#sirius black x cornelius fudge

[mrstellmeafuckingsecret]

Wait do you know about the Sirius/Cornelius Fudge ship(also known as corndog)?

I DO NOT !!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE TELL ME EVERYTHING.

[braveclementine]

Chapter 26

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (However they are very few so those under the age of 18 can still read a majority of this book. However please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝕳𝖔𝖌𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖘 𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 month of April and we were starting to near our O.W.L.s. Many of the fifth years were collapsing into states of nerves. Madam Pomfrey was used to this and already had calming draughts ready to give students. Hannah was one of the students after she burst out in Herbology that she was to stupid to take exams and wanted to leave school.

Hermione and I weren't dropping into nerves but we were starting to get very snippy at the younger kids in our common rooms as we were studying. I'd tried to be nicer about it but man, kids can just get on your nerves! I swear some of them do it on purpose too.

Of course, I wasn't going to miss a single D.A. meeting either. On our last lesson before Easter, we were working on Patronuses and I immediately produced mine on a first try and then taught Rose and Grace the details of how to create a Patronus even though it was high above them.

Harry was busy telling everyone that it was easier to produce Patronuses in such a bright room and that it would be harder to create them when faced with a real dementor.

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy." Cho was saying. "They're so pretty!"

"They're not supposed to be pretty, they're supposed to protect you." Harry said patiently. "What we really need is a boggart or something; that's how I learned, I had to conjure a Patronus while the boggart was pretending to be a dementor-"

"But that would be really scary!" Lavender exclaimed. "And I still- can't- do it!" She said frustrated as silver vapor came out of the end of her wand.

"You've got to think of something happy." Harry said to Neville who's face was screwed up in concentration.

"I'm trying." Neville said miserably.

Suddenly I froze and then I screamed, "Harry!"

Everyone looked at me. "What?" Harry asked quickly.

"Umbridge- Marietta told on us. Umbridge is coming to get us." I said. "Everyone needs to get out of here immediately!"

At that moment, the door opened and everyone jumped back, but it was just Dobby.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellowed at everyone, "RUN!" Everyone sprinted for the door and I pushed Rose and Grace that way, running over to where Hermione kept the D.A. list.

"Good." Harry said, at my side. "Dobby, go back to the kitchens." There was a crack and Dobby was gone. I rolled up the list with trembling hands and shoved it into my robe pocket.

"Lets go before she gets in." I said. Everyone was gone and Harry and I sprinted from the room. Harry and I sprinted up the corridor- there were bathrooms ahead. Suddenly, Harry fell and then I felt something wrap around my ankles and I fell too.

I heard someone laughing and I saw that Draco was hiding behind a dragon statue. I cursed. I should've foreseen that.

"Trip Jinx, Potter! Kane! Hey, Professor- PROFESSOR! I've got two!"

Umbitch came around the corner, breathless but wearing a delighted smile.

"It's them! Excellent, Draco, excellent, oh, very good- fifty points to Slytherin! I'll take them from here. . . Stand up, Potter! Stand up Kane!"

I got to my feet, glaring. I felt the parchment in my pocket and hoped that she didn't take it. "You hop along and see if you can round up anymore of them, Draco. Tell the others to look in the library- anybody out of breath- check the bathrooms, Miss Parkinson can do the girls' ones- off you go- and you two," she dropped her voice to a whisper, "You can come with me to the headmaster's office."

A few moments later, we were in front of the gargoyle statues. "Fizzing Whizbee." Umbridge said in a singing voice. She had both Harry's arm tight in one hand and my arm in the other.

The office was full of people. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, the tips of his fingers together. Professor McGonagall stood behind him, her face tense. Minister Fudge was standing by the fire, rocking back and forth on his tiptoes. Kingsley was there too and I immediately looked away from him to the tough- looking wizard that looked a bit like a guard. And then to my most immense disgust there was Percy Weasley.

The portraits, I noticed, weren't pretending to be asleep like they had been before. I wrenched my arm out of Umbridge's grasp.

Fudge was glaring at the pair of us, looking extremely victorious. "Well, well, well, well."

"He was heading back to Gryffindor Tower and she was heading back to the Hufflepuff hole. The Malfoy boy cornered them." Umbridge said.

"Did he, did he? I must remember to tell Lucius. Well, Potter, Kane. . . I expect you know why you are here?"

"No." I spat out.

"You don't know why you are here?" Fudge asked.

"No, I don't." I said.

Fudge looked incredulously from me to Harry to Professor Umbridge.

"So you have no idea, why Professor Umbridge has brought you to this office? You are not aware that you have broken any school rules?" Fudge asked, his voice filled with sarcasm.

"School rules? No." Harry said and I was glad he had answered because I had a horrible retort on the top of my tongue that I knew I would've gotten into trouble if I'd said.

"Or ministry decrees?" Fudge asked.

"Not that we're aware of." Harry said.

"So it's news to you, is it, that an illegal student organization has been discovered within this school?" Fudge asked angrily.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time that you discovered something that didn't end up being true, would it?" I asked innocently.

Fudge gritted his teeth but Umbridge said in a silky tone, "I think, Minister, we might make better progress if I fetch our informant."

"Yes, yes, do." Fudge said, glancing maliciously at Dumbledore, "There's nothing like a good witness, is there, Dumbledore?"

"Nothing at all, Cornelius." Dumbledore said calmly.

There was complete silence and nobody moved, nobody looked at each other. I had one hand in my pocket holding my wand. I noticed that the parchment was sticking a bit out of my robes and I wanted to push it in but thought it would catch the Minister's attention.

A few minutes later, the door opened up and I turned to see Marietta who was hiding her face in her hands.

"Don't be scared, dear, don't be frightened, it's quite all right, now. You have done the right thing. The minister is very pleased with you. He'll be telling your mother what a good girl you've been. Marietta's mother, Minister, is Madam Edgecombe from the Department of Magical Transportation. Floo Network, office- she's been helping us police the Hogwarts fires, you know."

Against my will I snarled. Kingsley shot me the most discrete of glares.

"Jolly good, jolly good! Like mother, like daughter, eh? Well, come on, now, dear, look up, don't be shy, let's hear what you've got to- galloping gargoyles!" Fudge said, jumping backward in shock, landing himself in the fire and he quickly stomped his robes out.

Marietta gave a wail, pulling her robes up to her eyes. I grinned. Brilliant Hermione. Across her nose and cheeks in close, small purple pustules was the word "SNEAK".

"Never mind the spots now, dear, just take your robes away from your mouth and tell the Minister-"

Marietta shook her head.

"Oh, very well, you silly girl, I'll tell him. Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the seventh floor, something to my advantage. I questioned her a little further and she admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting there. Unfortunately at that point this hex, came into operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror the girl became too distressed to tell me any more."

"Well, now. It is very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor Umbridge, you did exactly the right thing. Now, will you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was its purpose? Who was there?"

My hand jerked, tucking the parchment into my pocket and Percy caught the movement. He opened his mouth but the Minister said. "Haven't we got a counterjinx for this? So she can speak freely?"

"I have not yet managed to find one though I'm sure Miss Kane would know the countercharm... But it doesn't matter if she won't speak, I can take up the story from here. You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report back in October that Potter had met a number of fellow students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade-"

"And what is your evidence for that?" Professor McGonagall said, finally speaking.

"I have testimony from Willy Widdershins, Minerva, who happened to be in the bar at the time. He was heavily bandaged, it is true, but his hearing was quite unimpaired. Though Kane told everyone to keep their voices down- I suppose she'd foreseen that he would be reporting back- his hearing was not impaired and he heard everything and hastened straight to the school to report to me-"

"Oh, so that's why he wasn't prosecuted for setting up all those regurgitating toilets! What an interesting insight into our justice system!" Professor McGonagall said, raising her eyebrows.

"Blatant corruption! The Ministry did not cut deals with petty criminals in my day, no sir, they did not!" A wizard in a portrait said.

"Yeah well we downgraded with the Ministers." I said lightly and Harry grinned.

"Thank you, Fortescue, that will do." Dumbledore said, shooting me a warning glance that I pretended not to see. Kingsley just shifted slightly to the left, closer to me.

"The purpose of Potter's meeting with these students." Umbridge said through gritted teeth, "Was to persuade them to join an illegal society, whose aim was to learn spells and curses the Ministry has decided are inappropriate for school-age-"

"I think you'll find you're wrong there, Dolores." Dumbledore said.

"Oho!" Fudge said. "Yes, do let's hear the latest cock-and-bull story designed to pull Potter out of trouble! Go on, then, Dumbledore, go on- Willy Widdershins was lying, was he? Or was it Potter's identical twin in the Hog's Head that day? Or is there the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of time, a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible dementors?"

I gritted my teeth, wanting to say that Peter Pettigrew was very much alive.

Percy Weasley let out a laugh, "Oh, very good, Minister, very good!" It seemed he had forgotten about the parchment in my pocket.

"Cornelius, I do not deny- and nor, I am sure, does Harry or Elizabeth- that they were in the Hog's Head that day, nor that they were trying to recruit students to a Defense Against the Dark Arts group. I am merely pointing out that Dolores is quite wrong to suggest that such a group was, at the time, illegal. If you remember, the Ministry decree banning all student societies was not put into effect until two days after Harry's Hogsmeade meeting, so they were not breaking any rules in the Hog's Head at all."

"That's all very fine, Headmaster." Umbridge said after a few moments of silence, "But we are now nearly six months on from the introduction of Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. If the first meeting was not illegal, all those that have happened since most certainly are."

"Well, they certainly would be, if they had continued after the decree came into effect. Do you have any evidence that these meetings continued?" Dumbledore asked and I grinned.

"Evidence? Have you not been listening, Dumbledore? Why do you think Miss Edgecombe is here?" Umbridge asked, still smiling that stupid smile.

"Oh, can she tell us about six months' worth of meetings? I was under the impression that she was merely reporting a meeting tonight." Dumbledore said.

"Miss Edgecombe tell us how long these meetings have been going on, dear. You can simply nod or shake your head, I'm sure that won't make the spots worse. Have they been happening regularly over the last six months?" Umbridge asked immediately. "Just nod your head, dear. Come on, now, that won't activate the jinx further..."

Marietta shook her head. I was unsurprised. I was sure Kingsley had altered her memory. Of course, the spell had knocked the parchment out of my pocket a bit- that brief blow of wind. I didn't want to touch it. . . if Percy noticed again. . .

"I don't think you understood the question, did you dear? I'm asking whether you've been going to these meetings for the past six months? You have, haven't you?"

Marietta shook her head.

"What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?" Umbridge asked, her voice getting tighter.

"I would have thought her meaning was quite clear. There have been no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Marietta nodded.

"But there was a meeting tonight! There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, you told me about it, in the Room of Requirement! And Potter was the leader, was he not? Or was it Kane? They organized it,- why are you shaking your head, girl?"

"Well, usually when a person shakes their head they mean 'no'. So unless Miss Edgecombe is using a form of sign language as yet unknown to humans-" Professor McGonagall said coldly.

I giggled, pressing my hand to my mouth. My movement brought Percy's eyes to me and then he jumped up and said, "Minister! Kane has something in her pocket!"

Stupidly, I put my hand in the pocket with the parchment. Umbridge brushed past Marietta. I back up. "Give it to me Kane." She hissed.

"No." I said flatly. "It's not yours."

She grabbed my hand and yanked, pulling out the piece of parchment and looked at it. She brought it over to the Minister. They unrolled it, starting to look at it. Thinking about the promise I'd made to Ernie, I immediately pulled out my wand and shouted, "Evanesco!"

Fudge and Umbridge had been looking down at the piece of parchment eagerly disappeared from their hands.

SMACK!

I reeled backwards into a cabinet, shocked that she had actually slapped me across the face. Dumbledore had gotten to his feet, his wand raised. Kingsley started towards where I was standing. Harry had a look of shock on his face. Professor McGonagall's face was very white.

"You will not manhandle my students Dolores." Dumbledore said, his eyes flashing angrily.

"You want to calm yourself, Madam Umbridge. You don't want to get yourself into trouble now." Kingsley said in what sounded like a deep, slow voice. But I knew him well, he was extremely angry right now. He helped me to my feet. I had a hand pressed against my face, still in a bit of shock. "Stupid move." he whispered in my ear.

I dropped my hand and simply shrugged, not daring to say anything.

"It does not matter that the list is gone." Umbridge said without another word. "You saw what they named themselves Minister?"

"Yes." Fudge said. "Dumbledore's Army."

Kingsley's grip tightened on my shoulder.

"Well, the game is up. Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius- or will a statement before these witnesses suffice?" Dumbledore asked.

I stiffened and looked up at Kingsley who, shocking me into fear, had fear on his face. So did Professor McGonagall.

"Statement? What- I don't-?" Fudge said slowly.

"Dumbledore's Army, Cornelius. Not Potter's Army. Not Kane's Army. Dumbledore's Army." Dumbledore said in a slow voice.

"But- but-" Fudge said and then he took a horrified step back into the fire and he yelped, and started stamping on his smoldering cloak again, "You?"

"What kind of fool jumps into a fire twice?" I muttered. Kingsley put a hand over my mouth. Playing the bad guy and trying to protect me at the same time. I guess maybe I did need some sort of protection- from myself. I just couldn't seem to shut up.

"That's right." Dumbledore said pleasantly, ignoring me.

"You organized this?"

"I did."

"You recruited these students for- for your army?"

"Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting. Merely to see whether they would be interested in joining me. I see now that it was a mistake to invited Miss Edgecombe, of course."

Marietta nodded.

"Then you have been plotting against me!" Fudge burst out.

"That's right." Dumbledore said in a cheerful voice.

"No!" Harry and I shouted at the same time and I struggled against Kingsley's tight grip. "No!" I shouted again, ignoring Professor McGonagall's warning look. "Professor-"

"Be quiet, Elizabeth or I'm afraid you will have to leave my office." Dumbledore said.

"Yes, shut up, Kane!" Fudge barked. Kingsley tightened his arms around me. "Well, well, well- I came here tonight expecting to expel Potter and Kane and instead-"

"Instead you get to arrest me! It's like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, isn't it?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.

"Not that Kane was going to amount to anything considering her father-" Umbridge said, goading me.

"Shut up." I snarled and Kingsley clasped a hand against my mouth again.

"Knock it off Elizabeth." He hissed in my ear.

"Weasley!" Fudge was shouting. "Weasley, have you written it all down, everything he's said, his confession, have you got it?"

"Yes sir, I think so, sir!" Percy said excitedly.

"The bit about how he's been trying to build up an army against the Ministry, how he's been working to destabilize me?"

"Yes, sir, I've got it, sir!" Percy yelled again.

"Very well, then, Duplicate your notes, Weasley, and send a copy to the Daily Prophet at once. If we send a fast owl we should make the morning edition!" Percy dashed from the room. "You will now be escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be formally charged and then sent to Azkaban to await trial!" Fudge finished off triumphantly.

"Ah, yes. Yes I though we might hit that little snag." Dumbledore said and I stopped struggling against Kingsley.

"Snag? I see no snag, Dumbledore!" Fudge was still sounding extremely triumphant.

"Well, I'm afraid I do." Dumbledore said apologetically.

"Oh really?"

"Well- it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to- what is the phrase? 'Come quietly.' I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course- but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing."

Umbridge's face was red. Fudge looked stupid. Fudge looked at Kingsley whos' arms were still around me in a tight hold and then to the other man who hadn't said a word. He drifted away from the wall, his hand reaching into his pocket.

"Don't be silly, Dawlish, I'm sure you are an excellent Auror, I seem to remember that you achieved 'Outstanding' in all your N.E.W.T.s, but if you attempt to- er- 'bring me in' by force, I will have to hurt you." Dumbledore said kindly.

Dawlish blinked and then looked at Fudge for an answer.

"So, you intend to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores, and myself single-handed, do you, Dumbledore?" Fudge sneered.

Suddenly, I found that I was clutching Kingsley to myself. If there was going to be a fight, I didn't want him to get hurt. "Merlin's Beard, no. Not unless you are foolish enough to force me to." Dumbledore said, smiling.

"He will not be singled-handed!" Professor McGonagall said loudly, plunging her hand into her robes and I followed her lead, pulling my wand out. Kingsley grabbed my wand arm, wrapping his other arm even tighter around me. I could barely move.

"Oh yes, he will, Minerva! Hogwarts needs you!" Dumbledore said sharply.

"Enough of this rubbish! Dawlish! Shacklebolt! Take him!" Fudge said.

In answer, Kingsley knocked me to the ground as jets of light started streaking through the air. I struggled under him but he had me pinned down. "Stop struggling." He grunted as I kneed him in the stomach. "You're going to get hurt."

I stopped struggling, Kinsley's weight crushing me. "Can't breathe." I whispered. He glared at me, moving his body up just an inch and I took in a deep breath and didn't move.

"Are you all alright?" Dumbledore asked, coming towards us out of the dust.

"Yes!" Professor McGonagall said, standing up and pulling Harry and Marietta up with her. Kingsley stood up, pulling me up with him.

"Thank you for modifying Marietta's memory Kingsley." Dumbledore said quickly. "I would've hexed you but Fudge saw you take Elizabeth down so it was unnecessary. Try and behave, won't you Elizabeth?"

I scowled in response. Dumbledore's lips twitched into the slightest smile.

"They will awake very soon and it will be best if they do not know that we had time to communicate- you must act as though no time has passed, as though they were merely knocked to the ground, they will not remember-"

"Where will you go, Dumbledore? Grimmauld place?" Professor McGonagall whispered.

"Oh no. I am not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you. . ." Dumbledore said, smiling.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered, feeling extremely guilty.

"I'm glad you guys held the meetings Elizabeth. Now Harry, you must study Occlumency as hard as you can, do you understand me? Do everything Professor Snape tells you and practice it particularly every night before sleeping, so that you can close your mind to bad dreams- you will understand why soon enough, but you must promise me-"

Tears fell down my face and Kingsley hugged me to his side. Then he let me go and I quickly wiped my eyes as Dawlish started to stir. Dumbledore grabbed Fawkes golden tail and there was a flash of fire and they were gone.

"Where is he? Where is he?" Fudge asked, picking himself off the floor.

'I don't know!" Kingsley shouted stupidly, looking around. He winked at me as he faced me again and I tried not to smile.

"Well, he can't have disapparated! You can't inside this school-" Umbridge said.

"The stairs!" Dawlish said and darted down the stairs. Kingsley and Umbridge followed after him.

There was a painful silence as we were left with Fudge. "Well, Minerva, I'm afraid this is the end of your friend Dumbledore."

"You think so, do you?"

Fudge ignored, looking around the office. The portraits were hissing at him and giving him rude hand gestures.

"You'd better get those three off to bed." Fudge said, nodding towards us.

As the door swung closed behind us, I heard Phineas say, "You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts. . . but you cannot deny he's got style. . ."

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𝕰𝖗��𝖎𝖊, 𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓, 𝕽𝖔𝖘𝖊, Hannah, Susan, Heidi, Zacharias, and Malcolm were all waiting for me in the Hufflepuff common room for me when I came in, sitting in the arm chairs.

"Elizabeth, what happened?" Ernie asked as I came in. I sat down in an arm chair nearby and then recounted the entire story.

"She slapped you?" Heidi asked, in complete disbelief.

"Dumbledore's gone?" Ernie asked sharply

"Dumbledore said that he was the one who created the club?" Malcolm asked in his deep voice, his brow furrowed. "I still don't understand why he did that."

"And you got rid of the D.A. list before they could read it!" Susan said smiling.

"Yes Heidi, she slapped me." I said, my voice exhausted. "Yes Ernie, Dumbledore's gone. Yes Susan, I got rid of the list. Now I think the reason Dumbledore said he created the club was to get. . . well to get Harry and I out of trouble. Dumbledore knows that if Harry or I got expelled. . . well Lucius Malfoy works' at the ministry. He could have a bunch of Death Eaters waiting for us and boom- we're gone. Dumbledore knew that."

"That's so scary!" Rose exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"Don't worry." I said. "They dropped the expulsion charges when they found out Dumbledore 'created' it."

Justin shook his head.

"Dumbledore will be back though!" Ernie said confidently. "They couldn't keep him away in our second year and they won't keep him away now."

"No." I agreed. "They won't."

We sat there in silence for a moment and then I said, "We ought to go to bed. None of you got caught by anyone did you?"

They all shook their heads.

"Well." I said and I noticed my voice sounded a bit bitter. "You should all be forewarned that Umbridge is going to put together an Inquisitional Squad. Made up of only Slytherins of course. They'll be able to dock points for us so you guys should all watch your backs. Watch your mouths too. They'll take points for anything though I suspect we won't suffer as much as Gryffindor. Slytherin'll be trying to get our points down though considering we'll have to face them in Quidditch."

"Course." Ernie said bitterly. "Night everyone."

I went upstairs with the girls and climbed into bed, listening to Hannah and Susan drop off into snores. Then I slipped from my bed on cat feet and padded down the stairs, out of the common room, and down the stairs to the dungeon. The classroom door was open an inch and I pushed inside and headed over to the office door and scratched at it.

There was no answer. Well, it was late so maybe I shouldn't have expected him to be awake. But I could hear Draco's voice through the door.

". . .she'll be expelled and then of course, father will know, and then he'll have her." He was saying. I was frozen, pressed up against the dark wall.

