A/N) Thank you for all the reviews so far! They've been great! This chapter goes back before the end of Harry's fifth year, because I wanted to write about Sirius' trial and it didn't fit in with the end of Prongs Rides Again. Enjoy!

The Bond

Chapter 1 - The trial

Five days before the End of Term - Harry's fifth year

Dressed in red and gold robes, with his hair neatly combed (or as neat as it could be kept), James Potter strolled through the corridors of the Ministry of Magic, trying to keep himself calm. Today was very important for him. Ever since the battle at the Department of Mysteries, the Ministry had been listening to the words of Albus Dumbledore, and with this, the headmaster had convinced Cornelius Fudge to allow Sirius a trial. Today was the day when Sirius' fate would be decided.

He knew he would have to testify for Sirius, which was one of the reasons why he was nervous. He felt that the Cornelius Fudge (who was likely to get the sack any day now) would try and twist his words. Hopefully with Dumbledore's help and a load of supporters, including written confirmation from Harry, Ron and Hermione, Sirius' innocence would be proved with ease.

The Death Eaters captured at the Ministry had been questioned with the Truth Potion. Everything they had confessed to matched up with Sirius' version of events. With any luck the jury would find him not guilty, but then there was the chance of them not believing a word, therefore causing James to lose his best friend.

I can't lose Padfoot. he thought, as panic began to rise in his chest. He and Sirius were more then friends, they were brothers. It was like they were connected to each other. They were so alike that James felt that if Sirius was taken from him, the way Lily had been, he would not be able to be the carefree person he was.

"Prongs!"

The calm voice greeted James. A slight smile spread across his face, as he turned to regard Remus Lupin, who was running, dressed in his best robes, towards him, looking a bit flustered himself, with his usually neat brown hair, tousled and hanging around his face. James couldn't resist laughing.

"I did not think that you had the ability to laugh at this present time." Remus commented, his eyebrows raised.

"Brush your hair, mate! You look exactly like I used to when I came off the Quidditch pitch!"

Remus shrugged. "Well, there is a first for everything."

Lifting his wand Remus cast a simple spell that made his hair look neat again. "I did think that going for the scruffy look would help them take notice of me. But maybe I get enough attention as it is…you know being a werewolf and all."

Clapping his friend on the shoulder, the two Marauders continued their descent into the bowls of the Ministry of Magic, to courtroom 10, where the trial of Sirius Black had been scheduled to be held.

Guarded by six Aurors (all whom were members of the Order of the Phoenix, including his cousin Nymphadora Tonks), Sirius Black sat on a stool in a bare room, his wrists in chains, waiting patiently (though a bit nervous) of his impending trial. He knew that Dumbledore was arguing his case, along with James, Remus and various other people producing evidence, but he felt that none of it would help him in the slightest. Escaping from Azkaban had made people fear him.

What if they felt that he was too dangerous to be set free, even if the evidence was enough to secure his release? James would not give up without a fight. If he lost the case would he be sentenced back to Azkaban? Or would it be death?

He shivered slightly as a sudden coldness took hold of him. He closed his eyes, thinking calmly. Everything is going to be alright. Prongs won't let anything happen to me.

The door to his small, bare room opened revealing a small witch with curly red hair, falling to her shoulders. Her face had a stern look, and her eyes seemed to darken when she sought him out. Her voice was husky and sounded manly. "The trail is about to begin. Please escort the accused to Courtroom 10."

The Aurors crowded round Sirius, grasping his upper arms and hauling him to his feet. Tonks gave him a reassuring smile. "Everything will be alright." she encouraged.

Sirius swallowed, trying not to think what could happen in the next few hours. If everything went wrong….he did not want to think about the consequences.

He was led through the dimly lit corridors, trying to ignore the stares from the wizards and witches that they passed. They took him down the stairs until they came to double brown doors, lined with steel, pulling him into the courtroom, leading him to a chair right in the centre of the room. Almost immediately chains wrapped round him, tightening so that he could hardly move.

Cornelius Fudge sat at the top of the podium. He looked old and grey, his suit rumpled, and he looked tired. It seemed the mistakes he had made in not listening to Dumbledore were coming back to haunt him. The Minister raised his mallet and hit it upon his podium three times calling for order.

On Sirius's entrance the people present in the Courtroom had broken out in whispers, but now it fell silent, as the Minister began the trial that would decide Sirius' fate.

James and Remus sat in the Courtroom, listening to the charges that had been made against Sirius fifteen years ago. Throughout it James was shaking his head, hardly daring to believe that people would really think that Sirius would do something like that.

"…conspiring to murder; the betrayal of the Potters to Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; the mass murder of twelve Muggles and one wizard; and attempted murder. Do you plead guilty or not guilty?"

"I plead guilty to attempted murder but not guilty to the rest." Sirius answered. He could not deny the fact that he had tried to kill Peter. There was no way to wiggle himself out of that charge.

"Can the Prosecution please step forth." Fudge ordered.

A burly man in his forties walked forward, holding sheets of paper. His robes were the colour of black, and he stood straight. His eyes sought out Sirius, before he turned to the Minister.

