In the last chapter: Harry returns to the Dursley's for a hellish couple of weeks before the Malfoys show in the middle of the night and rescue him. Harry spend the time up until the trial at Malfoy Manor and establishes a shaky alliance with Narcissa to protect Draco.
…
The morning of June 25th started much like the other mornings before it. Except, there was a buzzing anticipation around the raven-haired boy who'd come down to breakfast in a fine set of dark blue and black robes. Draco had been the first to realize that something was different about him.
"Why are you dressed like that so early? Usually you wear your plain robes around here—not that I'm complaining! I-I was just curious!" Draco became uncharacteristically flustered and there was a tiny tinge of pink on his pale cheeks. Harry gave him a strange look before deciding to let it go and respond to his question.
"I will, hopefully, be gaining a new guardian today." Harry said vaguely, with a bright smile on his face as he brought a bit of sausage to his mouth and bit in. Everyone at the table seemed surprised, though a Malfoy surprised sort of looks like a Malfoy at any other point in time save for the tiniest lift in eyebrows and pause in whatever they're doing so that they could study you.
"Right! Will you finally tell us who this mystery guardian is? It's not like you can keep it a secret for long, the papers will snatch this up faster than a snitch in a barrel!" Draco exclaimed with a pretentious laugh at his own analogy.
"Draco!" Narcissa warned quietly. Her and Harry's relationship was still stifled and full of formalities, so to her, Draco was rudely prying into business he had no right to. But, Harry didn't feel the same way.
"It's fine. You're right, I won't be able to keep it a secret and I wasn't planning on it. It's just . . . I think that people would misconstrue the situation if I told them before the trial."
"Trial?" This was from Lucius, who usually remained quiet at meals and any sort of interaction with Harry. Harry could understand, the man was probably holding himself back from strangling or cursing Harry. It's not every day that the person responsible for the death of your lord spends a week under your roof.
"Yes, unfortunate circumstances have resulted in my prospective guardian being imprisoned in Azkaban without ever receiving a trial. I believe him to be completely innocent, so I made sure that he couldn't be ignored and a trial would have to take place in order to gauge whether or not he is a suitable guardian. Without a guilty verdict, he cannot be rejected as my chosen guardian. So today, in about an hour, Sirius Black will face the Wizengamot and I will testify on his behalf in order to clear his name." At the mention of Sirius' name, Draco choked on his orange juice and Lucius was looking at Harry like he'd just sprouted bunny ears and sang the ABC's backwards.
"Sirius Black? Merlin Harry! You can't be serious!" Draco was a little red-faced from choking and trying to keep orange juice from coming out of his nose for a solid thirty seconds.
"Oh I'm completely serious. Sirius Black did not betray my parents nor did he kill those muggles. He doesn't have a Dark Mark and has never been a Death Eater. He was wrongly imprisoned and never given a trial. I will be going whether you think it wise or not. You are welcome to join me, as I'm sure Lucius will want to be there because of his job and position, and the whole thing will be covered in the press anyways. When you actually look at the evidence, anything they might have against Sirius is all too weak and circumstantial to hold up for a sentencing and the evidence I will point out when I'm called to the stand will easily clear his name. Don't get me wrong, they'll fight hard to convict him as guilty to cover up their mistakes, but I can get past them."
Still shell-shocked, Draco looked to his parents, either to see their reactions to this news or to silently ask permission to actually go. Narcissa glanced at her husband before looking back at her son and Harry with a faint curiosity in her eyes.
"I suppose it'll be alright. It's been a while since we've all gone to the Ministry, and Draco, if you are to get a job there it'll be important to be familiar with not only the building, but also the proceedings within the Ministry. Harry, we will gladly escort you to the trial. You have been our temporary ward for the past week, it is the least we can do for you. If it all goes well, do you have all of your things?" Narcissa's calm demeanor was strangely soothing to Harry. He hadn't even realized until he felt the tension bleeding from his shoulders that he was actually quite nervous for the trial.
Harry and his companion had spent the previous few days going over what Harry needed to say and how to present certain information that he'd gotten from—eh-ehm—questionable sources. Namely: the immortal being with a disparagement for boredom.
