"Albus. What has happened to Harry?" Remus Lupin came sprinting in front of Albus, ignoring the others in the room. Albus took note of his state and remembered the upcoming full moon. He looked quite more ill than the last time he has seen him a few years ago. Dumbledore summed it up to mere loneliness.
"Hello Remus." Dumbledore said with a nod. "Please take a seat." Remus sat down and then noticed Lucius and Severus in the room.
"Why do they have anything to do with this?" Remus said harshly, which shocked the old man. Remus was known for his calmness.
Albus stood up, ignoring the question. "Hello Cornelius. Please take a seat.
The Minister walked to the chair next to Lucius and took a seat. "Hello Albus, Lucius, Severus and ah Mr. Lupin." Cornelius said and instantly moved his chair away from the werewolf. "What is happening with Mr. Potter?"
"Lucius. If you would? My throat is quite scratchy." Dumbledore said and took a candy from a bowl on his desk. "Lemon drop?" He offered to the four men. They all shook their head and turned to Lucius.
"Well I was walking with my wife and my son to find a private spot to apparate when I heard a cry from a bush. I go to investigate and low and behold there is Harry Potter." Lucius sighed. "He had bruises and cuts all over him and it doesn't look like he's eaten in days. Maybe weeks."
"Wait what do you mean he hasn't eaten in maybe weeks? Was he lost from the Dursleys? Did he run away?" Remus asked.
"No, those filthy muggles are abusing him. Hitting him, starving him and who knows what else!" Lucius said as he punched Dumbledore's desk.
Remus lost all the color in his face. 'Harry? No not Harry. Not James and Lily's son!' He thought with tears threatening to fall. "Wh-what can we do?"
"Well obviously we need to get him out. An orphanage or something?" Cornelius said calmly.
"MY GODSON WILL NOT BE LIVING IN AN ORPHANAGE!" Remus yelled, then punched Dumbledore's desk. Cornelius stood up and took a step back in fear.
"Remus, sit down and calm down! Dumbledore yelled as he slammed his fist at his desk. "Cornelius sit down! He is only a werewolf once a month! He doesn't magically turn into one whenever he's mad!"
"Wish I could right now." Remus mumbled under his breath as he sat down.
"What did you say?!" Cornelius yelled and Dumbledore's desk took another punch.
Remus glared at him and had the instinct to howl at the man. Then he turned away with a sad smile.
'Sirius and James would do that if they were here.' Remus thought then shook his head. 'If James were here then Harry would be safe. If Sirius were here then I'd kill him.' He turned back to Dumbledore.
"I do not think it is wise for him to go to an orphanage. Voldemort had the same upbringing." Dumbledore sighed. "Harry is more like Voldemort than we think."
"I do not care Dumbledore! The-Boy-Who-Lived cannot stay there and get abused! If the prophet got ahold of that information I would most likely get blamed."
"THE-BOY-WHO-LIVED? HE IS NOT JUST SOME PUPPET FOR YOUR LITTLE GAME!" Remus yelled and slammed yet another fist down at the poor desk.
"He will be! When the boy turns 11 he will understand who was there for him." Cornelius said with a sneer. "Where were you, Remus? Howling at the moon while your best friend got murdered! This is as much your fault as it is the boy's relatives."
Lucius stood up and pulled out his wand and pointed it at the man. "Leviocorpus!" He yelled.
Instantly the minister went up in the air. He hung up by his ankle and he was screaming. "Lucius! Get me down! You can surely be replaced in the ministry!"
"So can you when I tell the whole of the wizarding world how you abandoned Harry! How you just wanted to use him as a pawn!" Lucius said the counter curse and let the man down.
Remus looked at Lucius and nodded. Remus looked sad that he had not done more to the man. He would have but he did not feel like getting yelled at once again.
Severus stayed standing in the back of the office and stayed quiet throughout the whole affair. He was quite amused, he never liked Cornelius.
"If you children-" Severus said with a sneer. "-would stay quiet and listen then we would have been out of here by now."
"Why are you here anyways Severus? And Lucius I am glad you told Dumbledore about Harry but why did you do it? I would have thought you hated the boy as much as Voldemort." Remus asked and noticed Cornelius flinch at the name.
