AN:/ replacing the accidental greed god chapter I updated here by mistakeJune 21st, 2011, Roarhaven Sanctuary, Dublin, 6:00 PM BST

We stepped out of the portal, and my immediate impression of the new place we'd ended up was…shithole. There was kind of a weird energy tainting the air, making the environment colder, more forbidding. "Huh, love what you've done with the place." I said politely. "It's very…somber."

"It's a depressing hole in the wall." Said Val with a snort. "I was against the move, but Madame Mist and her Children of the Spider make up a pretty huge voting block." She grinned down at a wincing Davina, whom she was dragging by her good shoulder. "I'm sure they'll have lots to say to you. I can't believe they're finally useful for something."

A wispy, feminine voice split the air. "I'm sure you didn't mean that the way it sounded." A tall, hooded figure, the voice carrying almost dreamlike quality. "After all. We're all in this together."

"Madame Mist." Val said, giving her what could only charitably be called a smile. "So…nice to see you." She shoved Davina forward, the woman tripping and slamming into the ground with a cry of pain, unable to catch herself as her face smacked into the hard packed dirt of the well worn Roarhaven street. "We brought a present for the elders."

The hooded figure cocked her head. "Davina Marr…how…exciting. The grand mage will ecstatic. How DID you find her?"

Following the woman as she turned to walk away Val just shrugged. "We got lucky. Nothing more to it than that." I expected Marr to argue, but upon glancing over, I was shocked to see that she couldn't speak, her whole body having been subsumed in a writhing mass of spiders that were carrying her along beside us. The only sounds from inside it were muffled screams that even I could only barely make out.

I let out a low whistle, getting the attention of everyone nearby. At their looks I shrugged. "What? Carried on a moving cloud of spiders? That's fucking hardcore."

Val shrugged reluctantly. "I guess it's not too bad. So, haven't been back in a while? What's been going on around here?" She clearly didn't like giving credit to the creepy woman, and I muffled a laugh as I waited for Madame Mist to respond.

"Ah, yes." She said silkily. "You haven't been back. Out of touch for the last few days. The grand mage mentioned. I suppose you wouldn't have heard then."

"Heard what?" Asked Val with a bored expression. "Some famous sorcerer visiting or something?"

Madame Mist let out a wheezing laugh. "After a fashion." She said smugly. "Ghastly Bespoke is awake." Val slammed to a halt, whirling on the woman with wide, fierce eyes. Madame Mist seemed to revel in the shock. "He roused from his slumber just last night, Kenspeckle Grouse was called in to look him over, and he's been chatting with the grand mage ever since."

Val blurred, her form nearly vanishing even from my sight as she bolted for a large white building in the distance. I cursed, taking off after her, and Fletcher yelled in our wake before I saw him appear in front of the building even as Val passed him. "Bloody hell." He snapped. "When did you get so fa-"

He didn't have time to finish speaking as she flashed past him and through the door me hot on her heels.

She'd slowed down after her initial charge, clearly having realized that Queen level sprinting was WAY too fast to be believably human. She was still running at fucking olympic speeds, but I was able to gain ground on her with my own devilish strength once she was holding back.

I was barely able to keep up with her as she charged into the building, only seeing her round corners at first. Finally she came to a pair of large wooden doors which she threw open and yelled. "Ghastly?" She stood in the door, panting as she stared inside what I could now see was a library in wonder and excitement.

Stepping up next to her, I took note of the spectacularly ugly man sitting in a chair, sipping tea urbanely. He turned his bald, scar covered head and gave her a wide grin. "I see Skulduggery has managed to spoil what little manners you had while I was gone."

She leapt forward, arms wrapping around him as she squeezed tightly. He grunted in discomfort and she backed off, laughing excitedly as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Nice to meet you." I said with a polite wave to the two men sitting at the table. Where the first, Ghastly, was aptly named, the second, who must be this 'grand mage' was almost as good looking as I was. He had amber eyes that were almost gold and an easy, welcoming smile. I liked him pretty much immediately.

Val turned to see me standing there and blushed. "Ah, right." She said lamely. "Sorry. Ryan Black, this is grand mage Erskine Ravel, and my old friend and personal tailor Ghastly Bespoke."

"Bitchin' name." I said politely to the bald man. "You do robes? Because I've been meaning to get a few new sets and Malkin takes way too long to do a fitting." I'd filled out a bit in the shoulders, presumably from being a devil, and I needed new clothes. Not to mention the others would need robes of their own since they were all devils and could now start school. I hoped the trial went well, because I wanted to dump this House of Black bullshit on my uncle before we had to explain like ten new students registering at Hogwarts.

He raised a brow. "Malkins? You're a wizard then? Don't see many of your kind around the Sanctuaries." He glanced at Ravel. "Or is that another thing that's changed while I was away?"

The golden eyed man held up his hands in protest. "Not that I've heard of. I knew Valkyrie and Skullduggery were associating with at least one of them. Tanith too last I heard." He smirked at the tailor knowingly, and the man just snorted.

I wondered at their relationship with my knight. Not that I had any real input there. Aside from pleasantly filling out a pair of pants Tanith didn't have any special significance to me besides being my Knight and something of a friend. If she was in a love triangle that was her business, I had enough women in my life for the moment. I still wasn't sure how to juggle the trio of girlfriends I already had.

Val rolled her eyes. "Ryan hired Skullduggery and me as long term consultants. Tanith too. He's going to be around, so you two be nice. He's tougher than he looks."

Ghastly looked me over speculatively. "This your new boyfriend then? Never pegged you for the pretty boy type. What happened to Fletcher? Nice salt of the earth lad, that one. Wasn't all suspiciously handsome like that."

"Jealousy is an ugly thing." Said Ravel kindly. "The boy is hardly to blame for being handsome." He sighed brushing some hair from his face dramatically. "Some of us are simply born with this burden." Despite the jab, I could hear smiles in both their voices. These two were obviously old friends, even if they were a little territorial over my Knight.

Fletcher, who had been standing at the door panting, glared at Ghastly. "Oi! What do you mean salt of the earth? I'll have you know I'm a catch."

