Chapter 12: The Verdict
Dumbledore and Remus rushed to Harry's room, where there was a full team of healers surrounding the Boy-Who-Lived. All of the monitoring spells around Harry were flashing bright red. "You can't be in here!" One of the healers yelled at the two distraught men. "You have to stand outside like the rest of them!" Dumbledore calmly accepted this, but Remus could not.
"What do you mean? HARRY! Is he alive?" As someone was trying to push the werewolf out the room, he continued to yell. "He's my best friend's son! You can't kick me out of here! I need to be with him, please, HARRY!" Remus was frantic, he didn't know what he would do if Harry was to die, what Sirius would do. It was Dumbledore who was finally able to coax Remus from the room. Remus cursed the old man for being so much more composed than him. How dare he be so calm? Harry Potter was dieing and he wasn't doing a damn thing about it! The werewolf was about to turn around and yell this at the Headmaster, but as soon as he saw the look on the old man's face he stopped short. Dumbledore look worse than Remus had ever seen him. Somehow, even in the worst tragedy Dumbledore had always been able to hide his worries. But not now, the old wizard's face was ashen, and his eyes looked dull and worried. He and Remus said nothing as they sat down on the bench across from the room. The Weasley parents had managed to herd their hysterical children into the waiting room further away from Harry's room, in hopes that if Harry did really die, the children didn't have to see it.
"Remus, there is nothing we can do," Dumbledore said as a way to try and comfort the man sitting beside him. But Remus knew that what the headmaster meant was that he, Albus Dumbledore, could do nothing to save Harry Potter. Even though he didn't show it, Remus knew that Dumbledore felt responsible for all of this, which was why he was so determined to put Sirius in jail. Dumbledore felt like he should have been able to prevent this whole ordeal by keeping Harry away from Sirius. 'They don't realize how alike they are,' he thought, 'Sirius and Dumbledore will both do whatever they can to protect those they love.' But Remus couldn't help but still feel anger towards Dumbledore, for not realizing the truth about Sirius years ago.
"Well Headmaster, if Sirius wasn't insane before this, he most certainly will be now."
Dumbledore didn't even bother responding to Remus, because at that moment a healer came out of Harry's room, looking very upset. Both men jumped to their feet immediately.
"Professor Dumbledore, I'm afraid I have bad news about Mr. Potter—" However, the healer didn't have a chance to finish saying was she was going to say. Severus Snape came barreling down the hall, his robes billowing behind him in the way that had terrified first year Hogwarts students for years. He didn't speak to anyone, not even the healer or Dumbledore, but he barged into Harry's room. The healer, Dumbledore, and Remus all followed behind him quickly. The healers were trying to get Snape out of the room.
"Sir, you don't have the security clearance to be in here, you have to leave—"
"Is he dead?" Snape asked in a menacing voice.
"Sir I cannot tell you…"
"Answer his question!" Remus barked, desperate to know the answer. Dumbledore gave his nod of approval to the healer.
"Not yet, but he only has a little time left…there is nothing we can do." Remus fell to the floor, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Good," Snape said. That was enough for Remus.
"HOW DARE YOU!" He was about to punch the man who dared insult Harry Potter, but before he could, Snape pulled a vial out of his pocket of clear blue liquid. He went over to Harry's bed. Remus wanted to run over there and protect Harry from this deatheater, but Dumbledore held him back. Snape poured the vial down Harry's throat and there were a couple of second of complete silence by the occupants of the room. And then the monitoring charms stopped flashing red.
Harry began to breathe again. Remus nearly collapsed on the floor in relief.
Dumbledore smiled for the first time since Harry had been stabbed. The healer who went to go check on Harry's condition spoke to the room.
"He's alright, he isn't even comatose any more, he's just sleeping. Hopefully he will wake up within the next couple hours." There was cheering in the room. Snape smirked briefly and then made his way towards the door, as if he couldn't stand being in the same room as happy people.
"Severus," Dumbledore called after him.
"Yes Headmaster?" Snape said, defiantly not happy to be stopped from exiting.
"I need to speak for you for a moment." Snape sighed as if he already was expecting this, nodded, and followed the headmaster out of the room. A healer came up to Remus after Snape and Dumbledore had left the room.
