Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot. The original concepts belong to JKR and Warner Brothers. Any concepts brought from other fictions are either coincidental or will be used in their own way, and no plagiarism is meant.

A/n: This chapter is going to focus heavily on the Marauders and how they came to be and how they ended. It's a lot of information and drama, but it is something I wanted in this chapter.

A/n 2: May the fourth be with y'all this pleasant day!

Chapter 16: An Unexpected Surprise

March 12th, 1994

Grimmuald's Place

Sirius sighed, trying to ignore the cabinet of liquor. He knew that he couldn't have anything to drink today, he had to be sober for what he had planned, but merlin, were his nerves bad. He looked up from the sink, and ran his fingers through his hair. Deciding it looked good enough. He made his way down to the Greeting room.

Months of planning had gone into this, and out of impatience, he had asked his lawyer if it were possible to push things up. At first, they were hesitant, but after going through everything, they had come to an agreement that nothing was going to change by waiting another two months. Peter was nicely caged up, still under stasis, and all of the documents had been set in order, and as of today, would be filed. Some had already been filed with Gringotts, but the ministry wasn't aware of those yet.

Hell, he had even done the one thing he swore to himself he would never do, take up the lordship of House Black. Sirius had never wanted anything to do with politics or his family history, but now he had no choice.

For Harry, and for me. We both deserve this, and it's the only way. Sirius thought.

Taking a handful of floo powder, he tossed it into the flames, and a few moments of spinning later, he stepped out. "Morning Ted."

"Perfect timing Sirius, the prophet just showed up. Want to take a look?" Ted Tonks asked.

Ted was technically not a member of the House of Black, but he had married Sirius' cousin, Andromeda Black. He was a muggleborn and because of that, both were kicked from the family, not that Sirius had planned on leaving them out. Once he was free, both would be welcomed back.

Taking the offered newspaper, he grinned, happy with the title listed.

'Ministry disaster? Is Sirius Black Innocent?'

He laughed as he read the article. It took up not just the first page, but the second and third as well. It seemed that Rita Skeeter had not only taken off with Sirius' letter, but also done enough research to prove his claims too.

And she tore the ministry apart as she had done it, something that was highly amusing.

The article went in depth about there not being any records of an interrogation, investigation, or even a Prior Incantatium on his wand. She repeatedly quoted his letter, and even had mentioned that the goblins had confirmed that Sirius wore the Lord's ring and was considered the Lord of House Black. All of which pointed towards his innocence and put the Ministry in a bad light. Overall, Sirius was pleased, and hopeful for the meeting in a few hours time.

He was sure that right now, Fudge was probably losing his mind at the backlash the article caused, as it was directly insinuating a Lord of a Most Ancient and Most Noble house could be incarcerated without any evidence or backlash! It was something every house in the Wizengamot would be angry about.

Ministry of Magic

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Amelia Bones, the current Head of the DMLE, sat at her desk holding her head. Oh what a nightmare this was going to turn into. Her only blessing was that her owl had showed up early this morning, and that her niece was still at school. She had immediately flooed to her office and requested the documents from the Hall of Records.

And even worse, the entire article was truthful. Sirius Black had no trial records, much less any investigation into what happened the night He fell. There was nothing to prove his guilt, only a statement of him shifting from crying to laughing while saying "It's my fault. I killed them." That statement was easy to throw out as a moment of extreme grief.

The entire department had been moving since she got there, orders being thrown here and there. She had already canceled the Kiss on Sight order, as now it would be murder. Now she had a Master Auror, Gawain Robards, investigating the allegations of Black's innocence. They had to stop people from coming in and asking questions, and stop reporters from trying to get their hands on more information. Already two people had been arrested for assaulting an auror.

Her office door was thrown open and the last person she wanted to see started freaking out. "Amelia! What is this nonsense in the Prophet of Black's innocence! I've been flooed by Augusta Longbottom and Cyrus Greengrass over the article. Both the Modern and Neutrals are angered about this!"

Honestly, Fudge probably didn't care other than his image was being tarnished. Well, that and Augusta Longbottom was a terrifying woman when angered, especially if she had a wand in her hand.

"Minister. Please sit." She heard him sit in the chair, and wait expectantly for her to start talking.

