As always, a huge thanks to Ambush99 for betaing this!

Chapter 10

Moody's acceptance felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Each piece of the jigsaw was beginning to fall back into place. Six months ago he had thought he would die in that place. Then he had seen his cousin's newspaper and the urge to fight for his survival had been rekindled. It was as if a fire had been lit within him. Through the long months of escape, the fire refused to die, as did he. He knew he had to fight to get back and warn his friends. He had survived the torture, he had survived the brutal escape, he had spent four months convalescing but now he was ready to fight once again.

He winced slightly as a smaller figure collided with him. Looking down at the breathless figure, he found a smile. "Harry."

"Sirius!" Harry replied breathlessly. "The second task. I'm late. I-I-"

"Harry," Sirius said calmly, shaking his godson's shoulders. "Harry, take a breath, okay. They won't start without you. Just breathe for me kid."

"Sirius, I'm so screwed," Harry finally managed.

"Why's that?" Sirius questioned.

"It took me ages to work out the clue; well I didn't start working on it until after Christmas. I was so happy to have passed the first task and then it was Christmas. Then the egg wouldn't stop wailingly, so Cedric told me to take a bath. Then the egg gave me a riddle. I eventually figured that out. Ron, Hermione and I spent ages it the library researching ideas but we couldn't find one that I could achieve in the time I had left. So I was in the library with Ron and Hermione last night but they had to meet Dumbledore. I fell asleep but I was woken up by Dobby and he gave me Gillyweed. I think they've captured Ron and I have to get him from the lake," Harry said as the fear and emotion tumbled out.

"Harry," Sirius said gently, pulling him into a hug. "You're going to be fine."

"I'm scared, Sirius," Harry admitted, burying his head into Sirius' chest. "I don't want to do it."

"I know."

"I don't want to disappoint them."

"Harry, you mum and dad, your grandparents, we are all so proud of you. As to the rest of them, screw them. I'd like to see them stand up to the pressures and tasks as well as you have."

"It just doesn't feel enough."

"I know, sometimes in life it doesn't. But you are so brave, Harry. You are smart, kind and brave."

Harry found a shy smile. "Then why do I feel scared?"

"We all feel scared sometimes. Your mum and dad, your grandparents, even Dumbledore gets scared. I'm scared of losing you; I'm scared of losing your parents and your grandparents. I'm scared of my dreams," Sirius admitted. "I'm scared of a lot of stuff Harry."

"But you seem, so, I don't know. So, calm. How do you do it?"

"I think of all the good times in my life. I think of all the times I was happy and carefree, and I hold on to those. I don't let my fears rule me. It's sometimes not enough, but..." Sirius stopped and sighed for a moment. "Don't let your fears rule you, Harry. Listen to them, sure, but don't let them rule you."

Harry nodded determinedly. "What shall I do?"

"You mentioned you were going to use Gillyweed."

"Yes," Harry replied in a calmer voice. "I don't know what to do with it. Dobby gave it to me."

"Dobby?"

"He's a house elf. He used to be the Malfoy's until I freed him," Harry explained.

Sirius frowned. "Dobby, a strange elf?" he remembered.

Despite the situation, Harry found himself laughing. "That's one way to describe him. Sirius, what do I do with Gillyweed?"

Sirius looked at the large handful of slimy weed in Harry's hand for a moment. "You eat it. It will, as the name suggests, give you gills."

"Will it work?"

"I've never used it myself but I know others who have. You'll be fine Harry but if you really don't want to do it I'll find a way to get you out of it."

"No," Harry said shaking his head. "No, I'll do it. I need to do it."

"Okay," Sirius said carefully, as he wrapped a protective arm around his godson's shoulders. "Harry, you know it's okay to be scared. It's perfectly normal; I'd be more worried if you weren't."

"I feel so stupid. The other champions seem so…"

"Composed?" Sirius offered, as they made their way through the crowds down towards the lake. "What did I tell you before, it's all an act. I can tell you, they are as scared as you."

Harry nodded, pausing as they got to the tent. "Thank you Sirius."

"Don't mention it," Sirius replied, pulling Harry into another hug. "You're going to be fine. There are people stationed around in case you get into trouble."

