Chapter Revised: April 11th, 2015

Immutatio Nota: Entirely rewrote this chapter! :3

I tried to make it funnier. I really did. I didn't really succeed, mind you... but do I at least get points for trying? :,D

Chapter Two

News didn't come the next day, or the next day, or even the day after that. But between her work, her family, and making sure that Danny was settling in alright, she honestly didn't have any time to ponder distressing thoughts such as whether or not her cousin and his friends were still breathing – a grim but welcome boon.

Danny had settled in with the family well enough. Or, rather, he didn't seem to mind that his actual parents were nowhere in sight, that is. It probably helped that he spent most of the time asleep. The infant slept like a log for almost a solid 20 hours a day, waking up only when it would have been night time over in England – the middle of the day in American time, so Apparition Lag wasn't going to be an issue, thank goodness. Maddie wondered how his mother had coped with such a nocturnal-orientated child... until she realised that the stubbornly crazy witch had probably arranged it like that on purpose. Maddie had snorted affectionately at the thought.

Jazz didn't seem too bothered by Danny's sudden presence – which was a relief, as Jazz's reaction was one of the things Maddie had been the most worried about – but the sudden arrival seemed to spark the question of where do babies come from, as Jazz had asked her parents said question no less than four times over the past week. Maddie was mostly sure Jack was joking about having no idea. Mostly.

Days dragged into weeks as her family settled into the new routine, and Maddie tried her best not to worry too much that she still hadn't heard any word from her wayward cousin... or anyone, really. Mail from England was notoriously slow, after all, and could take anything from a few days to a couple of weeks to arrive. Maddie's house didn't have a fireplace that she could register with the American Floo Network (each country had their own network), and it was doubtful that Sirius could have even contacted her that way, regardless of how much he would've loved to – goodness knows how many times he'd pulled the "face in the flames" prank.

Then, out of the blue, something changed. Something happened that caused a boom of activity took the wizarding world by storm, and the news spread like wildfire that was hot and bright enough for even the muggles to know there was something hinky going on.

Even if Maddie hadn't made an effort as of late to keep in touch with the goings-on of the British wizarding world she still would have heard of the strange occurrences in England – people in robes during the daylight, constant sightings of owls in the day, etcetera, etcetera... they really weren't making any effort to be subtle.

It seemed for all the world like it has suddenly become mandatory for anyone not going to jail to celebrate as if their very lives depended on it. England was the talk of the proverbial town, for both the wizarding world and muggle world alike.

England had broadcast the news to even the smallest of magical communities, ignoring whatever time difference there may have been, eager as it was to laud its victory over the heads of anyone who would or wouldn't listen. The "Dark Lord", dead at last! The "no thanks to you" had been left rather pointedly unsaid.

The most important part of the bulletin, for Maddie at least, had been the identity and circumstance of England's "saviour", the Boy Who Lived. Harry Potter. James and Lily's son had survived the killing curse. Naturally, James and Lily had not.

Maddie's blood had run cold as ice. The Potters had been like family to Sirius – no, more than family. She couldn't even begin to imagine what Sirius must be going through right now...

She didn't know James and Lily well enough to be invited to the funeral and sure, she'd love to get word of the doubtlessly high amount of her relatives that were going to Azkaban for their crimes... but the only real ties with England she had now began and ended with Sirius himself, and she hadn't heard so much as a word from him.

It was not reassuring in the least.

The "less-important" follow-up news took the mandatory week or two to arrive, and Maddie had not at all appreciated the waiting time. She had appreciated the actual contents of the news articles even less.

A massive list of suspected death eaters and known death eaters, several claims at having been under the imperius curse instead of a willing participant in that genocidal maniac's crusade, and the traitor of the Potter's whereabouts had killed a twelve muggles and Peter Pettigrew and had been imprisoned without trial, his suspected accomplice gone without a trace, presumed either on the run or dead due to being no longer useful––

Maddie didn't know how long she stared at the page simply rereading the article again and again as he blood boiled hotter and hotter. She didn't know what angered her more – the fact that they had imprisoned Sirius without a trial or a proper investigation of guilt, or the fact that nothing in that article had made a lick of logical sense.

That spark that all inventors, researchers and scientists worth their salt were driven by kicked into overdrive. Maddie clinically folded up the newspaper and then proceeded to check up on her daughter and Danny. Both were sleeping soundly, adorably curled up with Jack on the couch. She took a few seconds to imprint the scene in her memory, an adoring smile gracing her features. She was loathe to bother them, but she was a mother on a mission.

She told her husband that she was going out for a while and taking Danny with her, and that she'd be back in an hour or two. Maddie knew that Jack could handle being left alone with Jazz for an hour or two, but she was hesitant to leave him with both Jazz and a six-month-old baby.

And with that, she left to track down the fastest owl she could find.

A letter was sent, a letter was received, over and over again in a cycle that had no end in sight. Days and weeks and months passed, and each and every time Maddie sent a letter her anger would slowly whittle away to almost nothing, only to be sparked to new heights of roaring intensity whenever she would receive the next letter. Over and over again.

