Chapter Thirty One – The Interrogation of Sirius Black

"My Lady," Montgomery said. "It appears we are going to have a passenger."

Lady Aydin looked up from the notes she was reviewing in the back seat of the Bentley. She saw an old man standing calmly at the side of the road.

"The Elder received my message," she said. "Pull over Monty."

"Yes My Lady," he pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out. He opened the door to the passenger section and Elder Sinclair got in and sat down next to Lady Aydin.

"Elder," Lady Aydin said. "A pleasure to see you this morning. I take it you wish to watch the interrogations."

"Yes," he replied. "Since I cannot apparate or use a portkey to enter your facility I decided to meet your car. I could use a distraction from my current projects."

The Elder had spent most of the previous day and night reviewing the information Lady Aydin had provided about Lily Evans. What he saw shocked him. How could Albus have kept such knowledge from him? Whatever their history over the past few years, Albus knew how important such a find would be to him. Removing Tom from the playing field was even more important than he thought. He needed time to digest the information. And he needed to know everything about Tom's current plans.

Lady Aydin studied the Elder's calm appearance. She could tell he was bothered by something. She also knew it would not be worth the trouble to ask.

"You'll be pleased to know we took Black alive along with one other man," Lady Aydin said. "The Slayers captured five others. So far we've only identified Lucius Malfoy and Victor Goyle. The other two we don't have IDs for yet and the fifth turned out to be an animagus. He's still in his rat form. No way to identify him. We don't yet have an ID on the Death Eater we killed at Black's hideout and it will most likely be sometime until we do."

"These Slayers captured five Death Eaters," Elder Sinclair said. "Impressive." He needed to learn more about these Slayers and their Council. One more variable to keep track of. But he felt comfortable. He had chosen his allies well. His people had lived in the dark too long. Despite what Albus and Tom may think it was past time they began searching for a way back into the light. But Albus had the boy. And he was protecting him. Could he have changed?

----

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Dawn said. "It took Faye almost an hour to come down after she got back last night. That's too long. The guy was a Death Eater. She reacted like an innocent had been killed."

"I don't know," Willow said. "Maybe it's something different about Wizards. She said there was an awful lot of magic in the house. That might have triggered something in the Slayer."

The two were driving out to the SAS complex. Eric and Faye were following in the car behind them with Ronni and Suzzette.

"She said the guy was a werewolf," Dawn said. "From what I understand Riddle wouldn't consider that to meet his standard for a pureblooded Wizard. The other Death Eaters wouldn't accept him either."

"What are you thinking Dawn?" Willow asked.

"The evidence on Black is pretty overwhelming," Dawn said. "Everything MI5 has says he's a Death Eater. Maybe the Ministry of Magic is more on the ball than we thought. Maybe this guy was one of theirs. A plant put into the Death Eater organization."

"Goddess I hope not," Willow said. "But you're right. Something doesn't add up."

"We'll find out soon enough," Dawn said. "There's the turnoff to the complex."

As they entered the complex Willow saw Lady Aydin's Bentley parked in the lot. She was standing next to the car talking with a very old man. Willow's eyes narrowed.

"That must be Elder Sinclair," Willow said.

"What is it Willow?" Dawn said. She noticed her tense up.

"He's strong," Willow said. "A quantum leap above those guys we took out last night."

"You could still take him right," Dawn said.

"No problem," Willow replied. "It would be lot messier though and I don't recommend being anywhere nearby if something goes down. He is on our side, so we shouldn't have any problems."

Lady Aydin looked over to cars parking.

"The Council's representatives have arrived," she said. "Shall we meet them?"

"Lead the way My Lady," the Elder motioned with his hand.

The two went over to meet the group.

"Lady Aydin," Willow said. "It's good to see you again. I don't believe we've met your friend."

"Willow, a pleasure to see you as well," Lady Aydin replied. "Permit me to introduce Elder Edgar Sinclair. Elder this is Willow Rosenberg, Dawn Summers, Eric Travers and Faye Haughton. I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting your other companions."

"Nice to meet you Elder," Willow replied. "Our two friends are Ronni and Suzzette. They were with me when we captured the Death Eaters. Eric and Faye took part in the capture of Black."

The Elder reached out to shake everyone's hands. These children captured Death Eaters? From the few stories Lady Aydin had shared with him, he expected battle-hardened veterans. The man appeared to be about the same age as his granddaughter but the women. They were children.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you Ms Rosenberg," the Elder said.

Dawn smiled. She'd seen that look on peoples' faces before. "Having a hard time getting over how young we are?" she said.

The Elder took a moment to study the people in front of him. From first glance most people would normally discount them. But he was an intelligent man. He saw their eyes. None of them had been children in quite some time.

"It is a little startling," he replied. "But I recognize seasoned warriors when I see them."

"Shall we continue inside," Lady Aydin said. "There is much to do."

The group made their way to the detention level. Major Chisholm and Jennifer Sinclair met them as they came out the elevator.

Jennifer smiled, "Grandfather."

"Hello Jennifer," the Elder replied. "I don't see enough of you anymore."

"Grandfather," Jennifer's face became serious. "The man we captured with Black. It's Moody."

