Chapter 5

Albus Dumbledore's office held lots of interesting things. Past headmaster or headmistress portraits, rare books, little gadgets, the sorting hat and of course his Phoenix Fawkes. Someone could spend quite some time pottering around in there without the slightest chance of getting bored. The whirling, spinning, tapping and clanking gadgets were always a source of entertainment. Many a person had taken a guess as to what each did, or if they did anything at all. Albus allowed them their guessing, amused at some of their ideas. Of course he knew what each did. How else would he keep a watch on the saviour of the wizarding world? Harry Potter was vital to his plans, and his plans needed the boy to be kept under his control. All of his gadgets told him the day to day life of the Boy Who Lived. And he was happy with what he saw. By the time the boy came to him he'd be meek enough to follow his every command.

This day though, when Albus had left to check on something at the ministry, they did something they had never done before. Each and every one of them stopped their tapping and clanking and whizzing, and exploded. Fawkes, who was sleeping comfortably, was startled awake and almost fell off his perch. The sorting hat watched as pieces of gadgets spread themselves around the room, and hummed to itself.

'Looks like our Mr Potter is changing the story' it chuckled.

Fawkes glanced at the hat, trilled, and tucked his head back under his wing. Harry Potter may be re-writing history, but he wasn't stopping Fawkes from having his afternoon nap.

OOO

'Black! You got visitors!'

A matted head glanced up at the guard's call. Visitors? He watched as the guard spoke briefly with a man before taking his leave. The man stepped forward to stand in front of the cell. Sirius started slightly when he realised there was a second person off to one side. Why would they bring a child into this place?!

'Sirius Black, my name is Jonathan Meadow, and this is my son Julian. We were hoping to ask you a few questions' the man spoke.

Sirius dragged himself up and over to the bars.

'Why did you bring a kid here?! The Dementors…!'

Jonathan chuckled. The Dementors took one look at Julian and were scared off by the Demon magic pouring out the boy.

'Yes I was worried at bringing Julian here at first. But, strangely enough, the Dementors don't bother him in the slightest'.

Sirius was shocked. Someone who wasn't affected by Dementors. He examined the kid. Didn't seem much older than eleven or twelve.

'You said you had questions?' he asked.

The man nodded and brought out his wand. Sirius flinched but Jonathan only cast a privacy charm before conjuring up some chairs. He sat and waved his son into the other seat, gesturing for Sirius to sit in the one put in his cell.

'Yes. It's about your godson Harry Potter'.

At this he had Sirius' full attention.

'Harry! Is he ok?!'

'Yes he is fine, although I should tell you he goes by the name Ebony now' Jonathan replied.

Sirius looked confused. Jonathan gave a smile and continued.

'Perhaps I should start at the beginning. You see I had finished a job and…'

OOO

'Those bastards! He wasn't supposed to go to them! Albus you old fool!' Sirius ranted, pacing back and forth in his cell.

Jonathan waited patiently until he had calmed down before speaking again.

'So you see Mr Black, my wife and I have adopted Ebony. We've taken him to the hospital and had him checked out. My wife Rose has brewed up a set of potions that will help overcome the slight stunt in his development. As we caught it at an early stage it won't take long for Ebony to be back to the normal weight and height for a three year old'.

'Thank you! Bless you I don't know how to describe how grateful I am!' Sirius said with such gratitude in his eyes that it made Jonathan wonder.

'Now then Mr Black. The reason myself and my son are here is to get your side of the story regarding that tragic night. I'm starting to believe you weren't the one who betrayed the Potter family'.

So Sirius told them what happened. About Pettigrew and how Sirius came to be standing in the middle of a street of dead muggles. Jonathan let him talk, already formulating a plan to hopefully get a hold of the rat called Peter Pettigrew. When Sirius finished Jonathan glanced towards his son. Julian's nod told him all he needed to know. Sirius was a hundred percent innocent.

'Well now this complicates things. We will need to find Pettigrew in order to free you' Jonathan mused.

Sirius looked at him wide eyed.

'You want to help me?!'

The elder man chuckled and nodded.

'Of course. It's bad enough that you've been dumped here without a trial. But being denied your right to raise your godson is something I will not allow'.

Sirius tearfully let out a chuckle and rested his head against the bars.

'Thank you' he whispered.

Jonathan reached out and patted the younger man on the shoulder.

'You are most welcome. Now all we need is a plan'.

They both started when Julian, who up until now had been silent, spoke.

'Once we get Pettigrew, I can switch him with Mr Black. Then we can let the authorities discover Pettigrew on their own'.

The boy shivered as wails echoed around the prison. Jonathan pulled his son close to him for comfort.

'It's ok son. They won't hurt you again'.

He glanced up to see Sirius questioning look. Jonathan sighed.

'My son had been hurt by many of the prisoners here. He was a victim of Voldemort and his deatheaters'.

