The auror escorts her out of the prison, leaving his comrade to return Sirius to his cell. They walk in total silence after Dorea ignores the man's efforts to make polite conversation and detract from the ugliness of what she has just seen. As they reach the floo point, and Dorea senses that the man has grown steadily more embarrassed, she stops suddenly and turns to him. "Do you regularly stand guard over Sirius?"
The auror shifts and looks uncomfortable. "Ma'am, I'm sorry about the incident in the visitors' room, and contact between prisoners and visitors is disallowed-"
"That wasn't what I asked." Dorea says sharply, her eyes boring in to the man. He flushes, and says: "Black is a high-security prisoner. The dementors take care of that lot, but visitors aren't exposed to the things."
Dorea nods, once. "I see." She pauses. "If you've never met Sirius before, why would you assume he's a liar? Is it not conceivable that the government, hard pressed in times of trouble such as the period we have just come out of, might have made a mistake?"
The auror concedes that it was possible- "But you can't trust them. The Blacks. Everyone knows that family is one of the darkest-"
"I am a Black, through birth." Dorea says softly, pointedly. The man swallows, and Dorea continues: "The family is not dark, per se- but we have an inclination, shall I say? - To destroy protect our own. Many of my relatives interpret that inclination to protect as destroying anything that would damage the sanctity of their pure-blood line. I interpret that inclination to protect as an iron will to destroy anything that hurts my children. Do you follow me, young man? What you did Sirius will come back to haunt you. I promise."
She steps in to the fire, takes a handful of green powder and has vanished before the auror can respond. She reappears in the fire of her own living room to gurgles of delight from her grandson, who cheerfully shrieks "Grama woosh!" as he knocks down the blocks that were carefully stacked in the middle of the room and holds his arms out towards her for a cuddle. Charlus sighs dejectedly and begins to rebuild the pile. "I bought those for Harry to play with, not you." Dorea scolds her husband lightly as she picks her grandson up.
"That's the fourth time he's knocked them down in five minutes." Charlus grumbles, a tone completely at odds with the adoring glance he sends Harry's way. Dorea laughs.
"And what did you expect, dearest? James was forever knocking things down when he was little." Charlus' expression falters a little, and Dorea sighs inwardly. She suspects that if it weren't for Harry, the loss of James and Lily, and Sirius' subsequent arrest and imprisonment without a trial, would have driven the man to lock himself in his study and work himself to death-but having his grandson permanently has given him a reason to want to keep on living, and Dorea will be eternally grateful to Minerva for forewarning her about Dumbledore's plans to squirrel Harry away. She plants a kiss on the little boy's head, then holds him at arm's length. "Are you ruining Granda's towers? Are you?"
He giggles, grinning at her, and Dorea laughs. "Clever boy." She tells him.
"Humph!" Charlus snorts indignantly. He eases himself off the floor, and comes over to them. "You're a little menace." He tells Harry, before looking at Dorea. There's an enquiry in his eyes, and Dorea nods once, in answer. A slow smile spreads across Charlus' face, and his eyes light up. "I knew it." He whispers. "I knew he couldn't have betrayed them."
"No," Dorea said grimly. "He couldn't- He was never the secret keeper in the first place."
"What-"
'Mina's coming over to babysit Harry at three." Dorea says. "We'll discuss everything then, but we need a serious conversation about it." She glances down at Harry.
"Your Uncle Sirius should be coming home soon." Dorea says softly, smiling. It will be good for Harry to have Sirius back, she thinks- after Lily and James, he was the adult he saw most of in the year of hiding, and besides- the younger wizard will be able to expend far more energy playing with Harry than she or Charlus could, despite their best efforts.
Harry looks up at her, green eyes wide. "Sirus?" he asks. He sounds a little confused, as if he isn't quite sure who that is.
"Padfoot." Charlus tells him, and Harry smiles with delight.
"Paf't." he burbles. "Woof-woof."
The Potters look at each other over his head. "Did you ever work out why he goes 'woof-woof' when Sirius is mentioned?" Charlus asks. It had been puzzling them both since Harry had first started to speak. Dorea shakes her head.
"I assumed it had something to do with that toy Siri gave him. The big black dog that looked like a grim. But heaven knows- in all probability, Siri spent an afternoon or six on all fours pretending to be a puppy."
Mina rings the doorbell just as the clock starts chiming three, and Dorea opens the door. "As punctual as ever." She comments, and Mina rolls her eyes.
"Don't you start. I've had nothing but teasing all day from Filius and Pomona after I complained about being the only person who ever got to a staff meeting on time. It's not fastidiousness, it's good manners, and if everyone had them the world would be a much happier place." She slings her cloak over the banister, then pauses and looks at Dorea, a hesitant expression on her face. "You said you were going to see Sirius today?" she says softly. "How is he? Did he explain…?" There's dread in her eyes, and Dorea knows that her old friend has been torturing herself over the possibility that one of her most promising student's turned to the dark side because of something she'd done or missed.
"He wasn't responsible." Dorea tells her. "For any of it."
"Merlin's beard!" Mina's hand goes to her mouth. "He's innocent?"
"From what he told me. I haven't explained to Charlus fully yet- if you don't mind being left alone with Harry, we're going to spend the evening going through everything and deciding how to proceed next."
"You think he's telling the truth?" Mina asks softly.
"You taught him for seven years, Mina. Do you think he has it in him to betray his friends?"
"Not without a great deal of provocation." She murmurs, then straightens and says more loudly. "I'd never have thought him capable of betraying James." She smiles, changing the subject. "I'd love to have Harry to myself. I've had first and second years all day, and I'm quite sure a one and a bit year old will prove vastly more intelligent by comparison. "
"He's probably more adapt at transfiguration than they are." Dorea agrees. "The blocks Charlus has spent all day trying to get him interested in mysteriously turned in to spheres about ten minutes ago, and rolled about all over the place."
"I received a letter from Lily in March complaining that her hair kept turning blue and she couldn't tell whether to blame Harry or James."
"I think it was six of one, half a dozen of the other. James did it once,, and Harry decided it looked pretty…"
A/N Thank you for reading, and thanks to everyone who's left a review/followed/added the story to favourite. It really means a lot.
Next time, Charlus Potter pays a visit to Barty Crouch Senior- and receives help in securing a trial from an unexpected quarter...