Alduin cast another look around the Wizengamot courtroom. It was filled to bursting. This had been the most sensational case in a long time – perhaps since the war, though he didn't exactly remember that. All the Wizengamot members were present, and then a large amount of journalists and general public.
Alduin was sitting in his usual place between Nathan and Mr. Shafiq, and just now Nathan turned to him and said: "Do you have the vote count in your head?"
"It should pan out," Alduin replied. "I'm not completely confident, but it should be fine."
"That interview you did for the Prophet was a nice touch," Nathan admitted. "If we don't vote to free him, the public might eat us alive.
Alduin only nodded. He'd given a very heart-wrenching interview in which he had described the injustice of Harry's godfather spending so many years under the Dementors' care without a trial, of Harry being robbed of his company. "His parents were taken away by murder, and I was taken away by vicious attack," he had said. "Such things are bad enough. But that his own godfather should be taken away by sheer incompetence and malevolence of our own government..."
The best part, of course, was that every word he'd said was perfectly true.
Dumbledore was in his presiding place already, and presently he stood up and, as the room quieted, announced: "Bring in the accused."
Sirius Black was marched in by Kingsley and Giacomo Proudfood, and directed to the chair. They were being rather gentle with him, Alduin noticed, though the chains did clasp around him once he was seated.
"Are you ready to begin?" Dumbledore asked Sirius.
"Yes," he replied firmly. He looked better now than he had when they captured him, which was reassuring. It seemed the Ministry had been feeding him properly and allowing him some degree of personal hygiene at least. Alduin honestly hadn't been sure, though given the risk of public scandal, he'd hoped they would.
"Very well." Dumbledore took a deep breath and began solemnly: "You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law because you stand accused of mass slaughter of Muggles, murder – changed to attempted murder upon new evidence – of Peter Pettigrew, and conspiracy to murder James, Lily and Harry Potter, as well as other non-specified crimes related to your service of the so-called Lord Voldemort. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty on all accounts," Sirius replied evenly.
"Let us hear, then, in your own words, the events of the 31st of October 1981," Dumbledore invited him.
Sirius began to talk. He explained how the Potters were in hiding under the Fidelius, how he convinced James to make Peter his secret-keeper without telling anyone at all, and how he went to check on Peter on the fateful day and found him gone. He told of his desperate rush to Godric's Hollow, and of finding only the corpses there, and little Harry, sleeping. He told of how he met Hagrid and when the man insisted on taking Harry, how he handed him over at last, thinking that at least it would give him a chance to take revenge on Peter.
He told of how he confronted Peter in the street, and how Peter caused the explosion.
"I could only laugh, afterwards," he said. "I thought he had blown himself up. It seemed so absurd, so insane, so without any rhyme and reason..."
"Were there any further relevant developments?" Dumbledore asked after a beat of silence.
Sirius gave a nod. "Yes. Twelve years later, I saw an article in the papers about the Weasley family winning some money. One of their sons had a rat on his shoulder. I recognized the rat – it was Peter's Animagus form."
A wave of whispers went through the room. The story until now, people could have more or less extrapolated, and the Animagus bit had been in the Prophet, but the reason for his escape was news.
"I was horrified," Sirius continued. "He was not dead, and what was worse, he was going to be at Hogwarts. I immediately realized that if he but got word from Voldemort, he would be in a perfect position to strike against Harry. I knew I needed to do something, to escape and to eliminate Peter once and for all."
"Did you reach Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes."
"What did you do once there?"
"I tried to gain access to Peter. It wasn't easy. In the end, I waited for the Halloween Feast, hoping that he'd stayed in the Gryffindor dormitory and that I would be able to find him. But I was unable to get inside the tower." Sirius grimaced a little. "I am afraid I lost my temper, then."
"You attacked a painting and badly mangled her, did you not?" Dumbledore put to him with a sort of mild disappointment in his voice.
"I did," Sirius admitted. "I am sorry for that. I am afraid I was still a little...unstable, after the time in Azkaban."
"Have you made any further attempts?"
"No."
There was a short silence. "Dumbledore, if I may?" Amelia Bones said then, and when Dumbledore motioned to her, she said: "You pleaded not guilty on the change of attempted murder of Peter Pettigrew, but it seems to me that you did attempt to kill him, twice, even, but you were unsuccessful."
Sirius turned to her, and said cooly: "I meant that in relation to the explosion in which it was generally assumed I killed him. Otherwise, yes, I confess to a murderous intent towards him."
"Very well," Dumbledore said. "Do you wish to present any witnesses to corroborate your story?"
Sirius inclined his head. "I do. I wish to call Peter Pettigrew. He is a hostile witness."