Val was grinning ear to ear as she watched the byplay. "We actually came for a reason, we didn't even know you were awake Ghastly. We brought a present." She turned to look down the hall, spotting a rioting mass of spiders, and both men yelped and jumped on their chairs as the arachnids surged into the room.

They quickly vanished, Madame Mist stepping around the door to stand beside the twitching, horrified form of Davina Marr, face pale and mouth firmly shut as if she was worried opening it would…well, let spiders climb down her throat. I'd probably keep my mouth shut too.

"You caught her." Ravel said softly. His face split into a grin. "You CAUGHT her! Valkyrie that's fantastic." His golden eyes narrowed at the woman. "I trust she hasn't been questioned yet? I want to be there personally when the interrogation takes place." Marr flinched, averting her eyes from his blazing amber gaze.

Val just shrugged. "We roughed her up a bit, but nothing serious. She's all yours. I want to talk to Ghastly and make sure he's ok. Skullduggery will be so happy to see you!" She squealed and grabbed him in another hug, from which he desperately tried to escape. "Sorry, sorry, it's just so cool to have you back."

He gave her a warm smile. "I appreciate it. I admit that it's only been a few hours for me, b ut I'd be happy to come with you to see him." He gave her a once over. "And you need new clothes immediately. Those old things barely fit."

He gestured at the black velvet suit and long coat Val always wore, which I thought looked pretty good.

He stood, and I was surprised to see he was pretty sturdy and well built. His head was super fucked up, but the scarring didn't look as out of place on his arms, mostly just making him seem a little hard bitten.

Val turned to Ravel. "Can we leave her here?" She nodded to Marr. He nodded amiably, and she cleared her throat. "And about that bounty…"

He barked out a laugh. "I'll deposit it in your account first thing tomorrow. Honestly, you'd think you were starving or something with how worked up you get about money. Aren't you still getting the residuals from Gordon's books?"

She sniffed primly. "Being wealthy doesn't mean I shouldn't keep track of my finances. I earned that bounty fair and square. Especially since we had to fight off that masked guy?"

"Masked guy?" Ravel's face went hard and his eyes snapped to her. "What masked guy?"

My Queen just shrugged. "No idea, just some big blonde guy with a metal mask. Ryan took care of him, but he got away when Marr tried to sucker punch him."

The man turned his eyes on me, expression appraising. "I only know one masked man who fits that description. Did he happen to get his hands on you? I know wizards have healing magic that can fix broken bones."

"Yeah, said his name was Tesseract, shattered my arm like fine china." I said with a nod. "You know him?"

He looked furiously at Madame Mist for some reason, but then closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths. "I know OF him." Ravel said tightly. "He's a mercenary, and a damned dangerous one. He doesn't take failure lightly, but he also doesn't change targets. After dropping her here I'd be shocked if he came near you again."

I nodded. "Without the Re'em blood he shot up he shouldn't be as big a challenge, but that bone breaking shit is nasty. He's good in a fight too."

"Exceptionally." Said the grand mage curiously. "I'm surprised a wizard was able to drive him off. I suppose your type of magic does excel at keeping enemies at range." Staring thoughtfully, he held out a hand to shake. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Black. Feel free to come back and see us again sometime. You're an interesting man."

Ghastly rolled his eyes. "Great, he's trying to start a club for you people. That's all we need." He winked at me and then gestured out the door. "Come along you three, you can take me to see my old friend. We have quite a bit of catching up to do, and I don't particularly wish to ruin my first day back by spending it listening to screams, even from such an unpleasant person." I shrugged and followed behind him as he strode out, Val at his side chattering. was nice to see her so happy given how shitty today had been.

June 25th, 2011, Ministry of Magic, London, 6:00 PM BST

"You sure we're ready for this?" I asked my mother, straightening my tie for the tenth time. "Because we have no idea what he's going to SAY. Aunt Cassie is gone, Amelia hasn't been able to put us in touch with him past delivering some notes, and frankly, if this trial goes badly, we're going to be FUCKED."

Politics was a game of risks and rewards, but you always got one of the two. If we flubbed a move this big the House of Black's reputation would collapse. At least ten different houses would start exerting financial pressure on us, and the gold would start draining out of my vaults like a waterfall.

Having gone through our financials, I was well aware of how many different revenue streams made up our income, and how delicately they were balanced with outgoing capital. We owned several dozen businesses, and things like rent and supplies were a constant drain that were offset by profit. A concentrated effort to disrupt our cash flow would be annoying, but definitely possible.

I probably shouldn't have been willing to risk it, but…I'd never had my dad around. Mom was great, and I loved her more than anything, but having an uncle around who knew him as a kid, who had been there when he was growing up. I was curious.

And the portrait was SO sure Sirius wasn't a sleeper. My dad HAD consorted with Voldemorts people before his death, and had been trusted enough to learn plenty of secrets. There was no way he wouldn't have heard about his own brother being part of the inner circle. There's operational security and then there's THAT. Every organization has leaks.

A gentle smack on the head brought me out of my spiral. "Calm down, Orion." Said my mother firmly. "We can only do so much to prepare. We've pulled all the documentation, and we'll be able to corroborate Sirius's story with paperwork. Reggie was so sure he didn't do it, and that innocence is more than enough to build a case on after the Veritaserum questioning." She turned to my girls. "Try to keep him calm."

We'd left most of my peerage at home, only bringing along Suzie, Daphne, and Seras. Along with Daphne came Cyrus, who was a member in good standing of the Wizengamot, and along with Susan came Amelia. The older woman looked tense, and I could understand why. She was hanging her shingle on trying to overturn the conviction of one of the most hated men in wizarding britain.

Andi was with us, as the lawyer (sorry, BARRISTER) in charge of the defense, though tonks hadn't come this time. My dad's cousin refused to let her daughter participate in case things went south.

As we filed into the phone booth, I forced myself to be calm. My heartrate lowered, my breathing evened out, and to all outward appearances I was as cool as a frozen cucumber in the north pole. We announced our intention to participate in the Black Trial, and the little slot on the phone dispatched a bunch of badges.

