HARRY POTTER AND THE BREATH OF LIFE

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other known character from the Harry Potter series. I do own the plot and a few characters.

Took long but here is my new chapter. In about three or four chapters Harry's sixth year will come into the story. The interesting parts are coming. Just wait.

Now on with the chapter.

Chapter 20 – Trial and Tribulation

" Sirius, where are you?" came the voice of James Potter from the hallway.

" Padfoot!" yelled Remus Lupin also from the hallway.

 No response came. The house seemed empty. Fearing the worse Remus ran into the living room and James went to the room. Lily, who had Harry in her arms, made her way to the kitchen. Lupin was the one who found him.

 Sirius Black was sitting in front of the couch looking at the floor. He didn't make the slightest move nor seemed to realize that his friend was standing by the door or that anyone was in the house by that matter. He was on his own.

 Remus approached his best friend with caution, afraid that he might do something rash like attack him or something. Seeing that he didn't move or seemed interested in doing it, Remus called for the rest of the group. Lily, Harry and James entered the living room dreading the vision they might encounter. The four stood in silence looking at the clearly destroyed Sirius. Then James looked at Remus, nodded and made his way to kneel in front of his best friend.

" Sirius, are you all right?" he asked softly but at the same time fearfully.

 He didn't get an answer or a movement. Sirius looked petrified. James tried again.

" Sirius, can you hear me? Are you all right?" he asked again, a bit more loudly.

 This time he achieved something. An empty look from Sirius. He was looking at James but wasn't really seeing him. James smiled but quickly regretted it because Sirius's face hardened. James looked at Remus as if asking for help. He quickly went to his friend's aid and kneeled beside Sirius.

" What's wrong, Padfoot?" he asked softly.

 Sirius looked at him and then looked up to where Lily and Harry were staying in silence. Then he turned to James again. They looked at each other for a while until Sirius picked up a quill and a small piece of parchment that were on the table near James. The group held their breaths while he scribbled something. They were puzzled as of the reason why he was writing instead of speaking to them. When Sirius finished writing he gave the parchment to James. It read:

" The reason I'm not answering you is because I'm currently under a silencing charm. If you would be so kind as to remove it from me so I can ask what the hell you are doing here."

 James looked surprised but quickly took out his wand and muttered the counter curse for the silencing charm. Sirius sighed.

" Thank you James. Now, what are you doing here?" he asked in a rather rude tone.

" Well, we…hum…heard something about…er…Iris…and we came to learn what…hum… really happened." James answered fearfully. His friend wasn't thinking straight.

" Where did you come by this…hearing of something?" Sirius asked in the same tone.

" Dumbledore. I was in a meeting with him when a man appeared in his fire and requested him to appear at a trial of the Wizengamot. Something about use of Unforgivable Curses and a death and a woman. Dumbledore went to talk to the man and when he turned to me he said it was about Iris. He told me to warn the Potters and come running here. He will drop by to give more information later." Remus answered calmly.

 Sirius didn't seem at all satisfied. He didn't need Dumbledore to come and tell him that Iris had been convicted to a lifetime at Azkaban or even worse, that she would receive the Dementor's kiss. Sirius shivered at the thought of that. He already knew that his girlfriend, his one true love, was lost forever.

" So you are here to learn what happened and stop me from doing anything rash and stupid?" Sirius asked keeping his rude tone in the surface. Inside he wanted them to be there to stop him from doing what he had thought of doing while he was alone. Killing himself.

" Pretty much." Answered James.

" She killed my father with the 'Avada Kevadra Curse'." Sirius answered while fighting tears.

 James and Remus were in shock. Suddenly Harry started to wave his arms franticly in his godfather's direction. Lily looked at Sirius as if asking if it was all right and he nodded. She allowed Harry to crawl to his godfather and when he grabbed the baby he saw himself being hugged strongly by his little godson. Sirius felt like crying his eyes out again. The stronger the hug got the harder it became to control the tears. Soon he was crying. James and Remus got nearer to their friend and placed their hands in his shoulders. The four stood like that for a minute until James hugged his son and best friend and started crying too. He didn't know why he was crying, he didn't like Aldebaran, but he felt that he should be sharing his friend's grief. Soon Remus joined in the group hug. Lily stayed away from this group hug. She wasn't really a part of the Marauders and she knew that this was a moment when they needed each other. Suddenly she wondered why Peter wasn't there. They had seen him the day before but now they hadn't found him. Her thoughts were cutted by the arrival of someone.

" Hello, is anybody here?" came a female voice.

 Lily made her way to the hallway to find Sarah. She looked like hell. Her eyes were red from crying, her hair was all messed up and she was white as a ghost.

" What happened to you?" Lily asked her.

 She sniffed and answered.

" I got an owl from the Ministry of Magic telling me that my sister was sent to Azkaban for a period of six months to wait final trial for a murder." She started crying again. Lily made her way to comfort her but was stopped. "I just came here to have a word with Sirius." She said controlling her tears.

 Lily nodded and made her way to the living room. Sarah followed. In the living room things were still the same. The group hug had not break and they could still hear Sirius crying. James and Remus seemed to have stopped crying. Harry made no sound but Lily was sure that he was still hugging his godfather with all the strength he got.