"Sir, I'm afraid that I'm going to ask you to leave the room. We need to make absolute sure that Mr. Potter will be alright, and we don't want anyone disturbing that process." Remus didn't move.
"No, I will stay here. He will need a familiar face when he wakes up." The healer looked like she was about to say something else, but stopped short, and allowed Remus to sit beside the peacefully sleeping Harry Potter.
III
Sirius was sitting in his cell, pretending to be asleep. He couldn't stand to look at his surroundings when he should be at the hospital, sitting beside his godson's bed. Also, the guards tended to make nasty comments at the prisoner whenever he was awake, and Sirius was afraid that one of these days his temper would get the better of him. He heard some shuffling just outside his cell, and he knew that it was the switching of the guards. Sirius was very surprised that they even bothered to be quiet. Actually, the Auror that had just entered seemed to be lingering, Sirius perked his ears a bit to hear what they were talking about.
"…asleep?" The new Auror asked.
"About an hour."
"Did you know that they discovered what poison he used on Harry Potter?" Sirius nearly sat straight up and demand what the Auror was talking about, but thought better at that moment.
"Really? They've already released it to the public? I thought the Minister was keeping all information under lock and key."
"Oh, he is, I just came off my shift outside his office. I overheard his conversation with Dumbledore."
"What was it?"
"Veneficus, a poison that is widely known was created by the Black family, there is no cure."
"NO!" Sirius leaped up from his former position on the bed, a furious look in his eyes. How dare that rat use that poison? Sirius himself had taught that…that…thing how to brew it. He had taught all his closest friends during the war, because all you needed was to nick someone slightly on the arm, and it would immediately send that person into a comatose state, until he or she died. It was meant to PROTECT Harry. Sirius was furious. "I SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!" The aurors outside that cell were now quite alarmed. They both stood with wands at the ready. Sirius couldn't take it any more, he collapsed on the floor, sobbing. "Its all my fault," he whispered to himself. "Its all my fault!" The two Aurors outside the cell looked at each other, as if to make sure that they had both heard what the man in the cell said. They had just heard the confession of Sirius Black.
III
Remus still hadn't moved from his position next to Harry's bed. Visiting hours had been over for awhile, making the room quiet. The healer had told Remus that if he was going to insist on staying, the werewolf might as well do something useful. Apparently it helped if someone talked to an unconscious person.
"Well I don't really know what to say to you Harry," Remus started. "I've really only known you for a week now. But there is so much of Lily and James in you that I feel like I've known you for years. You have Lily's temper and James' inability to sit still. That's why things have been so difficult with you and Sirius, he sees them in you too, and every time he upsets you, he sees it as upsetting them. He means well he just…"
Remus stopped there. Harry began to stir, a slight moan came from the Boy-Who-Lived's mouth. For a couple of seconds Remus couldn't manage to say anything. All he could so was watch in fascination as Harry's eyes fluttered open.
"Remus?" Harry asked in a quiet voice, just barely above a whisper.
"Harry!" Remus exclaimed. "You're awake! How are you? Are you hurt? Do you need me to call for a nurse because I can by just…" Harry shook his head.
"My ribs are a little sore, and my throat hurts, but I think I'm alright. Where am I?"
"You're at Saint Mungo's, in a private ward of the hospital. We've been very worried about you Harry. We nearly lost you there. You've been out for a little over a week." Harry looked like this news exhausted him even more. He couldn't believe that he had been out for that long…he felt like he had something important to tell Remus, but he couldn't remember what it was. Remus, although reluctant to bring up such a nasty subject so quickly, asked the question that would change the course of several people's lives. "Do you remember what happened that caused you to be sent here Harry?"
Harry thought for a moment. What had happened…his eyes widened as memories from that night came flooding back. "There was a rat…he turned into a man! Before I got a chance to yell for help, he had grabbed my wand, he said that he would be rewarded for killing me…" Harry shivered. Remus looked like there was something that he wanted to say, but he let Harry continue his story. "I thought that I was done for, but then Black came into the room. He argued with the rat man, he tried to save me. The rat man said that he had framed Black! That's the last thing I remember before…oh no! Did the rat man get to Black? Is he ok? I've got to go tell Mr. Weasley, Black wasn't lying after all!" Harry tried to get up from his bed, but Remus stopped him.
