Debts (3/3)

Title: Debts
Author: Genna Gray
Fandom/Genre: Harry Potter
Relationship[s]: Gen, Pre-slash [Maybe]
Content Rating: MA [Just in-case]
Warnings: Swearing, Flashbacks, Violence
Disclaimer: I will not or plan to make any money off of this, this was written in fun for fun and nothing more.
Summary: Since the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament Harry has had a lot of time on his hands – between being banished back to the Dursley’s, no contact with his friends of Godfather, and pretty much ignored – Harry stumbles across a key piece of information that could change his entire world.
And piss of most of the Wizarding world.
AN: This was for Rough Trade, June 2014, Boot Camp
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     As Sirius took to the stand, swore his Oaths, and calmly breathed as the court-room fell silent.
     And he tried, very hard, to not freak out on the stand and ruin whatever it took for Harry to set this trial up.
     He was afraid, deathly so, of returning to Azkaban – Shelton said it wasn’t possible, that Harry’s testimony alone prevented it – but Sirius had spent just shy of half his life in that horrible place and he doubted, privately where no-one could get access to, if he would ever not feel like he was still back in Azkaban and the Dementor’s were only a few corridor’s down on patrol.
     It was a feeling he had yet to shake since leaving Azkaban, the feeling of being there and the entire prison breathing down his neck; Sirius still shocked himself when he would look in a mirror and see himself, not as healthy or whole as before he went to prison but not that gaunt and skeletal figure he was when Sirius emerged from it.
     That morning Sirius made sure to take the time, extra hours even, to ensure that when the trial started he would look nice and presentable – if he was going back to prison Sirius at least wanted to look nice while doing it. His outer robes were a deep purple-black that matched the hair-thin strips of his muggle-suit – and he blamed Harry for getting him into muggle fashion – which was a rather pale gray.
     [No-one had to know about the razor-thin dragon-hide inner lining of both the robe and the suit - it wouldn't stop a physical attack but it would turn aside most spells. Sirius had wanted to wear full dragon-hide armor but his Barrister said that it might not be a good idea showing up to court looking dressed for a fight - it was utter tosh to Sirius's mind but he was willing to go along with it.]
     “Please state your name for the record.”
     “Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, Earl of Blackmoor, and Baron of Potter.” Sirius said clearly and crossed his legs before drawing on all the legacy the Black’s gave him – he might have hated his family with a burning passion but Sirius could, with little effort, make grown wizard’s cry verbally.
     Sirius had full plans to doing so today.
     “We are here today due to your conviction, wrongful as some claim and deserved other’s say, this Court body is here to see a verdict proclaiming one to be true – what say you Convict?”
     “I will speak the truth and nothing but to any and all questions asked to me on this day,” Sirius raised his chin, much like his Godson did, and stared down the Wizengamont in challenge. “I will vow on my magic, take Veritaserum, and give my entire fortune away if it means the truth will be found out.”
     “Very well,” Amelia – and when had little Amy grown up? – cleared her throat and unseal a roll of parchment. “Let the questioning begin – please state your actions on the night of 31st of October fourteen years ago.”
     Sirius exhaled shakily, he knew this question was coming, Shelton had warned him that it would but Sirius hadn’t talked about that night since it happened – not even to Harry or Remus, and while Harry, with more understanding in his eyes than most adult’s hadn’t pushed it, Remus had taken to trying to beg Sirius to talk about it or at least some parts of it.
     What Remus couldn’t understand was that Sirius couldn’t, it was a burden to carry the knowledge and sight of that night and it was one that wouldn’t lessen or be spared even spoken of – and Sirius didn’t want anyone else to carry it, not Harry, not Remus, and certainly not most of the Wizarding world but if it meant his freedom than Sirius was willing to tell all.
     “It was a last-minute mission,” Sirius said after a few minutes, the court-room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. “A missing person, and everyone else was so busy…I wasn’t even suppose to have been in the Auror office, you see, but I was finishing up some paperwork for a previous case and was about to grab some cold-cases for James to work on – he was going stir-crazy being cooped up at Godric’s Hallow – and I thought it would give him something else to focus on.
