The next morning Daily Prophet was indeed interesting, as Harry had claimed. There on the front page was the most sensational story of the decade.

"SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT

In what can be assumed to be biggest breaking news in this decade, the alleged mass murderer Sirius Black was found to be innocent. Yes, dear reader. We were as shocked as you are with this news. It has come to light that Sirius Black was innocent of his perceived crimes for which he was unceremoniously sent to Azkaban. What's more is that it has also come to light that Sirius Black was never given a trial by the ministry back when he was incarcerated. He had been straight away shipped to Azkaban on the orders of the then Chief of the DMLE, Barteimus Crouch Senior, who was known to have tough stance against death eaters.

According to the statement released by the Ministry of Magic last evening, Madam Bones, the chief of DMLE, and Minister Cornelius Fudge were called to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by the Deputy Headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall. She was approached by the defense professor, Remus Lupin who told her that Peter Pettigrew, the wizard thought to have been killed by Sirius Black about 12 years ago is alive. Professor McGonagall and Madam Bones apprehended the fugitive on the grounds of the school and informed the DMLE and the Minister.

She also found out that Peter Pettigrew is an illegal animagus and takes the form of a rat. He has been in hiding masquerading as a student's pet for all those years and it is believed that he intended to cause harm to Harry Potter who is also known as the boy-who-lived.

Madam Bones, when contacted, told that Peter made statements during the investigation under veritaserum which followed and made some very startling revelations which include that he was a death eater and had been branded shortly after he graduated from Hogwarts. It also came to light that he was behind getting many of the honourable witches and wizards being killed which include the likes of the Potters, Edgar Bones and his family, Dorcas Meadows, Benjy Fenwick, the Prewett twins and so on. It also came to light that opposed to what has been believed yet, Sirius Black was not the secret keeper to the Potters but Peter Pettigrew was and he gave the secret to you-know-who.

The ministry has declared Sirius Black innocent and invites him to present himself to Madam Bones so that formalities can be completed and his acquittal be made formal."

There was another news in the lower half of the newspaper which attracted Harry's attention. It read:

"Sirius Black: A pureblood Lord thrown in Azkaban without due process?

It has come to light that Sirius Black was thrown in Azkaban without the courtesy of a trial at the end of the war which is a violation of his rights as a wizard first and a lord later. Being the last male heir of Black remaining descending from the main family line, he was supposed to become the lord of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black.

This act of throwing him to Azkaban violating his rights and without any trial is a grave miscarriage of justice which would hound the ministry in the long run. The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black has been known to carry grudges for perceived insults to their honour and dignity and some backlash from the same can be expected.

The ministry, it is hoped, will recompense him for violating his rights and some even go to the extent to opine that Sirius Black, when exonerated will take his seat on the wizengamot. Whatever may happen, we can expect some tumultuous days ahead in the political arena."

Harry sighed as he finished reading the news, "They can't end things without a bit of controversy, can they?"

Hermione, who was sitting beside him said, "It is shocking to know that someone was thrown in Azkaban without a trial. How did he even survive there? Did the Dementors not affect him?"

Harry said, "You heard the minister that day in the Three Broomsticks, Hermione. He told Flitwick, McGonagall and Rosemerta that Sirius Black seemed to be same as ever."

"Harry, will you meet him once he is free?", Hermione asked him.

"Why?", Harry asked her, apprehensively.

"Harry, he is your god-father", she reminded him.

"I don't even know what that means", he told her, "I have not known anyone as family except the Dursleys and they make it pretty clear that I am not family for them.

"Harry, I don't know about the muggle world but here, god father is a position of honour", said Neville who was sitting beside him.

"What do you mean Neville?", asked Hermione.

"God father in this world means that the one who is appointed so has a duty cast upon him. It is his duty to take care of the child for whom he is named godfather and he cannot shrink away from those duties. It is only offered to those who are very close to the family and who can be relied upon if something were to happen to the parents. And if a godfather does not have children of his own then his god children stand to inherit from him", Neville explained.

