Albus Dumbledore liked to consider himself a kind and generous man. Nothing was wrong with wanting everything to be his way,correct? He turned the corner, walking through the ever twisting maze of the Ministry of Magic, his robes swishing behind him to command attention from everyone in the room. This was a troubling day indeed, his favorite pawns had died last night and now a third was on his way to prison.
Poor Lily and James, so ready to die protecting his newest plan. He wished it hadn't come to this, but they were getting suspicious, questioning his judgement. He knew it was wrong to play with the young adults around him this way, but he needed to stay on top.
His musings were interrupted as he arrived at the holding cell to see Sirius Black leaning against the wall, the unmistakable sign of tear tracks running down his face. Dumbledore stopped in front of the broken man and tutted softly.
"Oh Sirius" he said with false pity and pain in his voice "what have you done?" This was of course a rhetorical question as he knew the rumors as well as he knew the truth.
The young man in question looked up, his matted hair that he had ran his hands through a hundred times hung down to his shoulders. Albus almost felt bad for the usually pristine man to be left in such a disarray. However, knowing that he would soon gain complete control over not only Remus but Harry as well drained him of any guilt.
"Albus! Thank God! You have to believe me, I didn't do it. You know I would never hurt James or Lily. And Harry...what happened to my godson? Is he okay? Did Hagrid get him to you? Who's he going to stay with?"
Albus cut Sirius off with a wave of his hand "Sirius, I promise I am doing everything I can to prove your innocence. Young Harry is in the hands of his aunt and uncle until we can get you free. Of course it shouldn't be too long but the Minister is dead set on not giving you a trial. I'm doing everything I can to convince him otherwise."
His first reaction was anger, "You can't be serious! They have to be some of the most evil muggles I've ever met. You can't leave baby Harry to them, they hate magic sir. you just can't!'
Dumbledore sighed, I'm aware Sirius. However, Remus cannot be reached so while you're in here there are very few options."
Sirius nodded and looked resigned, knowing yelling would get him nowhere. He had never trusted Dumbledore, but with Remus gone on a mission still and James and Lily gone… he no longer hand a lot of options.
Of course, plenty of people would be willing to watch the Boy Who Lived, but his aunt and uncle would make it so that Harry would worship the man who rescued him.
Yes, it was a very fine line to walk but nevertheless worth it to stay on top.
Of course Albus knew on some level that what he was doing was wrong. In the end however, the unbreakable Black was finally in his control. Sirius had always been tough to manipulate. He had a mind of his own and didn't like being told what to do. This presented a lot of problems for the man who wanted to have all power. He made a quick false promise of freedom to Sirius before he walked away.
Smirking to himself as he planned out the future. He supposed he could get Sirius off and have Sirius indebted to him for the rest of his life, but being able to have Harry Potter himself completely under his control was too good to resist.
And so, Albus Dumbledore left Sirius Black to rot in his cell, for the greater good.