A Sirius Affair

A SIRIUS AFFAIR

Chapter 13

Trials and Tribulations

Daniel Stanfordshire apparated into a clearing near the safe house and immediately stepped into a large pile of animal droppings. "Bloody forest! Why can't this place be somewhere more civilized like London? I hate forests -- awful, nasty, creepy places." He continued to mutter as he extended his arm and magically expanded the package he was carrying. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he trudged the remaining distance to the house cautiously.

As he entered the kitchen, he could hear the kettle on the stove beginning to whistle. Harry came around the corner and removed it.

"Hello Harry, anywhere I can hang this?"

"Sure, the closet is in the other room, around the corner to your right."

While exiting the kitchen, he nearly collided with another man, who he presumed to be his client. Both men jumped, and the dark-haired man let out a small yell. Harry looked around the corner and said, "Sirius, may I present your attorney, Daniel Stanfordshire. Daniel, this is Sirius Black."

Stanfordshire shook Black's hand and handed him the bag he was holding. "I brought this for you actually. Clothes for you to wear to court. There's a pair of wool trousers, a white shirt, tie, dress shoes, and black business robes. I hope I got the right size. I asked Cordelia. Marvelous muggle, she is. Simply marvelous. I'll just go hang this up."

"I'll take them into the back. Thank you, but I truly doubt I'll be wearing them."

"I can't have you in court in your, may I assume, usual jeans, sport shirt, and trainers, could I? No, not a chance."

"Who said I was going to court?" Black retorted as he turned and took the bag to the bedroom.

"Harry, I thought you said you talked to him?"

"I did, but this is between you two," Harry said, raising his hands in front of him.

"Don't blame him," Black said sharply as he came back to the kitchen. "He made a good case for attending. However, what you don't seem to understand is that I have a very hard time believing in or trusting the British wizarding justice system. It makes me rather nauseous to think about handing my life over to those prats if you want the truth."

"Are you done?" he replied shortly, taking a seat at the table and clicking open his briefcase. "We really do have a lot to cover today."

"I suppose I am," Black muttered irritably.

"Good. We'll talk about all that later. I finally got a look at the Ministry file relating to your alleged crimes in1981, and I took detailed notes. There were 5 muggles who saw the incident with Pettigrew and survived the blast. They gave statements to Ministry officials before the muggle police arrived. Ministry types then modified their memories before they spoke to the officers. Naturally, they won't be able to testify, but we can introduce their statements. The statements are rather divergent. Sirius, I want you to look these over and tell me which ones are closest to what you remember."

Sirius took the notes Stanfordshire handed him and began to page through the accounts. After he'd finished reading, he picked out three of the statements and handed them across the table to Stanfordshire. "This one is the best, followed by the lady with the baby, then this one by this Neil Ward guy. He's a bit off, but his version still roughly follows the right chronology. These other two are idiots. They didn't even get the physical description of either one of us right. Last time I checked neither of us looked remotely African or Indian."

"Okay, so this Rowling woman is the most accurate?"

"Right. She's got a very keen eye it seems. See here she says that the explosion centered around the man she described as short and fat -- that would be Peter -- not on the street near the gas main."

"Hmmm …seems she was only 16 years old at the time though. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the prosecution may raise it," Stanfordshire mused thoughtfully. "Yes, there's much of interest in this account. I had hoped you would concur that it was accurate. She also says that you seemed to be searching for something, presumably your wand, while Pettigrew had what she called a 'stick' in his hand. She said he was holding it behind his back all the while he was sobbing out that you had killed James and Lily. But, she says she could see his wand and what he was doing from her vantage point. This is a very favorable statement indeed."

"All right, moving on to the next account. Mrs. Branford says she saw Peter pleading with you, then she says you swore very loudly . . . she covered her baby, umm . . . Simon was his name . . . she covered his ears."

"You could say I swore at Peter, but that might be a bit of an understatement," Sirius noted wryly.

They went on to discuss at length every detail of the muggle testimony. After exhausting that subject, Daniel turned to the day the Fidelius charm was performed. "Now we need to discuss the events leading up to the main event. I want to start with when you went to the Potters and helped with casting the Fidelius charm. Oh, wait though. . . .let's see, let's talk about at what point you made the decision with the Potters and Pettigrew to change the Secret-Keeper from you to Pettigrew."

Sirius started to speak, but no words came out. After looking away and staring at the wall for a bit, Sirius took a deep breath and tried to speak again. He looked helplessly at Harry, who briskly suggested that they take a break.

***************************************

Sirius got up from the table and went out the kitchen door. Harry followed him. There was a small porch on the back of the house facing a lake. Sirius leaned on the railing, looking out at the lake.

"All right, Sirius?"

"No, no. No, not really at all. I didn't sleep last night. After you left, I sat down and tried to think through this trial logically. The problem was I kept getting really angry. As much as I tried to focus on what you'd said -- you know, that it won't give the right appearance to the jury if I'm not there -- I couldn't get beyond my fear of losing Cordelia. I've lost too many people in my life, Harry," Sirius shook his head and paused. "Then there's the possibility of going back to Azkaban . . .or maybe worse."

"I came out here to clear my head and found myself looking up at the stars, trying to remember my astronomy and what the stars were supposed to be able to tell us. There was that wonderful almost fall smell, like crisp dry leaves, in the air. I used to love that smell because it meant it was time to go back to Hogwarts. I was very bored most summers. That's when it hit. I turned around and all of a sudden the house, this house, was in ruins. I could have sworn I heard you, the baby you, crying. I'll tell you, Harry, my heart was pounding so hard it felt as if it was going to break out of my chest. I transformed and ran. By the time I figured out it was a flashback, I was a far piece down the road. Not so practical for getting a good night's sleep, eh?"

Harry was silent. Sirius assumed he didn't know quite what to say about his godfather hallucinating right at the very time it became critical for him to keep his wits about him.

Finally Harry cleared his throat and said, "I'll tell Stanfordshire that you won't be at the trial."

"I didn't say I wouldn't attend, and I didn't tell you all this to get out of making this decision. Intellectually I can see the value of it. My ego is desperately telling me I have to be there to avoid the appearance of being cowardly, but there is another aspect of this. Even if the Ministry treats me fairly, I'm not sure I could go through detailed testimony about the night your parents were killed, do you?"

"Do you mean would it bother me or do I understand that it would bother you?"

"Would it bother you? It must be a bit difficult to hear all this again."

"It's not bad, really. I've told you about what I heard that year the Dementors were searching for you at Hogwarts, haven't I?"

"No, or if you did, I must not remember. I wasn't all that coherent that year."

"When the Dementors come near me, or at least when they came near me then, I would hear Voldemort killing Mum and Dad."

Sirius grimaced, trying to mask the horror he was feeling at this revelation. "That must have been terrible."

"It wasn't easy, particularly at 13. I must admit though that in some perverse way I . . . well, I didn't mind it so much on one level since . . . well, since it at least gave me some contact with them. If that makes any sense." Harry shrugged. "But this isn't about me. My point is: what I heard then was far more emotionally wrenching than dry testimony in a courtroom will be. So don't worry about me."

"I have to. It's habit, I suppose." Sirius rubbed his temples, then the rest of his face, and ran his hands through his hair. "All right. Let's have a go at this. If you could live through it at 13, I certainly can get through it now."

They got up and went inside. Sirius poured some more coffee, sat down and began to relate the events of those days, beginning with his decision that he should not be the Secret-Keeper for his friends. It took some time to get through this portion of the story. Sirius stopped frequently to stare into his coffee mug or swallow hard, hoping to clear his throat of the knot that had lodged there. The mug shook slightly in his hands as he tried to steady it against the table.

Harry left for the I.D. once Sirius reached the point in the narrative where he escaped from Hogwarts on Buckbeak. They then turned to a discussion of all that Sirius had done in the war against Voldemort.

At long last, Stanfordshire raised the issue of Sloan Peregrine, removing another file from his briefcase. "I think we are on much firmer footing with this case. This Rufus Frost seems like a rather respectable fellow. The rest of the witnesses, the ones claiming you murdered Peregrine in cold blood, are rather dodgy characters. Is there anyone else you can think of to give your spin on the story?"

"The only other person I had met before was a witch named Jeralyn. She is now in Ministry custody from what I've heard. I doubt she'll be interested in telling the truth."

"No, I have her statement right here. She says you cursed him right off . . . twice."

"I didn't! I cast two spells that night. One was to obstruct his senses; he had those damned glasses on. The other was a simple stunning spell. I think it was the stunning spell that missed Peregrine and hit one of those bizarre statues."

"Just a stunning spell?"

"Right, I didn't want to kill the guy. But Rufus had just blown my cover, and I knew I had to get out of there quickly."

"You don't have your wand, do you?"

"Yes, actually I do."

"Have you cast any spells with it since then?" Stanfordshire asked briskly.

"It's been three weeks, of course I have."

"I guess it would be cumbersome and near impossible to extract that particular spell then."

"Yes, I should think it would be. Plus, I'm not giving up my wand until I absolutely have to. I lived a number of years without one of my own. Even though this one's not quite right, it's a real pain in the arse to go without."

"Well, we could really use one more piece of evidence or testimony. If we could get one more witness to corroborate Frost, I think we'd be in good condition with this case." Stanfordshire sighed and began to gather up his papers. "Well, I'll work on that. It is my job after all."

"Yes, it is."

"That about covers it then. There are still a lot of holes in this case. I'm not all that comfortable about that. I'm also a bit concerned about the spells."

"If Hermione is casting the spells, I wouldn't be all that concerned."

"Hmmm, yes . . . well, as much as I've heard about her talent . . . well, she's not Harry, is she?"

"No, but at casting spells, she's better."

"Ah, well, I think I've persuaded them both that it should be cast by Harry in any case. Right then. Trial is set for September 2nd. I do hope you'll come. I'm not going to waste my breath trying to convince you. Just know that your appearance will make a difference." Stanfordshire turned and moved towards the kitchen door.

"Stanfordshire!" he called. Stanfordshire turned in the doorway. "I am considering it. Thank you for taking the case," Sirius added grudgingly.

Stanfordshire merely nodded and headed back toward the point from which he'd originally apparated. "He just has to be at that damn trial," he thought to himself fiercely. "Must find some way to ensure that he's there, by God."

****************************

Hermione smiled as she looked up from her coffee cup to see Cordelia heading toward her table. "I could stand a cup of that before we go, if you don't mind," Cordelia said as she took a seat across from Hermione.

"No problem. We're not due there for another half hour."

After Cordelia had given her order to a waitress, Hermione smiled at her. "So, want to place a bet on how long it will take that smarmy bastard to try and chat me up today?"

"Oh, gads, I should think we won't even be seated yet."

"No point making a bet then . . . that's my guess too." They both laughed as the waitress set a hot cup of coffee in front of Cordelia. "This promises to be a very interesting conference, doesn't it?" Hermione shook her head. "I know Harry must have his reasons for insisting that this bloke is the best counsel for Sirius, but I do wonder . . . ."