Now, all Harry needs to do is relay the evidence carefully and not come off as . . . intimidating as he tended to do. Many have told him that his eyes and overall presence is a bit unsettling and intense. Harry has never cared much for other people's opinions, but this . . . this was important to him. This wasn't about whether or not they liked him, it was about whether or not they believed him.
Mentally shaking himself out of his adrift thoughts, Harry smiled genially at Narcissa. "Yes, I do. Everything's packed away in my trunk and shrunken in my pocket. Hedwig I sent ahead to Grimmauld Place already, if I don't arrive there by tonight, she will return here to wait for me." Harry took a sip of his tea and continued on with his breakfast.
A straight eyebrow climbed high on Lucius's forehead. "You seem quite sure that he'll be found not-guilty." It was a statement, but there was a questioning lift in his words that spoke clearly of his curiosity.
Knowing that they will hear every reason he has to feel that way in roughly an hour, Harry decided not to answer and just continued eating after a moment of pause to look at Lucius.
…
An hour later, Harry was striding purposefully through the Ministry towards the court rooms. His stomach was all in knots but his face was a mask of cool indifference.
They left only minutes before the trial began at Harry's request. By that point animated pictures of his face had already graced the papers several times a month—though how they keep finding nonsense to write about is beyond him—and people would recognize him even without seeing his scar. Harry's presence at the trail would cause uproar and confusion. The closer they arrived to the start of the meeting, the less time he has to sit through the stares and not-so-quietly-whispered questions.
Sirius' trial had garnered enough attention as it was and it was likely that almost every witch and wizard in the Wizengamot would attend the trial. Who would miss out on the Death Eater and betrayer of an innocent light family's trial?
Sirius' trial was scheduled to take place in courtroom 1, the largest courtroom they had. Harry entered through the main entrance behind Lucius and Narcissa, with Draco walking close to his side like a protective shield from and wandering gazes. The room was practically cavernous with how large it was, constructed of black and dark hunter green marble with crackled white veins running through the stone. There were black benches of rising levels encircling the room that were cut into two sections: the sitting area for the Wizengamot in their plum and black robes, and the general sitting area for press and approved observers of the trials.
The public benches were on the half of the room closest to the door, that was where the Malfoys and Harry sat. Cutting through the middle of the Wizengamot section was a raised stand where the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot would be sitting, and below it, level with the stone floors was the seat for the High Inquisitor. Which was just a fancy name for 'lawyer.' The last thing that Harry noticed before the main doors to the courtroom were closed was the severe-looking metal chair at the center of room, draped in thick metal chains.
When the door's finally closed, commencing the trial, Harry finally allowed himself to look around at the people in attendance. More than half of the people present were glancing at or even outright staring at Harry from all over the room. Most looked confused, some curious, and a select few were glaring at him on principle.
The idly buzzing chatter in the room was ceased after five minutes when a large oak door behind the Chief Warlock's stand suddenly opened and out walked several wizards. The first two are wearing plain grey robes and appeared to be one record keeper and one assistant. The third was wearing black robes with a golden embroidered circle with what looked to be measuring scales and a capital M on the shoulder of the robes. The graying wizard wearing the black robes immediately made his way to the tall Chief Warlock stand.
The witch that followed those three was wearing deep burgundy robes. Her expression was stern and hard as she sat in the High Inquisitor's seat, smooth black hair curling into a hook shape facing inward at the ends where it sat just below her shoulders. Her cold blue eyes stared straight ahead and her lips were pinched together in a way that reminds Harry so much of McGonagall whenever she's unimpressed with somebody or something.
There's about a minute pause as the door the other wizards came through sits open and empty like the gaping maw of a waiting beast, before the sound of clinking chains incites utter silence over the entire room. Everyone watched with bated breath as Sirius Black was led through the door by two large Auror's—it surprised Harry when he realized that one of the Aurors was Philias Green, the Death Eater in disguise.
Harry was hit again with the clenching concern as he takes in the state of his Godfather. Sirius was in better shape than the first time Harry had visited him, but they had obviously not allowed him to clean up any before the trial and he was smeared with dirt with his dirty prison clothes hanging off of him in a way that made him look so thin and gaunt.