"I have told you before not to go parading your ideas correct?" Professor Snape asked coolly. "Anyone could overhear you."

"Your becoming like my mother, Professor." Draco said, sounding a bit annoyed. Guess you couldn't blame that.

"If the wrong person overhears you. . . us. . . Draco. . ."

Draco strode to the door, opened it, looked around and then closed it. "No one there."

"Fine, so say that your plan works, which it may not- Dumbledore is known of getting favored students out of punishments- then what?"

"Come on, you know her Professor! He wants her visions of course! And then he'll use them to get to Potter!" Draco said, sounding exasperated as though Severus was the stupid one.

"Well it's a good plan, assuming it works. Though I'm never quite sure why you always come to me. It's almost as though you expect I'll participate in your little plan." Severus said in a lukewarm voice.

"Well I don't see why you shouldn't!" Draco said, sounding proud of his Professor.

"To act as a double spy means not to act as though you are on the other side in front of the other side, does that make sense Draco? I cannot act as though I'm really on Dumbledore's side if I help you kidnap Elizabeth Kane!"

"Oh." Draco said and paused. "Well, that does make sense, though I don't know why you have to keep up pretenses anymore."

"Information, Draco, information." Severus said silkily. "Now go on back to the Slytherin common room. Get some sleep. You don't want to be caught out of bed so late by any of the other teachers."

Draco exited the room, looking immensely pleased as though his stupid plan really was going to work. I slipped through the door as Severus closed it, but he wasn't looking down and didn't see me.

He was running a hand through his hair and looked extremely worried. He started pacing the room and then I decided to become human which made him jump back.

"Don't do that!" He gasped, a hand clenched around his wand.

"Sorry. Good news- I'm not expelled. Bad news- Dumbledore's gone." I said.

"Good." Severus said bluntly, putting his wand in his pocket and striding over to me, "It's better than any other alternative." He reached up and turned the lights off and then guided me over to the bed.

We simply laid down next to each other instead of doing anything else. I was still a bit upset, feeling as though Dumbledore's flight was my fault. Okay so Hermione, Harry, and mine fault but still. . .

Of course, it almost seemed as though Dumbledore had been looking for an excuse to get out of the school, hadn't it? Or was I just trying to make it seem that way because I felt so guilty? Of course, if you were describing it to someone who hadn't been there, or really perhaps wasn't part of the reason that Dumbledore was gone- it was funny to think back about how cheerful Dumbledore had been as he agreed that he had been conspiring against Fudge.

I scoffed out loud. Fudge was such a stupid man!

"What?" Severus asked quietly.

"Just thinking." I murmured.

I was suppressing my mind too and felt a bit of pressure and Severus groaned.

"You could just ask." I muttered, a bit annoyed.

"Let me see." he demanded.

I snorted but relaxed my mind so that he could come in. He settled a bit on a memory of the two of us in bed until I reached over and pinched him and the memory jumped to what had happened in Dumbledore's office.

"She hit you?" Severus asked, sounding surprised.

"Well yeah. . ." I mumbled against his chest. "What'd you expect?"

He was silent for a moment and then said, "Why didn't you just let them see the paper?"

"Because I promised Ernie that I would never let her see the paper and I always keep my promises, no matter the consequences." I said.

He was silent for a moment and then he said, "I want you to make me a promise."

"Okay?" I said, figuring it was going to be something silly.

"If the Dark Lord does catch you, I want you to tell him that we're romantically involved." Severus said.

I sat up so quickly that the blood rushed to my head much to quickly and it started to throb. "What!" I hissed. "You can't mean that!"

He sat up too, our faces faced each other, though in the darkness we couldn't read each others expressions. "Yes, I do. And I want you to promise me you'll tell him."

"Why?" I asked, my heart pounding in my chest for some reason.

"Because I'm not going to live without you, Elizabeth." Severus said, putting his hands on either side of my face. "I should've died when. . . when Lily died and I didn't because I was a coward. But I love you so much more, Elizabeth, and I'm not going to live without you."

"But he doesn't want to kill me." I said panicking, "Not right away at least. He wants to kill Harry and he wants my power under him. If I tell him, you'll die for no reason and I'll have to live without you!"

Severus was silent for a moment and said, "I just want you to promise me you will."

"No." I said stubbornly. "You can live without me. You're strong enough. And besides, I don't plan on ever getting caught by him!"

"Then there's no harm in promising now, is there?" He asked, stroking my cheek.

I hesitated. It was such a strange request. Why would he make the request? What did he think he was going to gain by the request? "What do you know Severus?" I asked softly.

"What do you mean?" He asked, an edge to his voice.

"I mean, what do you know that made you want me to promise you that request?" I asked, my voice tight.

He was silent. My stomach dropped. So he did know something!

I flopped back down on the bed, my back to him. I was angry now. That was unfair! Asking me to make a promise that he wasn't going to give any background context to!

"He's planning a way to lure you and Harry somewhere." Severus said finally. "Though, I don't know how."

"Well." I snorted. "He can't lure me anywhere."

"He could if he found your dad." Severus said gently. "You'd go in a heartbeat and you know it."

I was silent now because I knew he was right. If Voldemort used Dad or Trang or Sirius or Tonks or Kingsley as bait. . . I'd go in a heartbeat.

"Fine." I said flatly. "I promise."

"Good." Severus said, laying down next to me, wrapping his arms around me and tucking his chin into the crevice of my neck so that our cheeks touched. As his hand reached down for mine, I quickly uncrossed my fingers.

⬅️➡️

[impishtubist]

Fudge/Sirius where Fudge has got literally every other inmate on the floor taunting him when he does his walk-through or whatever about what his ex-lover became. Maybe they learned about the relationship because Sirius was talking about Fudge because of the Dementors in his sleep (if Sirius overheard them talking in his sleep like he says in POA, then they could hear him as well), but somehow they do. It’s implied just exposure to the Dementors removes happy memories, per Sirius saying “I knew I was innocent. That wasn’t a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn’t suck it out of me” and it’s not like the Dementors we’re going around trying to Kiss all the prisoners so it likely means that it’s the constant exposure doing that, so the other inmates taunt Fudge about how Sirius doesn’t remember their relationship (alternatively, Sirius somehow does remember it, so Fudge gets to know that their relationship wasn’t something happy for Sirius); they also taunt him that they know Sirius better than he ever did (he interprets it to be about them knowing he was a Death Eater all along and they were all laughing at everyone who believed him to be against Voldemort, but really they mean it as “we know he’d never side with our Lord, especially not after the Potters were killed, yet you claimed to love him but somehow you don’t know him at all. Anyone who knows Sirius Black knows he’d never side with us, but somehow everyone who claimed to know him didn’t.” Maybe Fudge realizes post-Sirius’s death and subsequent name-clearing what they all meant, maybe he never finds out)

I'm loving all this love for Corndog today and I'm also loving all this angst, ty ty ty it is delicious soup for me.

Alternatively, if Sirius survives OOTP and gets his name cleared..............oooooooooooooh that's gonna be an awkward day for Fudge 😂

[mybutcheredtongue]

I'll Love You 'til the Grass Around My Gravestone is Deceased

post azkaban sirius black x fem!reader

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR (see full series list here)

1994

"What's going on? What's happened?"

Cornelius Fudge appears, staring down pale and appalled at the scene below him: Harry sobbing and choking, face dirty, robes torn and tattered with a blood-soaked sleeve from a deep gash stretching down his forearm, clutching Cedric Diggory's dead body tightly in a white-knuckled grip.

"My God — Diggory!" Fudge whispered. "Dumbledore — he's dead!"

With screams and gasps and mutterings, these words are repeated over and over throughout the stadium: "He's dead."

You try not to look at Cedric's lifeless face as tears prick your eyes and spill over the edges, dripping down your cheeks as your breaths come in rapid succession. You watched Cedric grow from a small, shy, excitable eleven-year-old into a strong, kind, and genuine young man...and now he's dead. Lying cold and still on the damp, dewy grass. His life has been cut short before he even got the chance to live it.

"Harry, let go of him," Fudge urges, reaching out to pry him from Cedric's limp body, but Harry refuses to let go.

"Harry..." you place your hand as gently as possible on Harry's cheek, brushing away the dirt and grime with your thumb. "You're hurt, dear, come with me."

"He wanted me to bring him back," Harry mutters shakily. "He wanted me to bring him back to his parents..."

"You have, Harry. Let him go, his parents are coming now..." you say softly.

Dumbledore bends down and raises Harry from the ground, setting him on his feet. He sways, leaning all his weight on one leg — the other, you notice, is covered in shiny red blood, and you hurry to place his arm over your shoulder, helping to hold him up.

"He'll need to go to the hospital wing!" Fudge says loudly. "He's ill, he's injured — Dumbledore, Diggory's parents, they're here, they're in the stands..."

"I'll take Harry," Moody says gruffly, appearing at your side. "I'll take him — "

"No, Dumbledore wants him to stay here..." you protest, while Fudge sweats profusely beside Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, Amos Diggory's running...he's coming over...don't you think you should tell him — before he sees — ?"

Around you, girls are screaming, sobbing hysterically and you support Harry's weight with your own. "You're alright, Harry, you're safe now. Breathe in and out..."

You move to tap Dumbledore. Harry needs to get out of here, he needs medical attention, he needs to get away from the noise and the crowds and the maze.

Harry moves suddenly and you feel his arm being pulled from around your shoulders.

"Harry?"

You look around, but all that's around you is several students, some crying, some screaming, some looking around in fear...

"Harry!"

Standing on your tip-toes, you finally spot him on the far outskirts of the bustling crowd, being half-pulled, half-carried out of it by Moody. You breathe a sigh of relief that he's being taken to the hospital wing by another teacher and seems alright, and you turn to go back to tell Dumbledore...when you stop.

Something eats at your gut, every instinct in your body telling you that Harry's still not safe. You watch as Moody's limping form carries Harry further and further away from you...but something still doesn't feel right. Moody is sensible — he wouldn't take Harry away from you the other teachers when Voldemort could very well be near. He wouldn't take him out of Dumbledore's sight.

So why is he doing that now?

Panic starts to overwhelm your body as you attempt to weave through the frightened crowd, ordering students aside.

"Out of my way, please!" You yell, doing your best to push the students out of the way as gently as possible, without hurting any of them.

"What happened, professor?"

"Is Cedric alright, professor?"

"Professor!"

After what feels like an age, you finally emerge on the other side of the crowd, chest heaving. Get to Harry. You have to get to Harry, keep him safe.

You run up the stairs to the entrance hall, clutching your wand tightly, going as fast as your legs will allow.

Hospital wing, that's where you're going —

You race up the spiral steps, your lungs burning as you make it to the top and throw open the doors, only to find it empty, save for a few sick students resting in the beds.

"H...Harry...?"

No response.

Feeling panicked and overwhelmed and utterly sick, you dash down the stairs once more and into the entrance hall, where you miraculously find Dumbledore, Minerva, and Snape.

"H...Harry with M...Moody..." you pant, breathlessly, keeling over. "Not in...h...hospital wing."

"I know, professor," Dumbledore says. "Come, swiftly, let us check his office."

The four of you make your way down the corridors, before coming to a stop outside Moody's office.

Without even checking if it's locked, Dumbledore produces his wand and yells, "Stupefy!"

With great splintering and crashing and a flash of red light, the door to Moody's office is blasted apart. Moody's thrown backwards onto the office floor. Seething, Dumbledore steps into the office, placing a foot underneath his unconscious body and kicking him over onto his back so that his face is visible.

You go straight to Harry, feeling a weight lift from your shoulders at the sight of him unharmed. "Come along, Harry," you say quietly, taking a deep breath to steady yourself. "You need to go to the hospital wing..."

"No," Dumbledore says sharply.

"Dumbledore, he ought to —" Minerva agrees, her thin mouth twitching as though she's about to cry. " — look at him, he's been through enough tonight — "

"He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand," he says curtly, wand still pointed at Moody. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight, and why."

You look at Harry's trembling form, transfixed on Moody in a state of utter disbelief and reluctantly, you nod, keeping your hand on Harry's shoulder protectively, making sweeping motions with your thumb in an effort to bring a semblance of comfort to the boy.

"Moody," Harry says. "How can it have been Moody?"

"This is not Alastor Moody," Dumbledore says quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew — and I followed."

So someone really has been impersonating Moody this whole time — with Polyjuice Potion, no doubt. Everything starts to click in your head, despite how shocked you feel. This explains why he acted as though he didn't know you, didn't call you by name, didn't treat you with the same respect he used to...

Dumbledore bends down over Moody's limp body, putting a hand inside his robes, pulling out the hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turns to Minerva and Snape.

"Severus, fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."

He's sending her to get Sirius, and you feel a soft wave of calm wash over you for just a second, knowing that he'll be near. If either Snape or Minerva find these instructions peculiar, they don't show it. Both turn at once and leave the office. Dumbledore walks over to the trunk with seven locks, fitting the first key in the lock and opening it. It contains a mass of spell books.

He closes it, places a second key in the second lock, and opens the trunk again, this time revealing an assortment of broken Sneakoscopes, some parchment and quills, and what looks like a silvery Invisibilty Cloak.

You and Harry watch as Dumbledore places each key in their respective locks, reopening and closing the trunk until finally, he places the seventh key in the seventh lock and throws open the lid.

Harry lets out a cry of amazement and you gasp. You peer into what looks to be a pit and, lying on the floor below, is the thin and starved form of the real Alastor Moody. His wooden leg is gone, the socket that usually holds his magical eye is empty, and chunks of his hair are missing.

"Is he alright?" You ask in worry, and Dumbledore climbs into the trunk, dropping onto the floor beside him, bending over him.

"Stunned," he answers. "Controlled by the Imperius Curse — he's very weak. Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Throw down the impostor's cloak — he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger."

You breathe a sigh of relief, and grab the fake Moody's cloak to throw it down to the headmaster. He covers Moody in the cloak, tucking it around him, and clambers out of the trunk once more. Then he picks up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, unscrews it, and turns it over. A thick glutinous liquid splatters onto the office floor.

You recognise it instantly. "Polyjuice Potion."

Dumbledore nods. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. The impostor needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair..."

Dumbledore looks down on the Moody in the trunk. "The impostor has been cutting it off all year, you see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done...on the hour...every hour. We shall see."

He pulls out the chair at the desk and sits upon it, his eyes fixed on the unconscious man on the floor. You stare at him too, swallowing harshly. You feel sick, you feel angry. Angry at the impostor for doing all of this, angry for putting Harry in danger, angry that it led to Cedric's death...and you're angry at yourself. How could you not have put two and two together? You should have told Dumbledore the minute Neville showed up at your door, after that first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You should have told him about that night you found him in the Great Hall after hours...you should have realised.

Before you can think more on this, the face of the man on the floor begins to change. Scars disappear, and skin becomes smooth. His nose shrinks and becomes whole, no longer missing that chunk of flesh. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg falls away as a normal leg regrows in its place, and the magical eye pops out and a real eye replaces it.

You stare at the man before you, pale-skinned and fair-haired...and you can't help the gasp that escapes your lips. "I...I don't believe it...Barty Crouch?"

Hurried footsteps outside signal the return of Minerva and Snape, and also Winky the house-elf.

"Crouch!" Snape exclaims, stopping dead at the doorway. "Barty Crouch!"

"Good heavens," Minerva says in shock, staring down at the man on the floor.

Filthy and deshevelled, Winky peers around Snape's legs, her mouth opening wide as she lets out a piercing shriek. "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?" She flings herself onto the young man's chest, sobbing hysterically. "You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"

"He is simply stunned, Winky," Dumbledore says calmly. "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?"

Snape hands Dumbledore a small glass bottle of Veritaserum. Dumbledore bends over the man on the floor and pulls him into a sitting position against the wall and forces Barty's mouth open, pouring three drops inside it. Then he points his wand at the man's chest and says, "Rennervate."

Barty Crouch Jr opens his eyes, his face slack and his gaze unfocused.

"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore says quietly.

His eyes flutter. "Yes."

"I would like you to tell us how you came to be here. How did you escape Azkaban?"

Barty takes a deep, shuddering breath, then begins to speak in a flat, monotone voice. "My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded father to rescue me as a last favour to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."

Winky shakes her head, trembling violently. "Say no more, Master Barty, you is getting your father into trouble."

Barty continues in the same expressionless voice, his tongue darting out to wet his lip grossly. "The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors. My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink the Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me."

"And what did you father do with you, when he had got you home?" Dumbledore asks quietly.

"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master...of returning to his service."

"How did your father subdue you?"

"The Imperius Curse," Barty replies. "I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and my caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behaviour."

"Master Barty, Master Barty," sobs Winky. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble..."

"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" Dumbledore questions softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?"

"Yes," says Barty, his eyelids flickering. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful memory charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently."

"Why is she coming to nose into my master's private business?" Winky cries. "Why isn't she leaving us be?"

"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," Dumbledore says.

"Winky talked my father into it," Barty answers. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house in years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end."

Winky continues to sob, her face in her hands.

"It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would know."

You listen intently, continuing to rub soft circles of comfort into Harry's shoulder.

"But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times where I was almost myself again. There were brief periods where I seemed outside his control. It happened there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a boy's pocket. I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is afraid of heights. She had her face hidden."

"Master Barty, you bad boy!" Winky whispers shakily, tears trickling between her fingers.

"So you took the wand," says Dumbledore. "What did you do with it?"

"We went back to the tent," he answers. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had not suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand."

Harry's body trembles beneath your hand as Barty continues on.

"I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky. Ministry wizards arrived. They shot stunning spells everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both stunned."

Winky sniffles, shaking her head and muttering something incoherent.

"When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."

The house-elf lets out a shrill wail of despair.

"Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then...and then..." Barty's head rolls sickeningly on his neck, and an unhinged grin spreads across his face. "My master came for me. He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her."

You feel sick.

"She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant — perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door."

The smile spreads even wider over Barty's face, mouth wide in sick pleasure. "It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn’t been in years."

"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" Dumbledore asks.

“He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first — "

"You needed Alastor Moody," Dumbledore finishes.

"Wormtail and I did it."

Your grip on Harry's shoulder tightens slightly but you instantly release it. Peter Pettigrew is finding more and more ways to ruin lives.

"We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boomslang skin from the dungeons. When the potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."

"And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?"

"Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's home, and to keep watch over my father."

"But your father escaped," says Dumbledore.

"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban. My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I used the map I had taken from Harry Potter. The map that had almost ruined everything."

"Map?" Dumbledore says quickly. "What map is this?"

"Potter's map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it. Potter saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape’s office one night. He thought I was my father. We have the same first name. I took the map from Potter that night. I told him my father hated Dark wizards. Potter believed my father was after Snape."

Harry tenses beside you, staring at Barty.

"For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I stunned Krum. I killed my father."

"Noo!" Winky wails. "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you saying?"

"You killed your father," Dumbledore says softly. "What did you do with the body?"

"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come.

"Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I transfigured my father's body. He became a bone...I buried it while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin."

There is complete silence in the room save for Winky's sobs. Then Dumbledore says, "And tonight..."

"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," Barty whispers. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards."

Dumbledore stands up, staring down at Barty with a look of disgust on his face. Then he raises his wand once more and ropes fly out of it, twisting themselves around Barty tightly.

"Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry upstairs?"

"Of course," Minerva responds, looking nauseous, yet drawing her wand and pointing it at Barty steadily. She glances at you, mirroring your sickened expression.

"Severus, please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me."

Snape nods silently and sweeps out of the room.

Dumbledore turns to you and Harry. "Professor? Harry?"

Harry gets up and sways again, shaking violently as his injured leg buckles beneath him. You rush to place your shoulder under his arm, and help him hobble out of the office and into the hallway.

"I want you to come up to my office first, Harry," Dumbledore says quietly. "Sirius is waiting for us there."

Harry nods, a blank expression on his face.

"Take it easy, Harry, it's alright..." you say softly, helping him up the steps. "I've got you."

"Professor," Harry mumbles, "where are Mr and Mrs Diggory?"

You frown, feeling hot tears prick your eyes once more at the mention of Cedric.

"They are with Professor Sprout," Dumbledore answers, his voice shaking slightly. "She was Head of Cedric's house, she knew him best."

You sniffle loudly, feeling your throat start to burn at the denial of sobs. Dumbledore gives the password to his gargoyle and it springs aside, revealing the spiral staircase. You help Harry up the stairs, doing your best to ease his pain, and Dumbledore pushes open the oak door to his office.

Sirius is standing there, waiting. His face is white and gaunt with worry. In one swift moment, he crosses the room.

"Harry, are you all right? I knew it — I knew something like this — what happened?"

His hands shake as he helps Harry into a chair in front of the desk.

"What happened?" His tone is urgent as he looks frantically between the three of you for answers.

Dumbledore begins to tell Sirius everything Barty Crouch said and you sit down, feeling the urge to cry and be sick and to hit something overwhelming you all at once.

Cedric Diggory is dead, Voldemort is back, Moody was kidnapped by Barty Crouch Jr who is actually alive, Wormtail is continuing to help his master, Barty Crouch Sr is dead, murdered by his own son...

You look over at your godson, his eyelids heavy with exhaustion as he strokes Fawkes the phoenix's feathers gently.

