the explosion in Daubing Street and he never intended to harm anybody, not the twelve muggles that were killed, and neither any Hogwarts student or teacher after he escaped from Azkaban.

Sirius Black didn't commit any crime, nevertheless he was imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years without a trial. It's in your hands today to give back his freedom to an innocent man, something we all take for granted, but Mr. Black's case has shown how quickly it can be taken away from us.

Mr. Black is innocent of all the charges laid against him, as all testimonies we've heard today have proven, another one even under Veritaserum, just like Mr. Black himself. If you just keep that in mind, you will find that there is no other possibility than to declare him innocent and allow him to finally take care of his godson. Thank you."

Dumbledore stared imploringly at the judge and then sat down again. Only when he put a hand on Sirius' shoulder did the other man focus his gaze on his former headmaster and mentor again.

"What? I'm sorry, I…I wasn't paying attention."

Dumbledore nodded, a small smile playing around his lips.

"Yes, I could see that, Sirius. I said that there will be a break until the judges have made their decision."
Sirius frowned.

"It's…it's already over? That's been it?"
Dumbledore nodded calmly.

"Yes, Sirius. That was all we could do. Except from Harry, we've heard everybody testify who has seen proof of your innocence. Now we can only wait and hope that the judges come to the right decision."

Sirius shook his head, again and again.

"It…Albus, that can't have been all. What I the judges…what if they don't believe me? What if they don't believe Remus, Ron and Hermione?"

All throughout the day, Sirius had been able to remain relatively calm. Extremely calm for a man in his situation. But now suddenly the realization that he was only minutes away from the final judgement set in. In a couple of minutes, those judges would come back, and then they would put an end on his existence as a fugitive. Either they would declare him innocent, or they would hand him over to the Dementors. Either way it would all be over soon, and not knowing what end this day would take scared the wits out of Sirius.

His heartbeat quickened and his breathing accelerated beyond his ability to fight it, and he was sure that by now even the last bit of colour had left his face. Again and again, Sirius tried to dry his sweaty palms on his robe.

Even Dumbledore's hand on his shoulder was not able to calm him.

"How long?"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"I can't really tell, Sirius. That depends on how much time each judge needs to come to a decision."

"Then I should maybe say my final goodbyes. I don't think I have that much time left under those circumstances."

"Sirius, have a little faith."

Sirius shook his head and grimaced mirthlessly.

"Not in the Ministry. That is something I lost when they locked me up without a trial all those years ago."

He suddenly looked around the room, his eyes wide open.
"Remus, where is Remus? I need to speak with Remus again."
Dumbledore squeezed his shoulder gently.
"Sirius, Remus is here, but you can't speak to him just now. Calm down, please."

Sirius shook his head, but remained silent. He couldn't quite explain it, but he felt the need to talk to Remus again. Earlier, in his cell, he had not realized that this might have been the last conversation they would ever have. There was so much he still needed to tell him, so much that had remained unsaid in the short time since he had been free from Azkaban. If he didn't tell him now, there might never be another chance for it. But Dumbledore's hand held him in his seat and didn't allow him to get up from his chair.

Across the room he could see Remus and he tried to tell himself that there was a look of understanding in his friend's eyes. If he only told himself that, it might be easier to accept that he might have to go.

What Sirius didn't know about was the muggle passport that carried his picture. At the moment, this passport was kept in one of the inside pockets of Dumbledore's robe, right next to an envelope containing a bit of Muggle money and a letter with instructions as well as a portkey that would break even the Ministry's strong wards around the courtroom. After all, what were friends for if one couldn't ask a favour of them from time to time? And Dumbledore had many friends at the Ministry, some of whom owed him big favours. And he had a plan for the case that Sirius would be charged guilty.

That was why he did not look quite as strained when the judges entered the room again.

Sirius on the other hand looked as if he would pass out any moment. Remus was watching him with increasing concern while Snape next to him had long ago given up any attempt to hide the gleeful smirk on his face. McGonagall looked torn between anxiety and her usual severity, and Ron and Hermione both were nearly as pale as Sirius was.

They all got up from their benches when the judges re-entered and Remus desperately tried to read the verdict from their faces. He couldn't.

As the three judges had taken up position behind their seats again, Remus held his breath without realizing.

Reynolds started to speak.

"We have come to a decision in case AC-12/822, the wizarding community against Mr. Sirius Black. This trial did not serve to re-evaluate the circumstances that have led to Mr. Black's arrest in the year 1981, nor to judge whether his imprisonment in Azkaban for the years from 1981 till 1993 has been just and correctly executed. Today's task was to evaluate whether Mr. Black was guilty of the charges laid against him, namely homicide in thirteen cases, attempted homicide in two, and executed bodily harm in another case as well as breakout from a legal institution.

We have heard the testimonies in this case, two of which under the influence of Veritaserum, and all testimonies have been alike, telling the same story. We have no reason to doubt the correctness of any of those testimonies, and as much as it might differ from public belief of the past fifteen years, what we heard today in court can only lead to one verdict.

We declare Mr. Sirius Black innocent in all charges laid against him. We find his imprisonment in Azkaban fro the time between 1981 and 1993 unjust and declare his right for compensation for this imprisonment. Mr. Black leaves this courtroom as a free citizen of the wizarding community and his civil rights, including access to all his possessions and properties if existing, are completely restored.

I declare this session closed."

While the three judges got up and left the courtroom, the audience literally buzzed with excitement about this verdict. Everybody suddenly seemed to have the need to say something, and they all did so at once, while the press was busy shoving towards the front of the room to get a good position for a photo of Sirius. The constant clicking of the cameras could be heard even over the commotion of the audience.

Remus jumped to his feet immediately after the judge had finished declaring the verdict. He hardly took the time to try and understand all the implications of what had happened that day, all he wanted now was get to his friend's side.

Sirius looked as if he had not heard the judge only moments ago. Though Dumbledore was clasping his shoulder in congratulation, the younger man just stared at the wall as if he could not believe that all of this was happening.

Remus reached them only moments after the verdict had been announced and immediately pulled Sirius to his feet.

"You've done it. You've done it, Sirius!"

"Yes. I guess."

Sirius didn't even sound as if he believed it. Remus grasped his shoulders and shook him slightly.

"You're free!"

Sirius only nodded as Remus pulled him into a tight hug. Even as he patted his friend's back, Remus realized that Sirius had started shaking. All the tension seemed to leave him at once, and Remus was not sure for how long his legs would keep on supporting him. With every moment that passed, Sirius seemed to lean more heavily Remus for support. It wouldn't be long, Remus guessed, until his friend's legs would give away.

"Remus?"

Even his voice was breaking away.
"Yes?"

"Just take me out of here, please. Just take me out of here."

"Sure."

As fast as possible while supporting a nearly immobile Sirius, Remus steered them towards the side-door of the room in the hope that they'd have a little peace and quiet there. Dumbledore held the door open for them, and as they emerged the courtroom he led them over towards a smaller room on the opposite side of the corridor. Remus barely managed to steer Sirius onto one of the chairs that stood in the room before his friend collapsed completely. Sirius was shaking badly, no colour left in his face at all and his breaths were coming out hitched, just as if he was about to start crying.

Concerned, Remus crouched down on the floor next to Sirius' chair, one hand on his friend's shoulder. But he received no reaction.

"Sirius?"

He gently squeezed Sirius' shoulder and slowly, the other's blue eyes tuned towards him and focussed on Remus.

"Are you all right?"

Sirius looked for a moment as if he was trying to understand the question, then he shook his head and jumped to his feet so suddenly that Remus nearly fell backwards in surprise. Sirius had one hand clamped tightly over his mouth and Dumbledore quickly called out "The second door on the right", into his direction. Sirius vanished out of the room and Remus followed, not willing to leave his friend alone just now.

The second door on the right indeed proved to be a toilet and Remus found Sirius kneeling in the cubicle straight across from the door, shaking and heaving badly, throwing up the Ministry canteen menu from an hour before into the toilet. Trying to ignore the stench of vomit that attacked his lycanthropy heightened senses, Remus again crouched down next to Sirius and gently rubbed circles across his back with one hand while he tried to hold back Sirius' long hair from his face with the other.

It took some more minutes until the dry heaves had stopped wracking through Sirius' body and he slowly rose into an upright kneeling position in front of the toilet. Remus noted that Sirius' face was drenched in sweat and still as pale as it had been the entire afternoon, if possible even paler. If Sirius would ever get some colour back into his face, Remus could not guess at the moment.

"Feeling better?"

Sirius grimaced.

"I don't really know. It's been a bit much, I guess."

Remus nodded, understanding that Sirius was not talking about the amount of food he had eaten earlier. Remus got up from where he was still crouching next to his friend and went over towards the sinks in the corner. He wetted one of the paper-towels and handed it back so that Sirius could wipe the vomit off his face, then conjured a glass out of a knut he fished from out of his pocket, filled it with water from the tap and handed it over to Sirius.

"Here, drink something. You'll feel a bit better afterwards."

Sirius obediently took the water and downed it in small gulps. Remus was relieved to realize that the shaking had stopped nearly completely and Sirius seemed to be strong enough to stand on his own feet again. He turned the empty glass back into a knut, pocketed it and gently helped Sirius to his feet.

"Come on, let's go back to Albus and get home, I really don't want to stay here any longer than necessary."
Sirius nodded weakly and followed Remus out of the room, allowing his friend to guide him because he was way too drained and tired to care about their direction anymore. When they came back into the small room, Dumbledore was waiting for them, a gentle smile on his face.

"How are you feeling, Sirius?"

Sirius sank down in a chair and waved Dumbledore's concern off.

"Just won't eat something from that canteen again, that's all."

Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, it might be better if you returned to Kent and just got some rest. Keeping a low profile during the next couple of days might be advisable, too, at least until everything that happened today is made public and has begun to spread. It would be a pity if you fell victim to an act of self-justice just now, when you're finally cleared."
Sirius looked up sharply.
"What about Harry?"
Remus frowned, thinking back to the trial.

"Now that you say it Sirius, where was Harry today?"

"The Ministry wizard who was sent to fetch him returned, saying that Harry's relatives had sent him back alone because Harry is sick." Dumbledore replied calmly. "However", he turned his eyes on Sirius, "I don't think it would be advisable to act rashly on Harry's behalf just now."

Sirius rose from his chair, glaring openly at Dumbledore.

"But Harry is sick, we –"

"It might not be the most comfortable for him", Dumbledore replied before Sirius could talk himself into a frenzy, "and I might even agree that his relatives might not take care of him as good and lovingly as you would, but rash action could cost you Harry now."

Sirius was about to disagree, but again Dumbledore cut him off before he could even start to speak.

"No Sirius. I know that you care about Harry, but we've been assured that it's just a flu-bug. Harry will be alright within a couple of days, and this is exactly the time I want you to lie low before you do anything. It might take a day or so until you can access your Gringott's vault again, you need a new wand, you'll need to look after your family's house or, if you don't want to live there, you'll have to search and prepare a new place of living, and last but not least you still have to hand in an official petition for custody. No Sirius, don't look at me like that. You are Harry's godfather, the Ministry can hardly deny you the custody, but I don't want you to act until everything is settled officially. You've just been cleared, there is absolutely no need for you to get accused of something else straight away.

If anything, we need time to prepare the security means for Harry's arrival. At Privet Drive, he is protected by his blood relation to Lily's sister, no matter what happens Voldemort can't reach or harm him there. This will be different when he starts living with you, and I'm not willing to let Harry leave Privet Drive until you have the official custody for him and your place is secured and warded enough. This point is not open for discussion, Sirius."

Sirius nodded weakly, though it was obvious that he wanted to apparate to Privet Drive and take Harry with him straight away. Remus smiled, knowing fully well what was going on in his friend's mind at that moment.

"Come on Sirius, let's go home. You look as if you could do with some sleep, and then we'll start thinking of everything that still needs to be done.

Nodding again, Sirius got up from his chair and for a moment stood in front of Dumbledore, his eyes expressing what he could not find appropriate words for.

"Thank you Albus", he said at last. "I really can't thank you enough for what you've done today. Without your help, I'd not have been given that trial at all, and knowing Fudge I'd have gotten my soul sucked out before it was noon. Thank you."
Dumbledore smiled gently.

"You're welcome, Sirius. You've earned this for quite some time now, and I'm just glad I could be of help. And this way, things will be a lot easier for the Order and especially for Harry. I'll be in contact with you during the next days. Until then, Sirius, Remus."

"Good bye Albus."
Dumbledore nodded at the two men and then left the room, heading for the Atrium from where it was possible to floo out of the Ministry, leaving Remus and Sirius alone to do the same as soon as Sirius had collected himself enough to face the unavoidable stares and whispers he'd have to face from those he'd meet.

"Ready?"

Sirius nodded at Remus' question, a sudden determination in his eyes.

"Yes, let's get out of here. There's much I have to do before we fetch Harry."

Remus smiled at this sudden change of mood, inwardly being glad that the thought about soon having Harry live with him was enough to bring those sparks back into Sirius' eyes.

"Then let's not lose any more time", he said, gesturing Sirius out of the room and followed closely behind.