The morning of August 12th dawned foggy and wet. Hadrian and Sirius had a light breakfast before Jacob, Elizabeth and Theo flooed over to meet them before the trial. Once everyone arrived Jacob herded them all out the door and into the car that he had waiting for them. Everyone was tense and silent on the way to the ministry, as they listened to Jacob explain how the trial would be conducted.

They all piled out of the car when it stopped in front of what looked to be an old abandoned red telephone booth. Elizabeth held the door as they all squeezed in after Jacob. After Elizabeth had squished in behind them and shut the door Jacob picked up the receiver and dialed 6-2-4-4-2 and said all their names into the receiver.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please put on the visitors badges,' echoed a woman's voice from the phone held in Jacobs hand.

Jacob hung the phone back on the hook and five small badges popped out of the change return. Jacob grabbed them and passed them around. Hadrian looked at his, it read Lord Hadrian Potter, before pinning it to his robes. When they had all pinned on their badges the inside of the phone booth began to sink into the ground. At this point Hadrian nervously reached over and squeezed Theo's hand. After what was probably only a few seconds, but what felt like minutes the phone booth turned elevator came to a stop with a gentle bump. As they all spilled out Hadrian looked around amazed.

The ministry atrium where they had just arrived was just absolutely breathtaking to look at. It had dark highly polished wood floors, with dark wood paneled walls. The ceiling was blue with golden symbols that seemed to move and change. Along each wall were fireplaces that had witches and wizards coming and going from them and at the far end it looked like there were several lifts that were taking people to different floors of the ministry. But probably the most interesting of all was the large statue in the center containing golden statues of a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf. Each statue spouted a stream of water into a pool below it.

Hadrian found it fascinating if not slightly strange to look at.

Just as he was contemplating why the statue seemed strange to him Theo tugged him forward. "Come on Hadrian, we're next."

As they stepped forward, two aurors walked over and took Sirius by the arms. "Right this way Mr. Black," they said.

As Jacob turned to follow after Sirius he called over his shoulder, "we'll see you at the trial, it's in courtroom ten, I'm sure that Elizabeth knows the way."

Elizabeth nodded her head, "we'll see you there Mr. Brown."

When they approached the desk at the entrance of the atrium the wizard took each of their wands, examined them, placed a tag on the wand and returned it to its owner. Once they got through security Elizabeth led them into the lifts and and pressed the button for the basement. The lift arrived in the basement with a small bump and a soft ding. As soon as the doors opened they all piled out and rushed after Elizabeth to courtroom ten.

"Ah, here we are, with just enough time to spare," muttered Elizabeth as she held the door open for Hadrian and Theo.

They entered the courtroom and made their way over to the gallery seats. The courtroom was made of dark stone with several raised seats in a semicircle around the edges of the round room. These seats were filled with two witches and two wizards on either side of the center seat. Hadrian recognized one wizard as the minister Cornelius Fudge and thought one of the witches might be Neville's Gran. The seat in the center of the semicircle was a seat that was slightly raised. This seat contained a witch wearing a monocle with a serious look about her. A single straight backed chair sat before this gathering of witches, and behind this was several rows of benches. This is where Hadrian sat with Theo and Elizabeth.

Just as they sat down the aurors escorting Sirius burst through the door at the side of the room, quickly followed by Jacob. Sirius sat down in the chair at the center of the room while Jacob stood behind him just to the right.

The serious looking witch banged a gavel on the bench in front of her. "Beginning the case of Sirius Black, on the charges of the murder of James and Lily Potter, The murder of Peter Pettigrew, the murder of 12 muggles and being a death eater. Sirius, how do you plead?"

Sirius cleared his throat, "innocent, Madame Bones."

Madame Bones peered down at him "and do you consent to the use of veritaserum?"

Sirius nodded, "yes Madam."

"And do you consent to answer questions that will verify that the veritaserum is working?" asked Madame Bones.

"Yes madam," answered Sirius. "

Very well, please administer the veritaserum," directed Madame Bones.

An auror came forward and placed a few drops to the truth potion on Sirius's tongue. As soon as the potion was administered Sirius adopted a vacant expression and his eyes seemed to glaze over.

"Mr. Black?" asked Madame Bones "what is your full name?"

"Sirius Orion Black III" droned Sirius.

"Very good Mr. Black, and when were you born?" returned Madame Bones.

"November 3rd, 1959." intoned Sirius.

"Purfect, Mr. Black," spoke Madame Bones. Turning to the gathering of witches and wizards she directed "ask your questions, but please remember to be respectful of each other and Mr. Black."

Cornelius Fudge was the first to ask "are you a death eater Black?"

"No, never," mumbled Sirius.

The next question was "the deaths of the Potters, Peter Pettigrew and those 12 muggles is your fault, is it not?" This question was asked by a woman in pink, who Hadrian secretly thought looked a bit like a toad.

Sirius blinked in confusion, "yes, no, I don't know, I don't know" he mumbled.

Jacob stepped forward "Objection, leading question."

Madame Bones nodded, "Sustained, please rephrase the question."

The toad lady scowled "very well, Mr. Black, did you kill the Potters, Peter Pettigrew and those 12 muggles?"

Sirius frowned, "no, of course not."

"Mr. Black, If you did not kill them, then who did?" asked an old man.

Sirius squinted "Voldemort killed the Potters, Peter killed the muggles."