I pinned mine to my robes, then stepped into the elevator and descended into the bowels of the ministry.

When we reached the lower levels, I stepped off the lift, and was instantly accosted by about a dozen people. "Mr. Black!" Shouted one of them. "How do you respond to the accusations that you're trying to use your fortune to bully the ministry into freeing your uncle?"

"Mr. Black." Shouted another. "Does this attempt constitute and admission that your family knew of your uncle's leanings and supported them?"

I actually paused in surprise as one of them shouted. "Mr. Black, how do you respond to allegations that you've deflowered both of the young ladies at your sides? Is there a marriage contract in place with either House Greengrass or House Bones?"

Amelia, looking murderous, shoved past me and stalked toward the group. "OU!" She bellowed. "OUT YOU DAMNED VULTURES!" She spun on a blonde woman an ugly green fur coat. "And don't think I don't know you're the one who snuck them in Skeeter! If I see a word about my niece in your dishrag tomorrow I'm going to start taking a very motivated look into why so many of your 'sources' seem completely unaware that they've been interviewed until your articles come out. We've had multiple complaints."

The woman, Skeeter, grimaced and snatched her acid green quill from the air where it was writing on its own. "The people have a right to know the truth, Bones!"

"Then maybe you should try telling it to them," Amelia said sweetly "Instead of spoon feeding them whatever hot garbage will sell the most copies of that toilet seat liner that publishes you. Now GET OUT! Or I'll have you dragged out."

A pair of menacing wizards stepped from behind her, wands flourished, and all the reporters were flinched as they were herded toward the elevator. We all stepped out of the way as they went past. Oddly, despite being with them most of the way, as the doors closed I couldn't see Skeeter anywhere.

I listened hard, scanning the area for any people, and even used a wandless people revealing spell Daphne had taught me (the counter to the invisibility spell I'd learned). To my surprise, there were no people in the hallway aside from the visible ones. I decided Skeeter must have been behind the door or something. As long as she wasn't ghosting around behind my back. Voldemort had thoroughly educated me on being sure to check for hidden ambushers.

Once the reporters were gone, we headed for the courtroom, but were stopped YET AGAIN. This time, the person in our way wasn't a reporter or even a politician. A ragged, pale older man with shaggy brown hair streaked with grey was standing in the hallway.

"Andromeda." He said coldly. "I'd have expected this from some new Black Regelus spawned, but you? How could you lobby for this travesty after what he did? He belongs in prison and you know it." He stepped forward menacingly, eyes seeming to almost glow with rage.

Stepping up, I put a hand against his chest, stopping him in his tracks. "Why don't you back the fuck up there, boss." I said in my own growl. "That's my Aunt you're talking to. Words are cheap, and you can throw around as many as you want, but you try to get in her face and I'm going to slap the fucking taste out of your mouth."

Andi's hand landed on my shoulder. "It's fine, Ryan. Remus and I know each other. He has…reasons, to be upset." Her eyes pinned him in place, obviously unwilling to back down even if she didn't want things to escalate. "He's misinformed, and will see that along with everyone else at the trial."

"Misinformed?" He roared. "Don't you DARE imply you know more about how Lily and James died than I do! He did it! He killed them, and he killed Peter! Your whole family are the same, you're all cold blooded sna-" He stumbled back, confused and reeling, hand going to his mouth where his lip was dribbling blood.

I shrugged. "I told you I was going to hit you if you didn't back off. Next time I'll put my back into it."

Obviously that wasn't true. I didn't want to kill some old guy. I'd barely put any effort into the slap, but with my strength even a casual glancing blow would seriously rattle his cage. To my surprise, rather than scare him off, the hit seemed to stoke his fury, and his hand went for his wand, until an aged voice interrupted. "Enough, Mr. Lupin."

The man froze, turning as I did to see Dumbledore step from a side alcove, expression peaceful. "Mr. Black." He nodded jovially. "It seems your promised trial has come to pass as predicted. I hope you find what you're looking for, even if I suspect you will not."

"Professor, he-" Lupin snapped, stepping towards the man, but Dumbledore simply turned a no longer twinkling eye on the older man, and he went silent. Neat trick.

The old wizard shook his head in disappointment. "He, Remus, is simply trying to ensure that a relative gets a fair trial. One denied him these many long years. Should Sirius be guilty as you and I believe, he will be returned to his cell. Mr. Black is a hopeful youth attempting to right a wrong. It is unbecoming of a man of your years to attack him in such a way."

Something was going on under the surface, because when Dumbledore said the word 'attack' Lupin flinched harder than he had when I slapped him. He gave the old man a devastated look and turned, stalking off into the courtroom.

Sighing, Dumbledore shook his head. "That was unkind of me." He said, almost to himself. "I fear he read more into that statement than I meant him to." He gave me a sad smile. "Take heed, young Mr. Black. Words are often much more hurtful than we wish them to be, and the damage they do is not so easily healed as a wound of the flesh."

With a sad chuckle, he turned and followed the older man into the courtroom. Shooting my mother a confused look, she just shook her head, letting me know now wasn't the time. After we entered, we took a sharp left, going up a set of hidden steps behind a small alcove and coming out above the bare stone room in a sort of bleacher setup made of stone.

We took our places near the edge so we could see, except for Amelia who headed to a large wooden table with several large chairs at the front of the room. Amelia, Dumbledore, and a few other men and women all sat down, with the highest chair being taken by an overweight older man with thinning blonde hair. Cornelius Fudge, I assumed, who was like the magic president or whatever.

"Order!" He bellowed, and all the people in the stands with us quieted down. "We gather today for the…" He grimaced. "Trial, of one Sirius Orion Black. We will hear evidence from both sides, and call testimony from multiple witnesses as well as from the accused. Standing for the defense, the cousin of the accused, one Andromeda Tonks nee Black. And standing for the prosecution, Delores Jane Umbridge, senior undersecretary for the minister of magic."