"How do you know so much about it?", Hermione asked him.

"I may not look like it but I am a pureblood heir, Hermione", Neville said smiling, "The Longbottom family is ancient as the Potter, the Greengrass, the Blacks."

"The Potters?", Harry asked him, "What do you know about my family?"

Neville asked him incredulously, "You don't know? You know nothing about your family? I mean I know you live with you muggle relatives but I thought they would have told you."

"The muggles know nothing about my family, Neville", said Harry, "they hate magic and everything related with it."

"I am sorry, Harry", he said, "I didn't knew it was so bad. Is that why you don't have your heir ring?"

"Heir ring?", Harry asked, "What is that?"

"Harry, mate, every child who is supposed to inherit from the head of the family gets a ring to wear. That child who becomes the head of the House later is called the heir", Ron explained.

"How do you know about it?", Hermione asked him.

"Hermione, I am a pureblood. I may not show it but we were made to learn these things because some of my great aunt and uncle insist on all the traditions that are followed in the pureblood families", Ron explained to her, "My father may not hold a seat on the Wizengamot but he is still the head of House and Bill is the heir. He wears the heir ring which bears the Weasley coat of arms."

"How do you get this heir ring?", Harry asked.

"Generally the Head of the House gives the heir ring to the heir when they come to 11 years of age. Since there is no head of House of your family, you will have to go to Gringotts and ask them to give it to you. I had thought that you knew about it and chose not to wear it", said Ron.

"I didn't know anything Ron", Harry explained to him tersely.

"Mate, you need to ask someone who is your guardian about why you were not told these things", said Ron, "And you should see the goblins in the summer and ask them to give your heir ring to you. I guess they will also tell you about your vaults."

"Vaults? As in more than one? But all I have is the vault that I use for my education", Harry said.

Neville snorted, "Your family is old, Harry and with the amount of money that they had I would wager that you have more than 1 vault. The vault which you use to withdraw money from is a trust vault which is opened for the heirs and used by them to fund their education. It is supposed to be refilled every year."

"You mean all the time that I thought that I had only that much money as was in the vault is refilled every year?", Harry asked him.

"Yes Harry", explained Neville, "That vault is refilled from the main vault, I guess. Your family was very secretive but our families were friends in the past and I know they had many businesses which bring in money for your family regularly."

"Can you tell me more?", Harry asked him.

"I don't know much, Harry but I think my Gran would know. I will ask her", Neville assured him.

Hogsmead

The woman on the bar in Three Broomsticks had just opened for the day when she saw the newspaper and it got her thinking. She had known James Potter and Sirius Black through their time at Hogwarts and knew they were thick as thieves. She never would have thought that Sirius Black would betray James Potter but that was what she had been made to believe. In fact, she was ashamed of the even harbouring the thought. If she could meet Sirius right now, she would apologise to him in a moment.

Suddenly she heard whimpering and saw the great black dog walking in the inn. This was a stray who had taken likeliness to Rosemerta in the last few months. She didn't know where it had come from but she had only noticed it in the village on one fine morning months ago. Since then the dog had remained around the village and at times, came in the inn. She had seen how emaciated the dog looked and whenever it would come, she would give it some food to eat. In fact, the dog had started to love her and came around more often. She could swear at times that the dog perfectly understood her and what she was saying.

"Hello there! Where you have been the last few days?", she asked of the dog, knowing it would not reply back, "It's been a few days that you have been in. I thought you had left the area."

The dog obviously did not speak but waited for the kind woman on the bar to feed her. She put a plate of food in front of him and the dog devoured it within minutes.

After he was done, Rosemerta put her arms around it and showed the paper to him, "See what has come in the newspaper. Sirius Black is innocent. Looks like Peter Pettigrew fooled everyone. He didn't even get a trial when he was arrested. I can bet if you could speak you would have exclaimed loudly over it."

