Chapter 20 – All the Evidence We Need
The expression on Mad-Eye Moody's face was cold and threatening, especially with his mechanical eye sinisterly revolving inside its faux socket. Tonks knew how to read Mad-Eye more than anyone, and looking at the way his human eye glared at them while his face was contorted into a look mixed between shock and disappointment, Tonks knew that at that moment in time, it wasn't a good idea to upset him any further. Her old mentor was glaring at them, mostly at her lanky cousin who in the eyes of the uninformed public, still remained an escaped and dangerous convicted murderer.
Beside Mad-Eye she saw Silvia with a look of surprise and bemusement on her face. Her expression wasn't as intimidating as Moody's however, thankfully. Tonks took a breath, preparing herself for the scolding from Moody. Her cousin Alexis stood beside her, wide awake and very aware of the situation they were in. Soon the kids caught on and Harry discreetly moved so that he stood in front of Sirius, in between his godfather and the intimidating auror. Even Snape remained quiet, anticipating what Moody's first words would be.
"Black! What the bloody hell is going on?" Moody roared in his low, gruff voice that made Hermione gasp and Ron jump slightly.
"Alright, Alexis, Tonks, why are Harry and his friends and Severus with you?" Silvia asked, looking at the group as a whole. "And why is Sirius Black standing beside you?"
"With no precautions whatsoever!" Moody interrupted her. "Nymphadora what did I teach you about constant vigilance? And here you are with a criminal!" he shouted.
"Alastor I know this looks questionable but you've got to calm down," Remus spoke softly from beside Tonks. Watching her mentor seethe with anger, Tonks had almost forgotten that she was still the one supporting most of Remus' weight after his full moon transformation. "Sirius is innocent and here we've got all the evidence to prove it."
"Innocent? You are still letting a convicted criminal walk free!" Moody argued. "Nymphadora I taught you better than this! Constant vigilance at all times!" Moody growled.
It was during that moment that Tonks managed to suppress her need to correct him about her name, even if he said it twice. For once, she felt that some situations could not be interrupted with her preference of names. Tonks took a deep breath. "Mad-Eye just listen to us, please. I know we shouldn't be letting Sirius walk around freely like this but what can we do? Tie him up? In case you haven't noticed, if we tied him up it'd be harder to get back to the castle," she spoke, gesturing to the children and an injured Remus. "And we really do have all the evidence we need to prove him innocent."
As if on cue, Alexis held up the unbreakable rat cage she transfigured from her leather bracelet morphed from morphing material. "This rat is an animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew. He's been living with the Weasley family for twelve years, hiding," she explained. "If you look closely, you'll see that he's missing a finger, just like Pettigrew would."
"It's true!" Ron spoke up from beside Harry and Hermione. "Sirius is innocent. I've seen Scabbers be revealed as Peter Pettigrew last night!"
"And Peter Pettigrew was the one who betrayed my parents," Harry spoke immediately, hushing up Silvia and Moody who were about to speak. "Pettigrew was their secret keeper, not Sirius. He sold them out to Voldemort and he framed Sirius. He also killed those muggles!"
"Also, it was Pettigrew who poisoned Professor Lupin by lacing Professor Snape's wolfsbane potion with access amount of aconite, the wolfsbane plant, which is poisonous to werewolves," Hermione added instantly afterwards.
And Tonks thought that after the trio had spoke, the instantaneity would have stopped, but Snape surprised her when he spoke up as well, right after Hermione, leaving again no room for Mad-Eye and Silvia to cut in. "I have checked and it's completely reasonable to believe that it was indeed Pettigrew who tampered with my potion for Lupin," he said in a low and dry voice.
"So you two rule benders have been sneaking around, helping Black instead of looking to capture him like you were supposed to?" Moody asked and Tonks wanted to scream at him. How could he be worried about rules at that point in time?
"Mad-Eye, we're helping an innocent man!" Tonks argued. "He really is innocent and if we hadn't helped him and captured him like we were supposed to, the Ministry would never give him a chance to prove his innocence and he'll only be chucked back into Azkaban!"
