AN: Next chapter should be posted by middle of next month, ideally it will be a couple like it was this time.

The Wizengamot

"So how bad was having Malfoy back in a flying class?" Dudley joked.

"Better than expected." Hermione answered, "I may not trust him yet, but he didn't let me fall when that stupid stick tried to kill me again."

"You've just gotta hold on really tight." Dudley answered, "I can't wait for next year when I can bring my broom. So Harry, what did your Aunt Andi's letter say about Malfoy and that junk Cedric's father is doing?"

Harry looked around the library to make sure there was no one within eavesdropping distance before answering. Since the game against Hufflepuff, he found himself being "discreetly" followed by some of the upper year 'Puffs. His wand had only chirped a warning one time though, and he had no trouble simply dipping into a nearby hidden passage he'd learned from the Map and avoiding the impending confrontation.

This was frustrating, considering the fact that Cedric and Harry had publicly reconciled after the game. After that, Dudley had confided to Harry about the conversation he'd had with Cedric before the match. Harry was frustrated with his cousin at first, but ultimately agreed that he wasn't in the right state to hear it before. He had already been convinced that Cedric knew ahead of time and assumed the worst of it, he wouldn't have listened to an explanation like Dudley did.

"She said that she knew for a fact that Mister Malfoy is the one behind the thing at the Wizengamot, but she wants us to try and get along with Draco anyways." Harry lowered his voice further, "She said that Draco's mum was the one who told her, she said she was trying to get closer to her family and asked Aunt Andi about her daughter and everything."

"So he's caught between his parents?" Hermione asked for clarification.

"That sucks," Dudley drawled, "I can't believe I'm feeling sorry for Draco Malfoy."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"You may not have much more time before the presentation of your assessment before the Wizengamot but, in my expert opinion Lord Black, you are more than well enough to hold a position in our society." Healer Withering spoke with mechanical efficiency as a Dicto-Quill recorded the final official meeting between healer and patient before he was scheduled to appear before the Wizengamot. Sirius, sitting in front of her, just looked bored.

"Well," Jeanette said as she stopped her quill and rolled up her parchment, "that is the official documentation done. Is there anything you want to ask me before I go? You will only need three sessions with the other healer over the next ten days, if you are worried about that."

"Nope," Sirius answered, seeming unconcerning, "the only thing I'm worried about is getting this taken care of so I can spend some time with Harry when they come home."

"I can tell that you are worried, Sirius." The Healer returned, "If you don't want to talk about it right now you don't have to, obviously, I just want to make sure that you are okay."

"I'll be fine," Sirius assured her, "It's just… the closer we get to it, the more I'm worried about actually spending time with Harry. That I'll mess it up somehow."

"That's completely understandable." She replied, "But you just need to remember that you aren't going to be completely new to being around children his age."

Sirius grinned at that. Tina was coming over later and was going to work with James, Marielle, and him on muggle football. He was tentatively hopeful that they would be able to play a game of it over Easter.

"And remember to avoid changing into your animagus form for any length of time, and not alone." Healer Withering added, "Letting yourself go to the animal before you are ready is probably the fastest way to backslide"

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

Vernon frowned when Petunia reentered the house with the first part of her "Ms. Acacia" disguise; her muddy-red hair was now dyed black with non magical dye. Her plan was to also curl her hair haphazardly to look more like one of Harry's great-aunts and wear colour-contacts to help sell the "distant relation of the Potters" angle; and she recently purchased a hideously-gaudy (in his opinion) witch's robe.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" He asked after she had taken off her coat and sat down, "I don't like not being able to go with you. It won't be like Hogwarts, you'll be outnumbered there."

"Outnumbered by law enforcement." Petunia returned, "I'll be fine, and this disguise will convince the people who are still looking for Ms. Acacia that she's a real person."

"And what's stopping someone like Skeeter from digging and learning about your alias? Hmm?"

"That's why Gringotts filed everything officially." Petunia shook her head in amazement at the inane allowances in magical society, "The Ministry will accept 'Peony Acacia' as my name, no questions asked and no links to my real name to be followed."

"How can that be safe?" Vernon muttered to himself as he tried to wrap his head around the implications of that.