It was a strange feeling, being stonewalled. Like a caged animal, raging at someone they could never reach from behind the bars of their prison, so too did Maddie rage at someone she could not reach from her completely different country.

In fact, Maddie had quite a lot of choice words for what she currently thought of the British Ministry, and not one of them were appropriate for use around her innocent little children's ears.

Despite her insistence on a trial, or at least being told the evidence against her cousin, she was written off, or worse – redirected – each and every time. Even when she tried to get the American's Ministry to do something they just did the same thing, just worded in a slightly less arrogant manner.

Jack, not at all pleased by his wife's stressing, had helpfully offered to "drive" in there with the Ghost Assault Vehicle (otherwise known as the RV) to show them why they shouldn't mess with a Fenton. She was mildly tempted, even though it wouldn't help her case at all. It did make her smile, though. Every time. Which was the point of course, and for that she was always thankful.

However much she wanted to, however much it killed Maddie inside to even admit it to herself, she knew in her heart that she couldn't keep juggling her responsibilities to her family, her work and her crusade against the Ministry's unjust conviction of her cousin forever.

She knew that there was something that wasn't adding up with the picture that the media had painted. Something that could either prove her cousin's innocence or put the final nail in his coffin. She just couldn't put her finger on it, she didn't have all the pieces of the picture, and she couldn't convince anyone to give her the information she so desperately needed.

Maddie sighed heavily, her face buried in her hands. Her thoughts were blurring together more and more and sometimes she couldn't remember why she was fighting or what she was fighting for.

She'd sat at the table long enough for her coffee to go cold. She'd been drinking far too much lately, but she'd needed the extra kick or else she wouldn't have been able to stay awake long enough to deal with everything and –

"Mommy?"

A tiny hand tugged at her jumpsuit pants leg, the closest part of her person that the bright-eyed toddler could reach. "You 'kay?"

Maddie forced a smile as she stared into the eyes of her toddler, eyes that were full of innocence and hope, sadness and worry. Maddie tried to appease her with a soft, "I'm fine, sweetie."

Jazz. Sweet, smart little Jasmine was not at all convinced and Maddie was forced to come face to face with the harsh reality of it all. She couldn't go on like this. In her single-mindedness, she was focusing more on her crusade than her own family. Jazz, Jack... and now Danny as well.

Her heart clenched painfully in her chest, and she smiled sadly, brushing a bright ginger lock out of her daughter's face. "I'll be better soon, sweetie. Promise," she said. "Go find your daddy, okay? I need to think on some things for a little bit."

Jazz looked into Maddie's eyes and it hurt to see her child trying to see into her soul and figure out whether or not she really was telling the truth to her.

"Pinky promise?" Jazz asked hopefully, with a small and adorable pout, as if this was the most infallible way to tell if someone was being honest with you. Then again, in her mind it probably was.

"Pinky promise," agreed Maddie, smiling affectionately as they linked pinkies and shook on it.

Satisfied by this solemn oath, Jazz nodded once, then turned heel and took off to find her father, leaving Maddie to her own bitter thoughts.

And then it dawned on her.

Sirius had known.

He knew that this was going to happen. That Danny was going to need a safe, permanent place to stay. That was why he came to her when he did. Before he confronted Peter. Immediately after James and Lily's death.

He had known.

Maddie stared at the coffee mug in her hands, realising that her knuckles were white.

Sirius knew that he wouldn't see the light of day again, he must have. Did he kill Peter? She honestly didn't know. Maddie had never heard of any spell that could evaporate a person and leave a single finger. Maddie didn't know what would drive someone to kill – Or did she? James and Lily, dead, betrayed. Peter?

She stared at her mug with unseeing eyes.

Sirius would never betray Lily and James... but Peter Pettigrew might. If there was one thing that Sirius might actually kill someone for, it was family. Not blood family, heaven forbid he'd lift a finger to help a Black... but the family he chose? The family that Lily and James and Harry were an integral part of?

Maddie's blood ran cold.

Innocent or not, Sirius would not have escaped Azkaban that day, except for perhaps death itself. She did not like the thought, not at all... but she couldn't deny the truth, no matter how badly that truth stung.

'That does not make this right,' a voice in her mind hissed.

Maddie sighed, burying her face in her hands. 'No, it doesn't,' she agreed. 'But this has to stop. I can't go on like this. My family can't go on like this. It has to stop.'

She would look after Danny. As her own son, even. But she couldn't fight Sirius's battles for him. Couldn't put him above her own family's health and wellbeing. He would understand... and if he didn't, then he wasn't the Sirius she knew and loved – the only Black she actually gave a damn about.

Even though it was the only cause of action, the only path that spared her daughter and husband the heartbreak and pain of watching her wither away trying to fight this, the only option left open if she wanted to fulfil her promise to Sirius of looking after Danny, the only way she herself could come out of this with her sanity intact... it still felt like a betrayal of the worst kind – and she hated herself for it.

She hated herself so much.

Scriptor Nota: Well that escalated quickly.