It didn't matter that Sirius wasn't kicking and screaming his way into the courtroom, his appearance alone was enough to make several people lean back or fidget like he was a rabid dog being held back by a string. There's a moment when his and Sirius' eyes meet for a second and Harry tried to will his own strength into Sirius by gaze alone, but the moment was cut short when the other Auror—not Phil—jerked Sirius forward by his arm and forced him roughly into the chair in the center of the room with a look of disgust on his face.
The Aurors grabbed the ends of the chains attached to the chair and simply touched them to the shackles before they melded together and locked him into the chair.
The trial began in a monotonous formal couple of words from the acting Chief Warlock. Harry leaned towards Lucius, who was sitting on his right with Draco on his left, and said in a low tone, "I though Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock."
Lucius peeked at him from the corner of his eye where he's sitting aristocratically straight. Then he turned his eye back to the trial before him.
"Conflict of interest. Not only was Dumbledore his professor, but you are his magical ward, there would be an issue with you testifying without his consent, as well as Sirius being the primary candidate for your transferred guardianship." Lucius didn't sound annoyed or exasperated at having to explain, he was surprisingly neutral.
Harry turned his attention back on the trial when the Chief Warlock Interim, which just so happened to be Cornelius Fudge the current Minister of Magic, finally addressed Sirius without actually looking up from the papers laid out before him.
"As procedure would dictate, I must inform you that you have the right to a low dose of Veritaserum that would be administered by one of our Auror's to validate your statements without the need for witness corroboration." Fudge waved his hand in the air as he spoke as if he was already tired of speaking before he'd even made it half way through and couldn't be bothered to say any more than what was required.
It was clear that it wasn't a route often taken by those in that seat and he certainly didn't expect Sirius to ask for it. Fudge had barely even taken a breath after speaking before continuing, but Sirius cleared his throat and cut in with a polite 'excuse me.'
Fudge looked up at Sirius from over the tops of his reading glasses.
"I'll take it." Sirius said in a louder, more clear voice.
"Excuse me?" Fudge frowned in confusion, as if he had no clue what Sirius would be referring to.
"The Veritaserum, I'll take it. I have nothing to hide and I think that my words will hold far more value to everyone here if they are accompanied by the potion." Sirius' voice was so calm and soothing, no hint of the mischievous marauder he was rumored to be in his youth.
Whether it was adulthood that wiped away, the decade spent in a wizarding prison, or just all of the eyes boring into him now, Harry didn't know whether to feel disappointed, angry, or relieved. Harry had always been independent, but having someone else to rely on would be . . . different.
Fudge looked grudgingly respectable of Sirius' choice and nodded to Phil, who silently administered the potion to his Godfather and stepped away. While the potion slowly took effect, Fudge read off the unofficial charges that had put Sirius in Azkaban in the first place, and then recounted the events of the night Harry's parents were killed for the rest of the court as they were what seemed to lead up to Sirius supposedly massacring a street full of muggles several days later.
Harry felt strange hearing the story of his parents' deaths being told to a court full of strangers.
Logically, Harry knew that there wasn't a wizard in Britain who didn't know the tale, and it didn't make him feel any particular way to hear it except for a dull and distant sadness for the tragedy of young lives lost rather than anything even close to losing a loved one. But to have it stated as impersonal and uncaring as the weather, to have something that was still a large part of Harry's background laid bare for so many when he was sitting right there felt exposing and invasive.
Harry hadn't even realized he'd been white-knuckling the fabric of his trousers until he felt Draco's warm hand gently cover one of his fists. When Harry loosened his grip and look over at his friend, Draco was facing forward and his expression didn't give away anything.
Harry didn't pull his hand away. Instead he turned it over and let their palms rest in overlap as his fingers loosely curled up between Draco's to lock them together. Draco's only reaction was to return the gesture in kind and let their hands rest between them on the bench, the solemn comfort hidden by their robes.
Once everyone was once again familiar with the events surrounding Sirius' incarceration, the High Inquisitor—Beatrice Nightingale—began asking a faintly misty-eyed Sirius questions. Harry instantly disliked her. Unlike McGonagall, who'd he'd previously compared her to, she barely hid her disdain behind her rude jabs and unforgiving glare.