"Well, firstly, I can tell you that the article isn't wrong, and if everything comes back like I think it will, you will be doing a lot of damage control." She started.

"You can't be serious?" Fudge said, "The man betrayed the Potters and was a Death Eater!"

"There is nothing except a guilt ridden statement he said at the time he was captured that confirms anything you just said. No trial, no interrogation. There is nothing in his file. Bagnold and Crouch had him shipped off the same day he was brought in." Amelia said, lifting her head to stare at the man.

"What is being done? We need this solved now!" The minister yelled in panic.

"And we are working on it. I have a meeting later that can't be canceled. Apparently Ted Tonks has an extremely important matter that needs to be discussed, but afterwards, I will be joining Gawain in investigating everything. From what I know, he already has gotten the original letter from Skeeter, and has been shifting through records on how this was missed."

"Dirk Crestwell has already been asked to talk with the Goblins about Black's status in their eyes, but the chances of getting more than Skeeter got aren't great unless Black asked them to give more, which I doubt."

"So what? Black might be innocent? What should I tell the press?" Fudge asked, clearly more worried about his image than anything.

"Right now, he is nothing more than the prime suspect, wanted for questioning. Tell them the matter is being investigated, and at this time, we have nothing. It seems the previous administration might have made serious errors, and we are looking into matters more. If Black is guilty, we will try to ensure that he is returned to his cell." Ameila said.

"Try?" Fudge asked, confused. "No. He should be back in his cell if he is guilty!"

She sighed, "Try. At this time, it is possible that he could be freed just on the grounds that all of our laws on due process were ignored. Just about any attorney could get him free on that alone. And worse still is he is now a Lord for one of the highest houses in our Wizengamot. Only the Potters and Longbottoms are older than the Blacks." Amelia said.

"Truthfully, he may not return to Azkaban regardless." She finished.

She heard the Minister curse, "Figure it out, I will let you have full reign on this. Just get the Ministry cleared of any wrongdoing, or correct whatever we did wrong."

He was gone from the office before she said anything more. She sighed. Looking at the clock, she stood. Leaning out of her office, she called out, "Alastor, Emmeline, in here."

Once the grizzly Auror and the younger Hitwizard were standing in her office, she closed the door, "You two are with me. I have a meeting with Ted who was insistent on bringing two others with me."

Great Hall, Hogwarts

Harry had just sat down, and started dishing up some fruits and eggs, when his copy of the prophet landed in front of him, attached to his ever-faithful owl. He grabbed some bacon, wincing from the stiffness in his arm, before detaching it and rewarding Hedwig.

He heard the hall go silent as he finished loading his plate, and figured it was best to read whatever was in the Prophet, as it most likely was the reason for the hall quieting so quickly.

Reading the title, his eyes narrowed and glowed in anger and worry. What have you done Sirius, and why didn't you warn me?

Tonks and Prewitt Law Office

Sirius stood in a room attached to the main meeting room, waiting on the command of Ted to step out. He could feel his pulse racing, as everything was about to come down to the next few minutes. Even now, he debated on if he was going to be ok, but he had to be.

He stilled, hearing voices on the other side of the door, "Ah, thank you for keeping my appointment Madam Bones, I was worried you would reschedule." Tonks said.

"It was a close call, but I knew whatever reason you had for this meeting, it was important. In case you don't recognize these two, I have Alastor Moody and Emmeline Vance with me. Now, I am having a very bad and busy day. So let's cut to the chase, why am I here."

Ah, she was in a very bad mood Sirius thought. I need to brace myself for getting cursed. She might do it anyway…"

"I promise that you won't regret coming. Firstly, I would like to assure you that he is unarmed, and secondly, that at this moment you cannot arrest him. Do you understand?" Ted asked.

"I do? Why must I be told this though. I have never arrested anyone here before Ted." He heard Amelia ask.

"Because of who will walk out of that door. Moody, please lower your wand. Step on out." Ted spoke. Sirius took a deep breath before rotating the door handle and stepping into the room, his hands raised beside his head.

"Ay, wondered when you would make an appearance Black, though willingly? I must say I am surprised." Moody commented. "He is clean Amelia, only has an empty holster and his Lord ring on."

"Shit." Amelia muttered, "Emmeline, return to the office and return with Robards. He is the primary working on Black's case." Amelia said, staring at Sirius for a moment. He watched as she collapsed into a chair after the woman left.