Andi, who was getting ready to head to the side area for the legal advocates, cursed. "Bloody hell." She snapped. "Of all the arseholes they could have picked." She sighed, shaking her head to clear it, and then nodded before heading to a small balcony to the side of the chamber.

On the other side, a ridiculously bloated woman almost as wide as she was tall and with bulging malicious eyes made her way onto the other balcony, her clothes the disgusting pink of pepto bismal. When she made her appearance, Fudge studied the room carefully. "Now, is there anyone who wishes to make a statement before we begin?"

To my surprise, there wasn't. I'd expected maybe Lupin to whine about how unfair things were, but everyone stayed silent.

He nodded to the two lawyers, and the toadlike 'Delores' smirked unpleasantly at Andi. "Thank you, minister Fudge. I'm honored to have been chosen to represent the ministry to attempt to stave off this clear miscarriage of justice. Sirius Black is a criminal and a monster, and he deserves every hellish experience Azkaban has to offer. Now, I'd like call-"

Andi cleared her throat so loud I was surprised she didn't tear something. "Excuse me Madame Umbridge. I believe you've overlooked my own opening statements. Or did you think only you were entitled to address the court before we began?" Without waiting for the sputtering woman to respond, Andi turned to the table where Fudge and the others sat. "Now, let us discuss the ways in which this case was previously…mishandled." I grinned as I saw her wind up to tear apart their credibility. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as I thought.

June 25th, 2011, Ministry of Magic, London, 7:00 PM BST

"Order in the court!" Bellowed Fudge. He slammed his hands down on the table in front of him as loudly as possible as he barked the command. People listened, though they did it slowly, the chattering dimming to a murmur. "Young lady, you will address this body with respect, or you will be held in contempt and removed."

Contrary to what one would expect, Andi didn't step back, she grinned like it was Christmas. "Was that a threat to leave my client without representation Minister Fudge? Again? Given the monumental miscarriage of justice perpetrated by your august judicial body in this case already, I'd have thought you would be wary of such a blatant show of disrespect." She put on a mournful tone. "I suppose the great and powerful minister doesn't care about the rights of the noble houses."

Fudge blanched, face going pale as he looked around. "I…that is to say… Sirius Black was stripped of his titles when he was found guilty of terrorism. I'm not dealing with a Lord, only a common criminal."

Andi's grin widened until she looked like she might have a canary behind her teeth. "Found guilty, was he?" She purred, her voice carrying across the room in a way that convinced me she was probably standing on some kind of amplification spell instead of just being loud like I'd previously assumed. "Tell me, before what COURT was he found guilty, exactly? Can you perhaps cite the date and time of the trial?"

"Preposterous!" Exploded the pink puff toad across from her. "How DARE you question the minister? Must he cite meaningless details about each case at the provocation of some two bit barrister?"

Snorting, Andi dismissed her opponent, focusing on Fudge. "I don't need the Minister to say a word. I already know the date and time of my cousin's trial. Or rather, I know for a fact that there IS no date and time. Such an event never took place. Which means my cousin was NEVER stripped of his title. A lawfully invested LORD of an Ancient and Most Noble House was abducted and remanded into the custody of dementors with no hearing at all."

Fudge looked like he wanted to bolt out of the room, throw up, and punch someone, and not necessarily in that order. "Base speculation!" He roared. "You will be silent, Barrister Black, and cease your slander."

"You know what." She said cruelly. "You're right. I don't need to say another word. I call Sirius Orion Black to the stand, and move he be questioned under Veritaserum."

Everyone in the room went into an uproar. Fudge turned purple, and everyone else on the bench looked wary. "ABSOLUTELY ABSURD!" Screeched Umbridge. "You can't invoke Veritaserum usage without a majority Wizengamot vote! We aren't in session! This would have needed to be voted on during the next meeting!"

Apparently the Veritaserum plan had been more secret than I'd known. Andi grinned. "That WOULD be the case. However, the Wizengamot has a long and storied tradition of in absentia votes under exigent circumstances. Specifically, in the case of Mumford Myles vs. the Warlock's Court of Devonshire, it was codified that in the case of government overreach against a vested Lord of the Wizengamot, an emergency convocation can be called, provided more than thirty percent of the court can be found."

Cyrus stood up slowly, giving her an unpleasant grin. "House Greengrass is in attendance, and seconds the motion."

"House Bones is in attendance, and supports the motion." Amelia said cooly.

I stood, glaring at the pink menace. "House Black is in attendance, and we codify the motion. At present, no fewer than twenty four Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot sit in this courtroom. Presumably because your kangaroo court wanted them to witness you badger and bullshit my uncle back into his unjust imprisonment."

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" Howled the Toad. "Witness lists were presented! Evidence was logged. You're making a mockery of this court!"

I shrugged. "It's not a tough thing to manage. You're already pretty mockable. Regardless, with our motion carried the appeal of Sirius Black is no longer underway. Considering the lack of principal trial and the biased remarks of the court, this case will be removed from ministry proceedings and remanded to sole overview of the Wizengamot for the duration of the emergency session."

Andi had known this would happen, at least in broad strokes, and coached me on what to say in different situations. Even we hadn't expected Fudge to fuck up so badly as to threaten to strip Sirius of council. With his previous fuckup as precedent, we could make a firm case of overreach and strip him of his authority over the case easily.

Slowly, all around us, men and women began to stand. Some older, some younger, some grinning, some spitting mad. Twenty four members of the Wizengamot, not counting the three of us, or Dumbledore.

"Insurrection!" Screamed Fudge. "Rebellion! This a farce! A sham! You're all trying to oust me from my position. Aurors! Seize them!"

Nobody moved, and I just snorted at him. "Are you very stoned? The twenty four people currently standing are among the richest people in the wizarding world. They represent the oldest families among our society, and most of your Aurors probably share a last name with at least one of them. Sit down and shut up Fudge. This isn't your show anymore." I turned to Dumbledore. "Chief Warlock?" I said with a grin. "If you would do the honors?"