"I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze, Harry," Dumbledore says.

"We can leave that 'til morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" Sirius says harshly, and you agree with him. He puts a hand on Harry's shoulder protectively. "Let him have a sleep. Let him rest."

"He has been through enough tonight," you say softly. "He can tell us when he is ready."

Dumbledore takes no notice of what you and Sirius have said, however, and leans forward towards Harry.

"If I thought I could help you,” Dumbledore says gently, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."

Harry takes a deep breath and begins to tell you how the Portkey had taken him and Cedric to a graveyard far from the school, where Voldemort's father was buried. He tells you of how Voldemort had no hesitation in ordering Wormtail to kill Cedric, and when Harry tells you this part you feel your lip tremble. You look away, feeling the contents of your stomach attempting to come up, and bite down hard on your knuckles to prevent it. Two single teardrops spring from your eyes and slide down your cheeks, dripping onto your shirt.

He tells of how the Death Eaters apparated among the graves, and how Wormtail slit Harry's forearm with a dagger. At this, Sirius lets out a vehement exclamation and Dumbledore stands up quickly, ordering Harry to show him where Wormtail had cut him. He stretches out his arm, revealing the torn sleeve of his robes and when he pulls it up, the cut on his arm is deep and dried blood crusts over it.

"Oh, Harry..." you say shakily, feeling immensely worried for him.

"He said my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's," Harry tells you. "He said the protection my — my mother left in me — he'd have it too. And he was right — he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."

Dumbledore studies Harry for a moment before returning to his desk and sitting back down. "Very well. Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. Continue, Harry, please."

He starts to tell you about how Voldemort had tried to cast the killing curse on him and Harry had used the disarming spell to protect himself, and their wands had connected by a beam of light. He stops talking, choking on his words, and Sirius breaks the silence.

"The wands connected?" He says, looking from Harry to Dumbledore to you. "Why?"

You look at Dumbledore expectantly.

"Prior Incantatem," he mutters.

"The Reverse Spell effect?" Sirius says sharply, narrowing his eyes.

"Exactly," says Dumbledore. "Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. This phoenix, in fact," he adds, and he points at the scarlet and gold bird perching peacefully on Harry's knee.

"My wand's feather came from Fawkes?" Harry says, amazed.

"Yes," Dumbledore tells. "Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell me you had bought the second wand, the moment you left his shop four years ago."

"So what happens when a wand meets its brother?" you ask.

"They will not work properly against each other," Dumbledore explains. "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle...a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed — in reverse. The most recent first... and then those which preceded it..."

He looks at Harry interrogatively, and he nods.

"Which means that some form of Cedric must have appeared."

Harry nods again.

"Diggory came back to life?" Sirius says.

Dumbledore shakes his head. "No spell can reawaken the dead. All that would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would have emerged from the wand...am I correct, Harry?"

"He spoke to me," Harry says, shaking. "The...the ghost of Cedric, or whatever he was, spoke."

"An echo," Dumbledore says, nodding, "which retained Cedric's appearance and character. I am guessing other such forms appeared...less recent victims of Voldemort's wand."

"An old man," Harry says croakily. "And Bertha Jorkins and...."

"Your parents?" Dumbledore says quietly.

"Yes."

You exhale shakily at the mention of James and Lily, feeling your body go rigid.

"The last murders the wand performed," Dumbledore says softly. "In reverse order. More would have appeared, of course, had you maintained the connection. Very well, Harry, these echoes, these shadows...what did they do?"

Harry tells you of how the figures that emerged from the wand prowled around the edges of the connection, and how Voldemort almost seemed to fear them. He tells you of how James told him what to do and how to escape, and how Cedric had asked him to bring his body back to his parents.

Tears spill from your eyes and you have to look away, fixing your gaze on a scuff mark in the wall of the office.

"I will say it again," says Dumbledore. "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight, Harry. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it — and you have now given us all that we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace...I presume the two of you would like to stay with him?"

You and Sirius both nod and Sirius transforms into the black dog, walking with the three of you out of Dumbledore's office. When Dumbledore pushes open the door to the hospital wing, you find Mrs Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione all grouped around a harassed-looking Madam Pomfrey. All of them whip around as your group enters, and Mrs Weasley lets out a kind of muffled scream.

"Harry! Oh, Harry!"

She starts to hurry toward him, but Dumbledore moves between them, holding up a hand. "Molly. Please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him, you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."

Mrs Weasley nods, looking very white. She rounds on Ron, Hermione, and Bill as though they're being very noisy, and hisses, "Did you hear? He needs quiet!"

"Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey says, staring at the dog. "May I ask what — ?"

"This dog will be remaining with Harry for a while," Dumbledore answers simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. Harry — I will wait while you get into bed. I will be back as soon as I have met with Fudge, Harry. I would like you to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school."

He leaves, and Madam Pomfrey leads Harry to a nearby bed. Looking around the hospital wing, you spot Moody lying motionless in a bed in the far corner of the room. His wooden leg and magical eye lie on the bedside table.

"Is he alright?" you ask.

"He'll be fine," Madam Pomfrey answers. She gives Harry a bundle of pyjamas and pulls a screen around his bed. While Harry changes, Madam Pomfrey approaches you, speaking quietly.

"Is it true? About Cedric Diggory?"

You take a shaky breath, nodding. "He was so young..." Tears sting your eyes and you feel the dog move to lean against your leg, his warmth comforting as you place your hand on his head gently, stroking the soft fur.

Madam Pomfrey nods sadly, before she walks off into her office. When Harry is finished, you all come around the screen and settle into chairs around the bed, the black dog laying his head on your knees and looking up at Harry.

"I'm alright," he says to Hermione and Ron, who are looking at Harry cautiously. "Just tired."

Madam Pomfrey returns from her office, carrying a small bottle of purple potion and a goblet. "You'll need to drink all of this, Harry. It's a potion for a dreamless sleep."

Harry takes the goblet and drinks a few mouthfuls, and after a few moments he sinks into the bed and his eyes drift closed. You gently reach out and pull his glasses off his face, placing them on the bedside table beside him.

"Professor..." Hermione whispers quietly, glancing at Harry from the corner of her eye. "What happened?"

"The Professor Moody you had come to know was an impostor," you answer, swallowing hard. "It was Barty Crouch Jr this whole time..."

As quiet as possible so you don't wake Harry up, you relay everything that Barty Crouch told you after drinking the Veritaserum, then you tell them what Harry told you happened in the graveyard. By the end of it, you and Mrs Weasley are sporting identical tear streaks on your cheeks.

"Wait, what's that?"

Mrs Weasley is turned to the door, and stopping to listen, you hear muffled shouting outside it.

"They'll wake him up if they don't shut up!" She hisses angrily, getting to her feet.

"What are they shouting about?" You say quizzically. "Nothing else can have happened, can it?"

You pause to listen again, and then you hear it: the booming voice of Cornelius Fudge, and Minerva angrily shouting at him.

"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva — "

"You should never have brought it inside the castle! When Dumbledore finds out — "

The hospital doors burst open and Fudge comes striding up the ward, with Minerva and Snape at his heels. You glance back at Harry, only to see he's sitting up with his glasses back on. You curse Fudge for waking him up, he needs his rest.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demands of you.

"He's not here," you say angrily, getting to your feet. "Lower your voice, you're in a hospital wing — "

The door opens, and Dumbledore sweeps into the ward. "What has happened? Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you — I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch — "

"Oh, there is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" Minerva shrieks, livid. "The Minister has seen to that!"

Minerva's hands are balled into fists, her body trembling with fury.

"When we had told Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," Snape starts in a low voice, "he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch — "

"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" Minerva fumes. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but — "

"My dear woman!" Fudge roars angrily. "As Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous — "

"The moment that — that thing entered the room," Minerva screams, pointing at Fudge, her voice drowning out his, "it swooped down on Crouch and — and — "

You know what the dementor must have done. The Dementor's Kiss. He is now worse than dead.

"By all accounts, he is no loss!" Fudge bellows. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!"

Dumbledore stares hard at Fudge. "But he cannot give testimony, Cornelius. He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."

"Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" Fudge blusters. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"

"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore says. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."

Fudge looks like he's just been hit by a truck. Dazed and blinking, he stares back at Dumbledore, spluttering. "You-Know-Who... returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore..."

"As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you," says Dumbledore, "we heard Barry Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort — learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins — went to free him from his father and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."

"See here, Dumbledore," snaps Fudge. "You — you can't seriously believe that. You-Know-Who — back? Come now, come now... certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders — but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore...."

"When Harry touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he was transported straight to Voldemort," Dumbledore says steadily. "He witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office." He glances around at Harry. "I'm afraid I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight."

"You are — er — prepared to take Harry"s word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"

There is a moment's silence, which is broken by Sirius growling angrily, baring his sharp teeth at Fudge.

"Certainly, I believe Harry," Dumbledore answers simply. "I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard Harry's account of what happened after he touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."

Fudge glances at Harry before answering. "You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who...well..."

"Who what, Minister?" You say icily. "Go on, tell us, considering you seem to know far more about Harry than any of us."

Fudge glances at Harry again.

"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr Fudge," Harry pipes up quietly.

Fudge reddens slightly, but a defiant and obstinate look comes over his face and you feel ready to punch him.

"And if I have?" he says, looking at Dumbledore. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the boy very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And having funny turns all over the place — "

"I assume that you are referring to the pains Harry has been experiencing in his scar?" Dumbledore says coolly.

"You'll admit that he's been having these pains, then?" Fudge says quickly. "Visions? Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly — hallucinations?"

"Listen to me, Cornelius," Dumbledore says firmly, taking a strong step towards the fool of a minister. "Harry is as sane as you or I. That scar upon his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."

"You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before..."

"Perhaps because there is no one else with the same curse scar as Harry!" You snap angrily. "Be reasonable, Fudge!"

"Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry shouts. He tries to get out of bed, but Mrs Weasley forces him back. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy — "

"Malfoy was cleared!" says Fudge, visibly affronted. "A very old family — donations to excellent causes — "

"Macnair!" Harry continues.

"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"

"Avery — Nott — Crabbe — Goyle — "

"You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" Fudge roars angrily. "You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heaven's sake, Dumbledore — the boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too — his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them — the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he’s trustworthy?"

"Why would he lie? What reason could he possibly have to lie?!" You shriek.

"You fool!" Minerva cries. "Cedric Diggory! Mr Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"

"I see no evidence to the contrary!" Fudge shouts, his face purpling. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"

"How many more people have to die before you decide to start taking this seriously? Cedric Diggory was seventeen, Fudge, seventeen! He was a child! Open your eyes, you fool, and do something about it!" You roar, feeling your blood boil and hot tears sting your eyes.

"Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeats calmly. "If you accept that fact straightaway, Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors — "

"Preposterous!" Fudge bellows. "Remove the dementors? I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!"

"The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!" says Dumbledore. "They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard pressed to stop him from regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!"

Fudge opens and closes his mouth as though there are no words to express his fury and truly, at this very moment, you feel the same way.

"The second step you must take — and at once," Dumbledore presses on, "is to send envoys to the giants."

"Envoys to the giants?" Fudge shrieks, finding his tongue again. "What madness is this?"

"Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," Dumbledore says, "or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"

"You — you cannot be serious!" Fudge gasps, shaking his head and retreating further from Dumbledore. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants — people hate them, Dumbledore — end of my career — "

"Good!" You snap furiously. "You don't deserve a career at all!"

"You are blinded," says Dumbledore, his voice rising now and his eyes blazing, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any — and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now — take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act — and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"

"Insane," Fudge whispers, still backing away. "Mad..."

And then...silence. Madam Pomfrey stands frozen at the foot of Harry's bed her hands over her mouth. You glare daggers at Fudge, feeling ready to attack the stupid, stupid man.

"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," Dumbledore says after a moment, breaking the silence, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I — I shall act as I see fit."

Dumbledore's voice is calm and level, yet Fudge seems to think this is a threat, bristling.

"Now, see here, Dumbledore," he says, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren’t many who’d have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or hire her" — here, he points at you, and Sirius growls at him " — or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me — "

"The only one against whom I intend to work is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."

Fudge is speechless. He rocks back and forth on his heels, sweating profusely and shaking his head. Finally, he says, "He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't..."

Snape strides forward past Dumbledore and pulls up the left sleeve of his robes and sticks out his forearm to Fudge, who instantly recoils.

"There," he says harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it turned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."

Fudge steps back from Snape, a heavy silence hanging in the air. He swallows harshly, then lowers his voice to a whisper. "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."

He turns to leave, almost reaching the door, when he stops, and strides back up the ward to Harry's bed. "Your winnings." He takes a large bag of gold out of his pocket and drops it onto the bedside table with a clink. "One thousand galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but under the circumstances..."

He crams his bowler hat onto his head and leaves without another word, slamming the door closed behind him. The moment he disappears, you let out a breath you didn't realise you were holding, and Dumbledore turns back to the group around Harry's bed.

"There is work to be done," he says firmly. "Molly...am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"

"Of course you can," Mrs Weasley answers. She's white to the lips, but she looks resolute. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."

"Then I need to send a message to Arthur," Dumbledore says. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as short-sighted as Cornelius."

"I’ll go to Dad." Bill stands up. "I’ll go now."

"Excellent." Dumbledore nods. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry — "

"Leave it to me," Bill says firmly. He claps a hand on both Harry's and Ron's shoulders, kisses his mother on the cheek, pulls on his cloak and leaves the room.

Dumbledore turns to Minerva. "Minerva, I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also — if she will consent to come — Madame Maxime."

Minerva nods and leaves without a word.

"Poppy," Dumbledore says to Madam Pomfrey, "would you be very kind and go down to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."

"Very — very well," Madam Pomfrey answers, looking slightly startled, she too leaves.

Dumbledore ensures the door is closed properly, and waits until Madam Pomfrey's footsteps have died away, before he speaks again. "And now, it is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius...if you could resume your usual form."

The great black dog looks up at Dumbledore, then, in an instant, transforms into the man you know and love.

Mrs Weasley screams and leaps back from the bed, pointing a shaky finger at him. "Sirius Black!"

"Mum, shut up!" Ron yells. "It's okay!"

The look on Snape's face is one mixed of pure fury and horror. "Him!" he snarls, glaring at Sirius. They're wearing identical expressions of dislike and disgust. "What is he doing here?"

"He is here at my invitation," says Dumbledore, looking between them, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."

You nearly laugh. Dumbledore's asking for a miracle. The two men glower at each other with the utmost loathing, neither moving.

"I will settle, in the short term, for a lack of open hostility," Dumbledore sighs, a bite of impatience in his voice. "You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hopefor any of us."

They still do not move, and you roll your eyes, giving Sirius a nudge. "Sirius, you're not a child anymore. It's time."

You hear an agitated whistle of air blow out Sirius's nose before very slowly, still glaring at each other, Sirius and Snape move toward each other and shake hands. They let go extremely quickly.

"That will do to be going on with," Dumbledore says, stepping between the two men once again. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher — the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."

You feel your heart sink at the thought of Sirius leaving again, and Harry seems to feel the same way.

"But — " Harry starts.

"You'll see me very soon, Harry," Sirius tells him, turning to his godson. "I promise you. But I must do what I can, you understand, don't you?"

"Yeah," says Harry. "Yeah...of course I do."

Sirius grasps his hand briefly, before turning to you.

You smile dryly. "Just can't keep you for longer than a day, can I?"

He sighs, shaking his head. "I must do this."

"I know, I know. I'll see you soon." Placing a hand on his cheek, you give him a quick kiss goodbye before Sirius transforms back into the dog and trots out of the room. You watch him leave, sighing quietly.

"Severus," Dumbledore says, a firm look on his face. "You know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready...if you are prepared..."

"I am," Snape answers.

"Then good luck."

With the smallest trace of apprehension, Dumbledore watches Snape sweep out of the room after Sirius.

And finally, the headmaster turns to you. "I ask you to start compiling a list of all the Death Eaters you can remember from before Lord Voldemort's fall from power, and the ones Harry has told us were in the graveyard, even if they are dead, imprisoned or otherwise. Write their name and status for me, and when we reconvene we can consult it."

You nod. "I'll get right to it."

You look back at Harry, before leaning down to hug him tightly. "You have been so brave, Harry. It's time for some well-deserved rest."

And with that, you leave.

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

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[whorediaries-09]

i've got some regrets

pairing- sirius black x auror!reader warning(s)- angst. a/n- let me know if ya'll like this chapter :)

little train. series masterlist.

sirius could remember the day clearly. his mind envisioned it like a movie playing on a roll. the hatred quenched him, as a growing lump of spite nurtured into his throat. when death caught up with the ones he loved, he'd been thrown into a dark seclusion, kept with his own thoughts that drove him into the edge of insanity.

after five years, he had been lit up with a timid flame of hope of freedom. he walked barefoot hidden within his tattered clothes. his face was concealed with his long, matted, untamed hair and his overgrown beard. the lights of the room blind him, unaccustomed to such light.

he walks towards the light trying to break free. but his fierce soul has been tied down by heavy metal chains he drags along. he lifts up his head high, staring at the crinkled faces of the wizengamot. among them, his eyes land on albus dumbledore - his mentor and tutor, the betrayer. his blood boils as he walks towards the chair he's assigned.

invisible strings conjure from thin air, wrapping around his thin body, tying him down to the metal chair. his bony back hits the metal, and a sharp pain excruciates within him. he stares around the room, looking for cornelius fudge. he observes everyone slowly, trying to read through the people. that is until he's distracted by the sound of rubbing shoes against polished tiles.

you walk into the room, and suddenly you're the center of attention. every eye is on your form as your cloak flows with your graceful walk. there are hidden whispers and soft murmurs, that reach your eyes, but that doesn't blur your confidence. you're strengthened by the gazes that follow your footsteps.

the attention doesn't behead your feeling of joy, instead it fuels the fire within you. you catch sirius gazing at you, and you maintain the eye contact with a small smile on your face. walking towards him, you execute out your wand, ripping apart the ties around him with a simple spell. the wizengamot collectively gasps.

'your hand, mr. black,' you say. sirius stares at you with the same cold gaze the first time he'd talked to you. but there's a lace of scrutiny within his eyes that had been absent the last time. he'd been ignorant your voice and you, staring at you. but now, it seems along with a timid flame of hope has lit up a flame of curiosity. he gives you his hand. its dirty, calloused and rough. you hold it with a sheer aura of authority, and look sharply into his eyes. he speaks, low and soft.

'do you vow to give me the freedom i deserve?' he asks, finding his heart thump against his rib.

'yes,' you say.

'do you vow to give me the lawful justice as an unjustified verdict?' he says. he wanders his eyes around the room, catching the ice blue hue of dumbledore's eyes.

'yes,'

'do you vow to not betray me?' he asks, biting his teeth with pure rage. the pressure on your hand increases but you don't flinch. nodding your head, you reply,

'yes.'

*-

cornelius sits on the high chair, skimming through pages on his desk. he watches sirius' unbound hands through his glasses. uncomfortable and visibly shaky underneath the confident gaze thrown by the latter, he looks back onto the sheets.

'so, alastor moody's lovely recruited auror has decided to take upon mr. black's closed case.' he announces. his eyes shift to you. you provide him with a sickly sweet grin.

'i'm my own person, mr. fudge. i'm not alastor moody's lovely recruit.' you say. he coughs up your name, scrunching his eyebrows.

'okay, so may i ask why? any personal attachment with mr. black.'

'no,' you say simply, 'i became an auror to fight against injustice. sirius black's case is the most infamous one. yet it's so...incomplete. no trial.' your eyes shift to dumbledore.

'it seems,' you click your tongue, 'injustice is not a very uncommon affair within the ministry. a trial for sirius black wasn't even filed. i'm wonderstruck, because mr. black showed loyalty to the order nobody else did.'

'now i'm forced to believe he'd been put behind because of his... past, the ties to his family name. but that still doesn't add up, considering his very lovely cousin bellatrix got a trial in her name. the stakes of you-know-who were high at the time. and every case i've analyzed was put under a proper trial, since dark magic knows no end. i believe, mr. fudge, it was pure hypocrisy on the ministry's part.'

you twist the end of your sleeve, waiting for a response. fudge babbles his head, sliding his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

'there was no need to. sirius black was made the secret keeper and that was not a rumor!' he says.

'that, is where the ministry went wrong. dark magic knew no bounds at those times!' you say. while the anger bubbles inside you, you stay calm and serene, not wanting more headlines and gossip by rita skeeter printed on the daily prophet.

'fine then. but i must warn you you're getting too ahead with your authority. just because you were positioned to be an auror earlier than others doesn't mean-'

'mr. fudge i have proved myself mentally and physically capable of being an auror, have i not? maybe let's not discuss my abilities and waste time. time is money after all.' he closes his mouth, his thin lips disappearing within the folds of his loose skin. he scratches his eyebrow.

'so, what evidence have you got to defend ... mr black?' sirius stares at him intensely. with every word that the minister spills from his filthy lips, it infuriates him to the core. but as soon as you serenely defend your values, he gains a feeling of satisfaction. somehow your calmness fuels his fire of hope. somehow your presence calms his rotting nerves.

