Molly Weasley was gently waking her husband Arthur and Sirius Black early the next morning, "here you go," she said "a sobering potion with hangover cure all in one. She handed them each a glass of foul looking liquid, "drink it down quickly now boys, it's the only way to take it."
Arthur and Sirius looked at the potion sceptically and downed it in one gulp, both their faces screwed up and would have turned inside out if it was possible, a huge shudder went through their bodies, steam came out their ears and nose. "Woman what did you put in that disgusting stuff?" shuddered Sirius.
"Sirius, believe me you don't want to know," Arthur declared he then gave a mighty shudder and his eyes popped open "but it does work wonders, thank goodness I don't need it often."
Molly just laughed at their antics, "go and have a shower and get changed, by then breakfast should be ready. Sirius I bought you a set of new clothes, I figured that you wouldn't have anything decent after eight and a half years in Azkaban; they're in the bag by the door. She then went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for them.
"Thanks Molly, I really appreciate that and you're right I don't have anything to wear. I will have to go out later today and buy some."
As Sirius was leaving the lounge room where he had slept, he tripped on the umbrella stand and woke the portrait of his mother. "What are you doing here you blood traitor?" she screeched. "Get out of my house this instant, Kreacher get this bastard out of my home!"
With a pop the Black family house elf, appeared, "You heard madam get out of this house, she doesn't want you here."
Sirius took off his shirt and turned to the evil house elf, "Kreacher, you made my life hell while I was growing up, now as head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, I present you with clothes; now get out."
"Noooooo!" Kreacher wailed but to no avail as the magic that binds elves to a family, forced him out. Without the bond to a family, Kreacher sank into despair and died later that day.
Sirius then turned to the portrait of his mother who was screeching for him to get out. "Shut up you evil old bat!" he shouted back, he then pulled the curtain shut over her picture. "I hate this place!" he shouted as he stormed up the stairs to have his shower.
oo00oo
Sirius sat down to a large plate of crispy bacon, eggs (over easy as our American cousins would say), sausages, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, some toast and a very large mug of tea. "nks Mlly."
"Don't talk with your mouth full and your welcome," snickered Molly.
Sirius smirked at her and had a drink of his tea, to help clear his mouth, he sighed, "thanks Molly, it's the best food I've had in years. You can't imagine how much I missed this type of breakfast."
The fire flared green and Albus Dumbledore entered the kitchen.
"Hello Sirius, Molly, Arthur how are you this morning?" he asked. "I brought you a copy of the Daily Prophet, Rita did a good job. She is actually a very good writer, I think that now she is not being blackmailed she will only get better."
Sirius took the offered newspaper and after thanking Professor Dumbledore, he started to read it.
SIRIUS BLACK EXHONORATED
There was a photo of the Minister of Magic, with his arm around the shoulders of a beaming Sirius, below which was the caption, Yesterday the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, ordered the trial of Sirius Black.
In an interview with this reporter, the Minister of Magic said "Why the previous Minister didn't pursue this case I don't know. This poor man has spent over eight years in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit. On top of that the real perpetrator of the crime was awarded the Order of Merlin, this has since been revoked." He then went on to offer the apologies of the ministry, for the lack of a trial and miscarriage of justice, explaining that if the previous minister was still alive, she would be facing a trial and imprisonment herself.
The story went on to explain how it was not Sirius Black, who had betrayed the Potters, but Peter Pettigrew who betrayed them. It also described how Peter had killed the muggles in the alley to enable him to escape.
REWARD FOR THE CAPTURE OF PETER PETTIGREW.
The Ministry of Magic has offered a reward of 100,000 for information that leads to the capture of Peter Pettigrew.
Sirius Black offers a reward of 1,000,000 for Pettigrew's capture. In an interview yesterday, Sirius Black has offered a reward saying, Peter betrayed my best friend and his family, I want him captured and tried for his crime. Peter is an Animagi, his Animagus form is a rat and that his rat form will be missing a toe on his right front paw.
There was a picture of Peter taken at Harry Potter's first birthday party, showing him turn into his rat form.
Sirius finished reading the articles then passed the paper over to Arthur. He then turned to Professor Dumbledore, "Albus can you give me one Knut please."
