Sorry this is so short! There is only one more chapter left!

Sirius' head really hurt. A lot. A lot more than he would have expected it to hurt, considering he did not presently have a body. Oh, that ship had sailed. There it was, the second one he had ever had in his life, lying happily on the floor while Tonks, Harry, and Percy stared at it in horror. The body of Cornelius Fudge. So strange to finally see it that way. Cornelius Fudge. Not Sirius Black, which was still lost in the spectral world somewhere. And yet, it had not been a bad body. He leaned against the wall near the fireplace, staring blankly at the scene before him.

Just when he had gotten Harry to believe him. Harry had known it was him. Harry had known!

"You know, Sirius, I really didn't intend for this kind of mess to happen," James said demurely, readjusting his glasses for a better view.

Lily gave a dry laugh. "I doubt 'mess' is the right way to describe this, James."

Percy was staring at the body, face reddening like lava. "The Minister! He's... he's... Fudge is dead!"

With a jerk Harry stepped back.

"Oh, boy," Sirius muttered. "But the body... why can't I?"

"No," Lily said firmly. "No."

"But–" He couldn't let this happen. No way could this happen. Already enough bad stuff had happened. This couldn't happen. "If I could just hop back in the body, again."

But Tonks was already checking the pulse, her eyes wide.

"Sirius," James began with a deafening sigh. "People don't always like to see dead bodies jump back up. As you've already seen."

"It's not him!" Aspen was screaming. "That isn't Cornelius Fudge! Sirius Black! It was Sirius Black! But–"

"He's dead," Harry said quietly, sending a glare painfully in Aspen's direction.

Now Percy was at the body's side. "Blood. There's blood everywhere. Was he stabbed? Maybe we can still help him!"

"Percy," Tonks said. "He's dead. You can't do anything." But there seemed to be hope in her voice; her eyes were certainly not leaving the body.

Sirius turned to Lily and James. Never had he felt more desperate. He wasn't supposed to be here, invisible to everyone living. He was supposed to be alive. "You told me I was supposed to be alive! You told me I wasn't supposed to have died! I'm supposed to be alive right now!"

"And a lot of things are supposed to be," James replied with a look in his eyes that was too jovial for Sirius' taste, the remainders of an old Hogwarts days prank.

"James..."

"Did Sirius Black stab the Minister?" Percy was reaching hysterics now. In seconds his hands were on Tonks' shoulders. "I blame you for this!"

Immediately she shrugged him away. "You... you think I killed him?"

"Well..." Percy momentarily lost words. "Well, somebody did!" His gaze fluttered over the room, taking in Aspen and the still-sulking Tawnya. "But, Miss Tonks, you were the one who didn't want to be involved in this assignment! We all heard you complaining!"

"I didn't kill him, Percy!" she shrieked. Now she was heading toward hysterics. Only Harry looked remotely calm. No, not calm. Maybe he was reaching hysterics, the quiet kind combined with some other emotion. He had retreated into the corner, watching the events with wide eyes.

Lily sighed. "Mess. This is no mess. This is terrible. Good thing you're dead, Sirius."

"But I'm not supposed to be dead!" he snapped. He had rarely snapped at Lily. "Why won't you let me go back in there?"

"It's sort of a complicated story," James said dryly. "Beginning with you."

Tawnya let out a loud sniff and flipped her hair back in a weak attempt to make herself look more presentable. "It couldn't have been Sirius Black. Sirius Black is dead. Everyone knows that."

"Mrs. Fudge!" Aspen shrieked. "You were here!"

"I don't understand it, either." Tawnya returned to her sulking.

"Percy," Tonks said. "Sirius didn't kill him, you know that. You know that!"

"But..." Percy gestured at the body. "But... Black is dead? He isn't dead!"

Thank-you, Tonks, Sirius thought.

"I mean..." Tonks looked ill. "Oh, heck, let's just inform someone. Percy, this is a national disaster."

Percy nodded weakly. "Yes... yes, we'll do that."