"Besides, if you recall correctly, Sirius Black never got a proper trial when he was sentenced to life in prison," Alexis added, speaking very closely to a tone Tonks recognized as her Unspeakable tone she used at work. "It's only fair that we help him now. And Tonks is right, once caught, that oaf of a Minister would never give Sirius a proper trial without pre-existing evidence slapping him in the face."
"Alastor," Silvia suddenly spoke up in a softer voice. Tonks then noticed that Sirius and Silvia had been quiet the whole time, looking at each other as memories shot back to them. Tonks remembered that once Silvia had told her she and Sirius knew each other in school and that they even dated. She wondered what could be going on through Sirius and Silvia's mind at that particular moment while they were staring at each other, and Tonks wondered just how deep their fleeting school romance had been. "Perhaps Alexis and Tonks were right in bending the rules this time," she sighed. "Sirius…Black never got a proper trial and knowing Fudge, he wouldn't bother with one without pre-existing evidence."
"Alastor please," Remus spoke up, his voice showing his weariness as Tonks could feel him muster up as much dignity as he possibly could at the time, removing some of his weight on her. "Sirius really is innocent and we've got all the evidence we need to prove it. We found Peter Pettigrew and that alone is enough to question the judgment of the case and have it reopened. And…we also have a new testimony from Severus," he spoke, turning to Snape.
Moody's eyes pried themselves away from Sirius and turned to Snape as the potions master spoke. "It is indeed true," Snape replied. "I have agreed to give them my testimony, about what I knew during the time of Peter Pettigrew's betrayal."
"Sir please," Harry spoke up, turning his eyes away from his godfather whose thoughts seemed to be distracted by something else other than his freedom. "Sirius is innocent."
"Mad-Eye," Tonks and Alexis sighed at the same time.
"Alright will you all hush up now?" Moody snapped quickly before any one of them could continue their constant song. "Fine, if you're one hundred percent certain that you've got sufficient evidence of Black's innocence then we will take this up to Albus Dumbledore and inform Fudge. But I don't want him to be seen walking around Hogsmeade freely," he grunted, pointing to Sirius as both his eyes, human and mechanical, stopped to look at the lanky man.
Tonks and the others managed a smile and Tonks swore that she even saw the ghost of one, fleetingly on Snape's face. "Thanks Mad-Eye," she grinned and looked up at Remus. His blue eyes met hers and she felt her heart do a flip. She missed those eyes, despite having a similar feeling around his feral amber ones. Tonks smiled at him and he smiled back, both soft and genuine smiles on two tired faces that could really use some proper sleep on a proper bed.
"We could get Sirius to come with us in his animagus form," Hermione suggested.
"What's your animagus form Black?" Moody asked roughly.
"A dog," Sirius replied and glared at Snape when he heard a snicker form him.
"Dogs are very loyal animals and it is said that a person's animagus represents what they are on the inside," Silvia suddenly spoke up as she turned from Sirius to the rat that was Pettigrew, jumping around in a panic in the unbreakable cage Alexis was holding. "If Sirius is a dog and Peter Pettigrew's animagus is a rat…how come we didn't consider this factor before?"
"Because Sirius never got a proper trial," Alexis grumbled as they began walking again.
Sirius then transformed into his animagus form of a large black dog that resembled the Grim, trotting happily beside his godson Harry Potter and auror Silvia White. Tonks knew that Sirius was happy, happy that he soon would get his complete freedom and innocence back, and she knew that there was possibly another reason why he was happy. Judging by the way they were both utterly distracted during the heated conversation, Tonks knew that there had to be some depth in Sirius and Silvia's fleeting school romance.
His body was aching, his wounds were burning, and there was this throbbing pain in the back of his head. Remus woke up slowly, remembering that though the pains of last night's transformation had become a dull pain, the aching post-moon of that morning hadn't numbed itself out. He rubbed his eyes and got up slowly, meeting a worried looking Sirius Black pace back and forth at the side of his bed, mumbling to himself about something. Auror Silvia White was responsible for keeping an eye on him, and she sat there quietly, watching them.