     “Auror Peabody told me as I was leaving that he just needed me to check a few things out, in and out real quick, and I would be done in an hour or two – as much as I wanted to leave and go back to the Hallow it was a direct order and I couldn’t shirk it. So I sent the casework ahead with a note to James and Lily that I was going to be late, to not hold dinner for me but wait before giving Harry his bedtime story.
     “It was actually pretty easy,” Sirius shook his head. “In hindsight I could see the case was a diversion to distract and slow me down – the two witness’s had already told me they had been interviewed that day, by Peabody, so I assumed he wanted me to follow-up in-case he missed something. It didn’t occur to me afterwards it was rather strange for him to seek me out but…I assumed since the office was so busy that I was the only free Auror he had on duty at the time.
     “But once back at the Ministry did I start to realize something was wrong, the Flooing system was down and the line to the Portkey office’s – there was a problem there, I’ve forgotten what is was to be frank – and the Apparition Point was overloaded as a result so I didn’t get out of there for hours.
     “By the time I went through all the check-points to reach the safe-house where James and Lily were it was…I could instantly when I arrived it was already too late.” Sirius’s voice shook and he forced the tremble in his hands to stop. “The house was…it looked like a bomb had gone off, walls missing – the front door alone was a hole…I found James at the foot of the stairs. He was…his body looked it like had been through utter hell – I’ve dueled James before so I known that the duel must have lasted at least an hour or more before he fell.
     “The upstairs…it was neat and tidy, like it always was, like Voldemort simply didn’t have to bother to look for Lily and Harry once he was past James – he knew where exactly the nursery was. It…Harry’s nursery looked the same as it ever did but I already knew that it was too late – I could hear Harry half-down the hall crying in his crib.” Sirius laughed shakily and the tears he would shed in his voice. “I wasn’t sure what I would find – either Voldemort waiting for me or dead by Lily’s hand before she died, since if Lily was still alive Harry would have already been soothed.
     “L-lily was lying in front of Harry’s crib, I didn’t even- there was nothing I could do for her.” Sirius took a deep breath. “I picked up Harry, he was so upset, and I started to calm him down – Voldemort wasn’t in the room, there was a pile of black robes which I assumed was his. I didn’t- I was leaving, it wasn’t safe to stay there any longer, and I saw-
     “I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, it was Peter and he saw me see him and he was Portkeyed away – and-and I knew then, what had happened.” Sirius took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I knew what happened and when Hagrid come to the scene I passed Harry over to him, told him to take Harry to Alice or even Minerva, and then I took off after Peter.
     “Because Peter, that disgusting excuse for a wizard and betrayed our friends to Voldemort – and I was going to kill him for it.”
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     After that Sirius detailed his race after Pettigrew and what went wrong in the back alley near the Leaky Cauldron, it was…difficult, Harry could plainly see, for Sirius to talk about what happened after his parents were murdered but it wasn’t as bad as when Sirius talked about finding his parents.
     Harry didn’t even know that – he had always assumed Hagrid or someone in Dumbledore’s pocket found him and Sirius came on the scene afterwards – it didn’t occur to Harry that Sirius had been the one to find him.
     It made what Sirius suffered, twelve years in a hell-hole manned by demon’s, even more upsetting – the fact that if anyone had thought to do their jobs than Sirius would never have been there that long, would never have spent a day on that cursed island and it infuriated Harry that the only time justice was used or involved if it was against Harry and who cared for him.
     Any other time it didn’t occur or was brushed under the rug.
     “I see,” Bones cleared her throat. “And how exactly did you know that Peter Pettigrew III was the one to betray Lord and Lady Potter to He-Shall-Not-Be-Named?”
     “Because he was the Secret Keeper for Godric’s Hallow,” Sirius licked his lips. “We thought about using Remy, Remus Lupin, but he was on sabbatical and had been for several months and frequently out of contact – James seriously considered me but I told him to use someone else, that it wouldn’t work out with me.”
      “And why did you say that? It must have been an honor, you were Lord Potter’s closest of friends and Godfather to his only son and Heir.”
      “I was too visible, if you already assumed I was the Secret Keeper it was easy to say Voldemort would guess – I know I’m good, that I could shake any tails and fight my way out of an ambush but I couldn’t be on my guard all the time and- as my mentor once told me, “Every one has a breaking point, true fact and nothing to be ashamed of, but you needed to know what it was so you’ll know how long you’ll last.”
