A Different Life

Sirius Black was huddled in a corner of his cell, thinking nothing except the words "I am innocent". That was the only way he was able to prevent from being badly affected by the Dementors, for it wasn't a happy thought. Suddenly, the door of his cell opened and he looked, up startled. Surely it couldn't be time for the Minister's yearly visit.

Three Aurors and a young woman in her mid-twenties, whom Sirius hadn't seen since the deaths of Lily and James, stood there. "Get up," said one of the Aurors. "You're coming with us."

Sirius slowly did so, a questioning look on his face. "What's happening?" he asked hesitantly.

"You've been granted a trial," said Natalia crisply. "I was going through some papers two weeks ago and noticed that you were never given a trial, Sirius Black. I didn't think it fair and brought it up to my superior, Amelia Bones. She agreed and the matter was brought to Minister Bagnold, who decided that you could have one. We're taking you to it now."

Sirius blinked. After five years in Azkaban, he was being given a trial, and could finally prove his innocence. When he was first captured, he had been thrown into Azkaban without any hope for a trial and was told that it was a life sentence. If he hadn't kept thinking that he was innocent and occasionally transformed into his Animagus form, he would have gone crazy.

"Thank you, Natalia Harper," said Sirius quietly, allowing the Aurors to grab his arms and escort him out.

"Don't bother," said Natalia shortly. "At least, not unless you happen to be proven innocent, which is going to be rather difficult, seeing as all evidence is against you. This trial will just confirm your guilt, or prove that you are innocent."

The group walked out of Azkaban and then Apparated to the Ministry (Sirius was brought by Side-Along Apparation.) One of the Aurors performed a Scorgify charm on Sirius and another handed him a set of plain dark grey robes. The two male Aurors escorted him to another room so he could change and then they went down to the courtroom, where the entire Wizengamot was gathered. Natalia slipped into the seat next to Amelia Bones and readied parchment and quill, for she was to be Amelia's secretary during the trial.

Sirius sat down on the chair in front of the gathered people and the attatched chains sprung up and chained him to the seat. Minister Millicent Bagnold began. "We are here for the trial of one Sirius Orion Black, for the eleventh of October. Interrogators: Millicent Agatha Bagnold, Minister for Magic; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Headmaster of Hogwarts, Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Edward Charles Melling. Charges: Secret-Keeper for Lily and James Potter and subsquentially betraying their location to You-Know-Who, believed to be a Death Eater, and is responsible for the deaths of Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles. Mr. Black, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty," responded Sirius.

There were several raised eyebrows. Natalia whispered in Amelia's ear. Her superior nodded and beckoned to one of the Aurors. "Please check Mr. Black's arms. I don't think anyone bothered to see if he had the Dark Mark."

The Auror in question, Kingsley Shacklebolt, did as requested. There were gasps as the entire Wizengamot saw that Sirius did not have the Dark Mark branded on either arm. "That doesn't prove anything!" exclaimed Umbridge. "The Mark could have vanished when You-Know-Who was defeated."

"If that's the case, then explain why the Lestranges still had the Dark Mark on their arms when they were arrested after You-Know-Who's downfall," retorted Amelia Bones.

"Enough," interrupted Minister Bagnold. "Dawlish, please adminster the Veritaserum."

The Auror, Dawlish, stepped forward and poured three drops of Veritaserum in Sirius's mouth. Sirius did not resist at all and swallowed the potion.

"What is your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black."

"Were you the Secret-Keeper for Lily and James Potter?"

"No, I wasn't. I was at first, but I felt that I was too obvious a choice and would be targeted by Voldemort, so I convinced Lily and James to switch to Peter Pettigrew. He wasn't a very talented wizard and we thought Voldemort would never think that Pettigrew could be the Secret-Keeper."

There were more gasps, and many of the members began mumuring among themselves. Natalia blinked, but part of her didn't find this very surprising.

"So Peter Pettigrew was the Secret-Keeper and betrayed the location of the Potters to You-Know-Who?" asked Umbridge, frowning.

"Yes," answered Sirius. "He had become a Death Eater sometime after graduation."

There were more murmurs and gasps from everyone except Umbridge, whose eyes were narrowed and looked as if she didn't believe any of this. Dumbledore asked, "So what really happened regarding Pettigrew and the twelve Muggles, Sirius?"

"When I realized that Pettigrew had betrayed the Potters, I went after him. However, he turned out to be too cunning for me. When I cornered him, he shouted for the whole world to hear that I had betrayed the Potters before I could say anything. He must have held his wand behind his back, for the next thing I knew, the street had been blasted apart. Pettigrew faked his death by severing a finger and then transforming into his Animagus form of a rat and escaped."

"He was an Animagus?" demanded Minister Bagnold. "But he's not registered as one!"

"Yes," replied Sirius. "Pettigrew, James Potter, and I were illegal Animagi. We secretly learned while at Hogwarts so we could keep our friend company during the full moon. My form is a large black dog, James's form was a stag, and Peter's was a rat."

