Chapter Seven

'Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including Improper Use of Magic Office…' The voice in the lift drifted out after them as Lily strode off down the hallway. Harry was still glued to her hip, Orion's wand in her other hand she stormed in to the Auror Headquarters. Remus lengthened his stride to keep up.

'Who the fuck – Lily?'

Gideon Prewett had leapt up from his cubicle, wand drawn, as Lily had shoved the double doors open.

She whirled on him, red curls and floor length green velvet coat – Remus had found it in the back of Sirius' wardrobe, it had been Marlene's borrowed for Hallowe'en and never returned – flaring around her. She raised the wand, 'Gideon.'

'How are you?' He asked casually, as though they were not pointing weapons at each other.

'Me? Fine and dandy. Where's Moody?'

Gideon sighed, 'Lily, can you lower the wand. Please.' It did not really sound like a question to Remus, who was on edge enough. His hand itched to draw his own wand, stopping himself to avoid making matters worse.

She took a deep breath, and then another. Then Orion's wand lowered. Lily did not put it away though.

'Thanks. Moody isn't here, can I help?' He glanced over his shoulder and called, 'Fabs? Bring tea.' He smiled at Remus and Lily, 'It's just the two of us in the office today. Will you come and sit down?'

Remus put a hand on Lily's shoulder, he could almost feel her vibrating. Twelve hours sleep, more Chinese food than was decent and a wand in her hand seemed to have galvanised her. Was that the wolf still growling in his chest or was that just him now, angry and protective. Remus was afraid Lily would burn up right in front of him.

She gave a tight nod and Gideon pulled two chairs over next to his desk – avoiding waving his wand around the volatile Lily – and they sat. Remus was immediately jealous of Lily having Harry on her lap. Having something to hold. Remus twisted his fingers in the hem of his jumper and fought the urge to pace. Now they were in the heart of the Ministry he could not stand the waiting. Not that he was letting himself think past each moment in sequence, it made the space between his ribs burn, anxiety and fear and … love... He tried to push it all away and focus.

'So, how are you? All of you?' Gideon said calmly, taking in Remus' fidgeting and Harry's wide eyes and hippogriff patterned jumper.

Lily rolled her eyes, 'We're alive Gideon, Harry's back with me. James –' Her voice caught in her throat for a heartbeat, but she forced her way on, 'James is still at St. Mungo's. They tell me he should wake up properly any day now.'

She was interrupted by a shocked yell and thudding feet before Fabian threw himself at Lily from across the room. Or tried to.

Remus did not remember deciding to react, in fact it was probably the wolf's doing, not his. But fast as blinking, Fabian was on the floor with Remus leaning on his throat. By the time Remus realised what had happened, Harry was making a tiny keening sound, Gideon's wand was at his temple and, from the strain in Lily's voice, hers was on Gideon.

'Fabian, are you alright?'

'Yeah, absolutely.' Fabian held Remus' gaze. He knew, Remus remembered, from the Order. 'Sorry I startled you Remus.'

Lily sounded firmer now, 'Great, lovely to see you. Gideon, I'm going to put my wand down, and so are you and Remus is going to stand up and get off Fabian. We're all going to do it at the same time, then you two are going to listen to us. And once this is all done, I'm inviting you idiots to ours for dinner. Right. One, two, three…'

They all moved carefully.

Once they had been really close with the Prewett twins. Now the war had changed them, all of them.

Remus dropped back down into the chair and Lily sat next to him, 'Sorry Fabs, I'm a bit on edge.' He apologised.

Fabian shook his head, 'No, that was on me. I'm just so please to see you Lils.' He grinned, blushing under his freckles. 'I'll go get more tea, and a biscuit for Harry?'

'Thanks love.' She grinned as he slouched back towards the staff kitchen.

Gideon frowned, 'Once what is all done?'

Lily's expression hardened again, 'Once we get Sirius out of Azkaban.'

