Chapter 38
LB
"Take a seat, Remus." Dumbledore smiled.
"I'm good here." He said standing behind me, his hands on my shoulders.
"Right, let's get this started then." The minister said. I looked to him with a frown, he was looking at Remus in disgust, like he was covered in slime. "I already heard a version from Harry Potter and his friends. But I want to hear your version."
So, that's what I did. I recounted the events of that evening, going over them step by step. Twenty minutes later, I took in a deep breath when I finished. I tilted my head to look at Remus, who gave a supportive smile. Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at me, and Fudge... well he still wore a scowl like a champ.
"Do you mind if we retract the memory from you?"
"No!" Remus said, his hand tight on my shoulders. "She's still recovering."
I reached up and placed my hand over his. "It's okay." I looked to the minister. "You can even try legilimes or put me under Veritaserum. Nothing I said is a lie."
"It won't come that far, isn't that right, Fudge." Dumbledore voice was soft but stern.
"Right, no, just the memory then." He gave a reluctant nod. He stood up and reached for his wand. Remus moved fast in front of me, blocking the minister from view.
"I'll do it." He said decisively. Or in other words. Don't touch her.
Fudge looked from Remus to Dumbledore when the headmaster gave a nod, he sighed and slumped back down. Remus shifted so he was crouching down in front of me.
"Tell me when I need to stop." He asked softly. I nodded, and when he took his wand, I closed my eyes. I felt the tip of his wand at my temple, and I thought about the events of that night, as he pulled the memory out. My brows knitted together from the pain that coursed through my head. I felt Remus hand shake and he tried to pull away, but I locked his hand in place. He grudgingly proceeded to pull the memory out. When he was done, I leaned back against the chair, not ready to open my eyes. Remus leaned forward and placed a kiss on the top of my head before standing up. I heard chairs scrape the floor as Dumbledore and Fudge stoop up. I lifted one eye open and saw the pair walking to a large pensieve in the corner. Remus took his place behind me again, his hands resting on my shoulders. I closed my eyes again and let me head fall back.
"Are you okay?" I hummed in response, not really sure what to answer. "I'll take you back soon, cub. You're doing great."
LB
When the two of them sat back down on their respective seats, I opened my eyes again. Dumbledore looked pleased, but Fudge looked at his notebook with a frown. They sat in silence for a bit as he scribbled down.
Remus cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but Alec needs her rest."
"We're almost done, Remus." Dumbledore smiled.
"Even though your story matched the memory, I need to ask. You are Sirius Black's daughter, why should we believe you? Maybe you just want your dad out of prison."
I scoffed a little. "Remus is my dad." I felt Remus squeeze my shoulder softly. "He was the one who raised me and choose me. Black is a stranger to me. He never wanted me. He never wanted anything to do with me and my mum. If he was guilty, why would I lie for him? He means nothing to me."
Fudge looked at me for a moment, trying to find out if I was lying. When he found what he was searching for, or gave up finding something to lock him up, he sighed. "Right, with your testimony I believe Sirius Black is innocent and was falsely imprisoned. I'll go over to the ministry with Dumbledore, and he'll be a free man by tonight."
"Thank you, minister." Remus held out his hand. Fudge reluctantly took it, giving it one shake before he stood up.
"Minister?" I asked as I lifted myself up from the chair. I held tight on the back of the chair as I became dizzy. Remus noticed this and looped his arm around me again. "Can I ask? Why didn't you take Harry and his friends at their word?"
"No one would believe them, miss Lupin-Black. They are thirteen years old; they could lie to protect his godfather."
"But you could've taken their memories."
"They are too young. You are almost off age, so it's not dangerous to take a memory from you. Also, your teachers vouched for you. From Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. You have a clean slate." In other words, Harry and his friends got into trouble a lot over the past years. "The one that persuaded me the most was Professor Snape. He took me aside after you all came back from the castle and requested to speak to me."
I knew Remus and I both wore the same look of surprise from this development. We both didn't say anything, so Dumbledore stood up and walked with Fudge to the fireplace. They both gave a nod as they stepped in. Fudge's eyes were dull while Dumbledore's eyes sparkled.
"Let's get you back." Remus said as he turned back to me.
"Yeah." I whispered; the pounding of my head worsened. I felt my knees buckle before they gave out. Thank Droiturière that Remus had a hold on me, otherwise I would've crashed to the ground. I felt Remus pick me up before it went dark, again.