"Professor Lupin," Hermione's voice came to his mind first.
"Remus you're awake," Sirius smiled as he bent down and helped Remus settle onto his pillow at the head of the hospital bed.
"Wait, what happened? How long was I out for?" Remus asked with his voice hoarse.
"Just about an hour," Harry spoke, glancing back from the clock.
"Have they come to a decision yet?" Remus asked immediately. "Has Nymphadora and Alexis come out?" he continued but silenced when he glanced up at the large window that showed into the private office of Poppy Pomfrey where the small meeting was taking place in order to reach a decision on what was to be done about Sirius' case.
"No, they haven't even come out yet, once, not even for a break." Ron replied this time.
Like everyone else, Remus heaved a sigh and sat back. All they could do was to wait. For them, it was out of their hands now. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together on the empty hospital bed beside Remus, their eyes glued to the large glass window that only showed the people in there, walking back and forth, seeming to be arguing, but expelled no sounds. Sirius sat down beside Silvia. Silvia was turned to the side, looking into the window, trying to explain to them what could be going on in there, as only she would understand what they could be saying. Sirius was trying to help, but after being absent from twelve years, he couldn't read any of his cousin's body language as well as Silvia could. Remus pushed himself to the side, looking into the window as well, watching them.
Tonks was leaned against Poppy's tall bookshelf filled with medical records. Her arms were crossed and her hair had turned to deep, velvet black matching Alexis and Sirius'. She looked so much like her maternal aunt Bellatrix Lestrange that even Remus had to take a second look. Tonks' arms were crossed and the expression on her face showed annoyance. Obviously the situation in the room wasn't favorable towards Sirius. Beside Tonks stood Alexis, her eyes distant, lost in thought as her index finger instinctively stroked the side of her cheek. Her face showed no exact emotions and she looked like she was apart from them. Mad-Eye Moody stood beside Alexis and so was Kingsley, all watching the Minister Cornelius Fudge as he strutted through the room, throwing his hands in the air as if angered by something. Albus Dumbledore stood with his back to them beside Severus Snape who was still as a statue.
"Uh…Auror White," Sirius spoke uncertainly. "What do you suppose is going on?"
"I…I don't know," Silvia replied quite softly to the man. She didn't have the skeptical looks in her eyes similar to the ones Sirius had seen from Moody, or the tired look from Kingsley, or the look of fear from Fudge. No, Silvia had a softer look, as if she was simply meeting an old friend she hadn't seen for a while, and was having trouble talking normally with him as things would flow.
"Well…can you perhaps try to tell us what they're doing?" Sirius asked again, softer.
Silvia nodded and swallowed, looking at him with a bit more confidence now. "Judging from Tonks' expression, things obviously aren't going well, but it's not that bad seeing as her hair is black, not red. If it's red then things are very bad, but it's black and I'm sorry I don't know what all her hair colors mean."
"Black means that she's worried," Remus found himself speaking up.
"Wow Moony, thanks," Sirius managed a small smile and laugh, winking at his friend.
Silvia smiled slightly as well. "And Alexis, she seemed to be trying to think of a way out. That's a tell-tale sign that she's thinking when she strokes her cheekbone."
"Yes, Lexi's habit," Sirius sighed with a ghost of a smile. "She's just like her father," he spoke in a sadder tone, remembering his deceased cousin. "He does the same thing."
"They're speaking now. I'd say Tonks and Alexis have just thought of something."
"Auror White you really know your colleagues well," Sirius smiled in a low voice.
"They're not just colleagues. They're my friends." She managed a full smile that time.
Remus managed a smile as well. He watched as his best friend was beginning to return to his life as it was again, talking, socializing with others, as if he was never wrongfully trapped in a dismal asylum like prison called Azkaban for twelve years of his life.