"Well, it's magic. The DMLE is allowed to see through it if they are investigating either name." Petunia explained. "So it isn't like I could commit a crime as Ms. Acacia and then just lose the alias completely."

As she was explaining, the telephone rang, so Petunia rose to answer it. After a few minutes, she returned to the family room with a wide smile on her face, "That was Andromeda, she said that her daughter will have time on the day of the presentation and would be happy to help me with my makeup and curling my hair properly."

"Well that will be nice," Vernon agreed, recalling her shape-changing abilities, "I haven't seen or heard of the girl since before Christmas, besides Andromeda offering to ask her about this. I don't mean to be rude though, but… is she actually the best to ask for that kind of help? I would think with her abilities she wouldn't be very used to normal things like that."

"Andromeda assured me that she is rather good with makeup and cosmetics." Petunia replied, "Changing her shape takes concentration, so she still uses makeup to keep from having to do that sort of thing herself. If she can do a blush and lipstick that matches bubblegum-pink, or even purple, hair then I think she can help me to just look less like myself."

Vernon snorted at the image of the Auror trainee sporting royal purple locks, "I suppose that works."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Thank you for letting me use your floo Arabella." Petunia said as she prepared to travel to Professor Mcgonagall's office after donning her magical attire.

"Oh think nothing of it, Petunia. I'm happy to help. All this cloak-and-dagger makes me feel like I'm back helping the Order." The other squib answered happily as she held out the jar of powder, "Say hello to Harry and Dudley for me."

Petunia didn't dwell on what she meant by "The Order" and stepped through to floo after calling out her destination and the password. While she brushed the soot off her clothes, Professor Mcgonagall was worriedly trying to figure out who was in front of her. She had been expecting someone; but this person could pass for James Potter's cousin, not Petunia Dursley.

Seeing her friend's worry, Petunia spoke up, "I'm sorry for the confusion, Minerva, allow me to introduce myself." the other woman's eyes widened in recognition, "Ms. Peony Acacia."

It took a moment, but the stern professor's expression broke and she began laughing, "Oh my! I know you said you would look a little different, but I completely didn't recognize you! I must say, you look rather good in those robes. That is definitely your colour."

"Yes well, that is the plan; and thank you, Dora Tonks helped me match the blush and lipstick." Petunia answered with a glance down at the purplish-pink robes, the same colour as her favorite type of Peony flower, before shaking her head to get back in character, "I need to keep things straight, and Rita Skeeter will likely be at this meeting. She's the only person I'm truly worried about, we spoke in close proximity for quite a while during that interview."

"Well, I doubt that will be a problem," Minerva assured her as she prepared tea, "though the woman might try and squeeze an interview out of the elusive Ms. Acacia. Harry and Dudley should be here soon, I told them to report to my office after breakfast."

The conversation the pair shared was, in Petunia's opinion, most illuminating. Hermione had told her that Harry assisted in the hazing of Cedric Diggory, but she hadn't been told just what was done. Changing hair colour could be construed as funny by some; but hexing the boy's clothes to smell, or slipping a potion to him that makes him dance randomly, were certainly too much.

Harry and Dudley knocked on the door to Mcgonagall's office and entered to find the professor sharing tea with a woman that looked alarmingly familiar. The woman looked up from the parchment she was holding and fixed the pair with a stern gaze.

"I'm quite sure that both of you can get better marks than these." Petunia said, snapping the boys back to reality, "Harry, History might be boring, but it is still important. Dudley, did you know that Potions is required to be an Auror? The professor here was just telling me about the requirements for the things you wanted to do."

"Snape doesn't grade fair." Dudley mumbled while Harry whined, "But he's so boring."

Petunia's trademark raised eyebrow had the pair stammering for more excuses, "I have been told about the less-than-stellar instruction in Potions, but Professor Mcgonagall assures me that you could achieve a higher mark if you put more effort in. And Harry, I know it is boring; you still need to know your history. I hope you would prefer that Andromeda taught you new and interesting things this summer, and not simply a revision of your first year syllabus."

While the children gaped like fish, Petunia smirked and continued, "Anyway, how have you been dears? Are you excited for a break?"

Harry and Dudley let out the breath they were holding and relaxed, "I almost didn't recognize you mum." Dudley said.