"Harry its alright," he said in a soothing voice. "Everything will be fine, but you can't leave this bed, you are still very sick. Sirius is fine too, but he has been very worried about you. You can't go see him just yet though, he's in a different part of the hospital." Remus felt bad about adding one more lie to the long list of their short relationship, but it seemed to do the trick, and the boy lay back in his bed. One day soon Remus was going to have to clear all of this up.
"Is Bla—I mean Sirius…is he really ok?" Remus' heart warmed a little to hear Harry call Sirius by his first name, and he nodded.
"If he wasn't already, he will be now. All right, I know that there is a group of Weasleys and a certain Ms. Granger permanently stationed in the waiting room just outside this hall, who have all been very concerned for you. Shall I go fetch a couple of them?"
Harry nodded enthusiastically. "That would be great!" Remus grinned for what seemed like the first time in months, and headed out of Harry's room with some speed. He didn't want to leave The-Boy-Who-Lived alone for too long. However, he was very surprised when he entered the waiting room that there was no one there. Not a single Weasley. He went to the healer's station and asked, "Do you know where the Weasleys have gone to? I have some rather good news to give them."
It was a brunette healer, the one who had tried to kick him out of Harry's room earlier that answered. "They all left."
That confused Remus even more. "Why? Is there something wrong?"
"Oh no, of course not! Have you not heard? Sirius Black confessed in front of two Aurors just a couple of hours ago. I suspect that they all went home to prepare for the trial that is going to take place first thing tomorrow morning."
III
Harry lay in his hospital bed, feeling quite helpless. Remus had left the room only minutes before, but Harry didn't think that it would take this long. There were a lot of thoughts spinning through his head, he wasn't quite sure what to think of the situation. Harry couldn't believe how stupid he had been! He had just blindly believed what Mr. Weasley and Dumbledore had told him about Sirius without so much of a second thought. Harry knew what it was like to be blamed for something horrible. It had only been in the last school year that he, Harry Potter, had been accused of being the heir of Slytherin and attacking his fellow students. And the Dursleys had been blaming Harry for every little thing wrong in their lives for the last eleven years. Harry couldn't imagine having to put up with ridicule and blame for the death of two people that you loved, while still grieving for them. But then there was Remus, Harry felt a connection with the man, but now he realized the horrible mistake that Remus had made. How would Sirius feel after he saw that his only friend had only been pretending? Harry couldn't think of anything worse—although, Remus hadn't seemed surprised when Harry had told him that Sirius was innocent. He had just seemed happy and relieved. However, before the Boy-Who-Lived had much of a chance to think about this, a healer came into the room, she began to prod at Harry's monitoring charms, Harry was so quiet and still that it took the healer a couple of seconds to realize that he was awake.
"Mr. Potter!" She exclaimed. "You're awake, that's wonderful. Are you uncomfortable in any way? Is there something that I can get you? A glass of water perhaps?"
Harry was slightly overwhelmed, but he nodded his head, and in a bit of a croaky voice said, "Water would be great." The healer conjured a glass of water and handed it to Harry. He was very grateful; he didn't know how thirsty he had been until he had started to drink.
"Not too fast now Mr. Potter, we wouldn't want you to choke." Harry stopped drinking. "Now, is there anything else? Any questions about the treatment you've been given?"
Harry shook his head, he didn't really care about himself right now. "When will I be able to see my godfather?"
The healer looked surprised. "Your godfather? You mean Sirius Black?" Harry nodded. "Well…I don't know. I suspect that you will never have to see that horrible man again. His trial is set for tomorrow, and I should think that they will give him the Dementor's Kiss straight out!"
Harry didn't know what a Dementor was, or why it kissing someone was a punishment. "But I was told that Sirius was in the hospital too, why is he having a trial?" The healer looked at Harry sympathetically.