"You think you do! I wish I knew if Sirius was comfortable with this decision. And, I of course wish that I could make myself more comfortable that he's getting the best representation available but . . . ."

"I know, I know. It's a bit hard to assume his personality has no bearing on his abilities as a lawyer. I expect you've encountered disagreeable types before in your profession though, right? Even if you don't like them much on a personal level, do you find yourself respecting their professional abilities?"

Cordelia shrugged. "Oh, I expect so. In some cases anyway. My profession is not exactly renowned for its attraction of sensitive, caring individuals."

Hermione laughed lightly. "You look a bit wrung out. You're not sleeping well, are you?"

"No. No, I confess I'm really not. My mum's been encouraging me to come stay with her some, to take my mind off things. But, even that's not really working. I just keep playing the risks over and over. Just as I'm about to drift off to sleep, this vision of Sirius being led away to Azkaban will pop into my head and then I'm off again. I can't focus at all at work either, and that's going to be a real problem soon. People are starting to notice, and . . .," Cordelia threw up her hands. "What am I supposed to tell them? My wizard boyfriend is on trial for a series of murders he didn't commit?"

Hermione nodded sympathetically. "It's hard to separate your emotional life from your other responsibilities sometimes, isn't it? I remember all too well. I'm glad actually that I was finished with my coursework before everything fell apart with Rufus and me. At least it wasn't a repeat of my final year at Hogwarts . . . ."

Cordelia nodded. "I do find myself wishing the world would just STOP and pay attention to what I'm dealing with. It's hard to watch people carrying on as though nothing whatsoever is wrong with my life. Not just people at my office either, mind you. I snapped at my grocer the other day for no good reason. Of course, my reasonable side does recognise that people can't understand my problems when they don't know they exist." She smiled ruefully as Hermione chuckled.

"Yes, it's quite difficult to just carry on with everyday responsibilities when your life is in utter turmoil."

"So, have you . . . . adjusted to the breakup with Rufus, Hermione? Or, are you still wishing maybe that . . . .?"

"Oh, no," Hermione broke in. "I wasn't really referring to Rufus so much. I suppose I was thinking back to . . . well, to a different period of turmoil let's just say."

"Sirius told me about the close friend that you and Harry lost. Ron, right?" Cordelia asked gently.

Hermione bit her lip and nodded. "It wasn't easy for me at all during our last year at Hogwarts . . . . after Ron had died . . . Sometimes I found that I could bear the pain best by throwing myself completely into my studies; concentrating on coursework helped drown out that constant roar. But, other times, I found I just couldn't concentrate at all. Of course, Harry wasn't much help that year either."

"How did he deal with it?"

"Mostly by pushing me away. I mean . . . we were still best friends. But, there was a distance there too. It's hard to explain. I think he perhaps thought if he kept me somewhat at arm's-length, he would be protecting me. If we weren't seen with one another quite so much, maybe I wouldn't be next. Of course, that was just rubbish. I mean everyone knew I was clearly a target, clearly the most obvious next target for Voldemort. I was under close watch that year -- not just by Harry but officially. Harry had his invisibility cloak when he wanted or needed to get out of the castle, but he always refused to let me join him." Hermione sighed. "Enough about all that though." She pushed her coffee cup to the side, glanced at her watch and pulled a face. "I suppose we really ought to be heading out anyway. Although I expect he'll keep us waiting all the same."

Stanfordshire's office was but a short walk away from the coffee bar. After they'd given their names to the receptionist, Hermione and Cordelia took seats in the waiting area. Hermione was flipping through the latest issue of Witch Weekly, while Cordelia looked over her shoulder, gasping every now and again at the moving photographs. After some time, a pert young red-headed woman at last greeted them in the waiting area. "Ms. Granger and Ms. Hunter I expect?" They both nodded as they stood up. "Hello, my name is Kathryn. I'm Mr. Stanfordshire's assistant. I'll show you back to his office now if you like."

After they had seated themselves in front of his desk, Kathryn asked if she could get them something to drink as Mr. Stanfordshire might be delayed a bit longer. As she left to get their coffee, they exchanged looks and smothered sniggers. Kathryn was dressed in a short tightly-fitting black skirt topped with a silk charmeuse blouse. The coordinating purple and charmeuse scarf knotted at her neckline was clearly visible as she'd left the blouse unbuttoned fairly low. Her purple cloak was short, ending right at her waistline; Hermione knew enough from talks with Ginny to know that this was the latest fashion trend among younger witches. In fact, she'd seen Ginny wear something similar when she and Harry had left to go out just the other evening. But, Hermione couldn't imagine wearing such a revealing outfit in a professional setting. "I reckon I know why he hired her; I doubt it has anything to do with her administrative skills," Cordelia whispered and Hermione fought back a laugh as Kathryn set their coffee down in front of them.

Half an hour later, they were still waiting for Stanfordshire. After turning down Kathryn's offer for more coffee, Hermione got up and began pacing around his office restlessly. There were a number of plaques and pictures showing Stanfordshire posed with prominent witches and wizards propped on the various bookcases. One plaque caught her eye. It read:

Daniel Stanfordshire

For Promoting the Arts of Divination

and Encouraging the Development of E² - Enchanted Eye

May 23, 1992

Hermione picked up this plaque to determine if Peregrine had been involved with its presentation. The plaque bore no indication of who presented it.

Hermione looked around with a slightly guilty expression as she heard Stanfordshire enter the office at last. "So sorry to keep you lovely ladies waiting. I'm afraid I'm having a rather busier day than I expected." His eyes fell on Hermione. He smiled as he raised his eyebrows at her. "Can I help you with something there, Ms. Granger?"

"No, not at all. I got up to stretch my legs and I found that you have this fascinating collection of . . . ." Her eyes quickly skimmed the nearby bookshelves. "Medieval sorcery texts. These are quite rare."

"Yes, yes. Perhaps you'd like to come over and study them more closely some time, Ms. Granger?" He still looked slightly suspicious, but she was relieved to note that he was easily segueing into an attempt to chat her up. She smiled brightly. "Yes, perhaps so."

"Well, I'll ring you up and we can make those arrangements later then, Ms. Granger," he said with a smile as she rejoined Cordelia in the chairs in front of his desk. "Now, as I said, I'm rather more busy today than I expected, so remind me if you will: what did we need to discuss today?"

"We wanted an update on the progress of preparation for trial, Mr. Stanfordshire. I understand you had an opportunity to review the Ministry's reports and records from their 1981 investigation last week. We'd like to discuss those findings with you . . . .," Cordelia began quickly.

"Yes, well, I've already had a conversation about those reports with Harry. I'm sure he'll be happy to spend some time discussing them with you," Stanfordshire said as he rummaged through files on his desk. He'd not yet taken a seat.

"Harry is out of the country for the next few days," Hermione said indignantly. "And, besides, Harry isn't a lawyer. We're interested in discussing the legal ramifications of Sirius' case with you, not Harry. If now isn't a good time, perhaps we should reschedule this meeting."

Looking mildly taken aback, Stanfordshire appraised them both carefully. "Well, I can't spare a tremendous amount of time, but let's have a go at it anyway, shall we?" He motioned for them to join him over at a nearby conference table.

"As we expected, there were written accounts from the statements taken from the muggle eyewitnesses. I took notes from all of these statements. Mr. Black read over my notes and selected those that most closely match his memory of the events of that day . . . ."

Cordelia broke in. "You met with Sirius?"

"Yes, of course, isn't that what I just said?"

"How was he? How did he look?"

"Fine, just fine. Obstinate, but otherwise . . . .anyway, getting back to the statements. We'll be certain that the jury hears about the contents of those statements of course. However, I must caution you that these statements are not going to weigh all that heavily in the grand scheme of things. I am much more concerned with the lack of more concrete evidence."

"Well, Harry is continuing to work with the Wizard Replication spell, and did he tell you that I've located the spell we need to use Peregrine's glasses?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, he mentioned that the last time I saw him Ms. Granger. Maybe you would care to show me how that particular spell works sometime soon? We could have dinner and then . . . ."

"What sort of evidentiary weight will be given to the results of these spells under wizarding law, Mr. Stanfordshire?" Cordelia broke in with a swift smile in Hermione's direction. "Will it be enough to force the jury to tilt one way or another? Or, will the results be regarded with any suspicion or distrust? Isn't it rather like a lie detector test in our legal system?"

Stanfordshire sighed. "Even if it goes exactly according to plan, it is admittedly not going to be given as much weight as we might like."

Hermione looked shocked. "Does Harry know this?"

"He knows the case is not as air-tight as we might like," he replied guardedly.

"And, what about Sirius? You've been encouraging him to come to this court, but it sounds as though you don't entirely believe that he stands a chance for acquittal! You do understand that he'd be jeopardizing whatever chance at freedom he has by appearing at this trial, don't you?" Cordelia said angrily, her eyes flashing.

"The last time I saw your lover, Ms. Hunter, I did not have the impression that he was giving serious consideration to appearing in the courtroom in any case. But, yes, he is aware of the risks and the limitations on our case," Stanfordshire retorted.

"Well, what other sort of evidence might be useful then? There is still time before the trial. Couldn't we contact those muggle eyewitnesses and use memory-retrieval charms so that they could testify? Surely some of those witnesses are still alive and in a position to testify with the aid of the right charms. I've done some advanced study of long-range memory-retrieving and memory-enhancing charms in my work at Stonehenge. Would it make a difference if there was live testimony as opposed to written accounts from 20 years ago?" Hermione asked in a rush.

"It would still be muggle witnesses testifying Ms. Granger. Their testimony would naturally not be given the same weight as testimony from members of the wizarding community. Unfortunately, there were no wizards or witches present on that London street that day. There's no record of anyone other than a handful of muggles giving statements to the Ministry in the Ministry files."

"I still can't believe that there aren't any Death Eaters who could be found to testify about Pettigrew's connections. They would also surely know that Sirius was never a Death Eater. Isn't there some mark or something that they all had? Can't it be shown that Sirius doesn't have that mark?" Cordelia asked impatiently.

"I'm afraid the prosecution would merely counter that the Dark Mark could have been removed by a magical process, once Voldemort was destroyed in any case. I don't believe that route will be all that helpful."

"All right then, but what about those Death Eater witnesses? Have you tried every avenue to see if you can't locate even one surviving Death Eater? Surely, your 'justice system' hasn't seen to the destruction of all potential witnesses or has it?" Cordelia rejoined sarcastically.

"And your own justice system has been entirely fair to opposition groups and oppressed minorities, Ms. Hunter? The muggle British government has committed no excesses whatever in the name of justice? What about the Prevention of Terrorism Act? You are aware of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the purposes to which it has been put, are you not? The Guildford Four? Perhaps you've heard of their case, Ms. Hunter?"