"That is the point, so thank you." She answered with a hug, "I'm sorry, but we can't dawdle. Harry and I need to head to the Ministry and we have to pick up Remus from the Leaky Cauldron first. I'll see you when you get off the train this afternoon Duddykins."

"Mister Potter," Professor Mcgonagall interrupted as he and Petunia were preparing to floo out, "I don't believe that the Ministry check-in desk will take kindly to your familiar being with you."

Harry sheepishly stepped over to her desk and held his hand out for Najash to slither onto it off his arm. Petunia suppressed a gasp when she saw the snake coiled up with his head raised and examining his surroundings. She had been warned that the serpent would be getting bigger due to the magic of Hogwarts, but the thing was at least half-again longer than in September! If her eyes didn't deceive her, then the kingsnake was also slightly thicker than she remembered. She was regretting not asking Harry about this back during Christmas now, and was unsure how she could have not noticed the thing getting bigger then.

"You had better have that shrinking spell down by the end of school." Petunia murmured.

"Oh, I've got it already!" Harry answered happily, "Can I show her Professor?"

"Yeah, it would be easier for me to carry him around if he was smaller, too." Dudley added.

After an affirmative from the Professor, Harry hissed instructions to Najash about hiding with Dudley until they could meet back up while he opened the bond between them. It only took a few seconds now, but Harry liked to take his time when he was actually going to be using the bond; he was still worried about doing something incorrectly and hurting his friend. Upon confirming to himself that the bond was solid, Harry spoke the spell while twisting his wand counter-clockwise and grinned as his familiar slowly shrank in size and girth until he was back to the size he was at the start of the school year. When Harry turned back to the others, though, he found himself confronted with wide eyes on startled faces.

"I didn't know you could cast spells in parseltongue." Dudley said after a moment.

Harry covered his mouth, I said that in parseltongue? How? "Oops? I guess I forgot to stop Speaking after I was done telling Najash what was going to happen."

"I must admit, I didn't know that could be done either." Professor Mcgonagall added, "However, casting spells in other languages is certainly possible. The reason we do not simply use common English words for our spellcasting is to minimize the risk of accidentally casting when we are simply speaking with emotion; and also to preserve the mystique of it all, I suppose. The Arithmancy of incantation would have left some spells sounding silly if they were in our own tongue. Our spells are based in Latin, and a little Greek, but witches and wizards from countries where those are not the root language will obviously use a different one. I suppose parseltongue is still a language, so using it to incant spells must be possible."

"I'm sure that you and Hermione will be investigating this over the break, Harry," Petunia interjected, "but we truly do need to go."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

After 'Ms. Acacia' left with Harry, Professor Mcgonagall sent Dudley to his room to pack before the carriages took the children to the Express for Spring Break. With the boy on his way, the professor began to make her way to the Headmaster's Office; prior to the children joining them, Petunia had given her a letter to deliver to Albus since Hedwig wasn't available the night before. She wasn't sure what was contained in the letter, but by the glint she saw in the woman's eyes when she handed it over told her that the Headmaster would not be happy.

"Ah, Minerva!" Dumbledore smiled as his Deputy entered his office, "I was just going to see you. Did you use your floo earlier?" After he'd been blindsided by Petunia Dursley on Halloween, Albus had taken his duty to monitor the use of staff floos much more seriously, "I knew you were planning to go meet some of next year's muggleborn parents after the Express left, but-"

"One of my students was taken from school early to attend the Wizengamot meeting." She interrupted him, pressing on when she thought he was going to object to allowing such, "Not that it is any of your business how my student's guardians wish to contact them. That reminds me, I was asked to deliver this to you, the sender found themselves without an owl and I offered to deliver it."

Albus frowned when he looked at the address on the muggle envelope, he recognized the handwriting as that of Petunia Dursley. Sitting back down, he opened it and began reading the letter, growing frustrated as he did.

"Nothing upsetting, I hope?" Minerva asked, seeing the frustration and anger briefly flash on the Headmaster's face. His eyes darted up to her, before going back to finish the note.

Albus sighed once he finished reading before answering, "It would appear that there was a source of Galleons that I forgot about, and the goblins have found it. Mrs. Dursley would like to meet with me over the break to discuss things."

"Well, good luck with that Headmaster. I need to go check on my Lions before they head down to the carriages." With that, she turned and let herself out of the office before her expression broke into a smile. She wasn't sure what Petunia's account manager had found, but Albus was clearly mad about it.