Dumbledore, not being a fucking idiot, knew this had all been arranged well before this session was called. These people weren't JUST twenty four members of the Wizengamot, they were Aunt Cassie's entire voting bloc. My late aunt had helped us put together this little display. The ancient headmaster sighed. "This was unnecessary." He said tiredly. "But very well."

"What?" Squawked Fudge. "You're allowing this travesty? Dumbledore!"

The old man shrugged. "You've been outmaneuvered Cornelius. I told you making a spectacle of this would come back to bite you. Young Lord Black is quite right, I'm afraid. The precedent stands, the motion has passed. The Wizangamot is now in session."

Slamming down a gavel I hadn't even see him pull out, a pulse of magic erupted from the table. Dumbledore, his eyes sharper than I'd ever seen them and radiating power and authority, boomed. "Before the accused is brought out, another vote must be taken. As this is now a Wizengamot, session a motion must be put forth to move this item up the agenda."

Andi stood up again. "Lords and Ladies of the Wizaengamot, a wrong has been perpetrated against a noble house. Bias has been shown, accusations levied, and I plead before this august body that you hear my cousin's case from the only true witness that this case has ever had. The man himself. Please don't allow the ministry to run roughshod over the names and authority of the noble houses."

That got them where they lived. We all filed down the bleachers, taking up positions at the wooden table that Fudge and his cohorts had vacated. I was surprised we all fit, but it seemed to have been made to seat quite a few people. There was a lot of muttering before we all turned to Dumbledore and nodded.

"Petition accepted." Boomed the Chief Warlock. "Bring out the accused." He gestured to the Aurors who were lurking tensely around the room, and two of them vanished, returning a minute or two later with…someone.

I had to choke back a gag. My uncle looked…bad. Ratty beard, long tangled hair, skin and bones with a gleam of madness in his glazed over eyes. He looked like he was about to fucking die on the spot, and I gripped a vial of elixir of life in my pocket almost tight enough to break the glass. This was sickening. To see someone who looked so much like my father, like me, reduced to THIS. Someone was going to SCREAM for this.

Amelia let out a whimper of horror at the sight of him, but forced herself to remain stoic. "As head auror, I will be administering the serum. Are there any objections?"

Umbridge threw a hand in the air, trying to force us all to acknowledge her, but while she was technically still the prosecution, the body had voted to allow this. She had no say. Amelia walked around to the steps, climbing the stairs down and made her way over to the mad, skin covered skeleton that was my uncle. "Sirius? Can you hear me?"

He blinked a few times. "Amy?" He rasped. He looked her up and down before offering a yellow toothed grin. "You're a sight for sore eyes. And look at those knockers, think they got even bigger?"

"I see even Azkaban hasn't affected your wit. Sharp as a wooden spoon." She said acerbically, though her lips twitched. "You're still willing to take the potion?" His eyes, clearer now, scanned the room until they landed on me.

He nodded jerkily. "I do. Can't leave the nephew swimming with the sharks all on his own. Reggie'd never forgive me. It's time."

She offered him the serum vial, and he took it, tossing back the liquid and shuddering as it hit his system. Amelia watched, waiting for him to stabilize, and then nodded to Andi. My aunt took a deep breath. "Lord Black." She said loudly. "To establish bias, were you given a trial before your prior incarceration."

"No." Said Sirius Simply.

At the confirmation, muttering started, but Dumbledore banged his gavel to regain order. After that had calmed down. Andi went through a series of poignant questions. His name, his family background, his relation to the Potters, his relation to my dad. She laid it all out before finally extracting the information she needed, so there could be no doubt.

Sirius Black hadn't been the Potters secret keeper, or the traitor. Peter Pettigrew, and illegal rat animagus, had framed him for the crime.

Fudge screamed and ranted and tried to protest…until one of the other Lords threatened to have him up on charges of unlawful imprisonment of a noble personage, at which point he miraculously came around to our way of thinking.

The court was dismissed, and everyone flooded out into an antechamber with a surprisingly nice banquet set up. It seemed really weird to me that this reception would be here, but Andi explained it was to schmooze possible campaign investors after Fudge's 'demonstration of justice'. As if I needed a reason to hate that guy more.

I grinned at my uncle as he looked down at me tearfully. "You look like shit old man." I said bluntly. He burst out laughing, reaching out to give me a hug. I slipped him the vial I had palmed, murmuring instructions to hold onto it for later, and we all started chattering about the big reveal.

Sirius was innocent, I almost asked why he hadn't just SAID that, but knowing the Veritaserum thing was a secret I realized it would have tipped our hand. The obscure bit of legal trivia Andi had used to invoke that session would have been obvious if people knew Sirius was innocent. Fudge hadn't considered the tactic because Sirius had confessed before and he had no doubts about my uncle's guilt.

As we talked, I felt something…shift. Something was wrong, something was about to happen. I spun, and I saw a pale, maniacal looking man with messy brown hair and bulging eyes reach the center of the room with a platter and pull off the cover to reveal…something horrible. Magic and powerful and WRONG.

"GLORY TO THE FACELESS!" He howled. "DIE PRETENDERS!" The he palmed a steak knife from his sleeve, hot blood spurting out onto the thing on the platter.

I felt the rising energy and knew what was coming, stepping in front of my friends and family, I threw up my hands and bellowed. "PROTEGO!" A massive dome of shimmering silver slammed down over us, every ounce of demonic power and intent I had in me reinforcing it as I dropped it as close to the border of our group as possible. The last thing I heard before the explosion was dozens of aurors bursting into the room…then there was only ringing.

June 25th, 2011, Ministry of Magic, London, 8:00 PM BST

My shield held, obviously. It was splattered with gore and viscera, but it didn't even bend. Sadly, my shield did NOT keep out noise or light, and my head was ringing. It took me a second to shake the ringing from my head and blink away the spots, but as soon as I did I spun and checked on my people.

"Everyone ok?" I coughed out. Dust and smoke were also coming through the shield, which made sense since air needed to, but it made it hard for me to see.

Suzie grabbed me, running her hands over my head and neck to check that I wasn't injured. "We're fine." She said worriedly. "Are you? Did you get hurt?" She turned to Amelia, who was behind the shield with us. "Auntie what happened? What was that?"

