Chapter Three- Sirius
Out of nowhere Sirius felt his arms snap to his side, his legs sprang together, and he was unable to move, unable to react. He recognised a full-body-bind had been placed upon him, but was unable to turn his head now to see who had. His mind was racing, thinking of options, but his wand was out of his reach and he could not even move his fingers or tongue to try and do something with the raw magic building inside him.
He could hear someone approach him, he could hear the sounds of expensive shoes ( the ones his father wore, with soles made of real wood and real leather) making their way hesitant towards him. Not a brave man, Sirius concluded from the way the man walked. Not confident that his own spell was working, which was smart, but not thorough enough to follow his initial spell up with something that would bind his hands further. Not a Death Eater, Sirius thought as the man got closer, and from the corner of his eye Sirius could see the man's shadow on the ground. Not a man that Sirius would admire. Not a man that should have overpowered him. And yet, considering how many witches and wizards had stood by and done nothing while Death Eaters killed and maimed their muggle friends and family, not a man he could completely despise either.
"My name is Cornelius Fudge." the man said with a trembling voice from behind Sirius' back. "I have my wand pointed at you. Do not move."
Sirius wished he could see the man's face.
"I am to make a citizen's arrest." Fudge spoke again. "We'll wait until the aurors get here. Hold still. "
It was the second time the man had reminded him not to move after he'd placed a full-body-bind upon him. The man really had no confidence in his own ability to stun. His manners reminded Sirius of Peter, of how he'd always stressed over simple spells and test answers until someone (usually Remus) had calmed him down. Perhaps yesterday it might have endeared him. Now, Sirius wished he could break free and smash his fist into the man's face.
'Calm down' he told himself.
'Calm down, this is all a misunderstanding. It'll soon turn right.'
Strong hands grabbed his upper arms and forced him on the ground between the rubble. A shard of glass cut into Sirius' chest as they slipped a magical chain around his wrists and ankles.
"You'll need to come with us." The men spoke not to Sirius, but to the man behind him. "We'll need a statement of what happened."
"I… saw him laughing.." The wizard said in a trembling voice.
"Not here. We may need to extract a memory" the auror told him, and then turned to his colleague. "Directly to Azkaban,I think, and we'll need a team of obliviators to clean up here."
Sirius could feel the terror rise up inside his paralised body. His heart was pounding in a chest that had no room to expand, his lungs were pressing painfully against his ribs.
'Calm down.' for some reason the words came to him in James' voice.
Had James ever told him?
He had. He had, years ago, when Sirius had first realised that the revenge he'd took on Severus when telling him how to get to the Shrieking Shack would not only harm Snivellus, but Remus as well. He'd panicked then.
"Calm down." James said. He'd been shaking his head. "Merlin, Sirius, sometimes I think your Fight or Flight response is more of a Bite or Smite one. We need to be calm now and think of what to do. I'll go after him."
"No, James, I'll-"
" 'll go down to Dumbledore and warn him. Calm down. We'll fix this."
'Dumbledore' Sirius thought as the two men used magic to lift him from the ground. For the first time since the blast he could really see the damage Peter's spell had done. There were far more people on the ground than Sirius' had previously realised. Not just the woman in red and the young man. He counted ten, no, twelve people down between the bricks and the glass and the water that was still shooting skywards from a pipe.
'Dumbledore will help me. He knows I'd never do something like this.'
"Is he secure for transport?" One of the aurors asked.
"Best knock him out." the other said.
After that the world went dark.
When he came round Sirius was chained to a chair in a small windowless room with white tiled walls. There was a metal table in front of him, bolted to the floor, and directly opposite of him sat a dark haired, thin man, a thin moustache on his upper lip and piercing, cold grey eyes.
"Do you know what this this?" The man asked, holding out a small viall of a clear liquid between his thumb and index finger.
Sirius looked at the man instead of the liquid.
"Well?" The man asked.
"I assume it's Veritasserum." Sirius said.
"Correct." The man said. He took out a syringe and stabbed it through the wax seal that kept the viall closed, then pulled back the plunger.
"It's no less effective when it's ingested." Sirius said. "And I'll swallow the whole thing if I need to."
He hated Veritas, but seeing it now was actually quite a relief. It would be proof he'd be telling the truth when it would be his word against Peter's. There would be no doubt he'd be telling the truth.
The man continued filling the syringe then pulled it back and gently tapped the barrel a few times with his fingers.
"And there have been several records of severe allergic reactions when it was injected in the bloodstream." Sirius said.
The man's grey eyes met Sirius'.
"There's no need." Sirius said "I'll willingly-"
The man reached over the table and stabbed the syringe in Sirius' upper arm, then pushed down the plunger.
Sirius' jaw set.
"Do you know who I am?" the man asked.
"Yes." Sirius said. He could feel the Veritas burn through his veins, through his heart, through his brain, urging him with every heartbeat to spill all his secrets.
"And?" The man asked.
"Crouch." Sirius said, forging a more elaborate and less polite answer back with difficulty.
"And?"
There was no holding back now, the floodgates broke.
"Ministry. Head of Magical Law Enforcement. They call you the man that 'fights fire with fire'. They papers claim you've been most effective at catching Death Eaters. You were in them recently, you allowed the aurors use of the unforgivable curses, you are purebl-"
"Enough." Crouch said, holding up a hand.
Only then could Sirius muster the discipline to stop himself from talking.
Crouch pulled out a wand and summoned a thin, beige folder in front of him. He opened it, took out a blank sheet of parchment and took out a quill that stood, ready to write by magic.