The witch Hadrian thought might be Neville's Gran leaned forward and asked "Who was the Potters secret keeper, Mr. Black?"

"Peter Pettigrew," intoned Sirius.

The witch nodded "And who killed the muggles?" "Peter Pettigrew," answered Sirius.

The toad lady spoke up "And you killed him for betraying your friends, didn't you Mr. Black?"

Sirius shook his head "no, he got away."

The old man asked, "Do you mean that Peter Pettigrew is still alive?"

Sirius nodded, "yes." At this a bunch of mummers broke out in the courtroom.

Madame Bones banged her gavel on the desk, "order in the court."

As soon as everyone quieted down Amilia directed the others to continue their questioning.

Mrs. Longbottom asked, "Mr. Black, who set the fidelis spell on the Potters home?"

Sirius blinked back tears, "Albus Dumbledore"

At this another shocked ripple of whispering echoed about the courtroom, but quickly died out, when the toad lady cleared her throat. "Hem, hem, Mr. Black if Peter Pettigrew is still alive, surely you know where he is?"

Sirius scowled "I don't know."

Jacob stepped forward once again "Objection, relevance."

Madame Bones frowned and turned to the toad lady "please explain the relevance."

The toad lady simpered "Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew were old school friends, surely they kept in touch, they could be working together."

Amilia blinked in shock "Miss. Umbridge, Mr. Black has spent 12 years in Azkaban, I doubt he kept in touch with anyone. Objection sustained, no relevance. Continue a different line of questioning."

Cornelius Fudge took this opportunity to ask "Mr. Black, how did you escape Azkaban."

Sirius droned "as an animagus."

Miss. Umbridge grinned gleefully, "are you an unregistered animagus, Mr. Black?"

Sirius quietly murmured "yes."

Lady Longbottom leaned forward "And was Mr. Pettigrew an animagus also?"

"yes" answered Sirius.

The old man questioned "what type of animagus is Peter?"

"A rat" scowled Sirius. After answering the last question Sirius blinked and eyes seemed to clear, "Madam Bones, I believe that the potion is wearing off."

Amelia Bones peered down at him over her desk, "very well, I believe that we have enough information to come to a verdict. Please clear the courtroom while the council comes to a decision."

Aurors stepped forward and led Sirius and Jacob into a side room.

Elizabeth got up and stretched "come on boys, we can join Sirius and Jacob in the waiting room."

As soon as they entered the room Hadrian launched himself into Sirius's arms, "you did great Siri, I'm sure that everything is going to work out just fine."

While waiting to be called back into the courtroom they kept the conversation to light subjects, mostly Hadrian, and Theo's wedding. They were all surprised when they were called back into the courtroom after only an hour of waiting.

As they filed back into the room and everyone had taken up their seats Dumbledore burst into the room. "Ahh, Amilia" said Dumbledore, "I'm so glad to see you presiding over this trial. Now I'm sure that this is all a big misunderstanding, I'm sure that If we just talk it out, we can all come to an understanding."

Madame Bones just stared blankly at him "Professor Dumbledore, this trial was scheduled for 8 am, it is now 11 am. The trial is over and I was just about to read the verdict. If you would like to hear the verdict you may take a seat and hear it along with everyone else."

Dumbledore twinkled "of course Amelia '' he took out his wand, and summoned a large plush armchair right next to Sirius's chair. "Please continue with the proceedings, Amelia" he directed.

Madame Bones narrowed her eyes at Dumbledore "Very well, Sirius Orion Black III is innocent of all charges, this includes the murder of the Potters, Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles, and the charge of being a death eater. Mr. Black will be rewarded 50,000 G for the false imprisonment of 12 years. Mr. Black will be required to register as an animagus and pay a fine of 2,000 G for failing to register. Mr. Black will also be required to attend bi-weekly mind healer meetings at Saint Mungo's. Court Dismissed."

As everyone began to file out of the courtroom, Hadrian, Theo and Elizabeth moved to meet Sirius and Jacob on the courtroom floor. As they finally reached them Hadrian and Theo both ran to hug Sirius in congratulations, momentarily forgetting about Dumbledore's presence.

That is until Hadrian heard Dumbledore say "Harry my boy, If I may just have a moment of your time, that would be lovely."

Hadrian turned from thanking Jacob for his help in the trial "If you need to speak with me, then we can speak here."

With a twinkle in his eyes Dumbldore implored "my dear boy, what I have to say really does need to be said in private."

Hadrian pinched the bridge of his nose "whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of my friends and family."

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to twinkle even more "Harry, I must ask that you return to your relatives, or at least come to the Burrow, with Voldemort back it simply is't safe for you…"

As Dumbledore was talking, Aurum who was once again curled around Hadrian's ear, hissed "I don't like the longggg beard man, sssmellsss like liesss."

"I am safe, I am not going back to my so-called relatives, nor will I be going to the Burrow," interrupted Hadrian.

"Harry, my dear boy, please listen" Dumbledore tried again.

"No, we're done here," Hadrian grabbed Theo's arm and pulled him toward the exit while the others trailed behind.

"See you in school, professor, I hope we won't have to see you in a courtroom again," Theo called over his shoulder.

When everyone made it back to the atrium they all used the floo to return to Grimmauld place where Kreacher had a congratulatory feast waiting for Sirius. As they ate, they laughed and joked, looking forward to the next day, when Hadrian and Theo would wed.