'Merlin. You can't be serious? Lily, I know you like to take your own justice, but this isn't Hogwarts, or the Ord – '

'Gideon Charlus Prewett.' Lily's tone was ice, 'Sirius. Was. Not. Our bloody. Secret Keeper!' She looked like she wanted to hex him and was only distracted by the tiny mewl of sadness Harry made. She bent down to him, 'I'm so sorry love, Mummy didn't mean to be scary.'

Remus took over the story, as Gideon frowned and Fabian came back to lean on the arm of his brother's chair, 'Sirius insisted Lily and James swap to Peter. Because everyone would assume it was Sirius, so no one would go after Peter and they would all be safe. Sirius was supposed to check on Peter on Hallowe'en…'

He was very quietly interrupted by the first words he had heard Harry say all day, 'Ee-us. Ad-oot.'

Remus shut his eyes against the heartache and forced himself to continue, 'Whatever he found at Peter's sent him straight to Godric's Hollow, I would assume an empty flat given how confused he was at the sentencing about Peter. Peter must have gone to Voldemort with the information as soon as his cowardly arse could. He must have been spying on the Order for months.'

Fabian nodded slowly, 'We knew there was a spy. But why didn't you know any of this at the time Remus?'

Lily put a hand gently on Remus' left arm, 'Sirius was worried Remus was the spy. We weren't sure, so we didn't tell anyone, not even Dumbledore.'

'I was working with the werewolves, trying to bring them round to our side.' Remus continued, 'Sirius didn't hurt Peter, he didn't betray the Order.' He fought to keep the snarl out of his voice, 'And he certainly never touched the McKinnons.'

Gideon swore quietly, and Fabian kicked out at the small metal filing cabinet under his brother's desk. He spoke quietly, but at least had the decency to meet Remus' eyes, 'We knew he wasn't involved in the McKinnons. Gid wanted to give evidence but Mad-Eye said we couldn't because we didn't make it to the flat until after James.'

'Getting him won't be easy though,' Gideon's voice was low, 'It was open and shut as far as the Wizengamot were concerned. Especially after we searched the flat.'

Remus felt his brow furrow in confusion, 'What do you mean?'

'We had to bring in curse-breakers to get in, for a start.'

Lily actually laughed. All three men and Harry stared at her, 'Of course you did! Sirius is the best curse-breaker this country has ever seen.'

'Some of the wards on and in that flat are Dark.'

'Some of the magic on this building is too.' Remus' hands balled in frustration, 'Sirius had to protect that flat from everyone who might ever come and harm us. You have no idea what he has been through and now you've thrown him in that fucking – ' Remus hadn't noticed he was yelling until he caught sight of Harry's pale little face, mouth twisted in distress as he clung to Lily's arm.

Remus forced himself to take a deep breath, 'What else?'

'Well, we couldn't put our seals over the top once we were done, they just slid off. There were more than a few cursed objects we found – ', He held up a hand to stop them interrupting, '– But those were obviously from his job. And of course, Albus agreed with Crouch that there wasn't much point in examining Sirius for a trial.'

'He did fucking what?' Lily snarled.

Fabian winced but explained, 'He said Sirius was an excellent Occlumens, strong enough that he could resist Veritaserum or Imperius if he so wished. That the only alternative would be literal torture to get the truth, but at that stage wouldn't it just be easier to send him to Azkaban? There was no possible way he was innocent.'

'Except him screaming it at them during the sentencing.' Remus muttered mutinously.

Lily had gone very still, 'Gideon, where is Alastor?'

It was Fabian who spoke, 'He's at Azkaban. Interrogating Sirius.'

The dementors had left. Well, moved away from his cell. Which was fine and normal. A few hours every day where he felt like he could breathe. Except this was not the normal time. The height of the sun told Sirius it was about half past eight. Roughly. The longitude and latitude of Azkaban was not something he knew to the minute and second.

