The Curious Case of Sirius Black

December was drawing to a close and Christmas was just around the corner. There were still several things that Minera wanted to accomplish before Christmas morning came. She wanted to visit Godric's Hollow and retrieve as much as she could from the Potter's home there before they were looted or destroyed. She still hadn't been able to locate Remus Lupin. It appeared he had dropped out of existence after the Potter's death and Siruis' so-called betrayal came to light. She loved that boy, but he could be a coward at the best of times and therefore unreliable.

She understood the man needed to grieve, but how could he just disappear like that and leave Harry with no connection to his parents and the family that he had known in his short life? The laws would not have allowed him to take custody due to his lycanthropy, however that didn't mean he could not still be in the boy's life at all. She had received a letter from Amelia informing her that she and Andromeda would visit that evening. Hopefully with some news about Sirius. She still had a hard time believing that he was capable of what he was being accused of. If she doubted, how could Remus not stand by his friend and do the same?

She also wanted to have Pomona, Rolanda and Poppy over. All had loved James and Lily. Her leanabh beag needed all the love and support he could get. She knew that these three would love him almost as much as she did and would stand firm in their corner.

Harry was beginning to trust her and his environment little by little each day. At first, he could not sleep without being thrown into a nightmare. Each time it seemed to be about the red eyes, mean laugh and green lights. He still refused to sleep through the night alone in his room. He preferred to be snuggled up close to his Ma.

Each time Minerva would have to gently wake him by rubbing soothing circles on his back, while rocking him gently and pulling her fingers through his hair. It would take time, but he would eventually wake up and slowly calm down so that he could sleep again once he was convinced that she was there, and he was safe for the night.

He only sporadically slept in the crib, but the nightmares were so frequent that Minerva took to using the Moses basket next to her bed for the time being. It was easier to pull the child into her bed and fall back to sleep.

Hoping to exhaust the babe before their guests arrived, she had bundled little Harry up and taken him to the garden out back so that he could play in the snow. She was lost in thought when a small clump of snow suddenly hit her on the backside. Turning slowly with an eyebrow raised and came face to face with her giggling little boy with rosy cheeks from the cold.

Spotting her mischievous grin, the babe quickly realized that he was in for it and made to try and find a hiding place. His tiny body couldn't navigate the snow quick enough before he was tackled to the ground by a grey tabby cat who proceeded to lick his face and bat at his nose. "Ewe, ma….ma…MinnKitti ssop. Gwoss." He exclaimed while trying to protect his face from her "assault".

This was the scene that greeted Amelia and Andromeda as they came through the floo network in search of Minerva. Both women were first shocked and then amused at the display happening before them. They couldn't hold back the laughter that escaped them at their stern, no nonsense transfiguration professor rolling around in the snow as a cat with the giggling babe.

Minerva transformed back into herself and dusted off her cloak, quickly picking up the tired yet happy babe. One look from her and the two women tried to stifle their laughter. Even though they were no longer in school, it was still weird to see Minerva so playful and carefree. It was gonna take some getting used to.

"Good afternoon, ladies. Let's head inside shall we. I'll put Harry down for a nap and join you in the dining room shortly." She gestured for them to head inside, then she and Harry would follow.

"No no no. no seepy. no play Anty Droda" Harry tried to protest as she began to ascend towards the nursery. No matter how tired he was, the lad would always protest and insist that the nap wasn't necessary. She had tried to let him skip it last week only to slip a little calming draught into a bottle an hour later. It was that or Harry might not have survived the day.

She had learned that it did no good to try and argue or reason with the lad. So, she simply started to hum his new favorite lullaby as she changed him into his favorite Gryffindor pajamas with roaring lions to protect him. She slowly cradled him to her chest as she offered him her breast to nurse and calm himself, sitting in the rocker to lull him to sleep.

It took almost a half hour as the boy tried with all his might to fight the grip of sleep that threatened to overcome him. She finally felt his breathing even out to indicate that he had finally given in. She gently laid him in his crib and gave him the stuffed lion that he had affectionately named "Gryff". He grabbed the lion in his sleep and held him close as he turned on his side. "Sweet dreams a mhionag. She brushed the hair from his face and placed a kiss on his lighting scar before turning to head back downstairs. She cast the necessary charms to inform her if he woke and slowly descended the stairs.