He turned back to the window, watching as Tonks stood in front of Fudge, arguing with him about something with a determined look in her eyes. He watched her point a finger at Fudge, speaking with the man through clenched teeth as her hair turned from black to red. Remus sighed. He wished Tonks wouldn't be so rash. Yes she wanted to help her cousin, but Remus was personally afraid that she could lose her job acting that way in front of the Minister for Magic. Tonks was too wonderful of a woman and Remus knew she loves her job as an auror. He hoped she wouldn't lose it because of this.
"What's going on now?" Remus heard Sirius ask Silvia in a worried voice.
"I think…" Silvia began, standing up. "Oh my god, I think they're yelling at Fudge."
"What?" Sirius spoke, about to run up to the window but Remus held him back. "Moony let go! They're going to lose their jobs."
"Padfoot I think your cousins know what they are doing," he sighed, looking at the determination raging in Tonks' eyes, her lucid and clairvoyant green eyes that had always been so gentle and kind. "I think you should trust them."
"They're going to lose their jobs! I can't let them do that because of me."
"Sirius," Harry spoke up, walking up to his godfather. "Please sit down. No one here wants to see you go back to Azkaban."
"They don't have a reason to anyways," Hermione spoke. "You're innocent."
"It was Scabbers who did it," Ron added, still referring to Peter as Scabbers.
"But Cornelius Fudge don't care about that," Silvia spoke up in a more professional tone.
"Professor White, what do you mean?" Harry asked, bemused.
The auror glanced back at the window once, seeing that everyone in there was distracted with the argument at hand and the rat that was running around in his unbreakable cage that Mad-Eye Moody was holding. She took a breath and turned back to Sirius, Remus, and the three students with an unreadable look on her face.
"Cornelius Fudge is…well as Tonks would say…an attention whore. He cares too much about his public image. What do you think this would do if the Ministry suddenly announced that they've wrongfully put an innocent man in prison for twelve years? It would badly affect Fudge's image, and he wouldn't want that." She pointed at the man in the other room. "He's doing all he can in there to tell them that they're all being tricked by you. He wants to send you back to Azkaban more than anything and silence this whole matter."
"But he can't do that. The law wouldn't allow him to…" Hermione spoke.
"He's the Minister," Remus sighed, realizing where Silvia was going at. "He probably has very strong influence over most of the Ministry."
"He does have very strong influence over most of the Ministry," Silvia nodded sadly.
"So not only will my cousins lose their jobs for arguing with him, I'll still go back to Azkaban and all our efforts will be wasted?" Sirius asked, nearly growling.
"Wait, look," Remus spoke when he saw Tonks and the Minister glaring at each other.
"What's going on?" Ron mumbled as he, Harry, and Hermione got closer to watch.
"I think they've pushed the final button…" Silvia spoke in a soft, low voice.
Tonks' hair was flaming red while her dark green eyes burned with strong determination. Alexis stood to the side with her arms crossed now, a dark and almost intimidating look in her eyes that was so much like the Black family aristocratic hauteur Remus often saw in Sirius. Cornelius Fudge's face was turning beat red as he glared at Tonks and Alexis, seething with anger it seemed. Silvia was right. Those two girls must have pulled the last straw on him. Remus took a deep breath, truly worried now. He was afraid that not only would Nymphadora and Alexis lose their jobs, Sirius would be sent back to Azkaban anyways.
Her arms were crossed, her face was contorted into an expression of anger, and her hair had turned black. Normally Tonks would hate it when her hair turned black for she looked so much like Bellatrix Lestrange and she would quickly change back, but at that moment in time, she didn't care. She was more worried about her cousin, worried that he'd be unreasonably and wrongfully sent back to Azkaban a second time.
Looking at Cornelius Fudge as he strutted through the room, coming up with silly reasons on why Sirius Black is dangerous, Tonks was about to explode. She was glaring bullets at him. She turned slightly to see Alexis' face. She seemed deep in thought, but a closer look revealed that Alexis too was glaring bullets at the man with a colder gaze through her nearly black eyes. Tonks wished looks could kill at that moment because with Fudge under both Tonks and Alexis' glare, he would die immediately.
