Good morning, Worm your honour
The crown will plainly show
The prisoner who now stands before you
Was caught red-handed showing feelings
Showing feelings of an almost human nature
This will not do
Call the schoolmaster

I always said he'd come to no good
In the end your honour
If they'd let me have my way I could
Have flayed him into shape
But my hands were tied
The bleeding hearts and artists
Let him get away with murder
Let me hammer him today?

Pink Floyd – The Trial (The Wall, 1979)

Chapter Eighteen: The Trial

The office was dimly-lit and spacious. Sirius and the others made their way through the path that separated the room in two – there were rows and rows of low seats filled with people that he didn't recognise on either side of him. As they'd entered, the people – or rather, his mother's acquaintances, he thought bitterly – had fallen into an ominous silence, as though holding their breaths. He could feel many pairs of eyeballs on him, boring through him; he felt very small, and very exposed.

"Good luck, Pads," he heard James mutter behind him. "You've got this in the bag, no problem…"

He heard his footsteps recede, and James and Hagrid lumbered off towards one of the low seats. The feeling of inferiority strengthened even further now. There had been something, something reassuring, in knowing that his two friends were walking behind him, and sharing in the stares that came their way.

As for Sirius, he staggered towards the front of the room and slid into his chair behind a wooden table. High benches rose in a semicircle, but for the most part, they were mostly empty. Ahead, on the highest bench of all, paying no attention to what was happening in the room, sat half a dozen wizards and witches in scarlet robes.

Then, directly to his left, separated by a low wooden gate, the voice of his mother spoke.

"It's ten past eight. I will not wait any longer."

The people in scarlet robes turned to regard her, as though wondering why she'd spoken at all.

"Patience, madam," said a thin, long-bearded wizard coolly. "The court has not yet convened."

"Then hurry it up," said his mother disdainfully. "I did not rent the courtroom just to stand around like a Muggle. I wish for it to begin."

The wizard shrugged, as though he couldn't care less. "Without the full court, there really isn't anything we can do, madam."

He turned his face away from her, and resumed his conversation with the other witches and wizards.

A hot iron was pressing down on Sirius's chest – it had been years since he'd heard his mother's voice. It was different from what he remembered; then again, the last time he'd heard it, she had been roaring insults, demanding he return home at once…

And yet, he couldn't help but agree with her. He did not want to wait around for much longer. He didn't even want to be part of this.

The audience had started whispering again, but he found, unlike him, that they didn't seem to be in any hurry to start. He imagined James and Hagrid behind him, exchanging a nervous look as they were both stared down by the crowd surrounding them. He imagined Lily and Remus and Peter back at Hogwarts, waiting anxiously for him to return. There had been so much he wanted to tell them: Lily, above all, he wanted to thank for taking his mind off things… And he had not seen Marlene at all…

He wondered how she must be feeling. He'd never been one to show emotion, and neither was she, especially when they were alone together. He wanted to keep things tight between them; emotions would just get in the way. She'd been a bit distant as of late, but they were still very much together, or so he hoped – once things had calmed down and his trial was over, he would talk things through with her. Sirius had never considered how she felt about him. The attraction, the trust and the burden that came with having a relationship with Marlene McKinnon – it was all very much physical.

Not for the first time, he wished James and Lily weren't as disgusting as they were. Ever since they'd gotten around to saying 'I love you' unashamedly to each other during rush hour in the corridors, he'd felt a slight pang of discomfort. At the same time, he both wanted and didn't want that with Marlene. This wasn't something he could talk about to James or Lily either, seeing that they were the very cause of his grief. Peter wasn't an option, either; his experience with these sorts of things was very near zero.

That left Remus, but he wasn't one to go out and mingle, either. Remus had this ridiculous thought that if he were to get close with somebody, he couldn't bear the 'sight of them realising he was a werewolf.' Sirius remembered calling him a small-bollocks wanker.

Besides, Remus always got this distant look on his face when he helped Sirius out with his girl problems. He supposed it was reasonable; who on earth liked listening to him vent about how he wasn't able to slide into some random person's pants? As far as Remus was concerned, it was Sirius's problem, and not his. He hated seeing the way his scarred face would darken – his pleas for advice on Marlene, Sirius reflected, seemed to bring Remus's dull face out a little more often.