Sirius swallowed and looked at the kid. Julian was pale and shivering, but his eyes showed determination. Sirius admired the kid's bravery.

'I'm afraid I must cut this visit short and get my son back home. We will return when we find the rat' Jonathan said, standing up.

'Yes, of course' Sirius replied, then addressed the kid.

'Thank you, for keeping an eye on my godson. You're a brave kid'.

He earned himself a small smile and returned it, watching as the pair left. The privacy charm was lifted and the chairs vanished. Sirius slumped back on his bed, a small light of hope flaring in his chest.

OOO

Jonathan sent out word to all his contacts. Be on the lookout for a rat missing a finger on its front paw. He didn't say who said rat was, only that it was special and it was important that it was found. He didn't expect a reply so quickly.

Arthur Weasley was tinkering around in his shed when an owl flew through the window. It perched and held out its leg, sticking around after Arthur had taken the letter. So his old mentor wanted a bit of help did he? Jonathan Meadow and Arthur had met several years back when Arthur was an Unspeakable. The older man was very good at getting information out of people, but also very good at keeping such information to himself when required. Arthur hummed in surprise when the older man's target fitted the description of his son Percy's pet rat. Idly he wondered why Jonathan wanted the thing as he sent off a reply, asking the man to meet up in the Leaky Cauldron on Saturday, his day off. Oh well he shrugged, he'd get his answer soon enough.

Jonathan and Julian met with the red head at two, booking a table and ordering something to eat. Jonathan smiled when he noticed Arthur's questioning look towards Julian.

'It's good to see you again Arthur. Allow me to introduce my son Julian' he spoke.

The man glanced at him with a chuckle and held out a hand to Julian.

'It's good to meet you Julian. You look about ages with my eldest sons Bill and Charlie'.

The boy spoke a greeting and they shook hands and sat down.

'Still fostering I see? How many children have you taken in now?' Arthur asked.

Jonathan chuckled.

'More than you know, and I'll continue to do so until the day I die. But Rose and I decided Julian and our granddaughter Evangeline were deserving enough to stay for good' he joked with a smile to his son.

Arthur watched the two and smiled. Then frowned as something stuck with him.

'Granddaughter? So not young Julian's sister?'

Jonathan quickly placed a privacy charm around the table, and noticed Julian enforcing it unseen with Demon magic.

'Yes granddaughter. Evangeline is Julian's daughter'.

Arthur's reply was interrupted by the barkeeper. They placed their order and Arthur jumped in.

'Daughter?! But Julian here barely looks a day over thirteen, if that! How old is your granddaughter?'

Jonathan sighed.

'I know. Evangeline is three years old, and your guess with Julian is spot on, he's thirteen'.

He placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

'My son has been through a traumatic experience. And his creature blood allowed him to become pregnant by their actions'.

Arthur sat back in shock and horror. He then narrowed his eyes.

'Who would do such a thing?! And does this have anything to do with this rat you're after?'

Jonathan growled to himself.

'Deatheaters, that's who! Led by their leader, that bastard Voldemort!'

He shook himself out his fury and turned to Julian, who had started to shrink back.

'I'm sorry son. I can't help but get angry at them'.

He turned back to Arthur's horrified expression.

'And yes, in a way the rat is linked to all this. You see we are on the hunt for a rat animagus called Peter Pettigrew, deatheater and one of those who hurt my son'.

Arthur went pale.

'Pettigrew! But he's supposed to be dead!'

'That is what we are here to find out' Jonathan replied.

The rest of the meal was spent quietly, small talk about school and work and such. Jonathan explained that his son went to a muggle school instead of Hogwarts, but that Julian still got a magical education from himself and Rose. When the meal was over Jonathan paid the bill, much to Arthur's protest, and asked if they could see the rat. Arthur nodded and led them to the floo. He went in first, followed by a slightly nervous Julian, and then Jonathan.

OOO

Molly had just popped into the kitchen when the floo flared up. She stuck her head back through to see her husband stepping in, followed by a young boy and then an older man.

'Jonathan? How nice to see you again. How is Rose?' she said, bustling through to give him a hug.

'As lovely as ever Molly. Rose is fine' Jonathan replied with a smile.

Molly stepped back and looked him over, then turned to Julian.

'And who might this be then?'

'This is my son Julian. He's helping me out on some work' Jonathan replied.

Molly smiled and pulled the boy into a hug, frowning when he stiffened slightly.

'He's skin and bones! Good thing I just finished making muffins' she said, a little worried when Julian backed away a few steps.

Jonathan was quick to comfort his son. He turned to Molly.

'Nothing to worry about my dear. My son's not had the best life and is still a bit nervous about getting hugs' he said in explanation.

Molly's eyes widened.

'Oh my word I am sorry! Here I go, a complete stranger, yanking him towards me!'