She quailed under his furious stare as he went on, "I am a wizard, Ms. Hunter, but I am also Irish by birth. My Mam was Irish; my muggle English father abandoned her when I was a young child. I grew up in Dublin, and I was a young man in the 1970s. Perhaps you might remember something about the political climate in Ireland during that time period? Although somewhat sheltered, the wizarding community was quite aware of what was happening to its fellow Irishmen."

He paused briefly, took a deep breath and went on. "My Mam was a witch, but Grandmam was not. My Mam was the only child with wizarding abilities in her family. Her two brothers were, for all intents, muggles born to a mixed marriage. My grandfather had died long ago, and even though Grandmam and my uncles Tom and Pat were muggles, they knew that Mam and I were different. I spent quite a lot of time with them all in my childhood, when Mam was working to keep food on our table. She had better economic opportunities than her muggle brothers you see. Difficult economic times in Ireland then. Uncle Tom fell in with the wrong crowd, and before long, he was accused of wrongdoing under the provisions of that Act. It wasn't much longer before the muggle British police showed up to take Grandmam and Uncle Pat into custody as possible accomplices. Mam and I apparated away. But, my uncles and Grandmam spent over six months imprisoned wrongfully under the terms of that despicable legislation. They were lucky in many ways. They didn't receive the same injustice as that suffered by the Guildford Four and their families, but they certainly did not receive justice."

Cordelia was silent and pensive during his story. After he'd finished, she at last spoke up. "You're quite right, Mr. Stanfordshire. It would be misguided to assume that the muggle legal system has superior safeguards for justice and mercy. My apologies."

He nodded shortly. Hermione appeared deep in thought, her brow furrowed in concentration, and suddenly broke in. "What if we could use Peregrine's glasses to recreate that particular day in 1981? If we could "replay" events for the judge, for the jury even? The spell can be recreated time and time again you know, so each member of the jury would have a chance to view the glasses," she said excitedly. "We could even see about locating a witch or wizard who was present, maybe someone who was there but apparated away rather than get embroiled in the investigation? We would just need to find some object that was in that street that day . . . some object that could give us a reasonably large picture of what was going on. I know that's the real problem of course, finding such an object. But, it is useful to think about this, isn't it?"

Stanfordshire was looking very thoughtfully at Hermione. Though his expression was guarded, he nodded. "It would indeed be useful. But, what sort of object did you have in mind?"

Hermione bit her lip. "I'm not sure, but . . . . would it be possible for me to look at your notes from those muggle statements to the Ministry? There might be something in there."

He nodded and glanced at his watch. "I'm afraid I'm out of time at the moment, but I'll have Kathryn arrange a Quick-Quills transcription of the notes before you leave. You can take them with you. Be sure to let me know if you think of anything; this could be an interesting development in the case." He cleared his throat as he stood up. "I could perhaps discuss it with you in more detail in the next day or so. I'll ring you up, all right?"

For once, Hermione didn't object. He nodded to them both as he hurried out, explaining that he's send Kathryn in with a transcription momentarily. "Hermione, would Sirius' clothing from that day be useful?" Cordelia asked as they waited.

"I expect it would, but you don't really think he kept those tattered old rags, do you? When I saw him in . . . 1994, those robes were filthy. I can't imagine he didn't throw them in the first dustbin he saw after he obtained decent clothes."

"Yes, maybe you're right," Cordelia said distractedly, thinking back to the times when she'd rummaged through his closet looking for something to wear.

*******************************************

Harry checked the address again and knocked at the door. He had arranged to meet Cordelia at her Mum's flat the night before the trial was scheduled to begin.

As the door opened, he asked, "Is Cordelia Hunter here?"

"Hello, you must be Harry. Cordelia has mentioned you." Kate ushered Harry in and closed the door behind him.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Hunter," said Harry.

"Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine." Harry was rocking back and forth on his heels, looking about rather nervously.

"Cordelia should be down in a moment. May I ask you something though while she finishes up?"

"Sure, anything."

"You must understand that I am more than a bit worried about this relationship between Cordelia and Sirius. With all this business of his criminal past and his current situation, well, I'm very concerned she's going to get hurt again. She has a history of falling for the wrong man." Kate paused and checked over her shoulder. "She told me that he's your godfather and you know him better than anyone else. Should I be worried, or will he do right by Cordelia? Should she trust him?"

"Ms. Hunter, Sirius is one of the best men I have ever known. He has been extremely important in helping me become who I am today. I know that doesn't mean much given that you've only just met me, but all I can say is that he's a wonderful, caring man. He will never lie to Cordelia. I'm confident that he loves her, and he is very loyal to those he loves. He's also one of the best wizards I know."

Kate considered all this for a moment. "So, does he have a chance?"

"As good a chance as he's had in a long while. If everything goes as planned, I think he will be acquitted," Harry said, trying to sound optimistic. "Don't worry. He truly loves your daughter; of that I am sure. You can see it in his eyes, when he simply talks about her. He wouldn't intentionally do anything to hurt her."

"All right Harry, let's get on with this," Cordelia interrupted as she strode into the room wearing jeans, a deep blue v-neck T-shirt, and a light jumper and carrying a small bag. "Bye, Mum."

"Goodbye. Good luck," Kate whispered apprehensively.

Harry covered them both in his invisibility cloak, eliciting a slight gasp of surprise from Kate as they left the flat.

Over the last week, Sirius had moved among two different safe houses. The one he was currently in was in a non-descript part of muggle London. It was a small flat on the top floor of a multi-unit flat building. There was a restaurant on the bottom floor. Cordelia and Harry took a booth in the back. Harry gave Cordelia the flat number and a key. "Tell him I'll come by at 8:00 tomorrow morning to go to the Ministry court. And, Cordelia. Be sure he understands that I don't know if I can guarantee another safe house for him if he changes his mind. If he changes his mind, well . . .he'd best leave the country."

She nodded and ducked out the lobby of the restaurant into the corridor to the lifts, glancing around to make sure she wasn't followed. She unlocked the flat and slipped in. He was sitting in the front room, and they looked at each other awkwardly at first. Cordelia set her bag down near the door and finally broke the silence. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm managing . . . not sleeping all that well though. Nightmares, restlessness, insomnia, you name it," he said as he crossed the room. He held out his hand. She took it and he pulled her close and breathed a very deep sigh.

They embraced for a very long time, neither moving to initiate a kiss, just holding each other. "How have you been holding up with the insufferable Mr. Stanfordshire?" he murmured at last.

Cordelia laughed. "Fortunately, he distrusts muggles, so he mostly ignores me. I'm glad I'm not Hermione."

"Yes, I get the impression she's been a bit harassed."

Cordelia chuckled but didn't elaborate. They stepped apart; Sirius took her hand and led her towards the bedroom. "I need you right now . . . so badly," he whispered. "I hope you don't mind doing this first. We have all night to talk, but if I don't make love to you right now, I won't be able to form a coherent sentence. So you might as well capitulate."

"Nothing like subtle seduction to warm my heart," she said sarcastically as they entered the bedroom.

He turned and again pulled her into his arms, but this time with a long deep and very passionate kiss that left her more than a bit weak in the knees. She could feel him stroking her hair, with his other arm wrapped around her waist so tightly that she felt if her legs did give out, he would still be holding her. He broke the kiss and began a thorough exploration of her neck, while she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it loose. She felt his hand loosen its grip on her waist and slide her jumper off her shoulders and down her arms. He moved her to the bed, and they rolled over as she slid her hands over his back.

His kisses were warm and passionate, but there was an unusual urgency to them. She noticed his eyes were wet as he nuzzled into her neck. He murmured, "I can't lose you. I can't!"

"I'm not going anywhere," she said softly. But as things progressed, she began to feel that Sirius was more distracted and maybe even a bit rougher than usual. It seemed he was moving from passion to desperation and even a bit of anger.

"Whoa!" she said finally pulling away and sitting up. "I can't be the outlet for all this . . .," she said running her hand through her hair and looking at him intently.

"What do you mean?"

"The way you're making love to me. It feels like you're angry . . . or afraid. I want to be made love to by you, but not like this, not just to exorcise your demons."

Sirius sat up and looked at her for a very long time. She thought he was fighting to keep a calm appearance but clearly losing the battle. She noticed he was clenching and unclenching one of his hands. Finally he stood up and grabbed the wand and the glass that were sitting on the nightstand. He threw the glass, then blasted it to bits with a curse. Turning to the image of himself in the mirror, he swore loudly and blasted it as well. Next came the dresser, then the chair, then the plants resting on the wardrobe, and finally the wardrobe itself.

Cordelia retreated into the corner of the bed, covered her head with her arms and shouted, "Stop, just stop!"

Sirius exploded the chair, then rounded on Cordelia. She looked up at him. His eyes were blazing but confused. They looked empty as well. It took her breath away. She felt like a football had just struck her in the stomach.

He stopped, seemingly realising what he'd done. He backed into the wall and sank to the floor with a low groan. As silent sobs wracked his body, he buried his head in his hands.

Cordelia didn't know quite how to respond. Finally, still more than a bit afraid, she got up from the bed and crossed over to where he was. She knelt down in front of him and lightly brushed his cheek.

He didn't respond, but he didn't brush her hand away.

She inched closer and could see he was shaking all over. "Sirius . . . ."

He looked up at her. His face was streaked with tears, and he looked pale, confused, and frightened. He looked around the room. "My God, what happened?" He drew her in, and she tucked herself up against him, her back leaning against one of his updrawn legs. His arms encircled her, and her head nestled in the hollow of his shoulder.

"God, I'm sorry. It just started coming apart. I remember sitting on the bed and it just started coming apart. How did I get here? I thought I'd been holding it together rather well so far," he said, still shaking.

"You don't remember? Oh my," she said with a strange lurch in her stomach. "What the bloody hell is happening?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry. I am so sorry," he whispered as he shook his head.

He took a long deep breath and rested his head on top of hers. "I should fix this," he said, glancing around the room. "Reparo," he murmered several times, pointing his wand around the room. When he was done, he tossed his wand aside and held her very tightly for what seemed like a very long time.

At last looking up into his eyes, she said without hesitation, "I still love you, you know."

"Do you really? Are you sure?" he asked as he gently touched her face.

She relaxed into him, and they began kissing very softly and very gently. She ran her hand across his chest. They continued to cling to one another for another undetermined amount of time. Finally, Cordelia stood up and gave him her hand to pull him to his feet. She led him back to bed and removed the rest of his clothes, allowing her lips to follow her hands. He lifted her onto the bed. She felt a strange energy that she assumed must be a result of the magical force he'd expended. It seemed to envelope them both and increase her sensitivity to his touch. She loved the sensation and wondered if he needed to nearly destroy a room to generate this energy. But then, after awhile, she stopped wondering about things and began to lose herself, as she always did, to his kisses and caresses.