Unknown to her, the dog was intently staring at the paper and seemed to be reading the news. As it kept reading, it got more and more agitated. Suddenly it stood and bolted for the door.

Rosemerta called after it but it appeared that the dog was not hanging around to listen.

The dog was running towards Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry intent on reaching the school and see his godson. The boy who had stolen his heart the moment he was born. That boy that looked distinctly like his best friend. The boy who was the reason that made Sirius Black break out from Azkaban. The boy who was his pride and joy. He had to see his pup.

The dementor attack

Harry Potter was walking in the grounds and knew that the Dementors weren't yet moved from the castle. What they were waiting for, he had no idea. Since there was no threat to his life, they should have left for Azkaban. May be, the Minister hadn't yet got around to get those infernal creatures back to the island prison.

He didn't knew but he was nearing the Whomping Willow when he felt the air beginning to chill. This was April and the air was supposed to be warm instead of chill like early coming of winter unless...

A thought jolted his mind. Unless the Dementors were attacking someone!

"Sirius Black! They are attacking Sirius Black!" he thought as he looked up and saw the Dementors gilding towards the lake. He ran in that direction, having pulled out his wand. There was no definite plan in his mind but that he had to save Sirius somehow. They were going to kill the only person who was somehow linked to him and his parents.

He could see the Dementors swooping in and surrounding a man who looked emaciated, worn robes which were torn, a big forked beard which was matted, his eyes looked haunted and the man couldn't even resist the fiends. He had fallen down on the ground and a dementor was sweeping to administer the kiss!

"NO!" Harry shouted mentally, "That cannot be! They can't kill him."

Before the Dementors could administer the kiss, Harry had pulled out his wand and shouted, "Expecto..."

His concentration wavered as some of the Dementors flew towards him, trying to kiss him too. With determination in his voice, he roared, "EXPECTO PATRONUM."

Prongs burst forth out of his wand and head butted the oncoming dementor so hard that it went sprawling.

"There", Harry shouted as if expecting his patronus to follow his commands and the patronus understood. It ran in the direction that the Dementors were rushing the man who had fallen on the ground barely moving. The patronus started chasing the Dementors away from them as Harry walked forward majestically towards the fallen man, intending to save his god-father from the fiends. Harry could feel that his power was ebbing but he was determined to hold on the power and chase away the fiends as long as he could.

The Dementors were incensed. The youngling had tried to interfere between them and what they saw was their food. They were unforgiving, ruthless creatures who didn't know mercy. They knew that the youngling could not keep up the charm which was keeping them at bay. They remain on the edges waiting for him to faint from exhaustion which was going to happen soon. They could already feel the charm dimming and as the youngling sat on the ground, exhausted, they swooped in for the kill.

Headmaster's office

Albus Dumbledore had three jobs in the wizarding world which required his full commitment and he tried to do justice to each of his roles as best as he could. At this moment, he was in his office and pondering over Sirius Black and what his being free would mean.

Sirius Black had always been loose cannon, to be honest. Even when he was a student at Hogwarts, it was him who led his group of friends in any mischief that they planned. He was brash, abrasive and he was very good with a wand. He was an excellent wizard who knew about so many things that others his age didn't.

Albus knew it was probably Sirius's idea that James and Lilly should make Peter the secret keeper and that way they would be able to fool others. However that idea had ended badly for him and his friends. Five lives had been devastated with his single decision. Jams and Lilly were dead. Sirius had to spend 12 years in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit. Remus Lupin became an outcast who could not hold on to a job despite being a very talented wizard. Lastly Harry Potter became an orphan who had to grow with a family that didn't love him. If Sirius had stopped to think for a moment before he went after Peter Pettigrew and brought the boy himself to Dumbledore, told him that he was not the secret keeper then things would have been different. He would have let Sirius raise the child because Sirius was resourceful and powerful enough to deal with Tom's followers. He also would have been helped by Remus Lupin in the task as James, Sirius and Remus were practically inseparable. But he had gone after Pettigrew to kill him and extract justice for James and Lilly.