"I don't know who told you that dear, I didn't think that anyone knew that you were awake yet." Clearly she thought that Harry was out of his mind. "Black was arrested right away when the Aurors found you. We didn't think with the poison on the knife that you would make it all. You gave us all quite a scare young man. Now, why don't you rest a bit, someone will be back to check on you within the hour." Harry was too stunned to respond to anything that the healer had said, and she took this as a sign of compliance and left the room. Harry simply didn't understand. Sirius hadn't stabbed him…it had been the rat man. Didn't everyone know that? Why had Remus lied to him about where Sirius was? As if the man had heard the question that Harry had just asked himself, Remus walked into the room. He looked like someone had just died. But Harry was too upset to care what the man had just been through, whatever that was.
"Where is Sirius?" He asked in a bold voice. Remus looked surprised.
"I told you he is…"
"I know what you told me, but there was just a healer in here, and she said that he was in prison! Why would he be there? Why did you lie? What happened? Did you not catch the rat man?" Harry was beginning to work himself into hysterics, and Remus had to everything that he could to calm the boy down.
"Harry, its true, Sirius was arrested, but…"
"WHAT? Why was he arrested? What about the rat man?"
"Harry, you have to calm down, you'll hurt yourself. I can explain. The rat man that you are talking about it actually a man by the name of Peter Pettigrew, and as far as the world is concerned, Peter has been dead for eleven years."
"I remember…Mr. Weasley said that Sirius killed Peter along with all those muggles. I don't understand!"
Remus sighed. "It's a very long story Harry. I think that you are far to ill to hear it just now."
"No, please, I need to know. How could this have happened? How could everyone have thought that Sirius had betrayed his best friends and killed a ton of muggles, when it was really Peter Pettigrew?"
Remus was torn. There was something so…innocent about Harry's question. With all that The-Boy-Who-Lived had already been through, and the fact that he looked so much like James just before he died, it was easy to forget that Harry was only twelve (almost thirteen) years old. The story of what had happened to Sirius wasn't a pleasant one, and it painted a bad picture of some people that Harry respected very much. Remus didn't want Harry to lose faith in Mr. Weasley or Dumbledore. But when the werewolf saw the look in Harry's eyes, he realized that he couldn't keep this truth from him. It was too important. "All right I'll tell you, but I need you to understand that this is only one side of the story, there were reasons that things happened the way they did. There were…misunderstandings…it was a very dark time Harry." Harry nodded in acknowledgement. Remus sighed deeply and began his story, "I suppose all of this started when I was a young boy, my father had slighted a man by the name of Fenrir Greyback…"(1) Then Remus proceeded to tell Harry everything; how he was bitten, how Dumbledore had kindly allowed the young Remus into Hogwarts, what James, Sirius, and Peter had done for him, the map, and everything that had led up to the betrayal of Lily and James. For the first time the werewolf told someone the whole truth about his double agent role for Dumbledore and the Minister, something that even Sirius didn't know all the details of. He even explained his latest meeting with his best friend. Harry, for his part, listened intently for the entire three hours that the story took to tell. Remus didn't dare look at Harry's face for the majority of the story, afraid of how the boy would take all of this. When Remus was done with his story, with what the nurse at just told him, he braved a glance at Harry's face. It was blank. "I think that's all," Remus said nervously, "do you have any questions?"
Harry seemed to think about this for a second before responding, "Yeah, what are we going to do? I mean to get Sirius off? The trail is only a couple of hours away!"
Remus grinned. He was forming a plan just as Harry was speaking. "Do you happen to be in possession of James' invisibility cloak?"
III
A couple of hours after the conversation between Remus and Harry, Sirius Black was being rudely awakened by two Aurors. Not that he had been actually sleeping, but if he had been, throwing a water spell at a sleeping man would have been very rude. Sirius hadn't slept since he had heard the news of his godson's poisoning. Nothing really mattered to Sirius anymore. He knew that even if Harry wasn't dead yet, he would be within the next couple of hours, and that he would never have a chance to see his godson alive again. Pettigrew had won. Even though Remus had believed his friend, there was simply no proof that Sirius wasn't the one responsible for Harry's death. Actually, Sirius felt like he was responsible for Harry's death, whether or not he had actually delivered the deadly blow. The almost-convict was going to let this trial come and he wasn't going to fight the inevitable life sentence to Azkaban. That is why he made no protests as the Aurors magically handcuffed him and led him out of his cell at the Ministry to a courtroom down the hall. He barely even flinched when he was placed in a chair with chains wrapped around his arms in front of the entire Wizengamot. In the middle of the front row of the 50 member Wizengamot sat Minister Weasley, wearing the traditional plum-colored robes. He looked down at Sirius with a certain amount of disgust.
"With the accused being present let's begin. Are you ready?" Mr. Weasley asked to a secretary sitting with a quill poised to take notes.
"Yes Minister," came the voice of the secretary.
"Attempted Murder trail of July 31st," began Mr. Weasley. "Into offences committed under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights by Sirius Nigellus Black, resident of number 12, Kevin Street, England. Interrogators: Arthur William Weasley, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Court Scribe; Hector Lionel Zimmerman. The charges against the accused are as follows: That he knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having previously been accused of murder eleven years ago, stabbed his godson and ward, a Mr. Harry James Potter, in the stomach with a knife with the poison Veneficus on the tip of the blade, with intent to murder. Are you Sirius Nigellus Black of 12 Kevinium Street, England?" (2) The Minister looked expectantly down at Sirius.
"Yes," Sirius responded.
"And were you not accused of the murder of 12 muggles and a Mr. Peter Pettigrew eleven years ago?"
"I was, but I was acquitted by this very body." There was some discomfort in the stands of Wizengamot members. The Minister ignored this and continued.
"Were you granted custody of Harry James Potter on July 11th of this month?"
"Yes."
"How would you describe your relationship with your ward, Harry James Potter?"
"Harry doesn't trust me or like me, but he puts up with me, for the most part."
"Did Mr. Potter attempt to run away from your home on the night of July 21st only eleven days after you obtained custody?"
"Yeah, but…"
"Evidence that Mr. Potter didn't even tolerate Mr. Black's presence. Would you please tell us what happened on the night of July 22nd, only one day after Mr. Potter's attempted escape?"
"He didn't try to escape, he was kidnapped by your children, Minister!"
"So Mr. Potter didn't leave of his own free will?"
"He did, but he wouldn't have if…"
"We are not here to discuss whether or not Mr. Potter was kidnapped or tried to runaway," Amelia Bones interjected. "Please continue the questioning Minister."
Mr. Weasley nodded and continued. "I will repeat my question Mr. Black. Would you please tell us what happened on the night of July 22nd?"
"I was sitting downstairs, talking to my friend, Remus Lupin, when the alarm from Harry's room went off. We both assumed that it was the Weasley boy's again, so Remus flood over to the Weasley residence, to inform the Minister and his wife. I went upstairs to check on Harry. I heard a struggle coming from inside the door, and I rushed in, only to be disarmed, and to see Peter Pettigrew holding Harry at wand point." There was a great mummer in among the wizards and witches in the room. Mr. Weasley rolled his eyes, but it was Dumbledore who spoke.
"Are you referring to the same Peter Pettigrew who you were accused of killing eleven years ago?"
"The very same." Sirius responded. There were several people who looked like they wanted to say something about this, but no one did.
"Please continue Mr. Black," Weasley prompted.
"Pettigrew and I got into an argument, that resulted in him stabbing Harry in the stomach and then disapperating." Now there was outrage coming from the entire Wizengamot. It looked like even Mr. Weasley was having a hard time controlling his temper.
"Are you willing to take Veritaserum to prove this?"
"No."
"You understand Mr. Black that we have no real proof except your word on this…accusation of Mr. Pettigrew."
"Yes."
"Why wont you take Veritaserum?" Mr. Weasley asked, frustrated.
"Because Minister, if I did, I wouldn't live to see the end of this trial. I am highly allergic to it."
Mr. Weasley bristled, but he turned to the Wizengamot. "I think I've heard just about enough. Let's take a vote, unless there is something else that you would like to add Mr. Black?"
Sirius shook his head no, to him it seemed that it wouldn't matter what he said.