As she made her way to Gryffindor Tower, she took another look at her list of families to visit today. Three in total, she confirmed, that should only take a couple hours in all. I think I'll just go alphabetically and start with 'Creevey'.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"I said, 'wand please'." The wizard sitting at the checkpoint said with a bored expression as he held out his hand to the black haired woman.

"I'm afraid that is impossible, I do not have one." She replied, fighting to keep the annoyance out of her voice. The man had barely glanced up from his magazine at any of them.

"Squib Welfare Office is that way." He answered, dismissively pointing to the far side of the Atrium.

"I did not ask you for directions, sir, I am here to attend the Wizengamot meeting."

The man sighed as though this was the greatest imposition he had ever dealt with, "I will need to perform a spell to verify you aren't carrying any hidden wands on you." After receiving an affirmative nod, he waved his wand over her while chanting, "Alright ma'am, please proceed."

He frowned when he noticed that the woman waited just inside the checkpoint, but continued, "Next please, name, wand, and reason for visit!"

"Harry Potter, I'm here for the Wizengamot meeting."

That elicited a reaction, the man on duty dropped his magazine as his head snapped up to look at the Boy-Who-Lived, his eyes locking onto the small bit of scar poking from under Harry's hairline, "By Merlin, it really is!" He said excitedly before noting a small bruise on the boy's cheek as he took the offered wand, "Everything alright Mister Potter?"

"I hate floo travel." Harry answered glumly, he had rocketed out of the Leaky Cauldron's floo and knocked down a waitress who was carrying meat pies. Then, he tripped upon coming out of the floo at the Ministry and landed face first. Moony fixed his glasses again for him, and healed his nose, but he wasn't the greatest at healing magic.

"I understand sir, I know a guy who always comes out on his back. Now he puts a cushioning charm on every time he goes through." He returned before placing Harry's wand on his scale, "Eleven inches, Holly and Phoenix feather? Been in use for less than a year?"

"Yes sir." Harry said as he took the wand back, thankful for Professor Mcgonagall's warning at breakfast about his wand being examined at the checkpoint. If he had his Redwood wand then someone who knew about wandlore could figure out that he was a parselmouth.

Once Harry was on the other side of the checkpoint the man at the desk turned to him, ignoring Remus who was still waiting to get in, and asked, "Could I get an autograph, sir? I'm a huge fan!"

In reply, Harry backed into his Aunt and took her hand, frowning as he did, "It wouldn't feel right, I haven't done anything worth having fans, sir." The desk guard noted the protective way that the woman, Ms. Acacia if he recalled correctly, stood slightly in front of the Boy-Who-Lived and realized his error. Looking like he was suddenly constipated, he quickly apologized and turned to ask for the next in line.

Shortly, Remus joined them with a smirk on his face, "That man looked like you conjured a lemon in his mouth." He said to Harry as they laughed and made their way to the visitor's section of the Wizengamot chambers before he sneezed and pinched his nose to prevent another.

"Something wrong Uncle Moony?"

"Ms. Acacia stopped by Mrs. Figg's house." He answered, "The cat smell lingers for ages."

The Ministry interior was a hectic mess of flying paper and scrambling secretaries, Harry personally thought that they could have done with wider corridors or something. There was barely room for three people to walk side-by-side through most; and everyone who was there was either in way too much of a hurry to be running around with parchment and inkwells, or in far too expensive clothes to be risking ink spilling on their robes.

When he asked, Remus explained to him that the deeper one went, with the exception of the Atrium, the nicer things tended to be. He led them to an elevator, which they shared with at least a dozen parchment airplanes that were enchanted to actually fly and a secretary who laughed and said that the airplane notes were much less messy than owls flying about inside the building.

The room where the Wizengamot met was a big, round, auditorium-like chamber with a domed ceiling. Harry noted that there were, perhaps, a hundred personal alcoves situated beneath the visitors section that served as the seating for the Wizengamot itself. Knowing that Hermione would be quizzing him on it as soon as they saw each other again, Harry took in everything he could see while he asked Remus about the placements of different Houses, particularly Diggory, Malfoy, and Potter.