Now that Sirius Black was free. He of course would come to Dumbledore and ask him for the custody of his godson. He will hand over Harry's custody to him without any objection whatsoever but he would have to explain to Sirius about the conditions that existed and why Harry have to be kept with the muggles for at least two weeks a year. May be, he could also ask Sirius to stay with the boy during that time and the muggles would get a taste of the medicine they had been feeding Harry since childhood. Yes, that would be some justice. However he was digressing. First they would need to find Sirius Black and see what condition was he in before they could make any decisions about him. Sirius could also help him with something that needed to done because unless it was done, Harry Potter's life would not be safe.

"Headmaster!", cried Sir Nick who had just come gliding in, "Harry Potter's life is in danger."

Albus was up in a moment, his wand in his hand, "What has happened?"

"The Dementors are attacking him and another man at the Black Lake", reported the ghost, "Harry Potter will not be able to keep them at bay for long".

Albus was shaking with rage and Fawkes took off from his perch. As he disappeared with Dumbledore in a flash of light, the next moment they were near the Black Lake.

It was the moment that the Dementors were about to administer the kiss to Harry and the man who laid near him.

Wasting no time, Albus raised his wand and roared, "EXPECTO PATROUM."

A massive phoenix burst out of his wand and glided towards the Dementors, chasing them away. Soon the phoenix was joined by a Wolf conjured by Remus Lupin and a tabby cat conjured by Professor McGonagall. Within a few minutes, all the Dementors were fleeing away from the grounds, flying in the direction of Azkaban.

Bashing the minister

"Cornelius, they nearly kissed them", Madam Bones was thundering, "Why you couldn't order them to retreat when you found Sirius Black was innocent? What if the boy-who-lived had died? Can you imagine the uproar it would have caused?"

Cornelius was cowering in his chair. He was the Minister of Magic but he knew he was no match for Amelia Bones. The simple reason for the fact was that Amelia Bones was a warrior. She had fought in the war and she had a no non-sense approach towards things. She also held a vote in the Wizengamot and had friendly relations with many other members. She by herself was a power reckoned to be.

He knew it was just the start of the barrage of humiliation that he had started to face. Before Amelia came to blow his brains out, Dumbledore had chewed him out. He had taken Dumbledore to be an old senile fool who liked muggle candies and was too trusting of everyone. He forgot that Dumbledore was a warrior in spirit and the reason that Dumbledore was shunted to Hogwarts was to keep him away from places where he could make drastic changes. Dumbledore had laid into him thoroughly for being ignorant and having forgotten to call the Dementors back from the school. In Cornelius's defense, things had happened so suddenly that he was still trying to comprehend things and what they would mean to him.

"Amelia, it was an oversight. I had the orders ready and signed but they were not dispatched owing to oversight on part of Dolores in the outer office", he explained to her.

She seethed, "I don't understand why you keep that pest around, Cornelius. She is a menace, a liability and her greed and ambition knows no bounds. You should have gotten rid of her ages ago. She would even crush you if you came in the way of her ambitions. Such a talentless woman in the office of the Minister of Magic is a disaster."

"Dolores had proven herself to be dependable to me at times, Amelia. I will ensure that nothing like this will happen again", he said.

"See to it that it doesn't, Cornelius. If the boy-who-lived was harmed that would have meant that you made half of the Wizengamot your enemy and the public would have been ready to flay you alive", said Amelia, "You are a very able minister and you tend to things very efficiently and I don't want incidents like this to harm your reputation."

Though Amelia expressed confidence in him yet the last line was a total lie. She knew that Fudge was an incompetent blithering idiot but he was the minster unfortunately. When Millicent Bagnold retired in 1990, she and her allies had placed him in that chair for he was susceptible to their manipulation. He was made the minister not for his efficiency but because he was a fool, fool but useful tool. Their other choice was Barteimus Crouch Senior but that man had fallen from grace after his son had turned out to be a death eater and had been shipped to Azkaban by his own father after being found guilty of torturing the Longbottoms to insanity.