************

As they lay there intertwined some time later, she finally asked, "Will you be at the trial tomorrow?"

"I told Harry that I would. I made a deal you see. I told him that if I could see you once more, I'd show up and take my chances."

"I think you have a good shot, from what I've heard from Stanfordshire, Harry and, of course, Hermione," Cordelia commented, trying to sound encouraging.

Sirius was silent for a long time. "You know what I really want right now?"

"What's that?"

"I want the two of us to get out of here. I could apparate to somewhere like New Zealand or Bali. You could meet me there. We could live a normal muggle life and be done with all this trial rubbish. Would you come with me?" he asked as he looked into her eyes.

"What, and miss the Daniel Stanfordshire show tomorrow?" she said sarcastically. "No, Sirius. Really -- this is your chance. Your chance to make things right."

"It's also possible I'll be sent back to Azkaban or worse. That wouldn't work so well for us, you know," he said urgently.

"Could you really live in hiding as a muggle for the rest of your life?" she asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

He was looking at her intently and running his hand through her hair. "With you, yes, I believe I could."

"I don't think you could."

"Why not? Doesn't love make anything possible?" She thought she detected a note of sarcasm in his voice with this remark.

"Sirius, you are a wizard. You were raised a wizard; you're immersed completely in the wizarding world, even when you were working at the Obsidian. You are magic. It would be like me trying to be an artist. I could try, but it's not who I am. Don't you think it would drive you mad eventually, and me along with you?" she asked, rolling onto her stomach.

"You never answered my question."

"I'm not sure I would leave with you, to be honest. I want to be with you, but I'm not sure I could watch you trying to be something that you aren't. Trying to find a niche in a new place is difficult enough without the turmoil of always resisting who you are."

"So you'd rather see me in an Azkaban cell than as a muggle naked on the beach with you in Bali?"

"Well, if you put it that way, when do we leave?" She laughed. "Really, even living naked on the beach gets old after awhile."

"A very long while . . . ."

"Yes, I'll grant you that. But what if something happened to Harry? What if he needed you in a magical way? You can sit here and tell me you wouldn't go to him and blow the whole thing?"

"Harry can take care of himself. He's all grown up now and a very well-trained wizard at that. He's also got some powers I could never compete with. I just can't imagine that situation happening."

"What if he gets killed and you could have prevented it, but you were too busy making love to me on that beach in Bali?" she asked him earnestly.

"Blimey . . . all these 'what ifs!' I can't possibly know the answers to all the 'what ifs,' Cordelia." He sat up and drew his legs up to his chest.

"Exactly! If you . . . if we leave now, you'll have a whole set of 'what ifs' just waiting for you during your life. What if the trial had gone well? What if you had attended and swayed that one juror? What if you could be a legally recognised wizard? Oh, here's a big what if…what if we have magical kids? What will we tell them? How would we raise them if you were busy denying your own magic? I'm not sure I can listen to your regrets the rest of my life."

"Regrets, eh?" He caught her eye; she had struck a nerve with that phrase.

"Yes, they get tiresome. I have enough problems in my life dealing with my own regrets playing everyday in my head. I'm not sure I could live with a whole slew of yours."

"I already have a head full of regrets."

"I know, but you said since Azkaban, you'd made up your mind that you were going to live your life with as few regrets as possible. Remember?"

"Yes . . . I remember. But what if I'm not vindicated? I'll never be able to stop the regret at not having left with you tonight, while I had the chance."

"I think we should take that chance."

"Do you really? Are you sure?"

She laughed. "You say that quite a lot, don't you?"

He smiled at her. "Yes, I'm sure," Cordelia said, though not quite as definitively as she would have liked.

"Even if it means this is our last night together?"

"I'm not ready to believe that. If it is, I'll just have to remain celibate the rest of my life. No one could possibly live up to you."

He laughed and stretched out next to her. "I doubt that, but thank you. Well if this is our last night, we ought to make it count."

"Oh my, yes! I'm in favour of that," she replied, rolling on top of him and engaging him in a kiss that melted his heart.

****************************

The sunlight began to filter in around the curtains. Cordelia got up, showered and dressed. She sat down in the repaired chair to dry off her hair and watched Sirius sleep. He was sleeping so peacefully, she thought. How long would it be until he would sleep like this again?

She finished drying her hair and went to the kitchen to make coffee.

After about half an hour, Sirius emerged from the bedroom, dressed in the clothes Stanfordshire had provided, hair and beard neatly trimmed. He got a mug and poured himself some coffee. "Are you ready for this?"

"Are you?"

"I'd rather be going to that beach in Bali, but I guess we'd better get this over with."

"Right. It will be all over in a day or two," she said, trying to sound more reassuring than she felt at that moment.

"Right."

"I've got to get home and change. Harry gave me an address where I'm to meet Hermione, and she's going to escort me into the building. Why do I need an escort? Does she think I'll get lost?"

"You won't be able to see it; it's got anti-muggle charms on it."

"Oh. Well, how absurd!" she said in irritation.

Sirius shrugged.

Cordelia continued, "Harry should be here any minute. Will you be all right until he gets here? I could stay until then."

"No, you go on. I promise not to blow the place up. . . really." He managed a weak smile. "Honest, go on. I'll see you at court."

"All right then." They embraced tightly. She could feel the tension in his body. They kissed, and she broke away and left the flat. Once outside the door, she took a very deep breath. Her stomach was in knots and she could tell it was not going to be an easy day.

****************************

As they ate a quick breakfast early the next morning Hermione opened The Daily Prophet and sighed. Hermione read out the headline:

TRIAL OF SIRIUS BLACK BEGINS TODAY

The trial of notorious Azkaban escapee, Sirius Black, begins today in the High Security Courtroom at the Ministry of Magic. Black is being tried for two separate criminal incidents. The most recent was the murder of Mr. Sloan Peregrine in August of this year. In a surprise move by the defense, and much to the delight of the prosecution, Black will also be tried for the crimes that sent him to Azkaban nearly 20 years ago. Georgianna Blythe for the prosecution commented. "We are thrilled to get the chance to prove Black killed in cold blood all those years ago. He has not changed, and, as a result of our lax ministry enforcement, he has killed again. How many more murders must we allow this powerful dark wizard to commit?"

There are rumours that he has been in close contact with Harry Potter over the years and that he actually fought against the Dark Lord in the recent war. However, the murder of Peregrine casts serious doubts on these rumours of valiant and noble behavior.

"It just goes on from there," Hermione stated flatly. "I can't bear to read anymore." Hermione noticed that Harry was unusually pale and silent. She squeezed his shoulder as she stood up to take their plates to the sink. She was rather quiet that morning as well as she considered whether they'd explored all possible defenses. She shook her head sharply to clear it as she thought for the umpteenth time. "Maybe I should have looked at Stonehenge," she muttered to herself. She was fastening her cloak, lost in thought, and jumped in surprise when Harry asked quietly if she was ready to go.

They split up at the landing. Harry was to apparate to the flat where Sirius was staying, Hermione to the address where she was to meet Cordelia in order to charm her into the Ministry headquarters. They were to meet Harry, Sirius, and Daniel in an inner courtyard at the center of the Ministry, on the level with the courtroom.

Hermione apparated to the rendezvous point and immediately noticed the crowd of reporters and photographers gathered on the Ministry building stairs. She immediately pulled her cloak up over her head so that she would not be noticed before Cordelia arrived. She was also bracing herself as she knew she and Cordelia would have to go though that group in order to get into the building. Her stomach twisted tighter than it had been at breakfast. "Oh, I hope Sirius and Harry don't have to get through that lot," she thought.

Just then she spotted Cordelia. She waved and motioned for Cordelia to move towards the alleyway. She explained that they would have to get through the crowd. Then Hermione performed a revealing charm, and Cordelia gasped at the sight of so many frantic people jostling for a good position by the doorway of the building she could only just now see.

"Ready?" Hermione asked. "Just don't say anything. We'll just stare at the door and do our best to get through it."

"Right. Will they be inside as well?"

"I have no idea."

They linked arms. Hermione pushed her hood back, and they plastered neutral expressions on their faces as they plunged ahead.

As they approached, a wave of murmuring grew to a cacophonous roar with questions being shouted at them from all directions, flashbulbs popping, and wands pointed in their direction to capture a quote.

"Dr Granger, why do you choose to associate with the likes of Mr. Black? Ms. Hunter, that's the correct name, right? Ms. Hunter, did you know you were getting involved with a murderer? Ms. Hunter, what's your opinion of wizards that betray their friends? Ms. Hunter, has Mr. Black told you about the curse he used to kill all those muggles? Dr. Granger, how long have you and Harry Potter been lovers? Ms. Hunter, since Mr. Black killed all those muggles before, don't you feel he might someday kill you?"

They finally pushed through the door. Hermione knew the courtyard where they were to meet the others could be reached by a corridor just to the right of the door. They ducked down that corridor as they saw another clot of reporters gathered near the entrance to the courtroom. They made it to the courtyard; Hermione assumed it was charmed to prevent unauthorized personnel from accessing it. Stanfordshire had told them when he set up the rendezvous that it had to be reserved by an officer of the court.

Sirius, Harry and Stanfordshire were already there. Stanfordshire had spotted them and was walking toward them. Hermione was shocked to hear him murmuring some encouraging words to Sirius, and she was even more surprised when he merely flashed a quick smile at her and Cordelia in turn. "What, no flirting? I don't believe it," she thought to herself.

Indeed, Stanfordshire had the appearance of a caged wild cat that morning. He was pacing restlessly among them, his hands shoved deep in his pockets and his eyes darting around wildly, seemingly taking in everything that was going on around them. As he glanced down at his watch yet again, he finally stopped pacing. He turned to Sirius, "As an officer of the court, you are now in my custody. Once we enter the courtroom, you will be in Ministry custody until you are acquitted," he paused and glanced around at them before continuing. "The proceedings will be in the high security courtroom, so all wands will be surrendered at the door. Wands will be given back if needed for testimony. Sirius, you will be processed into Ministry custody just before the trial comes to order. Don't worry, it happens in the courtroom -- just some parchment to sign. All breaks will be spent in the defendant's room with me or my assistants. You will be required to spend nights in a Ministry cell, but they are rather tidy and in this building. Do you understand all this?"

"Unfortunately I do," said Sirius grimly. Cordelia squeezed his hand, as he glanced in her direction.

"Right then, let's get on. Oh, Harry, Hermione and our other witnesses will be seated directly behind you. Ms. Hunter, you can take a seat in the front row of benches for the spectators."

"Ginny will be here any moment, and she's going to sit with you," Harry assured Cordelia.

"Right," said Cordelia in a bit of a strangled voice.