Amelia Bones looked around and asked, "all those in favor of clearing the witness of all charges?" There was silence. Not one member of the Wizengamot raised his or her hand. Even though this is what he had been expecting, Sirius felt his stomach drop. "All of those in favor of conviction?"
"WAIT!" Came a loud voice from the doors of the room. Everyone looked up startled. There, in the doorway was Remus Lupin. He walked slowly up to where Sirius was seated, the way he walked was strange, like he was limping or supporting someone else on his shoulder.
"What is the meaning of this Mr. Lupin?" The Minister asked. There were nods of agreement from all members of the Wizengamot. Sirius didn't dare look at his friend, but all of sudden he felt a spark of hope, if only because now there was someone who actually cared about him there.
"Professor Dumbledore asked me to be here. He wanted me to testify, so here I am. I just received news that the trial was taking place earlier than planned."
Dumbledore smiled down at Remus. "Thank you very much Mr. Lupin for keeping your word, but we were about to vote, you are not needed." Remus looked at Dumbledore with pleading eyes.
"Please Headmaster, I have a testimony that would really help." The Minister gave Dumbledore a look, and there was a quiet agreement between the two of them.
"All right Mr. Lupin, we accept your witness. Please state your full name and your relationship to Sirius Black."
"My name is Remus John Lupin and Sirius Black is my best friend." There were gasps.
"Excuse me?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Sirius Black is my best friend, and with me I have brought a witness who can prove his innocence."
"Who?" Blurted several members of the Wizengamot.
"Me," came a muffled voice beside Remus. There, standing beside the werewolf, was Harry, who had just removed his invisibility cloak. When Sirius saw Harry, he could swear that his heart stopped. He couldn't believe what he was seeing!
"HARRY!" He yelled, thrilled to see his godson alive. "You're alive!" Harry grinned, but didn't say anything. Anybody who looked at the boy carefully would have seen that while he was standing, it looked as though he would fall down at any moment. Remus noticed this and moved to let Harry lean on his shoulder, but Harry refused.
"Mr. Potter, it is good to see you up on your feet again," started Professor Dumbledore. "But what are you doing here? I highly doubt that the hospital released you already."
"I had to come. Sirius didn't hurt me! He tried to save me…if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be standing here." Everyone looked quite shocked at the strength and emotion behind the Boy-Who-Lived's voice.
Of course only Dumbledore had the composure to ask the next question. "Are you quite sure Mr. Potter? Could you have been mistaken?"
Harry shook his head. "No, Sirius did what he could to keep me safe, you have to believe me!" Seeing the boy's distress, it was Amelia Bones who came to her senses next.
"Who attacked you then Mr. Potter?"
"Peter Pettigrew!"
There were angry shouts from the Wizengamot, and mutterings on how Black must have gotten to the boy, and changed his memory.
"How can you be sure that it was Peter Pettigrew who attacked you?" Mr. Weasley asked. Harry looked as though he had anticipated this question.
"I have a picture of him sir, in this photo album that Hagrid gave me at the end of my first year of Hogwarts, he was at my parents wedding." Dumbledore came down from the stands to examine the picture that Harry had flipped to. It was a picture taken at Lily and James' reception, there were a ton of people gathered around the happy couple.
"Could you identify which person is Peter Pettigrew in this picture Harry?"
Harry nodded, and pointed to the man standing in between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.
"That's correct. Mr. Potter was able to identify Peter Pettigrew. Mr. Potter also has my full faith that he is telling the truth." This shut up the Wizengamot. Mr. Weasley regained his composure.
"Well I think this means that we need to revote. Ms. Bones if you would…"
"All those in favor of clearing the witness of all charges?" Slowly, one by one, each one of the 50 members of the Wizengamot raised their hands.
"Well I think that settles things. Sirius Nigellus Black is hereby cleared of all charges." The chains strapping Sirius were released, and the man jumped up to hug his godson. Harry returned the hug, before promptly falling unconscious into his godfather's arms.
III
Harry slowly became aware of his surroundings…. there were voices all around him. He didn't recognize any of them, until he opened his eyes. Sitting at his bedside was his godfather and Remus, and it seemed that they were arguing about something.