"I have here written statements from the survivors of the explosion proving that the accused is guilty of these crimes." He pulled out one of the slips of paper and began to read in a smooth, clear voice.

"Miss Agatha Times, of London was visiting her sister in law when she saw the exact going on's at the scene of the crime. She says that she saw two men yelling at each other. The shorter of the two, shouted out: "How could you, Sirius? Lily and James! How could you?" Then the other man, the taller of the two, pulled out a stick and shot green light at the smaller man. It hit him and the pipes that he was next to. The street exploded in flames and all that was left was the tall man laughing like a maniac."

The prosecutor shuffled through his leaflets again before extracting a piece of parchment. He cleared his throat. "This statement was written by a little girl. A girl who later died in hospital due to the injuries she sustained from the accused. "I was with my mummy," she has written, "when we saw two men fighting each other with words. There was a flash of light and then my mummy was laying on the floor, her eyes wide open. She was not moving. One of the men had disappeared and the other was laughing. It was scary."

For the next few minutes the prosecution presented the evidence that proved that Sirius had murdered those thirteen people. He then went on to present the evidence to prove that Sirius had been the Potter's Secret Keeper, but Fudge on a calling from James, politely told the man that enough evidence had been given to show Sirius' innocence on that charge. So it was within the first hour of the trial that Sirius had already been cleared of two of the four charges.

After the prosecution had rested his case, (which had been the surviving members of the families affected by the blast) the defence rose, headed by Albus Dumbledore, who with his kind eyes, long silver beard and infinite wisdom was a credit to the trial. The entire Wizarding World now knew he had been telling the truth about Voldemort, so the jury was asking themselves, would Albus Dumbledore really lie to them about Sirius Black?

"Back in 1981, I confessed that Sirius Black had been the Potter's Secret Keeper, however I was wrong. He swapped with Peter Pettigrew at the last minute, and did not inform me of the swap. I only found out the truth when he was captured at Hogwarts a few years ago. Sirius Black explained to me that he swapped Secret Keepers because he felt that Voldemort would know it was him protecting James and Lily and Harry Potter and he thought that he would crack under pressure if Voldemort captured him."

James glanced over at Sirius who was bowing his head in disgrace. You may feel that you have failed me, my friend, but you haven't. You did what you thought was best.

"I would like to call James Potter to the stand." Dumbledore called, motioning his right hand towards James.

Swallowing, and letting Remus clap him on the back, James rose and proceeded forward, his heart beating fast. He had never thought he would have to testify for his friend. He stood in front of the judges, trying to look calm, but deep down he was frightened that whatever happened next he would condemn his friend to death.

"Do you, James Potter, swear in front of his whole court to tell anything that is the truth and not to lie? Do you swear to answer the jury's questions truthfully and without lie?" Cornelius Fudge asked.

James nodded, his neat black hair practically falling in front of his eyes. "I do."

Fudge motioned for the case to continue.

Then the questions came. James answered each, until finally he was asked politely to be seated. Most of the questions had related to what had happened on the 31st October 1981, but a few had been about his friendship with Peter, Lily, his relationship with Harry and one juror had the indecency of asking James how exactly a dead man could come back to life. He had answered but what he had said didn't seem to convince the man.

Typical, James thought, another person who does not believe in the impossible from happening.

Remus was called forward to the stand next and as the same as before, he was asked questions about his friendship with Sirius, James and Peter, as well as what he had been doing on 31st October 1981. Once that was done, Dumbledore read through testaments from Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger that told the jury when they had first met Sirius and what his purpose had been.

After that Remus was called forward again and asked to tell his version of events of the night in the shrieking shack. The juror which had disbelieved in James tried his best to trip Remus up in his story, however he was careful to not fall for any of the holes. With that settled Dumbledore called to the stand Severus Snape, who strolled up the courtroom, scowling, his dark eyes flashing angrily at James and Sirius.

He really doesn't want to be here. James realised. Dumbledore must've asked him to testify.

Thankfully Snape did not say anything out of sync with the other stories (most likely on Dumbledore's influence) and once he was done he left the courtroom. At last it was Sirius' turn. Finally he could tell his story, the whole truth for the first time in front of a jury.

James could see the determination in his friend's eyes to prove his innocence but also the fear that he could fail. And so the question came:

"Sirius Black, please tell us, exactly what happened on the night of October 31st 1981 leading up to your involvement with the re-emerging of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in June of 1996."

James found he was holding his breath as Sirius began to speak and he forced himself to breathe in and out. Sirius spoke in detail of the events and what he had done, omitting no detail. He admitted that it was his fault that Voldemort had found James and Lily because if he had not been stupid enough to think that Peter would never betray them, then they would've been safe. He explained his feelings on Peter betraying his best friend and that his motive to kill him had been a desire to feel elated that with Peter's death he would feel less responsible about James and Lily's death.