Nightingale didn't ask any of the questions Harry had hoped she would, none that would really shine a spotlight on the holes in the story everyone seemed to know.
She asked him about his family background—knowing full well that the Blacks were a notoriously dark family and that Sirius couldn't exactly fall into the category of 'light' because of it. She asked about his relationship with Dumbledore, which wasn't great because the man had known of Sirius' innocence and had allowed him to be imprisoned for so long.
She asked him a few questions that were bordering on helpful, but in the end, they were too vague to really make heads or tails of anything.
When Nightingale stepped back to her seat and straightened out a stack of papers while announcing that she was done questioning him for the moment, Harry felt a worried hand twist in his gut and he instinctively squeezed Draco's hand. Sirius looked as frustrated as Harry felt.
Fudge asked a few questions himself out of curiosity, but nothing big enough.
The first character witness was called.
Sirius was released from the chair and walked a few feet away, held by the two Aurors, one on either side of him. Dumbledore walked into the room with purpose and sat in the chair with a flourish as if he was plopping down onto his favorite overstuffed armchair.
Again, Nightingale asked useless questions and Dumbledore seemed just as vague as her, talking about Sirius as if he was an old friend, but not really helping.
Harry sighed as a second witness was called, someone he doubted even knew Sirius all that well. More useless questions.
It's as if they're tryingto put him back in Azkaban! Or nottrying at all! Like they're just going through the motions of the trial and trying to get it over with as soon as possible. Harry thought as this last witness was dismissed and left without even looking at Sirius.
'Perhaps they are. You knew they would try to cover up their mistakes. Mortals. They'll do anything to avoid more paperwork.' Death said from behind his left shoulder. Harry's shoulders sagged a fraction of an inch in relief at the presence of his friend. When his companion was with him, the obstacles in front of him were far less daunting.
Draco noticed the change in Harry and gave him an odd look. Harry just ignored him and merely blinked when his own name was called. There wasn't a single pair of eyes that weren't trained on Harry when he stood and straightened his robes elegantly before descending the stairs with a stoic expression.
When Harry sat in the metal chair at the center of the room and waited as Nightingale slowly approached with the first flicker of emotion in her face that wasn't contempt. She actually looked very curious. It was like she caught his gaze and completely forgot about the rest of the room around her. He had her undivided attention.
"Harry Potter . . . do you know why you're here today?" She asked, her tone lacking the sharpness it had held every other time she spoke. Harry nodded before he spoke, not wanting to lose any sort of chance to get out much needed information to the rest of the court.
"Yes. I'm here—we're all here—because I am trying to transfer my sole guardianship over to my Godfather, and in order to do that, he needs to be found not-guilty of certain charges by this court." He didn't have to raise his voice over a conversational volume because it seemed to carry over the eerily silent room.
Nightingale lifted a slim black brow, despite that she probably already knew that.
"That's correct. I hear that you transferred your vault key over to Mr. Black in person, is that accurate?" She asked and the current of whispers through the room almost made Fudge bang his gavel to demand silence, as he seemed to be leaning over in his seat as well.
"I did. I obtained an Auror escort to Azkaban over winter break in order to see my Godfather to pass my key over." He kept his expression open and honest as he spoke. The Veritaserum had been offered to every witness that was called, and each had turned it down, as had he. Harry knew it was illegal to give that potion to a minor, but with this crowd, he wouldn't put it past them to not mention that to an ignorant child and give it to them anyway if they said yes.
"Why? If I'm not mistaken, your current magical guardian is Albus Dumbledore, why would you want Sirius Black to be your caretaker?"
"Many reasons, Ma'am. You see, when I first heard of Sirius Black—best friend of my father and very close to my mother—I had been ecstatic. The only family I have left were not even on speaking terms with my parents for years before their deaths. So to find someone who had meant so much to my parents that they entrusted their child to him if anything were to happen to them, I felt as though I was gaining that closest thing to a real family I've ever had in my life. But . . .