I let the shield drop as soon as I confirmed there was no active danger. "Pretty sure that was some kind of magic bomber. Not sure HOW exactly, the blast was immense, but I heard something about the Faceless." I grimaced. "That's…not great. I've heard that term before from Val, just a general thing but I think we just got attacked by a cult."

Amelia scowled. "We'll find out how they got in. Every Auror in Britain is here now, and they're combing the entire ministry. Whoever let them inside is going to pay. I need to go check on the Wizengamot members, are you ok here?"

"We're fine." I said, waving her off. "Suzie is safe with me. Don't worry about that. Go find out what happened." She gave her niece one last look before storming off to confer with the aurors.

I turned to my uncle. "How about you, you ok? That wasn't exactly the reunion I was hoping for. Drink that vial immediately." I glanced at my mother. "Put up a curtain for us or something? We can just act like it's a triage tent."

Waiting might have been a better call, honestly, but Sirius was in BAD shape, and with people attacking us there was a decent chance he might get killed in the crossfire. I wasn't risking that after so much effort to free him. Mom nodded, flicking her wand, and a series of dark red drapes flew up around us.

Sirius looked warily down at the vial, but I just rolled my eyes. "Do you know how much trouble we went to to get you out? If I wanted you dead, that would have been WAY easier. Stop being a paranoid dumbass and drink your medicine."

He burst out laughing, his face stretching into a wide grin. "You sound like Reggie. He was always the one person who called me on my nonsense. My mother would screech about anything and everything, but Reggie was the one who told me when I was being an arsehole good and proper."

Popping the cap, he winked at us. "Bottoms up." Then he tossed back the shimmering elixir in a single throw.

His eyes went wide as the potion hit his stomach, and a quick nod to Seras saw her step up to grab and restrain him. Even as I watched, he began to change. First was the starvation, his muscles began to swell, filling in the gaps where I could see the bones and then going a bit further, bringing him back to a healthy weight.

The skin of his body started to flush and pinken, not too much, just enough to relieve some of the unhealthy pallor, his teeth straightened in his mouth, jaw grinding as it seemed to reset itself. Finally, his grey streaked hair and beard seemed to darken, stringy and damaged hair becoming long and lustrous.

I pointed my wand at him with a smile. "Hold your breath." I said cheerfully. And then snapped. "Scourgify."

His eyes widened as a wave of cleansing energy smashed into him, and he sputtered as his hair and clothes were washed and scrubbed clean by phantom soapy water. When it passed, he was doubled over, coughing, before glaring up at me. "I take it back." He coughed. "You're nothing like Reggie. You're a clone of THAT harpy." He stabbed a finger at my giggling mother.

"You're welcome for the literally priceless healing medicine you big baby." I said with an eye roll. "Now if you'll stop bitching, maybe you can tell me how you feel."

He paused, eyes widening as he looked down at himself. "I feel…amazing. It's been years since I was this healthy. Although I could use my wand back. I don't suppose any of you know how I might go about getting it?"

I shrugged. "Sorry, but chances are good they just snapped it. We'll need to get you a new one. You've probably changed a lot anyway, probably a good idea to look into a replacement."

"Right." He said grimly. "That's…right." He petered off for a second, eyes losing focus.

That got a grimace from me. The elixir fixed his body, but from what I knew Azkaban was pretty much the unhappiest place on earth. It would take more than a convenient potion to fix eighteen years in THAT place. I wondered if Amelia knew a magical therapist. I decided to try to distract him. "Anyway, anyone here know a shaving spell? I feel like I'm walking around with a monkey in a pillow case. Or bigfoot."

"Oi!" He yelped, arms going up in front of his face. "Not the beard. I'll trim it by hand, but I don't do clean shaven."

I smirked as my plan worked, and my mother started harassing him about being ungrateful and how absurd his beard looked. It was kind of nice, like I imagine siblings would act. It took some pressure off me so I could slip out of the curtain and start looking around. My mom was a master potionmaker so her fixing up Sirius wouldn't be suspicious. Doing it with one vial was a bit far fetched, but since no one had seen it it would be fine. They could stay in there for a while, so I'd go and check on some of the other attendees.

I found Dumbledore standing amidst a small crowd, next to Fudge, who had unfortunately survived. I didn't see the toad, so there was a decent chance the blast had done at least one good thing.

"Headmaster." I said as I approached. "Are you alright?" He turned to me with an expression of relief painted across his features.

Pushing aside the politicians he clapped me on the shoulders. "Mr. Black, it's a pleasure to see you well. What of your fellow students? I trust they're hale and hearty?" His gaze was searching, and it made me think better of him that with all of this mess his first thought was for the students under his charge.

"We're all ok, sir." I said with a nod. "But everyone is pretty shaken. Do you know who did this? And why?" I wanted to know if he had any details about this cult.

His face hardened. "An old enemy." He bit out. "One I thought long gone. Rest assured, my boy, this outrage will not go unpunished." His eyes scanned the crowd. "Remus." He called out as he located the man who'd been fighting with Andi earlier. "Come over here."

The already pale and disheveled man looked like he was about to fall over. He was covered in dirt and had a bloody gash on his forehead, having clearly taken a hit from the blast.

"Yes, professor, I-" When he saw me, he froze, his face crumpling in a mixture of guilt and shame. "Ah. Mr. Black." He said lamely. "I…that is…I owe you quite the apology, I should think. And not just you." He forced himself to turn and face Dumbledore. "What did you need professor?"

The old man smiled warmly. "I need you to get in touch with some of our…old friends. Make sure everyone is alright. These particular enemies have a fondness for attacking on multiple fronts."

He nodded weakly, turning to glance at me one last time. "Please tell your uncle…I'm sorry. I'll be by to see him soon."

Dumbledore watched him go and looked to me. "Now, I suggest you and your companions retreat to your own residences. Your wards should protect you from all but the most devastating attacks. There's safety in numbers as well."

