AN:

A couple of things:

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this but this work is cross posted onto Ao3

disclaimer I do not own harry potter.

I do plan on doing their hogwarts years, this will probably be a series and this one will probably their first year.
_

The Case of Sirius Black

Jane blinked her eyes open and instantly shot up. She was not at home. She scrabbled for her wand.

"Jane! Jane! It's ok!" Came the calming voice of Remus Lupin.

Jane looked around. She was in the small infirmary of the aurors office that was used when they got hurt but not severely enough to make a trip to St. Mungoes. Remus sat slumped over in a chair next to her cot. He looked more tired than she had ever seen him which was saying a lot. She reached for his had that was held out to her and she held it like a lifeline.

"Remus. What happened. Where are Jazlyn and Avalon? Sirius! Where did they take him?" She asked desperately.

He sighed and ran his hair through his hair. The action somehow managed to make him look even more tired then he did before.

"Jazlyn and Avalon are safe with Mary," Jane relaxed a little bit at his response. "But...how much do you know?"

"I- what?" She asked.

"Do you know what happened?"

"I know that Voldemort somehow found James, Lily, and Harry. And he, well he, ki- oh Harry he didn't get a chance. And then Sirius was here and then they took him and why would they do that? Sirius we have to get him—"

Remus cut her off by putting his hand up.

"Jane. Harry's fine."

"What!?"

"He survived somehow."

"What!? how is that possible? I don't understand."

"I don't really understand either. Dumbledore said he'd explain when you woke up."

"But what happened?"

"I believe I can answer that." Dumbledore said as he stepped into the room. He peered down at her through his half moon spectacles. The twinkle in his eyes were back at least a little bit. She was pleased to find that he didn't look at her as cold and calculating as he had done earlier. "But first, my dear, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I just want answers," Jane said curtly.

"Very well." Dumbledore said. "I don't know how much you know but last night Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow. He knew where James, Lily, and Harry were. He tried to kill all of them. But when he tried Harry. The curse rebounded and he hit himself instead."

"So.., Voldemort is gone?" Jane said.

"For now. But I think he'll come back."

"That doesn't make sense," She paused. "But how did he find them?"

Dumbledore shared a look with Remus before turning back to her.

"Jane," Remus said cautiously with a pained expression. "Do you know who their secret keeper was?"

"Sirius of course. That's why we were in hiding as well." She said. "But what's that got to…"

She trailed off when she caught the cold and betrayed expression on Remus's face. No. She looked at Dumbledore whose face looked darker than anything she'd ever seen.

"No." She whispered. "He couldn't, he wouldn't…"

Dumbledore nodded.

"NO!" She stood up and started yelling again. "There has to be a mistake."

Dumbledore put his hand up. Between him and Remus doing that. She felt like she was back at Hogwarts being reprimanded by half the faculty.

"Jane," Remus said bitterly. "There is not mistake."

She got mad and glared at him. "How—"

"Jane." Dumbledore cut her off again. She really wished they would stop doing that. And that they would stop saying her name like she was a poor child who didn't understand.

"There's something else that happened you should know."

She froze. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like what he said next.

"Sirius Black. He killed Peter and 12 muggles."

"WHAT?"

"He killed-—"

"I heard what you said!" She shouted.

The room quieted for the first time since she woke up. She took a shaky breath.

"I just don't believe it."

"I didn't want to believe it either," Remus said.

Jane looked at him. She now knew why he had looked so dejected and tired. Sure Remus always looked tired. But that just came with being a werewolf she thought. But even after seeing him on mornings just after the full moon, he was always the first one to cheer everyone up. Out of all the marauders, he was always the first to push aside all of his problems to support you with yours. She felt bad for being a little harsh with him. He had lost all of his friends in one night. Sure Jane had too. But the Marauders. They were something else. She and Lily always joked that marrying one of them meant marrying all of them. In a way it was true. For the past 10 years you hardly saw one Marauder without another one. Jane had thought that nothing could tear apart the Marauders. But here she was.

No! She thought. She knew that there was still nothing that could tear apart the marauders. Something was right.