"Just sit." She muttered, rubbing her temples. "I don't know why I am surprised, Sirius, but must you cause me to have this sort of headache?"

"Of course Madam Bones. There wasn't another way to ensure that I wasn't killed when I made an approach to the ministry." Sirius replied, lowering himself into a chair opposite of the woman. Ted sat to his right as Moody moved against the wall next to the door. She huffed, but didn't disagree.

"I must say, you are looking good for someone who escaped Azkaban." Moody commented, "Clearly you haven't been all that hidden."

Sirius smiled, "Of course not. I've been busy proving my innocence. Had some evidence to collect and made a trip to the goblins for my healing. Truly they are the best, even if they are an arm and a leg in gold for their services."

A knock resounded on the door, "Come in." Moody said.

Sirius watched as Gawain and Emmeline entered the room again. He nodded politely. "Gawain? That you?"

"I must say, it is a shocker to see you. I knew we wouldn't find you unless you wanted to be found. You were always one of the best in hunting and tracking during your days as a Hitwizard." Gawain commented.

"So let's hear it Black. How are you supposedly innocent?" Moody asked.

"Well, it's a long tale. You might want a dicta quill for it. And I will swear an oath to my honesty afterwards. If I lie, it'll kill me. Sound great?" Sirius said. They three nodded, and Gawain set up the quill. There was a bit of legal mumbo jumbo, stating it was official and everything, before they gave Sirius the go ahead.

"Go ahead. Let's hear it."

Sirius started, "It started in our second year at Hogwarts. Of course, a lot of people remember that there were only five male Gryffindors for our year, and Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, and James Potter were all close friends with me. Frank was later, but he was never included into the Marauders pack during our school years."

"We discovered in second year that Remus was a werewolf, and that he harmed himself during each full moon. We were desperate to help him, but we didn't know how. At least, not until third year when McGonagall went over the Animagus transformations. Pretty soon, James had started the process, while helping Pettigrew and I accomplished it. We didn't complete the transformation until our first semester of fifth year. James was the first, and was a magnificent stag, Pettigrew a common garden rat, and I was a large black dog, similar to what is described as a Grim."

He sighed, shaking his head. "We should've known that Pettigrew was a rat. He always clinged to James and I as we were powerful and popular. We protected him too."

"Fast forward a few years, and James and Lily went into hiding as the Potter family was being targeted, and they used the Fidilus charm. Now, for a quick explanation, just in case you don't know what it is, it is a ward of sorts. It basically hides a secret in a single person, the secret being whatever you are hiding. It can be a property or an object, or even just a compartment. Without the secret keeping telling you where it is willingly, it cannot be found."

"You were the Potter's secret keeper, were you not?" Robards asked.

"No. I was not." Sirius said quietly. He took a deep breath, "James asked me to. He begged me to. I said no. That choice killed them. I suggested Peter, I am too obvious James. Peter would be the better choice. No one would think you would choose him when I was your best man, and have been your partner for years. I'll be the decoy."

Sirius had a tear on his cheek, "I was a coward. I thought I made the right decision, because I knew that they would target me, torture me, and I knew one day they would break me, and I would tell them. We had never suspected the traitor would be Peter, and it was only a few weeks after the charm had been cast that I went to check on him, and Peter was gone, his place emptied but entirely undamaged."

I ran, and took my bike to their property in Godric Hollow. It was only a five minute ride but I knew there wasn't any way to apparate there, as there were wards to stop everyone from getting there that way. I showed up to see the house destroyed and my best friend, my family…"

Sirius trailed off, tears on his cheek. He wiped his face off and took a few deep breaths before continuing in a shaky voice.

"Harry was in his crib, a cut on his forehead bleeding, but unharmed. Lily was d-dead in front of him. I could feel a power in the air. It was nearly tangible. I'm not sure what happened that night, but there was a powerful magic that protected him from death. I healed him as fast as I could before pulling him from the house. Hagrid was there, having visited before, and I had him take Harry to Hogwarts. I trusted Poppy to heal him and Dumbledore to take him to Gringotts to open the will, and the next day place him with whoever was the first choice in guardians, the Longbottom's."