"It will be taken into account," Dumbledore replied as he motioned to the Aurors.
Pettigrew was marched in, this time with Dementors as his guard, and was seated in another chained chair. When questioned, he insisted on Sirius being guilty of all charges, but his testimony was unconvincing and pathetic. When asked for details about Sirius' guilt, he was unable to deliver beyond vague platitudes about terrible Dark Magic.
"Any other witnesses?" Dumbledore asked when that was over.
Sirius seemed to grit his teeth. He looked at Dumbledore in silence for a moment, then he said: "I wish to call Severus Snape." He seemed on the verge of calling him a hostile witness too, but refrained. His lawyer, whoever they were, must have coached him very well.
Snape was simply asked if he ever saw Sirius among the Death Eaters or heard him mentioned there, to which he replied in the negative, with a poisonous look both at Dumbledore and at Sirius. After that, he was dismissed.
Hagrid was called and reported on their conversation in Godric's Hollow, then there was Remus Lipin as a character witness for Sirius' friendship with James and Lily and his hatred of anything Voldemort-related, including his own family. To close with, the eyewitnesses reports from the scene of crime were read – since they were all Muggles whose memory had been wiped and couldn't be called – and it was determined that it was too unclear to make any conclusions either way.
"Do you have anything more to add?" Dumbledore asked then.
"Yes. I wish to answer several questions under the influence of Veritaserum."
There was murmur in the courtroom once again. Most people avoided that if they could, because even though the procedure was carefully regulated, it was always a little dangerous, there was always a chance that other things would slip out if the questions were not phrased precisely enough.
A Healer was called to testify that she had examined Sirius and he did not have resistance to the potion. Sirius then presented the questions he wished to be asked, and the Healer administered the potion, one careful drop.
"Have you ever in your life served Lord Voldemort or sympathized with him?" Dumbledore asked, reading from the list Sirius had produced.
"No."
"Have you ever conspired to cause serious harm to Lily, James or Harry Potter?"
"No."
"Have you ever killed a Muggle?"
"No."
Dumbledore folded the paper, and the Healer administered the antidote.
"Does anyone have any more questions?" There was no one, and so Dumbledore continued: "Before we vote, I would like to remind the esteemed members of the Wizengamot that while the matter of murderous intent towards Peter Pettigrew remains relevant, there are clear extenuating circumstances and the accused has already spent twelve years in Azkaban under the heaviest Dementor guard. Without a trial. Now, let us vote."
After this performance, it was not very surprising that the vast majority of Wizengamot voted in favour of "not guilty." The Crouches, obviously, were the exception, as were the Princes and the Notts for some reason. Alduin rather thought they were just embarrassing themselves.
The verdict was declared, and Sirius was released from his chains and received an official apology from an extremely sour-faced Fudge, and a rather more sincere Amelia. Alduin descended, and waited for Sirius to catch his eye.
"I suppose I owe you," the man muttered.
"It was only my duty," Alduin replied. "Would it be convenient for you to come to Travers Manor in a fortnight or so, after you have had time to recuperate? I'd like to speak with you before Harry comes home for Easter."
Sirius grimaced, but nodded. "I'll be there," he said.
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Harry was ecstatic when he heard about Sirius being declared not guilty. He had expected the verdict, of course, but still, having it certain beyond all doubt was a relief.
"So what happens now?" Neville asked. "He just goes home?"
Harry shrugged. "I guess. I wrote to him to congratulate him, so I hope I'll find out what his plans are in his reply."
"He really should get married, shouldn't he?" Neville commented.
Harry nodded. As the last heir of an Ancient line, it would certainly be expected soon. "Mind you, I'm not sure people right out of Azkaban are really in the best shape to marry."
"Well, your cousin got engaged half a year after waking up from a coma," Neville pointed out. "It can't be that much harder."
Maybe not harder, but Harry never saw any signs of instability with Alduin at all. In fact, his cousin was the most stable person he knew, and in a perfectly fit state to get married. Harry wasn't so sure about Sirius in that regard.
Cho, once they met in the Entrance Hall after breakfast as was their new Saturday custom, was full of questions about Sirius too.
"Are you going to spend a lot of time with him now?" She wondered.
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure I want to, to be honest. I mean, I know he's my godfather, but I barely know him."
"Well, you have to start somewhere," she pointed out.
"That's true, and exchanging letters with him is okay, I guess – now, anyway."
They were walking hand in hand, aimlessly meandering through Hogwarts corridors as they chatted, and they turned the corner and found Draco and Pansy there, going in the opposite direction.
Draco merely raised his eyebrow at them as he greeted them, but Pansy more than took care of the rest: "Oh, Harry! I've heard the gossip, but I wasn't sure it was true! So you're really together? Maybe we could go on a double date sometimes?"