Minerva joined the two women at the table. Something about the look on Amelia's face unnerved her. "I take it that you don't come bearing good news?" Minerva went to her liquor cabinet and grabbed a decanter of Firewhiskey and three glasses. She had a feeling that they would all need it. Her suspicion was proven true as Amelia sighed looking at the table before answering.

"Unfortunately, no I do not. From the looks of it, it seems that Sirius Black was indeed sent straight to Azkaban without a trial, an interrogation, nothing. I went to visit him, and he stated that he had requested a trial and even requested to be questioned under veritaserum, but was ultimately ignored. He showed me his left arm, and stated that he showed the auror who brought him in as well, there's no mark there and there never was. Somehow these requests never made it to my office. They were all redirected to the chief warlock and denied without giving any reason."

Minerva could hardly believe it. Even the worst death eaters who had openly and publicly abused, tortured, and killed magical and muggle folks alike were still granted the courtesy of a trial. Something wasn't right. She was beginning to think that Dumbledore was trying to purposefully isolate Harry and make sure that he felt completely alone in the world and grew completely ignorant of the magical world and his place within it. But why? Why would he do such a thing? What exactly was his plan? What could that possibly achieve?

"So, what does this mean going forward? Is it possible that Black is innocent and could be released?" Minerva was hopeful and fearful at the same time. As Harry's godfather, if he was to be proven innocent and released there was a chance that he would try to take her boy away from her. She was beginning to panic, she didn't know if she could survive that boy being ripped from her.

"I have petitioned to have Sirius brought in for informal questioning stating that there was a clerical error so as not to arouse too much suspicion. From there I can use that to force a trial. Depending on what is revealed throughout that time, the Wizengamot would have no choice but to declare him innocent and release him or formally convict him if the circumstances call for it. It's going to take time though. I guarantee that Dumbledore will do everything he can to fight me at every turn. But even he can't deny the formal requests forever. I'll go over his head and straight to the ICW if I have to."

The three women sat in silence as they processed this new information. Finally, the voice in the back of her head won and she had to ask the question she was most dreading the answer to. "What um, what does this mean for Harry? If Black should get out. Would he be able to take him from me?" Her voice cracked and wavered despite her best efforts to remain Gryffindor strong.

Andromeda quickly stood and embraced Minerva, as a mother herself she could only imagine what would happen if Ted tried to steal her little girl from her. Nymphydora was only a few months older than Harry himself. Amelia looked at her friend with sympathy. She couldn't imagine being so close to a baby only to have them taken away from you. "You have gone through official channels and filed all the necessary paperwork including having completed a blood adoption. You have nothing to fear Minerva. No matter what happens moving forward, no one, not even Dumbeldore himself, can ever take that precious boy from you." She squeezed her friends' arm for comfort.

Minerva nodded, thankful that she had listened to the goblins. She had somehow forgotten about the blood adoption that she had completed. Harry was by blood her son and no one could ever change that or take him away from her. She would never bar Sirius from Harry's life, the boy needed as many people to show him love as he could get. Not to mention a connection to his parents, and the boy was clearly already attached to Sirius. However, he would have to understand that Harry was hers to raise and make decisions for and he could visit when arranged beforehand, but he couldn't just show up or undermine her when it came to Harry. She wasn't taking any chances with her balach prìseil.

They moved to the living room and sat talking in front of the fire for a while longer about lighter topics. One being how Andromeda was fairing as a single parent. Amelia and Minerva started laughing when Andromeda revealed that her daughter had started to show that she was a metamorph and had fun scaring her poor mother by randomly changing her hair and/or eye color. Minerva wondered if this was something that Harry might develop since his grandmother had been a Black. As the hour grew late, she thanked both women for coming before going to sit in the rocking chair in the nursery to watch Harry sleep. Her heart was heavy as she contemplated everything she had learned. How could it have come to this? She never thought that she would be going behind Albus Dumbledore's back. Then again, she never thought he could fall so far from grace to the point where she no longer trusted the man.

Translations:

* Leanabh beag = Little babe

* A mhionag = My little one

* Balach prìseil = Precious boy