"It didn't take much digging to find out what had become of my Godfather. Still, I wanted to know everything I could about him and what had happened. From the very beginning, there were . . . inconsistencies. There were certain things that just didn't match up and when I looked deeper, I became convinced that my Godfather was innocent." Harry frowned and he saw the slight furrow of Nightingale's brows in response. Considering how she reacted to him, Harry would bet that she either had a child of her own, or she was just as smitten with the Savior as half of wizarding Britain seemed to be. Harry was betting on the former.
"That's right, you were sorted into Ravenclaw, weren't you Mr. Potter. That curiosity is unmistakable." Nightingale nodded for Harry to continue and it felt like everyone in the room was sitting on the edges of their seats and leaning in to catch each melodic syllable of Harry's voice. It was certainly not an experience Harry was used to. Drawing in the attention of one or two people in a small conversation was one thing, but to have an entire room all but entranced—for better or worse—was far different!
"Well, the first thing that caught my attention was the lack of a trial. In public record, it is stated that Sirius was incarcerated without a trial because a form of Martial Law was in effect because of the war and that all Death Eaters they could get their hands on were incarcerated until they could receive a proper trial. The fact that almost all other Death Eaters received a trail almost immediately, and yet he was never confirmed to be a Death Eater and didn't receive one for ten years is in itself such a horrendous injustice to my Godfather, whether he be guilty or not.
"Not only that, but Martial Law shouldn't have even been in effect at the time, considering the war was technically over the night Voldemort died. The whole of wizarding Britain knew that the war was over by the next morning, so there was no reason for that law to have been in effect." Fudge looked thoroughly troubled by the implications and accusations behind Harry's words, but Nightingale still seemed too caught up in his words to notice the uncomfortable shifting of several people around the room who had been in powerful positions at the time and could be held responsible for the huge oversight.
"As you mentioned before, Ma'am, being a Ravenclaw means that I am quite diligent in my research. It was during my research that I came across something. One misunderstanding that could have prevented all of this!" Harry paused to let the weight of his words settle fully over the room.
"As I'm sure everyone is aware, in order to hide from Voldemort, my parents had the fidelious charm placed over their home in Godric's hollow. There were only six people that took part in the charm: my parents, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and the caster of the charm, Albus Dumbledore. Everyone knew how close Sirius and my father, James, were. They were like brothers in every sense except by blood. It was common sense that Sirius would be their Secret Keeper, the man would willingly die before he divulged the information. And he was the Secret Keeper . . . at first.
"It had been soon after the charm was cast that Peter Pettigrew saw a problem with that aspect. Because everyone knew how close the two were, Death Eaters would undoubtedly go after Sirius for the information. Though, if someone else became the Secret Keeper, nobody would know. The Potters saw the reason of the plan and Peter immediately volunteered himself. You see, Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper, it was Peter! The Secret Keeper is the only one who could have given away the location of their house in Godric's Hollow, the only one who could betray my parents to Voldemort. Sirius didn't betray my parents, he wasn't and isn't a Death Eater, and therefore had no motive to kill those muggles." Harry got a little worked up as he went along, but he knew that it would only push everyone around into believing in his conviction.
Nightingale looked confounded, and blinked at Harry with large blue eyes for several long moments before looking at Sirius.
"Is that true? Was Peter Pettigrew the Secret Keeper?" Nightingale's tone had changed from the last time she'd spoken to Sirius, is wasn't even close to what she used with Harry, but it also wasn't exactly hostile either.
"Yes. It had made so much sense at the time. As Harry had said, I would easily have died in order to protect them, they were family, but there are ways of getting answers. Veritaserum for example, it not only makes me tell the truth, but it also compels me to answer against any reservations or instincts I might have not to. I wouldn't have been able to refuse, even if I wanted to." Sirius explained, looking eager to give the information, to finally be asked something useful!
"Sirius being the Secret Keeper is the reason people thought he was a Death Eater when my parents were betrayed. Sirius knew that the reason my parents were dead was because of Peter, that he'd been a Death Eater. So, Sirius, in his grief and anger, went after Peter. When Sirius found him, Peter thought that Sirius would kill him—or at least bring him in to be tried for having a hand in their deaths—so he blew up the area around them, killed those muggles, cut off his own finger, and faked his death." He could see those around the room begin to pull back from his accusations, making faces and little noises of disbelief.