The whispered conversations from the audience behind him were starting to grow louder. Sirius sat on his hard chair, staring down at his table, and tried to block out the noise – all the little sounds that resonated around the courtroom, filling his ears with a deafening ring.

The door opened with a loud creak, and loud footsteps echoed throughout, quelling the audience to silence. There was the noise of many dozens of people turning their necks to stare, and Sirius saw, to his slight bewilderment, that the loud footsteps didn't belong to a member of the court, but to a young, nervous-looking wizard wearing navy-blue robes. He couldn't have been much older than Sirius was.

The wizard passed him, averting his eyes; he clutched a tightly-furled scroll in his hands, so tightly, in fact, it looked like a bowtie. He stumbled towards the high benches, trembling from head to toe as the members of the court stared down at him.

The wizard who had spoken to his mother earlier stooped down to receive the scroll. The messenger waited, looking to all the world as though he had just been sentenced to death.

Finally the wizard looked up from the letter, a scowl on his face. "Who did you get this from?"

"From – from an owl, sir."

The messenger cast anxious looks at the other court members watching him. The wizard looked at the letter again.

"And you've confirmed it, then, that Regis Pickel is in St Mungo's?"

At those words, the audience had erupted into whispers once more. Sirius saw, out of the corner of his eye, his mother's knuckles turn white as she curled her fingers into a fist.

"I – I haven't, sir," sputtered the messenger, looking quite terrified as the council members regarded him. "Though I've been hearing people say –"

"Hmph." The wizard leaned back on his bench, obscuring his face in shadow. "It says here he's consumed a sleeping elixir. Won't wake up even to the strongest of spells."

"What're we going to do, then?" said a frizzy-haired witch behind him. "We can't cancel the trial, you heard Crouch. I don't suppose we can call for a replacement judge?"

"They already have," said the first wizard, stroking his beard absently. "Crouch sent Amelia Bones."

Sirius lifted his head up slowly. Amelia Bones… Bones… He'd heard that name before. Maybe someone at Hogwarts had the same surname?

"Reschedule the trial," said his mother suddenly, standing up. "I do not wish for my brother's will to be decided by a novice."

As soon as she'd spoken, Sirius's frustration and resentment culminated into one, hot ball near his heart. He tried to calm himself down, but a part of him didn't want to, he wanted to laugh, to at least do something – something that would let him vent out his feelings on his mother.

"Amelia Bones is no novice," said the wizard as though his mother had offended him. "She is a gifted, powerful witch, a prominent member of the Wizengamot! Between you and me, madam, I prefer her far over Regis Pickel. Everything will be fine."

"I don't care," said Sirius's mother angrily. "I requested for Regis Pickel. Either reschedule, or bring him here."

Then she cast a furious look over at Sirius, as though it was all his fault. He felt his anger reach its breaking point; it was threatening to spill out, but he held on, it was just for a little longer…

"I'm afraid that's not possible, madam," said another wizard, this one with a thin, pencil moustache. "As you've heard from the letter, I am sure, Regis is currently hospitalised in St Mungo's. Speaking of which…" He frowned down at the messenger, who had darted his head around quickly as the two parties spoke. "You, boy, you're free to go."

His mother waited for the messenger to scurry out of the door, and it opened and closed with the same creaking sound, before she rounded on the council.

"Cancel the trial, then," said Sirius's mother. "We'll have it set for another date."

"Madam," said the first wizard in a not very patient voice, "Unless you wish to wait indefinitely, I'm afraid the trial shall continue. All the courtrooms are being used, new criminals are being brought in every day. It was trouble enough to persuade Regis to give up his office, and seeing as he's not here, we will continue using this office to try criminals. I apologise, but the Ministry can't afford to care for as simple a thing as a contested will."

"I will not have my brother's will examined by anyone other than Regis Pickel," said his mother shortly. "I simply won't."

And, before he could stop himself, Sirius had spoken.

"It's hard, isn't it?"

Both his mother and the council turned to face him. His mother still had that livid look on her, and it seemed to have seeped into her voice, because when she spoke, every ounce of bitter emotion seemed to have been laced into her words.

"What are you blathering on about, boy?"

