Azkaban
Jane sat in her office at home, a single thin file sat on the desk. The name on the file read Sirius Black. It was November 1, 1990 and Sirius had been in Azkaban for exactly 9 years. The Ministry of Magic had a new minister this year. Much to Jane's displeasure, it was Cornelius Fudge, and his undersecretary was Dolores Umbridge. Fudge was a proud and power hungry man. He was also among those who had captured Sirius and because of his pride he refused to even consider the possibility that he was mistaken. She had hoped that with a new minister it would be possible to formally reopen Sirius's case for investigation. However, when Fudge had become the new minister she knew it was futile. Of course she had still tried and was, as suspected, denied. In fact, if it weren't for Madam Amelia Bones, they would have gone back on the agreement she had made with the Wizengamot 9 years ago saying if she had found evidence they would open and hold a trial.
In the 9 years of her searching for answers, she had found nothing. And over the years she had started to lose hope and begun to have the occasional doubt. However, she still held the belief that something was amiss whenever she thought of the events of Halloween 1981.
The file in front of her was one she had read a million times over, she probably had it memorized. A majority of its context were things she had already known, like his profile with his description, biography and familial relations. The file also listed every encounter he had with Death Eaters whether it was because of his part in Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix (not that the ministry knew it was the Order), or his part as an Auror. The last of the paperwork in the file contained a report for the death of James and Lily Potter dated October 31, 1981 and the Deaths of Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles in the early morning of November 1, 1981.
Jane knew the names and ages of every single muggle by heart:
Wendy Bell 24
Robert Cornwall 35
Terrance Cornwall 8
Clemmie Cornwall 32
Dougal Evans 57
Gregory Green 41
Adrian Fletchley 22
Ella King 17
Kitty Perks 21
Wilfred Stimpson 31
Lionel Thomas 19
Ethel Warren 63
She also knew that Wendy Bell had been married to a wizard, Charlie Bell, and had a daughter who had started Hogwarts this year. Jane knew Charlie, as he had been in Gryffindor a couple years above her and even was a chaser with her and James on the Gryffindor quidditch team. She had run into him at the ministry a few years after his wife's death and had tried to avoid speaking with him but he had reached out to her and assured her that he felt no ill-will towards her and also expressed his condolences to her. He had told her what everyone else had said, that it had been quite a surprise to find out that Sirius Black had done such a thing.
When Charlie heard that she was trying to get him a trial and possibly prove his innocence he didn't call her naive and say that she was wasting her time. He didn't get mad that she was possibly trying to free the man that supposedly killed his wife. Instead he smiled and whispered to her, "Good. I hope you find something because it's quite horrible that there was no trial. I would have liked to see more answers too."
In fact, if it wasn't for that whispered statement years ago. She would have given up by now. Everytime she lost hope or was frustrated from the lack of progress she made, Charlie Bell's words came to mind. She wasn't the only one who needed real closure.
There was a soft knock on her office door that she barely registered. The door opened quietly and Jane still had not looked up. Remus carefully crossed the room and looked to see what she was working on. Although he had a feeling he already knew.
"Find anything?" He asked.
"You know I could've been working on top secret ministry business," She replied, hardly even glancing up.
"And if you were, you would have told me about it anyways." Remus replied with a smirk. He straightened himself up and moved back to make himself comfortable on one of the couches in the office.
"Nothing new," Jane said, ignoring that last statement and answering his first question. "It's the same thing I've known all along, they should have checked his wand."
This was something that Remus had heard her say plenty of times. According to the muggle witness accounts no one actually saw Sirius Black cast a spell. Most say that it happened too fast to tell what exactly he had done. All they knew was that Peter had shouted about Black's betrayal and the next thing they knew there was some type of explosion. All those muggles memories were wiped immediately after giving a statement. The only eye witness that Jane could question had been Charlie Bell, since as a wizard he obviously wouldn't need his mind wiped. And he had said that he had not heard or seen Black cast a spell. He even specifically made sure to tell Jane that he had not even seen any sign of spell come from Black's wand. It was probably this testimony and the fact that they never checked Sirius's wand that made Remus begin to understand why Jane was so persistent in granting Sirius a trial. He of course was still a little hesitant but that was possibly because he knew that if he dared hoped that Sirius was innocent and it turned out he really wasn't then he would have to feel the sting of betrayal all over again.
"You asked Mr. Ollivander if he could repair his wand, haven't you?" Remus asked even though he knew the answer.
Jane sighed and closed the file. She stood and joined Remus in the sitting area of the office. She sat in an armchair next to where Remus had decided to stretch out. As she sat she shoved his legs off her nice couch, forcing him to sit up. He, of course, complied but not without a childish snort.
"Yes." She said shortly. "And even if the ministry allowed me to access Sirius's wand. And if Ollivander could fix it. The wand's original memory might not be there. And that's only if he can fix it which he most likely can't."
