DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER

November 28 1981

It had been three weeks since Peter had been sent to Azkaban. The Marauders and Moody had caught several Death Eaters during that time. Antonin Dolohov had been defeated by the Marauders together. Amycus Carrow and Alecto Carrow had been killed by Severus and James. Sirius and Remus had captured Igor Karakaroff, and Severus had felt great joy when he had turned in none other than Mulciber.

The Lestranges had been tried and sent to Azkaban a day after Peter's trial. The Marauders plus Moody had been there in attendance. Bellatrix had screamed, "THE DARK LORD WILL RETURN! HE WILL FREE US!"

Neither Narcissa nor Andromeda had attended the trial. Ted however, had been there, and upon seeing him, Bellatrix had looked at him before cruelly declaring, "THE DARK LORD WILL RETURN AND FREE US ONE DAY YOU FOOLISH MUDBLOOD! TELL YOUR BELOVED FILTHY BLOOD TRAITOR OF A SISTER IN LAW NARCISSA THAT I SHALL SURELY RETURN AND SLAY HER CHILD!"

Ted had felt his blood boil upon hearing that plus her evil cackling afterwards. Sirius had yelled about how demonic she had been to try and slay Draco, a baby that was blood related to her, her own nephew before Law Enforcement wizards had taken her away. No one had stopped him.

Unfortunately, some Death Eaters had managed to worm their way out of punishment by claiming to have been under the Imperius curse. Nott was one of them. Severus and the other Marauders did not believe any of the claims, but had not been able to do anything about them. However, much to Severus' satisfaction, Mulciber had been sent to Azkaban.

Karakaroff was going to be tried today. He had offered to reveal information in exchange for possible release.

The trial was in courtroom 10 just like Peter's trial, and Crouch was overseeing it. The Marauders were sitting in the same bench as last time but this time, it was Severus sitting next to Dumbledore.

In the same manner as Peter, Karakaroff was brought into the courtroom. As his cage came to rest in the middle of the courtroom, Crouch's voice boomed, "Igor Karakaroff, you have been brought from Azkaban at your own request, to provide evidence to this council. Should your testimony prove consequential, the council may be prepared to order your immediate release. Until then, you remain in the eyes of the Ministry, a convicted Death Eater. Do you accept these terms?"

Karakaroff spoke in response, "I do, Sir."

Immediately, Crouch asked, "And what do you wish to present?"

Karakaroff began, "I have names, Sir. There was Rosier, Evan Rosier."

An official seated next to Crouch handed a document to him. The latter glanced at it and said, "Rosier is dead. If this is all the witness has to offer…"

"No, no, no," Karakaroff protested, "There was Rookwood, he was a spy."

Crouch asked, "Augustus Rookwood, in the Department of Mysteries?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, he passed information to You-Know-Who, right from inside the Ministry itself," the response came.

Crouch looked perplexed for a moment and then proclaimed, "Very well. The council will deliberate. In the meantime, you will be returned to Azkaban."

Karakaroff yelled, "No wait please, I have more, Amycus Carrow and Alecto Carrow!"

Crouch looked at him blankly and replied, "The Carrows were recently killed by Aurors James Potter and Severus Snape."

Karakaroff continued, "Wait, one more, Narcissa Malfoy!"

Dumbledore stood up and explained, "As the council is very much aware, Lucius Malfoy was indeed a Death Eater. However, Narcissa Malfoy was never one herself. More importantly, a year before Voldemort's downfall, she turned to our side and acted as a spy for us. Also, it is well known that Lucius was killed by Voldemort himself while trying to protect Narcissa and her child after she was exposed."

Karakaroff protested, "I TELL YOU, SHE…"

"SILENCE," Crouch yelled, banging his gavel, "Unless the witness possesses any genuine name of consequence, this session is now concluded."

Karakaroff suddenly spoke, his voice growing louder and louder, "One more, I know for a fact that this person took part in the capture and torture by the Cruciatus curse, of the Auror Frank Longbottom and his wife."

"GIVE ME THE WRETCHED NAME!" Crouch roared.

"Barty Crouch," Karakaroff yelled, waiting for a few moments before continuing, "Junior."

As several members of the Wizengamot gathered started murmuring in shock, a young man standing up who was preparing to leave at that moment, stood in his position with a resentful expression on his face. It changed into that of hatred and blind with rage, he rushed towards the convict. James stood up and said, "Expelliarmus," disarming him. The exposed Death Eater was knocked sideways by the force of the spell, right in front of the convict's cage.

A few Law Enforcement wizards immediately grabbed Barty Crouch Junior. Somehow, he managed to make his way up to Barty Crouch Senior and sneered, "Hello Father."

Crouch Senior casually waved his hand and said, "You are no son of mine. Take him away." As Crouch Junior was dragged away, he screamed in hatred towards his father.

The Marauders were sitting with shocked expressions on their faces. Remus exclaimed, "So that was the Death Eater that got away!"

Sirius remarked, "How ironic! Being the son of high ranking official that's fully against Voldemort and yet joining him!"

James said, "I just can't believe it! And no one knew it until now! I only met him a few times, but he seemed to be quite a nice gentleman, right Severus?"

And then he noticed that Severus was gazing upon the scene, still as a rock, with an expression of disgust on his face.

He said, "Tell me James, don't you think it's possible that his father drove him into becoming a Death Eater?"

Sirius replied, "I bet he hated that boy. You heard what he just said to him, right? And the way he said it! Not to mention he's always been ruthless and power hungry! When we were training, Amelia had told me about him, so power hungry, cold, ruthless! What's to say he didn't neglect his son and that made him what he is now?!"