Harry wondered if Pansy had had a personality transplant. He also wondered what was it with her and her obsession with double dates.
"Drakey would love that, wouldn't you?" She added, turning to Draco, and Harry choked as he tried to keep down the laugher.
Draco grimaced. "A double date would be cool," he said a little desperately, "but now we'd better leave them alone," he added and dragged Pansy away.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Cho said once they left, "but I'm never going on a double date where she would be present."
"Don't worry, I wouldn't either," he reassured her, even though he thought that one with Theo and Daphne wouldn't have to be so bad. "I wonder how she manages to be so many kinds of unpleasant."
"She's really not much like a pansy, is she?" Cho mused. "Or any flower, really."
"Maybe thistle?" Harry suggested, and Cho laughed.
"Lots of people have really unfitting names, don't they?" She mused.
Harry shrugged. "My aunt's name is Petunia and she was about as unlike a flower as Pansy is," he admitted, "but apart from that, I don't really know that many people whose names have meanings..."
"Almost every name has meaning," Cho corrected him. "What are your friends names?"
"Well, Neville and Ron and Seamus and Dean and Sophie...and Parvati and Lavender, I guess...that's my year in Gryffindor…" He thought about it for a moment. "Lavender is a little like lavender, maybe..."
"I don't know the meanings of most of these," Cho admitted, "but Sophie means wisdom."
Harry laughed. "Well, I love Sophie, but that absolutely doesn't fit her!" He paused. "What about you, what does your name mean?"
She sighed. "My name," she said, "is really stupid."
Harry frowned. "I think it's great!"
Cho gave a small laugh. "Well, you wouldn't see the problem. But my mum is Korean by descent and Cho was actually her surname before she married my dad. She didn't want it to die out, since she has no siblings, and so they gave it to me as a first name. It's like-" She pressed his hand and asked: "What was your mother's maiden name?"
"Evans."
"That's not so bad, but still, imagine being called Evans Potter."
Harry shrugged. "Well, it's almost like Evan, so like you said, it's not so bad. But I actually had an ancestor like that. My grandfather was called Fleamont Potter, after my great-great-grandmother's or something surname."
Cho burst out laughing. "Fleamont Potter? Seriously? I swear I'm never going to complain about my name again."
Then she pulled him into a nearby empty classroom. This, too, seemed to be part of their new routine: they'd walk and talk for a time, and then duck into some private place and Cho would kiss him.
Harry thought the kisses were intoxicating. She always pressed herself very close to him, and it was the warmth and softness of her, as well as her lips, that wouldn't leave his mind for hours or even days afterwards.
This time, however, after some time when Harry was able to simply enjoy the closeness, he felt her tongue brush his lips, and almost jerked in surprise. This, he thought, was new.
He was aware, of course, that people did this, but he'd never really thought about trying it with Cho himself, having been entirely satisfied with the kissing they'd done until then. But Cho seemed to wish for it, so after a moment, he opened his mouth and let her brush the inside of it with her tongue.
It was...strange, he couldn't help feeling. Having someone else's tongue in your mouth was just a weird feeling, no matter how much he liked Cho. He let it happen for a time, then pulled back, and Cho smiled up at him, a gleam in her eyes that told him she, at least, was very satisfied with the development.
Well, Harry supposed he didn't exactly hate it, so if she liked it, it was good enough.
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AN: Harry: "Alduin is the most sane and with it person I know, he has it all so well together!"
Alduin: *became a functional alcoholic there for a while*
I swear that not every erotic encounter in this story will be tailored to make you uncomfortable. But the difference in what Cho wanted and what Harry wanted was profound in OotP, I felt, hence it manifesting like this when they have something more of an actual relationship than they ever had in canon.
Also I've been wanting to address the Cho name thing for ages. JKR might have created it as a vaguely racist amalgamation of "a bunch of Asian-like sounds she heard once", but that won't stop me! Though now I can't help but wonder how Cho would write her name. Like if she used the usual character for Cho the Korean surname, that would be read differently in Chinese, so...do her relatives from her father's side call her Zhao? In Chinese translation of Harry Potter her given name is Qiu, which I guess is because it's the closest you can come to the English pronunciation of "Cho", though her surname was also changed to Zhang even though Chang is an actual Chinese surname, so I admit I'm a little confused about the choices made there.
The Fleamont bit is from Pottermore, though I changed it to be a name after a woman more generations removed, because it was fucking up my family tree (and Rowling's too, I'm pretty sure, but it's not like she cares about that).
This is the last chapter in this batch of updates – I wanted to get to the trial. Hopefully I'll come back sooner than in three months.