Broken
By Neurotica
Fifteen
Remus, Julia, and Harry arrived in the Ministry of Magic Atrium through the fireplaces, and didn't speak as they made their way to the lifts—neither Remus nor Julia trusted their voices. The lift stopped at level nine and the golden grilles slid open, and the friends made their way to courtroom ten. Dumbledore awaited them just outside the door with a smile on his face. He explained that he would be an observer over this trial, that he was too closely involved to make a ruling. The Headmaster greeted Harry with a smile and the child smiled back before burying his head in Julia's shoulder.
"Let's go in, shall we? They will begin soon," Dumbledore said quietly, holding the door open for Sirius' family.
They entered the dungeon-like courtroom, and Julia's grip around Harry unconsciously increased as she set eyes on the wooden chair in the center of the room that would, in a few minutes, bind Sirius to it by the chains that covered its arms. Remus led her up the stone benches and they took their seats beside Dumbledore. Remus noticed Cornelius Fudge and Delores Umbridge both had very bitter looks on their ugly faces today.
The doors to the courtroom opened suddenly minutes later, and the buzz of conversation died out almost immediately. Remus reached over to pull Harry onto his lap and took Julia's trembling hand in his own. Sirius was led into the courtroom, his head held high, not by dementors—though Remus was sure they were standing just outside the stone doors—but by Mad-Eye and Kingsley. He looked all right; though looking closely, Remus could see his grey eyes filled with fear and worry.
The Aurors sat him in the metal chair—the chains springing to life and wrapping themselves around Sirius' arms. Kingsley bent close to Sirius on the pretense of checking the strength of the chains. When he stood straight and backed away to stand beside Mad-Eye at the edge of the courtroom, Sirius' eyes scanned the crowd of witches and wizards who'd come to see the outcome of his trial. His eyes finally found Remus, Julia, and Harry, and he breathed a noticeable sigh of relief, attempting and failing, to smile.
"Why did they chain him?" Harry asked indignantly and loudly. A few spectators turned to see who'd made the noise. "Are they going to hurt him?"
"No, Harry, he's okay. See, he's smiling at us," Remus said quietly. Harry leaned his head against Remus' chest and sighed. It was obvious that the boy wanted nothing more than to run to his godfather.
Fudge cleared his throat loudly, and called the proceedings to order, his voice ringing coldly through the courtroom. "Sirius Black," he said, his voice laced with malice and impatience, "you are here today to face charges of thirteen murders on the morning of 1 November 1981. Do you deny these charges?"
"Yes," Sirius said loudly and clearly.
Fudge muttered something along the lines of "of course you do," before continuing. "We have fifty eyewitnesses from that day that say they saw you curse Peter Pettigrew, causing a street to explode and kill twelve Muggles, along with Pettigrew."
"Yes," Remus muttered angrily. "But it's kind of difficult for your witnesses to testify when they've been Obliviated..."
"It wasn't me!" Sirius said loudly. There were a few bitter laughs from the Wizengamot before a woman who closely resembled a toad sat forward.
"The Chair recognizes Delores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister," Fudge said, sitting back in his chair.
Remus bit back a growl as she spoke in a sickly girlish voice. "You say, Mister Black, that it was not you who murdered those poor, innocent Muggles and your best friend. But if it wasn't you, Mister Black, then who in the world was it?" She smiled coldly, gazing upon Sirius with feigned interest.
Sirius sighed heavily and looked up to the benches where his family sat, knowing exactly how his answer would be taken. Remus and Julia nodded encouragingly. "Peter Pettigrew," he said clearly.
Just as predicted, the entire courtroom raised their eyebrows almost simultaneously and began muttering about the delusions Azkaban filled Sirius' head with. Sirius rolled his eyes angrily, and started to explain loudly what really happened in 1981. None of them listened, however, and Sirius was just wasting his breath.
Finally, and probably just for a few laughs, Fudge began to call witnesses on Sirius' behalf. Remus was called first, and one of the first things he was asked, after his name and birth date, was whether it was true that he was a registered lycanthrope. Dumbledore stood in defense of Remus and reminded the court quite calmly, that Remus being a werewolf had nothing to do with these proceedings. After questions of how long he'd known Sirius, what Sirius' temperament was like as a teenager, and what he knew about the charges Sirius faced, Remus was dismissed and went back to sit beside Julia and Harry.
Julia was questioned next, and was almost immediately discredited as a witness when her relationship with Sirius was revealed. Of course she'd say anything to get him freed... Looking bitter, Julia returned to her seat as well, but not before sending Sirius a shaky smile and a wink.
The moment of truth arrived when Dumbledore took the stand. He answered the Wizengamot's questions patiently, calmly even, and waited for Fudge to ask him if he had anything more to say on Sirius' behalf. Remus sat up as straight as he could manage with Harry on his lap, glancing at the eager look on Sirius' face.
Dumbledore reached into the pocket of his purple robes and removed a small glass cage. Many of those present in the courtroom craned their necks and squinted their eyes in the dimly lit room to see the contents of the cage.
Fudge was the first to realize what was in the cage. "What is the meaning of this, Dumbledore?" he asked loudly. "Bringing rodents into a courtroom!"
"Oh, this is no ordinary rat, Cornelius," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "If you will allow me to demonstrate...?"
For a moment, Fudge looked as if he wanted nothing more than to tell Dumbledore to jump off a cliff, but Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, leaned forward and whispered something to the Minister. Fudge looked ready to blow a vein in his forehead. "Very well, Dumbledore. Get on with it," he finally said impatiently.
