As you may have noticed, I switched one of the genres. I was going over the story and realized just how little romance it actually had, despite all my evil plottings and the great mistake I had made in the beginning. So I switched it over, and we'll just see how it goes.
Sorry, this is kind of a short chapter, but... cliffies are my friends.
"He proceeded to try and convince me he was Sirius Black."
The words spilled from Dumbledore's mouth with the ease of discussing the weather, a habit of his that Tonks was just beginning to find irritating, demanding her to ask just what was going on through his head. There was a reply somewhere inside of her, something including a threat, and she could already feel it coming forward.
Into nothing.
"What?" was all she could squeak.
"Sirius Black," Dumbledore repeated, his blue eyes not leaving hers. "That's what he told me. He mentioned the... incident at the Department of Mysteries. How Harry Potter went ahead with those friends of his. How he followed."
"But that's exactly what Sirius did." Oh no. Tonks clapped a hand over her mouth. She wasn't agreeing with this, wasn't she? She was not agreeing with someone who was clearly off of his rocker! But how could Cornelius have found something like that out? The Cornelius who was supposed to be searching for Sirius Black. After all he had said in the restaurant...
Oh, no. The idea had popped into her head, but she had never dared even let herself consider such a possibility. She lowered her hand, gently sucking up air. "Is that all he said?"
"I'm ashamed to say I left in bewilderment before he could say much more." He sighed and twisted a lock of beard around his finger. "And now all this comes up. Murder. Fudge surviving the Killing Curse. Him knowing what he does. How to get to this house."
"He was very adamant about getting to Sirius Black. He brought him quite a few times."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Too many times?"
Unwilling, Tonks nodded. "It cannot be possible."
She had never before met the Minister of Magic. Not until that day. She hadn't expected to like him so much. Familiar. Like Sirius. And even him she had only known for a few years. She fell back against the wall, legs suddenly weak. "Do you believe him, Dumbledore?" she asked breathlessly.
He continued to watch her, mouth set. Then, slowly, he nodded. "I don't think I have any other choice but to."
She couldn't agree to this. She could not agree to this madness. And yet... whether it really was Sirius or just Cornelius, the man was probably going to be murdered.
Again.
She took a deep breath and tried to smile at Dumbledore. It didn't work. "Well... what proof do we have?"
"I suppose only his word."
The mirror. Cornelius--or Sirius-- had mentioned something about a mirror. The two-way communication thingy. The ones he and James Potter had used during their detention times at Hogwarts. The very one she had broken... She wasn't sure how this particular mirror would connect to Sirius, but... What had she done with the pieces, anyway? Thrown them away?
Somewhere in the musty halls of the house came the sound of Severus Snape screaming in pain. "Who the hell leaves glass lying around in clothes!"
Amazing how a single voice could echo so clearly like that. Tonks managed a grin. "Sirius had a mirror which I broke the other day."
Dumbledore looked genuinally shocked. "I don't believe I've ever actually heard him swear."
"I'll go clean up the blood." Heart pounding, Tonks raced up the stairs to the old room where she did indeed find Snape clutching an old dusty towel to his bleeding hand, using even more colorful language than 'hell'. He glared at her as she raked her hands through the clothes for the shards of mirror.
"You have to be careful not to cut yourself," she explained.
Then she was out of the room, not even realizing she hadn't bothered to help Snape. She had the mirror. Whatever proof that was. Whatever good it might do.
Currently, she believed, it was set up to connect with Harry. Not exactly convenient, but oh well. She dropped to an empty section of corridor, letting the mirror spill to the carpet. There seemed to be all of them, even one smeared with Snape's blood. Just find the way to put them back together. That's all she had to do. Just put them back together.
Sirius sat at Fudge's desk, drumming his knuckles on the surface until the sound practically echoed throughout the room. Percy had gone to find Harry. Hopefully Harry wouldn't be a brat today and actually come. After all, who could refuse a summon from the Minister of Magic? Though he didn't imagine Harry held Fudge in the greatest esteem.
Lily appeared on top of the desk, forcing him to remove his hand, crossed legged and smiling. "Sirius!" she sang. "How are you?"