"Testimony and presentation of evidence is likely going to extend over a period of several days, well . . . two days at the very least I'm afraid," Stanfordshire said as they moved towards the door out of the courtyard. "With any luck though, we may wrap everything up tomorrow." They all looked tense as the unspoken thought of where Sirius might spend tomorrow night hung in the air. Sirius nodded at last. He looked very pale and had a grim expression set on his face, as if bracing himself for something very painful. Stanfordshire gave him a tight-lipped smile and beckoned them all to follow him.

Once they'd entered the headquarters, Hermione could see the gang of reporters swarming in their direction. She grabbed Harry's arm and braced for the onslaught, like the one she had just negotiated with Cordelia. Hermione could see Cordelia clinging tightly to Sirius' hand just ahead. Stanfordshire glanced back and reminded them not to say anything.

"Mr. Black, what makes you think you can get away with murder this time? Why would you date a muggle if you killed all those muggles so many years ago? What do you see in such a dangerous wizard Ms. Hunter? Mr. Potter, how did you feel, learning that your godfather murdered your parents? Mr. Potter, when are you planning to marry Ms. Granger? Ms. Granger, how long have you and Harry been sleeping together?"

Just at that moment Hermione's eyes fell on another wizard who was entering the courtroom, unaccosted by the press. It was Rufus. He had a pained expression on his face. He'd obviously heard the last two questions. Their eyes met briefly before he ducked inside.

They broke through the crowd and finally entered the courtroom, which was blessedly free from reporters, and checked their wands in with the clerk. Ginny, George, and Percy Weasley were already seated in the first row of the gallery. Ginny took Harry's hand and they kissed briefly. She then gestured for Cordelia to sit next to her. Sirius embraced Cordelia tightly. As they released each other, Sirius tipped up her chin, with a shaking hand, smiled at her encouragingly and whispered, "When this is all over, we're going to Bali anyway. Right?" She nodded and smiled back, squeezing his hand one last time as he turned to go with Stanfordshire.

The walls of the courtroom were rough white and black speckled granite. There was a great paneled bench raised in the front of the room, which was obviously the judge's dais. There were a number of doors around the courtroom. The one they entered was located at the back. To the left of the judge's dais was the jury box, which consisted of 12 comfortable chairs in two rows, one raised above the other. There was a large open area in front of the judge's dais, behind which were the desks for the prosecution and the defense. Immediately behind the defense desk was the defendant's box. Sirius was just taking his seat in this raised section. Behind the defendant's box were two rows of seats for witnesses. Harry and Hermione took seats in this area. Rufus was seated in this section, though there were a couple of witches seated between them as well. Hermione guessed that they too must also be witnesses for the Peregrine portion of the case. There seemed to be quite a few witnesses seated in these rows. Hermione was almost afraid to think that they were all here to testify against Sirius. Behind the witness seating area was the gallery for observers of the court proceeding. Hermione glanced at one lone reporter, who she recognised from the hallway, seated at the very back left corner of the gallery.

It was only moments later that the bailiff indicated that they should all rise as Judge Tandy entered the courtroom. She took her seat and waved her hand for them to sit again. Judge Tandy was a youthful witch with long blonde hair tied back in a braid. She was dressed in resplendent white robes with gold trim. She had the reputation of firmly controlling her courtroom, but was also considered an infinitely fair jurist.

"I hereby declare that this court is now in session. Bailiff, if you would bring in the members of the jury so that they may be seated." The members of the jury filed into the jury box in short order. Hermione saw Stanfordshire looking each one over carefully and making some notes. He'd indicated to Harry that a few days ago, he had received from the court a list of the jurors selected for the trial, together with some basic information about each one of them. Hermione supposed he must be trying to match up the jurors on the list with the ones filing one by one into the jury box.

Hermione began to study each one also, and she noticed that Harry was focused on them as well. She couldn't help smiling to herself as she wondered if any of them were dog lovers. The first juror was a short plump witch with a very round face. She appeared to be young, Ginny's age or even a bit younger perhaps. Hermione didn't recognize her from Hogwarts though. The next three were older wizards. Well, older might not be the right term, as they appeared to be rather close in age to Sirius. Hermione wondered if any of them would remember him from Hogwarts. There were two more witches on the front row, and both of them appeared to be in their 30s or 40s. Hermione's gaze shifted to the back row of jurors. The seventh juror was a young witch. She was extraordinarily beautiful, but Hermione was immediately discomfited by the penetrating, cool gaze that this juror gave her. She looked away quickly. She scanned the remaining jurors with a single glance: one elderly distinguished wizard, a middle-aged Indian wizard, an older black witch, a plump matronly witch with flaming red hair who was a dead ringer for Molly Weasley, and finally, a wizened elderly witch with a very surly expression.

Once the jury had taken their seats, Judge Tandy spoke again. The courtroom fell silent instantly. "The defendant, Sirius Ian Black, is being tried for murder on two separate and unrelated counts. The cases have been combined on the request of defense counsel and with the approval of the prosecution. After each side has made a brief opening statement, we will begin with testimony relating to the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles on November 1, 1981." She nodded at the prosecution, and Georgianna Blythe stood to make the opening statements for the prosecution.

"Good day, ladies and gentleman. This is a historic occasion, for today you will have the opportunity to pass judgement on the infamous Sirius Black. Sirius Black, the only wizard to ever have broken out of Azkaban. Sirius Black, rumored to be the Dark Lord's second in the days before he was defeated in 1981."

"In this trial, you will have the opportunity to convict him in two separate cases. The first, of course, involves his infamous curse that resulted in the deaths of thirteen people. The defense will try to evoke sympathy for the defendant by reminding you that he never received a trial for this first criminal spree. That was regrettable. But you can remedy that injustice at the conclusion of these proceedings."

"His second crime, committed just a month ago, was just as ruthless. Sloan Peregrine was a pure-blooded wizard from a family of unblemished reputation. Maybe some of you know or have heard of the Peregrine family. The defense will try to show that Peregrine was a dark wizard. That may or may not be true. What is relevant is that Mr. Black, going only by that rumour and speculation, decided that Sloan Peregrine was too much competition for the dark power Mr. Black so dearly loved. Mr. Peregrine was rumored to be organising a circle of dark wizards in the area where Mr. Black was hiding. That was enough for the defendant to hand down a death sentence for the hapless Mr. Peregrine."

"Ladies and gentleman of the jury, you can provide justice for all fourteen of his victims through these proceedings by convicting Mr. Sirius Black of committing these crimes and by sending him back to Azkaban, where he belongs."

When Blythe had taken her seat, Judge Tandy nodded to Stanfordshire to begin his opening statements. He strode over directly in front of where the jury was seated and pronounced in a clear voice: "Sirius Black is innocent of both the crimes for which he is accused. Both times, he was a victim of circumstance. I know this seems hard to believe: that one man could be accused unjustly twice. We will prove, however, that this is just what happened. In the Pettigrew case, from November 1981, we will show that, not only did Peter Pettigrew not die that day, but Pettigrew himself cast the curse that killed the 12 muggles. He framed Sirius Black for these crimes. In the Peregrine case, we will prove that, although Mr. Black did cast a spell to stun Mr. Peregrine, Mr. Black did not intend to cause his death."

"Ladies and gentleman of the jury, you have the opportunity to finally provide justice to this man. He has served 12 years of his life in the inhuman conditions that are Azkaban. Further, he has been banished from the wizarding community for an additional 8 years. We will present evidence today that shows he did more than his part to defeat the Dark Lord in the recent war and has been working tirelessly against the dark forces since, both before his imprisonment and since the return of the Dark Lord in 1995. The defendant has done nothing to deserve the 20 years of punishment this community has extracted from him. Please listen to the evidence with an open mind, and you will realise that the only reasonable decision will be to acquit Sirius Black of all charges in connection with these two cases. Thank you."

Georgianna Blythe stood and began to present her case against Black in the matter of the crimes that took place 1 November 1981. She began by establishing Black's motive. She had been able to obtain a testimony sphere of Albus Dumbledore giving a statement to the Ministry concerning Sirius' role in the Fidelius charm performed for the Potters. As the courtroom watched, a light blue sphere containing the head of the former Hogwarts Headmaster related the increasing pressure from the dark forces on the Potters, their decision to have the Fidelius Charm performed so as to avoid detection by Voldemort and his followers, their unease that someone close to them was passing information to Voldemort, and their decision, after consultation with Dumbledore, to have Sirius Black act as their Secret-Keeper. The testimony sphere concluded with Dumbledore saying, "Sirius Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper; James Potter would hear of no one else."

As Hermione watched the sphere, she knew that Dumbledore was still held in such high regard amongst the wizarding population that this testimony was quite damaging to Black's case. Dumbledore's final words hung heavily on her mind. Hermione glanced nervously at Harry when Blythe recalled the sphere. He had a very sad expression on his face, as though he'd seen something he'd missed tremendously and was only realising just how much.

Blythe, of course, emphasised that Dumbledore, who had played a heroic role in the last war and died not long after its conclusion, was not able to confirm or retract his statements from 1981. But she assured the jury that Dumbledore's testimony had been a key factor in Black's original sentencing.

Blythe then set about conveying what had occurred to the Potters in Godric's Hollow that Halloween evening. She introduced statements from the Ministry officials who investigated the ruin of the Potters' home in the early hours of November 1, 1981. She called in succession three of these investigators to testify about the condition of the home and the bodies of James and Lily Potter. During this testimony, Hermione kept stealing nervous glances at Harry, who was staring at his lap and clasping and unclasping his hands. She could see that Sirius was almost covering his face with his hands. Cordelia seemed transfixed by the testimony, her brow drawn into a concentrated expression.

After Stanfordshire declined to cross-examine any of these witnesses for the prosecution, Judge Tandy called a mid-morning recess. Hermione leaned over and quickly massaged Harry's shoulders before he could stand up. "You all right, Harry?" she whispered. He nodded. "I'm not so sure about Sirius though," he muttered. "He was really dreading this part of it all." At that moment, Sirius, who had been hunched over during this testimony, looked around. His pale face wore a grim expression

When they reconvened, Blythe rose again to address the jury. She read to the jury a written transcription of the statements taken from Peter Pettigrew's mother shortly after his murder in 1981. In her statement to Ministry officials, Pettigrew's mother alleged more than once that her son must have realised that Black had betrayed their friends and gone looking for him. She stated that she was aware her son was not an expert dueler by any means, and while she was proud that he had died trying to avenge a great wrong, she was devastated that he had tried to take on Black single-handedly.

Blythe then continued, "So, you see ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Pettigrew was not known for his skill at dueling, and most unfortunately, he managed to corner a very dangerous Sirius Black that day in London. The statements from muggle witnesses that we will introduce into evidence will establish what happened that day; they will establish that Sirius Black murdered Peter Pettigrew and 12 innocent muggles."

