Chapter 3

Sirius sat in the minister's office, tapping impatiently on the desk, Dumbledore next to him and Amelia (the new minister) opposite him. Dumbledore had brought in some witness's saying the Dursley's were good guardians to Harry and Sirius was given the offer as well to get some witnesses to say why he should be given guardianship. Sirius had immediately written to Harry, as no one said he couldn't have Harry himself as a witness. He just prayed Harry would come but it didn't look like it as they were ten minutes late.

The door then opened and Harry and Hermione, followed by Arthur, walked in. Sirius immediately relaxed slightly, knowing he wouldn't win his case without them. Dumbledore stiffened, knowing this couldn't end well. "Harry, Hermione, it is good to see you," he started warmly, "But what are you doing here?"

"We're here to be witnesses for Sirius's guardianship," Hermione responded smoothly, "the rest of his witnesses will be along in a minute," she continued, suddenly remembering she wouldn't be any use here as she had never met the Dursley's properly but had only heard them but she knew three people who had and they all had red hair and freckles.

Sirius frowned, only having asked for Harry as a witness, not even Hermione, but didn't voice it, deciding more witnesses couldn't hurt his case.

"So, how does this work," Hermione said, staring at the minister, Harry hovering behind her with Arthur.

"R-right," Amelia stammered, slightly intimidated by the girl before gathering her wits together, "It's Hermione Granger isn't it?"

At the girls nod she carried on "You shall stay here while Harry and Arthur wait outside but first, who are the other witnesses."

"Fred, George and Ron Weasley."

"Alright, Harry, Arthur, we'll call you in when ready," Amelia said, nodding to the door and they left. "Right, Hermione, please sit down," she said, smiling gently at the teenager as she indicated to the chair in between Sirius and Dumbledore. Hermione perched on the edge of the chair, straight backed, watching Amelia carefully.

"Why do you think Sirius would be a better guardian than the Dursley's," Amelia said, diving into the deep end immediately, guessing correctly Hermione wasn't the girl to stomach small talk.

"Harry adores Sirius," Hermione said straight away, causing Sirius's heart to swell, "Every time he got a letter from Sirius his face would light up, ever since he met him when he got to go and visit Sirius he would get so excited. It's adorable to see," she said, smiling. Her smile then fell off her face "The Dursley's have never once written to Harry, they never send him a Christmas present apart from first year and all they gave him was a fifty pence piece, he only ever leaves Hogwarts in the summer and that's because he can't stay because he'd rather remain alone at Hogwarts than go back to the Dursley's and they have a mutual hatred of each other."

Amelia nodded, a self-writing quill writing everything she said down. Dumbledore was slowly paling; this couldn't be good for his case. Damn Sirius and damn Hermione and damn Harry. "I'm sure it's not that bad," he said smoothly, "Mr Potter could be exaggerating and –"

"Mr Dumbledore, please be quiet," Amelia reprimanded him before turning back to Hermione. "Have you met the Dursley's?"

"At Kings Cross Station a few times," Hermione admitted, sorry she couldn't say she had met them more, "Petunia and Dudley wouldn't look at Harry while Vernon would bellow at Harry and would call him a freak and –"

"What!" Sirius snarled, looking furious, "They called him a freak!"

Hermione nodded sadly "Apparently that's one of their nicer nicknames."

Sirius looked even angrier at this but Amelia decided that if Hermione hadn't actually had much contact with them they'd need to call in another witness. "You're done. Please send one of the others in."

Hermione nodded and stood up "Good luck," she said softly to Sirius before giving him a quick hug and then scurrying quickly from the room.

Harry and Arthur walked outside, leaving Hermione in the office. "We need to get Fred, George and Ron," Harry said, "Hermione said they'd be witnesses and they have seen more of the Dursley's than she has."

Arthur nodded, "We'll head back to the floo, I can't leave you here, Sirius'll kill me," he said, seeing the stubborn look cross his face at being told they had to go together.

They flooed back to the Burrow, to see Bill and Molly arguing in the kitchen. How long had this been going on?

Arthur quickly gestured to Fred, George and Ron who hurried over, trying to avoid their mum seeing them.

"What?" Fred hissed.

"We need you as witnesses. You've seen the Dursley's and –"

"We're coming," Ron said immediately and they flooed back to the ministry and waited outside Amelia's office, waiting for Hermione to be done.