'we don't have any eye witnesses. the muggles' memory had been wiped off by the officials, as per the record. now, the only evidence is his own words. and-'

'that's bonkers! don't you think he would lie?' cornelius interrupts. staring piercely into his eyes, you whisper.

'maybe that's why we have something called veritaserum. maybe if justice for a wrongly convicted verdict would've been of importance to this rigged system, mr. fudge, you would've had your brain functioning properly.'

'so, that's your evidence?'

'yes. the wizengamot acts as witness to what he says. then we give him veritaserum, and we see if we says the truth or not.' you walk towards him, retrieving a bottle of potion from the folds of your cloak.

'here's the veritaserum that i've prepared. alastor moody has checked upon it, for any faults and in the papers have been put on your table. there's no sign of any mishaps.' fudge gathers the papers, coughing a confirmation.

'fine. mr. black, proceed, with your part of the story.' the wizengamot stares at him. sirius feels confidence rush back into his body as you touch him, squeezing his shoulder, encouraging you. you bend down, tucking a stray piece of matted hair behind his ear.

'don't be heated. you'll beat the charge if you beat the heat.'

the hurricane screams his name, washing away the deathless death that had captured him into a quiet treason.

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original idea posted by - @lilwnet

taglist - @reggieisfit @siriuslycaptainofthedawntreader @jamespottergf @eternallybipanicking @fictional-magic @iamgayforyourmom1510

(if you want to be tagged please send a request through my inbox.)

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[hpshipbattles]

ROUND ONE SHIPS

(keep in mind these are all randomly created from a pool of 64 characters. we are not here to debate dark ships vs light ships, we are here for fun. Feel free to suggest ship names for anything you see)

Lysander Scamander x Remus Lupin (Remsander)

Augustus Rookwood x Elphias Doge (Rookdoge)

Pavarti Patil x Blaise Zabini (Blavarti)

Lorcan Scamander x Septimus Weasley (Septorcan)

Victoire Weasley x Cassandra Vole (Vicsandra)

Neville Longbottom x Severus Snape (Sneville)

Minerva McGonagall x Horace Slughorn (Wiseslug)

Hermione Granger x Cornelius Fudge (Fudgmione)

Nearly Headless Nick x Tom Marvolo Riddle (Brainteaser)

Penny Haywood x Fleur Delacour (Penfleur)

Ron Weasley x Petunia Evans (Rontunia)

Hannah Abbott x Kingsley Shacklebolt (Shacklebbott)

Rita Skeeter x Yann Fredericks (What if we just called these two Yeet?)

Dennis Creevey x Dolores Umbridge (Creevbridge)

Rowan Khanna x Dorcas Meadowes (Rorcas)

Nymphadora Tonks x Firenze the Centaur (Centonks)

James Potter x Marcus Flint (Jarcus)

Rose Granger-Weasley x Dobby the House Elf (Robby)

Delphi Riddle x Qui LeBlanc (Augurvamp)

Molly Weasley II x Barnaby Lee (Barnolly)

Luna Lovegood x Penelope Clearwater (Lovewater)

Harry Potter x Pansy Parkinson (Hansy)

Sebastian Sallow x Chiara Lobosca (Loballow)

Barty Crouch Jr. x Albus Dumbledore (Albarty)

Sirius Black x Tulip Karasu (Prankstar)

Lily Evans x Madam Rosmerta (Lilymerta)

Cho Chang x Helena Ravenclaw (Cholena)

Fabian Prewett x Grant Chapman (Grabian)

Hestia Jones x Regulus Black (Restia)

Draco Malfoy x Albus Severus Potter (Dralbus)

Lily Luna Potter x Scorpius Malfoy (Scorlily)

Lavender Brown x Percy Weasley (Paperseer)

My bad for jinxing us guys as I was spinning this I wondered if we were actually going to get Scorbus and then the wheel decided to do something funny. some of these ships are ships I’ve seen before and I was surprised by how many of them could probably actually be enjoyed by people. but yeah suggest ship names if you have any ideas I did put down the ship names for ones I knew or ones that I could easily come up with myself.

(rules and submitted characters)

[misguidedasgardian]

The Lifeaters (IV. 1)

IV. The Quidditch World Cup

MASTERLIST

Chapter Summary: You enjoy your summer alongside your family and friends 

Pairings: Draco Malfoy x Fem!Reader (platonic)

Warnings: Cursing, magical objects, Mugglephobia, classism, charms and curses, MINORS DRINKING, underage drinking,peer pressure, might miss some warnings

Wordcount: 4 k

Notes: This is getting good! muahaha I think

Regulus Black was your father

He was handsome, you thought, as you gazed upon the picture of him and your mom, both in school uniform, Slytherin obviously

Both smiled at the camera, and they were together, he was wearing his Quidditch jumper, he was a seeker, and to make matters strange, you actually had a picture of him, it was the year the Slytherin won the Quidditch cup undefeated.

You never knew it, you had a picture of your father since first year.

Now that you knew, your aunt had given you a little box of keepsakes, that was your mother’s, and had pictures of your father, and things of her, there was still a lot you didn’t know, but this was surely a start. 

You watched the Firebolt your uncle, -so weird-, Sirius had given Cercille to give to you. You had it on its own stand on a desk in your room. So he was the one who gave one to Potter, who apparently was his godson. What a small world

You still couldn’t wrap your mind around the fact that your uncle, your father’s brother, had been convicted for murder and had an order to be killed on sight by dementors, but that is another thing entirely. Was he innocent? like he claimed? maybe, your aunt seemed to think so. 

“Allez petite-fille, nous devons y aller”, called your grandfather, who had spent all summer with you, you wanted to go to France, and you did, but you came back early… there was a huge event that you were of course attending, because your grandfather was such a fan, a fanaticism that he had inherited onto you

The Quidditch world cup

Tickets to all the major French and English games, top seats, appearings alongside Cornelius Fudge, and the French Minister of Magic, the Malfoys by your side of course, even though, it was clear to you that your grandfather was not a fan

“I’m going!”, he hated it when you spoke english to him, but, you were in England 

You grabbed your bag, you were so, so excited for it, but you still had too much going on to really be invested in it.

 “My beautiful granddaughter”, your grandfather appeared through the door, “are you ready, ma petite-fille?”

“Oui”, you said simply. He placed his hand on your shoulder and guided you down the hall

He hasn't spoken with you about your parents at all, he knew that you knew now some of the story, but still, he pretended like you still didn’t know

And that was fine.

You think

Because you still weren’t ready to talk about it, and in this month that had been by, in which you went to Paris for a few weeks and then came back, you haven't talked to your aunt, you couldn’t find a single memento to do so. You even hoped to meet Sirius Black when you got to Paris, which know you believed it to be silly, he could never had lingered in your family state in Montmartre 

And this was not the time either

She had told you that it was of complete secrecy that Sirius Black had been in your house, that he used the VERY illegal international floo network that you had. So you swore to keep it to yourself, and since Sirius Black hadn't been in your house, you didn’t yet know about your father. 

Regulus Black

You sometimes caught yourself saying it out loud whe you were alone, like a little prayer

Sounded so foreign and yet, so natural to you.

You were a Black

You know little of the family, but now everything seemed to click into place, the Blacks were one of the sacred 28, one of the most prominent and powerful wizarding families in Britain, you were as good as Wizarding Royalty, how insane that was?

This made sense

Your aunt Narcissa was indeed your aunt, because you knew she was a Black before she married Lucius and became a Malfoy

She was your father’s cousin, apparently, and that meant you and Draco were cousins twice removed. That was insane

Did they know?

They probably did, that is why they kept so close to you, as you heard your aunt say to Sirius

Sirius, your uncle, did not like you to be so close to the Malfoys

But why? Who was coming back? and why was it safer for you to be near them? well, they are very powerful, so, that made sense too

But still… so many unanswered questions 

The sun was barely shining in the horizon when you left your house, your grandfather had insisted, he wanted you to walk towards Malfoy manor, and from there, you were going to travel to the place you were going to stay for the Quidditch world cup

“It is a beautiful morning, isn’t it?”, it was true, it was a nice morning, although still a bit cold. You had used a simple spell to make your baggage small, and like that, you could take it in your pocket, your big trunk, and you started the walk

You looked at your grandfather, walking by your side, and your aunt on his right side. He was one of the most powerful and influential men in Wizarding France, and yet, he preferred to walk to his destination. 

To you, he had always been a bit mysterious 

But you knew his temple of steel, he could be terrifying to those who crossed him, but he had never been like that with you, he was kind and gentle, with his “petite fille”

But like he said, he was part of a dynasty, an important family and as such, he had expectations of you and your aunt as well, you were to behave properly, look pleasant at all times and specially, excel at your field, whatever that might be. You were free to choose your own path, but you were meant to be great at it.

Your aunt was exceptionally good at potions and contributed to the family business, your grandfather was a prominent man in politics and you, well, that is to be determined 

“I heard that you became the youngest animagus, probably ever!”, he said, smiling pleasantly, to make conversations

“I think I did grandfather”, you say happily

“You make me so proud”, he said with a big smile

“Thank you grandfather”, you said with a shy smile

The walk was pleasant, it took you only 45 minutes to reach the Malfoy state, the guards felt strong as you crossed them and the huge house appeared before you

“Désagréable”, muttered your grandfather

He did not like the Malfoys at all

They were waiting for you, in the foyer, you greeted Draco warmly as he did you. You haven't seen him in a month and a half, but he seemed different, he had stopped putting gel on his hair, now having it styled, and he was now taller than you. And by his side… Matthew, his hair was longer, more unruly, dark chocolate curls, and his eyes seemed even more mischievous. 

“Guillaume”, greeted Lucius, taking your attention. Matthew looked at your grandfather wide-eyed 

“Lucius”, greeted your grandfather, but then he turned to Narcissa, grabbed her hand and kissed it, “Narcissa”, he said softly, you and your aunt shared funny looks, “young Draco, and… friend”, he said dismissively 

“I’m glad you are both here”, Lucius said, greeting your aunt and you, “shall we?”

“Oui, s’il vous plaît”, muttered your grandpa, signaling for you, your aunt, and Narcissa to guide the group, opening the door for you.

“The rest will meet us there, in ten minutes”, he said, watching his clock, you walked out of the guards of the state, and then you saw, over a small hill, a birdhouse, it was an odd object. You shared complicit looks

Guillaume looked at his own watched, looked at you both and touched the birdhouse, as Narcissa, Lucius and Draco, in mere 10 second, you were transported through portkey to your destination 

The first game was tomorrow, today, you were going to get installed in…

“Are we really staying there?”, you asked, excitedly, in front of you there was a huge castle, bigger than you had seen before

“Is not bigger than Malfoy Manor”, said Draco contemptuously, uncle Lucius nudged him on his chest with his walking stick

“Yes my love, for the world cup”, said your aunt. This year, the Quidditch world cup was in Dartmoor, in the coast of Devon, and for the occasion, uncle Lucius and a couple of his friends had decided to… rent… this huge castle, so you could stay there and then easily apparate to the Trilenium stadium to watch the games, you were in for a treat as you were going to watch the French games, the English, Irish and Welsh, and even the Bulgarian ones, because they were this year’s favorites for the cup.

It was more than a month, and you were going to spend it here.

Pansy and her parents, Daphne, her younger sister, and their parents, Matthew, well, you didn’t know if his handsome uncle was going to be there, and Theo and his father, Vince and Greg and their parents were a no show this time, maybe they didn’t enjoy Quidditch 

You were barely exploring the first floor when the rest showed up, and it took you another ten minutes to finish with the greetings 

It surprised you really, the Parkinsons and Greengrass didn’t seemed to be quite enthralled in the Cup itself, but it was a nice castle and it served as a good vacation

“There are only 8 rooms”, said Lucius

“The girls will share, and the boys”, said Narcissa, and everyone agreed, you had the biggest rooms in the last floor

It was uncomfortable, as Cercille was single, and Theo’s father, and Matthew’s uncle and your grandfather

But it was funny as Morfin and Tiberius were forced to share a room because of it

From one second to the next the castle was filled with life, everybody had brought their house elves and they were walking, cleaning everything and cooking for the small army you had gathered. You could tell that uncle Lucius was not in his element, and this was clearly for Draco’s and your benefit, and of course of your friends

You were indeed a bit spoiled, as your grandfather was pleased with the Quidditch cup, but not with the staying arrangements, but he did it for you, as did your Aunt Cercille 

The rest of the wizards were camping near the stadium, and it seemed more fun, but you were not complaining

You were happy to share with your friends, even more so knowing that you could sneak into your aunt’s room anytime it became, “too much”

You could barely sleep out of excitement, and the very next morning, you were the first one up, and it was funny to you that your aunt and grandfather were there in the dining room as well

The first game was the one of France against Peru, and it was going to be epic

You woke up the entire house by chanting the French Quidditch song, already dressed in the team’s colors. It was hilarious, they were not as happy

They played at noon

And sharing the prime box with the prime minister of France himself did not deter you, your grandpapa and aunt to yell and scream and grab onto the golden railings and yell obscenities at the referee. it was hilarious 

A good start to the Quidditch cup, the stadium was incredible, apparently it took a long time to build and it was all golden and huge, more beautiful than the French one, even though you were not going to let your grandpapa hear that. 

You went back to the house with your heart beating strongly, France had qualified to the next step of the competition and even though it wasn’t the opening game it was quite a turn up.

Later, at night, it was the first English game and it was going to be amazing, so you were preparing for that. You still had face paint in your face and the French Quidditch jumper on, you took a wrong turn instead of going up the stairs you ended up walking down the wrong hallway

“Why are you still here? you were supposed to leave!”, you heard Matthew, he was talking to his uncle. So, as the curious person you were, you stopped and listen

“I have my own reasons to stay, just like you”, you heard him answer, his voice was smooth and silky.

“Why?”

“Maybe even similar”, the door opened and you were discovered, standing in the corridor, they both looked at you, but instead of looking angry, they just smirked

“Sorry”, you muttered, and walked away hastily, Matthew, as any, didn’t like his “guardian” to stay and look over him of course

The opening game was incredible! it was Bulgaria against England, and even though it wasn’t good for the guests, it was one of the most incredible games you had ever seen.

You were so hyped you could barely sleep that night, even Daphne and Pansy were excited even if they weren’t the biggest fans

There was also Astoria, Daphne’s little sister, for only one year, but she was very sweet, and nice.

The entire event lasted a month, a whole month!

France was brutally eliminated out of the team stage of the tournament, in the round of sixteen,  and even though they played beautifully, they were eliminated by Bulgaria. They were this year’s favorites to win the cup, so you better hope they go on and win the entire thing, to make it worth France’s elimination

Your grandfather was angry, so he went back home, promising to be there at your house when the whole thing was over, to spend the last two weeks of vacation before school starts.

You had certainly deflated since France’s defeat, you did not sing any longer and you had put your jumper away from sight. Your only hope was England but they were eliminated also.

But that didn’t quiet down the party all round the stadium.

They were people from all countries, places and cultures, it was funny as their teams were losing people left, but others came in instead. It was revitalizing, too see all those tents, of different sizes and colors

You had been around, but never like this, it was amazing!

And time flew by! The parents came and went, as a month of vacation was a bit much, but of course there was always more than one couple with their eyes set on the big group of kids.

They had placed rules in order, but… you always managed to sneak into the boys rooms, and vice-versa

“I stole a bottle of firewhiskey”, said Matthew one night, with a big grin, you found it risky, since tonight, it was his uncle in watch of you, your aunt, and Pansy’s parents 

“Matthew!”, nobody knew what to say or do, as you exchanged looks, but Theo was quick into following his friend, grabbing the bottle

“Should we…?”, you asked shakily, you and Draco shared looks, the most you had ever drink was butterbeer, even though it had a bit of alcohol, it was still harmless, but firewhiskey was… something else entirely

“Don’t be such a wimp”, said Theo with mockery, you caught Pansy looking back at you with pleading eyes, begging you not to ruin this, she was still crushing hard on Draco.

“Oh, sure”, you said, Matthew had sneaked a small glass, and he took the first sip, Theo the second, and then they expected you to come near and drink it

You didn’t want to, but… you didn’t want to be the one to kill the party either

So when the small glass got to you, you drank its content without much thought. You almost threw up because of the sting in your throat, this was what adults drank for fun? It was disgusting!

Daphne and Pansy had similar reactions, but you were not backing down now, after everything 

You each had one more “drink” before the bottle was half gone. 

Your eyes were teary when you were done dawning the second glass of that thing

“Let’s play some games”, muttered Matthew who seemed all too kin on “doing things” tonight, you shared looks with Pansy, who in turn looked at Draco, you saw Daphne sharing looks with Theo, and when you looked back at Matthew you saw him looking back at you

Oh Merlin

Were you in a three for three kinda thing?

You didn’t know how to deal with this

“Let’s play spin the bottle”, one suggested

“How do you play?”, you asked innocently

“You don’t know how to play?”, mocked Pansy. You did know how to play

“I can guess”, you whispered. You didn’t want to kiss anyone, so when you all sat down on a round, theo had his hand on the bottle

You didn’t want to surrender your very first kiss to one of them. 

Theo seemed to have charmed the bottle, because it landed on Daphne, they shared an awkward kiss, but they were both smirking at the end of it, then it was Draco’s turn, it landed on Matthew so they of course made him drink another glass of firewhiskey. But then, already with her head in the game, Pansy took matters into her own hand and made the bottle turn, and of course, it landed on Draco

He did not seem too much into it, but Pansy did, she was smiling widely as they pouted and joined their lips together. 

Matthew grabbed the bottle, with a determined look on his face, and turned it, to nobody's surprise, not even yours, landed on you. You looked at him wide-eyed, and he had this silly look on his face

You did not want to back down, but still… your very first kiss…

But for the first time in the evening, luck seemed to be on your side, as your aunt, followed closely by Tiberius and Morfin opened the door with angry looks on their faces

“Really? Do you really think you could sneak out an entire bottle of firewhiskey? enchanting water instead? please, I invented that move”, she said angrily

Only those who were parents of the kids could parent, and your aunt took you away from the room to really go out on you, but she didn’t, not really, she only gave you a speech to not do anything you didn’t want to, and to not be pressured by your “peers”, even though if they were your friends.

Anyways, it was an exciting night!

Now you couldn’t even stand the looks Matthew gave you, like you owed him something

But to no consequence, because the semi and the finals had been, Ireland was playing Peru, and they were completely flattened, and Bulgaria played Transilvania, and the bulgarians totally destroyed them

The finals were set… Ireland VS Bulgaria.

You were cheering for the Bulgarias, you liked the players better, Draco went for Ireland, for sure, and you even brought in parchment, quill and ink the night before to really draw statistics and possible plays to see who might actually win. Win the Quidditch world cup

You almost had no problems from that night, except that know you were being watched at all times by Jolie, your aunt’s cat, and also, Lucius and Narcissa’s determined eyes 

You were so excited, but sad it was ending, you had met the French players, taken a lot of photos that ended up in the Daily Prophet, and in French papers, and also, had the best time with your friends

Now everyone was back for the grand finale, Uncle Lucius and aunt Narcissa were escorting your aunt and you to the Minister’s box, the rest of the lot, had returned home, not staying for the Finals, which, to your knowledge, was the best game yet, as they were the best of the best, even though they weren’t French nor English

As you entered the Arena, to find your way to your own box, and there they were, the whole Weasley lot, with Potter and Granger too! you tried to ignore them, but Draco and uncle Lucius were in a fighting mood

“Dang it dad, how far up are we?”, one of the twins asked 

“Well, look at it this way, if it rains, you’ll be the first to know”, mocked uncle Lucius, and you couldn’t help but giggle, as did Draco

“Father and I are in the minister’s box, by personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself”

“Don’t boast Draco, there is no need with these people”, said his father, but as Potter had his arm on the rail, uncle lucius was quickly to trap him with his cane, “do enjoy yourself, while you can”, he said seriously, your aunt grabbed you and directed you to keep walking, already done with the exchange. 

“Ah Miss Basilik”, greeted Mister Cornelius Fudge, by his side, there was a tall and gruff man, “may I introduce the Bulgarian Minister of magic?”

“Nice to meet you”, greeted your aunt Cercille

“There is no need dear, he doesn’t speak english”, he said, bored, but the man kept looking at her and smiling

You all got to your seats, it was a privileged post, and you were so excited 

“Welcome! to the Quidditch world cup final!”, said Fudge, with wand in neck.

Even Ludo Bagman came and narrated the game, you saw the team mascots, you had to grab onto Draco for him not to jump out of the box when the Veela showed up, it was quite funny

You and Draco were both grabbing onto the railings watching the game carefully

You heard your parents and even the minister mocking your enthusiasm but you couldn’t care less about it

This was… something else

The level of international players was something out of this world! you could barely see them gliding in the air, flying quicker than anything you had ever seen, all on Firebolts of course, the favorite broom for this tournament according to what every player was using.

You couldn’t help but laugh when the Irish seeker plummeted tot he ground twice trying to follow Krum

Oh Viktor Krum, he was a bonbon, very cute, sturdy…

Anyways back to the game

It was one of the greatest you had ever seen. So electric

The Bulgarians caught the snitch, but the Irish had scored so many times that they undoubtedly won the Final, the world cup.

The Irish! This was going to be a great year! Many of the students were Irish, the party was going to keep going! 

The Bulgarians were also known for partying either way, rather for celebrating or to drown their losses.