The stomp of Mad-Eye's wooden leg however, that he knew. He raised his head from his knees and lowered his bare feet to the cell floor. It was not so icy cold today, but he had no real desire to get up off the bed. Once upon a time, the sound of someone he knew, someone who wasn't a Black anyway, would have given him a flutter of hope. Hope was not something that survived Azkaban.

'Black.' Moody growled by way of greeting.

Sirius turned to face him. Taking in the new scars, Moody's nose had gone, and he dimly wondered which of his fellow inmates had taken it.

'Alastor. How are you doing?'

Moody stepped closer to the bars, but not so close Sirius could have grabbed him if he chose to stand by the cell door. Sensible.

'Aye lad, nae bad.'

Sirius raised an eyebrow at the calm, almost friendly tone, 'I'm not your lad, Moody. That was James.'

Moody glared back at him, 'Alright, ye want to play this straight then.'

Sirius nodded.

'Got anything ye might want to tell me Black?'

'Sure. I'm innocent. Shall we leave?'

Moody's voice turned harsh again, 'Tell me where Voldemort is.'

'Hell. If such a place exists outside this shithole.'

'Give me names.'

Sirius didn't even pause, a good memory that hadn't been lost yet, 'Elvendork. It's unisex.'

Moody's wand was in his hand, 'This doesn't have to be hard, Black.'

Sirius threw his head back, a bark of laughter ripping at his throat, 'Ha! Are you going to torture me Mad-Eye? This'll be fun. I could do with a pick me up.'

The laughter died in his throat as Moody's spell made him choke on it. Sirius did not have the strength to stay upright, as asphyxiation rushed in.

He gasped a breath, black spots filling his vision. His hands felt grazed where he had fallen to all fours on the floor. He bit down on the inside of his lip, fighting the urge to change into Padfoot.

He pushed back to kneel, but sudden defiance filled him, and he stood. It was shaky and a lot less impressive than he would have liked. He was breathing hard and the cell spun around him, but by Merlin and all the Gods he would not kneel to Mad-Eye fucking Moody.

'I'm no Death Eater Alastor. You used to be good at telling them apart from real people.' His voice was hoarse and cracked, but damn, was it filled with Black contempt.

'You betrayed the Potters, Black. You traitorous bastard.'

Sirius smirked, because if winding Mad-Eye up was all he had, then by all the hells he would do it.

'My parents were most definitely married by my birth. Much as it pained us all to admit it.'

Defiance. He had missed this feeling. The coursing hot and cold of righteous anger that flooded his veins. The tingle around his fingers and arms that once screamed with wild, untamed magic, now a gentle glow more than a raging fire. But it was his, and no one could break him. Not since he was a boy, and certainly not this fucking place, or that fucking bloody Auror!

Moody smiled then, and Sirius felt the warning of it, but he could not stand down now. His pride would not allow the mere thought of it.

'Ye're doing remarkably well in here Black.'

Sirius tossed his head, nearly loosing his footing in the spinning, 'What of it?'

'A man might wonder if the Dark Lord taught ye a trick or three. Ye being his right-hand man.'

Sirius sneered then 'If I were that cunt's right-hand man, I wouldn't still be standing here, would I?'

'Maybe I should tell the guards to double there watch on ye. Clearly ye need more attention.'

It was almost paralysing, the ice that swept through him. 'No.' His voice was shaky and for a moment he didn't care. The thought of more of them, longer watches…

'Then give me what I need.'

'I don't know anything!' Sirius tried to fight the desperation in his voice, but he could see on Moody's face it was not working, 'I've been in here for months, how could I?'

'Oh, so ye admit it then. That we were in contact with them before?'

'NO! Merlin's teeth Mad-Eye. I am not, nor ever have been one of his bootlicking pyschos. You know that. You know me!' Sirius ground his teeth against the pleading, the desire to beg.

'Ye were. There's no other way – '

'Yes! Yes, there is. Peter was the Potters' secret keeper. For Merlin's sake listen to me Moody.'