Dumbledore smiled politely and inclined his head. "Thank you, Cornelius."
The Headmaster opened the lid of the cage and pulled Wormtail out by the tail with his long thumb and forefinger. Dumbledore placed the sleeping rat on the floor of the courtroom and took out his wand, pointing it at the rat. After a muttered spell, a white light flooded the courtroom and a moment later, there were loud gasps from the witnesses of the trial as well as the Wizengamot.
After a long, shocked silence, Fudge stood, his hands grasping the edge of the bench, looking visibly pale. "What do you think you're playing at, Dumbledore?" he said shakily.
"I am merely supporting Sirius Black's version of events from 1 November 1981," Dumbledore said calmly. "Peter Pettigrew is very much alive, Cornelius, as you can very well see."
The members of the Wizengamot stared at the unconscious form of Wormtail at a loss for words, so Dumbledore continued. "As you all very well know, Sirius has been charged with the murder of Peter Pettigrew. But how can he possibly be guilty of this crime if the victim is lying before us? You may also notice that Pettigrew is missing a finger on his right hand, the very finger found at the scene of the very gruesome crime. What I am getting at, Cornelius," Dumbledore said before Fudge could open his mouth, "is that Sirius Black was framed by someone he thought to be a close friend, someone to which he entrusted the lives of Lily, James, and Harry Potter. Sirius was not their Secret-Keeper—Pettigrew was. I trust you will make the correct decision regarding the life of an innocent man." With that, Dumbledore took his seat once more, his hands folded in his lap, his face gazing at the Wizengamot in polite interest, allowing the stunned silence to refill the courtroom.
Julia took hold of Remus' hand once more, seeking a reassurance they both so desperately needed. In the next few minutes, Sirius' fate would be decided. Either he would be free to live the life he'd been denied for five years, or he would be sent back to Azkaban prison to receive the Dementor's Kiss.
The Wizengamot turned to one another, many of their opinions shown plainly on their faces. After long minutes of nearly panicked whispers—some of the longest minutes Julia had ever faced—Fudge turned back to the court, his face very tense. But it was Amelia Bones who spoke. "In the face of this new evidence, those in favor of the conviction of Sirius Orion Black?" There were only three hands raised—Fudge, Umbridge, and an older wizard. Julia barely held back her squeal of joy. "And those in favor of clearing all charges?" There was no need to even count hands.
The chains fell from Sirius' arms, and he remained sitting, staring in disbelief at the courtroom in general. Mad-Eye and Kingsley quickly moved forward to remove Wormtail from the courtroom, as many witches and wizards showed signs of wanting to investigate him further.
Slowly, Sirius stood as though he was testing whether the chair would pull him back. Once he realized that he was indeed free, he didn't even have the chance to look up into the high benches before something small slammed into him, nearly causing him to fall backwards onto the floor. He looked down and saw a familiar mass of untidy black hair hugging him around his knees.
"Hey, kid!" he cried, picking up his godson from the stone floor. He hugged the child tightly, tearing up at the thought of how close he'd come to never seeing him again. Then he laughed, wondering how he could have ever doubted Dumbledore's plan. He finally looked past Harry and saw Remus quickly approaching him with a broad smile. Sirius reluctantly put Harry back on the ground, keeping his hand on top of his godson's head, smiling back at his best friend.
Remus cleared his throat importantly, bowing deeply to Sirius. "Mister Moony wishes to congratulate Mister Padfoot on his superb restraint from attacking the members of the Wizengamot."
Sirius forced his smile away with some difficulty and returned Remus' bow. "Mister Padfoot accepts Mister Moony's congratulations with much appreciation, and hopes desperately that Mister Moony has an ample supply of firewhiskey at his home."
Remus laughed loudly and pulled his best friend into at tight, brotherly embrace. "Welcome back, Sirius."
"Thank you, Remus," Sirius said allowing his smile to reappear.
Someone beside the two friends cleared their throat, and they looked around to see Julia tapping her foot impatiently with a large smile on her face. "If you're quite finished, Remus, I'd like to give Sirius my own congratulations."
"Of course," Remus said with a grin to Sirius. "Come on, Harry, let's go see Professor Dumbledore. I think you're too young to see this anyway."
Sirius and Julia smiled at one another for a few moments before the wizard could no longer take not holding her, and closed the remaining distance between them. He picked her up from the ground, spinning her around, her legs wrapping around his waist. They laughed for a moment when he stopped and she leaned down to kiss him rather passionately, ignoring the looks and mutters from some of those leaving the courtroom. They pulled back from their kiss when the need for air revealed itself long minutes later. Sirius put her back on the ground, though they were still holding each other tightly.
"You know," Sirius said quietly and a bit hesitantly, "technically speaking, we never actually broke off our engagement..." He'd wanted to mention this for weeks, and he wasn't sure why he was so nervous about her reaction.
She looked up from where she'd buried her head in his chest and smiled brightly. "What are you trying to say, Mister Black?"
"Well, I'm wondering if you're still willing to marry me."
She rolled her eyes, still smiling, and kissed him again. When they pulled apart from each other, their lips only millimeters away, she breathed, "That's my answer, by the way."
He nodded dumbly, grinning like and idiot. "Okay, then," he said hoarsely. "Can we go home now? I don't think this is the place for us to do our celebrating..."