Too late to stop now. Ignoring the looks he was getting from the audience, he smiled casually, as he usually did when facing his mother's punishments.

"The one person you paid to turn the case in your favour – and he doesn't show up! It's a joke. This whole thing is a joke. Guess you can't buy your way through this one, right, Mother?"

His mother flared her nostrils.

"You dare accuse –"

But at that moment, the door to the courtroom opened once more, and in strode a stately-looking witch with a square jaw, wearing the same scarlet robes as the other members of the council. The audience faltered as soon as she entered; the silence, this time, was heavy, low. She marched across the courtroom, climbed onto the bench, then turned to face them all. The other members of the council nodded to her in greeting.

Amelia Bones regarded Sirius first, as though wondering what on earth an eighteen-year-old could have done to land himself in a trial of civil law. Then she raised her eyebrows at his mother, who scoffed and folded her arms.

"I do apologise for the tardiness," she said. "I was just informed – but it really doesn't matter."

"I will not answer to you," snapped his mother. "I demand a rescheduling –"

"Something, which, is impossible, I'm afraid," said Amelia Bones apologetically. "The Ministry is very busy; even sparing this one office has closed many opportunities for trials. My superior, Barty Crouch, can't be bothered to care for a family dispute. As a matter of fact, so can't I."

His mother turned bright red, though Sirius wasn't sure if it was due to anger or embarrassment. She never seemed aware of her own actions, reflected Sirius; after all, she was used to getting her way.

"I expected nothing more from you, Bones," sneered his mother, pasting a very ugly look on her otherwise fair face. "Your family is filled with nothing more than troublemakers. You are no different, I see."

Amelia Bones looked as though she barely had any emotion left to spare his mother; ignoring her, she smoothed down her robes, set her jaw, and placed a monocle on her left eye. It looked slightly enlarged to Sirius, but he didn't want to point that out.

"Let us begin, then," said Amelia Bones, in a voice that seemed to reach the far corners of the courtroom. "Bailiff, if you will start."

The wizard who had spoken earlier stood up, and said in the same, booming voice, "All rise. Department of Magical Law Enforcement, subdivision Wizarding Civil Law is now in session. Judge Amelia Bones now presiding." He looked around, seeing that everybody had risen with him (except Sirius's mother, who had sat down hastily as the bailiff called for order), and then said, "Sit down."

"Thank you," said Amelia Bones. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling the case of House Black versus Sirius Orion Black. Are both parties ready?"

She looked expectantly at Sirius, and he struggled to open his mouth a bit before mumbling, "R-ready."

"Then let us move on," said Amelia Bones, not even waiting for his mother to answer. "We are gathered here to discuss the ownership of Alphard Black's last will and testament, as well as the accusations of tampering."

She held out a hand to one of the witches behind her. Quick as lightning, one pulled out a thin yellow folder and extricated a sheet of parchment, then handed it over to Amelia Bones.

She scanned it quickly and boomed out, "In the words of the late Alphard Black:

"I, Alphard Black, a legal adult with an address at Number Nine, Herevard's Way, being of competent and sound mind, hereby declare this to be my last will and testament and do hereby revoke any and all wills heretofore made jointly by me. I further declare that this last will and testament reflects my personal wishes, and I do so under no influence whatsoever.

"I, Alphard Black, at the time of this last will and testament, am not married and do not have any children, biologically nor adopted. As such, I give, devise and bequeath all of my property, whether real property, personal property or both, of whatever kind and whatever situated to Sirius Orion Black absolutely and entirely. Should Sirius Orion Black not be living, then I give, devise and bequeath all of my property to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."

She finished reading, a slight frown on her face. She gave the parchment back to the witch, who exchanged it with a couple of notes, then turned to Sirius's mother and said, "First, we must delve into the topic of tampering. What does Walburga Black have to say in regards to that accusation?"

When she'd addressed her, Sirius's mother had closed her eyes for a full three seconds. Nevertheless, she said, "I knew my brother better than anyone. I knew, for a fact, that he did not wish for anything to do with my son – therefore, he or an external party must have tampered with the will. I was – I was greatly saddened and greatly troubled by his passing."