James laughed. "Sirius, you do realize that you're probably going to be accused of murder this time around? Again?"

"The irony of it." Amazingly, Sirius found himself smiling. He would once again be accused of something he didn't do. Even though he was dead.

"By the way," Tonks said, a shadow of more brightly. "These two..." She barely nodded toward Tawnya and Aspen. "These two... are Death Eaters."

Percy just nodded. "Oh, okay."

"Then you know what to do?"

"...no."

"Fantastic," Tonks muttered. "Fantastic."

"James," Sirius said. Somehow he would get this figured out. "Why did you take me out? Why? A second time?"

"Yeah, James," Lily scolded. "You want to explain things to him?"

"And why won't you let me go back?"

James rolled his eyes at Lily. "You were going to tell him, I believe. Before that little interruption?" He got no response. "Sirius, remember when we said that Fudge's body wouldn't be permanent?"

Sirius did. "Oh no. But–"

"Turns out there are a bunch of red-tape rules about these sort of things. We agreed it would be temporary, so that's how it's going to be."

"I still don't get what you're saying."

Several other Ministry officials had burst into the room. The din was becoming deafening, and several more accusations were thrown in Sirius Black's direction. Sirius watched as Tonks attempted to save his name. It was pointless. It didn't matter at all. He might as well go out with one last strike of infamy.

"Let it go, Tonks," he whispered, drawing stares from an arguing Lily and James. "Just let it go."

Someone, sighing heavily and wiping away sweat, turned to Harry. "Okay, the Potter Kid. Sorry I wrote lousy letter-to-the-editor about you."

Harry just stared at him, ashen faced.

He gave another sigh. "What did you see? Did Sirius Black kill Fudge?"

Now even James and Lily were back to watching.

Harry continued to stare at the man, eyes still wide. Then, "Yes. I saw him. He was here."

"Why not?" Sirius said.

Lily nodded. "Why not? It's a grand way to go out. Assassinating the Minister of Magic. We're getting our conversation interrupted quite a bit here, aren't we?"

"That we are," James said. "Well, Sirius, we did find a body for you. It was kind of an emergency."

"But what was wrong with this one?" He was so confused. How could he be this confused? Practically rejoicing over yet another murder accusation? Wanting to get back in Fudge's body? "Harry and Tonks actually believed this body!"

"Finally. Look, Sirius, this has to be done."

"But I could actually do things in this body! People would have listened to me!"

"You caught two Death Eaters. If Tawnya actually is one. I'm sure everything will be sorted out. Eventually. Maybe."

"So," Lily said softly. "We're out of here. They can deal with the trial stuff."

It wasn't too late. Maybe he still could jump in that body. Maybe he still could!

But somehow he didn't dare. Did he really want to spend the rest of his live as Cornelius Fudge? But if people actually thought he was Sirius Black...

James had his hands on his shoulders now, dragging him away.

The last thing he was Tonks and Harry, softly talking. And Percy, muttering something about what paperwork was required for this sort of thing.

All kinds of mourning, Sirius supposed.

xPussyWillowKittenx: Yes.

XdeMeNtEdX: No, Sirius ain't faking it! James and Lily were being brats! But, nah, they already believe Harry at this point. He's fine. Or is he?

WWLAOS: Eh, it was partially a prank on James' part.

Willow Evenstar: I enjoy being evil!

Scarlet Lark: Thank-you so much!

scared-of-mimes: Of course he was accused of murder! He's Sirius! The scapegoat!

milky way bar: Thanks!

meenyrocks: Do you really think I"m that much of a goody-goody? )

Irish Lady Knight: Thanks!

hydraspit: At least Harry isn't freaking out. Maybe I should have had him do that...

EternallyLost: Was Percy's reaction okay for you? For some reason I imagined him being worried about the death throwing things out of whack for him.

ash: Thanks. Actually, I mentioned several times that they were second cousins. It just seemed easier to leave out the "second" portion, since I already established it.