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.
Chapter 12: Reliving the Past, Part 2
Cont.
There were several moments of silence before Dora fainted, and Moody let out a barking laugh, while Amelia and Robards both were pale and nearly shaking.
Harry calmly drew his wand, Robards drawing his own as Harry flicked his casually, awakening Dora from the floor. Amelia saw the action, "Drop it, Robards."
Harry gave them a moment to process it. Moody had calmed down, and eyed Harry curiously, "How do you know this much? Hell, how do you know he is innocent?"
"I was wondering when you would ask." Harry took another drink of his water, taking time to be a little extra dramatic per Sirius' request. It was honestly a bit fun acting like this in his opinion, "I've been in contact with my godfather since October. First getting the truth from him, and then, helping him heal and obtain his freedom."
"You need to be arrested then." Robards stopped at Amelia's hand raising.
"Do you have evidence?"
"Plenty. I can give you the memory vials that show my mother casting the Fidilius charm, making Pettigrew the secret keeper. I can give you the same memories of the night of the attack, where Pettigrew's apartment is empty, and of Sirius being in Godric Hollow. I even have up until the blasting curse was cast, as well as him being stunned in his cell in the DMLE, and waking up in his cell in the maximum security wing of Azkaban."
"What about his trial?" Robards asked, now understanding the severity of the situation and how Harry wasn't in the wrong.
"He has no memory of a trial ever taking place. If one did, he wasn't present, or possibly he was unconscious or obliviated of the memory." Harry answered. "Which means he was staged to take the fall, or he was sent directly to Azkaban without a trial, something which even Bellatrix LeStrange was given."
"Fuck." Amelia rubbed her face, her monocle falling from her eye.
"If he had betrayed my family to Voldemort, as my sworn godfather, he would be dead, another bit of evidence that he was innocent. Those who take the godparent oath cannot harm their godchild or else the oath kills them, protecting the one that they swore to protect. I have the memory vial of him taking the oath as well."
Amelia nodded in agreement. Now Robards, Tonks, and Moody understood it better.
"I also have a written statement, which was made in Gringotts under a willingly taken truth serum, of Sirius recounting those nights and about him being made secret keeper, as well as stating that he had not killed Pettigrew and the muggles. He signed it in blood, sealing that it was the truth. If not, he would be dead. As he obtained nearly twenty copies after placing the original one in a safe place, it's safe to say that he was innocent."
Harry drew a single copy of the document, which Sirius had gone to Gringotts for a week prior and had made for a hefty cost, and passed it over to Amelia. Despite the transparent words declaring it a copy, it passed her spell check for authenticity, to her horror that the confirmation was even worse. She didn't even finish the second page when she tossed it on the table.
"The Minister won't accept it." Amelia replied, "He takes from Malfoy's pocket, though I can never prove it. He will bury this, and any evidence given for it."
"What did you do with the other copies?" Dora asked suddenly. "And if he didn't kill Pettigrew, what happened to him?
"Excellent questions. I'll answer the first, and wait for the second." Harry took a breath, "As you said, our esteemed minister would never accept the proof. Unfortunately, he has until tomorrow morning to accept it. At noon, when you arrived, eighteen copies were delivered to eighteen different news outlets globally, including The Daily Prophet, ICW Global News, The Quibbler, The Magical New Yorker, France Magical Press, and The Global Magical News. All of them have written articles about Sirius' escape, and were all likely excited about this document. I wouldn't be surprised if the Prophet did a special this evening and a repeat of it tomorrow. By tomorrow, the ministry will be a laughing stock on a global scale."
"On top of that, of those eighteen copies, six were sent to different international governing bodies, one to the ICW, and one to each of our own, France, Spain, Italy, and America. In the case that he is not immediately cleared of all charges, Sirius has requested asylum and requested the ICW put him on trial on an international stage, something which he has the right to do by the governing contracts written in order to be a state within the ICW. Either way, he will have his freedom. The only difference is if Fudge and the British Ministry are going to do it willingly, or by force."
"FUCK!" Amelia stood, storming around the room to calm herself. "And you gave me no warning? You couldn't have simply allowed me to handle this like it is my job to do?"
"And risk it being stopped. No. I will not have my rightful guardian and godfather killed because of incompetence, bureaucracy and a meddling old man." Harry said, magical pressure building in the room. "Please don't take it personally, Madam Bones. Sirius was certain you would believe him. Fudge and some of those in the Wizengamot have a vested interest in him being removed though. We couldn't take the risk."
"Damn. We are going to be in so much trouble." Dora muttered.
"Where is he?" Amelia demanded suddenly, "Where is the bloody arse?"
"Is he at risk of you attacking him?" Harry asked calmly. "Because the law-wizard we have hired has confirmed anything done against him is an attack on a Lord of an Ancient and Most Noble House."
"Lord?" She nearly yelled the word. "Of course! He is the last living male of the direct line. And who else would be able to make you the heir? If this couldn't keep getting worse. Fucking shit creek, and I have no paddle."
Harry failed to suppress his chuckle. "It will if this is fought, Madam Bones. I assure you."