"And besides," Fudge continued. "Prison records show us that Sirius Black had shown signs of improper and dangerous behaviors in prison, beating up and harassing the guards several times. It just shows that he is still a danger to society." He spoke and threw his arms in the air.
That was it. Tonks huffed and pushed herself off the bookshelf where she had been leaning on before. "He was in prison for Merlin's sake!" she told him. "Why don't you try being wrongfully locked up and have to face those bloody dementors all day? You'd go mad too!"
"Nymphadora Tonks, you do not speak to me this way!" Fudge snapped.
"Don't. Call me. Nymphadora!" she shrieked at him.
"Tonks!" Moody grunted, setting the rat cage down on the shelf as he pulled her back.
"Look there," Tonks spoke and pointed to Pettigrew. "There's Peter Pettigrew in the flesh. We've already shown you that the rat is an animagus. We've already confirmed that it's Pettigrew. And even Severus Snape agrees to bring forth a new testimony in this case. It'd be completely unreasonable if you don't reopen it," she growled.
"Ah, Miss Tonks did bring up two very good points Cornelius," Albus Dumbledore spoke up. "There's Peter Pettigrew, and Severus' testimony. They're both very valid evidence if you ask me," the headmaster added easily.
"I am the Minister and what I say goes," Fudge spoke through clenched teeth. "Black will not be given a retrial and that is final."
Tonks was about to speak when suddenly, Kingsley spoke up before her. "Sirius Black never got a trial to begin with Minister," the tall, broad shouldered black wizard spoke in his deep and reassuring voice. "When he was captured him, you briefly looked through his files and ordered immediate imprisonment to Azkaban."
"Keyword there being briefly," Tonks grumbled.
"Nymphadora," Moody growled and glared at her, warning her to behave. "You're making a big mistake here Minister," he then turned and spoke to Fudge. "Nymphadora and Alexis both have brought forth very valid evidence and it would be unjust to simply ignore them and send Sirius Black back to Azkaban."
"He is a Black," Fudge retorted.
Tonks suddenly though he'd just made a very grave mistake. She saw Alexis calmly push herself off the bookshelf and walked over to the Minister. Her cousin was so calm that even Tonks was a bit scared. The look in Alexis' eyes was cold and dark, threatening, intimidating. Fudge took a step back, looking at the young woman from the infamous Nobel and Ancient House of Black right in her eyes.
"Oh if only looks could kill," Tonks thought to herself.
"If I recall correctly Minister," Lexi spoke in a very cold and chillingly smooth voice. "I'm a Black too. And by tenuous relations, so is my cousin Tonks. Are you saying that we belong in Azkaban as well?"
"Do not play with my words Alexis," Fudge replied and that was the first time Tonks ever heard the Minister for Magic call her cousin by her first name.
"Oh but I'm not," Lexi smirked and there was something about that aristocratic hauteur of hers, something about that smirk of hers that sent a chill down the Minister's back. "You said it yourself because Sirius Black is…a Black. Isn't that right Tonks?"
Tonks stepped up and glared at the Minister. "You're making a mistake Fudge."
"This country does not need an unstable wizard out and about in the public where he is capable of hurting others," Fudge snapped.
"This country does not need a Minister who does not know right from wrong, is a complete attention whore, a right foul git, and an unjust, useless, and stupid, complete and utter douche bag!" Tonks screamed at him while her hair quickly morphed to a fiery red color.
"Nymphadora!" Mad-Eye and Kingsley both growled, worried for her.
"Nymphadora Tonks you are putting your job on the line!" Fudge retorted.
"Actually Minister you have no reason to fire her. See, she has the right to say what she thinks and feels about you, because she is a citizen of this country," Alexis replied as-a-matter-of-factly, her arms crossed and a wicked smirk dancing across her face.
"Your job is at risk too Alexis Black," Fudge retorted, his face growing redder.
"I believe not, sir," Lexi replied and Tonks recognized that smirk.