      “I know I could last weeks, if not months under Voldemort’s attentions and probably die from my wounds before I reveled the location but I knew if I didn’t die I would – I knew my breaking points and if Voldemort didn’t lose his temper and kill me before I would tell.” Sirius exhaled shakily and Harry’s fists bailed up – he hated that Sirius had to be put on like this, for the world to see. “So I suggested several people and we decided on Peter – I personally wanted Albus Dumbledore to be the Secret Keeper but I was told that it wasn’t possible for various reasons.
     “That was the biggest mistake in my life in not pushing the issue a little more otherwise we would have discovered what a traitor Peter was.”
      Harry watched, nerves snapping and crackling, as Sirius was questioned by Finnegan and by Bones, both having several feet of parchment and Sirius answer the questions calmly – but Harry could see his temper glittering along his edges as his Godfather was pushed to his limit’s and held there. It was only Shelton’s hand on Harry’s leg under the table that kept Harry in his seat and not jumping to his feet and shouting.
     By the time the questioning was done and over with Sirius looked the worse for wear, several dozen member’s of the public had to be escorted out and a wide-range Silencio had been cast onto the Wizengamont after Sirius spoke of the events of Third year – including what Harry said all along about how Fudge ignored his eye-witness testimony about Peter being alive and admitting to betraying his parents.
     It was a nice feeling to know the rest of the magical world would know Harry wasn’t a liar.
     By the time they closed the questioning, Shelton couldn’t ask pressing questions since – technically – he was Sirius’s lawyer as well as Harry’s and as such couldn’t try to deviate from what they were in court for; and since it seemed to be going well, Shelton had said if it was going in their favor he wouldn’t ask any questions, it would only cause a circular argument and testimony that would drag out and they would lose their momentum.
      Harry pushed his thoughts away and focused on Bones when she paused and tapped the large crystal that sat before her; Bones frowned briefly, only once, before standing. “This body in Court requests that, to verify of what Lord Black has said, to be proven True that he be given Veritaserum and re-questioned.”
     Harry’s stomach fell out between his feet and Shelton exhaled a hiss of shook – they had hoped for Veritaserum but didn’t plan on it, it had to come either from Pettigrew’s Barrister or from the Wizengamont it’s self for it to be believed.
     Harry flicked his eyes up and scanned the assembled Wizengamont – Dumbledore was up there but not clad in his Wizengamont robes since he was, however slight, involved in the proceedings that day, but the look of utter shock on the man’s face, however stifled afterwards made Harry dismiss the old Wizard since if Dumbledore or anyone of his fan’s had been behind it they would have let him know.
      Harry’s eyes stopped on a man, a tall one at that, with blonde hair and piercing blue-eyes – he had the look that Malfoy, Draco that was, but not…exactly. Harry assumed a relative or something but something about him…Harry had a good feeling that, despite sitting next to Malfoy’s Dad, that he had been the one to request the use of Veritaserum on Sirius.
      The man seemed to feel Harry’s eyes on him as he looked over and, surprisingly, gave Harry slight nod of acknowledgement before looking away. Harry felt his face flush and also turned his eyes from the man to focus on his Godfather – who looked like someone slapped him with a fish right across the face. It was an amusing sight and one Harry didn’t think he would see much of since it was hard to sneak up or surprise Sirius on a good day.
      Shelton’s breathing hitched when Sirius was give the Veritaserum and the classical glazed over-eyes of the potion-drinker formed – Harry knew, knew, that after this Sirius was going to walk free today while Pettigrew would be going to prison and Voldemort’s return would be confirmed and the Wizarding World could prepare for him.
      Everything was finally coming together and going Harry’s way for a change.
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     “This is a good thing,” Shelton told Harry afterwards as the trial was dismissed for the day. “With Sirius’s testimony under Veritaserum today I can argue for Pettigrew to be given it as well – from there, I think – we can prove that Voldemort has returned and in that I can start filing charges against everyone you saw at his re-birth. We’re going to tie his followers up in the court-system for months if I can’t get away with it – years if I can get Bones behind it as well.”
      “I think she will,” Harry murmured. “I think she’s on our side, I got that feeling during my testimony today that Bones was sympathetic.”