Umbridge's eyes darkened, and several other Wizengamot members weren't too happy either as they realized that the friend Sirius was referring to must be a werewolf. Natalia was surprised to hear about the Animagi thing, but she wasn't over the werewolf matter. She had suspected that Remus Lupin was a werewolf after she'd noticed that he was always missing during the full moon. Also, his excuses about why he was always absent wore thin. He couldn't say that he was sick every month, so he had concocted stories such as his mother was ill or a relative died. She hadn't said anything about it and didn't have a prejudice against werewolves the way many witches and wizards did. She had also eventually figured out that Sirius, James, and Peter had found out Remus's secret, but like good friends, didn't desert him.

"But you had nothing to do with the deaths of the Muggles or Peter Pettigrew," pressed Minister Bagnold.

"Correct. Peter Pettigrew was the one that was responsible for the Muggles' deaths and he faked his death and escaped. I suppose he's hiding out as a rat even now."

"Well, it looks like we were wrong about you, Mr. Black," said Amelia Bones. There were many nods.

"Those that find Sirius Black not guilty?" asked Minister Bagnold. The entire Wizengamot raised their hands, except for Umbridge and a frizzy-haired witch behind her.

"Those that find Sirius Black guilty?" Umbridge raised her hand. The frizzy-haired witch didn't.

"Very well," said Minister Bagnold briskly. "Sirius Black, you are cleared of all charges formerly against you. There is the matter of you being an illegal Animagus, but some of time you spent in Azkaban can cover that. I advise you to get yourself registered as soon as possible, however. You are also granted fifty thousand Galleons as compensation for your term at Azkaban. Amelia Bones, for pushing that Sirius Black be given a trial, I authorise a raise of seventy Galleons a month to your salary. Natalia Harper, for suggesting it in the first place, you are given a raise of fifty Galleons. I also suggest that you promote her, Amelia."

"This concludes the trial," said Dumbledore. The chains removed themselves from Sirius. He got up, wondering what to do. Dumbledore came forward and took Sirius away, promising to explain everything thoroughly and get him readjusted to living in the wizarding war.

The next morning, Beth picked up that day's edition of the Daily Prophet and began reading the front page article. When she was done, she turned to her mother and asked, "Who is Sirius Black really, Mum? And did you really get him a trial?"

"Yes, I did," responded Natalia. "And since you've read the article, you should know who Sirius is."

"Mum, it only says that Sirius was believed to be a supporter of You-Know-Who and re-repon-reponzible for the deaths of Peter Pettigrew, twelve Muggles, and my real parents, but it now innocent. It doesn't say what kind of person he really is now. And Mum, what does re-reponzible mean?"

"It's responsible," corrected Natalia. "And if you want to know the meaning, why don't you look it up in the dictionary?"

"Okay," said Beth, doing as her mother said. Natalia rarely told Beth the meaning of new words, but instead had her check the dictionary.

After finding the meaning, Beth demanded, "Now, can you tell me 'bout Sirius Black, Mum?"

Natalia sat down and told everything she knew about Sirius, including the fact that he was Beth's godfather and would likely visit in a few days, for he'd want to get to know his goddaughter. Beth clapped her hands and looked excited when she heard that. "I'm going to tell Mia all about it later!"

"All right, but make sure nobody else can hear you when you do so, Beth," said Natalia. "Now hurry up and finish your breakfast, or you'll be late for school."

That day at work, Sirius came to see Natalia and Amelia Bones. He thanked them for getting him a trial and then arranged for him and Remus Lupin to visit Natalia and Beth that Saturday.

When Saturday came, Beth was very excited. She put on the new pale blue dress that she had talked her mother into buying for the visit and got her mother to curl her black hair and tie a matching blue ribbon in it. At ten o'clock, Hermione arrived, wearing her lilac dress from the previous Easter and her bushy hair now smooth and done in a French braid.

"Good, you're here," said Beth, dragging her best friend into the living room. "I didn't want to meet my godfather and my dad's other friend without having you here."

At ten thirty, Sirius and Remus arrived. Natalia led them into the living room. Hermione curtseyed and shyly said, "Hello, Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin."

Beth, on the other hand, jumped up and hugged Sirius and then Remus. "It's great to meet you! What do Mia and I call you?"

"Sirius, or Uncle Sirius, will do for me," answered Sirius. "Or you can use my nickname, Padfoot. Don't call me Mr. Black. It makes me feel old."

"Remus, Uncle Remus, or Uncle Moony will do for me," said Remus. "Moony's my nickname from school, by the way." The four sat down and Sirus and Remus proceeded to get to know Beth and Hermione better. After that was lunch, where Sirius and Remus entertained the girls with stories of all the things they had gotten into while at Hogwarts.

After lunch, Sirius and Remus continued the stories. Finally the visit ended at four thirty. It was arranged for Remus and Sirius to act as caretakers for Beth in the afternoons. Natalia had to work and someone had to keep an eye on Beth after school. Currently Beth spent her afternoons with Hermione, as the Grangers had a housekeeper, or Natalia paid Amy Clark, who was thirteen, to baby-sit. With the new arrangement, Beth would be taken care of and Sirius and Remus would be able to spend time with her. They would also visit on the weekends, except when Beth was visiting her uncle, aunt, and cousins.