"Will do headmaster. Stay safe ok?" I didn't have to pretend to be shaken. I could see aurors pulling corpses out of piles of destroyed furniture all over the place. Fights were one thing but this…I was reeling. The old man nodded before returning to Fudge, lowering his voice to murmur sternly to the shell shocked minister.

I got back to the curtains as my mom was taking them down, Sirius had won the beard fight, and looked very pleased with himself. When I arrived though, his attention was captured by another target. Amelia was hurrying over, and he shot her a charming smile before she glared him into silence, pulling everyone in to listen.

"We have a problem." She spat as she approached. "I just got several reports. In the aftermath of the blast, all the aurors in the country flooded the ministry. At the same time, several attacks were executed on wizarding targets. Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, Godric's Hollow, and several individual residences. The population centers mostly came through it unscathed, just cosmetic damage, but some of the residences…"

Andi frowned. "That's awful, did one of our homes get hit?" Like me, she was clearly confused as to why we were being told about this. We weren't involved in law enforcement and looping us in for something like this seemed pointless.

Swallowing hard, Amelia gave Andi a sad smile. "Not yours, I'm afraid. But the home of a family member. Approximately ten minutes ago, hostile elements laid siege to Malfoy manor. Your nephew was out of the house, but your sister was home. I'm sorry to tell you that Narcissa Malfoy's body was identified just a few short minutes ago."

Andi staggered back in horror. "She…what? Cissy? Why the hell would they attack Cissy?"

"We believe the assailants were after a cache of objects stored in the house." She said stoically. "Her body was found in a hidden chamber behind the drawing room. We were able to locate her easily enough due to the damage. It appears that someone unleashed Fiendfyre on the house. The wards were durable enough that the manor wasn't completely demolished, but the wreckage is burned beyond recognition."

As Andromeda's eyes filled up with tears for a sister she barely knew anymore but still loved, my own met with my mother's as she stepped up to hug the woman. The timing of this was too coincidental. She and I had been working with Amelia to arrange for a raid of Malfoy Manor to clear out Lucius's cache of dark artifacts and sweep up his influence.

I couldn't shake the feeling that this whole night was someone's attempt to distract the entire wizarding world while they made off with something he'd had in his possession. The question was WHAT? What the hell could have been in that chamber worth all this?

Lucius had been a lackey of Voldemort, had the wraith been behind this? But if so how was he able to mobilize the bombers. That battle cry had been the rallying call of a sorcerous cult. Something big was going on, the entire wizarding world was sliding towards a resurgence of a war that had ended decades ago, and I couldn't help but think that the attack on Malfoy Manor was the main intent behind the whole thing.

For now though, there wasn't much I could do. Mom would question Lucius further about the room when she got back, try to find out exactly what the target was, but for now we needed to be there for Andi. For all her shittiness, Narcissa had been her sister. Family might piss you off but you were stuck with them. Luckily, she still had us around to take care of her. We'd make sure she was alright.

June 25th, 2011, Ryan's Manor, London, 10:00 PM BST

I slumped down on the couch in exhaustion. Not physical, mind you, but mentally tonight had been… a lot. The trial, the attack, the news about Narcissa. We'd all decided to stick together at the manor, deciding safety in numbers was a good idea like Dumbledore had said. Andi was asleep upstairs, Seras was with my mom. Cyrus, Astoria, and Anna were all here too, and Suzie was with Hannah and Amelia.

For what seemed like the first time in a long time, I was alone. Which was crazy considering how many people were in my peerage now. But I'd picked one of the back studies for a reason, an out of the way room where I could just sit and think.

Because right now…I didn't want to be in charge. Didn't want anyone looking to me for guidance or answers. I might be the King, but I was still just eighteen, and there was so much happening. We might be going to fucking WAR. How was I supposed to handle that? As a teenager? So what if I was stronger than most and had some backup. I hadn't signed up for this.

The door opened, and I turned to let whoever was entering know I was doing some thinking on my own, but I was surprised to see a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar. "Thought I might find you here." Said my uncle cheerfully. "I used to use this room to hide from my mum back in the day."

"Did it work?" I asked with a snort. "Because I've heard some shit about your mom and she doesn't sound like the type to be deterred by some hiding."

He barked out a laugh. "Got me there. No, it didn't work most of the time. That harpy was pretty much inescapable, but a bloke can dream right?" He walked over and crashed down on the couch next to me. "So tell me, nephew mine, what's got a handsome lad in the prime of his youth sighing like he's got the world on his shoulders?"

I shrugged. "The whole attack thing, hearing we might be at war soon. I'm a fucking teenager. I have no business being involved in a war. And I'm not stupid enough to think it'll pass us by." Voldemort was bound to have a grudge or at least an interest after our last dustup. If he was really involved he'd be coming for us.

"I get you there." He said in disconnected voice. "When the last war started I was pulled in. My best friends all but volunteered. And part of me wanted to help, to beat back the kind of dark magic my family had been responsible for spreading. But you want to know a secret?" I nodded. "No one is ever ready. Not as a teenager, not as a hundred year old man. War isn't something you CAN be ready for."

It was my turn to laugh, though in a much less friendly way. "So, what? I'm screwed? My options are to go through hell or what? Hide out on the moon or something?" I frowned. I might actually be able to do that. It seemed like a neat place to make my fortress if nothing else. But I shook that off quickly. I was distracting myself.

He just shrugged. "You'll do what I did. You'll get involved. People you care about will be sucked in. That pretty little redhead of yours will be a target, through Amy. She is your girl right? Because if so kudos on bagging a Bones. She's going to be bustier than a roman museum. I see the Black charm is still in effect."

"She is." I smirked. "So is Daphne. And Seras." I didn't tell him that Daphne and Susan were both probably going to be stacked because of the demonic shapeshifting thing.

He reeled back. "Wait. And they KNOW about each other? Bloody hell, lad, respect." He paused. "How do the muggles do this again." He held up one hand. "I think it was something like this?" I rolled my eyes and high fived him. I was guessing he'd missed fist bumps in wizard prison.

"So… how are you?" I asked in concern. "You seem almost sane after so long in the worst place in the world. Which in my experience means you're full of shit and good at hiding it."