"Where is he? Where's Sirius?" She said. "Somethings not right. I need to talk to him."

"You can't," Dumbledore said.

"And why not?"

"He's been given a life sentence in Azkaban."

"WHAT!? When was his trial? Why did none of you wake me!? Just how long have I been knocked out?"

"There will be no trial, Jane," Dumbledore said. "The evidence is stacked against him."

"No trial! Why not? Everybody gets a trial."

"Multiple witnesses saw him kill Peter and 12 others and even you admitted that he was James and Lily's secret keeper. There is nothing that can be done, Jane."

"Nonsense! There are always two sides to a story."

She couldn't believe the amount of injustice she heard. She knew Sirius. He wouldn't unless there was no other choice to make. He wouldn't do anything like what she just heard unless perhaps her own life or his daughter's life was in immediate danger. Sirius had absolutely no regard for his own sake. No doubt the situation they were in now was because of some rash thinking on his part. A heartfelt, well meaning plan that wasn't completely thought through.

She looked at the two men before her. Dumbledore was looking mildly angry but she didn't care. Remus just slumped back into his chair and was staring at the floor, the doubt evident on her face.

She huffed and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Remus asked.

"I'm going to get Sirius a trial."

"You can't—" Remus started.

"You can't stop me." She said firmly.

"No I mean. You can't go looking like that," he said, knowing that she was right about not being able to stop her. "You're still in your nightgown."

An hour later she found herself in courtroom 10 in front of the whole Wizengamot. She was dressed in black and silver suit robes with her hair pinned up to make herself look professional. She would have come as soon as she was changed but Remus made her eat something as it was 3 in the afternoon and she hadn't eaten the whole day. As much as she hated being delayed, he was right to do that. She placed a hand to her stomach. She definitely needed to eat.

"What is it you wanted Mrs. Black," Barty Crouch Senior spat out her name with disgust. "We are very busy with numerous Death Eater trials today."

Jane was not deterred by his harsh and judgemental tone. She stood before them as calm and collected as ever.

"I am here to request the trial of Sirius Black."

The courtroom broke out in whispers.

"That won't be necessary," Barty Crouch Sr. said. "A decision has already been made."

"A decision based one what?" Jane questioned.

"Sirius Black was seen committing the murder of 13 people."

"So you say."

"So the multiple witnesses say."

Jane was getting frustrated. She worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's Improper Use of Magic Office. Before going into hiding her job had been to investigate situations in which a witch or wizard performed illegal or dark magic. She often worked with aurors after they captured someone to make sure they had caught the right person. Even if the person was as guilty as Sirius seemed to be, her whole job was to figure out the entire circumstance in which an event of improper magic occured. Even while in hiding, she still worked for the office. Doing more paperwork than active investigation, but still well involved. Not to mention that she would sit in the Potter or Black family seats of the Wizengamot when James and Sirius were unable to do so while holding her own seat as a representative of the (somewhat former) royal family since she was a direct descendent from King Arthur. She knew how the law and the process for sentencing someone worked.

"Has a proper investigation been done?"

"An investigation is not necessary, Mrs. Black," Barty Crouch Sr snarled at her.

"Then on what evidence do you have to sentence a man to a life in Azkaban?"

"Your husband," he spat as if the word would intimidate her, "was found at the scene of the crime!"

"Being found at the scene doesn't mean anything!"

"There are multiple eye witness accounts of Pettigrew yelling at Black for the betrayal of the Potters and Black! He had his wand pointed at Pettigrew! There are 12 Bodies and do you know the only left behind of Pettigrew? A FINGER! Perhaps you'd like to take a look at those? How much more evidence do you need!?" He had started yelling at her as if she had committed the crime.

She held back her tears of grief and frustration. She would not let Crouch see how much he was getting to her. It hadn't even been 12 hours since she found out about James and Lily and had hardly been 2 hrs since finding out about Peter and Sirius. And here Crouch was screaming at her like she was on trial. She hadn't had enough time to fully process what was happening. Sure Remus and Dumbledore had told her what happened but Crouch's account was harsh and unfiltered.