Blythe then began to read the statements from the two muggle witnesses that Black had discounted in his meeting with Stanfordshire. The first muggle witness, an E. Schafer, was exceedingly tedious. When she'd reviewed the Quick Quills transcription of Stanfordshire's notes, Hermione had quickly discerned that this witness was entirely off-base. She'd obviously not paid close attention to the events around her and had no grasp of the basic facts, let alone the details. The second muggle statement was from a woman with the surname Stouffer. Stouffer's rendition of the event was not so much tedious as far-fetched, to the point that Hermione thought it bordered on a richly-embroidered fantasy tale. After more than an hour in this vein, Hermione could see that each of the witches and wizards in the jury had a glazed expression on his or her face. Hermione thought to herself that anything Stanfordshire might say at this point would be of interest to the jury, just so they needn't continue listening to Blythe droning on and on. Hermione noticed that the prosecution did not introduce the statements from Ms. Rowling, Mrs. Branford or Mr. Ward.

When Ms. Blythe had at last completed reading these statements, she reiterated her basic point. "Sirius Black was motivated to kill Peter Pettigrew and the muggles to avoid being captured and sent to Azkaban for his role in the demise of the Potters. He had the opportunity there on the London street, and he had the method: a curse he learned at the feet of the greatest dark wizard of our time. We rest our case in the matter of the crimes committed on November 1, 1981.

Judge Tandy announced that the court would break for a lunch recess and reconvene in one hour's time. Stanfordshire strode over to Harry and Hermione. "Sirius will need to remain here, obviously, but I will eat my lunch with him so don't worry. There are some things we should discuss further in any case." Cordelia stepped up to the defendant's box, reached out and grasped Sirius' hand as he stood up. "Can I stay as well?" she asked anxiously.

"I'm afraid not, Ms. Hunter," he replied, although Hermione noted that his voice was much kinder than usual. The bailiff came over and led Sirius away. Cordelia gave him a weak smile, but didn't speak. Stanfordshire nodded to them all and hurried off after Sirius.

**********************************

As soon as Judge Tandy had called the court to order again after the lunch break, she reminded the jury that the prosecution's evidence regarding the murder of Peregrine would be presented after the defense had a chance to present their evidence in the murders of Pettigrew and the twelve muggles. She then turned to Stanfordshire. "You may begin the presentation of your client's case, Mr. Stanfordshire."

He stood up and walked again toward the jury. "In order to prove Sirius Black was not responsible for the deaths of Peter Pettigrew and the 12 muggles on Tudor Street in November of 1981, we intend to divide the testimony up into three phases. In the first phase, we will show that Sirius Black is not now and never was a dark wizard. We dispute the allegation of the prosecution that Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper and betrayed them to the Dark Lord, and we will further show that it was Peter Pettigrew himself who betrayed the Potters and was a devout assistant to Lord Voldemort."

"In the second phase, we will prove that it was physically impossible for Mr. Black to have killed the muggles without killing Peter Pettigrew. Finally, we will show that Mr. Black did not kill Peter Pettigrew in November 1981 because Peter Pettigrew did not die until 1997."

"As our first witness, we call Mr. Arthur Weasley to the stand."

Hermione was surprised to see Mr. Weasley take the witness stand. But as he testified she recalled that Mr. Weasley was one of the few wizards at the Ministry who knew the complete story. She listened as Mr. Weasley recounted his meeting with Professor Dumbledore in July 1995.

"I was very surprised and a bit shocked when my wife Molly came home and told me Sirius Black had been with Harry right after the Triwizard Tournament finale and that everyone was all right with this. But then Dumbledore told me a few weeks later that it was Peter Pettigrew who was the Dark Lord's spy and that Pettigrew betrayed the Potters."

"So you knew that Pettigrew was alive in 1995?" Stanfordshire queried.

"I never saw him personally, but Dumbledore was convinced of this."

"What else can you tell us about Mr. Black's activities in the years since he escaped from Azkaban?"

"That I do have personal experience with. I have seen him in many situations where he fought valiantly against the dark forces. This is the primary reason he has not been captured during the last four years. It's not well known, nor will I be popular for revealing this. The Ministry has not been actively looking for Mr. Black since the Dark Lord's demise. The vast majority of wizards who fought the Dark Lord know which side Sirius was on."

Stanfordshire questioned Mr. Weasley in detail about the activities he witnessed. There was then a parade of nearly 15 witches and wizards who confirmed Mr. Weasley's testimony. The prosecution team cross-examined Mr. Weasley and the first 5 wizards Stanfordshire called, but were unable to get any of them to say anything remotely negative about Sirius Black. After the fifth witness, they conferred briefly and declined to cross-examine any of the other defense character witnesses.

Hermione was surprised at this outpouring of support for Sirius. She glanced at Harry who was beaming. She could see that Sirius was sitting up straighter and looking amazed. Cordelia was whispering to Ginny but looked slightly relieved for the first time all day. "Maybe Stanfordshire wasn't such a dolt after all if he could scare up this much support," she thought.

"I would now like to call Harry Potter to the witness stand."

Hermione noticed that a hush had fallen over the courtroom as Harry stood and made his way to the witness box. Stanfordshire began by establishing some basic facts about Harry's background: his name, birthdate, and dates of enrollment at Hogwarts.

"Mr. Potter, you have been close to Mr. Black since 1994, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Please describe the relationship you've had with Mr. Black since that time."

"He's my godfather, and he's been the closest thing I've ever had to a real father. He's been a mentor and a role model." Hermione saw Harry look directly at Sirius and saw the flicker of a smile cross Sirius' mouth at his godson's words.

"He was there for me as much as he was able during the years he was still being pursued. Since that time, he has been a real mentor. He taught me a lot about the wizarding community and how to fight evil when I was younger. He also showed me how to make the right choices, by his example."

"So you don't believe he betrayed your parents?"

"No. He did not."

"Tell us about the night you learned the truth about Mr. Black."

Harry recounted for the jury the explanation for his parents' betrayal that he learned from Black and Lupin in the Shrieking Shack more than 8 years ago. When Harry was done, Stanfordshire stepped back to allow Winchell Careye to pose cross-examination questions to Harry.

Careye began his cross-examination, and, just as predicted by Stanfordshire, soon raised the issue of duress. "Mr. Potter, let's assume for the moment that you did see Peter Pettigrew alive and well in 1994. Now, it would seem from your testimony that Mr. Pettigrew feared for his life that evening. You did testify just now that Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin were prepared to murder him had you not intervened. Correct?"

"Yes," Harry replied. "But . . .."

"That will do, Mr. Potter," Careye interrupted quickly. "And, did you not indicate that Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin told Peter Pettigrew that they planned to kill him, told him this before he 'confessed' to working for the Dark Lord?"

"Yes, they told him they were planning to kill him."

"Before they announced that they would kill him, he had not confessed, had he? Wasn't he maintaining that Sirius Black had tried to murder him, that Mr. Black was the one who betrayed your parents?"

"Yes. That was his story. But, Sirius and Remus . . .."

"No need to elaborate any further, Mr. Potter. Thank you," Careye said curtly.

It concerned Hermione that Stanfordshire didn't do any redirect examination, but then she knew that he had planned to get into more detail about Pettigrew's role as a servant of the Dark Lord later.

Stanfordshire stood and faced the jury again. "Now ladies and gentlemen, you have heard testimony that Sirius Black is not a dark wizard. We will now show that he could not have killed the muggles all those years ago without killing Pettigrew. In order to prove this I would first like to set the scene with testimony from other muggle eyewitnesses that the prosecution did not want you to hear."

Careye entered an objection on the grounds that the statements were from muggles and were not trustworthy. Stanfordshire retorted, "The prosecution entered statements from muggle witnesses this morning, Your Honour."

Judge Tandy quickly interrupted, "These statements are admissible as you well know Mr. Careye. Please continue, Mr. Stanfordshire."

Stanfordshire cleared his throat. "These are official copies of the statements given by these witnesses to Ministry officials shortly before muggle police arrived on the scene." He picked up the statement from Joanne Rowling and began to read:

"I was on my way to the train station, as I needed to get back home to Tutshill. I'd been on a field trip with other fellow students from my comprehensive in Tutshill, but most of them were staying over the night. So, I was by myself as I walked toward the train station. I had stopped to glance in the window of a clothing shoppe, and a man hurrying by nearly knocked me over. I turned around to see what his hurry was. He was a tall, thin man with black hair, looked to be fairly young . . . maybe mid-20s. He looked extremely distraught and anxious; his face was ashen as though he'd suffered a terrible tragedy. I don't know why, but I decided to follow him."

"As he turned the corner, he quickened his pace, and I did the same. I wanted to know what his story was for some reason. It was a momentary obsession, I think, anyway, he seemed to have spotted someone ahead of him on the street, because he stopped short and shaded his eyes as though he were trying to accurately identify this person. Then, he shouted in a very anguished voice, "Peter!" A short chubby man of about the same age turned around. He was about two meters away from the man I'd followed. The shorter man seemed to be holding something behind him, something wooden. I couldn't quite make out what it might have been though at that point. He stepped forward a bit towards the other man and cried out, "Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?" I saw the dark-haired man fumbling around for something in his pockets; he was wearing a strange looking cloak. Anyway, he was obviously trying to find something; he seemed quite desperate in fact. But at that very moment, there was this terrible explosion. I was knocked backward against a wall but was otherwise uninjured. People were screaming, and the street was blown wide open. I assumed it must have been some sort of bomb or something. But, as I looked to where the short man had been, I could have sworn I saw him for a brief second and then, he was just . . . gone. There were rats streaming up from where the street had been blown apart. But, the man was gone."

"The other man, the one I'd followed, well he looked done in. He began swearing profusely at the spot where the other man, Peter I suppose, had just been. He seemed enraged and then, it was so strange . . .a calm spread across his face, like something was dawning on him. I'll never forget the bitter smile and the sound of him breaking into a horrible laugh. It sent chills down my spine."

After formally submitting this statement into evidence, Stanfordshire picked up the next witness statement and began to read. "This is from a Mrs. Elizabeth Branford of Devon. She relates that she and her young baby son, Simon, were on a shopping trip to London. Her statement reads as follows: "I was pushing Simon in his pram down a rather crowded street. I had just squeezed past a teenage girl . . . sort of swotty appearance . . . and a tall man with dark black hair who was yelling at someone down the street. I was trying to get out of the way of course, but I'd barely pushed past them when there was this incredible explosion. I hurled myself over Simon's pram to protect him, and it was a few moments before I'd calmed down enough to realise that we were both unhurt. But, oh my, there were plenty of people who weren't so fortunate. It was mayhem, it was. People wailing and screaming; sirens could be heard off in the distance. Well, I was just getting my wits about me when I heard the man I'd just passed cursing loudly. I covered up Simon's ears, and I was thinking that I should get out of this area as soon as possible when you lot showed up and asked me to tell you what I saw and heard."