Right now, she was heading to Hogwarts where she had work to do. She still had to take statement of Sirius Black about what had happened that night. Peter Pettigrew had already told everything but she was nothing if not thorough. The investigation in this debacle was about to come to an end. The ministry would be forced to issue an apology to him for the entire fiasco but that could not be avoided. Cornelius would do anything to avoid facing the wrath of the members of Wizengamot, most of whom were incensed at one of theirs being imprisoned without a trial.

She also had to see why the orders were not sent to Azkaban yet. It should have been done the same day and Cornelius was not one to make such mistakes. Perhaps it had something to do with his Senior Undersecretary. An unpleasant, abhorrent witch known by the name of Dolores Jane Umbridge.

Whenever Amelia met Dolores, it soured her mood. Umbridge was a short, pudgy woman who barely reached to Amelia's shoulder and she looked like a toad. Though she would be utterly sweet when talking to Amelia but to her, she looked like a serpent ready to strike. Her words grated on Amelia's nerves and she had been looking for reasons to get rid of her. She was an embarrassment to the ministry and Amelia had vowed to get rid of her anyway she could. The thing is that she had no sort of leverage on the distasteful witch yet and the idiot Fudge seemed to favour her for reasons unknown. This was a great opportunity for her provided she could get some of her old allies to agree with her. While her brother held the seat for the family in the Wizengamot yet she had certain sway over some of the members and if they decided to raise hell then Fudge would make Umbridge the scapegoat.

Hello Harry

Harry Potter woke up and blearily looked around him. He had no idea where he was or why he was feeling so tired. Suddenly there were flashes in his mind. Dementors! He was fighting the Dementors and had passed out. He sat bolt upright.

"Easy, Harry", said someone from his right.

Harry looked towards the voice but could not recognise it. The world around him looked blurred and hazy to him. He tried to find his glasses and someone handed them to him. This someone had hands which were very rough like sandpaper and calloused.

As he put on the glasses, the world seemed to come in focus to him and he realised that he was in the Hospital wing, right in the bed where he had been put whenever he visited earlier. Madam Pomfrey was not in hospital wing and by the altitude of the sun, it was almost noon.

The 'someone' who had handed him his glasses was sitting to his right and Harry recognised him. The matted hair which was sleek and shiny in the picture that Harry had of him, the hollowed dead looking eyes were full of life in the photographs that he had of his parents' wedding. He looked full of strength, vitality and vigour in those photographs and here he looked emaciated, gaunt and weak. It looked like a few curses would do him in.

That someone was the person that Harry had feared for many months now. Someone who had been inside the Gryffindor tower once and had slashed the portrait of the fat lady when she won't give him entry inside the tower. It was the person who was even called the scourge of the wizarding world, his godfather Sirius Black.

"Hello Harry", said Sirius.

Even his voice was sort of scratchy like he was not used to speaking too much or had not talked to people in a long time.

"Hello", Harry said cautiously.

"Harry, I don't know if you remember me or if anyone has told you but I am your godfather. Your father was my best friend and we studied for seven years at Hogwarts together. In fact, Lord Potter used to consider me as good as a son", Sirius was telling him.

"I know that you are my godfather. No one told me but I sort of overheard it from Professor McGonagall", Harry told him.

"You were spying on old Minnie?", Sirius asked as if he was amused and barked in laughter, "How did she react to it?"

"She never found out", Harry told him.

"Even better, Harry. It would not have been easy to get her under control if she found out", Sirius told him and then leaning towards him said conspiratorially, "let me tell you a secret. The tough exterior that she shows to everyone is just for show. She is a real softie inside".