Harry smiled when he saw that Neville's Gran was going to be standing in as Chief Witch due to Dumbledore's absence. He knew that the Headmaster had stepped down for the meeting due to his 'friendship' with Sirius constituting a conflict of interest, but Harry was still baffled as to how Dumbledore had the time to do all the work involved in all of his various titles.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Madame," a voice interrupted Augusta Longbottom as she began the opening statements, causing Harry to look around for the source and find a man standing where Remus had told him the Diggory seat was, "but I must protest the attendance of dark creatures at this meeting!" He thrust his finger in the direction of Remus in the audience. "Werewolves are classified as dangerous creatures and should not be allowed to walk about the Ministry building."

"Mister Diggory," Madame Longbottom's voice wasn't as loud as Diggory's, but somehow carried more physical weight than he could ever hope to muster, "the full moon is tomorrow night. It is not, and has never been, illegal for a werewolf to attend sessions on days that are not marked by the full moon. Please refrain from interrupting me in the future."

While the Chief Witch finished her opening announcements, which were mostly pointless because this session had only a few reasons for being called and there was going to be a proper session the next evening, Lucius Malfoy kept his attention on the mongrel, Lupin. Seeing the Potter brat next to him was a surprise, but not completely unexpected; but the woman sitting with them drew his attention. She had the trademark Potter untameable black hair and her expression said that she clearly thought little of the proceedings while still paying attention. If only you were not a squib, Ms. Acacia, he thought as he watched her demeanor, you might have been a Potter my master allowed to live.

Harry didn't think that the Wizengamot was very interesting. There was a lot of pomp and ceremony around everything; they took an hour to induct four heirs into their seats because it seemed everyone had to say something about each, whether positive or negative, before they could move on to the next. He started paying attention again when Healer Withering gave her report, which was followed by another mind healer that Harry didn't know Sirius had seen giving their own statement about Sirius' competence. Neither healer left any doubt that Sirius was far better off than anyone having suffered so long in Azkaban had any right to be, and is certainly competent enough to take on his role as Lord Black.

Mister Diggory and Lord Nott both asked extensive questions of the mind healers after their reports were given. Asking about such things as night terrors and depression, the pair tried to paint Sirius as potentially vindictive against the Ministry, particularly the justice system and Azkaban prison itself. Harry's opinion of both men plummeted even further as they argued what he considered to be nonsense; and from the look his aunt had, she agreed with him. Meanwhile, Remus appeared worried; which reminded Harry and Petunia that this pontificating can mean something, likely with money moving around in the background.

When Sirius finally came out, himself, and stepped forward to address the Wizengamot, Harry sat up straighter to get a better view. Sirius looked stable and strong as he walked, which warmed his godson's heart, the resulting smile from which caused the animagus to grin and wave.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

The hour-and-a-half that he spent in the waiting room while he prepared to stand in front of the Wizengamot contained some of the most stressful and long minutes in Sirius Black's life. He knew that it was going to take a while, there were a few heirs being confirmed to their seats that would consume a gratuitous amount of time. He heard the shift in the volume of sounds coming from the chamber that signaled the beginning of his two mind healers presenting their conclusions.

As he waited, he started getting the jitters and paced back-and-forth. He had a general idea of how long the two healers' statements should have taken, and it was well past that point by now. His pacing worked out in his favour, as he was loosened up and relaxed by the time he was actually called to stand before the 'Gamot himself. Though his body wasn't tense, he was still screaming internally; Sirius Black had always hated politics.

Keeping his frustration off his face with his recovering Occlumency abilities, Sirius walked with purpose to the seat provided for him and took it. As he scanned the Wizengamot and visitors, he found Harry sitting with Remus and a woman he didn't recognize. Harry's face lit up when their eyes met, and Sirius couldn't resist a grin and wave.

"Sirius Black, Heir Apparent of the Ancient and Noble House of Black," Madame Longbottom drew his attention away from his godson as she regained command of the Chamber, "we have heard statements from two Mind Healers employed by St. Mungo's Hospital concerning your well being following your unjust imprisonment. At this time, there are some members of this body that wish to ask a few, final, questions concerning the events that transpired in nineteen eighty-one. There are also a few who wish to ask questions of you in this forum that do not pertain to that event. Unless the Department of Law Enforcement says otherwise, you are free to refuse to answer any question you feel violates your privacy unnecessarily."