Having known her cousin as well as she had, Tonks would recognize that smirk on Alexis' face almost instantly. That was Lexi's rebellious smirk, basically her way of saying what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it when she got in trouble. That smirk was giving Tonks the idea that her brilliant cousin had thought of something, something that will save their jobs and save Sirius from returning to the mental asylum of a prison called Azkaban as well.
"I hope you haven't forgotten so easily, Minister," Alexis spoke, drawing out his title in a sneer, much like the way Snape drew out Tonks' name just to mess with her. "I am an Unspeakable working in the Department of Mysteries. The Department of Mysteries isn't controlled by the Minister. Rather it's controlled by the Wizengamot and to fire an Unspeakable would be a very daunting process."
"I am the Minister."
"Being the Minister for Magic doesn't give you control over everything, sir," Tonks added, now very closely resembling Lexi's rebellious smirk as well. "And besides, we have present very valid evidence that could no doubt prove the innocence of Sirius Black. This case is tried by the Wizengamot as well, not just you."
"It will not be reopened! The Sirius Black murder case has been closed and dealt with years ago! We will not dig up the files and retry the case just because of two reckless and suspicious women from lower departments in the Ministry!"
"Here that Tonks?" Lexi smirked.
"Of course Lexi. Which one do you think I am?"
"I'd say you're the reckless one," Lexi replied.
"Yeah me too. Merlin we sound so much like the twins," Tonks laughed.
"That's what happens when we tease them so much," Lexi smirked.
Watching her cousin smirk, Tonks again could read that smirk deeper than anyone else could. Lexi had an idea. And being proven from past experiences with the very rebellious and yet brilliant Unspeakable, Tonks was willing to bet her life that Lexi's spark of inspiration could really help them. She went along with her cousin and felt more confidence against Fudge. Maybe even through all this she could still keep the job she loves, and keep her cousins, both of them, safe, out of prison, and very much alive.
"Minister," Mad-Eye suddenly spoke up in a low, rough voice. "It would be a very bad decision to simply close the case without any good reasons."
"So you're saying that my reasons are bad, aren't you Alastor?"
"Frankly, yes," Moody replied and Tonks wanted to hug her old mentor.
The color in Fudge's face turned to a deeper red as he snapped his eyes back to glare at Alexis and Tonks who stood in front of him. Tonks held a finger up to him, pointing at him. "Unless you can come up with one good reason why a completely innocent man is not allowed a proper trial to win back his freedom…"
"He is a danger to society!" Fudge retorted.
"You are a danger to society if you keep this up!" Tonks snapped. She's had it with the man. "You are unreasonable and a complete and utter idiot!"
"Tonks," Lexi spoke from beside Tonks as the voice of reason. "Calm down."
"I will have your jobs for this."
"Try," Tonks growled at him.
"Actually Minister, what do you think would happen if you suddenly fire us without any valid reasons?" Alexis asked. "Because if I recall correctly, Tonks and I have done nothing wrong," she smirked. "And this case is under jurisdiction of the Wizengamot as well, not just you," she reminded the man in an icy voice.
"Wait until the public hears about this, how the Minister for Magic declined giving an innocent man a proper trial and instead wrongfully send him back to Azkaban. It wouldn't do too well for your public image, Minister," Tonks spoke, suddenly remembering that Fudge valued his public image more than anything. She smirked a smirk very similar to Sirius' and Alexis' when she saw that Fudge's face turned to a deep, crimson red, his lips pressed firmly together as he tried to hold himself back from exploding at her.
Lexi smirked at Tonks and turned back to Fudge. "The Daily Prophet, no matter how much influence you have over them, won't hesitate to actively publish such a wonderful story now would they?" she told him in an almost sickly smooth voice.
After that, Tonks knew what the one thing she had to add was. "And what if Rita Skeeter hears about this? She wouldn't pass up such a juicy story," Tonks added and she could see Mad-Eye and Kingsley rolling their eyes and sighing off to the side. That was the final straw.