"I don't see why they won't give you the pieces. Doesn't Hagrid have the pieces of his wand in his umbrella?" Remus said.
"You're really going to ask me that?" Jane said.
Remus knew of course. The ministry seemed to be going out of their way to have Jane just drop the matter. But they didn't know her like the Marauders and their friends did. She was every bit as stubborn as her cousin, James Potter. (Who spent 7 years chasing after his wife.)
They sat in a short silence before Jane sighed and slumped forward.
"I've done everything I could possibly think of and I'm not getting anywhere." Jane groaned. "I don't even have enough to prove him guilty if I wanted to. I can't think of anything else I could possibly do. I don't know where else to even look."
"Everything?" Remus asked skeptically.
Jane looked up from her hands at him.
"Yes!" She exasperated. "You think I haven't?"
Remus raised his eyebrows at her.
"There isn't anyone you can possibly think of that you have not talked to yet? Remus said. He looked at her meaningfully.
Jane stared at him confused before it suddenly clicked. She gaped him.
"Sirius?" Jane said. "You want me to go to Azkaban to talk to him!?"
"Well I'm not exactly wanting you to go Azkaban," Remus responded. "But weren't you the one who wanted to talk to him 9 years ago?"
"Well yes but you're the one who told me not to!" She exclaimed and pointed at him accusingly.
"Yes. But might I remind you, you were pregnant with the twins at the time." Remus quipped back. "Who knows what the dementors could have done to your pregnancy. And no matter the outcome of such a visit, you would be returning home to take care of 2 babies and a 12 year old on holiday from Hogwarts. No offense but even you wouldn't be able to handle that kind of physical and emotional toll."
Jane sighed. She supposed that was true.
"Yes well I may not be pregnant this time but I'll still be coming home to a house of children and that's basically the same thing." She argued.
"All of them are older now. And I'm sure I could distract them for the whole day and if I can't do it by myself I'm sure Mary would be more than happy to help." Remus countered.
"There's also the matter of the ministry actually letting me visit him in Azkaban." Jane argued again. "They are completely opposed to me doing this. And you have to be a high status ministry official to be permitted."
Remus gave her a hard look.
"Jane," he said slowly and incredulously. "You are literally the Queen of Wizarding England. No one has a higher status than you. You shouldn't even need permission."
"By meaningless blood title only and besides that never stopped them before." She mumbled.
Remus personally thought that that was because Jane never took advantage of her status. Only doing her part holding her seats in the Wizengamot. And that since the start of the Wizarding War it had been kept secret who the Heir was so that after the death of Jane's parents no one but high ranking ministry officials, noble purebloods who kept an extremely close track of such things, and her closest friends knew. To a majority of the Wizarding World Jane was known mostly as James Potter's cousin or the poor wife of Sirius Black. Even after the war had been over for several years, she had not been formally announced as the Queen, much to the public's disappointment and curiosity. But Jane insisted it remain secret for the time being for the safety of her children and the Potter's children. Their family was enough in the spotlight without such a title.
Meaningless title, as if. He scoffed in his head.
Remus still wasn't quite sure why Jane was arguing against this so much. She had been so insistent to see Sirius all those years ago. And Remus knew that she was still just as insistent to bring him justice even though she was at a loss of what to do. He just couldn't figure out why she seemed so hesitant.
"What's wrong?" He decided to directly ask her. "I thought you had wanted to talk to him? To get him a trial?"
Jane bit her lip and refused to meet Remus's eyes. She felt the tears of frustration that she had been trying to hold back start to prick at her own eyes and blinked them away.
"I do." She said softly. "But it's been years. What if I'm too late? What if he doesn't want to talk to me? Or he thinks I abandoned him? Or what if I'm wrong and he really did kill all those people?"
She started to cry. Remus stood from his seat and went to hers. He crouched in front of her and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. There it was. He knew something had to be holding her back. She continued to sob and rant out her fears.
"What if he hates me? What if you were right and he never did love me?"
Remus interrupted for a moment at that.
"Oh Jane," he said. He shouldn't have been surprised that she remembered him saying that the night Sirius got sent to Azkaban. "I never should have said that. I was just upset and that's not an excuse. Look I don't know what happened with Sirius or if he's innocent or not. But he loved you. And he could never hate you. No matter what he's done. And no amount of time can change that."
Jane continued to cry for a few moments before hiccuping and speaking again.
"What if the dementors drove him insane? What if he can't speak to me? What if I'm too late?" She muffled into his shirt.
"Jane," Remus said softly. He kept his hold on her and singled for the house elves to come and bring them some hot chocolate. After her sobs subsided a bit he spoke again.
"Sirius Black is much stronger than that."
It had taken a few days to arrange Jane's visit to Azkaban. It had been surprisingly easy now that Amelia Bones was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. As soon as Madam Bones had heard her request, she immediately granted permission. When the minister found out he tried to step in but Madam Bones would hear none of it. Fudge had attempted to stop her claiming that Jane would help Sirius escape or that Jane didn't have high enough status in the ministry to be approved to visit Azkaban at all.