So that is why you found so weird that your aunt grabbed you and made you leave the event as soon as the match was over

“I was hoping we could go to the camp and celebrate”, you and Draco said, but your parents were unmovable, you were to return to the last night at the castle and stay there. 

Matthew, his uncle and Theo haden’t left yet, they were still there, and you also found it odd when they didn’t even kept an eye on you that night, they just let you be

You never would have thought the chaos that would ensue on the campsite only moments after you had your dinner in the castle.

That at the same time you sneaked into the boy’s room they were muggle being tied and suspended in the air

That as you with Draco had gathered the entire French and English tea’s figurines, that a group of people were terrorizing the camp. 

You were never going to realize how close you were to said group

Until it was too late 

[annaallicce]

Memories - Chapter 7

Sirius Black x Reader

-   The characters belong to J.K. Rowling, English is not my first language, so, sorry for any mistakes and constructive criticism is welcome.  

chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6

Harry and Y/n looked worriedly at Sirius, who was now lying in bed sleeping for three days. Y/n held his hand and pressed the pendant of his necklace in the shape of a small black heart.

…

It had been three days since the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. It had been crazy; several Death Eaters were present. Y/n and Sirius learnt that Harry and his friends were in the department and didn't think twice about going to help them. The rest of the Order members went too, and then the battle began. It had been so long since Y/n had fought, but he still had skills, the same for Sirius. There came a moment when everything went into slow motion for Y/n, she saw Sirius and Harry sending several attacks against the Death Eaters. Harry was too stubborn and wouldn't leave.

Y/n then saw the moment when Bellatrix arrived:

"Avada Kedavra..."

"Protego!" - Y/n shouted, shielding Harry and Sirius, creating a barrier. The spell came back to Bellatrix, and she deflected it. Bellatrix was possessed now.

"Incarcerous!" - Bellatrix screamed, and Y/n felt ropes around her neck. She fell to the floor, desperate, trying to get the rope off, which was tightening by the second, leaving her breathless. Bellatrix laughed, Sirius was about to send a spell at her, but another Death Eater hit him, making Sirius fall unconscious. Lupin saw the situation and started to fight the Death Eater. Bellatrix was still laughing as she kept Y/n with the rope around her neck:

"You will die, you will die" - Bellatrix hummed - "very slowly" - she continued.

Desperate Harry shouted:

"Stupefy!" - Bellatrix flew away and was never seen again after that.

Y/n inhaled sharply and coughed, now she could breathe again. Her vision was blurred but she tried to get up to go to Sirius who was on the floor, but she unbalanced and fell suddenly, Harry stopped and started moving his head in a strange way. Y/n looked at him without understanding anything, Harry was far away from her. Then she saw a shadow coming; her eyes widened. Voldemort appeared, and somewhere Bellatrix's happy laugh could be heard. Harry dropped his wand, then Dumbledore arrived. Y/n wanted to run over there, but her vision was still blurred from nearly fainting from losing her breath. She saw sparks; where Harry was, she couldn't find him. Fire? Water? Her vision began to return, and Dumbledore was battling Voldemort now. Y/n was getting close, wanting to help, when she saw Voldemort turn to dust and Harry run out of air. Y/n's heart squeezed at that moment; it hurt. She didn't know what to do, she was paralysed. Harry was on the floor, and Dumbledore was whispering something to him. Sirius was on the floor, unconscious. She just wanted to help them both. Her eyes filled with tears, and then Harry's friends approached. Harry watched everyone from the ground, including her. Suddenly, Harry started whispering something she couldn't hear, and he stopped moaning in pain. Voldemort reappeared and whispered something to him. Then ministry officials began to appear, and Voldemort disappeared.

"He's back" whispered Cornelius Fudge.

…

Three days and Sirius was still unconscious Harry saw Y/n run her hand over the necklace a few times so he broke the silence

"You really like that necklace..."

Y/n smiled "It was Sirius who gave it to me as a gift, I got into the habit of touching it when I'm anxious, when Sirius was in Azkaban, I always did that, it gave me the feeling that he was with me, it gave me strength."

Harry just nodded in understanding 

"He fought very well for someone who was in Azkaban for so long, I wonder what he was like before that" Harry said looking at Sirius.

"He was always very skilful, extremely intelligent, I remember spending days studying, while he read for a few hours and then going out with the boys to get up to something and his grades were incredible, I found his ease for things unbelievable, all the Marauders  were like that, that's why they got along so well, they managed to do well in their subjects and there was plenty of time for messes, when I found out about the map I was surprised and fascinated, they were able to create something so incredible and they were so young, in this you take after your father, so young and capable of incredible things for his age"

Harry gave a small smile was silent for a while and spoke:

"He called me James during the battle" Harry had a sad look on his face

Y/n also had a sad expression now "Sirius hasn't been the same since Azkaban, that place has mistreated him in ways I can't imagine, he's an extremely strong person, but it's impossible for someone to go through there and not have after-effects, he has a lot of nightmares they've diminished over time at first it was much worse, but he still has them" Harry looked surprised at Y/n and she kept looking at Sirius' face. "I'm sure that during his time there he held on to the good memories he had with his friends at Hogwarts, a great way to have a good patronus isn't it?" Y/n looked at Harry sideways and gave a small smile, but then turned her gaze back to her fiancé "The only way he can protect himself from that bad energy of the dementors.... And I did that with him all this time since he left Azkaban, I tried to build new happy memories, but the old memories seemed to affect him more, I wanted to focus more on reality, but we were trapped inside that house and it turned out that I also got into a bubble of the past with him."

"That's not bad, if it's something that gives you strength and makes you feel good it's impossible to be bad, in the ministry when Voldemort tried to manipulate me it was the memories of my friends with me, you and Sirius that made me stronger than Voldemort, that made me beat him, you didn't stop living because of those memories, but you managed to go on with your life with that."

Y/n looked at Harry and smiled and Harry smiled back it was the first time in days that they had given a real and genuine smile.

"Wise Harry" y/n commented

"I've been talking to Dumbledore a lot"

Y/n's smile widened

The nurse then arrived to give one more potion of the many that Sirius had already received.

Sometime later Y/n had an expression of amusement

"So, you drank your juice looked at the girl and when you smiled you spat out all the juice"

Harry nodded ungraciously "in that I'm sure I wasn't the same as my father"

"Oh no, you sure got that from your dad, you don't know how much fun I had with the bad pick up lines James used to give Lily, he wasn't very good, but at the same time he wasn't insecure, he wasn't afraid to come and talk to Lily and she liked that attitude of his, she played hard to get until she realised she was in love." 

Harry smiled imagining the situation "I bet Sirius was just as confident"

"Yes, he was" Y/n touched the necklace "Actually the history of this necklace is quite controversial in relation to Sirius' unshakeable confidence"

Harry looked at her curiously for her to continue.

"Hi love," Sirius approached and slipped his arms around Y/n's shoulder as they walked, she smiled and kissed his cheek

"Hi, how was Quidditch practice?"

"Good, I wish you were there"

Y/n laughed "to see the other girls screaming for you? No thanks"

"I'd just watch you, and the points I made would all be dedicated to you" Sirius said with a beautiful smile, y/n couldn't help but smile, how could someone be so charming?

"Next game I'll be the first to arrive" she then gave him a peck 

He smiled "Shall we have dinner?" she just nodded

On the way to the great hall Y/n commented

"I love this time of year; I think I'll be travelling with my family and Hogwarts decorations look beautiful" Sirius smiled at her excitement.

"That's nice... I've never cared much for Christmas; with the problems I have with my family I try to avoid them as much as possible" Y/n looked at him annoyed.

"Are you spending Christmas here at Hogwarts?"

Sirius shrugged "believe me, it's a thousand times better than spending it at my house" Y/n remained silent.

On Christmas Day Sirius woke up to a pillow being thrown in his face

"Really James?" Sirius spoke with a sleepy expression "you should be spending the holiday with your family, today my goal is to sleep...lunch...sleep...dinner, I'll do it all over again tomorrow." he said.

James rolled his eyes "no mate, not really, me and Remus are staying here because we care about you and we'll keep you company

Sirius raised an eyebrow "or because Remus found a supposed passage out of Hogwarts..."

"That too, as the school is emptier in the holidays it's better to investigate, then we can put it on the map."

Remus arrived "Let's have breakfast!"

Sirius stood up defeated, his face still crumpled from sleep "ok...ok I hope this passage is worth it" He grumbled.

In the common room Sirius was walking down the stairs when he saw a smiling y/n holding a present, he looked at her surprised and as he approached asked:

"Weren't you going travelling with your parents?"

"Well, I'll have other opportunities to travel with them, I thought it would be nice to spend this Christmas with you" her smile widened.

Sirius still looked at her surprised, but his expression changed, the way he looked at her at that moment made y/n unlearn how to breathe, it was as if he was looking deep into her soul, she felt hot and unresponsive with just that look, but Sirius' expression changed again and he was wide-eyed now

"Y/n... I..." he whispered, and quickly left the room

She was extremely confused now, looking at the present he didn't even pick up

"Y/n!" She heard James' voice calling her "You stayed for Christmas" she just nodded

"Sirius must have been very happy" it was Remus' turn to comment

Y/n looked upset at the two "actually, I don't know, he left here without even picking up my present"

"That's odd... he must have been very surprised" James said, running his fingers along his chin.

"I wonder if he didn't like me being here." Y/n's heart squeezed with such a hypothesis.

"Of course not Y/n, he must have some explanation, I think he went for breakfast, shall we?" Remus replied making way for her to pass

"I'll meet you there, I'll leave the present on his bed"

They nodded and left the common room.

A while later when y/n arrived she sat down next to the boys, she looked at Sirius who kept his gaze on his plate, she now looked at James and Remus without understanding anything they also looked confused, James then broke the silence:

"So.... Y/n why did you decide to stay at Hogwarts?

"I thought it would be nice to spend this Christmas here" she replied still looking at Sirius

Sirius kept his gaze on his plate, Remus made a noise clearing his throat at the awkward silence that hung in the air

"Well... I'm... I'm going to go; I'll see you guys later... I guess..." she stood up and walked away.

James elbowed Sirius in the ribs and he grimaced in pain.

"What's your problem? She stayed here for you!" James looked angry

Sirius sighed "I know, I know, I just..."

"You didn't want her here? Remus interrupted him

"I think I..." Sirius sighed again "I.... well, I... I just" his breathing was uneven

Remus and James looked at him confused "What's going on Sirius?" James asked worriedly

"I...I think I love her ok...and when I saw her in the common room today, for me, I was sure of that feeling, I just took off and left"

James and Remus looked at each other, they both tried to hide their amused expression, but soon started laughing

Sirius had an annoyed expression now

Remus took a deep breath to speak still laughing "Sirius you.... " he paused to take another breath from laughing "did you react like that because you love her?" he laughed again

"That's hilarious" it was James' turn to comment

"That's not funny, I've never felt like that before, I didn't know how to act" Sirius spoke in exasperation 

James took a deep breath now, drying a tear "now she thinks you didn't like her being here, she's pretty upset"

Sirius grimaced and then walked off to find her.

He went to his room to see if she was there and saw the present on his bed, when he opened it he saw a leather jacket, he smiled and got nervous, he had to find her and explain everything, he took the map that was in the drawer saw that she was near the lake and went there.

When he got there, he saw her standing in front of the lake and he approached her.

"Isn't it too cold for you to be out here?"

Y/n turned to him and his heart started racing again

"I'm sorry" She spoke softly

Sirius looked at her confused "For what?"

"I wanted to surprise you and I didn't even know if you wanted me to be here or not" she said sadly.

He moved closer "I do, I was so happy when I saw you"

She crossed her arms because of the cold "it didn't look like it"

"I... when I saw you... well... me" he sighed, she looked at him worried and touched his chest "Sirius?"

He continued "I wanted to say that I felt very happy when I saw you today and well...I felt very happy and..." y/n was very confused now Sirius was having breathing problems...should she call someone?

"And...you're beautiful" she gave a small smile Sirius' next sentence came out in a whisper "I love you" she looked at him in surprise "w..what?"

"Very much, I love you very much and when I saw you there smiling at me, I didn't know what to do with the feeling, I got nervous, I didn't know how to act, I..." He was interrupted with a kiss, which made him calm down he put his hands on her waist and when they stopped kissing, they put their foreheads together

"I love you too" Y/n spoke with her eyes still closed Sirius opened his eyes and smiled from ear to ear, he then pulled away and took from his pocket a necklace with a pendant in the shape of a small black heart he handed it to her

"I was going to give it to you when school started again, but since you're here..."

She smiled "I loved it, so beautiful"

He helped her put it on and while he was putting it on, she commented "I left your present on your bed”, he looked at her again "I saw it, and I really liked it, you know me so well, thank you for staying here" he kissed her again, Y/n smiled between the kiss he stopped kissing her and looked back smiled "what?"

"Has it become our thing to leave the room and leave the other extremely confused?"

Sirius laughed "my revenge"

Y/n laughed and kissed him.

Harry had a big grin on his face, then they heard a grunt "I can't believe you told him that story"

Y/n and Harry looked in surprise towards Sirius who now had his eyes open, they both hugged him Sirius smiled.

"I'm glad you're awake" Y/n said with tearful eyes.

"Don't cry love, I'm fine, but I really didn't realise how much I needed the hug from you two until I got it" Sirius said smiling

Harry smiled "I'll get the nurse" he left the room

"Where am I?" Sirius asked

"St Mungus Hospital" she replied, Sirius couldn't contain his surprised expression, he was in the wizarding hospital? A place with other people? Away from his home? Did he try to move as he became agitated by the thoughts and the Death Eaters? Sirius tried to get up, but y/n stopped him. "Easy there, you need to rest."

"What I'm doing here is dangerous, the Death Eaters, the Dementors..." Sirius spoke now sitting up in bed

"Relax, Sirius, many people saw what you did at the ministry, how you protected Harry and fought against the Death Eaters, in fact you almost died in battle, they are arguing about your innocence at trial" she spoke without containing her happiness

Sirius sighed in disbelief, he had dreamt of this every day since James and Lily's death

"It's not possible" he whispered in disbelief

The nurse arrived next to Harry and started watching Sirius, it was possible to see caution in her gaze, some people looked at Sirius crookedly, they still didn't believe he was innocent.

"He needs two more potions to finish the treatment and tomorrow he might be discharged" the nurse said and left quickly.

"People are still a little afraid of you, but you'll be fine and you're a free man! That's what matters" Y/n commented

Sirius still couldn't believe it, when would he wake up?

"What about the Death Eaters?"

"The Ministry caught the vast majority, plus the Ministry knows Voldemort is back, they saw him" Harry said handing Sirius a newspaper with the news of the battle at the Ministry, Sirius read it all in disbelief.

"Is all this really happening?" Sirius still couldn't believe it

"Yes, you don't have to hide anymore, love" Y/n replied smiling, Harry was smiling too

Sirius then began to smile, however his smile disappeared when he read a specific part in the newspaper.

He who must not be named returns

"It's the beginning of the war" Sirius looked at Harry and Y/n, both now equally serious just nodded.

[potterwatchsblog]

4 July 1996: Cornelius Fudge introduces Rufus Scrimgeour, newly appointed Minister for Magic, to the Muggle Prime Minister.

This was the funniest chapter in the whole series. 😁

[scottishaccentsareawesome]

Sirius(about a crooked auror):...He's actually been stealing from these archives for years. You've been asleep at the wheel, Fudge. You're an embarrassment.

Cornelius Fudge: Really? Well, at least I've never confused St. Augustine with Boethius.

Remus: Oh, who gives a rat's ass about Boethius, Fudge...?!

Sirius: What are you doing, Remus?

Remus: I am creating a kerfuffle.

Harry: Oh, damn...!

[olivieblake]

New Post:

Death of a Con Man, Part IV [ AO3 ] | [ ff.net ]

"It's nothing personal," Theo said, setting his jaw. "I just prefer if I don't get—"

"Attached?" Tom said.

He'd noticed Theo's eyes when they were dancing. They had looked too-sharp and dark at first, almost black and generally buried beneath furrowed brows or embedded in narrow slits, but they had changed somehow when Tom looked closer, evolving until they clung to undertones of green. Tom noticed that chameleonic quality again now; the way Theo's eyes went from accusatory to mistrusting to deeply, unquestionably loathing, and then they softened to saddened, slid to anger, and cooled their way back again, landing somewhere near irritated.

"Come on," Theo said gruffly, shoving open the broken latch and gesturing Tom inside. "Let's eat."

[messers-moony]

Accusations 2 | R.L

Paring: Young!Remus Lupin X Fem!Reader, James Potter X Fem!Twin!Reader, Eventual Regulus Black X Fem!Reader

Summary: Sirius and Remus come to the wrong conclusion that changes someone’s life forever.

Word Count: 5.4K

Inspiration: Click

It had been years since Y/n had any human contact. She became malnourished and curled onto herself often. This became a habit once she learned that her brother had died. The Minister had been lousy with his Daily Prophet, and Y/n managed to snatch it up. Azkaban taught her skills she’d never thought she’d need, like pickpocketing. 

It had been seven years before someone came to get her in the cell. Y/n didn’t know the guards by name and didn’t care to know them. The male guard with amber eyes and black hair led her to a port key. He didn’t say where he was taking her, but his name tag read Jenkins. Mr.Jenkins and Y/n touched the port key. They had been apparated to the Ministry. 

They got into the lift, and it brought them down to the courtroom. Y/n shivered at the cold and dry air of the hallway. She stood unmoving, but Mr.Jenkins pulled her by the chains making her walk forward. The courtroom was circular, and she was ordered to sit in the middle of the room. The new Minister of Magic stood at the podium - Cornelius Fudge. The jury stood behind him. 

“Today, on December 12, 1988, we will go over the case of Y/n Potter.” Fudge informed, “She was twin sister to James Potter, daughter of Euphemia and Fleamont. Also known to be in a relationship with Remus Lupin, a werewolf who got bitten by Fenrir Grayback at the age of four.”

A woman with a blonde bob hair cut raised her hand, “Excuse me, Minister, but Ms.Potter has been in Azkaban for seven years. Why are we going over her case now?”

A new voice boomed, confident, assuring, “I am.” 

Y/n turned to be face to face with someone she thought was dead. His face was sullen and deathly pale. His eyes were sunk into his face. His once pink freckles turned a shade of brown beneath his eyes. His eyes were beautiful graphite, and his body was defined like Achilles's. He looked like a god. There was only one family that looked like gods. 

“Regulus Black, son of Walburga and Orion Black, brother to Sirius Black.” Fudge introduced.

A man with shaggy red hair interjected, “And how is he credible? He was a Death Eater!”

“Pardon me, sir.” That voice, so smooth and confident, “I proved my disloyalty to the Dark Lord when I found out his secret, which I disclosed with the Minister.”

The man leaned back and made a ‘hmph’ sound. Regulus could feel a smirk wanting to grow on his chapped lips. He hadn’t felt this smug in a long time. He had tried to tame his appearance best he could. His wavy, black locks down to his jaw, which was sharper than a knife. He put on his best dress robes, the same robes from Walburga’s funeral he attended in secret. 

“Now, let’s begin, shall we?” The jury made a noise of agreement, “Mr.Black, you may go on.”

Regulus stood in front of Y/n, “First, I’d like to speak about how she is the twin sister to James Potter. I do not believe that a sibling would betray another.” 

“Objection!” A man yelled, “Sirius has betrayed you before. Your point doesn’t stand.”

“Sirius has never harmed me in any way. All of our duels were for show and never meant to harm another. We’ve only ever used safe spells.” Regulus countered, “My point still stands. Y/n Potter would never hurt her twin.”

“May I also continue that Peter Pettigrew has been confirmed the traitor.” Merlin, smirking, would’ve felt so good, “If this is the conclusion, why is Ms.Potter still in Azkaban?”

Fudge stroked his beard, “Dumbledores orders.”

“And these orders are?”

“She is dangerous and uncontrollable.”

Regulus stared deeply into the baby blue eyes of Cornelius Fudge, “Evidence?”

“I’m afraid we don’t have any, Mr.Black.”

“Then I believe you have been holding Ms.Potter hostage for no reason.” Regulus stated confidently, “And without and verified reason; the Ministry can get into great trouble.”

Fudge glared at the Black brother, “I believe this meeting needs a vote.”

“All in favor of sending Ms.Potter back to Azkaban for being dangerous and unpredictable.”

Twenty hands got raised. 

“All in favor of allowing Ms.Potters exit of Azkaban.”

Over fifty hands raised. 

Regulus smiled at his victory. Fudge hit the gavel onto the podium, “Ms.Potter will be released from Azkaban on December 12, 1988, at 12:47 pm.”

Mr.Jenkins moved his hands, and the shackles fell free. Y/n rubbed her wrists, and it felt good to be able to move freely finally. Regulus walked towards her with a wooden item in his hand. He was taller than her by many inches, and she could’ve sworn that Sirius was never this handsome. Y/n looked a right mess, hair askew, eyes tired and swollen. 

“I believe this is yours, madam.” Regulus handed over her wand. 

Gently, Y/n took her wand from his hand. Their hands brushed ever so slightly. His hands were soft and warm, utterly different than Remus’. His hands were always rough and ice cold. Regulus smiled at Y/n’s expression of happiness. She could see the dimples in his cheeks and the color flowing to the apples of them. His freckles looked so much more beautiful up close. They looked like constellations. 