He looked at Julian.

'I am sorry deary, I get ahead of myself at times'.

Her heart almost broke at his quiet but polite reply.

'It's ok Mrs Weasley. I know you weren't going to hurt me. I just got a scare'.

'None of this Mrs Weasley. Just you call me Molly young man. Such a polite boy you are, I hope you like sticky toffee muffins' she fussed and headed through to the kitchen.

Arthur chuckled and glanced at Julian.

'A right charmer you are' he said with a wink.

He received a small smile for his efforts and waved his guests into seats.

'I wonder where the kids are. It's too quiet' he mused.

Jonathan laughed.

'That's when you worry, when it's quiet' he chuckled.

Just at that there came a crash from upstairs and a pair of red blurs shot down.

'We didn't do it!' they said together, hiding behind the couch as another boy stormed down.

'Mum! They put a stink bomb under my bed!'

'Percy stop yelling! Ron and Ginny are napping!' Molly said sternly as she came though with a tray of muffins and tea.

'And you two! I'll be taking the wooden spoon to you if you don't behave?!' she huffed at the twins who cowered by the couch.

'Sorry mum' all three chorused.

It was Percy who noticed they had guests and blushed slightly in embarrassment.

'You probably don't remember Mr Meadow Percy. You were just a baby when you first met him. And this is his son Julian' Arthur said.

The seven year old shuffled his feet but stuck out his hand.

'It's nice to meet you Mr Meadow'.

Jonathan smiled and shook the boy's hand.

'Nice to see you again too Percy'.

Percy then turned to Julian and they greeted each other and shook hands.

'You must be about seven now right?' Jonathan asked.

The boy nodded and puffed out his chest.

'I'll be going to Hogwarts in four years' he said proudly.

Jonathan smiled, then turned to the five year old twins who were staring at him and Julian.

'Now boys it's rude to stare. Why don't you say hello' Arthur scolded.

The two grinned and went over, holding out their hands.

'I'm Fred…'

'And I'm George…'

'It's nice to meet you' they finished.

Jonathan laughed as he shook their hands.

'I can see you two are going to be mischief makers when you get older'.

'They're mischief makers now' Molly muttered as they introduced themselves to Julian, who looked bemused.

'We're five years old…'

'And we'll be going to Hogwarts in…' George counted his fingers.

'Six years time!'

'And we're going to have lots of fun!' Fred continued.

Jonathan hummed in amusement.

'I see'.

'Percy, Mr Meadow was asking me all about your pet rat. Could you go get him for us?' Arthur asked his son.

Percy beamed and ran upstairs, coming back down carefully holding his pet.

'Why do you want to see Scabbers?' Fred asked.

'He's just a fat lazy old rat' George followed.

'Boys!' Molly warned and they shut up.

Percy scowled at the two then smiled and held out the rat to Jonathan.

'Here you go Mr Meadow. This is Scabbers'.

Jonathan thanked the boy and took the rat. He briefly examined it, noticing the missing finger. The rat stared at him in what could only be suspicion. He glanced to Julian who was glaring darkly at it. Jonathan turned to Arthur and discretely nodded, the other man went pale.

'Is there something wrong?' Molly asked in concern.

Jonathan smiled.

'No not at all, it's a fine pet'.

'Molly dear, have the twins cleaned their room yet? Arthur asked, giving her a look.

She caught on quickly, and though confused, herded the protesting twins upstairs to finish tidying up. Percy quickly followed, not willing to let them get into his room when he wasn't there.

'Arthur what's going on?' Molly asked when she came back down.

Her husband hit the stairs with a privacy charm, just encase any of their children tried to listen in, which he wouldn't put past the twins. While he did that, Jonathan hit the struggling rat with a stunner and placed it on the floor.

'We have reason to believe that Percy's pet is actually an animagus' he explained.

Molly looked shocked as he performed the spell that would change the rat back into human. In no time there was a fat slightly balding man in the middle of their living room. All three adults immediately had their wands on him.

'That's Peter Pettigrew! I thought he was dead!' Molly hissed.

'He faked it, to allow an innocent party to go to Azkaban in his place' Jonathan said.

'Sirius Black!' Arthur breathed.

'But surely they would have checked with truth serum?' Molly protested.

'Mr Black was never given a trial' Jonathan explained.

Molly made a noise of shock as he glanced at his son, who nodded.

'Molly, Arthur, before we go any further, I will need an oath of secrecy'

The two looked at him. Arthur knew the older man wouldn't ask for such a thing without a very good reason. He nodded.

'I Arthur Weasley do hereby swear on my magic to keep the events of today, and any other day required, a secret, so mote be it'.

There was a flash to seal the oath and he smiled at his friend. Molly took a moment to think, then decided to trust her husband on this one.

'I Molly Weasley do hereby swear on my magic to keep the events of today a secret, and any other day required, a secret, so mote be it'.