"No. he is safe to appear here, and only here." Amelia said after a moment, yet she seemed far less than calm. Both Robards and Moody seemed hesitant, and Harry drew his wand.
"I assure you, any spell cast towards him without asking first will result in the caster being hurt." The threat hung heavy, but it was needed as Moody almost casted as Sirius shifted, standing behind Harry from where the dog had moved to.
"Hey Amy."
"Hey Amy?" she snarled, stepping towards him. It was amusing to watch Sirius take a nervous step back, before stepping behind the wary but amused Harry. "Is that all you bloody well have to say to me!"
"No, there is plenty more." He replied nervously.
"I should kill you, Siri. Absolutely, painfully, decimate you and vanish your remains for the hell you are going to put me through." She snapped out.
"I knew you would be angry with me, and I am sorry, but… can you really blame me for taking such an approach?" He asked softly. Apparently, it was the wrong thing to ask as she stormed up to the two, standing only a few feet away rather than the far side of the room.
"The hell I can!" She yelled, "I don't think Arcturus ever did something so heavy handed before!"
"He did. Several times actually… well, maybe not on such an international scale, but…" Sirius answered, forcing himself to be calm despite her clear anger, which seemed more personal than professional. "How do you think I created this plan? The hardest part was timing and coaching Harry on the attitude and speech needed, along with how to cast and use all of the wards so that Moody wouldn't be able to figure out that I was here."
A lie. Harry only needed to be taught how to use some of the wards properly, and how to steer the conversation. Once taught though, he had actually improved some of it and went beyond what Sirius was wanting.
She wrung her hands, taking deep breaths before forcing the conversation back on topic. "Pettigrew is still alive, isn't he?"
"Think about that for a moment, or just finish reading the document." Sirius replied. She picked it up, reading the second half.
"Shite." She stared at the cage. "Your guess was right then?"
"Verified it after Harry caught him." Sirius nodded, "The rat is Peter Pettigrew, the toe is missing on his front left paw. I knew he had survived the night he blew up the street in Swanley, but I could only guess as to where he went, and there was no way to prove my claims at the time. For all I knew, he revealed himself and focused on ensuring the truth never came out. It wasn't until the Weasleys ended up on the front page of the Prophet that Fudge gave me that I learned he was still alive after all of this time and actually hiding like a moron, and that he was near Harry."
"That's something I don't get." Dora spoke up, "Why would Dumbledore not fight for you to have a trial especially as he was the Chief Warlock and would have been involved or at least known what happened with you?"
Moody too, seemed confused at the old man's actions, Robards was only looking at Harry thoughtfully. "Control of the boy-who-lived? After all, it has been he who has made arrangements for Harry's care and controlled the information known about him."
Harry shook his head. "Personally, I don't believe Dumbledore has done anything intentionally wrong here. At least, he likely thought he was acting in both my best interest, and in not causing more headaches unnecessarily. With me, he sent me to my closest non-magical blood relations. They were terrible guardians, but still. As for Sirius, Bagnold and Crouch Senior could have forced him to agree on sending Sirius to Azkaban without a trial by putting pressure on him, or forced it to be a closed committee trial, meaning that either way it likely wasn't entirely his fault."
"Hell, they could have taken his mental breakdown as admission, declared him guilty, and just tossed him into Azkaban. And with Bagnold dead and Crouch likely not to talk, we'll not get answers." Moody added.
"For all we know, he knows as much as the public does as I wouldn't put it past Crouch to have just tossed me into Azkaban. Crouch never liked me due to my family name and he made that clear whenever he saw me in the Department. And as I deliberately kept Dumbledore and the Order from knowing the truth about the change in secret keepers, he might have thought it best not to try and press for me a trial with the assumed knowledge that I was the secret keeper." Sirius said as he collapsed into the chair next to Harry's.
"Sirius, that's a lot of…" Amelia trailed off, "You played a very dangerous game back then."
"I did it to keep my brother, sister, and godson safe, and I still failed." Sirius replied emotionally, "Dumbledore has still broken my trust, and he has done wrong by my godson in sending him to an uncaring muggle home at best, so he is also unaware of all of this that is occurring today."
"Of course. As the old saying goes, 'Blacks only trust their own'." Amelia muttered, before her voice picked. "This is going to be a shitstorm."
She took a deep breath, her voice becoming far more official and serious, "Lord Sirius Orion Black III, I, Madam Amelia Bones, hereby declare you free from any Ministry holding or suspicion in the attack and murder of Lord and Lady James and Lily Potter on the night of October 31st, 1981, as well as the murder of twelve muggles and twenty three counts of Breaching the Statute of Secrecy. As for the supposed murder of Peter Pettigrew, I declare you clear of any charge as the man is still alive."
She wrote on a pad she produced from a small but clearly enchanted bag, passing an official notice to him before changing to a different pad.
"I also fine you one thousand galleons for failing to register as an Animagus, to be paid within six months of today's date. Ensure that before you pay this fine that you have registered, or you may leave yourself open to further fines and possibly incarceration."