LB
I woke up on the same bed in the hospital wing. I felt a hand around mine, and I opened my eyes and followed the arm that was attached to it. Remus was dozing off in the chair next to my bed. I smiled at him as his head lolled to the side.
"I told you to get some sleep."
"Sleep is for the weak." He said with a tired smile as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand.
"And now you're the weak one." I pointed out, squeezing his hand. I heard a laugh come from my other side, and I was surprised to see Sirius Black sitting there. Not just sitting there but freshly washed and in a set of new clothes. He had his feet propped up onto my bed as he leaned his head against his hands that was folded behind it.
"Goodmorning, love."
I turned back to Remus. "What is he doing here?"
"He-" Sirius started. "Wanted to make sure you were okay. And to thank you, because if it wasn't for you, he would be in Azkaban."
"I did it for Moony." I snapped at him. I leaned my head back against the pillow, closing my eyes.
"Can either of you explain the whole dad thing?" My eyes snapped open, and I turned to look at Remus wide-eyed, away from the curious Sirius Black.
"I told you... later." Remus growled at his friend.
"It is later. You said when we could talk when she woke up."
"That doesn't mean a few seconds after it happened." He rubbed his hand over his face. "Can we not do this now, Sirius. Can you give us a moment?"
Sirius looked like he was going to object, but he picked up his feet from the bed and stood up. "Fine, I'm going to see Harry."
"You do that." My voice snippy. He looked at me with a slight scowl, not knowing why I acted like that, but he walked out of the hospital wing without another word.
"Don't worry." Remus said as he cast a privacy charm around us. "Harry won't say anything. I told him and the others to keep tight lipped about everything. For now, you are Alec Lupin."
"I like the sound of that, dad." I smiled at him. He gave me a warm smile back as he took a place on the edge of my bed. "Won't he hear stories?"
"No." He shook his head. "He isn't allowed to roam the castle just yet. He is freed of all charges, but it won't be published until tomorrow. And we don't want to scare the hell out of the students." He chuckled lightly. "He can only go here, or in the room adjacent of the hospital wing."
"You nearly gave me another heart attack, cub. Madam Pomfrey was besides herself when I came back in with you unconscious in my arms. The moment Dumbledore was back in the castle, she marched up to him and gave him an earful. It was a sight to behold." The smile on his lips warmed my heart. He was happy, happy to have his friend back after so many years.
"I helped him." I blurted out. "Sirius Black, I mean."
"I know."
"You do?"
"Sirius filled me in when you were asleep. You never told him who you were?"
"No." I shook my head. "Just introduced me as Alec, someone who transferred to Hogwarts this year. He asked about Harry a lot, and you." I said, leaning against my pillow as I stared at the flecks on the ceiling.
"If he knew... he would want to know more about you too."
"We both know that's not true. If he wanted to know anything about me, he would've tried to contact me in the years before he was thrown into Azkaban." I lowered my head, until my eyes found his. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. You were so busy with work, Scotty, teaching Harry to produce a Patronus. And I- I was afraid-"
"Afraid I wouldn't have believed you, or believe that Sirius was innocent?"
"Yeah."
"I probably wouldn't have, not without real prove."
"So, a bound and gagged Pettigrew is enough proof?" I grinned at him.
"Just enough." He laughed. "And you don't need to apologise, I understand." He squeezed my hand. "What do you want to tell Sirius?"
"I don't know." I said with a frown as I looked at my lap. "He'll find out eventually." I sighed, rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands. "Tell him the truth, tell him you took me in when I was four years old. Tell him you raised me as your own, and that you are my dad. Because you are." I pointed out with a smile, which he reciprocated. "The tapestry, is it still there? In Grimmauld?"
"I would be surprised if it wasn't. Why?"
"School's almost over. I don't want to see him when he finds out. When does he leave?"
"Tomorrow morning. But I don't know if he'll go to Grimmauld, he loathes that place."
"Can you just tell him to go there? And when he sees the tapestry... He'll see my name, and know it was me he abandoned all those years ago."
"Alec." His voice was soft.
"No, I want it to happen like this."
"Alright. I'll talk to him in the morning before he leaves." He suddenly smiled at me. "You ready for some company? There is a group of people waiting for you just outside those doors." He pointed to the large doors of the hospital wing.
"Yeah, but not for too long. We both need to sleep."
He leaned over to kiss the top of my head. "I'll be back in an hour to shoo everyone away."