"Is that so, Mr. Black? Would you like to test this theory?" asked McGonagall curtly as she entered the infirmary behind Dumbledore. Dumbledore was smiling at the thought that someone had managed to provoke Minerva to get such a reaction out of her.

Sirius however yelped, "Min... Minnie... I mean Professor McGonagall, I was just trying to make some rapport with Harry."

Harry was talking to Dumbledore, "Professor, why did the Dementors attack Sirius? I mean he was acquitted yesterday. Wasn't he?"

Dumbledore sighed, "I don't know what happened but I have had some very terse words with the Minister and I gave him a piece of my mind. I expect the storm of troubles that it will create for him will be punishment enough for him."

"How is that a punishment?", Harry asked him.

"Harry, he is the Minister of Magic and a politician. For a politician, scandal or bad press is tantamount to political suicide. He will be buried in avalanche of troubles when the members of the wizengamot will confront him regarding this."

"Professor, I have heard these things frequently in the past few days but I don't know what it means. I heard that I will have a seat on this wizengamot thing and that my family is old", Harry said to him.

It was Sirius who answered, "It is for me to teach you, Harry. When you return for the holidays, I will teach you everything. Would you like to stay with me?"

Harry excitedly asked him, "Is that possible?"

Dumbledore replied, "It is certainly possible, Harry. Sirius here is not just your godfather but he is also your magical guardian. Any decisions about your future and well being can be made only by him. While he was in Azkaban, I filled in these roles for him. But now that he is free, it is for him to decide."

Sirius turned to him, "We have a lot to talk about, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, my boy. We have a lot of talk about."

"What will happen now, Professor?", Harry asked the old Headmaster.

"Now, Sirius will have to go to St. Mungo's after Madam Bones have talked with him. She wanted to take his formal statement but I told her to wait till he is conscious. After she is done, Sirius will have to go to St. Mungo's for his recuperation, I am afraid because this is an infirmary meant only for Hogwarts students", said Dumbledore before he turned to Sirius.

"Sirius, there is a lot that I have to know and understand. There are certain things that have troubled me since then and I wish to share them with you hoping you can help me find a way through it", said Dumbledore, "As such, I hope you will be willing to hear me out before you make any decision."

Sirius croaked, "If Prongs and I had listened to you then, things would have been different. I will definitely see you once all the formalities are dispensed with."

Someone coughed at the entrance of the infirmary and they turned to see a woman who was about middle aged, stern looking and had a monocle in one of her eyes. She had the look of someone who was very observant of her surroundings and she looked taut as a bowstring.

Albus smiled, "Madam Bones, please come in."

The woman come in and Albus introduced her to him, "Harry, this is Madam Amelia Bones, the chief of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Hello Ma'am", Harry muttered and then kept quiet.

"Hello Mr. Potter", she replied, "I am here to conduct investigation into the Dementor attack and I have heard that they had attacked you too."

Harry nodded, "Yes Ma'am. I was trying to save Sirius with my patronus when they started swarming me, trying to administer the kiss to me. I kept them away until I passed out from the effort."

Her eyes were the size of Galleons, "You can cast a corporeal patronus?"

"Corpo... what?", Harry asked her.

"Do you mean you patronus had a distinct size and shape?", she asked, "It was not like mist of undefined shape?"

He proudly replied, "No, it takes the form of a stag, same as my father's animagus form."

She choked on her breath, "Your father's animagus form...?"

It was Sirius who answered, "Yes, Madam Bones. His father and my best friend James could become a stag in his animagus form. Me, James and Peter became animagus in our fifth year without anyone knowing."

Harry could see that Minerva's eyes were filled with fury and it reflected in her tone, "It could have gone horribly wrong. You could have done something disastrous. You could have been stuck between forms. Why you didn't ask me to assist you?"

Sirius gave her a cheeky grin, "Now where was the fun in that, Minnie?"

Amelia could sense the tension in the room and with an intention to dispel it, she asked, "Can you tell me if you, Mr. Potter or Pettigrew ever registered your form?"

