The Order of the Pheonix
Chapter Three
Xerxes Academy
Xerxes
Headmaster's Cottage
Chen and Remus rushed into the house, Chen handing off her nephew without a second thought to Remus' shock, as she reached for the phone. "I don't think I should be holding him right now."
"Of course, you should hold him, I need to inform others of this situation and I need to know exactly where he is." Chen replied without looking up from the directory she was flipping through quickly. Mei wasn't in her office this morning, instead in a meeting and Chen had to look up the correct number for the room. Alphonse was unavailable altogether until later this afternoon.
"No one would trust me with their child, Chen. Especially now, after I defended a murderer… betraying the limited trust given to me despite my condition." Remus said sadly, even as he held Sovann to his chest, relishing the rare opportunity to hold a baby.
"Sirius Black isn't charged with murder. He is charged with many things, but those that died, died in battle. It would be an insult to their memories to lessen their sacrifice in such a manner…you really must learn more of Amestrian Culture, over half of our students are Amestrian."
"In my culture, they would call what he did murder, and he used curses considered the worst out there to do it." Remus gave a shuddering sigh. "I still do not believe he intended to cause anyone harm, but he did in fact cause many to suffer." Remus refused to consider, even too himself, that for the curses to work one had to want them to work, at least in the moment.
"Let's wait until the trial is over before we pass judgement on the man. You told me he is your oldest friend and was always a faithful ally. Remember that, not what happened in the heat of the moment. That aside, no one blames you for any of this Remus. Sovann is perfectly safe in your care."
"I am a werewolf, Chen. No one is safe in my care." Remus muttered quietly. Chen looked at him sadly before she found the number.
As soon as the call picked up, Chen said rapidly into the phone. "Albus Dumbledore was once again inside Xerxes. I felt him just outside the gate of my cottage…. No, we are no longer there, I brought Sovann back to your house… Remus Lupin is with us, we should be fine until you arrive… yes, I will, thank you." Chen hung up before returning her attention to Remus originally intending to take her nephew back before she noticed the child tucked against Remus' chest nearly asleep. "Mei is going to call Edward Elric and Ling, she asked that you remain with me and Sovann until she and Alphonse can return. Since you are a magic user and trusted ally."
"She did not call me a trusted ally, that would be foolish. Not after everything."
"Well, she did, and so do I. Please, stay."
"I will. Umm, do you want me to put him down or take him back?"
"He's fine where he is, I'll make tea." Chen replied with a small smile as she turned away. Remus decided to just enjoy this chance to hold the child as long as possible. It really wasn't often someone trusted him to hold a baby. He remembered sharply how touched he had been when Lily all but shoved baby Harry into his arms the first time. He had never held a baby before that day, and it would forever remain one of his best memories.
Amestris
Central City
Trial of Sirius Black
A clerk slipped into the room as Jean Havoc explained in a flat tone the guards, he had placed around the Elric House to protect Winry, Riza, and the children. Havoc stopped speaking as the clerk approached the front and calmly whispered to Edward.
Edward then whispered to his father before excusing himself and walking out of the room, not waiting for his bodyguard. Roy, in turn whispered to Armstrong, who frowned greatly before with a simple nod and wave of his hand returned to the proceedings as Roy followed Edward with both bodyguards in tow.
Armstrong waited a few moments before he stood as well. "Apologies for the irregularity. We will have to finish the proceedings tomorrow."
Everyone in the court seemed confused and concerned even as the Council of Twelve followed the Fuhrer out of the room. Flitwick leaned over Sirius and whispered to the lawyer, asking what was going on. The man shook his head before replying "I honestly do not know. It is not done, ending a trial before everyone has spoken."
"What happens now?" Sirius asked quietly.
"For now, they will take you back to your cell. I will find out more of what is happening and come to talk to you as soon as I can. I believe everything is going as well as we can hope with all of this." The lawyer smiled reassuringly as the guards came over to escort Sirius away.
Fuhrer's Mansion
Amestris
Edward took the call as soon as he walked into his office, ignoring the stack of messages and files in his way as he sat on his desk. Chen, for all their differences, had long outgrown her flare for the dramatics much like himself. If she was as alarmed as the message sounded it was important to get a hold of them straight away.
Belatedly, he remembered he had not bothered to excuse himself of wait for Breda, which was likely to cause alarm for others, he would need to apologize to his father later. Chen finally picked up as he was thinking about this, and her tone of voice made him relax marginally. "You had an emergency out at the School?" he asked in his most polite tone.
"Dumbledore was here. Just outside of my cottage, he seemed to have followed Remus, though Remus was completely unaware of his presence. I wouldn't have noticed him if he hadn't moved closer to the fence while we were talking."
"Where is he now do you know?" Edward asked gripping the handset tightly.
"No. I scooped up Sovann and brought him inside as quickly as possible. I'm sorry we lost him but felt securing the baby was most important at the time."
"No, of course I agree. I will send people to try to track him. You might want to call Ling too, to get his people on it."
"Is it possible he was looking for information on Black? He moved closer as we were discussing the trial and I wondered if that was the reason for his carelessness at least."