I chuckled as he winked. He walked over to the doors and talked to the group outside before he disappeared from view. It was all of two seconds before the group bursts in. They were pushing and shoving each other as they ran over to me. But being the twins, with their long legs, they made it first. It looked like they were going to fling themselves at me, but it was the contrary. I never had such a gentle and sweet hug from them before. They kissed my temple simultaneously, their arms around me. The butterflies in my stomach roared from their touch, and I pushed them down. I couldn't like them both, I just couldn't. It can't choose between the two, they both made my heart flutter for the same and completely different reasons. When they pulled back, I smiled as I pushed back the blush. The twins' smile was small, worry all over their faces. Before they could say something, Draco pushed Fred away.
"She is my cousin." His blond hair appeared in my sight. "Hey, cous."
"Hey, Draco." I smiled as he hugged me, still a little awkward for him.
"Professor Lupin came to get me. How are you? I need to send mum a letter."
"I'm okay." I chuckled at the young boy.
"Move, Malfoy." Angelina shoved Draco aside, but not in a rude matter but a playful on. Angelina's hug was the biggest as she didn't shy away from wrapping her arms around me tightly. "Don't ever do that to me again!" She chastised me.
"I'm sorry. I'll try to not get thrown against a tree again." I rolled my eyes.
"Good." She said as she sat down on the bed next to me. George took Sirius's empty seat and Fred sat down next to him. Draco took place on the end of the bed. "How long do you need to stay here?"
"I don't know but school's almost over, so won't be too long."
"What are you doing this summer?" George asked, his eyes, just like his twin, fixed on me, edged with worry.
"My uncle and I are going to go to France for a month." I knew they were making small talk. They all evaded the elephant in the room. The elephant named Sirius Black. But I was happy none of them pressed for answers. I don't know what they heard or what Remus or Harry told them, but I was happy about the light conversation.
LB
After an hour of talking about everyone's summer plans, OWL results that had yet to come and the next school year, Remus walked back in. He ushered everyone out. After kisses on the cheek and hugs, they reluctantly left the hospital wing. Remus hopped on the bed next to me, and without a word, Madam Pomfrey walked over giving a sleeping draught for the both of us. We both drank it and fell asleep in an instant.
I woke up with a dry throat, the sun was low in the sky. I pushed myself up in straight position and let my feet dangle over the edge of the bed. A large glass of water was sitting on my nightstand. A few large gulps and the glass was empty. I sighed happily as I jumped off the bed. My head felt much better now. The door opened and Harry and Sirius walked in laughing. The anger subsided when Harry's face lit up when he saw me. Black looked from a grinning Harry to me as Harry nearly ran to me. He flung his arms around me, hugging me close.
"I was so worried."
"I'm okay." I smiled as I pulled back. Harry had a fierce blush on his cheeks which made me chuckle a little. Black was watching the interaction with raised eyebrows. "Don't be too loud. He needs his sleep." I said pointing with my thumb over my shoulder to point at a sleeping Remus. I took Harry's hand in mine and guided him on the bed. I sat with my back against the pillows, while Harry took the other side. Sirius Black took the same chair as earlier.
"So, you're an Animagus."
"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" I snickered and he shrugged. "Yes, I am. Became one three years ago, for Remus." I saw Sirius Black lean forward with interest. Harry saw it too, and since he knew he wasn't supposed to say something he changed the subject.
"Hermione and Ron wanted to come see you too. But Madam Pomfrey wouldn't allow any more to come in."
"It's okay, I'll talk to them tomorrow. How's Ron's leg?"
"All fixed. Madam Pomfrey is a miracle worker."
"Harry... about me being an Animagus. Can you keep it to yourself, all three of you?"
"Professor Lupin already asked us too, don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."
"Thank you." I reached over and squeezed his hand. "Care to fill me in what happened while I was out?"
"I think you did the most memorable thing, convincing Fudge of Sirius's innocence. But -" He said as he started telling everything that had happened the last days. About the fact that he was locked on top of the tower, freeing Buckbeak, casting a full Patronus to shoo of many Dementors. At some point, Remus had woken up. He looked much better after a few hours of sleep. After he checked on me, he joined the conversation, all talking about anything but... I saw that Black was watching me and Remus with great interest. He was probably trying to figure out, how, who, when. I was a bit nervous by the thought that Remus was going to tell him tomorrow, but I tried to push the thought away, just as I did a few hours ago from the twins' strong arms around me.
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Two more chapters and the end of Part 1 is complete!
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I don't know if any of you are interested but I've posted my first chapters of an original story on FictionPress/Wattpad/AO3 - If you do have an interest in reading this you can find me there under the same username.
Goodnight everyone ;D