Sirius stared at her. Something was wrong. Lily was never quite this happy. "I'm... fine," he replied.
She nodded, face still lit by a grin. "I'm sure you are. But, Sirius, something has come up and..."
The door flew open, so hard the handle hit the side wall, leaving a very impressive dent.
Lily gave a small gasp and hopped from the table. "Harry," she whispered.
Harry remained in the doorway, not quite glaring but... he did not look as if he wanted to be there; Sirius couldn't blame him. He looked... he looked all right. Hair the usual degree of messiness and gravity defiance. Face and body reasonably healthy, albeit lost in a olive green sweatshirt and some khaki pants.
Instinctively Sirius stood up. "Harry!" No, too happy, too perky. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Ah, Harry Potter. A pleasure you could manage a visit to my office during your excursion through the Ministry today."
Harry raised an eyebrow, still refusing to set foot into the room. "And... why did you invite me to 'manage a visit'?"
"That's my boy!" Lily whispered. She was behind Harry now, hand wavering above his hair.
Good question. Was he ready for the answer? Sirius stepped around the desk, trying his best to look casual. As casual as Fudge ever was, anyway. "That's a very good question. To be perfectly honest, after the... chaos of the past year, most of which I admit was..." He purposely cleared his throat. "My fault, I thought it best that we clear up a few things. You know, just straighten things out between two men." He jaunted a fist into the air. Whoa, this was bad. The real Fudge would be proud.
Harry glanced backwards out the door. "Um, there was some stuff I was supposed to do today with Arthur Weasley..."
"We'll be quick, I promise. I just wanted to set things right. So, why don't you come inside and have a seat?"
Harry didn't move for a moment, but then, after what looked like careful consideration, stepped inside and closed the door. Slammed it. Then he crossed the room and climbed into a seat. "Yes?"
It was now or never. Sirius didn't dare get too close, so he hovered next to the desk, a good seven feet away from Harry. Lily didn't expect him to do what he was going to do, did she? No, she seemed to be too infatuated with her son. "Harry, I'm--" His brain went dizzy. He couldn't say this. Just like with Tonks.
Harry was looking very confused. Now even Lily was watching him, a note of panic under her expression, one considering bursting any time soon.
"Sirius," she whispered.
That wasn't her declaring the name, was it?
Say it. This couldn't be happening again. He couldn't say it with Tonks, he couldn't say it to Harry. But he had to. He pulled at the robe collars at his neck, hoping for air. "I'm..."
"Yes, Sir?" Harry asked.
"I'm..." Say it, you fool, he told himself. Just say it. But he couldn't. Harry wouldn't believe him. Just like Dumbledore hadn't believed him. Harry would think him crazy and march out and the next thing would be the bars of the mental ward at St. Mungo's.
"Sirius Black!"
Harry's eyes widened, and he nearly fell from the chair. Sirius stumbled back, hands at his mouth. He hadn't said anything, had he? He hadn't spoken a word, he couldn't have!
And then he saw Lily, standing behind Harry's chair, grinning.
The voice had been a female one. "Quick," she said. "He's already heard me. Say it yourself!"
What was she thinking? "I'm Sirius Black?" Dang. In a question format.
She nodded. "Sorry, Sirius, I couldn't resist. Besides... I think he needs to know now."
Harry was staring at him, or more precisely Cornelius Fudge, looking more horrified than Sirius had ever before seen him. "No, you're not."
Suddenly it was easy. Sirius took a step forward. "Harry, I am Sirius. Your godfather."
Harry jumped to his feet, looking sick. "Don't you dare say that! Don't you dare say anything like that! Sirius is a murderer, and definitely not my godfather. He betrayed my parents."
Lily bit her lip.
Harry was good putting up this facade, Sirius thought.
"No, I didn't," Sirius said. "You know that more than anyone. I was their secret keeper, then Peter Pettigrew took the job. He's the one that betrayed them. You know all of this, though I must admit you're good in the falsehoods you've all been living under. We were under the Shrieking Shack, all of us."
For a moment Harry was silent. "You're crazy. None of that is true."