"You're late!" Crouch snapped as Harry and Sirius entered the tent.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault," Sirius said pleasantly, but his cold glare told a different story. "Harry, I've got to go but remember what I said."

Harry nodded nervously, his throat now too tight to talk. He wished Sirius would stay, but knew he couldn't.

Sirius patted Harry's shoulder as he took one final look at the room. He noted nothing of great significance, apart from two people. He stole two careful glances before retreating out of the tent. Igor Karkaroff appeared shifty and nervous. When he had been an auror, the first time, thirteen years ago, he had started to build a case against Karkaroff. He had been sure that Karkaroff had been a death eater and was waiting to collect the final piece of evidence before he presented the case. Then, of course, he had been kidnapped. What had happened to his case he did not know, but it was evident by Karkaroff's presence that he was a free man. Then there was Crouch. Crouch and he had never seen eye to eye, but there was something else. He shook his head as he tried to dismiss the thought. He could have sworn Crouch was under the Imperius Curse. He shook his head again. The last time he had listened to his gut it damn near got him killed. It was impossible, he may have hated Crouch, he doubted he would ever succumb to the Imperius Curse.

"Take your time, why don't you," James said as he tried and failed to keep the fear from his voice. "Do you know how many people I had to fight off?"

"Given the green tinge to your face, I suggest not a lot," Sirius said with a grin. "You look like you're about to throw up."

"Piss off Padfoot. What did Dumbledore and Moody have to say?"

"Moody, I start on Monday. Dumbledore, it's complicated, I'll explain later," Sirius said simply. "Oh, I saw Harry on the way down."

"How was he?" Lily demanded.

"Fine. Nervous as hell, but okay. He's got a good plan," Sirius replied. "I walked him to the tent."

"Thank you Sirius," Lily breathed. "I don't know why they don't let us do that, especially as he's underage!"

"I know. Everyone seems to take what Crouch says as gospel, but-" Sirius stopped and shook his head. "Do you trust someone's knowledge of magical law who scraped a pass on the fifth and final attempt?"

"Do you know what he's going to do?" James asked.

"Harry? Yes," Sirius replied. "All you need to know is Harry will be safe. He's got a good head on his shoulders and a good idea. If it doesn't work, there are people who will help him. He will be fine."

"Sirius?"

"I'd never let anything happen to him. I'd die before that happened," Sirius replied defiantly.

James swallowed. "Sorry mate, it's just I feel so-"

"Helpless?" Sirius offered.

"Yeah," James managed before Bagman's projected voice filled the stands. There was no going back. The second task was about to begin.

As the minutes ticked by the bile in his stomach began to grow. What the hell was he thinking? His godson had said he'd been given Gillyweed by a former elf of the Malfoys and he had accepted that easier than he would a free pint. What the hell was in that weed? Was it weed at all? As the first champion, Cedric, broke the surface, his fear dropped a couple of notches. A couple of minutes passed as they still awaited Krum and Harry. Then Krum surfaced, outside the time given. Why the hell hadn't he checked the Gillyweed? Harry had told him Malfoy's old house elf had given it to him. What if the elf had poisoned it? Before he could he address his fears, Harry, along with two others, surfaced. He let his head sink into his hands for a moment as the tension ebbed from his body, before he joined everyone else on their feet.

"He did it. He bloody did!"

Sirius winced slightly as his best friend yelled at him before pulling him into a bone crushing hug. "Of course he did." He watched as Lily and then James began to disappear into the crowd, before a hand flew out and dragged him towards them.

"Come on Sirius," James called out dragging his friend through the crowd.

Sirius found himself hanging back for a moment, feeling as if he was intruding upon a private moment. He wondered briefly whether, if he had done anything differently in his life, his parents would have loved him like James and Lily loved Harry. If they would have worried about him when he had gone missing.

"Sirius, you idiot, come here!" James yelled pulling him into the group.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed hugging his godfather. "I thought I screwed up but I'm joint first place with Cedric!"

"I knew you could do it!" Sirius replied warmly, returning the hug. "I presume someone will be raiding the kitchens."

