Another chapter and another huge thank to Ambush99 for her tireless work and encouragement.

The speech is highly influenced by several key speeches (Elizabeth I, General Wolfe, Patrick Pease, Nelson Mandela amongst others)

Chapter 25

Sirius leant against the lift walls. He didn't know whether to laugh, smile or scream. Fudge was undoubtedly going to try to fire him, but hadn't that always been his intention? The process had just been accelerated. Fudge had never liked him, even when he was a lowly auror in training. He didn't know why, he'd just accepted it. He had always thought it strange considering the highly influential family he had been born into, especially given Fudge's ambitious nature, but what did he care? It had never been his intention to cause conflict and strife within the Ministry walls, but what choice did he have? He rubbed his face, trying to ignore the increasing pain in his arm. He fingered the bottles of potion in his pocket. He had to deliver a motivational speech to the auror department. A department he was now responsible for the wellbeing and safety of. He ran a hand through his hair. At thirty-five, with barely five years experience as an auror and having spent over thirteen years as a captive, he felt grossly ill prepared for the task before him.

"Morning Kingsley," Sirius said, forcing enthusiasm into his voice, as he walked into the office.

"Morning Sirius… fuck, what the hell happened to your arm?!" Kingsley exclaimed.

"Oh, a family argument," Sirius said lightly.

"What?"

"The death eaters, my cousin included, weren't best pleased to see me yesterday."

"Shit, I tried to apparate with you but the stations were locked down."

"I know, that was my intention."

"Shit, Sirius, by the look of it, you could have bloody been killed!" Kingsley exclaimed as he followed Sirius to his desk.

"Look, okay I wasn't in the best of states last night but I'm fine now. I'm not going to subject myself to a fitness test, as I would probably pass out before completion, but I'm okay. I'm not about to die or anything," Sirius said as he shuffled through some paperwork. "Kingsley, stop looking at me like that. I'm fine, I'm not about to pass out or anything."

"Did you go to St. Mungo's?"

"No," Sirius started, before quickly launching into an explanation of last night's event. "So, I'm cool, okay. How's Tom? Remus owled me about Tonks this morning."

"He's fine. He'll need a couple of days off but, apart from that, he's fine."

"Good," Sirius said as he looked up towards Moody's office. "It doesn't seem real, right? Moody gone. I always imagined him retiring after me. Stupid really when you consider what we do for a living."

"I know, I always thought he'd be here forever. As you said, naive considering our line of work. So what's the plan now?"

Sirius sighed, as he collected his thoughts. "Well, a change of strategy. A strategy I know the Minister does not support."

"Sirius?"

"Kingsley, I need you to start drawing up arrest warrants."

Kingsley nodded. "Who for?"

"To start with, the Lestranges. We have evidence against them."

Sirius, we've had evidence for a while," Kingsley replied as he looked pointedly at his boss.

"I know," Sirius said uncomfortably, as he looked down at the floor. "I don't trust my memories around that time, and I doubt they would stand up in court. Any half decent lawyer would rip them to shreds within minutes."

"Of course. Anyone else?"

Sirius leant back against his desk and thought for a moment before continuing. "Yes, draw one up for Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"Who?"

"Voldemort."

"You've discovered his true identity?" Kingsley started. He watched Sirius nod before continuing. "Do you think it'll help us?"

"Yes, even if it's for the fact people realise he's human and not some greater power."

"What's the Ministry's official policy?"

"You know Fudge, the world is all happy and there is no evil, so long as his duck house is intact and he can continue to dine at the finest restaurants," Sirius said bitterly.

"So, we're at peace. And our office?"

Sirius slowly swallowed. "We're at war."

Kingsley inhaled sharply and paused for a moment, as he processed the latest information. "Good," he finally said.

"It's not something I wanted to do, but I feel I don't have any other choice. Each moment we stand here allowing our Ministry's inaction to continue, is a moment closer to our destruction. We tried the political game with Fudge, we tried bringing him around to the fact, but it did not work. I don't want to work against the Ministry, as I fear it will cause internal instability, but as the head of the Department for Intelligence and Security, I feel I have no choice."

"And I completely agree with you. What do you think Fudge will do?"

Sirius ran a hand over his face before answering. "He's going to go for me. He'll try and dismiss me as mentally unstable and therefore dangerous and unable to fulfill my role. If that doesn't work, well, I wouldn't put it past him to arrest me for treason."

"Really?! You think he'll go that far?"

Sirius nodded. "He's an arrogant fuck, but more than that he's scared, and scared people do stupid things."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I guess I've got to brief the troops," Sirius said uncertainly. "Any suggestions?"

"Be yourself. They know you, they trust you and they believe in you."