"Dumbledore failed at that. He placed Harry with muggle relatives, ones not listed in the will. Gringotts has already moved his guardianship to me, with Harry's permission of course."

"You talked to Harry?" Amelia asked. How could he have…

"Yes. I will get to that later. Anyways. I tracked Peter, making it all of the way to Consett, which is where Peter used a blasting curse on a gas main, and cut his own finger off. He called out, accusing me of betraying Lily and James. After he blew the street up, he faked his death and used his Animagus form to escape. I couldn't believe he had bested me, and I think I started laughing. I don't remember much, as I woke up in a cell a few hours later. Then a short while later I was stunned by someone and woke up in Azkaban."

"What do you mean you were stunned in your cell and taken to Azkaban?" Robards asked, nearly enraged. That someone on the force would do such a thing to another member was, well it was bad to say the least.

"Well, I mean exactly that. I never talked to a single person in the hours I was in my cell. Hell, I was never fed." Sirius replied.

"Not good…" Amelia muttered. "Well, what happened then?"

"I sat in Azkaban for ten years, tortured by the fact I got my family killed. James was like family to me, Lily too. Charles cared for me and Great Aunt Dorea was probably my favorite relative." Sirius replied. "The only reason I held my sanity was for my skill in mind magic, my Animagus form, and the fact I knew I was innocent. The thought I was innocent wasn't a happy thought, but it kept me grounded, and the Dementors left me alone while I was in my Animagus form."

"It wasn't until I saw the prophet this summer, given to me by Fudge, with Pettigrew on the cover." Ted handed the piece over, showing it to Amelia and Robards. "The rat, missing a single finger, and the exact same color as Pettigrew's Animagus form."

"He's at Hogwarts!" Robards said suddenly, "We thought you were talking about Mr. Potter, but you weren't!"

"Exactly. I wanted to capture the rat, and prove my innocence. You know that I escaped, but I used my Animagus form to do it, as my cell wasn't warded for such a thing. I don't remember the exact date but it was the end of July I believe when I made it out. I made my way to Privet Drive, checking on Harry before I made the trek to Gringotts. I got healing and after a few weeks, made my way to Hogwarts. I tried alone to get the rat, but I couldn't."

"Halloween was my last attempt. I knew that Pettigrew would run soon if he hadn't already. November first came, and I waited patiently for Harry to come around the lake on his normal run. He recognized me, probably from a journal or something from his father, and followed me. I talked to him, and he seemed convinced of my innocence before I had gotten halfway through the story. He helped me, and with his help, I am able to present to you, Peter Pettigrew."

Sirius waved his hands dramatically as Ted pulled out Peter, caged and unconscious. Amelia just pressed her hand to her face. "Robards, check and see if that is an animagus, and if so, identify who it is. Do NOT awaken it though. We need to be at the ministry to do such a thing."

A few seconds later, the rat glowed, and letters appeared above it. P.A.P.

"Your oath, Sirius?" Moody asked.

"I, Lord Sirius Orion Black, swear upon my magic and life that everything said during this interview is the truth." A pale light wrapped around him, and as he was still alive, it was clear he was being truthful.

Robards deactivated the dicta-quill, before sitting back into his seat. "Madam Bones, what do we even do from here?"

"Officially, I have to clear Lord Black. As this is the first formal interrogation, and he was never properly arrested or tried, I am declaring all charges against Lord Black dropped. We will need to meet with Fudge, and then afterwards contact the Daily Prophet about Sirius' innocence." Amelia said.

"What are we doing with Pettigrew once we take him to the ministry?" Moody asked.

"Simple. He will remain in his cage until an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot can be called. We will reveal him then, and shove some truth serum down his throat. He is a half blood, and not exempt from dosing without a vote on the Wizengamot. We can get everything from him then." She said. She lifted her head and looked at Sirius before speaking again.

"Lord Black, you may attempt to sue the Ministry for the damages done to you, and the healing required. As I see it, you are free to go. All I ask is for you to not appear in public for twenty four hours, so we can issue a public statement. After that, we will bring you to the Ministry and return your wand to you. I assume Ted would be the easiest way to contact you?"

"Yes, thank you Amelia." Sirius said, barely hiding his emotions.