It was his mother's lie that surged the blood to Sirius's head, razing all sense of politeness; that she had the nerve to utter and speak of a brother she had insulted, humiliated and spat on the memory in a tone of fondness, of grief, right in front of him. He felt his mouth open furiously, he felt his gaze turn red as he saw his mother share a smirk with one of her friends in the audience –

Then Amelia Bones said, "Were you close to him?"

"Close?" said his mother wonderingly. "I don't imagine anyone who saw us together wouldn't have said we weren't close. He was… he was there for me, when no one else was. I loved him, as all siblings do."

"Naturally, since you were siblings," said Amelia Bones, nodding. "And so – did he give mention to any sort of request in regards to his will? Perhaps to whom he would leave his possessions?"

"Request? No." His mother looked up to the ceiling thoughtfully; she appeared satisfied now that the judge was listening intently to her. "We drifted apart, I'm afraid, during our later years… I regret that part of our lives. If I'm sure of anything, though, it was that he was thinking of his family as he passed."

It was all very subtly done, thought Sirius grudgingly; the way she phrased her sentences, the way she transformed her expressions so quickly… Sirius had learned more than a few things in that madhouse, he concluded, the most important of which, he realised, was the ability to lie well, and the ability to see through lies. Each lie his mother spoke was carefully thought and not unrealistic at all, and it would take an expert to see through it if one didn't know her well.

"I see," said Amelia Bones. "Then you say it with absolute confidence that your brother's will was tampered with?"

"Yes," said Sirius's mother immediately. "As I said, I knew him better than anyone."

Amelia Bones frowned and handed her notes back to the witch behind her. This time, she pulled a small, glassy tablet from the folder, gave it carefully to Amelia Bones, and stood with a slight smirk.

"Well, then," began Amelia Bones, still in that same, booming voice. "You'll be disappointed to learn that your brother's will was, fortunately, not tampered with."

Sirius's mother widened her eyes; her bottom lip curled into a snarl; she hid her rigid fist under the folds of her black robe.

"That's impossible," said his mother through gritted teeth. "Alphard – Alphard wouldn't have given it to my son. He wouldn't have thrown his money at a good-for-nothing, pathetic disgrace who betrayed –"

"That's a lie," snapped Sirius suddenly, standing up so quickly that his chair fell with a heavy THUD. The whole courtroom went very quiet.

He was shaking all over. He had never felt this angry at his mother.

"You – and Alphard – hated each other," said Sirius. "You were always at each other's throats – you never had a good thing to say to him… even when he asked for help all those years ago, saying he was dying, you shut the door in his face."

His mother was staring at him, her eyes alight with loathing, and she too stood up.

"You – wretched – child," she spat out, so violently the nearest of the audience members flinched. "You nasty little blood-traitor, thief of my family! You dare insinuate – Alphard and I were the best of friends –"

"DON'T LIE!" roared Sirius. "DON'T YOU DARE LIE! ALPHARD WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO STOOD UP AGAINST YOU, SO YOU –"

"Silence!" boomed Amelia Bones, staring down furiously at them both. "This is a court, not a pub –"

"This further proves my point!" shrieked his mother, pointing a finger wildly at him as though she'd just discovered an exciting revelation. "He is deranged, he is deranged enough to re-write his own uncle's will –"

"I told you, silence, woman," thundered Amelia Bones. Turning to Sirius, she said, "Calm yourself, Sirius Black, or I shall have you wait in the corridor."

The threat was so trivial it took Sirius by surprise. He'd done just that countless times; Professor Asterio, his Muggle Studies teacher, apparently couldn't think of better punishments. Slowly, he pulled his chair back up and sat down, trying to control his breathing.

His mother opened her mouth again, about to resume her tirade, but to his (and his mother's, no doubt) surprise, Amelia Bones held up a finger and continued to address Sirius.

"Were you close to Alphard, Mr Black?"

The same question his mother had been asked. Swallowing the last of his pride, he said, "I guess. He was the only I really talked to in my family, besides…"

His voice died down. He'd wanted to say, besides Regulus.

"Hmm," said Amelia Bones thoughtfully. "Since we've cleared up the fact that his will was not tampered with, as per the report made by the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, I ask you, Mr Black: did he give mention to any sort of request in regards to his will? Something or someone he specifically asked for…?"