Even Nightingale seemed a little dubious.
"That's . . . quite the accusation, Mr. Potter. What makes you believe that Pettigrew was responsible—or even capable—of all that you accuse him of? Confirmation from your Godfather is great and all, but I'll need a little more than that to clear his name." Nightingale looked warily between Sirius and Harry. At least she wasn't deliberately trying to incriminate his Godfather anymore.
"Certainly, I wouldn't expect any less. You can ask Peter yourself, seeing as how he's still alive." It was like the telenovelas Petunia sometimes watched, the way the room collectively gasped and whipped their heads around rapidly as if someone in the crowd would have the answer and confirm what he'd said. With a slight roll of his eyes that Harry just couldn't quite contain, Harry continued.
"Even with the spell Pettigrew used in that street, there is no way that only a finger would have been left behind. There was no wand, no clothes, not even any blood that matched Peter's except for the finger. You see, when my father attended Hogwarts he and his three closest friends called themselves the Marauders. One of the Marauders, Remus Lupin, was a werewolf. As you all know, lycanthropy is a very serious, painful, and frightening condition that most victims do not and would not choose.
"In order to accompany and comfort Remus on full moons my father, Sirius, and Peter all practiced and achieved their own Animagus forms. They gave their more animalistic forms nicknames as a way to make light of a very difficult situation. Remus was 'Moony' because he was a werewolf, Sirius was 'Padfoot' for his canine form, my father was 'Prongs' for his stag form, and Peter was 'Wormtail' for his rat form. Now, although they didn't register their Animagus forms, Dumbledore was well aware of their forms.
"Now, jumping forward to the muggle massacre, I believe that a few days after, someone in this room found Peter." Harry waited a moment before turning and looking right at Arthur Weasley, who was already looking quite pale. "Mr. Weasley, if I'm not mistaken, a few days following the tragedy your son Percy found a rat in you front yard and named him Scabbers. He's been with you for the past . . . ten years or so? Isn't it also correct that he's missing a toe on his left paw?"
Arthur gaped openly at Harry and a look of dread seemed to dawn over his face. Nightingale gave the elder Weasley a cold look.
"Mr. Weasley, I think it best that you go find your 'family pet' and bring it back here so that we might settle this once and for all." Arthur scrambled down the stairs and out of the courtroom, hopefully on his way home to rip the mangy rat out of his child's hands and bring it back here.
Pettigrew had been Harry's trump card. There's no way that they could charge Sirius with anything once it's revealed that Pettigrew was still alive. Harry just hoped that it would all be over soon, he just wanted to be alone. Being in front of so many people, answering all of these questions and trying his best to convey them as the honest truth—it was exhausting!
While they waited for Arthur to come back with Scabbers, Nightingale revolved back to the comment he'd made about his relatives and tried to pry more out of him about his rather unknown home life. Harry had merely countered with asking how that was relevant. The matter of his home life and guardianship would be dealt with by the Goblins, not a room full of Ministry employees and press.
It took ten minutes for Arthur to return, breathing heavily as he burst through the door with a thrashing and squealing rat in a small cage. The doors were closed behind him and at Nightingale's insistent wave, he rushed forward. Carefully, Phil cast a petrifying spell on Scabbers and took the immobile rat out of the cage before laying on the floor.
"Revelio!" Phil cast in perfect form of a well-trained Auror/Secret Death Eater. In an instant, Scabbers transformed into a dirty, rounded man in tattered wizarding robes, scraggly blond hair, and two long rat-like front teeth peeking out from between thin chapped lips. It was unmistakable, this was Peter Pettigrew.
The courtroom was silent for two long moments, then, pandemonium. There were shouts of outrage and people jumping up from their seats. There were baffled expressions all across the room. Sirius looked ready to lunge at the frozen traitor on the ground at his feet, but with a sharp head shake from Harry, he backed down and held himself very tensely as he looked anywhere but at his former friend.