Albus looked at him quizzically for a moment then reached into his pocket and handed him a Knut. Sirius pulled out some parchment and a quill and wrote, "I Viscount Black Head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, sell the property at 12 Grimauld Place to Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, for the amount of 1 Knut." He then signed his name to the bottom, pricked his finger and added a drop of blood to the signature. "Here Albus use the house as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix." When Albus took the document all the pictures that were on the walls fell off and crashed to the floor. A smile spread across Sirius' face "I couldn't remove any of those damn pictures while this place belonged to the Black family."
"Thank you Sirius, I know you don't like this place but it will come in handy as the Headquarters."
"You're welcome Professor, I will be leaving in a few minutes to do some shopping, then I will move into a hotel for a while, I really don't want to stay here any longer, there are just too many bad memories."
Arthur Weasley stood up, "I hope you don't mind but I have to go, I will be in touch soon," and quietly added "with some welcome news I hope." He turned to his wife, "come with me please Molly," he took her hand, threw some floo powder into the fire and called out "The Burrow" and vanished in the flames.
Albus sat in the seat opposite Sirius, "I didn't get the chance to tell you yesterday, Harry Potter is in St Mungo's, where he is recovering from a severe beating, as his Godfather, I thought you should know." He then went on to explain all about Harry and Hermione and showed him a copy of James' Will.
"How long do you think he will stay in the hospital?" He asked.
Albus smiled, for once, he had some good news. "I spoke to the doctor this morning and he said that Harry was responding to treatment far better than he expected. Apparently, Harry's magic is helping the process along and he should be out in a week from today."
"Thanks for telling me Albus, I will still have to do some shopping, as I don't have anything descent to wear, but after that I will go and visit him. I think it's about time I took the job of Godfather and looked after him."
oo00oo
Arthur and Molly appeared in the Burrow. "Can you make some breakfast for the kids please Molly, I promise, you will understand what is going on shortly but please don't ask any questions just yet."
A few minutes later Molly called out, "breakfast is ready." The kids came thundering down the stairs like a herd of hippogriffs, piled a huge amount of food on their plates and just sort of inhaled it all. After they had finished they all went their separate ways. Ginny, the youngest and only girl, went upstairs to read the latest Harry Potter book. Ron the second youngest, went back to his room to re-read Quidditch Weekly, for the eighth time. The twins went back to their experiments and before Percy, the eldest that was still at home, could leave his father stopped him.
"Percy, go and get Scabbers, I have a little surprise for him," while Percy was off doing what his father asked, Arthur quietly slipped his wand out.
Percy raced upstairs and brought Scabbers his pet rat down and placed him on the table in front of his dad, then looked at him in anticipation.
"Petrificus Totalus" and with a quick flick of his wand Arthur had petrified Scabbers the rat, he then cast the revealing charm and after Scabbers had changed back into Peter Pettigrew, he bound him with magical ropes.
Molly and Percy just collapsed into a couple of chairs, with their mouths open in surprise then Percy doubled over and vomited on the floor, it was quite distressing for the lad when he realised that he had shared his bedroom with a man he thought was his pet rat. Molly cleaned up the mess and comforted her son as Arthur walked over to the fireplace, threw in a pinch of floo powder and called Madam Bones. He stuck his head into the green flames, "Amelia, I have Peter Pettigrew bound in my kitchen. Could you bring a couple of Aurors over here to collect him please?"
Amelia Bones was quite startled at this news, she expected countless calls claiming to have the rat, ever since the story of the reward had hit the papers, but she didn't expect Arthur of all people to call, to say he had Peter. "I'll be there in a couple of minutes with some Aurors," she then put a call through to Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, "Shacks can you and some of your lads meet me at the Burrow please, we may have Peter Pettigrew in custody."
Amelia then flooed to the Burrow to find Arthur, Molly and Percy, sitting at the table with their wands drawn and pointing at Peter, who was on all fours and bound like a turkey. "Well it didn't take as long as I expected to catch him," she said with a grin on her face, "Sirius will be pleased."