"…I will find out." Edward said before he hung up. With a growl of frustration, he shoved the stack of his desk before he sighed heavily and bent to scoop it back up as Breda entered the room with a knock.
"I've got this sir, go take care of whatever is going on, The Fuhrer is awaiting an update." Breda offered.
Edward nodded, and headed toward the apartment as he thanked the other man. It would take a while to get the files back in order, he realized with a tinge of regret at the extra work his anger had made for is assistant/bodyguard. Roy was waiting for him just outside of the apartment, a frown of concern on his face. Edward silently leads the way inside. Though he would prefer the children not overhear this conversation, he didn't want anyone else to overhear it either. Risking a mole in the staff was a bigger concern than his kids asking too many questions.
"Dumbledore was in Xerxes again. Cloaked and hidden as before. Chen noticed him when he came too close to the cottage where she was outside with Sovann and Remus. Chen fears he was in search of information on Black as well as the usual Yuery crap."
"What do you think? You have spent time with him, as unfortunate as that was." Roy asked as he poured two cups of coffee and offered one to Ed before adding cream to his own.
"I honestly do not know what to think, but I'm going to ask Severus for that serum he mentioned before. The one that makes the drinker tell the truth, then we can ask Black directly what he knows. If they were working together that leads to more problems." Ed stirred sugar into his own drink while frowning at his Father's choice.
"We agreed that was unethical." Roy said smoothly, not giving away his own opinion on the subject.
"Desperate times and all that. After all, it is unethical to use a spy network to gather information to take down a corrupt leader too, but it got us out of the hands of a literal monster."
Amestris
Prison Alchemists Section
Sirius waited to hear more about what had happened anxiously. He was concerned something happed to Harry with how quickly they had left earlier, and with no explanation. Neither that lawyer nor Flitwick had come to see him yet though both said they would which added to his stress. He had tried to appear unaffected for as long as possible, but soon found himself pacing his cell as worse and worse scenarios played in his mind.
Finally, just as he was about to risk trying once again to use his blocked magic, his lawyer- Joneson or Jordanson, something like that- walked into the cell, followed quickly by a concerned looking Flitwick. "Mr. Black, I need you to be completely honest with me, have you been in contact with a Albus Dumbledore?" the lawyer asked quickly.
"No! Dumbledore is the cause of all of this, why would I bother to speak to him?" Sirius growled. "What happened, did he come for Harry?"
"No, he did not come anywhere near here. It is my understanding that he is magically bound to remain outside of Amestrian Borders, though he can travel as far as Xerxes and possibly Ishbal. He was spotted in Xerxes a short time ago. The Fuhrers wish to question you on your involvement in the matter. They have requested that you would summit yourself to a truth potion for the questioning. Would that be something you are willing to do?" asked the lawyer.
"You have time to think about it Sirius, Mr. Jameson can ask them to give you time. I know from prior dealings both Mustang and Elric are perfectly reasonable people, I'm sure they would grant it to you." Flitwick added. It took Sirius a moment to realize he was referring to the lawyer, but he didn't need time anyway. A truth potion was perfect. It was the best way to prove to them all he meant no harm and he only wants to protect his godson. Perhaps then they will finally see reason and allow him to take Harry to safety.
He doesn't voice any of this, instead nodding slowly before agreeing "I'll take the potion, I have nothing to hide."
Amestris
Fuhrer's Mansion
Apartment
Yuery and William slipped silently back into their room after listening to the conversation between their Dad and Yeye. Clearly, Dumbledore was after Yuery again, and possibly their young cousin Sovann from what they had heard. This terrified Yuery more than anything else that had been said, because if these people tried to use his family as leverage to force him to help…he knew that even his father threatening to ground him for life would not stop him from doing as they asked.
William could sense his brother's fear and understood the root of it. For as long as they have had contact with the wizard world, this had been something their parents had feared. These wizards were going to keep coming and coming forever until they got what they wanted out of his brother and it scared William too, because he didn't want to lose his brother.
"We don't know that Sovann was a target. It could have been nothing but an unfortunate coincidence that Sovann was there. Aunt Mei and Uncle Al don't let other people watch over him very often after all." William said, mostly to assure himself. Yuery was not so easily soothed, not when he had seen the lengths Dumbledore had gone to before to get to him.
"I will not join them. I may not have a choice but to help them though. Not if they threaten the others or you. What kind of brother would I be if I just let that happen…or cousin for that matter?"
"Brother, I beg you, let Dad handle this, he's been dealing with these people as long as we've been alive. Maybe longer, he knows how to handle them."
"You heard what they said Will, they are going to go against their moral code and give that Black guy something to make him tell the truth. This guy was close to Sovann, so close he could overhear a private conversation from the sounds of it. I think… I think they are going to force me to help them and there isn't anything Dad can do about it."
"Yes, there is, I have several already in place plans in case the wizards find a way to make more trouble for us. Your Dad has even more as far as I know." Yeye said from the doorway before he entered the room. "I need you to stay clear of this Yu, because if your father has to come rescue you it will invalidate most of our plans altogether. I know, better than your Dad it seems, that there will come a day where you will have to fight. If not these English Wizards, then some other threat. That day, however, is not today. Stay well away from Dumbledore, and Sirius Black. At least until we know what we need to do."