It took a solid minute of Fudge loudly banging his gavel on the desk and shouting for silence with the aid of a sonorous charm on his voice to regain control over the room. As soon at the chaos had lulled enough for Fudge to speak without the charm's help, Fudge dismissed Harry, had Sirius put back in the chair—without the chains—and left back through the door behind his stand. The rest of the Wizengamot stood and followed him. Leaving the room to deliberate Sirius' fate.
Harry was suddenly nervous as he sat down in his original spot between Draco and Lucius. He worried that he might not have given enough information or evidence, that the Wizengamot would be too full of Ministry employees and they would decide to protect integrity of the Ministry before an innocent man.
Harry's hand was once again laced through Draco's, though his eyes stayed on his Godfather, who was giving him a strange look, glancing between him and the Malfoys around him. Harry had a feeling that Sirius would certainly ask him about it later.
Draco leaned in close to his ear so that when he spoke, only Harry would hear him.
"You did great! Seriously, I'm impressed! I'd say I'm surprised, but honestly, I'm not. You, Harry Potter, have a knack for being exceptional in almost everything you do." Draco smirked when Harry quirked a brow and gave him a look.
"'Almost?'" Harry deadpanned, knowing this game with Draco quite well, and knowing that Draco was doing it to distract him. The snake was surprisingly thoughtful. Draco wiped the smirk off of his face and replaced it with innocent seriousness.
"Why, Potter, don't tell me you actually think you're better than me at potions! That's preposterous, nobody can be good at everything, try not to take it too hard." Draco gave him a faux-sympathetic smile and pat on the shoulder. He had to fight off a smirk as Draco looked away with the mega-pompous expression and posture he and Draco usually made fun of certain upperclassmen Slytherins for.
"Besides, it really isn't fair to you. I mean, it truly is commendable how you've done as well as you have against me—a pureblood!" Draco pressed delicate hand to his chest and achieved the poshest tone Harry had ever had the pleasure of hearing. Harry's lips were trapped between his teeth to keep himself from laughing, but the very unimpressed parent-like look Lucius shot at his son broke him.
Harry pressed a hand to his mouth to try to smother his laughter, but apparently not well enough. Several people around them turned on their benches in order to look at Harry with varying expressions from exasperation to wonderment at seeing the otherwise cold and serious boy laughing genuinely with his friend.
When Harry's laughter died down to a barely contained grin, he elbowed Draco lightly in the side to give the blonde a grateful look.
When Draco's attention wasn't on him anymore, Harry called up a tiny bit of raw magic and sent a mild stinging hex at Draco's rear. The blonde shot up off of his seat with an undignified squawk. Harry kept his face innocently neutral as Draco glared down at him and rubbed his hand over his stinging cheek before sitting back down. Again, Lucius sent both boys scolding glares before leaning in to talk to his wife on the other side of him.
It only took twenty more minutes for the nondescript door at the back of the room to open again and for the Wizengamot to pour out of the room or hallway beyond and take their seats, followed by Fudge and Nightingale. Harry sat deathly still, holding his breath as Fudge took his seat with a disgruntled expression on his face.
"In the case of Sirius Orion Black vs. Ministry of Magic, for all charges against him, Black has been found . . ." Fudge paused to look at Sirius for a long moment, then his gaze flicked up to Harry and his eyes didn't linger nearly as long before the man shifted his gaze away uncomfortably and looked back down at the parchment in his hands through his crescent-moon reading glasses. "Not guilty."
Harry squeezed Draco's hand and beamed down at his Godfather when Sirius looked up at him with a bewildered and exuberant expression. It worked! I can't believe it worked!
'Of course it worked, Harry. I pride myself on my intelligence, to have doubted the outcome of this plan would have been an insult to me.' His companion huffed, though there was no real annoyance in his tone, just begrudging fondness.
"As for Peter Pettigrew, he shall return at a later date for his own trial. For the time being, he will be taken to Azkaban to await his hearing." Fudge concluded the trial and Sirius was immediately escorted—far more gently—up through the door that the Wizengamot had come through.
Harry quickly said his goodbyes to the Malfoys, with a promise to Draco that he'd write and visit soon so that he, Draco, and Anthony could meet up over break. He then made his way quickly over to the door Sirius had disappeared through before anyone could think to stop and talk to him.