He clarified how he had escaped from Azkaban, admitting that he was an unregistered Animagus and explaining why he was one. He then told them how he had escaped from the prison, for he knew if he did not tell them then they would just question him about it later. He told them about his encounter with Harry and how he had been rescued though he had no idea how Harry had actually achieved it. Thankfully his Godson had answered those questions in his written statement, therefore excusing Sirius from answering the questions of how he had escaped from Hogwarts. He told them about helping Dumbledore search for the Dark Lord, eventually leading to James' return and his hiding at Hogwarts in his Animagus form.

Eventually he had finished his story. Sirius sat back down, and the judges filed from the room to review the case. He sat back with his head on the back of the chair, panic beginning to rise in his chest, What would the verdict be? Would he be convicted? He had told the jury the whole truth, but whether that would be enough, he did not know.

James was sitting with Dumbledore, whispering fervently, his hair ruffled. His friend tossed his a weary smile when he looked up.

It seemed like years, but was really only three hours passed before the jurors re-appeared. Nervous and apprehensive, Sirius waited for the judgement to pass.

"May the accused please stand." Cornelius Fudge ordered.

Sirius did so, the Aurors at his side. One by one the Jurors stood to their feet.

A woman with thick grey hair, in blue and green robes, rose from the benches, her face was lined with wrinkles, but her eyes were unreadable. There was no emotion there. He could not tell what the verdict was.

Momentarily looking at James, he could see that his friend was leaning forward in anticipation, waiting for the words to spill forth, and Remus was sitting back, his eyes closed, his lips moving silently as if he was in prayer.

"With all the evidence presented by the defence, this court has voted that Sirius Black is innocent on the charges that follow: 'conspiring to murder; the betrayal of the Potters to Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; the mass murder of twelve Muggles and one wizard'. However we feel that the defendant is guilty of 'attempted murder'."

Cornelius Fudge rose his mallet and banged it on his podium. "The crime of 'attempted murder' is a serious offence here in the Wizarding World. I would suggest a sentence of ten years of imprisonment in Azkaban."

No. Sirius thought, I can't go back there…

There was a loud shout of disproval from the crowd of spectators, all jeering for Fudge to hear their pleas.

"He's already served a sentence!" James bellowed. "Set him free!"

Another woman requested: "You owe him the years he's already spent in that place! Let the sentence he served be the punishment for the crime he has been found guilty of! It is only right!"

More people stood up voicing their concerns until finally Fudge was forced to call order. Everyone fell silent. Slowly he swallowed. "The decision lies with the jury as to what they think should be a suitable sentence." he turned back to the jury.

The woman stood again. "We feel as a jury that the defendant should not be punished for the crime of 'attempted murder' due to the unfair sentence that he has already served. We suggest this court give Sirius Black a full apology and release him, giving him full compensation to be able to set himself up financially."

Fudge's eyes seemed to grow in their sockets, as if he couldn't believe what the jurors and the general public wanted of him. Sighing in defeat he banged his mallet and proclaimed the defendant not guilty and ordering the Ministry to pay a simple amount of money to help Sirius set up his own home, even though he was the sole owner of Grimmauld Place.

With the proclamation of his innocence Sirius felt elated and a grin was spreading across his face. He could see James cheering, and hugging Remus, tears were falling down their cheeks as they embraced. The remaining Marauders could unite.

The Aurors released Sirius from their grip and he rushed over to James, who grabbed him, hugging him, laughing.

"You're free!"

"I'm free! After three years on the run, I'm finally free!" Sirius said, his face a light of joy.

"Congratulations Padfoot." Remus said, smiling, grasping his friend's hand and shaking it. "You can return to society, a free man."

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, I can't believe this day is here. I never thought it would happen."

"They could not convict you. There was too much evidence in your favour." James explained.

"So, Sirius, what are you planning on doing?" Dumbledore asked, twinkle in his eyes.

Sirius frowned. "I'm not sure. I'd like to become an Auror again, but would they let me? I mean, with my record and all?"

"They should." James confessed, "you were an Auror before all of this. You were better then me. You were credited to take over Alastor Moody when he retired. You can apply with me, and we can work together."

"Sounds good!"

The courtroom was empty now leaving the three friends and the headmaster alone. Dumbledore clasped his hands together. "I daresay you three have plans, especially now that you can go wherever you want, Sirius. I will take my leave. I'm sure I do not want to be around when you lot have been in the pubs and drinking."

James laughed, brushing a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up at the sides. "Are you sure? I mean, you're welcome to join us. You never know it might be fun."

"No thank you. I have no desire to hallucinate tonight." Dumbledore said this in a kind voice so not to offend them.

"Who said we would be hallucinating?" Sirius joked. "We're only drinking!"

"Exactly." there was a twinkle in the headmaster's eyes. "It's been a long time since you three have had the freedom to do as you please. Go out and enjoy yourselves."

"Yes sir." Cheekily James replied. Being in the older man's presence made him feel like a student again.

Dumbledore inclined his head, then turned, and with a swish of his robes was walking away from them, out of the courtroom, leaving the three of them alone to discuss their plans.

TBC,

Coming Next: chapter 2 Auror Exams….ETA is unknown…sometime soon.

Please review!

Bye for now,

MissBlackPotter