"I do not wish the boy to get hurt. As much as I despise Potter, I know what it's like to get hit by those who should care for you." Severus said.
"When I saw Harry all bruised and cut up, I imagined Draco. I do not hate the boy. What's there to hate? I never liked working for The Dark Lord but if I didn't Narcissa and myself would have been killed. I became a death eater for power and I didn't know what I was getting into. Anyways, I had an idea that you and Black could care for Harry."
"Sirius is in Azkaban. He's a killer." Remus said as he looked down. "I can't take Harry by myself."
"Severus could you please go down and get me Veritaserum." Dumbledore asked. The greasy professor nodded and left the room.
"We will have to get Sirius out." Dumbledore said.
"What are you crazy?" Remus asked.
"Possibly." Dumbledore said through his half-moon spectacles.
"Good idea Dumbledore. Then Harry would surely die." Cornelius said with a sneer.
Lucius and Remus both gave him a deathly glare as they both yelled, "Shut up!" He stayed quiet until Severus returned.
Severus opened the door and nodded to Dumbledore as he gave him the vial.
"Lucius please drink this." Dumbledore offered him the vial.
Lucius took the vial and lifted it up to his mouth and drank the substance.
"Now Lucius, who told Voldemort the location of James and Lily's home?" Dumbledore asked.
"Peter Pettigrew." Lucius said.
"What!" Remus yelled. "He's dead! Sirius killed him and all those muggle bystanders years ago!"
Dumbledore ignored Remus and went on with the questioning. "How was Peter able to tell him the location if Sirius was the secret-keeper."
"The Potters first chose Sirius to be secret keeper but Sirius thought it best to have Peter do it. Sirius thought that The Dark Lord would never suspect Peter." Lucius answered.
"All that was left of Peter was his finger. This can't be true! Whoever made that potion didn't do it correctly." Cornelius said.
Snape sneered at the man. "I can assure you that I never make a mistake on my potions. Shut up."
"Yes. Please do shut up so we can finish this meeting." Dumbledore said. "What happened between Sirius and Peter the night that James and Lily died?"
"Sirius went after Pettigrew. He was ready to kill. Pettigrew killed the muggles and sliced off his finger before turning into his animagus form. I believe it is a rat." Lucius answered.
"Of course." Remus said quietly.
"Did you know he was an animagus, Lupin?" Cornelius asked.
Before Remus could answer, Dumbledore interrupted. "It does not matter, minister. We must get Sirius out of Azkaban and get Harry out of that home and into a home with Sirius and Remus. That is if you agree, Remus." Dumbledore said.
"Of course I do." Remus stood up. "When can I get him? Should I get him tonight or in the morning? I would rather tonight but I don't want to cause a commotion."
"We must wait until Sirius is out." Dumbledore said. "Did you forget what time of the month it is?"
Remus' cheeks grew red in embarrassment. He usually never forgot his monthly problem.
"Will you two be living in your home, Remus?" Dumbledore asked.
Remus was glad of the change of subject. "No. My home is too small. We will most likely be staying at the Black House."
"Grimmauld?" Dumbledore asked.
"No. That house is only for hiding. If Voldemort comes back I'm sure that's where we'll go." Remus answered. "The Black's have a mansion in a little town outside of London. I'm sure Sirius will want to stay there."
"Of course." Dumbledore said.
"I don't even know why anyone would choose to have children while He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is around. Look what happened to Alice and Frank. Neville will never have parents who know him. Harry will never have parents at all. James and Lily were stupid on that part." Cornelius said. He chuckled and almost immediately after he fell back against the wall when someone punched him. He touched his nose and felt the warm sticky substance of blood. He looked up and saw Severus standing before him, his face as red as the Gryffindor scarves. "Severus?"
"I think it is time for you to leave, Minister." Dumbledore said. "Owl with information of Mr. Black's hearing. Please be quick. Good night."
Cornelius nodded and quickly walked to the fireplace and flooed himself back to his home.
Severus sat down in front of Dumbledore. "Sorry, professor. It had to be done."
Dumbledore chuckled. "It is quite alright, Severus. Besides I do agree with you."
Who else is jealous of Snape getting to punch Fudge?