Maybe it was Y/n’s lousy memory, but she couldn’t remember Regulus ever looking this handsome before. Sirius always talked about being the better-looking sibling, and she never thought twice. But now, standing only three feet away from the younger Black brother, she had to disagree. Regulus had ambition and smugness swirling in his grey irises. His eyebrows were arched in a way of victory, and his lips had a slight curve at the edges. Everything about him screamed elegant and beautiful. Y/n felt out of place standing beside such a graceful being. 

The next day her freedom was all over the Daily Prophet. Remus could remember the owl tapping at the kitchen window while making his tea. He smiled crookedly at the owl and opened the window. A nice dry breeze swept his hair back, and Remus took the paper gratefully. Before letting the owl fly away, he tossed it a sickle. The owl hooted in thanks and flew away. The window closed with a slam. 

Remus sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and paper in hand. However, the tea quickly fell onto the carpeted ground of the flat, and the moving picture on the front of the Daily Prophet made him freeze. It was Y/n sitting in the middle of the courtroom, tousled hair and all. The oversized grey and white striped jumpsuit, the glazed eyes, and the malnourished-looking body. The paper didn’t say exactly who had defended her case, just that it was someone trustworthy to the Ministry. 

Sirius woke up moments later. The Prophet left out on the table, and the tea cleaned up. Remus appeared to be missing from the house. Sirius stretched his arms, his shirt trailing up a bit when he saw the front of the paper. He stopped mid-stretch and just gazed at the woman on the front page. She appeared to be unmoving, but Sirius could see the Minister hitting the gavel on the podium in front of her. He watched a smile take over her features. 

It used to be a smile of comfort, but now it made his stomach churn. Suddenly he wanted to run to the bathroom and throw up every bit of acid in his stomach. He wanted to Oblivate his mind into forgetting what he and Remus had done seven years ago. It was a mistake, and they learned that a month later, but Sirius knew more than anything that it was an unforgivable mistake. Y/n would never forgive them. 

After seeing the Prophet, Remus had apparated to London. He sped walked through people trying to find the red telephone booth to take him to the Ministry. He had never moved this fast in his life after almost missing a job interview that he really needed. After minutes of very slow Muggles, he made it. The telephone booth took him down in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic. It wasn’t long before he found an official at the Ministry. 

“Ma’am!” He called, and she turned, “Do you know where Y/n Potter is?"

The woman scrunched her face up, “No, I do not.”

“Does anyone in the Ministry know?”

“Why would we keep track?” The woman questioned, “The residency of a wizard or witch is not for the Ministry to keep track of.”

Remus flushed, of course, privacy. “Sorry, ma’am. Its just-“

“You were her boyfriend.” She cut off, “Remus Lupin isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Remus put his hand out, and she eyed it with distaste.

“Well, it was good to meet you, but I must be off.”

“Yes, of course.” Remus scratched his neck after being left hanging. 

After being released, Y/n wasn’t sure where to go. Regulus offered to stay at his home. It was a lovely home in the middle of nowhere. He said it had to be so no one could find him, specifically people who thought he was dead. His house was two-story with cherry blossoms all around the property. The driveway was stone and perfectly clean. The house was a faint grey with dark brown accents. The inside smelt like teakwood mahogany. It was a peculiar smell, but it felt so Regulus. 

The house was furnished and painted wonderfully. It was a mix of neutrals and dark furniture, but it wasn’t depressing. It felt light and comforting despite its dark appearance. The carpet in the living room felt pleasant beneath her feet after standing on the concrete for so long. When they apparated outside, Regulus allowed her in first, and he took off his coat, placing it on the rack beside the door. He slipped off his shoes and motioned for Y/n to do the same. She slipped off the boots allowing her moth-eaten socks to hit the flooring in the hallway. 

Regulus made his way to the kitchen immediately after. Y/n suspected it was to make tea or something to eat. To avoid small talk, she walked around the estate. Everything was clean, and no aspect of dust on any of the belongings. In some of the rooms had pictures of the Black family. One picture was of Andromeda and Ted Tonks’ wedding. Another image was of Narcissa and Regulus laughing at something holding champagne. The third picture made her heart melt. It was one of Regulus and Sirius. Sirius had his arms around his brother, holding him close to his chest. It appeared to be taken sometime during Regulus’ first year. 

“Y/n?” Regulus' voice echoed, “Do you want some tea?”

“Sure.”

Without thinking, her feet led her to the kitchen. It was glorious. The flooring was grey wood, cabinets dark oak wood, and sage walls. Regulus handed her a white mug with tea, little milk, and one sugar. She took a sip and was surprised it was exactly how she liked it. Y/n had forgotten how she took her tea. It was a minor memory Azkaban ripped from the vault inside her brain. He smiled softly at her look of remembrance. 

“I- um- I remembered from our time at Hogwarts.” Regulus admitted, a soft shade of pink appearing on the apples of his cheeks, “I used to watch Sirius from the Slytherin table, and since you sat beside him, I just remembered over time.” 

Y/n placed the mug gently onto the graphite countertop, “In all fairness, I forgot how I took my tea.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how much do you remember?”

“I remember all the important things.” Y/n answered shortly, “Like being held at wand point by Remus and Sirius. I remember James, everything about him. My mum and dad.”

Regulus went to hold her hand, but she flinched, and he recoiled, “Sorry,” She apologized and took his hand.

“No need to be sorry.” His thumb rubbed the back of her palm, “I understand this will be hard, and I want to help you.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Y/n nodded, “Because you deserve to be free and live how you should’ve. It’s wrong that it was taken from you.”

Regulus’ words melted her heart, and Y/n found herself wishing that she could hug him, “My mum is dead, isn’t she?” 

“Yeah,” Regulus said softly, “Died in her sleep, peacefully only a week after your sentence.”

Y/n swallowed another sip of tea to force the tears away, “How old is Harry?”

“He’s eight.” 

“Where does he live?”

“Lily’s sister's house.” Regulus replied, “Dumbledores orders.”

Y/n scoffed, and Regulus tightened his grip just a little bit, “He’s such a bastard.”

“Tell me about it.” Regulus chuckled, taking a sip of tea; after placing it down, he continued, “He made me fake my death.”

“Why?”

“Because I found something out about the Dark Lord. Dumbledore didn’t want the Dark Lord coming for me after.” Regulus explained, “So I faked my death and moved into the middle of nowhere.”

She smiled softly, “Your house is beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Regulus smiled, fully this time, dimples and all, “I always had better style.”

Y/n laughed for the first time in seven years. Regulus found himself staring in awe as her face creased with laughter. He noticed her cheekbones getting defined, how her hair got tossed back when she laughed, the curl of her lips. Despite years in prison, Regulus still thought she was the prettiest girl in the world. He felt so happy, so accomplished that she blessed him with this sound. He found himself replacing his happiest memory with this one. This, Regulus thought, this is my happiest memory. At this moment, he felt like he could perform the best Patronus, and truth be told, Regulus was never good at the Patronus Charm. 

When she recovered, all Regulus wanted to do was make her laugh again, “Thank you for letting me stay with you.”

“Of course.” He replied like it was nothing; in all honesty, it was, “There’s a bedroom upstairs on the right prepared for you with a bathroom. It’s yours till you’re ready. If you wanted to wash up and begin your life again.”

“Yeah,” Y/n had a relieving smile on her face, “That sounds wonderful.”

The mug on the counter left forgotten Y/n traveled up the stairs. The upstairs was just as beautiful as the ground floor. The room she was given was gorgeous, and Y/n found herself never wanting to leave. The room was a pine color. The bed had grey sheets. The furniture was black. The flooring expanded upstairs, still the same grey wood. This room smelt of a forest. It was calming and made her never want to leave. 

Nonetheless, Y/n got undressed and got into the shower. The shower had been stocked with body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and other hygienic needs. The products smelt expensive, but it felt terrific to be adequately cleaned. In Azkaban, that was rare. Usually, the guards rushed the prisoners in and out of the shower. After the shower, she looked in the dresser to find some old Slytherin sweatpants and a black t-shirt. She put the clothes on and went to bed. 

Living with Regulus was something Y/n could’ve never imagined. In honesty, it wasn’t all that bad. She actually enjoyed it. It turns out that Regulus is just as charming and funny as his older brother. He was also quick-witted like Remus and twice as bright. Not to mention his youthful energy at times that made Y/n think of James. Back at Hogwarts, you’d never catch cold Regulus Black stuffing his face with marshmallows doing the ‘Chubby Bunny’ challenge with Y/n Potter. 

Y/n wasn’t sure when it happened, but she found herself slowly falling in love with him. It wasn’t because he was the only one around because she had gotten a job at Hogwarts teaching History of Magic. She met many people in her two years at Hogwarts, but her favorite was the summer holidays. It meant more days hanging out with Regulus. But after two years of living together, she adored everything about him. 

His elegance was magnifying. She fell in love with the way he made breakfast every morning, no matter what. How he took his tea - no sugar, splash of milk. He refused to drink tea or coffee out of anything but the mug Andromeda sent him for his birthday after he supposedly ‘died’. She bought the gift before the accident and wanted to send it to him anyway. Y/n fell in love with how he adored his cat because, yes, Regulus Black owned a cat and her name was Lynx. Y/n got introduced to her only hours into living in the house. 

Lynx was a black cat with blue eyes. She was Regulus’ pride and joy. On holidays Lynx would be dressed up in tiny sweaters, and Regulus swore it was so she didn’t get cold. On Y/n’s first Valentine's Day after Azkaban, she found chocolate and flowers on the kitchen island for her. They were HoneyDukes finest chocolate and beautiful lavender roses. Regulus adored the blush that appeared on her cheeks. 

The summer before Y/n had to go back to Hogwarts for her third year of teaching; Regulus asked her out on their first date. Regulus had been incredibly nervous and shy. They had been watching a movie on the couch together; his arm laid lazily around her shoulders when he realized he wanted this forever. He had said it so quietly Y/n had to make him repeat it. But she accepted immediately. 

Before leaving for Hogwarts that year, they began dating. It was new, but it was nice. Y/n hadn’t dated anyone since Remus, who she was completely over. Regulus was a completely different experience. Regulus was fun but serious, nice but mean, smart but stupid, but most importantly, he was loving and caring. Regulus did everything he could to show his love and affection for his new girlfriend. 

On the first day back at Hogwarts, Y/n had come early to set up her classroom. When she appeared at the feast, Y/n saw all the new first years and made eye contact with glittering green eyes. She took her seat at the end of the table. Y/n stared intently at the group of anxious first years as Minvera McGonagall - the Transfiguration Professor - set up the sorting hat ceremony. Multiple names got called, but Y/n had been focusing on one little boy in particular. 

“Potter, Harry!” 

The little eleven-year-old boy took hesitant steps to the stool. He stepped up on the wooden chair, and it allowed Y/n to stare freely. He had messy brunet hair and a defined child face like James but held Lily’s eyes. Harry was lanky like James, but Y/n knew it’d turn into muscle eventually as it had on James back in sixth year. The hat sat on Harry’s head for a little over a minute before calling out the house everyone knew he’d be sorted in. 

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Y/n allowed a big smile to take over her face as her nephew raced to the Gryffindor table. Harry got many pats, and a warm welcome like everyone knew he would. After the sorting and the feast, Dumbledore began to speak. He warned about the third story corridor and Mr. Filch that Y/n still held a grudge against. Mr. Filch was the worst ‘caretaker’ ever and was just a grumpy old man asking for pranks which the Weasley twins had done. 

Professor Dumbledore introduced each teacher, “For the introduction of our teachers for the 1991-1992 year goes as follows: Professor McGonagall of Transfiguration, Professor Snape of Potions, Professor Quirrell of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Sprout of Herbology, Professor Vector of Arithmancy, Professor Sinistra of Astronomy, Professor Flitwick of Charms, Professor Trelawney of Divination, Professor Babbling of Ancient Ruins, Professor Kettleburn of Care of Magical Creatures, and finally Professor Potter of History of Magic.”

Harry stopped in his tracks at the last name Potter. He turned to look at the woman with h/c hair and e/c eyes. If he looked close enough, he could see similarities in them both, but he didn’t look too hard. Her smile was beautiful, Harry thought, I wonder if dad had the same smile. 

On Monday, at 10:30 am, Y/n was ready for her first year with Gryffindor and Slytherins. She allowed her students to pick where they wanted to sit and gave them ten minutes of free time to befriend the person beside them. This was her third time doing this activity, and it usually went smoothly. Sometimes kids need to socialize, and most classes don’t allow it. Like every teacher, she began with an introduction of herself and the subject.

“Hello, class!” Her voice was cheerful and welcoming, “My name is Y/n Potter or Professor Potter, whichever you prefer to call me. I’ve been teaching History of Magic for three years now, and I know this subject is usually a boring one, but I try to make it as intriguing as possible. In this course, we cover multiple wars and important people of our history like Nicholas Flamel.”

People looked thoroughly interested, “I was in Gryffindor in my years at Hogwarts, so I do know the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, so I do hope we don’t run into any issues. My Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs did beautifully this morning. Today we won’t go over any content. I’ll leave the rest of class to ask me questions or get to know your peers. However, tomorrow we will begin, so please come to class prepared.”

Harry always thought of himself to be relatively curious, but despite this woman sharing his last name, he didn’t ask. The wound was still fresh after being lied to by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon about the truth of his parent's death. Harry thought that rubbing salt on the new cut would do more harm than good.

Everything ran smoothly for Y/n’s first and second year teaching Harry. The summer going into third year Regulus and her got more serious about their relationship. At that point, they had been going out for just over three years, and Regulus couldn’t have been happier. He felt so elated. His shoulders were no longer to his jaw, and his muscles relaxed.

But being kept in seclusion was eating up at him now. He wanted to see Sirius and Andromeda, maybe meet his little cousin Nymphadora that he had heard about. There was no use in going back to Grimmauld Place. Walburga and Orion were dead, much to Regulus’ glee. Despite being so happy with Y/n, Regulus always felt like a part of him was missing.

Y/n would see it in his eyes as he drifted off from reading the Daily Prophet at the kitchen island. His stone eyes held longing and yearning for his elder brother to place an end to the craving he’d been having for years. It was getting tiring, and Y/n could see how restless Regulus was getting. While he worked most of the week at a Muggle job, he still wished to be an average person in the Wizarding community.

A week before the new term started, Regulus and Y/n flooed into Hogwarts. Her office was clean and void of any dust. It held bookshelves - many of them - and notebooks laid askew on the wooden desk. There were many red accents that Regulus had grown to love despite being in a separate house. Gryffindor pride was one thing Azkaban couldn’t even take away.

Y/n took his hand in hers, and they began their walk to Albus Dumbledore’s office. No one was inside the castle walls this early in the term than Dumbledore. They approached the Phoenix and spoke the password ‘Lemon Drops’. The Phoenix spun, allowing the stairs to appear. They both knocked at the door, and it opened with a flick of Dumbledore’s hand.

They were greeted with a small smile and half-moon spectacles, “Professor Potter and Mr.Black, what a surprise.”

Regulus smiled tightly and gripped Y/n’s newly ringed hand, “Or it seems I should be calling you Professor Black?”

“No, sir,” Y/n replied, “Potter works just fine.”

Truth be told, Regulus had only proposed a month ago, and he didn’t want it spreading, “That’s not why we’re here.”

“By all means, take a seat.” Dumbledore gestured to the seats in front of his desk that they took gratefully, “May I offer a lemon drop?”

“No, thank you.” Regulus grimaced, “I’d like to speak with you about my death.”

“Well, I suppose this was going to come up soon enough.”

“I’d like to have a presence in the Wizarding community again.” Regulus continued, “I’d like to be able to see my brother again. Along with my cousins.”

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, “Do you believe it is wise to do so?”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t know if you haven’t been reading the news, but Lord Voldemort is on the rise again.” Dumbledore explained, “He’ll know if your disloyalty and you’ll be the first he comes after.”

Regulus had a look of fear on his face before replying, “I’ll be under the protection of the Order of the Phoenix. Wouldn’t that be enough?”

“Perhaps.” He shrugged, “But by making an appearance again, not only will it shock the world, but it’ll put a target on your back. Not to mention a bigger target on Ms.Potter’s back.”

“I’m capable of handling it myself.” Y/n quipped, “If Regulus wants to be free again, he should be allowed to be, free of any guilt as well. Being trapped isn’t a feeling. He’s been trapped for much too long.”

“Fifteen years.” Regulus said monotone, “I’ve been in seclusion for fifteen years.”

Dumbledore allowed a slight smile to grace his features, “By all means, Regulus, the world is yours.”

The meeting came to a close, and they both retreated into Y/n’s office. He flopped down onto an armchair in her office while she swiveled in her desk chair. Regulus’ hair had progressively gotten more tousled as he thought about everything said in the meeting. He was quiet while he thought, allowing Y/n to tidy up her desk.

Regulus had gone thirty minutes quietly mulling over everything when he finally spoke, “I think I’m going to do it.”

“Good.” Y/n said without a second thought, “Maybe then you can become a writer for the Daily Prophet like you’ve always dreamed.”

“Or the Quibbler.” Regulus added, “Mr.Lovegood writes some good stories.”

Y/n chuckled as she sorted through her quills, “I remember him from our Hogwarts days. Always a bit strange, he was, sweet though.”

“Yeah,” Regulus sighed, “I suppose I didn’t really get close with anyone who isn’t in Azkaban right now or a death eater.”

“Hey,” Regulus turned to look at Y/n, “After this announcement, everything will be okay. You’ll get to see Dora and Andromeda again.”

Regulus noticed how she didn’t say anything about Sirius as she went back to organizing her desk. He didn’t want to keep bringing it up, but he wanted a relationship with his older brother now that their parents weren’t in the way. Regulus stood up from the armchair and took her hands into his. Gently he stood up with her. They began swaying back and forth to no music.

“I know I keep bringing this up, and I’m sorry.” Regulus began, “But I’d like a relationship with my brother. And it seems selfish of me to ask you to be okay with it.”

Y/n didn’t say anything, so he went on, “I’m aware that Sirius put you through extreme pain and grief. He’s the reason you didn’t get to say goodbye to your mum or be with your brother one last time. He’s the reason you don’t have Harry in your custody. He took away your freedom, and I will never expect you to forgive him.”

Regulus pulled away to look her in the eyes, “You’re my everything. Soon you’ll be my wife, and I don’t want anything to change that because I love you. I don’t expect you to forgive Sirius, but I’d like to have him in my life.”

“I know.” Her voice was quiet, but her touch was soothing as she caressed his cheek, “I know this is important to you, and I see no issue with it.”

“If- If James was still here,” Y/n swallowed the lump on her throat, “I’d want him with me too.”

Regulus pushed their foreheads together, “You’re so strong.” He pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, “You know that?”

“You tell me every day.”

“Because you are.” He kissed her forehead gently.

The following week it was all over the Wizarding World that Regulus Black had been reported alive and well. Regulus took many interviews with the Daily Prophet, and he did get to meet Nymphadora, who was in Auror training with Mad-Eye Moody. He also got to see Andromeda, who cried upon seeing her little cousin. Y/n had continued teaching while he was meeting all of his family.

One thing she didn’t expect was to see Remus Lupin at the Professor's table.

Dumbledore gave his speech as usual and introduced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor - Professor R.J. Lupin. Remus caught eyes with Y/n, and they looked sorrowful. Along with Regulus Black’s recent reappearance in the Prophet, news that Peter Pettigrew was near Hogwarts had been released. The actual murderer of James and Lily Potter. Dementors were placed around the castle.

Everything went smoothly until Remus and Y/n had castle duty on the same night. They were at opposite ends of the castle, and yet Remus had still managed to find her. If she knew any less, she would’ve thought it was by coincidence, but she was a Marauder. Y/n knew about the Marauders map, not to mention her alias - Vixen - was on the print.

“Y/n.” Remus panted, “Can we talk?”

Y/n crossed her arms, “I can’t see what there is to talk about.”

“Oh, there’s much to talk about.” Remus replied as he stood to his full height - just two inches taller than Regulus, “I want to apologize for what happened.”

Y/n chuckled bitterly, “You aren’t going to be forgiven. I mean, how fucking dare you. I can’t believe you guys thought I was the traitor. He was my fucking brother!”

Harry had grimaced at her tone; he had followed Professor Lupin around the castle to ask him a question, “Dumbledore had specifically said that you were working with You-Know-Who. How were we supposed to take that?”

“I don’t know!” Y/n stressed, “Maybe ask me about it before pointing your wand at my throat?”

“It was a genuine mistake-”

“A mistake that ruined my life, Lupin!” He looked upset at the mention of his last name, “Seven years! Seven fucking years of misery. Seven years I will not get back.”

“Not only was it seven years. I’m not even allowed to have my nephew in my custody because of my record.” Her voice was low now, “You don’t understand what he’s been through, Lupin. He’s getting abused by Lily’s sister, and there’s nothing I can do about it! They see I’ve been to Azkaban, and that’s all they care about.”

“But you know what, fuck it all right?” Y/n spat, “Because everything that comes out of Dumbledore’s mouth is the truth, right?”