The fire flared green again and four Aurors stepped out of the fire, Kingsley stepped forward cast a finite charm to remove the bindings then placed magic suppression cuffs on Peter Pettigrew. He then handed Arthur a receipt for the prisoner and left with him and the other Aurors.
Arthur told Percy he could go now and he could have any pet he wanted in replacement of Scabbers. Amelia then joined Arthur and Molly at the kitchen table. "I think I could do with a stiff drink after all that, you can tell me how you came to have Peter."
Arthur produced a bottle of Ogden's Old Fire Whisky out of his robes, he still had half a bottle left from the night before and poured three large glasses, one of which he drank straight down, then Arthur told his story. "Percy found Scabbers, that was the name he gave the rat, about eight and a half years ago, he has been his pet ever since. This morning when I read the paper and saw that picture of Peter transforming into the rat, well, I recognised him. I came home immediately and the rest you know."
Amelia looked at Arthur and Molly, "Thank you for catching Peter for us, you have done the magical world a great service. When you took that receipt from Kingsley, the reward of ₲1,100,000 was credited to your account at Gringotts.
Arthur then poured Molly and himself another drink and offered one to Amelia as well, but she declined, explaining that she had to go and inform Sirius of Peter's capture and also organise a trial, she also informed them that they might be called to the stand, to explain how he was captured.
***** Diagon Alley *****
After booking into the Harlequin Suite at the Dorchester in London, Sirius went and had a shave and haircut. He made his way to Savile Row and ordered a number of suits to be made with his family crest on the breast pocket. He also bought some off the rack suits to tide him over until the others were ready. He made his way back to the Dorchester and changed into one of the suits he had just purchased. He apparated to Diagon Alley, after greeting Tom the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, he then went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, to be fitted for a number of casual as well as formal dress robes. She had one set of each ready with the Black family crest on the left breast, he changed into the casual set and had her wrap the formal set that she shrank so he could take them with him. He left there and went to Ollivander's to buy a new wand.
"Ahh Lord Black, I was wondering when I would see you again, let me see... your wand was fifteen inch oak with a dragon heart string core I believe, just a moment." Ollivander then went off to get him a new wand.
"Silly old coot doesn't give you the chance to get a word in edgewise," thought Sirius.
Ollivander returned quickly and handed Sirius a wand, "well go on try it out,"
Sirius gave it a flick "Lumos" and the tip glowed brightly. "Wonderful, thanks Ollivander."
"You're welcome my lord."
Sirius also bought a wand holster and cleaning kit. After leaving Ollivander's he went to Gringotts where he withdrew £50,000 and ₲50,000, he also asked for a credit card, that could be used in both the muggle and magical worlds and after getting that, he was finally finished with all his business and could go and see Harry.
***** St Mungo's *****
Harry was sound asleep, he seemed to be sleeping quite a bit, but that was because of all the potions he was taking. He was beginning to think he was a baby again, as all he seemed to do was eat, sleep and poop. He started to feel the presence of someone in the room, he could sense that the person was a male and that he was kind. Harry woke and looked at the man at the foot of his bed. He was at least six feet tall with jet-black hair and brown eyes that seemed to see into your soul. He was wearing a black suit with a light blue shirt unbuttoned at the neck; he looked smart but casual.
"Hello Harry, I'm your Godfather, Sirius Black."
"Hello Sir."
"I would prefer it if you just called me Sirius, if you don't mind?"
"Ok Sirius."
"I was one of your father's best friends, we used to hang out together at school and your dad was like a brother to me Harry, that's why he made me your Godfather, he wanted me to look after you if anything happened to him and your mum."
"Then why didn't you look after me instead of letting me go to the Dursleys?" Harry asked.
Sirius looked at Harry and a tear trickled down his cheek, "I'm sorry Harry, after your Mum and Dad were murdered, I took off after Peter Pettigrew, I was going to kill him for betraying them. When I found him, in the alley, he surprised me, he cast a blasting curse killing some bystanders and in the confusion, he escaped. I was arrested for his murder, the murder of the bystanders and for betraying your parents, I was thrown into Azkaban for life without a trial".
Harry raised his eyebrows at this but he also knew that he could trust this man, Harry always had a sense of people and could tell if they were trustworthy or not.