She sat there, staring off into space, before shaking her head slightly, "Not a word to anyone, any of you. I need to inform the Minister first, and Pettigrew is not to be mentioned to a single soul, understood?"

The three aurors nodded, and after saying their goodbyes, stood, and left for the ministry.

"Congratulations Sirius, you did well." Ted patted him on the back. "Let's get a glass or two in us for celebration before we send you back to wherever you're hiding."

Abandoned Classroom

Hogwarts

Harry was losing his mind. Dumbledore had been missing from lunch and dinner, and Sirius wasn't answering his mirror. Harry had tried after lunch, and twice before dinner, but still, it was for nothing.

"Padfoot!"

The mirror rippled, and rippled, and rippled.

It stopped.

"Padfoot you better answer damnit!" Harry said, causing it to ripple again. He watched in anticipation, praying Sirius would answer. Suddenly, the mirror shifted.

"Hey pup! See the Prophet this morning?" The man asked cheerfully, ignoring Harry's image.

"Wha-Yes I saw the bloody paper. Could you have bothered to warn me!" Harry berated the man, "You haven't answered anything since yesterday and all I was imagining is them still having you killed regardless! You not answering surely didn't help!"

Sirius stared wide eyed for a minute before dropping his eyes, "I'm sorry, truly. You're right. I should have warned you, and made a time arrangement to talk with you and reassure you that I was ok. For that, I am sorry. I wanted to surprise you though, get my innocence and get custody of you before school let out, even before spring break."

Harry stared, before sighing, "I understand your goal, but perhaps on important things like this, you should not attempt to surprise me next time. I was barely able to pay attention in class today from worrying."

"I'll keep that in mind." Sirius replied, before grinning , "So, wanna hear what happened?"

An hour later…

"So you pranked the entire ministry, and Amelia Bones probably hates you now?" Harry said, a grin on his face.

"Yep. Oh, and don't be surprised if an auror stops by to ask about your involvement in capturing Pettigrew." Sirius warned. "I doubt they will, but it isn't unlikely."

"So when will his trial be?"

"Most likely, next week. Amelia moves fast, so at the latest, it'll be Tuesday on an emergency session of the Wizengamot." Sirius answered, "I've got to go in tomorrow afternoon and get my wand, and sign papers. She has a copy of the will and DCS, or the Department of Child Services, is signing guardianship over to me. I already have it for magical purposes, but this is for the files."

"Can I come to the trial?" Harry asked. He wanted to see the rat pay.

"Of course, if you want to. I'll make sure you're allowed to regardless of what anyone says." Sirius replied. He turned slightly nervous, "How do you feel about coming home for spring break? We could go on a vacation somewhere nice if you want?"

Harry was almost surprised by the offer, "I've.. I would like that. Though perhaps maybe stay home for spring break. Potter's Cottage in Alford is cleaned and opened, and I think Grandfather would like to see you, and Grandma Dorea too."

"Deal! But we are going to travel after school lets out this year. Somewhere nice and warm!" Sirius replied, cheerfully determined. "The Blacks own a property in Rome, on the coast. It'll be the perfect time to go there and visit."

"Sounds great Sirius. Have you heard from Dumbledore yet?" Harry asked. He wondered how much the man would try to change the situation.

"Not yet, but it isn't surprising. He is probably attempting to control the damage at the Ministry too." Sirius said. "You need to get to bed soon, it's almost nine and you have class tomorrow. Go get some rest and we will talk tomorrow evening after dinner."

They said their goodbyes, and Harry made his way to the common room, feeling far better than he had since he saw the paper this morning. Entering the common room, he saw Hermione and Neville studying at a table. He sighed.

"Hermione, are you really studying again?" Harry asked, exasperated. She nodded.

Harry sighed and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders, "You know we are friends right? And that I care about you?"

"Yes?" She replied hesitantly.

"Then you know that I say this with as much respect and care as possible when I say that you need to stop worrying about studying so much. I promise you, you won't get better grades by stressing yourself out in an attempt to get four hours of studying a day in. All you are doing is stressing your body and mind. It's counter productive. You need to calm down, take time for yourself, have fun and relax. So there's a new rule, no more than two hours of studying a day, outside of homework, and four hours combined for Saturdays and Sundays." Harry said, trying to be stern.