Moody shook his head, 'I had to clean up yer mess Black. The biggest part of the poor lad left was his finger.' The look he gave Sirius was of utter contempt, 'I'll come back in a few more months. See if ye've enjoyed the extra attention. Ye always did.'

He started to stomp away.

Sirius threw himself at the bars, 'Mad-Eye! I am innocent, it wasn't me! Just ask Lily and James, just…' The coldness swept in. Three dementors swooped down towards him.

In his haste to get away from their clammy, dead hands, Sirius threw himself backwards. Head hitting stone, and the world went dark.

They had mugs of tea now, and Fabian had rustled up some bacon sandwiches as a sort of brunch. Spread across his and Gideon's desks, magicked together, were the transcripts, documents and evidence used to convict Sirius.

Lily sighed, 'Can we do anything about the McKinnons?'

'No.' Fabian shook his head, 'Pettigrew's muggle neighbours said they heard him shouting at Blac-Sirius right before they called the police. They similarity of the two scenes is damning enough at it is. And not a one of us Aurors or Order can argue because he definitely was up the stairs at Marlene's first.'

Remus shook his head, 'Sirius loved Marlene. She was the first person he came out to, did you know that?'

Lily smiled and squeezed his hand, pushing down the waves of anger at herself for letting their doubts get the better of them, 'I did. She told me after that night we all thought they had slept together.'

A ghost of a smile crossed the werewolf's face, 'James will be furious. You knew before we did then.'

His name was like a vice around her heart, 'He will. We'll tell him once we're all back together.'

Gideon rubbed his face, 'Alright. The first bit of good news is that we don't have to convince Barty. Amelia Bones is head of the Department now.'

'Yes,' Lily fixed him with her bright green eyes, 'Except to overturn the Wizengamot sentencing we need to convince them. And seeing as Dumbledore didn't feel like Sirius deserved a trial to begin with, I don't know how we convince him now.'

'You can testify Lily.' Fabian said firmly, 'And we can go to Dumbledore to get him on our side.'

Remus sighed, 'This is where we need him.' He caught Lily's gaze and the pain she was there made her want to throw her arms around him. She restrained herself to squeezing his hand again. Remus looked up at the others, 'He always knew the politics of a situation. You two are Purebloods, can you think of anyone who might help?'

Gideon frowned, 'Orion was probably the best bet. Everybody knows about Mrs. Black and Sirius, I don't think she would help him if her life depended on it.'

'Well Orion died without having spoken to Sirius in four years, so I doubt he would have been of much help. What about your… aunt?' Remus leant in to question them.

'Lucretia? Yeah maybe…' Gideon broke off as Alastor Moody stomped through the door. 'All right Alastor?'

Moody looked up and went still, 'Mrs Potter?'

Lily's blood was starting to boil, and she forced herself to speak calmly, 'Good morning Mad-Eye, and since when was I Mrs Potter?'

His face relaxed slightly, 'Lily lass, how are ye?'

'Sick of being asked. Where is Harry's godfather?'

'Rotting in Azkaban. Ye've nothin' to fear.'

Remus leapt up, 'He's innocent Moody. That's why we are here.' He was practically snarling, and Lily had to fight not to flinch. Remus was thin and haunted looking, and the strain was beginning to show.

'Well, ye'll no mind being inspected for confundus and imperius curses then?'

'How dare you?' Lily stood, slowly, venom flooding into her voice now, 'My family has been torn apart, nearly murdered and faced down Voldemort for the fourth time. My son has been taken from our family, neglected and abused.' Remus' hand snuck into hers, and she laced her fingers with his and squeezed, 'My brother-in-law is being tortured, not just in that hell, but apparently by you too. We have not been corrupted, interfered with or controlled. We are not confounded, under anyone's influence or spell. I will have Sirius back, and then I will take my son, my husband and Remus home. And so help me Moody, if you stand in my way you will regret it.'

She took a deep breath, 'Now, go and contact Albus. We are going to need him.'