Sirius said warily, "No. We thought about it but by then, Voldemort's death eaters were everywhere. We thought to get it done when we were out of school but by then the war was getting intense and we were resisting death eaters at every turn where we could. It was the only advantage that we had and we were not about to give it up."

Before she could say anything, he said dryly, "Besides, what more you can do to me? The punishment for being an unregistered animagus is 12 years in Azkaban prison which I have already gone through."

"I was not about to suggest putting you in Azkaban, Mr. Black. I have come to take your statement about what happened that night, about the Potters murder by you-know-who and what happened when the muggles died."

"James and Lilly went into hiding for some reasons that they refused to share with me or any of our friends. They just said that the secret was worth more than their lives and concerned Harry. I guess they knew that Voldemort was going to hunt them personally and they decided to hide. Since you-know-who had even ward masters in his employ, no form of protection short a Fidelius was deemed sufficient for James, Lilly and Harry. That was one of the reasons that they had to leave Potter Manor and come to stay in that little cottage in Godric's hollow. Nobody could guess that they would hide there. Their best bet was the Fidelius Charm and it was Lilly who cast it. Dumbledore had offered to become the secret keeper but I and James had hatched a plan where we were going to fool the entire world. We told everyone that I will become the secret keeper and they believed it. I was as good as James at duelling and other magical arts so everyone believed that I am their secret keeper. Nobody could have guessed that we would switch and make Peter the secret keeper instead. He was a talentless thing and was of no use at all except for his animagus form. In retrospect, we should have trusted Remus and made him the secret keeper. He would have died than giving us up."

She prodded, "What happened that night?"

"We had told everyone that I was going in hiding soon like the Potters and their secret will be safe with me. I had also told people that I will take Peter with me into hiding and that is what I did. I had put Peter in a secret location. That night, I went to check on Peter before I would go into hiding myself. I found that Peter had disappeared and there were no signs of struggle. Fearing the worse, I raced to the cottage on my motorcycle. When I reached there, everything had finished."

Harry could see that the older man had started sobbing, his breath was hitched and tears streaked his once handsome face. It took him a while to collect himself before he started speaking again, "I saw the door was ajar, the roof was blown away. My knees threatened to give way and I swayed on my feet but I trudged forward to confirm what I feared. Just inside the door, James was sprawled on the floor. I tried to gather what little courage I had left and walked upwards to Harry's nursery. Lilly was lying on the floor near the crib and Harry was sitting in his crib and crying. He looked unharmed except for the zig-zag scar on his forehead. I tried to heal the injury with a basic healing spell. It worked but the scar didn't disappear at that time. As I came down to take Harry to safety and then go after Pettigrew to find and murder him, Hagrid had arrived. I gave Harry to him to take him to Dumbledore and went after Pettigrew."

"What about that night when the muggles were killed?", she asked him.

"That night I had been chasing Peter for three days. Knowing him, his habits, his patterns and his scent, I finally found him in Muggle London in a street full of muggles. As soon as he saw me, he started shouting that I had betrayed James and Lilly, for the benefit of the muggles. I was incensed and tried to take him captive. All this meanwhile, he had his wand behind his back and before I could make my move he used a bombarda. I guess it hit the gas lines which pass through that area and the explosion's intensity magnified. I was saved as I had been able to raise a shield in time to save myself. In all the confusion, Peter severed his finger, shed off his robes and ran into the sewers."

She nodded, "It has solved a lot of questions which I had in my mind, Mr. Black. Now I am supposed to escort you to St. Mungo's where you will be evaluated by healers and be in their care until they see it fit to release you. After that is done, the Wizengamot shall convene to decide the fate of the rat."

He nodded, "Let's get going then."

Before he left however, he turned to Harry, "I do wish for you to come and live with me, Harry. We can live anywhere you want. We will talk again as soon as I get discharged from the hospital."

As Sirius left, Harry was basking in the feeling that he would not have to go to the muggles again.