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The summer passed quickly, and Draco soon found himself in the Ministry of Magic on the 20th of August, the date of Sirius Black's trial.
There was a nervous buzz in the courtroom as everyone waited for Sirius Black to be escorted into the room.
The trial was open to the public and had drawn quite the crowd. Next to him and his mother - his father had decided to not join them - were Daphne, Astoria and Neville. Somewhere close to Dumbledore, Draco could make out the golden trio and several Weasleys. Remus Lupin was, of course, also present and he could also see Rita Skeeter in the crowd.
Most people in the public section had expressions of fear and excitement on their faces. A few were whispering to their friends. Some people were sitting with a grim expression on their faces. There was an undeniable tension in the air. Most eyes were fixated on the door, which suddenly clanged open. The muttering stopped immediately.
An Auror came through first, wand out. Behind him was Sirius Black. He looked worse than when Draco had last seen him but still better than when he had first found him. Behind him were another two Aurors.
He was set on a chair in the middle of the room and chained to it. Sirius glanced around the room and when his eyes fell on Draco and his friends, he flashed them a brief smile.
"You have been brought here before the Wizengamot today so that we may pass judgement on you regarding the murder of 12 muggles and a wizard, assisting in the murder of Lily and James Potter, treason and providing information to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," started Amelia Bones. "Interrogator: Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley."
Draco studied the Weasley. Percy seemed rather nervous. It must have been his first trial, having only graduated three months earlier.
"Sirius Orion Black, do you understand the charges you have been convicted of?"
"Yes," Sirius replied.
"How do you plead?"
The whole room was so silent, one could hear a pin drop.
"Not guilty."
Murmurs swept through the room as soon as he said it, raising quickly in volume.
"Silence!" Amelia Bones managed the courtroom quite well, thought Draco. She didn't have to raise her voice to have everyone listen to her directions.
She called for the first witness.
The ministry, it seemed, was calling in every possible witness and piece of evidence it could to defend its conviction. They called every Auror and ministry official who had had anything to do with Sirius Black to the witness stand. They all told the same story of how Sirius had been standing in the middle of the blown up street, a massacre, laughing like a maniac and saying that everything had been his fault.
Draco was painfully reminded of the day in the Shrieking Shack, when Sirius had told Potter that it had been his fault, that his parents had died.
They even brought out the witness statements of the muggles that had witnessed the confrontation between Sirius and Peter.
"I was taking my dog for a walk," read an Auror out loud. "There were two men talking. They were weirdly dressed. They both had sticks in their hands. Weird, really. One was short and nervous, the other tall and aggressive. The tall one cornered the other man. Then the short one yelled something about betrayal. Then the whole street blew up. Just like that… It was a massacre… a nightmare… screaming and blood… bodies everywhere. And right in the middle: The tall man. Laughing like a maniac. A psychopath. People were dead, and he just laughed."
Draco winced. That did not sound good. Sirius really did sound like a crazy lunatic.
They read more testimonies, all similar to that one. Draco was getting nervous.
Then they talked to Aurors dealing with him after his arrest.
"Auror Moody, what was your initial impression of Sirius Black?" Amelia asked.
Draco felt queasy so close to that man. He knew that Moody hadn't been the guy who turned him into a ferret, but apparently his feelings didn't.
"Nice enough but constantly caused trouble. Never showed any respect to anyone. But he adored the Potters and arrested quite a few Death Eaters. Never would have suspected him of being the traitor if I hadn't known there was one."
"So you did suspect him?" asked Amelia.
"We knew there was a traitor and we knew he was close to Dumbledore and the Potters. The traitor also needed access to Ministry documents. Didn't leave many suspects."
"Was there anything else that made you suspect him?"
"Not really. He seemed like a good kid to me. But..." Moody trailed off.
"But what?"
"But the way he acted during and after his arrest... Not mourning his dead friends but laughing like a... There were three people who would have fit the criteria and could have been the spies. But how Sirius Black acted during and after his arrest led me to believe that he must have been the traitor."
"Thank you, Auror Moody."
Draco didn't think this was going well at all.
After Moody, they called Albus Dumbledore forward to testify.
"Upon the arrest of Sirius Black, you gave evidence that he was the Secret Keeper for the Potter family and that only the traitorous actions of this Secret Keeper could have given He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named the opportunity to murder the Potters. Do you stand by this?"
"I do," replied Dumbledore, frowning.
"Do you want to add anything to this?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said calmly. "In early October I obtained information leading me to believe that the Potters were targeted by Lord Voldemort," squeals and shuddering ran through the crowd. "It was I who advised the Potters to go into hiding under the Fidelius charm. I offered to be their Secret Keeper, but they refused, opting instead to place their trust in one of their friends, although they knew that there was probably a spy amongst them. A week before their death, James Potter informed me that Sirius Black would be their Secret Keeper. This was what lead me to believe Mr. Black was the traitor."
"Is it possible that they might have chosen someone else?"
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "But if they did, I was not made aware of it."
That was the end of day one. All the witnesses on the side of the prosecution had had their say and Draco wasn't at all convinced that Sirius would win his trial. The next day, the defense and Sirius would get the chance to say what was on their minds.
Draco left the courtroom, working his way through the masses, looking for his mother who he had lost in the crowd. He ran into someone and stumbled to the ground.
He looked up to see who he had run into and his eyes widened in fear and surprise.
"Aunt Bella!"
TBC