Cornelius Fudge turned to a deep shade of red that Tonks didn't even think she could imitate even if she was a metamorphmagus. He looked like he could die out of anger soon. His fists were balled together, his knuckles white. His lips were pressed so firmly together they came off as a thin red line. He was speechless, and Tonks was waiting for what he was going to say. She knew the Rita Skeeter line probably did her some good, judging by how concerned Fudge was with his public image and Rita Skeeter could ruin him in one article.
"Alright," Fudge replied, finally giving up. "He will be given a trial."
"Thank you," Tonks replied cheerfully with too much glee.
"But heed my words," he warned bitterly. "The Wizengamot will look into this thoroughly and then once they make a decision, you will be convinced that Black has been tricking you the entire time," Fudge spoke through clenched teeth.
"Which Black are you referring to Minister?" Alexis teased with a dark smirk.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe if we are done here, we should come out and tell the others what the decision will be," Dumbledore spoke up calmly, warmly, and smiled at the girls. "Cornelius, I'll see you out," he smiled as he led Fudge out of the room.
Tonks could see Sirius and Silvia immediately stand up from the bed, along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Remus was still lying down, but his head snapped up once the door opened. Tonks had nearly forgotten that they could see the entire argument go down through the large window from Poppy Pomfrey's office. She sighed and was relieved when Fudge and Dumbledore left through the large doors of the hospital wing.
"Should we go and tell them the good news?" Tonks asked.
"I don't think it's that good of news, but we should still tell them," Alexis replied.
When they walked out the door, almost instantly they were surrounded by Sirius and the three children, asking what had happened while they were in the office. Tonks waited until Snape, Kingsley and Moody left as well, Moody carrying Peter Pettigrew in his unbreakable rat cage as he clonked away. Out of all people, Tonks felt comfortable entrusting her paranoid old mentor with that traitor.
"Mad-Eye, where are you taking him?" Tonks asked, wanting to know for sure.
"To the holding cell in the auror department," he grunted. "Don't worry, Kingsley's coming with me. This traitor won't escape. And Silvia, you stay here to watch over them."
"Tonks, Alexis, what you two did in there…" Kingsley began.
"Was stupid and reckless, we know," Tonks cut him off.
"No," he suddenly told them. "Was brilliant. Using what Fudge fears most to push him into agreeing with you," Kingsley grinned. "Yes it was reckless and stupid as well, but brilliant on top of that. Good luck," the tall black wizard smiled at them and patted both girls' shoulder. "Remus, feel better and take care. You three kids stay out of trouble…and Sirius Black, good luck," Kingsley smiled and nodded to Sirius before heading off.
Tonks grinned and morphed her hair color back to pink as she bounced over and sat down beside Remus' bed, smiling at him. He smiled softly at her, his eyes lingering on her looks and features as they were enhanced by the brilliance of the golden sun. To him, she seemed to be glowing. He couldn't stop smiling like a fool, and little did he know Tonks felt exactly the same.
"Lexi, Tonks, what happened in there?" Sirius asked.
"Well, Tonks just threatened the Minister for Magic," Lexi smirked.
"Are you crazy?" Sirius suddenly spoke and it was that moment that Remus finally saw the father…err motherly side of Sirius he'd grown to rather miss. The first time he saw this Sirius Black was many, many years ago when Sirius was showing off his cousins' baby pictures in school, Alexis first and then Nymphadora. "You could've lost your job! Unless you two have lost them already! You can't do that because of me! You love your jobs! Both of you!"
"Hey Tonks, is it me or is Sirius a lot like your mother when he scolds us," Lexi joked.
"Alexis Black this is no time to be joking around! I don't mind going back to Azkaban as long as you know that I'm innocent and that I never betrayed my friends or murder anyone, but you two can't lose your jobs because of me!"
Tonks laughed and that made Sirius hush up. "Relax Sirius, we're fine. We have our jobs still and we finally got Fudge to agree to give you a proper trial. We've got all the evidence we need. You're going to win this and get your freedom back," she smiled and in her eyes, Remus could still see determination, but a softer one with great assurance.