"Alastor was with Black?" the Elder asked. He started thinking. Alastor had been part of the old Order of the Phoenix. The Elder had not yet determined who all the current members were. Albus was being selective about who he asked back into the fold and the Elder had no way to determine who all the new members were.

"Wasn't Moody the one Crouch impersonated last year to gain access to Hogwarts?" Lady Aydin asked.

"Yes," the Elder replied nodding his head. "He was kept under an Imperious curse for quite some time. As difficult as it is for me to believe, perhaps that broke him."

"I always thought Mad-Eye was too tough to be broken," Jennifer said. "He was my first training officer when I joined the Aurors. But months under an Imperious curse can do serious damage to the mind. And to be honest, as good as he was, he was always a little strange."

"That was his strength," the Elder replied. "What is the status on Black?"

"Agent Cromwell is just about to start the first interrogation," Major Chisholm said. "We don't expect to get anything. Grayden just wants to get a reading on the Fidelius that's protecting the information. As he likes to say, 'sometimes just knowing something is being hidden can tell you what it is.'"

"Let us proceed," Lady Aydin said.

Sirius Black awoke slowly. His head hurt. The last thing he remembered was the strangely garbed men pushing him to the ground. He looked around the room. The walls were bare. He was sitting in a metal chair. His hands were secured to the frame, as were his feet. He tried to lean forward and discovered that his chest was bound as well. Someone had removed his clothes. He was wearing a dull gray outfit of unfamiliar design.

Where was he? This didn't look a Death Eater stronghold. The walls looked metal. He saw odd devices hanging from the corners. There was a simple rectangular table in front of him. He could a door.

"Where am I?!?" he shouted. "Let me go!!!"

The door opened and a man walked in. He was dressed in muggle clothes. Looked to be in his late thirties.

"Who are you?" Black demanded.

The man ignored him and set a pad of paper down on the table. He then turned and walked out of the room. He returned a few moments later with a chair and placed it on the opposite side of the table from Black. He sat down and stared.

"Who are you?!?!" Sirius shouted again. "Where am I?!?" What have done with the others?!"

The man's expression remained unchanged at each outburst. He seemed to be waiting patiently.

Black continued to yell at the man for a few minutes. Finally he calmed. The man smiled.

"Got the shouting out of your system Mr. Black," he said. "Good. I'm really not expecting to get much done at this meeting. This is more of an introduction. You may call me Mr. Cromwell."

"Where am I Cromwell?" Sirius said.

"Now, now, Mr. Black," the man replied. "I waited patiently through your little tantrum. You can sit quietly through this."

Cromwell's face took on a serious expression. "England is a civilized nation Mr. Black. We abolished the death penalty many years ago. For the most part that's a decision I agree with. But then I meet a man like you."

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked. He was still in England. But why did the man refer to it as a nation? He may be dressed like a muggle but he still had to be a wizard. Who else could have captured him?

"Patience Mr. Black," the man said again. "Where was I? Ah, yes. Then I meet a man like you. You betray your supposedly best friend. Lead Tom Riddle right to his door. You then murder thirteen innocent people in your efforts to escape. One of them was another of your 'best' friends. You have a deranged mind Mr. Black. People like you should not be allowed to share this world with the rest of civilized society."

They thought he was a killer. They couldn't be Death Eaters. It can't be the Ministry. The man was dressed as a muggle. It wasn't possible.

"You're a muggle," Sirius' voice carried both shock and amazement.

"Very good Mr. Black," Cromwell smiled. "I am indeed a 'muggle' as you say. You murdered twelve citizens of the British Empire. Your Ministry of Magic may not be able be able to deal with the likes of you. But as you will be discovering over the time we work together. Us poor defenseless 'muggles' know a great deal about your world. And we know a great deal about how to extract information regarding your master Tom Riddle. Voldemort if you prefer."

Muggles had tracked him down? They were going to punish him for his supposed crimes against their people. They believed he was Death Eater. It wasn't possible.

"I'm no Death Eater."

"Really Mr. Black," Cromwell said. "That's your strategy. Denial. I expected something better."

"I didn't kill anyone," Sirius said. "It was...." He had to stop. He couldn't say. The Fidelius protected the knowledge that Peter was alive. He couldn't tell them the truth.

"You're going to try and accuse someone else now," Cromwell said. "Pathetic. This is going to be easier than I thought. I will give you some time alone, to ponder things. Time to think about what the muggles are going to do to you."

Sirius watched as the man picked up the notepad from the table and then picked up the chair in his other hand. The door opened and Cromwell walked out.

"You have to believe me!!" Sirius shouted. "I'm not a Death Eater! I would never betray James and Lily it was...." He still couldn't say. He had nothing. His wand was gone. He was in the hands of muggles who were convinced he was a killer. They were going to try and use him to go after Voldemort. The man had spoken the name without fear.

How had they found him? How did they capture him? What happened to Remus and Mad-Eye?

Sirius stared at the door. He had to get out. Find some way to convince them he was innocent. But the Fidelius prevented him from telling them about Peter. He couldn't say anything about the Order. It's not like he could send them to the Ministry. He was trapped.