Another bark of laughter. "You remind me of my brother so much sometimes. You look so much like him when I saw him last and then say things like that. Azkaban was… awful." He said slowly. "Worse than you can possibly imagine. But it couldn't really break me. Oh I'll be haunted for years, but I made it through intact."

I blinked in surprise. "Seriously? Fucking how? Dementors sound nasty. I'd have figured that could break anyone."

He gave a sad smile. "Do you know what a Dementor does? What it inflicts on its victims?"

"Makes you relive your worst memory?" I had no clue what mind would be and I desperately wanted to avoid finding out. "Yours was finding your friends dead right?" I couldn't think of a tactful way to ask that, so I just blurted it out.

He didn't seem bothered though, just nodded sadly. "It was. But that's the thing, isn't it? At the beginning of that memory, I hadn't found them yet. I still had hope I might get there in time, that they might still be alive. Every time the Dementors passed, I got a few minutes in a world where Lily and James were still around."

I stared at him uncomprehendingly. "But what about finding them? That had to be unbearable."

"Not really." He chuckled. "It's awful, sure, but I don't need reminding how I failed them. I live in that guilt every day. Every second I breathe is a second my best friend is dead. Every step I take is the step of a man who killed him." At my look of annoyance he held up a hand. "Oh don't get me wrong, I hate Peter for what he did. But ultimately it was my fault."
My expression muse have been full of pity, because he looked away, but I had to say it out loud. "The Dementors couldn't stick you in your worst memory. Because you're already there. Every memory is your worst memory, isn't it?"

"It was almost nice." He said with a broken smile. "The pain, the suffering. Because I fucking DESERVED it. They were punishing me for what I'd done. I'm going to hell for what I did. They were just giving me a head start." He said that like it wasn't completely insane, and I didn't know how to respond.

Thinking about everything I'd heard, I tried to focus him on something positive. "What about Potter? I mean, Harry?" My uncle wasn't a stable person, and I wasn't remotely qualified to help. So I'd just help him do what I did when I was really upset. The man needed a fucking project.

He looked like I'd slapped him. "I don't… that's not… he doesn't need me. He's got a life, friends and a family I'm sure."

"Not from what I know." I said in confusion. "I think I heard he ended up with some muggle relatives. They sound like dicks. He looks pretty bad too. Pale, thin, like he's about to jump out of his skin. Got better over the year with Granger and Weasley helping him out."

Sirius's eyes were flat. "Muggle…relatives?" He croaked out. "The only muggle relatives Harry has left are Lily's sister and her husband, but there's no possible way ANYONE would be stupid enough to trust those pieces of subhuman garbage with a magical child." He stood up, starting to pace. "Do you know where he lives? The name of his guardians?"

I shrugged. "I don't really talk to him much. He's a Gryffindor and I spend all my time with either my friends in Slytherin or my girls in Hufflepuff. Only lions I'm friends with are Fred and George…" I paused. "And Lavender I guess, but we haven't really talked much since the beginning of the year."

He froze. "You're a Slytherin?" His expression was cautious and a bit suspicious, and I just rolled my eyes.

"Yes." I said flatly. "I'm in a specific house in my COLLEGE. You're a grown ass man, is that really something that bothers you? I literally saved your life earlier today. Are you calling my loyalty into question because of the room a talking hat assigned me?" My voice was rising. I was already in a bad mood, and seeing him react like that because of school bullshit just… pushed me over the edge.

He flinched back from my icy tone, then took a deep breath and put his hands up. "Whoa. Sorry, no, you're right. It surprised me, but it shouldn't have."

"It seems like kind of a petty thing to worry about either way." I said with a laugh, forcing myself to calm down. There was no reason for me to react like that. He hadn't meant anything by it. I was just tense.

His smile was sad again. "I can't really make excuses there. I've been in prison for almost twenty years, kid. No people to talk to, not a part of society. I spent most of that time reliving the worst night of my life, and that happened when I was nineteen or so. I'm not… I never had a chance to grow up. It's strange, really. Being in this body, at this age. I doesn't feel like I got here the right way."

"So go back." I said with a shrug. "Mom did it. She uses a glamour, but you we could just pretend you're a long lost cousin or something."

Sirius just shook his head. "No. Physically getting younger isn't a bad idea, but pretending to be my own kid or something? Or even a distant relative? That's not where I belong. I'll probably try Sylvie's way. Use a glamour to appear my current age, I appreciate the offer though. Honestly, the concept is a bit creepy, don't you think?"

Looking at it from another angle I could see that. Grown man using a de-aging potion to go back to college? As a devil stuff like that didn't seem weird, since people would look the same for millennia the gap wasn't as important. I hadn't even realized how ingrained in my head my devil nature was now.

I shrugged. "Well, at the very least you can try to get in touch with Potter right? Introduce yourself? Plus figure out who put him in such a shitty place."

"Oh I will." He said hotly. "And I know just the meddling old bastard to have that conversation with. Dumbledore was supposed to be watching over him, I'm sure of it. Without me or James or Lily, Remus would have been the next in line, and there's no way they'd let him take custody."

I jumped. "Oh, you mean Lupin?" I asked as I vaguely remembered his first name. "Yeah, he wanted me to let you know he was sorry. Seemed a bit busy after the bombing but I could tell it was important to him. He's another person you should probably talk to. Seems like a dick to me, but I only met him once."

"He can be." Sirius snickered. "But he's a loyal friend to have. He only hated me before because he thought I killed Lily and James." He trailed off, then turned to frown at me. "Oi, you little brat, I came in here to help YOU feel better."

I blew on my nails and buffed them on my shirt. "Guess you're just too slow, old man. I was totally the helpful one." Winking at him, I chuckled at the absurdity, glad I got a smile. Since I'd brought up Potter his mood had taken a harder turn than I thought was really healthy. "In all seriousness though…thanks." I told him sincerely. "For talking to me a bit about the war." Maybe having my uncle around would be pretty cool.

Sorry about the mixup, posted the GG chapter here instead of SATD, this should fix it. As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent