A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaack! Mwahahaha! –ahem- anyway, so I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter of my new story! In case you didn't pick up on it, it starts more or less where "Lily Evans and the Hidden Crystal of Hogwarts" left off. But if you haven't read that story, I STRONGLY suggest that you do. A few of the characters might not mean anything to you if you don't know who they are. Anyway, you know the deal: Read, review, and relish!

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Chapter 2

The Trial

The next morning, Sirius was taken out of his holding cell, and brought to the Ministry of Magic for his trial. He was exhausted—he didn't sleep at all the night before. He hadn't even gotten the opportunity to call Dumbledore. He had always thought that the accused where allowed a lawyer, or something.

But now, as he sat chained down in the straight-backed wooden chair of the dungeon trial rooms, Sirius was sure that there was going to be nothing fair about this trial. The Mistress of Magic sat high at the bench above him, scowling down at him.

"The trial of Sirius Black, on the tenth of November." The Mistress began, shuffling through some notes on her desk. Sirius glanced behind him at the two dementors that had escorted him in. His insides were still cold from their touch, and he hoped that he wouldn't have to go to Azkaban, where the dementors thrived.

"You have been brought before the Counsel of Magical Law, so that we may pass judgment on your charges relating to that of You-Know-Who. Before we begin, do you have anything to say?"

"Only that I didn't do any of it." Sirius muttered dejectedly. The entire hall rang out in laughter.

"Well, now that that's settled!" The Mistress snickered bitterly. "Please bring forward the first witness, Miss Arabella Figg." Sirius turned to look anxiously at the door—Belle was here. He was saved. Belle may have called him a traitor the night James and Lily were killed, but surely she wouldn't kick him off to the dementors…

Belle entered the room warily, watching the dementors carefully. She walked up to her seat near the Mistress and sat down, not once looking at Sirius, though he was doing everything he could to catch her eye.

"Is it true, Miss Figg, that Sirius Black was the Potter family's Secret Keeper?" The Mistress asked Belle, as she looked over her notes.

Belle looked determinedly at her hands, which were twisting a handkerchief nervously. "Y-yes."

"No! We switched!"

"Mr. Black, if you would be so kind!" The Mistress shouted. Sirius looked back at Belle, who looked at him for the first time. "And did the Potters ever mention… switching Secret Keepers? If that is even possible…" The Mistress looked at the jurors and they all snickered.

"No. Though I hadn't spoken to Lily or James for a while before they… before it happened." Belle put her hand over her eyes, and Sirius breathed deeply. She still didn't believe him. He was still the traitor in her eyes.

"Though I'm sure you've heard of what Mr. Black has done to Peter Pettigrew?" The Mistress asked.

"Y-yes. I have." Belle said softly.

"And?"

"And I… can't understand why Sirius would do that." Belle replied. "I can't understand why he would do any of it."

"Belle, I—" Sirius began, but the Mistress cut him off.

"It's because he was in league with Vol… You-Know-Who all along, my dear! He fooled you. He killed two of the most influential wizards of our time, and killed the one who tried to defend them—we shall not let this go unpunished, I promise you, Miss Figg." The Mistress said persuasively, giving the juror's box a meaningful look.

It occurred to Sirius that the Mistress was purposefully making it seem like all this was Sirius's doing. This was practically a publicity stunt—just to prove that the Ministry was catching Death Eaters. Sirius had to admit, though, that it was amusing how the Mistress of Magic didn't want to say Voldemort's name.

Belle broke down into tears. Sirius wanted nothing more than to be free of these chains, just so he could comfort her. She shouldn't be going through any of this.

"There, there, Miss Figg. You may go." The Mistress cooed, her voice dripping with false pretence. "Next witness!" She called.

Remus Lupin entered the courtroom. When he passed Belle, he put a sturdy hand on her shoulder, just has he had done for Sirius in his times of need. His usually bright gray eyes were dark, and hollow. Remus looked rather sickly, and no wonder, for the full moon had recently passed.

"Remus Lupin, you also were witness to the Potters dubbing Sirius Black as their Secret Keeper. Do you believe that he is at fault for their death?" The Mistress asked as soon as Remus was in his chair.

"I don't know what to believe anymore." Remus replied faintly. Unlike Belle, Remus was looking straight at Sirius, his eyes locked on Sirius's. Remus wasn't angry with Sirius—he was disappointed, which was so much worse. It made Sirius want to melt with sorrow. "But I find it hard to believe that Sirius would knowingly murder three of his best friends."

Sirius was forever grateful. Remus believed him—Remus would save him from the dementors, from the Mistress of Magic, and from Azkaban.

"And is it true, Mr. Lupin, that you are a werewolf?" The Mistress asked outright. She leaned toward Remus casually, with her hand under her chin as though she were asking him what he had eaten for lunch. Sirius glared at her. Did she have any idea how rude she was being?

"I'm afraid I don't see the relevance of that question, Mistress."

"Just answer it." She growled.

"Yes. I am a werewolf." Remus said, trying to hold his head a little higher.

"I see." The Mistress exchanged a knowing glance with the jurors again. "So, a werewolf doesn't think that Sirius Black is a Death Eater?"

"No. I do not." Remus answered, small fire lighting behind his eyes. Sirius wanted to jump up on that desk and kick the Mistress in the face. Remus had been through enough as it was this past week without her making prejudiced comments.

"We've heard enough from you, Mr. Lupin. But thank you." The Mistress chuckled. Remus nodded his head graciously, and got up with dignity and strode out of the room. And Sirius was again alone, and in a worse position than he had started.

"Because of the evidence brought forward here today, we can conclude that Mr. Sirius Black was, indeed, the Potters' Secret Keeper. Because of the powers of the Fidelius Charm, only he could have told Vol… You-Know-Who… about the Potter family's residence, which then resulted in their murder." The Mistress said to the jury. Sirius closed his eyes. This can't be happening… "Now we'll bring in eye-witness muggles who saw Sirius Black openly murder Peter Petigrew in a muggle street. Bring in the first muggle, if you please." She said, motioning to the door.

A worried looking muggle entered the courtroom, looking terribly flustered and confused. The Mistress beckoned the muggle toward her desk, and he followed.

"Please, Mr. Lafayette, could you tell us—before we modify your memory—what happened yesterday afternoon?" The Mistress asked him.

Lafayette shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and gave Sirius a fearful look. "Wh-what do you mean, modify my memory?"

"Nothing for you to worry about, sir, just tell us what you saw."

"Al-alright. My wife, my son and I were doing some shopping, when suddenly we heard this huge explosion nearby. When the dust had cleared, I saw a gigantic crater in the street. He was standing at the foot of it, laughing his head off," the man said, pointing an accusatory finger at Sirius, "and at the bottom of the crater, there was a pile of something—it may have been a body—"

"It wasn't his body—Peter transformed! He wasn't even there!" Sirius interrupted.

"Mr. Black! Hold your tongue!" The Mistress cried out. "Continue, Mr. Lafayette."

"Like I said, there was something at the bottom, which may have been a body. I saw at least 10 corpses strewn all around the crater. The whole thing was pretty weird—and I don't know how he managed to blow up the street, but—"

"Thank you, Mr. Lafayette." The Mistress cut him off, obviously not wanting to explain how magic wands work. "Next witness."

The disgruntled muggle left the courtroom, escorted by a Ministry wizard, who was surely about to modify the muggle's memory of the event. The next witness was a muggle woman, who tugged her shawl tightly around her. Sirius was tired of this—these witnesses didn't know anything, and they certainly weren't helping his situation.

"Good morning, Mrs. Berger." The Mistress said to the woman. "Could you tell us your accounts of yesterday afternoon?"

"Yes, of course. I was minding my own business, when I heard two men shouting at each other. The short tubby one shouted something about two people—Lily and James, I think it was… and he pulled out a funny-looking stick. That man, there, pulled out a stick as well, one of them said something, and there was a large explosion where they were standing. Imagine my shock to see 13 people lying dead, and him laughing at it. I nearly wanted to smack him with my purse!" Sirius cringed, glad that the woman had chosen against whacking him.

"Thank you, you may go." Another Ministry wizard came and took the woman out of the room. "Is that all the witnesses?" The Mistress asked.

"Don't I get to have a say? Do I get to tell my side?" Sirius asked desperately. He had to tell them—Remus and Belle had to understand—he didn't kill Lily, James, or Peter.

"Anything you have to say, Mr. Black, will surely be a lie. But if you feel the need… be our guest." The Mistress smirked.

"Okay, so I was the Potters' Secret Keeper." Sirius began, wishing that he wasn't still chained down. "But I didn't kill them—the morning that they were… murdered, I went to Lily and James's house. I wanted to convince them to switch Secret Keepers to Peter Pettigrew, because I thought that Voldemort," everyone flinched, and some shouted, or shrieked, "I thought that Voldemort would come after me to get to them, since he knew I'm their best friend. Anyway, so we switched Secret Keepers to Peter, and he betrayed the Potters—not me. And then—"

"Mr. Black, I hope you realize that you just accused the man you killed of murder. You have no possible way of proving these accusations!" The Mistress laughed. "Not only that, but Peter now has the Order of Merlin, First Class—he is considered a high-ranking wizard!"

"Dumbledore performed the ceremony—talk to him! He knows that we switched." Sirius said impatiently. "Ask him to come here—ask him who was the Potters' Secret Keeper!"

"I'm afraid that that is impossible. Dumbledore is away." The Mistress said uncomfortably, looking down at her notes and shuffling them impatiently. "Now if you've said your piece…"

"I'M NOT FINISHED!" Sirius bellowed. "Peter is an Animangus—he can turn into a rat! That's how he escaped yesterday—I didn't kill him, I didn't even say a spell. He did all that to himself!"

"Then explain how the largest part of Petigrew that we could find was his finger, hm?"

"He cut it off! Find a rat with a missing toe and that's were you'll find Peter Pettigrew!" Sirius yelled, straining against his binds.

"I've never heard such lies!" The Mistress said, scandalized. She waved her wand and a document popped in front of her. "Here is the list of registered Animangi, and I do not see Peter Pettigrew's name. Nor do I see anyone registered as a rat for the last 20 years, Mr. Black. I'm afraid your story does not check out."

"Did you ever think he could be unregistered?! I've seen him transform! He's framing me, and you don't even care!" Sirius cried.

"I've heard enough, Black." The Mistress snorted. She glanced over at the jurors, all of which nodded solemnly. "The jury finds Mr. Sirius Black guilty of the murder of Lily Potter, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew, under the reign of Lord Vol… You-Know-Who." The Mistress said, rising from her chair, and leering down at Sirius. "Dementors, take him to Azkaban, and lock him up in a high-security cell. Mr. Black is highly dangerous."

"NO! This wasn't a fair trial! I'M NOT A DEATH EATER! Check my arm!" Sirius shouted angrily, as he watched the dementors gliding over to his chair. "No! No, please! Talk to Dumbledore… I want to talk to Dumbledore!" Sirius yelled. The dementors carefully unlocked his chains, and Sirius began to feel sick. Their rattling breaths drew in any happiness that he might have left in his life, and everything was freezing. Sirius's shouts of injustice were immediately silenced, as he could no longer find the strength to speak. The dementors' frosty breaths nearly brought him to his knees. He felt on the verge of unconsciousness as one of the dementors grabbed his arm, and began to pull him out of the courtroom.