 Sarah was shocked with the scene presented in front of her. She knew they were close but she had never expected to see them like that. But she wasn't there to see three men crying, she had business to attend to. She had to know what really happened. She cleared her throat to get their attention. The group hug broke and Remus got up at the sight of Sarah. It was now visible that he had been crying too. James slowly made Harry let go of Sirius. When he managed it he got up and so did Sirius.

 Sarah saw that Sirius was destroyed just as the boys had seen when they arrived. The problem was that Sarah didn't know if he was like that because of Iris or because of the person she had killed.

" So, Sirius, care to explain what happened with my sister?" She asked in a tone similar to Sirius's tone before.

" She used the 'Avada Kevadra Curse' to kill my father." He answered simply.

 Now Sarah wonder if it was Iris or his father he was grieving about.

" Why?" she asked even more coldly and rudely.

" Don't ask me. I blacked out after he attacked me with the 'Cruciatus Curse'. I didn't see her doing it."

 Everyone was shocked by that information.

" Your father used the 'Cruciatus Curse' on you?" James asked bewildered.

" Yes. Apparently my git of a brother told him about it and he came to test it on me."

 Another shocking information for the group.

" Oh my god!" was all that James could say at the moment.  

  Suddenly Dumbledore appeared in the middle of the room. He was tired and looked sad.

" I bring rather good news but they might be bad." He said to the small crowd gathered in the room.

" What is it, Professor?" asked James.

" Well, Iris was brought before the Wizengamot and said she was guilty of the charges. That would mean she was to be sentenced to the Dementor's kiss, probably on the spot, before being taken to Azkaban. But the Wizengamot is changing. We have come across a different way to punish murderers. Iris has been sent to Azkaban to wait the final trial and consequent sentence. It's a six-month waiting period. The new punishment isn't ready yet and we still have to test it and she might not even be sentenced to it." Dumbledore explained in a tired tone.

 Sirius looked in Dumbledore's eyes and saw the sadness in them. From that look Sirius figured that Iris was going to be sentenced to death. A slow and probably painful death. With that as a thought Sirius fainted. It was the last time he saw light and people for several days.

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             The six months passed at the speed of light. Harry's birthday passed almost unnoticed. They had a small party but their minds were set somewhere else. Iris's second and final trial was coming. Sirius, Sarah and William were allowed to stay in the level nine corridors during the trial. It was a way of finding out the sentence and even get a glimpse of Iris. Dumbledore was not fond of this but accepted it because of William. The young Renata had been the last to know about it and he demanded to be there to see his sister one last time. Sarah and Sirius backed him up.

            The day of the trial arrived.

 While Sarah, William and Sirius were in the corridor, James, Lily, Remus and Peter were in the Atrium waiting nervously. Inside the courtroom Iris was already hearing the sentence. The man standing in front of Iris cleared his throat and started.

" After spending six months in Azkaban, Iris Rachel Renata from #34 (some street in London – A/N: I'm not from England and I'm not familiar with the streets. I leave to you to pick one), London, is present before the Wizengamot once more to hear her final sentence. The accused claimed to be guilty of the charges of use of an Unforgivable Curse and the murder of a respected member of the wizard community. We shall now proceed to the vote. The Head of the Wizengamot presents the sentence of death. All in favour raise your hands."  

  The majority of the members of the Wizengamot raised their hands. Only six or seven people kept their hands down. The wizard continued.

" Very well. And those against?"

 The six or seven wizards raised their hands. Among those wizards was Dumbledore.

" Very well. The majority of the court has voted in favour. Iris Rachel Renata is hereby sentenced to death on the 27th of November. You'll wait the date on Azkaban. Two Dementors'll guard you. This session is finished."

 Iris could die right at that moment. The 27th November was the day she and Sirius had started going out. And it would be her last day alive.

 The Wizengamot started to head for the exit and two Dementors removed Iris from the room. They had little effect on her but she still pretended to look lousy and very affected. When they reached the corridor Iris saw Sirius, Sarah and William looking at her. Her brother smiled softly and waved goodbye, her sister bit her lip and waved and Sirius mouthed 'I love you' and smiled weakly. She smiled at them but soon she didn't saw them anymore. She disappeared and the next thing she saw was her cell in Azkaban.

 In the meantime, back at the Ministry, Dumbledore stood before a red-eyed Sarah, a disappointed looking William, a sad looking Sirius and the nervous looking James, Lily, Remus and Peter.

" As I feared she was sentenced to death. The date of the execution is the 27th of November." The Headmaster said sadly.

 Sirius closed his eyes and allowed his head to tilt down. He hold it with his hand and started crying. James and Remus immediately tried to comfort him, but they had nothing to say to him. They couldn't tell him everything was going to be all right but it simply wasn't. So they stood there in silence, showing their support and watching as their friend cried his eyes out.

TBC

            There, finished. Check out for the next chapter. The death sentence.

            Sorry it took me so long but I was sick for a whole week and I'm also very lazy. But expect more updates soon.

            Cheers.