It was apparent from her face that the words left a foul taste in her mouth, Madame Longbottom was none too pleased at the conduct of her peers towards Sirius. Insisting on asking questions about the deaths of the Potters was obviously meant to try and draw an emotional response out of him. She kept any distaste out of her tone as she continued, "Due to the number of different Lords and Heads of House that have queries, we have consolidated the list of questions and will have a Ministry representative ask them." Sirius nodded, that had been decided at the previous 'Gamot meeting; those who wanted to ask questions had been told to submit them through the DMLE, "After this questioning is complete, and any new questions brought up are answered, the Wizengamot will vote whether to intercede in the succession of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. Do you understand, and is this acceptable to you?"

"That's fine, Madame Longbottom." He replied, "Who's asking the questions?"

"It was decided that Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt would be the best to ask the questions. Please understand that this in no way implies that you are suspected of anything illegal. It is merely a convenience." The Chief Witch quickly added the explanation upon seeing Sirius' eyes widen, of course he would be suspicious since it was usually a court scribe that would read the questions in this situation, "Due to the sensitive nature of some questions, as well as a need to differentiate what is truly need-to-know, it was felt that having the DMLE perform the questioning would expedite the proceedings."

Most of the questions were fairly benign, 'are you aware of any other unknown Death Eaters who escaped justice like Peter Pettigrew?' and 'who suggested the use of the Fidelius Charm?' were easily answered. But then a question from Lord Crouch threw him for a moment.

"Whose idea was it to change secret keepers from you to Peter Pettigrew?" Kingsley Shacklebolt read the question, wincing internally as he already knew the answer.

Sirius paled and froze momentarily, before answering with a slightly less-sure voice, "It was me. I thought it would be a hilarious prank to play on You-Know-Who, and I regret suggesting the switch to James every single day."

Having been one of the ones to question Sirius originally, and possessing a thourough knowledge of the orringal miscarriage of justice, Kingsley understood the likely reason behind that question and decided to use his authority to add a follow-up, "Heir Black, would that be why, when you were found at the scene of what is now known to be Petigrew's attack upon those muggles, you were laughing and claiming that it was your fault the Potters were dead?"

"That's correct." He answered, "I'd just come from Godric's Hollow, seen James and Lily's bodies. I'll admit that I wasn't entirely in my right mind at the time."

"Completely understandable, sir." Kingsley assured him, "The next question comes from Lord Nott: Do you know if, and if so, why, the Potters were attacked that Halloween?"

"Dumbledore approached James and Lily, saying that they were being targeted because they had escaped from You-Know-Who, himself, three times at that point without getting seriously hurt." Sirius was glad he had thought to prepare answers for if he was asked about the Prophecy or Harry's home life, even if talking about his friends like this was extremely uncomfortable, "Since I only knew of two other people, another couple, that could claim such, I never asked if there was anything deeper."

There were several other questions about the events surrounding the deaths of the Potters. In particular, there were more than a few questions about the protections in place at Godric's Hollow. The Fidelius Charm was extremely esoteric though, and Sirius wasn't able to answer many specific questions about the working and casting of the charm outside of his temporary role as Secret Keeper. That there were no other wards in place at all could not be explained by Sirius; but thankfully the Head of one of the neutral Houses aligned with House Greengrass was a curse breaker earlier in his life, he described the limitations of the otherwise incredible protective ward. The Fidelius Charm masked the location it protected from even the other wards that were supposed to be around it. According to him, only extremely ancient wards would have held after the Fidelius was in place, and they would have rapidly weakened as they fought to continue to "remember" what it was they were meant to be protecting.

"I would assume," Lord Fawley concluded, "that the reason the Potters chose to hide in their cottage in Godric's Hollow was to avoid the risk of completely erasing whatever traditional wards are around Potter Manor. The Fidelius is powerful, but most inconvenient."

Sirius nodded his thanks to the man, both for his input and because he remembered the name 'Fawley' from St. Mungo's, "Thank you for explaining, Lord Fawley. This is twice now, that your family has aided me since I was released from Azkaban. Please accept my thanks for your brother's help as well." He was the other healer that helped take care of Tina, and that was just enough incentive for Sirius to use proper language when addressing his brother and Head of House.