Remus sighed, “I really am sorry. I know you won’t forgive me, and that’s reasonable, but with Regulus being alive now, you’re going to have to be around Padfoot.”

“I’ve known all about Regulus being alive.” Y/n stated, “After all, he’s the reason I’m out of Azkaban.”

“He- He defended you?”

“He did.”

Remus stared appalled, “He’s also my fiancé.”

That was a knife to the heart. Remus’ heart had completely shattered at her tone and the statement that had fallen from Y/n’s mouth. He’d known that she wouldn’t wait for him, but it didn’t help any. Y/n would never forgive him or Sirius. That much was true. They had crossed a boundary and broke trust. Y/n wasn’t going to allow them back into her life no matter how badly he wished.

Remus was left wholly shattered in the middle of the Transfiguration wing.

[braveclementine]

Chapter 7

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (However they are very few so those under the age of 18 can still read a majority of this book. However please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

ℑ𝔴𝔬𝔨𝔢𝔲𝔭, my eyes swimming with tears. Cedric's face lingered in front of mine for a second later and then disappeared. I swung my legs out of bed, missing Severus' presence. I made my bed and got dressed in Muggle clothes.

Then, after putting my hair up and makeup on, I trooped down the stairs, yawning.

Harry was already sitting at the kitchen table. Dad was saying, "The law's on your side. Even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in life-threatening situations."

Mrs. Weasley was trying to make Harry's hair lie flat with a wet comb. "Doesn't it ever lie flat?" She asked out of desperation. I grabbed a square of toast without any crust on it, lathered a ton of grape jam on it, and stuck it in my mouth, leaning against the kitchen wall.

"I think we'll go now." Mr. Weasley said. "We're a bit early, but I think you'll be better off there than hanging around here. Elizabeth, are you coming?"

I looked at dad and he nodded with a smile. My spirits lifted but Sirius frowned. "Yeah. I'm coming."

Harry looked much more relieved.

"You'll be all right, Harry." Tonks said, patting his arm.

"Of course he will, the trial-" I froze, my eyes seeing something. I felt anger bridle inside of me.

"Elizabeth?" Dad asked tensely. He'd stood up from the table. "What is it?"

"Send a letter to Dumbledore." I said sharply. "They changed the time of the trial to 8 o'clock. We need to go, now." I said to Mr. Weasley.

"Good luck Harry." Dad said quickly rummaging in the drawer for parchment. "I'm sure it will be fine."

"And if it's not. I'll see to Amelia Bones for you. . ." Sirius said with a grin. Harry smiled weakly as Mrs. Weasley hugged him. Mr. Weasley and I were both anxious to get out the door and we set off at a fast pace.

"Why'd they change the time?" Mr. Weasley. "Which courtroom?"

"I don't know." I said. We were going to take the subway to the Ministry and even though we were running late, Mr. Weasley was still enthusiastic about the Muggle machines.

"Simply fabulous, Wonderfully ingenious." He said, pointing to the Out-of-order automatic ticket dispensers.

"They're out of order." Harry said, pointing to the sign.

"Yes, but even so. . ." Mr. Weasley said. I handed the Muggle money to the guard and bought three tickets. There was nothing we could do to make the subway go faster. "What do we do when we get there?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Well. . ." I said, my head in my hands, thinking hard. "We start walking to where you work. . . at least what I'm seeing. . . because you have to meet Kingsley about something. I'd foreseen you going to your office and that's where Perkins tells you about the time change and courtroom. . . but I can't make out the courtroom yet. . ."

"Then we'll do that." Mr. Weasley said in a tense voice, looking around the subway train with interest. "Hopefully though you'll see the courtroom before then."

I nodded but by the time we got dropped off at our destination, I was tired from trying to see, and there was no answer. It was like my mind was blocking that small piece of information. So, I went with it.

I checked my watch. It was only seven o'clock. I took a deep breath. We were going to be okay. When we got upstairs and out in the dim sunlight, Mr. Weasley said, "Where are we?" I tensed up for a second and then he said, "Ah yes. . . this way, Harry. Sorry, but I never come by train and it all looks rather different from a Muggle perspective. As a matter of fact I've never even used the visitor's entrance before."

I was nervous now, even though it wasn't my hearing. We walked a long way but my feet didn't seem to hurt the way Harry's did. I was used to walking long distances for long periods of time. Sometimes I left Grimmauld 12 in the middle of the night and wandered around just to get outside.

The buildings got smaller the farther we went and we reached a street that contained a few shabby office buildings, a pub, and an overflowing dumpster. I wrinkled my nose. This was the entrance to the Ministry of Magic? Harry seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

Although, now that I thought about it, I though it looked a little familiar. I remembered when Dad had to go for a job interview and he couldn't find anyone to take care of me (I was four). The telephone box seemed the most memorable.

"Here we go." Mr. Weasley said, pointing at the telephone box. "After you, Harry."

Harry and I stepped inside and crowded against the wall so that Mr. Weasley could step in. He closed the door behind him, reaching for the phone receiver.

"Mr. Weasley, I think this might be out of order too." Harry said, looking at how the telephone receiver was hanging crookedly from the wall like it had been ripped off.

"No, no, I'm sure it's fine. Let's see. . . six. . . two. . . four. . . and another four. . . and another two." Mr. Weasley said, dialing each number.

Then, as he finished dialing, a nostalgic female voice said, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Remus Lupin. Job interview."

"Er- Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, here to escort Harry Potter, who has been asked to attend a disciplinary hearing..." Mr. Weasley said, speaking into the earpiece.

"Thank you. Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front your robes." There was a click and a rattle and there was a silver badge that had Harry Potter, Disciplinary Hearing on it. Harry took it, putting it on his robes.

"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

The floor of the telephone box shuddered and we started to sink slowly into the ground. My little arms wrapped tighter around dad's neck as we sunk below the ground and we were unable to see anything. I whimpered, nuzzling against his shoulder at the sudden darkness. Dad patted my back, "It's alright."

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day." The door sprang open and Mr. Weasley, Harry, and I stepped out. Harry's mouth fell open.

There was a dark wood floor that was polished to the spot. The ceiling was peacock blue which had golden symbols that moved continuously. My little hand reached up as though I could grab them and dad chuckled. The walls were gilded with many fireplaces and I struggled in dad's arms, wanting to get down and check them out. Dad held me tighter. I watched, fascinated as wizards came out of the fireplaces, unharmed.

Harry, Mr. Weasley, and I walked past a fountain. In the water lay sickles and knuts and the occasional Galleon. The statue was golden coloured, but probably not made of it. The tallest was a noble looking wizard. Around him was a beautiful witch, a house-elf, a centaur, and a goblin. The house-elf, centaur, and goblin were looking up at the witch and wizard with awe and loving on their faces. An uncomfortable feeling settled in my stomach. Water trickled from the wands, the arrow of the centaur, the hat of the goblin and the ear's of the house-elf.

All proceeds from the Fountain of Magical Brethren will be given so St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

"If I get this job, I'll put two Galleons in." Dad whispered as we walked past it.

"Over here, Harry." Mr. Weasley said and we hurried over to a desk with a sign overhead that read SECURITY. "I'm escorting two visitors." Harry and I were scanned by the wizard sitting behind the desk with a type of golden rod.

"Wand." The security guard said and Harry handed over his wand. The wizard dropped it onto a strange brass instrument like a scale. It started to vibrate. A narrow strip of parchment came speeding out of a slot and the wizard tore it off and read the writing.

"Eleven inches, phoenix-feather cored, been in use four years. That correct?"

"Yes." Harry said.

"I keep this. You get this back." He said, thrusting the wand at Harry and putting the paper down. "Your wand."

"10 1/4 inches, Unicorn tail horn, been in use for 14 years?" "Yes." Dad said, shifting me onto his other hip.

I handed over my wand and the same process and read off the ticket, "12 1/2 inches, Dragon heartstring core, been in use four years. That correct?"

"Yes." I said. He handed me back the wand and I pocketed it and we headed off into the Ministry.

"Anything yet Elizabeth?" Mr. Weasley asked as we started walking through the Ministry.

I shook my head. "Let's just find. . . you know."

Harry looked at me curiously and I whispered. "We can't act like we know each other outside of the order so don't say hi to Kingsley when you see. You've never met him before, alright?"

Harry nodded. Mr. Weasley brought us to some golden grilles. A big, bearded wizard holding a large cardboard box stood nearby. The box was making some very strange noises.

"All right, Arthur?"

"What've you got there, Bob?"

"We're not sure. We thought it was a bog-stranded chicken until it started breathing fire. Looks like a serious branch of the Ban of Experimental Breeding to me."

There was a great jangling and the lift started to descend. Harry and I were standing against the back of the wall and as wizards and witches glanced curiously at Harry, he looked down, flattening his fringe over his scar.

"Level seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and Ludicrous Patents office." The voice from the telephone announced.

The door closed again as witches and wizards left and entered. Then the next level. "Level Six. Department of Magical Transport, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, and Apparation Test Center". Dad stepped off walking down the hallway to the Apparation Test Center. He stepped inside. The witch behind the desk looked up and smiled at us and said, "May I help you." "Yes." he said. "Remus Lupin, I'm here for an interview." The witch ruffled through the papers. "Yes, right through the door there. Would you like me to babysit your daughter for you?" Dad hesitated, looking down at me. I stared up at him with my wide brown eyes. "Yes. . . please. . . she can be a handful" he smiled. "But she'll be good for you." He handed me over and she put me down by her desk. She had a child too and I took a nap beside him while dad did his interview.

"This is us Harry, Elizabeth." Mr. Weasley said, jolting me out of my memories. I quickly stepped off. "My office is on the other side of the floor."

"Mr. Weasley, aren't we underground?" Harry asked as we passed windows that let in sunlight.

"Yes, we are, those are enchanted windows; Magical Maintenance decide what weather we're getting every day. We had two months of hurricanes last time they were angling for a pay raise. . . Just round here, Harry. Anything Elizabeth?"

"Not yet." I said through gritted teeth. We turned a corner and walked through a pair of heavy oak doors which revealed an open area that was divided into cubicles. There was talk and laughter. Little paper airplanes were zooming up and down out of the cubicles and past our heads. This was the Auror Headquarters.

I looked into the cubicles as I passed. They all looked so cool. Men with long hair like Bill, with dragon hide boots propped up on their desk, writing reports. Witches and wizards missing body parts like Uncle Moody. There was a witch with a patch over her eye talking to Kingsley.

"Morning, Weasley." Kingsley said casually as we started to get close. "I've been wanting a word with you, have you got a second?"

"Yes, if it really is a second. I'm in rather a hurry." Mr. Weasley said brazenly.

We followed Kingsley into the last cubicle. This was Kingsley's cubicle and on every surface of the wall there was Sirius' face except for a map which was covered with red pinpoints.

"Here." Kingsley said, handing Mr. Weasley a sheaf of parchment. "I need as much information as possible on flying Muggle vehicles sighted in the last twelve months. We've received information that Black might still be using his old motorcycle."

I nearly snorted because I knew he didn't have it anymore. Kingsley winked at Harry and me and in a whisper said, "Give him the magazine, he might find it interesting." Then, back in his normal tone he said, "And don't take too long, Weasley, the delay on the firelegs report held our investigation up for a month."

"If you had read my report you would know that the term is 'firearms'. And I'm afraid you'll have to wait for information on motorcycles, we're extremely busy at the moment." Mr. Weasley said in a cool voice. Then in a whisper he said, "If you can get away before seven, Molly's making meatballs."

Then I gasped and all three of them looked at me. "Elizabeth?" Mr. Weasley asked in a tense voice.

"Courtroom ten. That's where they switched it to." I whispered. My legs felt weak- I'd had to dig deep for the information. I took a step and nearly fell. Kingsley grabbed my arm, looking worried. "Sorry." I said. "When I really focus on trying to find information I get weak."

"Maybe you should stay in my office." Mr. Weasley said, checking his watch. I shook my head, feeling light-headed.

"No, no, I'm coming." I let go of Kingsley's arm and jumped. I didn't fall this time and I said, "Okay, I'm good to go. Thank you." I mouthed at Kingsley and Mr. Weasley, Harry, and I quickly left the room.

"We're leaving on better time." I added as we sprinted towards the lifts, checking my watch. I nearly ran into the door but Mr. Weasley jerked me out of the way in time. "Before, you were five minutes late. Now, we've got four minutes to get there."

"Thank Merlin for your visions." Mr. Weasley said. "Thank goodness we got here so early too." He jabbed the down button impatiently. "Come ON!"

We were the only ones in the lift for now and every time it made a stop, Mr. Weasley cursed and kept hitting the nine button. It was like being on a Muggle lift almost. They never do as you want them to do.

"Those courtrooms haven't been used in years. I can't think why they're doing it down there- unless- but no. . ."

I was going to say it was to throw Dumbledore off their track when a witch in lime green dress robes came into the lift and I kept my mouth shut instead. Instead, I wondered what part of the Ministry wore those colour dress robes. Each department had different coloured clothing.

"The Atrium." The female voice said and then a wizard with a tired face got into the lift.

"Morning Arthur, don't often see you down here. . ."

"Urgent business, Bode." Mr. Weasley said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. I checked my watch again. One minute. At least being there one minutes late was better than ten minutes late.

"Department of Mysteries."

"Quick, Harry." Mr. Weasley said and we sped up the corridor. It was significantly different from the hallway we'd just left. This one had no windows at all and the lights were much dimer. The doors were plain black and the only doors were set at the very ends of the corridor. The floors, wall, and ceiling were made of black tile with white lines showing which tile was which.

"Down here, down, here." Mr. Weasley panted, taking two steps at a time. "The lift doesn't even come down this far. . . why they're doing it there. . ."

"To throw off Dumbledore." I said angrily, racing down the steps. "They're hoping neither he nor Harry will make it in time."

"Damn them." Mr. Weasley said angrily. "Court room. . . ten. . . I think. . . we're nearly. . . yes." Mr. Weasley stumbled to a halt outside a grimy dark door that had an iron lock on it. He clutched a stitch in his side. I caught my breath and checked my watch. Three minutes late.

"Go on. Get going." Mr. Weasley said.

"Aren't- aren't you coming with-?" Harry said.

"We aren't allowed." I said, darting forward and kissing his cheek. "Good luck! You'll be fine!"

Harry' swallowed and turned the door nob and disappeared inside the room.

I immediately sat down, exhausted. I leaned my head against the wall and closed me eyes. "Are you trying to see the outcome?" Mr. Weasley asked, nervously, still holding his sign. "I don't know if that's a good idea, considering you're already tired from before."

"No, I'm not looking." I mumbled sleepily. I tucked my legs up into crisscross shape and leaned back. "Meditating."

Footsteps clacked down the hallway at that moment and I opened one eye to see Dumbledore striding down the hallway, an older woman following behind. "He's already inside?" Dumbledore asked quickly.

"Yes." Mr. Weasley said. Dumbledore winked at me happily, told the woman to stay out here, and then headed into the room. I closed my eyes again.

"I'm Arabella Figg." The old woman said and I opened my eyes again to see her shaking hands with Mr. Weasley.

"Ah yes, you were the one who found Harry after Mundungus er- slipped away." Mr. Weasley said.

She nodded. She was wearing carpet slippers. I wondered why she hadn't decided to try and look less like the stereotyped crazy cat lady.

Arabella Figg's eyes fell on me and she looked at me questioningly. I got up from off the floor and held out my hand, "Elizabeth Kane."

"Ah." she said, shaking my hand, still looking at me peculiarly. I remembered what Dad said about how much I looked like Mum and I quickly looked away.

Suddenly Percy came out the door and Mr. Weasley stiffened. But Percy didn't look at either of us and said curtly and asked, "Are you the witness that he brought?"

"Yes." Mrs. Figg said nervously.

I grabbed her arm and muttered, "When you talk about the dementor's use the word glide, not run."

She went through the door with Percy and the door was shut in our faces again. I sat down near the door, trying to hear something from inside.

I closed my eyes and heard some muttering and then Mrs. Figg said indignantly, "Yes we can!" There was more mutterings but I couldn't hear much else. Finally, I backed away from the door as Mrs. Figg came out of it. She looked a bit shaken and she hurried up the steps and away from us without a single glance back.

I exchanged a look with Mr. Weasley and started to pace the hallway. I wondered what Dumbledore was saying and for a second time, I found myself outside the door, my ear practically pressed up against it. I supposed I could've tried looking into the future but I didn't want to risk passing out like I had in my third-year.

Then I heard Fudge's voice exclaiming, "Laws can be changed!"

Dumbledore answered, "Of course they can. And you certainly seem to be making many changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic!"

There was complete silence and I grinned and muttered, "Ha!" under my voice. Mr. Weasley glanced over at me and I repeated what Dumbledore had said and Mr. Weasley smiled grimly. "He's going to get off." I muttered. "I can feel it."

Then Dumbledore came out of the room and swept off. It took me completely by surprise and then, I opened the door and peeked in. The Wizengamot was standing up, packing. Harry was standing, looking apprehensive. I saw the witch I'd seen becoming the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor looking down at him. I scowled at her. Harry caught my eye and I beckoned to him.

He came out of the room.

"Dumbledore didn't say-" Mr. Weasley started, looking pale and apprehensive.

"Cleared." Harry said as I let the door swing shut in Percy's face. "Of all charges."

"Harry, that's wonderful! Well, of course, they couldn't have found you guilty, not on the evidence, but even so, I can't pretend I wasn't-"

The door was opened by an annoyed Percy and the Wizengamot came filing out. "Merlin's beard, you were tried by the full court?"

"Yes." I said with a snort.

A couple of the passing wizards and witches said hello to Mr. Weasley, including a masculine looking witch with a monocle. I knew she was Susan Bones Aunt and she nodded and said hello and then paused at the sight of me.

"You're Elizabeth Kane?" She asked as Fudge passed. He walked a bit slower.

"Yes, I am." I said in a bit of surprise. "How'd you know?"

"Susan talks about you from time to time at home." Madam Bones said with a bit of a smile. "Says you're the smartest one at Hogwarts apart from. . . I can't remember the other girls name. . . Granger I think is the last name though."

I blushed. "Susan's one of my best friends." I said.

"Glad to hear it. She's a good girl." Madam Bones said and then she continued walking.

"Blimey." Harry said, grinning from ear to ear when everyone was gone. "Wonder what Hermione would think if she knew that?"

"Yes, well." I said, blushing. "Susan is probably a bit biased because I'm a Hufflepuff. Hermione and I don't really know who's smarter."

"I'm going to take you straight back so you can tell the others the good news." Mr. Weasley said, not following the line of conversation, and beckoning us towards the stairs. "I'll drop you off on the way to the toilet in Bethnal Green. Come on. . ."

"So what will you have to do about the toilet?" Harry asked, still smiling. He seemed glad to listen to everything now that he was off. After all, he was going back to Hogwarts now.

"Oh, it's a simple enough anti-jinx, but it's not so much having to repair the damage, it's more the attitude behind the vandalism, Harry. Muggle-baiting might strike some wizards as funny, but it's an expression of something much deeper and nastier, and I for one-" He broke off as we came level with Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy.

I hissed. "I can't believe he has the balls to come here." I muttered under my breath to Harry. Harry looked angry as well.

Lucius turned to see who was coming up the stairs and he said, "Well, well, well. . . Patronus Potter." But his eyes were not on Harry, but on me, and Mr. Weasley put a hand on my shoulder. My hand, however, was in my pocket, clenching around my wand. "The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter. Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes. . . Snakelike, in fact. . ." Yet, he continued to stare at me.

Mr. Weasley put a hand on Harry's shoulder too as Harry said, "Yeah, yeah, I'm good at escaping..."

I grinned. Lucius raised his eyes to Mr. Weasley.

"And Arthur Weasley too! What are you doing here, Arthur?"

"I work here." Mr. Weasley said shortly.

"Not here, surely? I thought you were up on the second floor. . . Don't you do something that involves sneaking Muggle artifacts home and bewitching them?" Lucius said coolly. I was so pissed that he could get away with saying these things in front of the Minister.

"No." Mr. Weasley said curtly. His hands tightened on our shoulders. It was almost painful.

"What are you doing here anyways?" I asked him curtly. I tossed my hair over my shoulder nonchalantly, glaring at him.

Lucius dropped his eyes to me again, and smiling cruelly said, "Why don't you come with the Minister and I and find out, Kane? I've heard you like to learn. Perhaps you'd like to do ah. . .what is it called again? An internship? I'd teach you on my own if you wanted."

Mr. Weasley's fingers cut into my shoulders. I nearly pulled out my wand before Lucius snorted with disdain and turned to Fudge, "Shall we go up to your office, then, Minister?"

"Certainly. This way, Lucius." Fudge said, turning his back on us.

Mr. Weasley didn't let go of either of our shoulders until they were far gone.

"Why wasn't he waiting outside Fudge's office if they've got business to do together? What was he doing down here?" Harry burst out angrily.

"Trying to get into the courtroom." I spat out.

"I'll leave a note for Dumbledore when I drop you off, he ought to know Malfoy's been talking to Fudge again." Mr. Weasley said.

"What private business have they got together anyways?"

"Gold." I muttered. "Gives Malfoy connections. It helps him out in the long run. More gold, more favors owed in a way. It'll come in handy later most likely."