"If Barty Crouch Sr. can visit Azkaban with his sick wife, Lady Jane can visit Azkaban anytime she would like." Madam Bones has ended the discussion with that statement. She immediately began making arrangements for Jane to go.
Jane had made a few arrangements of her own. Both Harry and Avalon would be spending the next couple of days with the Dursley's. While her own three children were in London with Sarah Potter. None of the children knew what Jane was doing, just that she would be working on confidential ministry business and needed some space for a few days. Remus thought that it would be better for the children to not see their mother (or godmother) after such a visit. Visiting Azkaban on its own was enough of a task without adding the emotional baggage of visiting a spouse. It had been decided that Remus and Mary would not be hosting the children for the day, but rather they would be ready to support her upon her return if necessary.
She now stood on the island that inhabited Azkaban with a small team of 3 aurors and 2 hit wizards. The team had been picked by both Jane herself and Madam Bones. Normally there wasn't much effort that went into such a visit, but given Jane's status and who she was visiting the Ministry thought it was necessary. Jane had picked Alastor Moody to accompany her. Moody was a famous and exceptional auror and he also didn't always agree with the methods of the ministry and with him was a trainee auror, Hestia Jones. Jane recognized her as a friend of Sarah's. It was likely Sarah, an auror being trained by Moody herself, who recommended Hestia in her place.
Kingsley Shacklebolt was the other Auror. Jane remembered him from Hogwarts. They were in the same year and house. And while he didn't share a dorm with the Marauders, he still knew them well enough. Jane was glad he was one of the other Auror's, despite not being as close to him in school, she felt that she could trust him.
The two hit wizards had volunteered themselves immediately upon hearing Jane's plan. One of which was Charlie Bell. Jane wasn't sure if she should be surprised by his willingness or not.
The last member of her escort was Emmeline Vance. She had been one of Jane's closest friends in Hogwarts along with Mary. (Actually all the girls in her year had gotten on surprisingly well and were incredibly close.) It was only because of Emmeline's job as a hit wizard that she hadn't been able to come and visit Jane at home as much as Mary or Remus. However, unlike most of those coming with her to Azkaban, Emmeline had known since the beginning about Jane's attempt to get Sirius a trial. In fact, whenever she could get away with it, she would sneak Jane any information she knew. She had known about her plans to go to Azkaban almost immediately after Jane and Remus's discussion in her office the other day.
Emmeline grabbed Jane's hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Are you sure about this?" She was asked quietly.
Jane nodded, unable to speak through her fear and nervousness, which had magnified since arriving on the cold island. The waves crashed against the black stone. And the leftover mist from the waves sprayed her face. She felt the air grow colder and shivered.
She heard three things that kept swarming through her ears. "The Potter's—" "their son—" and now Peter Pettigrew—" "Sirius Black did what!?"...Maniacal laughter filled the atrium silencing all conversation.... Jane lifted her head at the easily recognizable sound searching for its source.
"Expecto Patronum!" Came the cries of 3 people. The only one Jane could recognize at the moment was Emmeline Vance, who had one arm wrapped around her holding her up.
Silvery light burst through the air. Jane could now see Auror's Moody and Shacklebolt also with their wands pointed at the hooded dementors flying overhead looking for fresh humans to feed off of new memories. Jane felt the cold subside slightly.
"You alright there, Potter?" Shacklebolt asked, used to using her maiden name even after all these years.
"Black," Jane corrected automatically with a hoarse voice. But still nodded in response.
"We can turn back if you'd like?" Emmeline questioned.
"No we've come this far." Jane said.
"She's right," Moody grunted. "Let's go. Get a move on. We aren't here for sightseeing."
He led the way into the stony prison. Charlie Bell and Hestia Jones finally got out of their shock and produced a patronus charm as well to help keep away the numerous dementors. Jane however just clutched Emmeline's arm. She wasn't sure if she could think of a happy enough memory to make a charm right now.
When they reached the high security cells Jane kept her eyes cast down to avoid having to look at the prisoners, many of which were shrieking at them, especially Moody (who was the reason most of them were in there).
Up a head Moody banged his staff on a cell.
"Get up, Black," he said gruffly. "You've got a visitor."
Jane finally looked up as Moody moved away from a cell a little ways ahead. She heard a rustle of thin fabric.
"Well, didn't expect the minister to want to speak to me," came a hoarse voice. The voice sounded unused to speaking. It was almost unrecognizable. "Usually just walks straight through."
Jane froze after the sound of his voice. Her heart ached at the sound. She wasn't sure if she should run to him. She wanted to. But after all these years she wasn't sure if he wanted to see her. But as soon as she saw waxy and bony arms slip casually through the bars of the cell she stumbled forward in a hesitant half-run. Tears already forming.
