Another two days, another chapter. And it's time to respond to reviews. Not that that'll take long, as I only have two.
Becky Silver Black: I'm glad it made your day! Maybe this one will make another day for you!
Reyna: Here. Sirius dialogue. And Rory and Remus both say thanks for the petting.
Umm… people… it's not mine.
The dark stone of the dungeon walls seemed to absorb the light from the scattered torches rather than being brightened by them. The benches where the Wizengamot sat were already filling with distinguished-looking witches and wizards, as well as some not-so-distinguished-looking ones. Front and center, of course, was Cornelius Fudge, newly-appointed Minister of Magic. He didn't look very pleased to be there.
Remus sat in the back row of observers' benches with Raul and Romulus. The twins were on their best behavior, having been promised a trip to the ice cream parlor afterward if they were good. As insurance, though, they each had a new coloring book and crayons to keep them quiet. Their mother was sitting at the front of the courtroom with Dumbledore, having decided to stay there after giving her testimony.
Lily's diary was being passed around the Wizengamot. The page they were reading was burned into Remus's memory. Neat, familiar handwriting, the sparkly purple ink that Lily had adored even though she said it was silly. And the words… Only one sentence was important, though. 'We'll just make Peter our secret keeper…'
An anticipatory rustling from the Wizengamot jarred Remus out of his meditations. The accused had arrived. The prisoner was led in and seated in the defendant's chair, whose chains immediately sprang to life and bound him securely. Fudge paled and flinched away slightly, although the man's attention wasn't on him.
Instead, the accused was looking around the room, apparently savoring the sights and sounds of the world outside his cell. His gaze lingered on Dumbledore, and he sat up a little straighter after a glimpse of the merry twinkle in the headmaster's eyes. The chained man's attention passed on to Rory, and he met her encouraging smile with the ghost of his own before looking at the empty spot next to her with a sad air.
If Raul hadn't chosen that moment to lean on Remus's side sleepily, the werewolf would have sprinted to be in that empty spot. Sirius was looking for him, and he wanted to be there. Even filthy and emaciated, with his long black hair matted, Sirius was beautiful in Remus's eyes.
In the end, it was a good thing Remus was in the back, or he would have attacked the man who yanked Sirius's head back by the hair and forced a dose of veritaserum down his throat.
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Dudley had told Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia some ridiculously contrived story about Harry's incident at the zoo. And as usual, they hadn't listened to Harry's version of events, and punished him for lying as well as for 'weirdness.' Uncle Vernon had bristled with rage and locked Harry in his cupboard, only letting him out for chores and school. He wondered how long this punishment would be. Last time it had been a whole month.
Harry wouldn't tell his aunt and uncle, but being locked in the cupboard was better than being Dudley's punching bag.
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Rory looked outwardly calm, but her hands were clenched under the table until they ached. First the Wizengamot spent almost an hour interrogating her on absolutely nothing, and then treating Sirius—who was innocent—with such casual cruelty… It was all she could do to keep from standing and hexing the self-righteous old farts. Maybe a few hours as aardvarks would teach them some respect…
She could see out of the corner of her eye that Remus was thinking the same thing, and mischief sparkled in her eyes. Just as she reached for her wand, though, Dumbledore's hand moved out and covered hers reprovingly. Rory sighed and subsided, watching the questioning begin.
Fudge was the main interrogator, and he looked positively terrified about it. He looked down at the chained man with an expression of commingled terror and contempt. "Is the accused ready?"
"Yes, minister." The straggly-haired interrogator who'd administered the veritaserum nodded fawningly.
"Prisoner. State your name."
"Sirius Orion Black." The voice sounded dead, lifeless. Rory shivered, then calmed herself with the fact that the emotionless voice was normal for someone under the truth potion.
"And do you, Sirius Orion Black, give your permission for the evidence from this interrogation to be used by the Wizengamot to judge you?" Not that it mattered if he agreed or not. The questions were more rhetorical than anything else.
"I give my permission." The Wizengamot murmured in surprise. Usually permission was refused.
"Mr. Black, will you please describe the events of the seventeenth of October, 1981?"
"The… seventeenth. I got up as usual, had porridge for breakfast, and went over to James and Lily's house." Sirius paused, his throat dry and hoarse from disuse, but the veritaserum wouldn't let him stop to rest it. "James and I… were talking about the traitor. About how the traitor would know I was the secret keeper. And we got an idea. We'd keep the secret keeper a secret. Everyone would think I was the secret keeper, but the real one would be Peter Pettigrew."
The Wizengamot roared.
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The questioning continued for three hours until Sirius slumped in his seat from exhaustion, the veritaserum having eaten away at his gaunt frame's already meager store of energy. At that point the Wizengamot began to speak among themselves, debating the verdict. Finally, the verdict came.
In the dungeons under the Ministry of Magic, the chains fell away, and Sirius Black was a free man.
Look! Sirius isn't in Azkaban anymore! . … I'm not happy with this chapter… there was originally a diary entry in it, but… meh. It felt too stilted. If you're interested, here it is:
17 October
Sirius came to us with a brilliant idea today, but don't tell him I said that. His head's swelled enough as it is. It solves all the problems we had with the Fidelius Charm, and it's so simple. We'll just make Peter our secret-keeper and not tell anyone. He's the last person anyone would expect, especially if we keep pretending it's Sirius. In other news, Harry's learned how to escape his crib…
Just… not natural, or something. Originally I had a different method for Sirius's innocence to come out, but I didn't want to go to all the work of explaining what a dumb feast was, whereas everyone knows what a diary is. I'm just lazy like that sometimes. However, next chapter we get to know a bit more about Remus's job, Harry writes a letter, Rory goes to St. Mungo's, and Sirius gets a crash course in wizarding law.