"Fred, your turn," Hermione said, appearing from the office. Fred nodded, got up and entered the office.

"Right, you have met the Dursley's correct?" Amelia asked,

"Unfortunately," Fred muttered.

"And why is that unfortunate?"

Fred snorted, "Didn't Hermione tell you? The Dursley's are bastards. I first met them in fourth year because Ron was worried Harry wasn't replying to any of his letters so we stole dad's car and flew to Harry's with Ron. When we got there we found Harry's window had bars put over them which we had to rip off and then Ron held the car steady while we pickpocketed the cupboard under the stairs which was Harry's old bedroom –"

"WHAT!?" Sirius roared, jumping up with a murderous expression on his face.

"Mr Black, I understand this is troubling to say the least but do sit down so I can get to the bottom of this," Amelia said sternly and Sirius sat down, chastised but still angry. Fred gulped before continuing his story.

"We then escaped upstairs but Hedwig made a noise and that's when Vernon Dursley burst in, screaming bloody murder. We grabbed Harry and hauled him in the car but Dursley grabbed his ankle and tried to yank him inside but we started the car and pulled him out the window," Fred looked very gleeful at this, Sirius almost mirroring his expression at Vernon's fate. "We also met him in the summer holidays after fifth year, Harry had just finished his third year, to pick Harry up for the quidditch world cup. He ended up attacking dad and yelling at Harry for something."

Amelia nodded," Anymore interactions?"

"Apart from a few at the station where Dursley would call Harry and freak and worse while Petunia and Dudley would pretend they couldn't see him, no."

Amelia smiled at him and thanked him for his time before letting him go. From what he said it co-ordinated with what Hermione said which meant it was looking good for Sirius.

George then came in and repeated pretty much what Fred said with very similar wording, amusing Amelia slightly. Unfortunately when he left Dumbledore piped up smugly, "That seemed almost on point for what Fred said, almost like it had been rehearsed."

Sirius spun around, a snarl on his face but Amelia spoke before he could. "They are twins and grew up together, it would be unusual if they didn't have similar behaviour pattens like speech. Now, if you are done," she said pointedly before letting Ron in. This was the one Dumbledore was most worried about, Ron's interview. Ron would be much less tight lipped then Harry would ever be and being his best friend and dorm mate, there's no telling of what he would've seen or heard.

"As Ronald is underage, I do not believe he is allowed to give evidence for this as we cannot prove it to be true as he is a minor," Dumbledore stated smoothly.

"But Hermione isn't underage?" Ron said, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Mr Weasley may be a minor but he is still allowed to give evidence," Amelia said coldly before turning to Ron. "You are in a dorm with Harry?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Have you seen any evidence of abuse from the Dursley's from him in the privacy of a dorm setting?"

Ron looked at her before glancing at Sirius and then started. "Um, well, it was back in first year, the only year he got a Christmas present from them which I think was just a show for his first term. We were changing, and, well, I noticed some faded scars on his back." He nervously noticed Sirius's hands tighten at that. "I asked him what they were from and he didn't seem very keen to tell me but after a few stories of my own he told me a little. None of the bad stuff, nothing very graphic but enough for me to get the picture."

"Explain what you mean by 'a little' and it wasn't 'the bad stuff'."

"Well, he just said his Uncle who brought him up was very strict and quite old fashioned with his punishments. When I asked what he meant he said his uncle would hit him, mostly with his hand though often he'd throw objects at Harry as well to discipline him with." Doubt was evident on the word discipline.

"Do you know the worst stuff?"

"Well, the beatings got more frequent and longer, most scarring with how deep they were. He, he then," Ron's voice broke slightly and wavered, "He started to use knives and cut Harry and then as he got older started to properly stab and wound him. He also used his belt to whip him with. Often when he was falling unconscious they would shock him with electricity, hurting him but shocking him awake again. The only type of abuse they didn't do was sexual abuse," he finished softly, "Hermione made sure of that. She put a spell on him that was used for heirs of pureblood families to prevent them from being raped."

Sirius was white as a sheet by this point and shaking. All he wanted to do was go to Harry and cuddle him and never let him go, certainly never see the Dursley's again. He had been abused by his parents until he ran away to Prongs's house but when Harry had been born he'd made a silent promise to himself the child would never have to suffer, would get everything he wanted from his Uncle Padfoot. This, this was the opposite to that. His promise lay smashed and broken on the floor; his godson had been attacked by death eaters, been tortured by Voldemort and was abused by his aunt and uncle! Something Sirius would wish on no one, having experienced it himself. He knew how hard it was to recover from and Prongs and Lily's death and his stay at Azkaban had brought back so many memory's of it so much of what Prongs and Moony had worked through with him had been brought back with a vengeance.