"Fred and George are."

"It's going to be quite a party then. You'd better get going," Sirius replied, noting a couple of kids, who he presumed were Harry's friends. "You don't want to keep the party waiting."

"Whatever you said to him, thanks," James said draping his arm around his friend's shoulders.

"Don't mention it mate," Sirius said distractedly as he watched Crouch cross the grounds. There was a slight jerk to his stride. He shook his head as he tried to clear his thoughts. He hadn't seen the man in nearly fourteen years, maybe that was how he walked, it didn't mean he was under the Imperius Curse.

"Sirius, you alright mate?"

"Yeah, sorry just thinking."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Just thinking about the parties we used to have after Quidditch games," Sirius lied.

James laughed. "Yeah, they were pretty wild. How about we head to the Three Broomsticks and have one of our own?"

"Sounds like a great idea," Sirius replied, fighting to keep the distracted tone from his voice as he watched Crouch disappear from view. "Well, what are you waiting for?!" He found himself grinning as he walked towards the gates with his greatest friends. Finally, it felt like the pieces of his life were coming together again.

Sdfs

"Sirius."

Sirius looked up from the book he was reading to see Kingsley standing in front of him. He had been back at work for a few weeks now, and it was beginning to feel comfortable. He had spent the vast majority of it in the office, but it seemed to be part of the course these days.

"Hi Kingsley, what can I do you for?"

"What are you reading?" Kingsley asked with interest, eyeing the muggle-looking book.

"'Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs' by Noam Chomsky, it's a muggle strategy book. You can borrow it if you want."

"I would really appreciate that," Kingsley replied. In the short time Sirius had been back, Kingsley had found his wide depth of literary interests fascinating. He read anything from the standard wizard books, to muggle philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, to muggle history and military books, and anything in between.

"I'm guessing you aren't here to discuss my choice of reading material," Sirius replied lightly, handing the book over.

"Moody wants you to go to the WP meeting."

"The WP?"

"Weekly policy."

Sirius frowned. "Surely, you or Dawlish would be more suited?"

Kingsley shrugged. "I'm just relaying the message."

"When and where?"

"Now, on level one, in the Cabinet Room."

Sirius smirked. "Nothing has changed has it? He still likes to keep you on your toes, doesn't he?"

"Tell me about it!"

"Who attends these meetings?" Sirius asked, as he got this feet.

"The Heads of Division and Minister."

"Great," Sirius said sarcastically, as he pulled on his dragon hide jacket. "Oh, if you ever want to borrow a book, please do."

"I will, thank you," Kingsley replied, watching his colleague start to leave the office. "Knock them dead, Sirius."

Sirius turned and grinned. "I'll do my best," he replied, throwing Kingsley a mock salute.

He nervously tapped his foot as the lift made its way to his destination. What the hell was Moody's agenda? Kingsley, Dawlish, even Tonks probably had more experience, more knowledge of the Ministry's current policies than he did. Did Moody want him to contribute, or sit back and observe? Before he could analysis any further, the lift doors slid open. He made his way calmly down the heavily carpeted corridors until he saw a group of people. Observing the group, he felt slightly underdressed in his more casual attire of boots, jeans, a loose shirt and dragon hide jacket, opposed to the others' more formal wizarding robes.

"Moody sends his apologies. He sent me in his stead," Sirius said as he approached Fudge.

"Ah, welcome," Fudge said with a less than enthusiastic voice.

"Thank you," Sirius replied pleasantly. He took a moment to observe the people around him. Fudge, Crouch, Amelia Bones and others he vaguely remembered from his first time at the Ministry. They were people who could easily be coerced by Fudge and his cronies.

"Well, shall we start this meeting?" Fudge asked, as he led the way into the meeting room.
Sirius allowed the others to filter in first and take their seats, not knowing if there was an unspoken seating arrangement. Finding a vacant seat between Amelia Bones and Eduardus Limus from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, he sat back on the plush, velvet covered chair, interlocked his fingers and observed. Apart from a slight power struggle between Fudge and Crouch, they appeared to agree on most items, with the rest of the room falling in line.