Sirius shook his head. "I didn't even know he'd died until weeks later, when his owl found me. My family didn't think it was necessary to tell me."

"Very well," said Amelia Bones, staring down at him. "Then both parties will please wait while we decide."

Sirius's heart began to thump again as the seven wizards and witches leaned in together and whispered conversations. The trial had passed in a blur, and yet he could barely remember anything before he'd entered the courtroom. He ought to have said more, how Alphard was the only one who hadn't labelled him an outcast, how his mother had tried her best to hide the will from him, how he no longer had the thirty thousand galleons in question, and would be unable to pay it back if for some reason the council decided he wasn't fit to inherit Alphard's will…

He opted to stare at his table. It was better, after all, than worrying about the pointed looks and fingers that seemed to come his way more than they did his mother's. And yet, even as he tried to block out the noise, the whispers seemed to grow louder; the audience was talking, too, and they were all on his mother's side, Sirius ought to be labelled a criminal for stealing Alphard's money…

Then the whispering stopped. Sirius tried to look up, tried to see what the expressions of the witches and wizards looked like, and that way, he could prepare himself for whatever came next, but something like an invisible force kept his head down. He found himself uttering a silent prayer to Merlin.

"The jury has spoken," announced Amelia Bones in her booming voice. "We have reached a unanimous verdict – Sirius Orion Black is the rightful owner of Alphard Black's last will and testament. And thus –"

"NO!" screeched Sirius's mother. Pointing a finger at the council, she said, "That money belongs to the Black family! It can't go to him!"

"The last time I checked, Sirius Orion Black's surname is Black," said Amelia Bones, a hint of impatience in her voice. "What's more, a person's last will is decided regardless of family or blood."

"No no no, listen to me, listen to me, you filthy hag!" His mother pushed her chair away and stood up, a slightly deranged look on her face. "Give it to someone, to anyone, not Sirius, not my blasted son…"

She dissolved into dark mutters. Amelia Bones wrinkled her nose, her monocle falling out of place.

"Madam," said Amelia Bones coldly, "I fail to understand why a relationship between a mother and her own son has deteriorated this badly. Again, I don't really care," she added, seeing his mother open her mouth, about to set off on a long explanation, "And even then, if you loved your brother as you said, you would respect his final wishes. You have to accept that the will is going to Mr Black. If you're upset about the money –"

"Money?" hollered his mother in a shrill voice. "This was never about money, you inbred mule! Anyone with a pair of eyes could have seen that my brother and my son were two of the same set: oddities and blood-traitors! Anyone could have seen that the will was true, anyone, apparently, but you, you incompetent loon!"

Her chest heaved greatly; her wild eyes, her tousled hair from which she had clutched and her long, pointed nails that clawed at her elbows all gave off the appearance that the woman was nothing short of mad.

She rounded on Sirius. He recoiled; the audience was murmuring alarmedly, and he saw James and Hagrid exchange looks as they took in the scene unfolding before them.

"You don't deserve anything from my family," she snarled. "You broke all our hearts when you left. I will do all I can – everything in my power, to convince the jury the will was left to me. Me. To hell with your rightful ownership."

If the courtroom wasn't already shocked, it was now. Realisation dawned on his mother's face; she clapped her hand to her mouth. The council had thunderstruck looks on each of their stony features, but none looked as stupefied as Amelia Bones, who had also, Sirius dared to hope, a trace of triumphant relief on her.

"Madam Black," she boomed. "You, of your own free will, have just admitted to committing perjury. What do you have to say?"

"I – that is simply –"

"Then let this be considered a wizarding mistrial," she declared. "The will shall stay with Sirius Black. An owl will be sent to you soon, Madam Black, to clarify the details of your punishment. Is there anyone who objects?"

Amelia Bones glanced behind her to see whether anyone had raised their hands. When no one did, she turned back to the front and announced, in a tone of finality, "The council has spoken once more. The jury is thanked and excused. Court is adjourned."

And with that, Amelia Bones and the rest of the jury stood up, ignoring the indignant babble coming out of Madam Black's mouth, and swept out of the courtroom.

I've rewritten this scene who knows how many times. I might get a new brainwave and change it later, so I apologise in advance!