"Lord Black, I understand if you want to leave, what you are hearing is quite distressing," Amelia said kindly but Sirius shook his head.

"I need to know it, I need to know what I have to work through it with him," he insisted and she smiled.

"Are you sure you'd be able to help the boy sufficiently?" a snooty voice came from his right, causing him and Amelia to glare.

"Yes, because I went through much the same thing during my childhood and years at Hogwarts," Sirius replied, voice tight as he tried to concentrate on happier thoughts.

Amelia nodded, "That would certainly help him, you having experience to be able to help him. Now Mr Weasley, what kind of things did Harry do that would require discipline?"

"Backtalking, doing anything abnormal, talking about the magical world or anything to do with it, not doing his chores, not doing his chores up to standard, going near Dudley threateningly –"

"Threateningly?"

"Basically going near him which they deemed as threatening Dudley's health."

"Who knows of the abuse?"

"Me, Hermione, Fred and George," Ron said, "I think Neville suspects it because whenever he is approaching he raises his voice slightly or his footsteps become heavier, clueing Harry in that someone's behind him so he won't get surprised and lash out," Ron gave a shiver at that, causing Amelia and Sirius to exchange glances. Ron had clearly had experience of what happened if you startled Harry.

"Did you raise it to an adult?"

"Yeah, mum but she ignored us, even threatening to do the same thing to us. Never bothered again, didn't think anyone would believe us. Fred and George stole ingredients for us or distracted mum or the teachers while we helped Harry."

"So you never considered raising it to an adult, such as Professor McGonagall?"

"And get another reaction like mums? I don't think so. Harry was reluctant enough mentioning his home life, he wasn't happy with the fact we told mum so we left it alone after that because he was so worried about being forced into foster care or an orphanage, both which would be no better than living with the Dursleys."

Amelia frowned, face pinched. "Is there anything else you feel we need to know about pertaining to Mr Potter's well being?"

"Um, well, I know he's so thin because they often withheld food from him but also," Ron hesitated, looking unsure. "This isn't to do with the Dursleys but I was wondering if you had heard of a quill that cuts into the writers hand?"

Dumbledore, who hadn't moved in the last few minutes sat up straighter, eyebrows raised. Sirius and Amelia both paled, Sirius now stiff in his seat.

"Where have you heard of a blood quill?" Sirius asked hoarsely, "That's dark magic not to mention they're illegal for anyone other than a goblin to possess."

The hesitation on Ron's face had cleared, now replaced with glee. "So, say, if the Minister's undersecretary was found possessing one and using them on students, she would be sent to Azkaban?"

"Umbridge has one?! She doesn't have permission to handle blood quills anyway, let alone making students use them!" Amelia sank back into her seat, all colour drained from her face.

"Harry's been made to use it, hasn't he," Sirius stated quietly, staring at the floor.

Ron nodded regretfully. "Yeah, she makes him write 'I must not tell lies' in detention with her, every night for three to four hours."

"Merlin, that's inhuman," Amelia whispered while Sirius didn't move, the only sign he was alive was the slight shaking of his shoulders. Guilt rose inside Ron but he couldn't feel regret for saying any of this, even if it would infuriate Harry. His friend deserved better, he shouldn't have to deal with Umbridge as well as the Dursleys. Even if she no longer taught at Hogwarts she still shouldn't be allowed to walk around.

"Thank you, Mr Weasley," Amelia said shakily, "If you could bring Mr Potter in next?"

Ron nodded, leaving the office filled with apprehension. When outside he saw Harry look at him and he grimaced. He wouldn't be pleased with how much Ron had divulged but it would be worth it.

"Your turn, Harry," he said with an attempted grin. "Go kick Dumbledore's ass."

Harry gave a small snort but his face was still pale and he twisted his fingers nervously as he stood up. Hermione whispered something softly to him before giving him a kiss, making Ron genuinely smile. He knew how long Harry had liked her.

He watched Harry take a deep breath, stand up straight and run a nervous hand through his hair, attempting to flatten it, before placing a hand on the door and entering. This was it. There was no going back now.