"Anything you say will be recorded." Crouch said.
" I understand." Sirius said. " The record, it will-" Crouch raised his hand again and Sirius bit his lip, swallowing the flow of words with difficulty.
"You will answer the following questions with a yes or no only." Crouch said. "Understood?" he dropped his hand.
"Yes." Sirius said. It wasn't easy to stop himself from saying more. It felt like holding his breath after being underwater for too long. It hurt his chest. But he wanted to cooperate. He had to prove his innocence.
"Very well." Crouch said. "Your name is Sirius Orion Black. The Third."
"Yes." Sirius said.
"Born November 3rd 1959, London, England."
"Yes."
"Eldest son and heir to Orion Arcturus Black and Walburga Black, neé…" he searched his papers.. "...neé Black." He frowned at Sirius, as if the lack of diversity in his mother's last names was somehow Sirius' fault.
"Yes." Sirius said.
"And yet, when I called on mister Black a few hours ago to report on your incarceration, he claimed to have no son of that name."
"Oh." Sirius said. He shrugged. "Well, he would not. We fell out. We're not in touch. I suspect I was blasted off the family tree tapestry. I am a disappointment to them and to be honest, they are a disappointment to me as -"
"So you are not the heir?" Crouch asked.
"No." Sirius said.
"And yet you just claimed you were." Crouch said, piercing Sirius with his eyes.
"No!" Sirius said. "I acknowledged the fact that I am their son. Through no fault of my own." he said.
"Do you think that's funny, mister Black?"
"What?"
"That statement. Did you think that was funny?" Crouch asked.
"Not very." Sirius said. "Perhaps a little bit. You asked if they were my parents so accusingly and it's not like I could have done anything to stop them.. You know. Seeing as I wasn't even born at the time, and if you have to explain a joke it really falls fl-"
Crouch raised his hand.
"I urge you to take this investigation very seriously, Mister Black." Crouch said.
"Of course, yes." Sirius said. "Siriusly, yes, now there's a joke I'm sick of -"
Crouch slapped him, a flat hand across the face. His heavy golden ring made a cut in Sirius' cheek.
Sirius looked up in shock. It wasn't a new experience for him that his words might have physical repercussions, but it had not happened since he'd left home.. And rarely so unprovoked.
"There will be no more jokes." Crouch turned back to his file, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
" I am innocent." Sirius said, needing that off his chest more than anything. " Please. You have to believe me. I am innocent."
Crouch looked up, looked into Sirius' eyes and then pulled out the vial of Veritas serum once more and started filling the syringe, and then stabbed the needle in Sirius right hand and pushed down the plunger.
The words were unstoppable now, they flowed out of Sirius lips, no matter how he tried to stop himself and calm down, a fast ramble that made him bite the inside of his cheeks as his words formed ever faster.
" No!" Sirius said. " No, please. You have to believe me. I am innocent, please. It was Peter. Peter Pettigrew. We switched. It was my fault, I thought it was too obvious, I made us switch. Please. He was secretkeeper, he betrayed Lily and James. We switched, we switched. And James and Lily are dead, please, please. We switched. You have to believe me. Please, I'd never… I'd die before I'd do anything, But Peter..I went to find him, I was going to kill him-"
Crouch stopped moving and checked the feather, that had been scratching the parchment as long as Sirius was speaking.
"A confession, Mister Black?" Crouch said.
" No! Take my memories. I'll give you my memories and it'll all be clear. You have t-"
"Did you, or did you not seek out Mister Pettigrew this morning with the intent of ending his life?"
" I did, but-"
" We found your wand, Mister Black. Do you know what was the last spell cast with said wand?"
" The killing curse, but-"
" The killing curse." Crouch said. " Indeed. Twelve muggle lives were lost, Mister innocent bystanders, who had nothing to do with whatever feud existed between you and Mister Pettigrew."
" Crouch. Seriously, I-"
" Among them a mother of four. A young man about to be wed. I have their pictures here. What do you say to that, Mister Black?"
" You are making a terrible mistake, you need to listen to me right now, this is-"
" Nothing." Crouch said. He looked at the quill again. " Mister Black showed no emotional response to the mentioning of muggle deaths." he said and the quill seemed to scratch something it had previously written and then started frantically scribbling again.
"You mentioned the deaths of James and Lily Potter, Mister Black."
" Crouch." Sirius forced himself to slow down, to speak the words with care. " You have to listen to me. You're making a mistake. I am innocent. I'll prove it. I'll do anything. I'll take more Veritas, Merlin, I'll take the whole damn vial. You can have my memories, just-"
" Would you say you are responsible for the deaths of James and Lily Potter?" Crouch asked.
Sirius pressed his lips together. His eyes filled with tears.
" Please.." he whispered.
"Are you, or are you not responsible for the deaths of James and Lily Potter, mister Black?"
" I am." Sirius whispered.
Crouch got up.
"Where are you going?" Sirius asked.
" That's all I needed, Mister Black." He said.
" What?"
Crouch took the parchment from under the self-writing quill and placed it in the file.
" Your confession on paper."
" What?! No! No, this isn't right. You have to listen! You have to find Dumbledore. Dumbledore' ll believe me. Please. You have to get Remus Lupin. Frank and Alice Longbottom. Anyone of the Order of the Phoenix. They'll tell you, they'll tell you! PLEASE. PLEASE!"
Crouch turned and looked back at Sirius as he knocked on the door and waited for it to be opened from the other side.
" I must confess I am a little disappointed, Mister Black." he said. " Your file suggested you'd be a hard one to break."