Stanfordshire entered this statement into evidence, and then picked up the final muggle witness statement from a young university student named Neil Ward. "Mr. Ward was apparently standing across the street from where Ms. Rowling, Mr. Black and Mrs. Branford and her baby were, so his vantage point relates several small differences as you shall see. However, his basic details of the chronology correspond with what Ms. Rowling stated to Ministry officials." He then proceeded to read Mr. Ward's statement to the jury.

Stanfordshire then called Jane Wycliffe. Ms. Wycliffe explained that she worked for the Ministry of Magic in the criminal forensics department. Her specialty was curse trajectory analysis. She began by introducing a model of the Tudor Street scene. It very much resembled a wizard chess game, although the miniature people were slightly larger than chess pieces. The all stood in a line at first and waved to the jury. Then on Wycliffe's command, they assumed a set position.

"According to the Ministry's investigation reports, the people were configured as is shown in the model, just before Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew spoke to one another. There doesn't seem to be much dispute about the configuration. Now, once they speak . . . well, let's let the figures show you."

The figures on the board began to move slowly. Hermione saw the jurors craning their necks to see the model. Everyone in the gallery was watching intently as well.

"If Pettigrew survived the curse, then the curse could not have come from Black. It would have had to come from Pettigrew himself." As Wycliffe spoke these words, the figures moved into position and the little tiny Pettigrew issued a large blast of green light from the wand behind his back. Twelve of the figures dropped to the board and Pettigrew turned to face Ms. Wycliffe.

Wycliffe reset the board with a flick of her wand. "Now if Mr. Black had cast the curse, look what would have happened to Mr. Pettigrew. He was so much closer than all the ones who actually died." With this, the tiny figure that was Sirius Black shouted something and the green blast issued from Sirius' wand. The figure that was Pettigrew was dismembered. It was also clear that not all the muggles who fell over the first time fell during this second demonstration. "You see, if Mr. Black cast the curse and Mr. Pettigrew absorbed that much of the curse, not nearly as many people would have died. See -- only 5 muggle bystanders are dead. It's simple curse physics . . .energy, angle, and trajectory . . .that's what I always say . . . ."

With that Prosecutor Blythe rose to her feet. "But Ms. Wycliffe, the second scenario is what happened. Mr. Pettigrew was blasted to smithereens. Your model shows that! Is that not correct?"

Judge Tandy issued a sharp reprimand to Blythe for interrupting the defense's evidence. "You'll have an opportunity to cross-examine this expert in due time, Ms. Blythe!"

"Well, since Ms. Blythe raised the point, I will say that yes, this second scenario is what the prosecution claims as the correct order of events. However, it's quite clear that in the second scenario, there would have only been 5 muggle casualties rather than 12."

Stanfordshire asked, "If Pettigrew was an animagus and he escaped as Mr. Black cast the curse, he would have missed the curse. Is that true, Ms. Wycliffe?"

"No. It is my opinion that no matter how fast someone can transform, they would not miss getting hit by that amount of energy. If Pettigrew transformed and did not absorb the curse, well here's what would have happened . . . ."

She waved her wand again, and the figures jumped back into their starting positions. As she spoke the command, Pettigrew jumped out of the way, the curse issued from the tiny figure of Black, but this time, the original 12 dropped dead but so did the figures of Ms. Rowling, Mrs. Branford, Ms. Stouffer and Ms. Schafer. "You see quite a few more people would have died, and I don't even want to think about that baby. See how the pram was destroyed as well?"

"How accurate are your models, Ms. Wycliffe?"

"Well, there is an expression: 'All models are wrong, but some are useful.' But I'd say my models are 95% accurate. Energy, angle and trajectory . . . it all adds up. It's natural, magical law, isn't it?"

"So there is a 5% error?"

"Well, of course there's always a bit of error . . . if the energy varies or something else gets in the way to deflect the trajectory, but from all accounts, that did not happen here. Energy, angle and trajectory . . . it all adds up."

Stanfordshire indicated that the defense had no further questions for Ms. Wycliffe at this time. Judge Tandy nodded to the prosecution. "The prosecution would like to reiterate that according to all official Ministry records Pettigrew did die in his confrontation with Mr. Black," Blythe said shortly. As she took her seat, she said, "No further questions."

At this juncture, Judge Tandy ordered a mid-afternoon recess. Hermione smiled over at Harry. "Things are really not looking too bad for our side. Stanfordshire is doing a much better job than I expected too," she thought to herself. She could tell from glancing back at Cordelia and the Weasleys that they were similarly impressed. Blythe and Careye, on the other hand, were clearly fuming. Blythe was seemingly whispering explanations of some sort to Careye, who was apparently throwing a minor temper tantrum with the piles of paper on the prosecution's table.

Harry leaned over and whispered, "Have you noticed anything odd about Juror #7? I'm getting a very strange feeling about her."

Hermione shook her head. "I'll watch her more closely though," she muttered.

Following the break Stanfordshire stood again and addressed the jury. "The final phase of our case is to prove that not only did Peter Pettigrew not die on Tudor Street in 1981, but we will prove that, in fact, Mr. Pettigrew did not die until 1997. But before we establish his precise date of death, we will establish that he was definitely alive in June 1994. The defense has two witnesses who saw and spoke with Mr. Peter Pettigrew in June 1994, and one witness who saw him still alive and serving the Dark Lord in June of 1995. Accordingly, the defense calls as its first witness, Dr. Hermione Granger."

Hermione gave Harry a small smile as she squeezed past him and made her way to the witness box. Stanfordshire first established her academic record and her role in the fight against the dark forces. He then established her credentials as an expert on charms and spells. He then had her recount her memory of seeing Pettigrew in the Shrieking Shack in June 1994. He was careful to elicit testimony from her that established that an animagus who is forced through the Montrer spell to reveal his human form could not disguise his true human form. Finally, he produced a picture of Pettigrew and asked, "Is this the man you saw in June 1994?"

"Yes it is," Hermione answered confidently.

Stanfordshire then passed the witness to the prosecution. Winchell Careye stood up to approach Hermione. "Dr. Granger, what proof do you have that the person you saw that night was really Peter Pettigrew?"

"Sirius and Remus forced our friend Ron's pet rat to reveal himself in his human form. He was an animagus, and he couldn't have disguised his true human form once they cast the Montrer spell to force him to reveal his human self."

"You misunderstand me, Dr. Granger. Forgive me. I was really asking whether you had ever seen a likeness of Peter Pettigrew before that night? Did you recognise him, or did you simply believe the statement of his identity by Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin?"

"Well, yes, I believed them, but he didn't contradict them either. He didn't deny his identity."

"So, as evidence that Mr. Pettigrew was alive and well in 1994, hiding for the previous 12 years as a rat, we have the word of an escaped convict wanted for his murder, a werewolf and three children who had never met him or seen a photo of him."

Before Hermione could respond, Stanfordshire interjected with an objection to this statement by Careye. They were withdrawn on the order of Judge Tandy.

"No further questions at this time," Careye said in a curt voice. Hermione felt her stomach turn over. She knew that her testimony did not come off as positively as she had hoped.

Stanfordshire again approached the witness box. Hermione could tell he was trying to reassure her. "Dr. Granger, you really enjoy spending time in libraries, do you not?"

Hermione relaxed and smiled, "Yes, you could say that I do."

"In all your time in the library at Hogwarts, did you ever think to see if the person you saw in June of 1994 was really who his friends claimed? To put it another way, have you seen photos of Peter Pettigrew since 1994?"

"Yes, I have. After Harry said he'd seen Pettigrew again in 1995, I went up to the library to look for pictures of him. I wanted to make sure I would recognise him if I ever came across him. I didn't want to be fooled. I found some old school photos in the newspaper archives in the Hogwarts library. That would have been late June 1995."

"Would you say that the person in the photos that you saw in 1995 was the same person you encountered in person in 1994?"

"Yes, absolutely," Hermione stated as firmly as she could. Her stomach unwound just a very little bit as she was dismissed from the witness stand.

"At this time, the defense recalls Harry Potter to the witness stand."

"You have stated that you saw Peter Pettigrew on June 6, 1994. Is that correct, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes. I did see him that night."

"Please tell us how you encountered Mr. Pettigrew -- in your own words."

With only occasional prompting and questions from Stanfordshire, Harry gave a detailed account of the events that evening, up to and including the point when Pettigrew had transformed into his rat form and escaped. Stanfordshire also had Harry recount his encounter with Pettigrew in June of 1995. Harry recounted Pettigrew's role in the Dark Lord's reincorporation, and Pettigrew's self-mutilation to accomplish that end. Harry also related numerous other times he encountered Pettigrew, which curiously did not continue after 1997.

"So, there is no doubt in your mind that the person you saw on June 6, 1994, in June of 1995, and a few other times up until 1997 was Peter Pettigrew, the man who was allegedly murdered by Sirius Black on November 1, 1981?"

"No doubt whatsoever," Harry said firmly. "Two of his three oldest friends recognised him, and he certainly did not deny his identity. He confirmed it in fact, as I mentioned. His picture was also among pictures of my parents and their friends that I had received when I was 11."

"It's also clear to you that Pettigrew, not Sirius Black, caused your parents' demise and was clearly a follower of the Dark Lord. Is that correct?"

"Yes, Peter Pettigrew was a slave to Lord Voldemort from at least 1981 until his demise in 1997," Harry said with contempt.

Stanfordshire paused to let this statement reverberate to the jury. He then continued. "Did you notice anything unusual about Peter Pettigrew's hands during either of your encounters with him?"

"Definitely," Harry answered firmly. "Pettigrew was missing an index finger in his rat form. He was also missing a finger when I saw him in 1994 and in 1995. In fact that's how I knew it was he in 1995. It was the same finger that was found by Ministry officials investigating in 1981, the one that was sent to Pettigrew's mother. Of course, he obtained a metallic right hand in 1995 when he cut off his own hand to assist in Voldemort's reincoporation."

Stanfordshire retrieved a small box from the defense counsel table and approached the bench. "The defense would like to submit the remains of Peter Pettigrew's finger into evidence, your Honour. The defense also notes that it intends to use this piece of evidence later in the proceedings."

The prosecution immediately objected strenuously to the introduction of this item. Judge Tandy asked Stanfordshire and Careye to approach the bench. Careye could scarcely contain himself. "How did the defense happen to come into possession of this item anyway?" he asked angrily.

"We contacted Pettigrew's remaining relatives as part of our investigation for the defense, Your Honour," Stanfordshire replied smoothly.

"How do we even know it is his finger? Pettigrew's mother is deceased, so she can't confirm that it is the finger remains sent to her by the Ministry," Careye protested vehemently.

"The defense intends to introduce evidence to establish the chain of custody and proof that it was indeed Pettigrew's finger, Your Honour. Additionally we will be performing a charm that should show when the finger became detached from its owner."