"Mr. Weasley, If Fudge is meeting Death Eaters like Malfoy, if he's seeing them alone, how do we know they haven't put the Imperius Curse on him? And why would he," Harry threw me a look, "try to get Elizabeth alone with him? Wouldn't he want me alone with him?"

Mr. Weasley's shoulder tensed greatly and said, "Don't think it hadn't occurred to us, Harry. But Dumbledore thinks Fudge is acting of his own accord at the moment- which, as Dumbledore says, is not a lot of comfort. . . Best not talk about it anymore just now Harry. . . and we'll address the er- other situation when we get back to headquarters."

As we passed the statue, dad stopped and dropped three Galleons and kissed my chubby cheek. "This is going to change our lives Elizabeth." he whispered. I got my toy broom the next day, the pink plastic one that I rode until I was seven and a half. I got a lot of new things that year. Dad got to keep the job for three years. It hurt my heart, remembering.

"Wait. . ." Harry said and hurried to the fountain. He stared up at the statue again, looking at its flaws. Then he took out his money bag and dumped the contents upside down.

⬅️➡️

[impishtubist]

Fudge/Sirius is one of the funniest ships imaginable, now that I’m thinking of it. Imagine being Fudge and whoops, your secret ex just escaped prison, nobody knows how, and you are now having to deal with a Wizarding World that just found out that Azkaban isn’t as secure as you all thought. Everyone is on high alert all year yet somehow nobody ever sees this guy, not innocents walking around, not his cousins (who you’ve subtly kept an eye on since the breakout in case Sirius goes to them), not his former friends or any of the old Order members, no Hogwarts students, freaking nobody knows where he is. A year goes by and miracle of all miracles, your deranged ex (who somehow didn’t lose his sanity in prison but considering the rumors about his family, maybe he was already nuts and just mimicked people to learn how to function in society and masked his insanity) doesn’t kill the Boy-Who-Lived like everyone expected, so you cautiously take a breath and try to put the breakout behind you, what are the odds the definitely-crazy inmates will also learn to escape Azkaban? It’s not like Sirius can go free them…right? He hates his family, you know this (except if his statements about despising blood purity were a lie and he was actually devoted to Voldemort, who’s to say that he wasn’t lying about hating his family too? His cousin is in Azkaban…). Then, right when you’re dealing with people claiming Voldemort has returned, pretty much every single maximum security prisoner is freed and you cannot handle the thought of Voldemort being free, so you figure your convict ex did the impossible yet again and arranged yet another break out; after all, his cousin was among those freed and family is a big deal among those types, it’s not outside the realm of possibility for Sirius to return to free his former allies (several of whom are family to him). And then, you walk into the Ministry one night and learn your worst nightmare has come to life and Voldemort is indeed back (and also there’s a rather worrying security breach considering there’s about a dozen people present who definitely should not be in the Ministry right then. For some baffling reason, you spot 6 students and nobody tells you why these kids are even here or even who there names are. One is certainly a Weasley but there’s so many you don’t know who that one is, another is the female Weasley but you don’t know her name, one’s Harry Potter, one looks like Frank and Alice Longbottom so you think that’s their son, one is some random blonde girl, and the other looks vaguely familiar and you think it’s that girl that the Prophet reported was involved with Krum and Potter last year but you’ve never met her and also she was rushed to a Healer almost immediately because she got hit by Dolohov’s favorite curse so you don’t know for sure). You also discover that it turned out your homicidal and blood-purist ex actually wasn’t a Death Eater at all and was framed, so he wrongfully spent 12 years in Azkaban. Oops? You can’t even make it up to him because he died in the fight, his cousin killed him. What a wild time Fudge is having from POA-OOTP if he dated Sirius once.

This is the best ask I have ever woken up to, thank you for blessing my inbox with it this morning.

[mybutcheredtongue]

I'll Love You 'til the Grass Around My Gravestone is Deceased

harry potter timeline sirius black x fem!reader

CHAPTER FOUR (see full series list here)

1992

You awake on a regular Wednesday morning a few days before the return to school, groaning and stretching as you sit up in your queen-sized bed. The sun is streaming in through your windows, and you can hear birds singing their first few melodies of the morning.

You hear a very croaky meow from beside you and you look over to spot Dubh awakening from her slumber, seeming very angry about it being awoken. Dubh's actual bed is resting in the corner of the room, but it has long since been forgotten and she much prefers to sneak up onto your bed covers during the night. This little habit of hers means you've had to deliver a quick cleaning spell to her every night before bed, but you enjoy her company anyways. You reach out and pet her lovingly, scratching under her fluffy chin.

"Yes, yes, good morning, Dubh," you say. You yawn, trying to muster up the will to properly get out of bed, before eventually you manage to swing your legs over the edge of your bed and step onto the soft rug beneath you.

You throw on your favourite pair of jeans and a sweater to accompany it, taking a quick minute to wash your face before heading downstairs and into the kitchen. Dubh follows you the whole time, complaining as she waits for you to get her breakfast.

This is the home you've lived in for the past 13 years. The home yourself and Sirius had bought after you got married. It's small and cosy: exactly how you had wanted. The walls are covered with photo frames and beautiful oil paintings that look straight out of a dream.

The kitchen is charming, especially as it's lit up by the August sun. You push open a window to let some air in, waving your wand to pour out some cat food for Dubh. You click the kettle on and drum your fingers on the countertop as you wait.

At that moment you hear a small hoot and a light thud outside your back door. You leave the kitchen, unlocking the door to open it and spot a small folded package on the front step. It's the newspaper, the Daily Prophet.

You toss the paper on the kitchen table, humming as you prepare breakfast for yourself. Finally, when you've finished, you take your plate in one hand and your ready cup of tea in the other, sitting down at the kitchen table. You pull open the twine wrapped around the paper, unfolding it out.

You nearly spit out your tea when you read the headline of the front page and spot a familiar face.

Sirius.

Sirius Black.

Sirius Black has escaped.

Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban.

What the fuck.

What the actual fuck.

What the fuck?

You swallow hard, looking at the article again. Your heart is thumping. Your hands are trembling. You feel like you're about to be sick.

BLACK STILL AT LARGE

Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.

'We are doing all we can to recapture Black,' said the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, 'and we beg the magical community to remain calm.'

You scoff. Fat fucking chance!

Fudge has been criticised by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.

'Well, really, I had to, don't you know,' said an irritable Fudge. 'Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it — who'd believe him if he did?'

While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand which Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.

You feel like you're dreaming. How the hell did he break out?

This article makes you feel so sick. The things they're saying — the things they've always said about him — they're not true. They can't possibly be true.

Sirius would never do that.

Your Sirius would never do that.

Your Sirius who kissed you on the Astronomy Tower.

Your Sirius who proposed to you in your first tiny London flat, lit only by candlelight.

Your Sirius who waited patiently for you at the altar.

Your Sirius who spoke in detail of his undying love for you during his vows.

Your Sirius who gave you the most perfect first dance you could ever ask for.

Your Sirius who spent your wedding night reminding you how much he loved you, gazing at you like you were the most beautiful woman he's ever seen, making sure there wasn't a single patch of skin on your body that went unkissed.

Your Sirius who bought you flowers every week, so the ones on your dining table were always fresh.

Your Sirius.

For twelve years you've maintained the belief that Sirius is innocent. There has got to be another explanation because the Sirius you know would never sell out his friends like that. He would never support Voldemort like that. He would never murder thirteen people like that! It's bullshit.

The Sirius you know would sooner die than rat James and Lily out like that.

Sirius isn't mad, like the way they say in that article.

Or maybe he is.

You wouldn't be surprised if 12 whole years in fucking Azkaban turned him loony.

Suddenly, there's a loud knock at your front door and you startle, dropping the paper.

What if that's him?

You slowly, apprehensively get up out of your chair, carefully walking to the door. You take a deep breath, and place your hand on the handle.

You turn it agonisingly slow and open the door a crack, peering out.

It's not him.

You don't know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

Well, you're definitely not happy anyway, as you're met with Cornelius Fudge and three other Ministry officials.

You gulp.

"Good morning, ma'am," Fudge says. "Can we come in?"

You sigh, nodding. "Yeah, yeah. Of course."

You open the door wide to let them in, wrapping your arms around your torso nervously. They walk into your kitchen, looking around and you gesture to the kitchen table with a nervous smile. "You can sit down there..."

The four of them sit. You notice how Fudge's eyes immediately land on the paper, and he looks quickly back up at you as you lean against the counter, anxiously fiddling with your fingers. Dubh's head lifts from her food bowl, eyeing the newcomers suspiciously.

"Tea, coffee?" You ask, forcing a smile.

The officials glance at each other, as if deciding whether or not it's safe to accept a drink from you.

"Um...no thanks," one squeaks, looking up at you fearfully.

You sigh.

"Ah, so you've evidently heard the news..." Fudge starts, tapping the paper with one of his large, pudgy fingers.

You nod wordlessly.

"Is it a...surprise?" he asks.

You blink at him. "Yes, Minister, of course it's a surprise. I hardly expected him to break out of bloody Azkaban."

"Yes, yes, it is a shock to all of us," Fudge replies, eyes glancing over at the wedding photo on your countertop. "Have you...heard from him? At all?"

"No."

"It's just that you are his wife, you would be the first person he'd run to."

You raise your eyebrows, folding your arms. "Oh? I would've thought you'd expect him to run to Voldemort?"

They all wince at the name.

Fudge sighs, trying to keep his composure. "Look, regardless of your personal feelings on the matter, Black is a criminal and — "

"You have no proof — "

"He is a convict!" Fudge snaps. "Regardless of whether you believe it to be wrongful or not, he is a convict! If you see him, you must contact the Ministry. The magical community is in shambles with him on the loose. People are afraid."

You scoff. "The magical community has been in shambles for centuries."

Fudge ignores your statement, standing up from his chair unsteadily. "We will have to monitor your home, in case he decides to...visit."

"Shocker."

"We — uh, we'll be going now," Fudge says semi-certainly, motioning for the others to follow. They all stand, narrowly avoiding you as they exit the kitchen. You see one woman flinch when you move. You feel a hand on your shoulder, looking up to see Fudge's red, fudgy face looking at you pitifully. "I am truly sorry, dear. Remember what I said."

You watch as the party leaves and you shut the door behind them. You groan, running your hand through your hair as you slide down the door and sink to the ground.

Dubh appears around the corner, plodding over to you. You smile weakly at her, petting her softly. You feel your eyes starting to water and you sniffle, lip trembling.

You shake your head in disbelief.

"What am I gonna do?"

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

You wave your wand, levitating your heavy trunk up onto the overhead carriage of your train compartment. Most teachers don't take the Hogwarts Express — they just apparate to Hogsmeade instead — but you find that apparition tends to distress Dubh immensely and don't do it. You don't mind it really, the train ride gives you that little bit of extra time to look over lesson material.

Lucky for you, you have the compartment to yourself and freely let Dubh out of her carrier. She stretches with a long meowl, moving to settle on your lap, and you spend the ride reading a book and looking over lesson material, though your mind keeps drifting from what you're doing, choosing instead to fixate on Sirius.

You have a sickening seed of guilt and worry circling your gut ever since you heard of his escape, an overwhelming sense of dread looming over everything you do.

Heavy rain pelts the window harshly, wind battering the sides of the train, rattling it loudly.

You glance out the window pensively, wondering what he must be doing right now. Maybe he's been recaptured and you just haven't found out yet. You hope he's not out in this weather.

If sixteen-year-old Sirius had been caught out in torrential rain, he'd be busy complaining to you about how it completely ruined his hair and you'd just have to listen on and on because truthfully, you liked his hair after the rain.

The train starts to slow and you sigh, starting to pack up your things. Then, your eye catches the window and you squint out into the dark surroundings. You're not in Hogsmeade — you're not even close to it. You've been on this train enough times to know that you have a solid 20 minutes or so left in the journey.

Maybe there's something blocking the track and you'll all just have to continue on foot?

Hardly.

You stand up, gently plucking Dubh from your lap and placing her onto the seat beside you. You slide open the compartment door and stick your head out, looking up and down the hallway. You know well that Professor Flitwick is inside along with some of the Prefects so you step out, closing the door behind you and moving to their compartment.

You open the door and look in at Flitwick and three students, shiny silver badges on their chests. "Hey, Filius. What's going on?"

Flitwick shrugs, straining his neck to see up out the window. "I don't know."

You bite your lip, turning around uncertainly. "I'll ask the driver."

Suddenly, the train stops with a jolt and you stumble into the wall beside you, knocking your head against one of the flickering lanterns. You groan, bringing a hand to rub at the sharp stinging in your temple.

You try to make your way up the carriage but before you can the lights extinguish with a small puff and you're plunged into darkness. Rooting around in your pocket, you fish out your wand and mutter, "Lumos." A small bead of white light appears at the tip, illuminating a short distance in front of you.

To your horror, you look up and are met with a dark cloaked figure that towers to the ceiling. Its face is completely hidden beneath its hood. You feel your breath hitch in your throat as the room grows cold, freezing cold, making the hairs on your arms stand up.

A Dementor.

"He's not here," you choke, but it doesn't seem to matter as the dementor draws a long, slow, rattling breath. "He — he's not — "

You feel an immediate sadness overwhelm you. You feel every stitch of joy being sucked from you, your body desperately trying to cling on to whatever it can. You hear Sirius' voice, screaming raw and pleading, and it feels like the pain in your head is magnified a billion times.

Before your last stretch of consciousness can escape from you, you grip your wand tighter and, summoning all your will and happiest memories, you yell, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A bright, blue light bursts forth from your wand, taking on the form of large, scruffy dog and chasing the Dementor as it glides away from you. You stumble back, chest heaving, placing a hand on the wall for support, before remembering about the rest of the students and you turn, sprinting back down the corridor to the other carriages.

You throw open the door, moving quickly as you throw glances in each compartment window, checking that everyone was alright. Was there only one?

As you continue down the corridor, you look in one compartment and see the back of a tall figure blocking your view. You breathe a sigh of relief when you see it's not a Dementor, and slowly slide open the door to poke your head in, trying to carefully look past the figure in front of you.

"Hey guys, everyone okay? I think — Remus?" You stare in shock at the tired face of Remus Lupin, currently holding a gigantic slab of chocolate in his hands, loudly snapping it into pieces. "What are you doing here?"

Beside him is Harry, Ron, and Hermione, looking between the two of you in surprise. Harry is as pale as a ghost, his hair messy and untidy.

"Guess I took your advice," Remus shrugs, handing everyone pieces of chocolate. He hands one to you and you accept it gratefully, biting off a piece with a loud crack. "Taking up the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."

You grin. "Remus, that's brilliant!" You throw your arms around him and he chuckles, tapping your back softly.

You pull back, noticing Harry's shell-shocked face and turn to him in concern. "Harry, are you alright? You don't look too good."

"Dementor," Remus explains and you nod in understanding.

"There was one in my carriage too!" You say. "Bastards."

"Language."

"What? It's true!" You say in defense, looking back at Remus' unapproving face. You glance at the three thirteen-year-olds also present in the compartment with you. "Er — sorry, guys."

"I'm going to go talk to the driver," Remus announces, tossing a small bite of chocolate into his mouth.

You nod. "Alright, I'll go check on everyone else." Remus moves past you, but before he can go in the opposite direction to you up the train, you grab onto his arm. "Next time, tell me if you're coming. Could've saved me a very boring train ride."

Remus chuckles. "I was asleep the whole time, not sure if I'd be great company."

You just give him a knowing smile, heading down to the carriage to check on the other students.

→ all kinds of interaction appreciated ♡

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

->-> read chapter five here!

p.s. it's easy to miss grammar/spelling mistakes when im editing it myself, so if you find any please let me know!! 💌

[whorediaries-09]

they said i was a cheat

pairing- sirius black x auror!reader warning(s)- angst. a/n- this is me healing my inner child because sirius black deserved better.

little train. series masterlist.

the poison slips up his throat, his head starting to heat with each moment. the vile cruelty on his tongue doesn't allow him to speak up his thoughts. the way that the wizengamot stares at him, with cold contempt and disbelief makes him feel he truly was the cheat. it doesn't help with the fact he already blamed himself for the ruination of his home.

sensing his discomfort, you softly squeeze his bony shoulder. he shudders, the touch setting an agonizing fire within his core. touch, he'd not felt touch that encouraged him for so long. as a free man he'd felt touch, that blossomed a beautiful feeling of comfort and security within him.

he'd learnt to love the soft caress of fingers on his cheek, the brush of lips upon his skin. he'd learnt touch helped him to connect with others in times of happiness or bolstered him in the times of fear or excites him in the times of passion and love.

after years of learning to love the feeling of touch, he'd been captivated by the demons again, which tortured him to fall into the hellhole of hating touch all over again. he hated that he became a fearful man, afraid of a mere brush of hands upon his skin. he hated he was the archer and the prey all over again.

yet, within the gentle squeeze was comfort which blurred his blue fears. so, he found the courage to move his lips, to say his side of the story.

'on the night 31st of october, 1981 when the clock struck twelve, marking a new day, i got a phone call, informing me of the deaths of james and lily potter. previously, i was supposed to be the secret keeper, but last minute i'd changed my position to peter pettigrew's.'

'well that's very brave of you black! forcing a made up story onto a dead man- who you killed!' mr fudge shakes with fury. sirius shakes his head disapprovingly, his tongue tied into the bits of vile words he wishes he could throw at him.

'his story isn't finished yet, let him speak.' you speak up. in a soft untamed moment of fondness, his eyes glisten with unshed tears.

'i'd asked peter pettigrew to become the secret keeper because as a teen, he'd been the most formidable and the most shy of our lot. he was the last person we'd expected to turn out to be a rat, to betray us and reveal the location of the residence to his master- the dark lord, who he worshipped so piously. it was him who killed the twelve muggles that night! the rat cut off his finger before disappearing, faking his own death, leaving me to blame, because everybody knew i was the secret-keeper.'

he huffed, and found his cheeks wetted by salty tears that flowed down his dirt stricken cheeks. after years of silent torment, after years of keeping himself silent, he thought he'd lost his ability to say the truth without breaking into a rage storm over again.

'now, that's a very well made up story. what a plot twist!' cornelius grumbled. 'just have the veritaserum and let's see what you have to say.'

'THERE WAS A BETRAYER IN THE ORDER! EVERYBODY KNEW THAT! EVEN DUMBLEDORE KNEW THAT! HALF SUSPECTED ME, HALF REMUS! BUT NOBODY COULD PIN IT OUT ON THAT RAT, PETER!' sirius bellows, his chest heaving, as every spark of lightened rage leaves his body.

'calm down mr. black, or we would have to talk severe actions against misdemeanor.'

'severe actions my foot, what are you going to do? throw me in with the dementors? HAVE I NOT HAVE HAD ALREADY OF THAT EXPERIENCE NOW? YOU THINK IT CAN AFFECT ME?'

'sirius please calm down. have the potion and say what you have to say.' squeezing his shoulder you whisper, 'choose your words very very carefully. you know with the animagus thing and all. it may cause you trouble.' he nods. acknowledging his attention and presence of mind, you wipe his cheeks peeling off the curtain of tears from his bony face. he takes the serum from your grasp, holding it near his lips before gulping it down at a go. it burns, flowing down his wry throat.

'speak.' dumbledore says, calmly.

'the order had been facing a crisis. everybody suspected a spy within the close ranks of the dark lord. most suspected me and lupin. however as the halloween night approached closer- the doomed night, i told james to make peter pettigrew, one of our best mates at that time to become the secret keeper. it was no rumor that he was a timid boy, but our assumptions were deemed wrong which caused the death of james and lily potter. i could never betray james, i'd rather die than betray my best mate, my brother. I'D RATHER DIE! the rat scurried off to the dark lord so piously revealing the place where my brother hid, killing james and lily. i tracked him down, and the buffoon faked his death, framing me for the murders i could have never committed. he cut off his little finger, and using the blasting curse, he killed those muggles! the rat!'

he breathes heavy, his eye lids looming with the unshed tears. slowly, he gasps for air, as his speech comes to an end. his gaze hidden by tears succumb the room into silence.

'do you hear me now dumbledore?' he whispers, almost menacingly. dumbledore's eyes pry upon him without word. fudge gruntles.

'so you're telling me peter pettigrew is alive?'

'yes, that rat is alive.' he spits venomously, his eyes still not drifting from albus. slightly shivering, he trembles.

'who from the wizengamot believe in the innocence of sirius black?' he asks. his hand remains low, while around thirty five people - including dumbledore raise their hands.

'and who from the council believes that sirius black is the true verdict?' the remaining people raise their hands. a few however remain low. fudge shakes with fury.

'well it's settled then. he stamps on a piece of parchment. sirius orion black, you're free from of 23rd July 1986. inform the press about it.'

sirius shudders, a trail of shock flowing through his spine, as the words fall from fudge's lips. he lets the tears accumulate in his eyes, hearing as your shoes rub against the polished tiles. you're walking away, he realizes. his heart fills up with glee. he's free as declared by the ministry. he won't be thrown back to the hellhole called azkaban. he wishes he'd hug you, and express his gratitude. but he remains stuck on the chair.

he'd beaten the heat, the charges. it had gotten drunk, daring to wash him away, but he'd held upon his ground, letting his feelings rest.

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original idea posted by - @lilwnet

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