Severus turned to Sirius and said, "My abusive Muggle father was one thing that nearly drove me into joining the Dark Lord. If it hadn't been for Lily, and all of you guys, I don't know what kind of person I would have become. Honestly, Lily's parents and James' parents treated me like a son, more than my own father ever did!"

James held Severus' shoulder and said, "Whatever happens, I'm never going to have this kind of ruthlessness and let it affect Harry and Susan. I will never be like that Barty Crouch Senior, so ruthless and uncaring!"

Severus looked at James and said, "You are a far better person than he is. I know it."

After a few moments, he continued, "There's bound to be a scandal after this trial! Crouch Senior will surely have to suffer so much criticism. Who knows, maybe he won't be the Head of Law Enforcement for much longer."

Sirius snickered and declared, "Amelia would be a wonderful person to be in charge of Law Enforcement, that is, if she accepts that position! Speaking of which, there's something I need to get."

At 7 pm that evening, Lily, Molly and Amelia were sitting in the living room watching Ron, Harry and Susan all playing with some toy cars. Seeing the children so happy, all the adults were smiling.

Molly turned to Lily and asked, "So where are you planning to live now? I heard you're planning to move."

Lily replied, "Dumbledore says it's best that Harry lives in the muggle world until he's ready to come to Hogwarts. When it comes to the wizarding public, I understand why he's saying so. I've agreed to it but at the same time, that doesn't mean Harry's going to be cut off from all his friends. And, he will know about magic of course. So in a way, he'll still be in the magical world but he won't be at the same time."

Molly agreed, "That makes sense. And we'll be in touch with each other. Bringing our kids to play together, meeting for dinner, stuff like that. Amelia and Susan are moving in with you, right?"

Amelia replied, "We are. Susan and Harry already seem to be like siblings. Raising them together will be good for both of them. We'll avoid taking them to places such as Diagon Alley until they're at least a little older, maybe four or six or later on."

Molly smiled and said, "I'm so happy for all of you."

Lily spoke, "We're planning to find a house somewhere close to London, maybe in between London and Surrey. Although I know Petunia and I have been rather distant, I definitely hope to be able to at least be on speaking terms with her."

Molly nodded, having earlier heard what Petunia was like.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and Molly went to answer. Some moments later, she returned with the Marauders and Arthur behind her.

Lily and Amelia went and hugged the Marauders before moving towards the kids to give them a few kisses.

James went and hugged Harry, Ron and Susan saying, "Good evening little ones. You must have had a fun day! So much fun while we had to sit at the Ministry for a long time! I am so envious!"

Remus chuckled upon hearing that and said, "James, they're too young to be hearing about trials."

Sirius added, "Not to mention how boring they are, no toy cars to play with; no ice cream to eat." With that, he put on a sad expression that looked so ridiculous that all the toddlers starting laughing.

Amelia asked, "So, what happened at Karakaroff's trial today?"

The Marauders proceeded to tell her all that had happened. Amelia, Lily and Molly had disgusted looks on their faces by the time they had finished.

Lily scoffed, "So much for being Head of Law Enforcement and a 'perfect' future candidate for Minister of Magic when he treats his own son so badly! I definitely would have never said something like that!"

Amelia said, "As far as I've known him, he's always been utterly ruthless and power hungry. And many times when I saw him and his son together, Crouch Senior completely ignored him. If a man can just ignore his own son so many times, even when he tries to be a proper gentleman, then what's to say that he's not neglecting him?! Crouch Senior has always disgusted me, especially when it comes to his own son!"

Molly said, "I would never do that to any of my children! That young man must have been so resentful towards his father when he joined You-Know-Who!"

Severus spoke up, "The way he treated him just reminds me of my Muggle father, an abusive man. I'm glad I have you all. Otherwise, I would have probably joined the Dark Lord! I was an idiot, a failure in his eyes!"

Lily held him and said, "You are not like him in any way! Don't demean yourself like that! You were never once a failure and you are not a failure! You're so skilled in potions, and you're an accomplished auror! What's more, you've been such a good brother to me and a lovely uncle for Harry!"

Sirius added, "My own parents saw me as a failure simply because I didn't agree with their views and got sorted into Gryffindor. They couldn't break me though. And you couldn't be broken either, not by Avery and Mulciber, not even your own Muggle father."

Severus replied, "That's because Lily, my true friend and sister pulled me out of darkness. And then I saw more in you all, even in James, than before. You became my friends; not just that, I gained a real family."

Lily hugged her brother tightly. James joined in.

A few moments after the group hug, Sirius walked towards Amelia and stood in front of her. Pulling out a small red box, he said, "By the way, speaking of family, there's something I really want to ask you."

Amelia chuckled and asked, "What is it Sirius?"

Nearby, Lily and Molly looked curiously at them, and the other Marauders stood grinning.

Sirius bent down to one knee, opened the box to reveal a gold ring with a diamond. Taking the ring out and holding it out, he spoke, "Amelia Bones, will you marry me?"

Amelia looked at Sirius with surprise for a few moments before smiling and slowly slipping her left ring finger through the ring. Pulling him up, she exclaimed, "Of course I will Sirius!" And then, she pulled him into a fierce embrace and kissed him.

Lily and Molly instinctively covered the kids' eyes. Harry however, kept on pushing Lily's hand away and looking with wide open eyes at them.

Finally, Sirius and Amelia ended their kiss. Amelia smiled at him and whispered, "I love you Sirius!" Sirius whispered back, "I love you too Amy!"

NOTE: Yippee! The war's over. In the next chapter, Harry and Susan will have a new friend. Anyone wants to guess who it'll be? Please post your guesses via reviews.