"As harsh as it is to say, bodies don't tell you what happened and words can be biased! Who were the witnesses? Muggles? They only see and comprehend so much if they don't already know magic!" As he got louder so did Jane.

"What more evidence do you want?"

"Did you even check his wand to see what the last spell used!? Questioned Him!? Checked his arm for the Dark Mark?"

"If he was a spy why would they mark him!?" Crouch huffed.

"And his wand!?"

"It's been snapped!"

"IT'S BEEN SNAPPED!? Did you even use prior incantatum!?"

"Look, we've already told you, we've collected everything we need to know. I'm sorry but Sirius Black is guilty," Millicent Bagnold, the Minister of Magic, cut in. Her expression softened. "My sincerest apologies. I know this must be difficult for you and your family."

She appreciated the Minister being more sensitive than Crouch, but she still wasn't happy with the approach. She made to respond but a cough interrupted her.

"Hem, hem."

Oh no. Jane looked up and saw the twisted face of her boss, the head of the improper use of Magic office sneering down at her.

"Perhap Mrs Black is so insistent to get a trial because she herself was involved," Delores Umbridge said sweetly.

Jane tried to remain calm. Of course, she should have expected that comment to come sooner or later especially from her. The room was going off in chaotic whispers with everyone arguing with each other. Finally Dumbledore stood and interjected.

"I have already spoken with Jane, she was unaware of any of the events that took place until a few hours ago. I will vouch for her."

Jane wanted to yell and scream at him. He'd stand up for her but not Sirius!?

"Please all I ask is to be allowed to do an investigation and hold a trial," Jane pleaded once more.

Crouch looked like he was going to go off again. But the minister cut in.

"Can you perhaps provide us any reason or do you have any further evidence that might suggest that Sirius Black was not a Death Eater? We've spoken to Albus Dumbledore and others acquainted with the Potter's who confirmed he was the Potter's secret keeper. And given that he was completely unharmed after the incidents it appears that he gave their location willingly. If you have reason to suggest that he was not their secret keeper, we might have reason to look further into the incident regarding Pettigrew and the muggles."

Jane thought for a moment. She had not come prepared with anything concrete. She doubted they would simply just take her word that there must be some kind of mistake. The thing is, she couldn't deny that he was Lily and James's secret keeper. She knew for a fact that he was. But she also knew that Sirius would rather die than give them up. There had to be something she was missing. She just couldn't think of what that would be.

"No at the moment," she hesitated. "but if you just let me talk to him or give me some time-"

"Talk to him and time for what? To come up with some elaborate plan and excuse!?" Crouch said. "If you have nothing now you're wasting our time."

"How can you expect me to have something now when it just happened today and I just found out about it!?" She retorted. "I have simply just been asking for a trial date and time to investigate."

Crouch looked ready to explode when Amelia bones, the jr head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, interjected.

"Perhaps a more thorough investigation wouldn't hurt." Madame Bones said.

"It would be a waste of time and resources," Crouch said.

"I can just do a private investigation with my own time and money," Jane insisted. She was thankful for Madam bones. At least someone here had a head on their shoulders.

"Hem, hem."

Or not.

"I don't think that is a good idea, Umbridge said with her falsely sweet voice. "I think we can all see that she cannot put her emotions aside. Any investigation done by her could not be trusted. She will be biased."

Once again the courtroom erupted with arguments. Crouch hit his mallet to regain order.

"If you have no real reason to counter his sentencing then we will not grant him a trial," he said.

Jane tried to keep her composure. Really she should have suspected this. She should have waited until she found out more.

" I propose," Madame Bones said, "if you can provide us with sufficient evidence and reason to reconsider, we can grant him a trial. However, until then he is to remain as is in Azkaban."

"Excuse me!?" Crouch roared. Jane thought she could see smoke coming out of his ears.

"I cannot in good conscience send a man to Azkaban if he is innocent," Madame Bones replied calmly. "I too do not like the thought of sending anyone to Azkaban without a fair trial. If there is evidence of his innocence his case will be reopened."

AN:

Not gonna lie. I'm not exactly pleased with this chapter. I know it's not exactly my best work But I hope you enjoy.

-mel