"Thanks," Sirius said, his voice trailing off towards the end. He took a breath as he tried to compose himself. He stepped onto his desk. Clearing his throat, he started. "It seems right, before we turn away from this place and we lay to rest the mortal remains of Alastor Moody, that one among us should, in the name of all, speak the praise of that valiant man, and endeavour to formulate the thought and the hope that we are as strong as he was. Alastor Moody was a good man, and yes he was flawed, as we all are, but he was a good man. He wanted peace above all else. He did not want conflict. As much as others would suggest he was a warmonger, he was not. We lost a good man yesterday, not because of carelessness, but because of our ministry's inaction against the growing threat of tyranny and oppression. You know too well the forces we stand against. You know what Voldemort stands for. He stands for the outlaw, the isolation and oppression of the peoples of our world, precisely because the nartive has become the pernicious ideology and practice of discrimination of persons due to their blood status. For this reason we cannot let Voldemort win this war. We cannot let the Ministry fall. And we need to honour the brave work Moody did before us, as I believe it will lead us to victory, to defeating this growing evil." He stopped and took a moment to contain himself. He took in the shocked and confused looks in the eyes before him, along with the encouraging ones. "I've given this high speech yet I, well, I've given you no solution. We need to fight this bastard on whatever ground he fights, with whatever tools he uses, we need to fight him. I know I come to you with limited knowledge, but I bare to you the same information that is laid before me. I will fight this enemy at whatever cost to me, at whatever debt or sacrifice I need to make, I will fight this enemy to my dying breath." He stood there awkwardly for a second before jumping off the desk, not before he was met with a standing ovation.

"Was that okay?"

Kingsley laughed. "I think if Fudge didn't despise you, well he would get his speechwriters to kidnap you. Where the hell did you pull that from?"

"The lift after I spoke with Fudge," Sirius said with a shrug. "How long do you think it'll take you to draft an arrest warrant?"

"A day at most."

Sirius nodded. "Okay, look that's fine. I'm not going to be okay enough to go into the field for a couple of days and I'm not going to issue any warrants if I cannot serve them."

"Sirius?"

"Kingsley, mate, it's going to be shit okay, but you already know that. Your wife, is she...?" He watched Kingsley's expression. "Oh for fuck's sake, I couldn't give a shit if she is Muggle born, squib or pure blood, I wanted to know in case we needed to add additional wards to your house!"

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

"She's a half blood. Her mother is a witch, her father a Muggle."

"We'll offer them additional protection then."

"I'm sorry, Sirius, I well, with everything happening, you would have thought I could trust my friends."

Sirius nodded slowly, knowing his life had changed dramatically in the last twenty four hours. "People betray you, sometimes even your closest friends. I know that better than most, but if we can't trust our friends in the darkest of hours then I question humanity."

"I didn't mean to imply..."

Sirius waved his hand dismissively. "I know. Trust your instincts and tell someone. Just, just don't act as I did." He watched the other man nod. "I'll be back in a bit, I've just got a couple of things I need to attend to."

Sirius found himself walking slowly down the corridors, his hands stuffed in his pockets, lost in thought. People walked about their business without a care in the world. He wondered if they knew about Moody's death, or maybe they were just unaffected. It slowly dawned on him what a momentous effect Moody had had on his life, and now he was gone. His life snuffed out like a candle at the end of an evening. Without realising it, nor knowing how, he found himself standing outside the Apparation Room. He stood there for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

"What are you doing here?"

Sirius spun around to see Fudge standing behind him. "Cornelius, this is neither the time nor the place. I'm just here to pay my respects, I don't want any trouble."

"Fine," Fudge snapped as he brushed past him.

Sirius watched Fudge and a small, squat witch dressed in pink disappear down the corridor. He picked up snippets from their conversation. Great, he thought, as he heard 'half-breeds', you go after innocent people and remain blind and inactive to the growing threat of tyranny and war. He sighed. As much he wanted to take action, there was little he could do other than try to shield Remus from the worst of it.

"You're here."

Sirius spun around to come face to face with Lucius Malfoy. "Hello Lucius," he said in a forcedly pleasant voice.

"You should be careful."

"What?"

"Well I doubt you'd want people to know about your adoption," Lucius drawled, resting a light finger on Sirius' shoulder.

Sirius laughed. "Oh Lucius, it is hardly a secret. I've never hidden the fact I'm adopted. Why would I? When it was one of the best things to ever happen to me in my life. Really Lucius, you need to try harder than that."

"You should be more careful. Well, you know 'accidents' happen," Lucius said, scowling.

"Are you threatening me?" Sirius said calmly, as he cocked his head to one side. "Because threatening a Ministry employee is an arrestable offence. You do realise that, don't you? I'm not sure Azkaban robes would be a good look for you."

"I'd watch your tone if I were you. You do realise my lawyer is investigating the Will? Your 'adoption' may invalidate any claim you have to the Black title," Lucius hissed menacingly.

"Investigate away, see if I give a shit! Because, really I don't. Being adopted by the Potters was probably the best day of my life, I finally had a family." Sirius stopped and watched Lucius' mouth slowly curl up into a smile. "But I hate to break it to you, the Will has been checked and scrutinised by several key people and it's, well, airtight. That's the thing about my blood family, they were a paranoid, pure-blood mania bunch of twats. They wouldn't have wanted any chance it would fall to a half-blood or, worse still, a Muggle. Sorry," Sirius finished as he flicked Lucius' cheek with his finger. Without a further word, he turned on his heels and strode towards the Apparation Room.

This was going to be the difficult bit, he thought, but he had to do it. Jean Moody deserved more than a couple of official visits from the Ministry. He owed her more than that. He owed Moody more than that. Stepping into the stop, he concentrated and was transported out of the Ministry.