"They finally gave me a trial just yesterday, and I was acquitted of all charges and released. Now I can look after you. Would that be all right Harry? I will understand if you don't want anything to do with me." Sirius was having a hard time keeping control of his emotions, but was determined to do whatever Harry wanted.
Harry with tears welling in his eyes, swallowed and said, "I think I would like that very much."
Sirius leant over and gave Harry a big hug, "You know you look just like your dad only with your mums eyes," he said, "I really miss them you know."
He spent the next few hours telling Harry stories about his dad and mum, but when Harry's lunch arrived Sirius left him to it telling him he would be back later. He made his way to the apparition point and apparated back to his hotel room.
Sirius had a great many things to think about. He certainly couldn't raise Harry in a hotel suite, no matter how grand it was, it looked like he was going to have to go house hunting. He was also going to have to introduce Harry to the magical world and to his inheritance, which was really going to put the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons.
Sirius was sitting in a very comfortable chair drinking a glass of scotch when an owl flew in the window, he didn't like enclosed spaces, which is why he chose a suite that had a window that would open. He removed the parchment from the owl's leg, the owl then flew out the same window and back to where it came from. He then unrolled the parchment.
The Right Honourable. The Viscount Black,
My Lord,
Peter Pettigrew was arrested today, his trial is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00am at the Wizengamot and your attendance is humbly requested.
Madame Amelia Bones. Director DMLE.
Sirius let out a whoop jumped up and danced around the room, singing "they caught the bastard, they caught the bastard."
Sirius went back to St Mungo's that evening and met Hermione and her parents, he explained to them all about his imprisonment and the capture of Peter Pettigrew. He really liked Hermione's parents, Dan & Emma Granger; they had a great sense of humour, telling some funny stories about Hermione in the kitchen, apparently, she couldn't boil water without setting fire to things. He also got on well with the pretty nurse that was attending to Harry, she had even agreed to have dinner with him, things were really starting to look up for him now and it was all thanks to Harry Potter.
oo00oo
Madam Bones had Peter Pettigrew brought into the court; he was bound with magic suppression cuffs, so he could not use magic to try to escape. They seated him in front of the court and magical chains bound him to the seat. Amelia then ordered him to be given Veritaserum and when it had taken effect, she started her interrogation.
"Please state your name and title for the court."
"Peter Pettigrew, Baron Pettigrew Head of the Noble House of Pettigrew."
"Are you a Death Eater?"
"Yes."
"Do you serve the Dark Lord Tom Riddle also known as Lord Voldemort?"
"Yes."
"Were you the secret keeper for the Potter residence at Godrics Hollow?"
"Yes."
"Did you betray the Potters to Lord Voldemort?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"My master wanted to kill the Potter boy."
"Did you kill the Muggles in the alley where Lord Black confronted you?"
"Yes."
Amelia then turned to the court, "would anyone on the court like to question the defendant?"
Amazingly, no one wanted to question him, not even Lord Black.
"I have other witness that I can call, as to the capture of Peter if the court requires, or we can end the trial here and go straight into the verdict and if found guilty, the sentencing."
Albus Dumbledore, after quietly talking to the other members of the court, stood and declared, "the court will forgo any more witnesses and move onto the verdict. All those in favour of finding the defendant guilty on all charges please raise their wands."
All the members raised their wands, which issued a fountain of red sparks.
"All those against, please raise your wands," no wands were raised. He then conferred with the other members as to the sentence.
Albus stood and in a dispassionate voice announced, "Peter Pettigrew, you have been found guilty of multiple counts of murder of Muggles in London, you have also been found guilty of the murder of James and Lilly Potter and the attempted murder of Harry Potter, by way of betraying the secret of their location. You have been sentenced to the Dementors kiss and then you will be passed through the Veil of Death." A Dementor entered the court and sucked out Peter's soul with a kiss; his body was then taken to the veil room, in the Department of Mysteries, where it was thrown through the Veil of Death.
It was like a weight was lifted from every ones shoulders and the book was finally closed on the death of James and Lilly Potter; closed for every one that is except Harry Potter.
oo00oo
A/N Thank you for all the reviews, please keep sending them in.
Raven Spotter.