"We come to the last item on the agenda. Lowering the entry age to the auror department." Fudge started.

Sirius looked up. Having been called to the meeting at the last minute, he had not received an agenda.

"All in favour?" Fudge continued.

"I am against it," Sirius interjected, causing the room to become silent.

"Mr. Black, we are voting on the issue," Fudge replied shortly.

"So, we are not debating the issue?!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"The legal case is clear. Under the Magical Law Act of 1745, it is clear we cannot discriminate against an individual's age," Crouch stated pompously.

"Indeed. However, the Underage Act of 1325, Section 1, Clause 2a states no witch or wizard is permitted to perform magic outside of their educational institution. The Protection of Minors Act of 1962 goes into further detail regarding the matter. Unless, of course, you are going to implement the Underage Act's Section 4, Clause 1, that underage witches or wizards may perform magic if they are in extreme danger. So, no. The legal case is not clear, it's shaky at best," Sirius stated fiercely. "I do think this is something which should be subject to debate." He watched as Crouch and Fudge looked increasingly uncomfortable. Any notion of not causing controversy had long since left the room.

"Well, if you insist Mr. Black."

"I do."

"Fine. As I was saying we are looking to reduce the auror entry age as we need more recruits," Fudge started.

"So, you want to weaponise children?" Sirius interrupted.

"What?! That's preposterous," Fudge exclaimed.

"Is it really? I mean that's what you are doing. You want us to pass a law enabling us to use children as, well, essentially soldiers."

"Mr. Black, this is really not the time or the place. You are taking things out of context," Fudge stammered.

Sirius interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them. He took a moment to observe the spluttering figure in front of him. "Tell me Cornelius, when was the last time you were in combat?" he asked calmly.

"That's hardly relevant," Fudge spluttered.

"Perhaps not, but knowing what it involves could help your understanding. Being there, a moment from death. Knowing one false move, one hesitation could result in your death is incredibly tough, even as an adult. I don't think a child is emotionally equipped to deal with that. I don't think a child should ever have to deal with that."

"We are under pressure to recruit more people to the department!" Fudge exclaimed.

"Fine, let's put morality to one side for one moment, let's discuss politics. During the Goblin Rebellion of 1323, Gliplock used young goblin children. Did it help them? No, they still lost the war. Only they lost countless hundreds of innocents. Gliplock was executed shortly afterwards. It didn't help the Centaurs during their civil war in 984 either," Sirius argued.

"That's history. It has no bearing on today's decision!" Fudge snapped.

"A nation who forgets their past is doomed to repeat it," Sirius countered calmly. "Winston Churchill, the muggle Prime Minister during World War Two said that."

"There has only been one war," Crouch interjected.

"Oh Merlin," Sirius exclaimed as he raked his hands through his long hair. "Are you that disconnected?! We refer to them as 'worlds' but they aren't really. They are just different sections of society within the same world. Any actions we take will affect the muggle society and vice visa."

"I'll have you know we are only countering you-know-who's tactic," Fudge snapped, now purple in the face with anger.

"Really?! You are following the tactics of one of the most evil, murderous pieces of scum alive. An individual who strikes so much fear, that you cannot even mention his name. It's Voldemort by the way. I've faced him, I've fought him and I'll never follow him," Sirius growled back as his grip on his temper began to wane.

"So, why do you think it's a bad idea?!"

Sirius took a breath, as he tried to calm himself. "Why? Because it's immoral, I seriously question the legality of it and strategically it makes no sense."

"I'll guess we'll see! I'm going to put this to the vote," Fudge practically yelled, his eyes bulging. "All in favour of the motion?" He scowled as he noted the two solitary hands. "All against? Fine, motion abstained. That concludes the meeting. We will meet at the same time next week."

Sirius stood with the others. Nodding an acknowledgement at each one in turn, he headed out of the room. He was so fired, he thought. Moody had probably only sent him to casually observe the meeting and report back, but he had ended up in a full-on argument with the Minister of Magic. Well, he would refer to it as a debate, but judging by Fudge's reaction he doubted he'd agreed. It was a shame, Sirius thought, he was really beginning to enjoy the job.