When the flash faded Jonathan smiled.

'Thank you. Now you probably won't believe what you are about to see, but I assure you no one is in danger. Except perhaps Pettigrew' he said and nodded to Julian.

The couple watched in shock as the boy suddenly transformed into a vicious looking monster. Demon growled as he crouched next to the stunned man, blasting Pettigrew with his magic. Jonathan added a silencing charm to the stairs as the man was un-stunned and started screaming and thrashing around. Demon linked into the rat man's soul and used it to drain Pettigrew's magic. Once he had it down to a trickle, allowing the man nothing but a lumos spell, certainly not enough to change form, he stepped away, changing back and leaning against his father breathing heavily from the surge, leaving the man a panting wreck. He hadn't done that before. When Demon was out it was almost like two beings in one body. Julian could see and to a certain degree influence Demon's actions, but other than that he was content to sit back and allow Demon to use his instincts. In this case, that meant doing something very few witches and wizards could do, at least not without a seriously dark ritual.

He took a peek at the Weasley couple, hoping they didn't think he was a monster.

'What in the world was that?!' Molly gasped, wincing when her cry made the child shrink back a bit.

'My son happens to be part Demon. Not to worry, the Demon side is quite tame. It certainly surprised he as well, but we've gotten used to it' Jonathan explained, then turned to Pettigrew as the Weasley couple shared a shocked but amazed look.

'Well Pettigrew, now that we know you won't run off on us, I'd say it's time to take you to see Sirius' Jonathan said coldly.

The man whimpered and crawled to Jonathan's feet.

'No! Not Sirius! I'm innocent! Please, I hid to stop Black coming for me!' he blubbered.

When his plea was ignored he turned to Julian, forgetting for a moment that the boy was the one to go Demon on him.

'I didn't want to hurt you! He made me! Poor sweet little boy I didn't want to. I don't like kids like that. Please I had to!'

He ignored Molly's horrified gasp as he grabbed hold of Julian's shoulders.

'You believe me don't you? You know I wouldn't hurt anyone. Sweet boy you know I was forced'.

He screamed and crawled back, his hands blackened from the fire that sprung up around the boy.

'I was forced! Not you! You joined Voldemort because you wanted someone to hide behind! You are a coward who hurts children, and you're only sorry because you got caught!' Julian growled out, keeping a tight leash on Demon else he kill the bastard. They needed Pettigrew alive to free Sirius, and that was the only thing stopping Demon from tearing him limb from limb.

Jonathan reached out and brought the trembling child to him.

'You only care about yourself. You don't care that an innocent man is in prison! You don't care that you left a baby an orphan! You didn't care that I was locked in a cell. That I had little food or water, nothing to cover me, and was used as a plaything! YOU DON'T CARE AT ALL!' Julian yelled, tears pouring down his cheeks.

Jonathan pulled his son into a hug, rubbing Julian's back as he sobbed into his shoulder. He was of half a mind to let Demon come back out, but he knew why his son was fighting to hold him back. He gave the trembling Pettigrew a cold look.

'Quite frankly the world would thank me if I killed you right now. However you are needed to get Sirius Black out of Azkaban'.

He turned to the Weasley couple. Molly was in tears and Arthur was glaring harshly at Pettigrew.

'I'm sorry for the trouble Arthur, Molly. I have some money here to allow you to buy Percy another pet'.

He waved off Arthur's protest.

'No Arthur, I took the lad's pet away, it's only fair I replace it. I just didn't know what he would want so I brought money. We'll be taking this sorry excuse for a wizard with us and hopefully get Sirius out of Azkaban'.

He handed the younger man a bag of galleons, playing ignorant to the fact that there was enough there to buy pets for every member of the household. He then re-stunned the whimpering Pettigrew and levitated him to the floo. Molly came over and gently pulled Julian into a hug.

'You're welcome here any time dear. We'll have you over in the summer. You can meet my eldest boys'.

The boy was still shaking but wiped his eyes and gave her a nod and small smile. She smiled back tearfully and let him go to his father.

'That extends to little Evangeline and any other children you have' Arthur said to Jonathan, who nodded with a warm smile.

'Thank you. And of course your family is welcome any time at our home, you have our address. Julian you go first, it's set up for home'.

He watched as his son went through, then turned to the couple.

'And thanks, for not making a big deal out of Demon. I know he scared you'.

'He did a bit' Arthur replied with a breathless laugh.

'He's a sweet boy Jonathan. I was ready to hex that…that man into next week so I can't imagine that poor Julian must have been thinking' Molly added.

Smiling Jonathan nodded and grabbed Pettigrew, stepping into the fire. Molly and Arthur shared a look. They didn't need an oath to keep this secret, amazing as it was. Another crash and a scream from upstairs made them sigh and they headed up to see to their children.