Judge Tandy surveyed them both before responding. "I'll allow it for the limited purpose of use in the defense's case, which the defense identified clearly in its Identification of Spells, Charms, Amulets, Talismans and other Magical Evidentiary Aids. That document, as you know Mr. Careye, was submitted to your office and to this court within the prescribed time frame." Judge Tandy then ordered that the finger remains be logged in as an evidentiary exhibit for the defense.

"I want to warn you Mr. Stanfordshire, you should be planning to prove that this finger was from Mr. Pettigrew and that it is relevant to the case," Judge Tandy warned.

"Understood, your honour. We are getting to that part of the case right now."

Judge Tandy asked Mr. Stanfordshire if the court should take a recess or if he was close to concluding his case for the day. "Your Honour, we would like to offer proof that this finger belonged to Pettigrew and we would like to then perform the Wizard Replication spell that was, as you said earlier, identified on documents submitted to the prosecution and the court earlier this week. I believe there is still time to have a short recess and then conclude today's proceedings with this spell." Judge Tandy nodded and ordered a short recess.

Hermione fought back the urge to offer Harry last-minute tips; one look at his face told her that he was feeling very edgy at that moment. He smiled briefly and disappeared. She walked over toward where Cordelia and Ginny were talking with Arthur and Percy Weasley. Before she knew it, she saw people heading towards their seats again. She took a deep breath to steady her own nerves as she took her seat. "He knows this spell inside out, and he cares so deeply for Sirius. That will help. He'll be fine," she assured herself firmly.

Once Judge Tandy had called the court into session again, Stanfordshire stepped forward. "As you know, we introduced the remains of Peter Pettigrew's finger earlier this afternoon. We will now offer evidence of the chain of custody that will establish that it is indeed Pettigrew's finger. Stanfordshire then read off a sheet of parchment names, dates, and locations, as certified by various Ministry officials, explaining that the finger had been as salvaged by Ministry officials from the scene on Tudor Street, given to Pettigrew's mother, and remained in his mother's house until it was retrieved by the defense. Pettigrew's aunt certified that the box containing the finger had been on the mantle in her sister's living room since Pettigrew's memorial service.

"In addition to the chain of custody, we would like to submit this casting of Pettigrew's hand. This was made as a keepsake by Pettigrew's mother when he was just 2 years old." Stanfordshire reached below his desk and drew out a small bronze hand. "The defense calls John Walton to the stand at this time."

"Mr. Walton, you specialize in casting bronze objects, do you not?"

"Yes, I do metalwork of all sorts. Most of my business is in cauldron manufacturing, but I do get a chance to do the odd keepsake piece now and again."

"Can you tell me anything about this hand?"

"Yes, castings like that were very popular in the 1960s. They were given as gifts or ordered by the parents. The kids loved making the molds. They got to choose the flavour of the mold, so that they could eat the mold when they were done. Chocolate was very popular. Anyway, after the mold was made and the casting was done, the hands would be charmed to wave on a certain voice command of the owner's choosing. It would only work as long as the subject was alive, however."

"Thank you, Mr. Walton." Hermione noticed the prosecution didn't cross-examine this witness.

Stanfordshire then called Mrs. Mathilda Bedford, Pettigrew's aunt, to the stand. "Yes, I remember that hand," she recalled. "Mildred used to make it wave at everyone any time someone would come into the house. Peter used to get so embarrassed."

"Did you know the charm lasted only until the subject died?"

"No, I was not aware of that. I do recall exactly when it did stop waving, however. Mildred was very upset that day. She called me over specifically to see why her baby's hand would no longer wave. It was my birthday, you see. I was making a cake, and I ran over to see Mildred and burned my cake. I have never burnt a cake before or since so I will always remember that birthday as the one with the burned cake. Anyway, she was so upset. I told her that after 40 years the poor dear probably just got tired of waving. She seemed to accept this. I suppose she never knew the spell's limitations either."

"Thank you, Mrs. Bedford."

The prosecution vigorously attempted to discredit the witness, the casting and the spell, but succeeded in doing very little except making Judge Tandy angry. She issued three warnings about witness badgering and one admonition to wrap up the cross-examination.

"Having established that Peter Pettigrew lost a finger on Tudor Street, we will now show that the rest of him did not die that day. The defense now submits the bone fragments of Peter Pettigrew into evidence. These fragments were identified on the defense's Magical Evidentiary Aids listing submitted earlier this week."

Careye jumped up and demanded to know how these remains were obtained. Stanfordshire pointed out that they were obtained during the confiscation of property from an illegal potion laboratory and that the evidence was in Ministry custody after its confiscation.

Stanfordshire continued quickly. "The defense now calls Mr. Harry Potter to perform the Wizard Replication Spell." He turned to the jury. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this spell will identify the remains of a witch or wizard by projecting a visualization of the deceased through extraction of magical essence."

Hermione noticed that most members of the jury appeared quite intrigued and were indeed more alert than they'd been at any point during the day's proceedings. She watched intently as Harry rose again and obtained his wand from the witch who had checked it in at the door. He crossed over to the table set up in front of the jury. The bone fragments had been placed on the center of the table. Hermione saw Harry glance at Sirius and then at Cordelia. Hermione saw Cordelia biting her lip, brows knitted and hands clenched in her lap. Sirius looked nearly done in after all the testimony of the day. He seemed to be holding his breath. Harry had told Hermione that Sirius was still not positive the bones were indeed Pettigrew's so, not only was she nervous about the spell working, but she was also quite concerned that the spell, if performed correctly, would produce an irrelevant wizard or witch.

Hermione nearly closed her eyes, but the sound of Harry's voice beginning the first incantation drew her eyes to the remnants of Pettigrew. As he spoke, the first spell a grey dust appeared to be extracted from the bones. It swirled above the table at about chest level, following the direction of Harry's wand. Harry progressed to the second incantation. With this, the cloud began to take the shape of a human. It was about one-half scale but was beginning to form itself into a coherent mass. With the final incantation, a dusty figure of a wizard hovered above the bone fragments. The replication was quite detailed in the end. Pettigrew's features were similar to the ones shown in the photo Stanfordshire introduced during Hermione's testimony, but the replicated wizard was definitely older and more weather-beaten. The replication even showed his metal hand. After about 2 minutes, the mist began to fade and the dust settled back on the table.

Once the apparition had faded, Hermione saw Harry's shoulders sag in relief. Her eyes flicked over to Sirius. He had begun to breathe again and was running his hands over his face. Cordelia had a small smile and look of relief on her face as she met Hermione's eyes. Hermione smiled back, then turned her attention to the jurors. It was difficult to read them. They were all making an effort to be impassive, but she thought a few of them looked impressed at this evidence. Harry was right though; there was definitely something odd about Juror #7. She seemed suspicious and unnerving somehow, Hermione thought.

Stanfordshire 's voice broke into Hermione's observations. "For our final piece of evidence today, the defense intends to use a set of peculiarly charmed glasses. A spell is cast over these glasses. You put the glasses on and touch an object. You then speak a date. The glasses will show what happened to that object on that date. To narrow it down to specific events on the date in question, you can touch the object and any objects that might have come in contact with the first object. In that way, you can limit what you see to the time during which the two or more objects had contact with one another. This will make more sense when we demonstrate this spell I believe," he added quickly. "We will first demonstrate it using the Pettigrew's finger."

Harry stepped up to the table again, which now held the glasses, the finger and the pile of witness statements from the Tudor Street confrontation. He cast the charm and then offered the glasses to Judge Tandy. She took the glasses, raised them to her eyes. Following directions from Harry, she placed her wand tip on the finger and then the sheaf of witness statements and said "November 1, 1981." Judge Tandy described the scene for the jury's benefit as she watched it unfold from the glasses.

"I see Mr. Black, he is apparently saying something to Pettigrew . . . It seems I am seeing Pettigrew's perspective, but I cannot hear anything. I'm looking all around the scene. A surprised expression just flitted over Mr. Black's face, and now I don't see anything except the street pavement. I suppose the finger has been dismembered at this point?"

Each of the jury members had the opportunity to see this same scene.

"We will now show you what the bones saw anytime after 1981. This should prove that Pettigrew was indeed alive after the 1981 incident. And, as our trajectory expert demonstrated, if he survived the 1981 incident with Mr. Black, then it shows rather strongly that Mr. Black did not commit the crime that sent him to Azkaban," Stanfordshire continued.

Harry charmed the glasses again and handed them back to Judge Tandy. She took a bone fragment and spoke a random date. "February 13, 1996."

Judge Tandy appeared to be waiting. "I don't see anything. Just you wonderful people in the gallery."

Hermione saw Harry looking with alarm at the judge. Sirius had gone pale with tinges of grey in his face. He looked like he was going to be ill. She glanced back at Harry. He took the glasses from Judge Tandy, recharmed them and handed them back.

"Sorry, I still don't see anything." A roar of murmurs rippled through the crowd.

Then it hit her. The replication spell had removed the magical essence from the bones. Further spells on the bones would be useless. Hermione's heart sank, and now it was her turn to look like she was going to be ill. She sat there stunned, thinking "I should have forseen this . . . we could have reversed the order. It would have worked if we had reversed the order." She put her face down in her hands.

She heard Stanfordshire's slightly panicked voice ask Judge Tandy to recess the court until the next morning. She heard Judge Tandy dismissing court for the day with instructions to the jury, but the most horrifying thing she saw was Sirius being manacled and led off to a cell for the night. Hermione knew she would never forget the empty, desperate look in his eyes. It chilled her to the bone. She hoped that Cordelia didn't see those eyes. She immediately went over to Cordelia. The Weasleys were hurling questions at her. Hermione tried to be calm and reassuring as she explained what had probably happened. Harry came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She could tell his hand was sweaty and shaking, and she suspected he put it there so people wouldn't notice.

Cordelia hadn't gotten up. She looked stunned. She hadn't said anything and kept shaking her head. After Hermione finished answering the Weasleys' questions, she offered to take Cordelia home and stay with her for the night. Harry agreed that that would be a good idea. He remarked that he wished there would be someone who could stay with Sirius.

Stanfordshire approached them at that point. "I'll go down to the cell and make sure he's all right. I'd stay with him this evening, but I have a lot of damage control to do tonight. I have a feeling none of us is going to get much sleep," he said grimly.

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The jurors were sent back to their homes for the night, although each was accompanied by a Ministry guard. They were not allowed to bring their notes with them, and Judge Tandy had warned them that the Ministry guard would review any owl posts that they needed to send that evening. One of the jurors, however, had access to dark tools that even the Ministry Detection Devices failed to notice, and the following post was sent to its recipient without interception by the Ministry:

TO: Bitch Goddess
FROM: Dark Prince
RE: The Case of the Ex

Looks like there's no need for my presence to guarantee Black's conviction. Your ex managed to glitch on his spell performance - a surprise to many in the audience, including, admittedly, myself. Black doesn't have a chance now, but I'm enjoying the show, so if it's all right with you, I'll stay for the rest of the performance.

This parchment will disintegrate in thirty seconds.

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