"You've been in jail for over a week Sirius, you need to go home and get some rest! I'll stay here with Harry. Plus, I think that your hair is beginning to get as greasy as Snape's again!" It was Remus.
"Look out for what you're saying old man!" Sirius retorted. "You're hair is grayer than Dumbledore's."
"Oh, I'm the old one? I could take you in a game of Quidditch anytime anyplace."
"Yeah right, you can barely stay balanced on a broom, in fact I remember that time in third year when…" Sirius would have continued but a small voice came from the bed.
"You're both the same bloody age, and I could beat both of you together in a Quidditch match."
"HARRY!" The two older men exclaimed at the same time.
"Ow," was the only response.
"Harry, are you all right? Are you hurt? Do you feel faint? Do I need to get a healer? Remus, go get a healer!"
"Sirius…I'm fine." Harry said in a strong voice. "You're bickering is just making me to get a headache."
For a second Sirius didn't know what to say. "You called me Sirius."
Harry looked puzzled. "Its your name isn't it?"
"Yeah, but before…" There was an awkward silence. Remus looked between the godfather and godson several times, they were staring at each other as if they had never seen each other before.
"Look…Sirius…I'm sorry about before I didn't…" Harry started, before Sirius interrupted.
"Don't worry about it, you didn't know."
"But—"
"Harry, there was no way that you could have known. Lets just forget that it happened."
Harry nodded in agreement. "Does this mean that I'm not grounded anymore?" The-Boy-Who-Lived asked with an innocent look on his face. Sirius thought about this for a second.
"I don't know, what do you think Moony?" Remus noticed the mischievous tone of voice and put a serious look on his face.
"That's a tough one Padfoot. He did just call us old and insulted our Quidditch skills."
Harry was beginning to be very concerned…what were they planning?
"I think there is only one proper punishment for all that worry then, how about we give him the ole' Marauder treatment?" Sirius asked. Now Harry was very concerned. Remus grinned.
"Alright then, on the count of three."
"One…"
"Two…"
"THREE!" The two Marauders started viciously tickling the poor boy on the bed.
"Haha…stop…hahaha…" Harry couldn't help but giggling. The two older men didn't relent, but Harry found himself not caring. He finally had a family.
THE END
(1)For full details see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and while I know what the result of assuming is, I am assuming that if you are reading this fanfic, you have read all of the Harry Potter books.
(2)If these words seem familiar to you, they are! I copied most of them straight out of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, so these words do not belong to me, but rather to the brilliant Ms. Rowling.
AN- Well, that's all folks! I bet you thought that I would NEVER finish this fanfic, but I did! Its only the second multi-chapter fic that I have finished. YAY! Before you ask, I know that the ending is rather open ended, but I have no intention of writing a sequel, but if there are enough reviews, I might consider writing an epilogue. (Hint Hint) Next I am going to work on a fanfic that I started years ago, called Ron Weasley's Day Off, based off my favorite movie, Ferris Beuller's Day Off. At the suggestion of a reviewer I am going to write it in my own words, not just copying and pasting the script of the movie into a fanfic and changing some words.
I am going to issue a fanfic challenge that I think people will like, of an idea of a fanfic that I have had for forever, but I have no real desire to write. In the 3rd book Remus said that none of the events of Oct. 31st would have happened if he hadn't been bitten. So what if Remus had never been bitten by Fenrir Greyback? How would the years at Hogwarts change? How would Harry's life be different? Would the Marauders exist? If you want to respond to this challenge, I am calling it the Werewolf Challenge, please put that in the summary of your fanfic, and I can't wait to see if anyone attempts this!
Any reviews that you leave, I will respond to in the author response feature now available. So look out for that. Thank you all for your wonderful support and reviews!
Until the next fanfic,
Meg
harry'n'mione4ever- Hopefully it was a satisfactory ending for you! And I happen to like happy endings too. ;)
Svana- One can never be too optimistic!
outkast angel- Yep, I can! But no, I don't think that I could ever kill Harry Potter, I am afraid that that is exactly what JKR is going to do in the next book though!
loonar cyclus- Poor Sirius, I think that there have been many "special occasions" for his temper in this fic…I put that poor man through quite a bit.