The remaining inquiries weren't a problem until Amos Diggory decided to all but start a riot when Augusta Longbottom called for any 'final questions or comments.' Sirius had been doing his best to keep an eye on the various Lords and Heads of the Wizengamot to see who had formed up into this coalition against him. It spread through the Light, Dark, and Neutral families; but outside the Dark families he seemed to only have to worry about those who stayed out of personal politics. Those who actually knew the Potters appeared to have come around and sided with him and Andromeda. Andi probably had a lot to do with that, she had worked tirelessly in reaching out to allies of the Potter family to ensure that they knew the truth. Unfortunately, his scanning of the Chamber meant that Sirius didn't see the furious and desperate look on Diggory's face before his questions began.

"I am interested to know how Sirius came into the care of Healer Withering." Amos stated once he had been addressed, "To ensure that there was no favouritism in the content of the reports given."

Across the aisle, Lucius Malfoy started sweating. Diggory had almost crossed the line multiple times today in his crusade against Black, Potter, and Lupin. The fool had even had the gall to interrupt the Chief Witch just to renege on his agreement to ignore the werewolf! Crouch's attempt to discredit Black's mental stability would have been more effective if the situation had been different, but no one could fault the man for losing his mind for a time after what happened that night; in the given context, it simply made Black look even more sympathetic!

"It's my understanding that Andromeda Tonks, the Potter Regent, was the one who reached out to her." Sirius answered, unsure where Diggory could be going with this.

"And the second mind healer? Healer Lethel?" Amos pressed, indicating to Madame Longbottom that he had another follow-up question.

"Contacted by Healer Withering." Sirius replied.

"Hmm." Amos mused aloud, "So we are trusting your competence and ability to sit in one of the oldest and most important seats in the Wizengamot to the word of your cousin's friend, and her friend? Shouldn't you have been examined by a neutral, unrelated healer to preserve the integrity of the exercise?"

Fool! Lucius thought to himself as he watched Diggory dig himself a hole, Thank Merlin I convinced Fudge to give Umbridge something else to do today! That woman was probably the only one who could make this worse.

"I must protest what Mister Diggory is implying!" Andromeda shouted from the Potter seat, "I would never pervert the healing process in such a way!"

"So you say," Lord Nott interjected; seeing where Amos was going with his questions, but failing to see the growing look of fear and panic on the face of his partner, Lord Malfoy, "but you certainly have much to gain from doing so. It is no secret that if your cousin were actually confirmed as Head of House then you would be brought back into the Black family."

Several seats over, Lucius Malfoy was calculating in his head when the most effective time to intercede would be. He couldn't allow this to go on, and he found his moment when Nott finished his statement, "I move that a mind healer who is not related to Andromeda Tonks through her work in any way be called in to perform an examination. Failing that I cannot, in good conscience, trust that we are not being deceived."

"Point of Order!" Lucius shouted, drowning out Andromeda's further protests as she turned, confused, to face him, "Is it not true that medical statements by foreign healers are not admissible in inquiries made by the Wizengamot?"

The Chief Witch gestured for the scribe to search for said legislation, "That is correct, My Lord." He answered after a minute to find the requested law, "By decree of the Wizengamot, only medical records and statements made by a healer registered at St. Mungo's may be presented before this body for official purposes."

"I see." Lucius drawled, "Mister Diggory, is it your intention to establish a precedent where any Lord or Head of the Wizengamot could be forcibly removed by unanswerable accusations of mental incompetence?" Amos gaped at him in confusion, as did many others, but several of the smarter Lords understood what he meant and started shouting. To maintain control, Lucius raised his voice and continued, "You are demanding an impossible standard! If only a healer who has no previous connections, whatsoever, is acceptable then every single member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight is in danger. How many of us have a healer in our extended family? Lord Nott, you have a second cousin employed at St. Mungo's, how long before that relation strips you of your chance to defend yourself?"

The change in the 'Gamot was immediate. Where before there was a sizable group of Family Heads that were against Sirius on pure principle due to his name, now most of the chamber was united against Diggory. It took several minutes for the Chief Witch to reestablish order, as several Lords began shouting over each other in an attempt to be the one that ridiculed Amos the loudest.