"Really?" Sirius, along with all others in the room asked with bright grins on their faces. Remus and Tonks noticed that even Silvia had the same reaction.
"Yes really," Tonks nodded. "Now Lexi, what do you think he meant during the last part when he mentioned the Wizengamot?" Tonks turned and asked her cousin.
"It means Fudge will use all his power and influence in the Wizengamot to make sure this case not only stays confidential, but goes his way as well," Alexis replied, crossing her arms.
"What? But he can't do that!" Hermione spoke up while Silvia sighed.
"He's the Minister," Silvia sighed and looked at Sirius with friendly, worried eyes.
"That's totally unreasonable," Hermione spoke again.
"He can't do that. It's not fair and Sirius really is innocent," Harry added.
"They have Scabbers, what are they going to do with him? Why do they still want Sirius?" Ron asked, joining in with his friends.
"It's not them, it's him," Tonks told the kids. "Fudge is worried that his public image will be tainted if the public found out the Ministry kept an innocent man locked up for twelve years with no proper trial."
"Isn't there anymore we can do to help him?" Remus asked.
Tonks turned to him and she hadn't realized that she'd taken a gentle hold of his hand. He tightened his grip around her small hand for reassurance. "We could work to be his lawyers."
"Hey, what's everyone worrying about?" Alexis asked in a calm voice. "Tonks, I hope you weren't just bluffing when you said wait until Rita Skeeter hears about this," Lexi smirked.
Out of everyone there, Tonks seemed to be the one who understood Lexi the most as she smirked as well. "Don't tell me…"
"I'm willing to get you in contact with Rita Skeeter, that is if Sirius doesn't mind a little publicity," she shrugged and smirked again.
"Hey, I'm already infamous with the whole Wizarding world," Sirius shrugged.
"And besides," Alexis added, crossing her arms and smirking again but that time, they all saw more of the Black family aristocratic hauteur in her than any time before. "Just because Fudge has influences over the Wizengamot, doesn't mean he's the only one. I work in the Department of Mysteries and the Wizengamot is the direct control of my department."
"Don't tell me you have connections to Wizengamot members."
"A few," Lexi shrugged. "But I know one we can talk to that will really help."
"God Lexi, you're brilliant!" Tonks grinned.
"Lexi, can you really do that?" Harry asked, grinning as well.
"It's not going to be risky or anything right?" Hermione added.
"Of course not," Alexis smirked. "And I think it's perfectly alright to do a little rule bending for the sake of something that is right," she smiled and nodded to Sirius.
"And there're no one who can bend the rules better than my two cousins," Sirius smiled, expressing his confidence and faith in both his cousins.
Tonks sighed and turned back to Remus. She didn't have to say anything for him to know that she was relieved and happy. Remus watched her, seeing that she was still glowing, and now with her bright grin she was even brighter in his eyes. Her bubblegum pink hair was brilliant and just the image of her made him smile. Remus could see the faith and confidence Sirius and his cousins had in each other. He wanted to feel the same one day, knowing that there would be somebody there to have your back during turbulent times. Somehow, looking in Nymphadora's clairvoyant green eyes, Remus found himself getting lost, and he slowly began to think that one day may be possible, even for him. Little did he know, Tonks felt exactly the same way.
Author's Note:
My computer's being a git, it wouldn't let me put my Author's Note on the top anymore -_-
Anyways, thank you everyone for reading and reviewing and favoriting and alerting! So I'm debating about having Peter Pettigrew escape again or not because as you see, his escape played a crucial part in the story of Harry Potter, and I plan on continuing with another story following "Life Like This" in the same ficverse. Well I don't know, what do you guys think, should Peter Pettigrew be free?
And one more thing, sorry it's been on my mind for a while. So I'm re-reading all my Harry Potter books again and I've been wondering if there's a difference between the American version and like the British version and such, because I see the word soccer in there often (The Sorcerer's Stone) and I'm pretty sure that only us people in America refer to the sport as soccer while everyone else just calls it football.
Anyways, sorry for the long Author's Note and my endless questions and wonders. Thanks for reading! ^_^