      “That’s good then,” Shelton nodded. “Bones is a fair Auror and a great Head Auror after she took over from Moody – if she believes the evidence than Bones will do her best to get Sirius freed and Pettigrew a trial.”
      “Ah!” A voice interrupted the duo’s conversation and Harry barely hid his wince. “Harry, my boy! I was wondering if I could speak to you in private-”
      “I am sorry Headmaster Dumbledore but I have need of my client for the rest of the evening – going over tomorrow preparations you understand,” Shelton interrupted Dumbledore before he could start and Harry felt like grinning widely when the twinkle in Dumbledore’s eye faded slightly. “Come along Scion Potter – we have much to do before morning.”
      And with that Shelton swept Harry along and into a private Floo that led directly to Shelton’s own home – due to Shelton’s work as a Barrister and the level of confidentiality that was required he maintained two set’s of Goblin War-Wards, one on his home and one on his public office’s – and Harry knew Voldemort himself could spend all day trying to get around or through those wards and it wouldn’t happen.
      Hell, Shelton could drop dead and as long as Harry stayed behind the Wards they would stay up and he would be safe from harm from pretty much everything.
      And what Shelton said was true, they did have things they needed to go over but by the time supper rolled around at seven they were done and Harry and Shelton went they’re suppurate ways – Harry to the room he had been given to use and Shelton to his office to work a little on his other cases. Settling into his room, just off the second-floor landing, Harry sat on the full-sized bed with a sigh before collapsing on his back.
      Harry was glad, so glad, that Ragnarok had taken the time to explain what his titles were and what exactly they meant for Harry – and what Harry could do with them back at the start of summer. [Harry had spent too long ignorant of what exactly his family was to the wizarding world and what they expected back from Harry. It made Harry re-think his future, the time alone Harry spent dealing with what little of his estates he had access to look up a lot of free-time – Harry had full plans on once Sirius was free was dumping the lot onto his Godfather to manage while he himself finished school.
      After that, well, Harry would decide then on what he was going to do.
     But, Harry grinned up at the ceiling, life was better than it had ever been right now – Sirius was getting his trial, Pettigrew was going to pay for what he did, and if all went well Harry just might not have to return to the Dursley’s ever again. [And if Harry had his way Shelton and he would pick off Voldemort's followers, tying them up legally in court - because most of them were only free because of what they swore to under questioning.
      And from Shelton said they were very clearly violating it.]
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      Harry was incredibly nervous, this was the moment he had been waiting for, for weeks, and it came out of the blue – the Court had requested a private questioning with Pettigrew with the only additions being Finnegan and Shelton, and while Shelton hadn’t said anything the fairly estatic grin on the Barrister’s face said it all.
      They had the case in the bag and Sirius was going to walk free from the court-room without having to worry about being captured and sent back to that hell-hole that was Azkaban.
       He was doing all he can to not scream or shout in the hushed court-room as the Wizengamont filed in, and instead of sitting stood in the stands. Which was unusual and Harry was worried, scared for a brief second that they were going to condemn Sirius and send him back and let Pettigrew walk free, but Harry shoved that down and back into the back of his thoughts so he could focus.
      “The Court today has come to a verdict in regards to the convicted Lord Black and the accused Baron Pettigrew III – and as such we will give our verdicts now.” Bones said and everyone barring the Wizengamont shifted in place – Harry doubted he could have – it felt like he had turned to stone where he stood. “We have come to the conclusion due to evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Lord Black was wrongly accused and due to miscommunication was convicted without a trial while the true accused walked free for over thirteen years.
      “And during those years caused an untold and an unforseen amount of damage to our Lady Magic with his actions. Therefore this court-body has decreed that the accused, Peter Pettigrew III, is convicted of the murder of Lady Lily Potter, Lord James Potter and attempted murder of Scion Harold Potter on the 31st of October in 1980.” Bones took a deep breath. “And in three months time this body will bring forth a trial against Baron Pettigrew in his actions in regards to Scion Cedric Diggory’s murder, He-Shall-Not-Be-Named’s resurrection, and a list of other charges.
      “But that is for another time and place – Lord Sirius Orion Black you have been granted your freedom, hence force you are a free man and as such free to go from this court with a pardon of being wrongly convicted.”
      The court-room erupted into a thunderous storm of noise as Sirius put his face into his hands and wept.