"Bu-" Hermione started, Harry stopped her. "No. No buts. We are not taking our OWLs or NEWTs. We don't need to push ourselves like that. You are the brightest witch in our year, and you're hurting yourself doing this. I have no doubt that with no studying you could still pass all of your classes with at least an exceed expectations, so please, calm down and relax."

Harry reached over, closing Hermione's runes textbook and capping off her inkwell, then stacking everything in a nice pile. "Now, take this up to your dorm, and come back down. We can have a nice conversation for a bit before bed."

He watched as she walked up the stairs, stunned, and heard Neville sigh, "Thank you for saying something, she was driving me up the wall with this, not that it hasn't helped a lot, but it's sometimes a bit too much."

"She is intelligent, but sometimes overly driven. I had the same argument last year with her, but maybe I just hadn't said it correctly then. Hopefully she listens this time." Harry replied, smiling as she came back down the stairs. They fell into a good conversation, before finally being told by Percy to head to bed.

March 11th, 1994

Great Hall, Hogwarts

Harry had heard from Sirius that morning, a warning that there would be a surprise that evening. Harry was slightly concerned about what kind of surprise it would be, as the entire school was already full of excitement. This morning, there had been an announcement of Sirius' innocence, causing a massive wave of drama to float through the school. Dumbledore had made the announcement that the article was true, but they were working on apprehending the true culprit. They had already removed the Dementors from the grounds, and the atmosphere and weather had already begun to improve.

It made Harry think that Madam Bones hadn't even told Fudge about where Pettigrew was.

Remus had already cornered Harry after class that day, demanding to hear what Sirius had told Harry. He was surprised that even Harry hadn't known that Sirius was going to make the attempt to clear his name, but it made him feel better to know Sirius and Harry hadn't excluded the man. Harry vocally supported that, and said he would've never left Remus out of the loop.

He was mid conversation with Neville about different dueling spells when there was a sudden silence descending across the Great Hall, and Harry looked up, searching for the reason. It only took a moment to see everyone standing towards the entrance, where Sirius stood, laughing.

Harry was up and out of his seat, crashing into the man in an effort to give him a hug. "It's good to see you again."

There was a significant wave of muttering at that, people wondering when Harry had seen the man before.

"It's good to see you too, pup. And Remus!" Sirius exclaimed, hugging the professor. "Look at you, looking all professional and strict. What would James say to a Marauder being a teacher?"

"He'd probably laugh and say it was the best prank of them all." Remus replied. "It's good to see you walking free again. Hopefully they find the rat."

"I think they will. He was never the brightest." Sirius said,

McGonagall approached the trio, probably because Dumbledore wasn't at dinner, "Perhaps we should move this discussion from the Great Hall, and allow you three some privacy elsewhere?" She asked.

"Of course, would you like to bring your friends?" Sirius asked. Before Harry could respond, Neville, Hermione, and Susan were up and moving.

Once seated in the antechamber, and with plates of food, Sirius spoke, "I had to stop by and drop off some paperwork to McGonagall, but I figured I'd take the opportunity to visit for a short bit."

"So how did your meeting at the Ministry go?" Harry asked.

"Great, I've got my wand back, all of my papers filed, and your guardianship moved to me. Now, you said you wanted to be there when there is a trial?" Sirius asked.

"Trial? But I thought you were free, Lord Black?" Neville asked.

"I am. The trial is for Peter Pettigrew. You are not supposed to know, but Amelia has already confirmed the Emergency Wizengamot meeting for Monday. Pettigrew will be revealed and tried then. I am pushing for an immediate kiss too."

"Good. And yea, I want to be there." Harry replied.

"Then we need to talk to McGonagall after we eat, and let her know I will be pulling you from class Sunday night. You can ask Professor Flitwick to move your dueling session to Sunday or Tuesday, whichever he prefers. Have you learned proper terms for talking to other families?"

"Yea, and Neville has been teaching Hermione and I further this year." Harry replied. The boy in question turned red.

"Thank you Neville, Frank would be proud of you, Alice too." Sirius said.

They fell into conversation, and it was just before curfew that Sirius walked them up to the tower. After that, he made a stop at McGonagall's office before returning home. Falling into a chair, he sighed.

"I hope I can make things right James. All I can say is you would be proud of him. Lily too." He spoke to no one in particular.