"It's okay, Harry. I know everything about it. You don't have to pretend."
"You're sick." Harry turned around and headed to the door.
Just like Dumbledore. "I know you know it's true!" Sirius called after him. A little too desperately. "You visited me in the village of Hogsmeade! I had you call me Snuffles!"
This had to sound so crazy to the kid. The Minister of Magic, the one who had caused so much trouble for Harry, spouting off words like that. Harry wasn't used to this form. He couldn't... An idea popped into Sirius' head.
Harry froze at the door, hand on the wood. "How do you know all of this?"
"I already told you. I'm Sirius."
"Sirius died. I saw him."
Harry was not going to believe this. But what else was he supposed to say? "I wasn't supposed to, Harry. I wasn't supposed to. So, to make a long story short, I got to come back."
Harry turned. Again with the staring.
Sirius wasn't even sure this would work. The Animagus spell... they had only dabbled into its practical applications. Would it work, in this body? He thought of the dog, the black dog he had transformed into so many times. Fudge had no right to transform into that dog, but if...
Next thing he knew, he was a heck of a lot closer to the ground. On all fours. Black fur.
He had done it.
Hopefully Fudge wasn't an Animagus who could turn into a black dog as well.
But, regardless, he had done it. Apparently the spell wasn't just connected to the body. Unless of course Fudge could do it. But Sirius recognized this body.
And from the look on Harry's face, so did he. His mouth fell open slightly, green eyes staring. "Sirius?"
He recognized him. Harry recognized him. Someone finally did!
And then, before Sirius could do anything else, Lily screamed. "Sirius! I was going to tell you! But something came up, you have to--"
The door flew open, and a blast of orange light shot into the room.
Harry wasn't facing that way. It was much too quick for him. His eyelids fluttered as he sunk to the ground unconscious.
A woman stepped into the room, wild red curls slipped under a glittering diamond headband and tumbling onto green silk robes. A wand was clutched in her hand.
Tawnya. She looked much smarter than anything he had given her credit for.
She smiled down at him. "A dog? I wasn't aware my husband owned a dog?"
He couldn't really fight as a dog. Not weild a wand, anyway. He could transform quick enough, back to Fudge's body.
What harm could the woman do?
She didn't even seemed surprised as he rose before her, more Fudge like than dog.
"Ah, Animagus," she mused. "All the secrets you've been keeping me from. Oh well. I'll find them all when I go through your accounts."
"Tawnya, what do you think you're doing?" he muttered, searching for his wand. He clasped his hand around it."
"I have no time to talk, if I want to make this look good. When your assistant comes to out there, I need to be gone. And I think we'll all be happy to get Harry Potter."
Sirius racked his brains for spells.
But, surprisingly enough, Tawnya was quicker.
Lily screamed again.
"Avada Kedavra," Tawnya laughed, flicking her wand.
EternallyLost: Thanks!
hydraspit: It actually feels very weird to write this fic and not focus on Percy... but I'm not sure what I would do with him here! So he just gets to be a bratty little git. While I feel all his angst even as I write. Oh well.
IamSiriusgrl: Glad you enjoyed it! I'm not even sure it was in there, but my roommate was talking about the Wizengamot, and I thought, why not?
Marguerida: There would have been a chat... if I hadn't played around with cliffies!
meenyrocks: Thank-you for also be awaring of creepy laws! Actually, I originally intended for Tawnya to be dumb the entire time, but after a while and with the way the story was going...
milky way bar: Thanks!
Moony vs. Padfoot: I think it's finally dawning on Tonks who it is! And I think Sirius is a great Minister! Glad you agree!
Phillippa of the Phoenix: Eh, Dumbledore can be slow at times.
RSegovia: No, it is legal. Look it up. But it probably won't be happening, despite all my plans, with the way the story has been going.
Thoughts and Pondering: Thanks!
vbabe24: You are most certainly forgiven! Now in celebration, let's do the rod n' reel!
WWLAOS: Wow. I can't believe you're reading this when you don't even like Harry Potter! I feel loved! Good of your friends to fill in some of the questions for you.