"As for returning to public appearances, please allow forty eight hours for this to be circulated through the public before making any appearances and to allow us to remove the Kiss-on-site order. Any compensation for the wrongs committed upon you by the Ministry of Magic must be filed for through the Wizengamot within a year from today's date."
A patronus flew through the window not a second after she finished speaking, a Lynx standing in the center of the room. "Madam Bones. Scrimgeour here, come to the DMLE immediately. We have a massive situation on our hands that has to do with Black."
Harry almost chuckled at the string of vulgar insults that flew from her mouth about reporters and paranoid innocent men, before sighing. "Is the cage charmed to be indestructible?"
"Of course." Harry answered, "May I make a suggestion?"
She glared at him, but he saw it lacked any heat. "Spit it out."
"He is legally a dead body. Call for an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot and invite the press. Present him, and then dose him with Veritaserum. It would be legal, and you could get a lot of questions answered that would otherwise be impossible to answer. Just make sure he is protected when you do it."
She stared at him for a moment, before nodding. "Perhaps you just managed to keep me from hating my niece's favorite male friend."
Harry only smiled at her, causing her to turn away from him and look at his godfather. "Sirius, try not to cause me more headaches like this. And next time, don't make your godson be so damn dramatic in his ventures."
"Sorry Amy. I promise next time to give you some warning. I just… I couldn't fail Harry again."
Moody had taken the queue and picked up Pettigrew, who was still inside the cage, before stuffing the unconscious rat into an expanded bag within his pocket. "Just makin' sure he doesn't escape. Worry not, he'll be punished."
"Good." Both Harry and Sirius replied.
"Cousin Sirius?" Dora spoke, everyone glancing at her. It appeared that Robards hadn't known the two were related, while the others merely were surprised. "For what it's worth, mum never believed that you would betray James. She always believed in you, as did I."
"Thanks Dora." Sirius said, "I'll make sure to write to her soon. We were always close after all."
"I'll write to you soon too." Amelia said softly towards Sirius, "Promise to write back?"
Sirius hesitated for barely a moment, before nodding. "Yeah."
With that, Harry disabled the wards, and watched the four aurors leave. "Do you think it went well?"
"Yeah." Sirius muttered, "I feel bad for tossing Amy under the bus though. It was necessary, but still…"
"What is with you and her?" Harry asked suddenly. He remembered that Sirius had mentioned her before his hearing after his fourth year, but not anything further.
"Ah… noticed that, did you? Well… we had a bit of a thing going up until a few months before everything happened. Lord and Lady Edgar and Samantha Bones were killed in August, along with three other members of the Bones family. Edgar and Sam were Susan's parents, and with the closest relations gone, Amy broke things off to care for Susan and to deal with her grief from losing her brother. We had only been together for a year, but still, I had been in love with her since I began interacting with her after joining the Auror Department a year after leaving Hogwarts."
"Oh." Harry muttered. "Is that going to be a problem for her clearing you?"
"Someone will no doubt bring it up, but it won't be. There were two other Master Aurors that had little affiliation with me, and Moody was always known to be the most neutral of the Aurors Corp. His word will quell any misgivings." Sirius replied reassuringly. "Now I can only be excited to return to the normal world soon, and maybe to the company of females."
Ignoring the suggestive tone at the end of that, Harry smiled, "Good."
"Exactly. So when do I get to know this big secret you've been keeping from me? And what do you plan on telling your friends when they ask how you've done this and why you kept it from them?" Sirius asked.
Harry sighed. Ron and Hermione were going to be pissed. Neville would probably only call him out for being reckless and not telling someone. Hannah and Susan… Harry shuddered. He had upset their favorite role model, and they weren't likely to be kind about it. "I'll handle them… as for the secret, well…"
"You promised you would tell me." Sirius cut in, making him feel guilty.
"You won't want to know, Sirius, not once you do know." Harry said softly.
"I will, and I promise it will change nothing between us." He replied.
"How can you be sure?" Harry knew his more childish self was rearing its head once more, something that was happening quite often.
"Because…" Sirius took a breath, before kneeling in front of him. "Look, I've never had a child of my own, nor can I now thanks to Azkaban, but… Truthfully, these past months have made me realize that I do have a son, not by blood, or at least, by my loins-"
Harry visibly cringed, causing Sirius to chuckle.
"Stop making me laugh, I am trying to be my name. I don't have a son directly, but you are my godson, and while I swear that I would never try and take Prongs place, you are a son to me, and I will always love and support you in your future, regardless of if your secret is that you are going for world domination and you want me help or if it is that you want to be a woman, because I am sure with enough research-"
Harry clamped his hand over his godfather's mouth, which was then quickly removed as it was licked. Harry glared for a moment before engulfing him in a hug.
"That… That means a lot. Thank you." Harry thought for a second, "Fine, I'll tell you tonight, but you will be horrified and shocked at what you learn."
"Great. I'll even take an oath to not tell anyone." Sirius said happily.
Harry stared at him for a minute, "Probably not a bad idea. Now come on. Let's get you back to the quarters. We can talk about my secret tonight."
And with that, Sirius changed and they left, the first of the weights falling from Harry's shoulder, only to be replaced by another one.