Once things had finally quieted, Amos bowed his head in submission and said, "I withdraw my statements and accusations." Marking the end of Sirius' Competency Hearing.

Augusta Longbottom called for the vote, by way of lifting a lighted wand, over whether there was sufficient need for the Wizengamot to interfere with the succession of the House of Black. Fully eighty percent of the gathered body agreed that there was no need, and so Sirius was allowed to take his seat from Narcissa Malfoy. With no other items on the day's docket, the meeting was called once Sirius had been accepted by the magic of his Seat. His delayed Headship would be officially ratified that afternoon between the Ministry and Gringotts.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Oh Merlin it's so good to see you again pup!" Sirius fought not to cry as he held his godson again for the first time since they met in the hospital. Looking up at the two adults with Harry, Sirius asked the next logical question, "Who's your friend here?" He asked, indicating Petunia without recognizing her.

"Oh? You haven't heard of the elusive Peony Acacia; the magical guardian of the Boy-Who-Lived?" Came a voice to interrupt the reunion, "Congratulations are in order, I suppose, Lord Black." The group turned to see Lucius Malfoy approaching them with his wife following closely behind, her eyes on Sirius the whole time.

"Thank you, Lord Malfoy." Sirius answered, his face pinching in consternation before changing his gaze to his cousin, the new woman was obviously a friend and no cause for worry, "Cissi, how have you been?"

"I have been well, Sirius. Thank you." She stepped out from behind her husband as she greeted him.

While the Black cousins were speaking, Lucius took the opportunity to study Peony Acacia in greater detail. Up close, there was something distinctly un-Potter-like about her that he wrote off as her being a squib and not a proper witch. He had always felt he possessed a sense for such things, even without any evidence to back up such beliefs.

"Lord Malfoy, I presume?" The woman asked, daintily holding out her hand to him. Caught in public with several passersby watching, Lucius was compelled to take her hand in greeting. "I have heard from Harry how he and your son have been getting along much better in school this term; I'm so glad they were able to reconcile some of their differences, don't you agree?"

"O-of course," He answered; taken aback at being addressed so casually, but unsure just how much clout this woman had. After all, she had eluded even Albus Dumbledore until now, hadn't she? "I have drilled into Draco's head for years that his time at Hogwarts is meant to be used to form connections with others in our society."

"Something Harry is learning as well." Ms. Acacia smiled and nodded as she noticed the antsy look her nephew was getting, "It was nice to meet you, Lord Malfoy, but we have an appointment to keep with Andromeda. Something about a bill that Mister Weasley is working on."

She gathered Sirius from his conversation and allowed Remus to lead them to the waiting room set aside for the Potter family, smirking as she turned around, having seen the look of consternation on Malfoy's face. She knew from Andromeda that the Malfoys were one of the Families most against the legislation that Arthur Weasley was pushing for due to having a history of collecting items enchanted with Dark magic.

Tea in the Potter waiting room was a pleasant affair. When Ms. Acacia revealed who she really was to Sirius, he barked a laugh so loud that Andromeda had to poke her head into the corridor and let the Auror on duty know that everything was fine. After that, Sirius and Harry spent almost the entire time chatting away. Harry was especially interested in the methods Healer Withering had used; and the idea of Occlumency appealed to him quite a bit.

"No need to worry about that, pup." Sirius laughed, "You're gonna have to work on Occlumency at least a little if you actually want to be Lord Potter when you come of age. It'll help keep your Aunt safe too. It obviously isn't legal to read people's minds without permission, particularly a minor's; but Legilimency is really rare, and tends to run in older families, so the burden of proof is on the victim."

"And I bet that's really hard to prove, isn't it?" Harry felt he already knew the answer.

"Pretty much impossible."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"It isn't fair!" Harry pouted as he, Dudley, and his Aunt walked back to their home from Mrs. Figg's after changing back into non magical clothes, "Why am I the only one who can't use the floo properly?"

"Perhaps you can ask Remus or Sirius about it when we see them next." Petunia answered, opening the front door.

"You've got a letter, Pet." Vernon called from the family room as soon as they walked in, "It's from Professor Mcgonagall."

While the boys put their things away in their rooms, Petunia opened and read the letter, a frown forming as she did. The Professor wanted to meet with her first thing tomorrow morning, about something that she said was a matter of life-and-death.