A Sirius Affair

A SIRIUS AFFAIR

By Penny Linsenmayer & Carole Estes

Chapter 14

Resolutions

Sirius was led down into the dungeon the Ministry of Magic had built into the courthouse. He was placed in the highest security cell, a small room hewn out of black schist, which glimmered in the fading light. Here and there veins of quartzite punctuated the black of the rock, making odd patterns across the walls and the floors. An old mattress was resting on top of the platform of stone on one side of the cell. A sink and toilet were along the opposite wall. There was a substantial metal door in the front wall with a small barred window. There was a faint violet glow outside the door that indicated to Sirius that there was more than walls holding him in.

The guard had him change from the court clothes Daniel had provided into a Ministry-issued robe. The robe was made of cheap scratchy material and frayed at the collar and cuffs. It was also too small, yet Sirius hardly noticed as he sat down on the mattress and buried his face in his hands. His insides were churning, and he felt as though he might be sick. His thoughts were spinning randomly from one thing to another, and he was startled when the window in his cell suddenly slid open.

"Visitor," the guard announced as he opened the door to let Stanfordshire in.

"What the hell do you want?" Sirius blurted out as he glanced up.

"I wanted to explain what went wrong and what I plan to do about it."

"Oh, so if I don't get screwed one way, everyone can watch while I get screwed another. Is that your plan?" Sirius realised he was being irrational but didn't much care at this point. "Why did I have to be here for that? I could be far, far away and have the possibility of a life. I had almost, for a moment, believed I could have a normal life with someone I loved, but no. I show up and here I am again, in a cell, with no hope. Why the fuck did I let myself get backed into this situation?"

Sirius could see Stanfordshire patiently waiting for him to finish as he paced the floor of the cell. If there was one thing about Daniel Stanfordshire that irritated the hell out of him, it was his calm demeanor and seeming lack of interest in his client's welfare.

"I know it looks bad, Sirius. But I still think I can win this."

"Win? Is that all you are concerned about . . . .winning?"

"If I win, you receive a 'get out of hell free' card, don't you?" Stanfordshire retorted.

Sirius knew he had a point. He sat down, ran his hands through his hair, and glared at him.

"I do have a back-up plan. I have to send some owls and make some phone calls. But you will need to testify tomorrow. It's essential."

"Great. Just great. I always wanted to be cross-examined about the worst experiences of my life."

"Sirius - I wouldn't ask if it wasn't absolutely necessary," Stanfordshire said earnestly, then added in a low mutter, "I'm certainly going to be saying that a lot tonight."

"Look, I don't have a lot of time. I just need to go over this testimony with you once and then I have to go beg for something I was hoping I wouldn't need."

Sirius looked at Stanfordshire long and hard. Finally he threw up his hands and said, "Fine let's get this over with. If I'm going back to Azkaban, it may as well be tomorrow. No use prolonging this agony with hope, now is there?"

Stanfordshire was there for just over an hour. They went point by point over the testimony Sirius would give. Finally, he briefly described his back-up plan to Sirius, noting that he now needed to make some phone calls to obtain promises of testimony that was not going to be easily acquired. Sirius was so drained from the day's events that he didn't question Stanfordshire much about this mysterious evidence he was attempting to procure.

After Stanfordshire left, he drew himself up on to the bed with his knees to his chest encircled by his arms. He closed his eyes and saw two things. The first was his cell in Azkaban. He knew every detail of that cell. He knew which walls were the easiest to lean against. He remembered which parts of the floor were warmer. He could picture the texture of the stone, blocks of green serpentine. He remembered the various marks he had scratched into those stones, where the marks were, as well as when and why he made them. He hated every centimeter of that cell with every corner of his soul.

The images that alternated with the cell were of Cordelia, particularly her eyes. He clutched onto those visions with his heart and tried to force them into the forefront whenever he felt the cell creeping back. Stanfordshire's plan had provided a very thin edge to hang the slightest hope on. It allowed him to see his lover's eyes, even though they were accompanied by knives in his heart, without completely giving up.

"If this works. . . maybe. . . ," and then the cell would overcome the eyes.

He didn't know how long the cell and the eyes fought for possession of his mind. It seemed like forever, but maybe it was only minutes. He didn't know, nor did he care. Just when it seemed like the cell was going to take over for good, he transformed, almost involuntarily, into the great black dog and began to think about dinnertime and things more important to a dog than cells and eyes.

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

Hermione and Cordelia arrived back at Cordelia's flat in the early evening. "I'm going to go change. Make yourself at home," Cordelia said dully as she climbed the stairs to put on her most comfortable sweatpants and t-shirt.

After changing, she walked into the kitchen and saw Hermione had put the teakettle on to boil and was searching the refrigerator for dinner. "Did you see his eyes as they led him away?"

Hermione appeared startled, having apparently not heard Cordelia enter the kitchen. As she turned to look at Cordelia, she said hesitantly, "Yes, but I was hoping you hadn't."

"Well, I did. How's he going to make it through this, Hermione?"

"He'll make it. He's much stronger mentally than most wizards. He made it 12 years in Azkaban. Most don't make it a month before they go insane from what I've heard."

"I don't know, Hermione. It's different this time. He was younger then. This time he knows enough to be afraid of it."

"Cordelia, torturing yourself will not help him."

"So I'm supposed to sit here and think happy thoughts? Is that it?" Cordelia snapped.

Hermione bit her lip and poured the tea.

"I'm sorry," Cordelia said softly. She looked away and closed her eyes. "I appreciate you being here tonight. But I'm so wound up, I'm not going to be good company."

"Just ignore me then. I'm here in case you need to talk. If you don't want to or can't, that's okay too."

Something in Hermione's understanding tone triggered an explosion of sorts in Cordelia's mind. "All I did was miss my tube stop, Hermione! I was happy. I was single and very comfortable with that. I knew nothing of magic or your world. I didn't feel like I was missing anything in my life." She paused and shook her head. "Then I met him. Damn it!"

Hermione seemed to want to lighten the mood, as she smiled and forced a small laugh.

Cordelia glared at her and began pacing the small kitchen. "Damn him. Damn him for being intelligent and funny and warm and caring. And damn him for being so bloody sexy I couldn't keep my hands off him long enough to keep my wits about me and run when he told me just exactly who he was. I don't need this!" she yelled.

"You don't think your life is just a bit richer with him in it? It's obvious to everyone else that what you two have is not an everyday relationship."

Cordelia stared off into the distance for a long time before turning back to Hermione. "It's like I was seeing in black and white my whole life before I met Sirius. Ever since then, I've been seeing in colour. You don't curse being able to see the colour but sometimes you long for the simplicity of black and white." She paused, then continued, "I was just fine without him three months ago, and tonight I'm afraid I won't survive without him."

Cordelia could tell Hermione didn't quite know what to say. They sat in silence for a long time while Hermione got some food together and Cordelia pushed it around on her plate. At last, Cordelia got up, scraped the food into the dustbin and left the kitchen. They watched some telly, and Cordelia paced around the living area periodically. There didn't seem to be much to say.

Despite Hermione's protestations that she could handle it herself, Cordelia insisted on readying the guestroom with clean sheets and towels. She gave Hermione some pajamas and a robe. Once Hermione had retired, Cordelia moved through the flat, turning off the lights and looking around, then went upstairs and tried to sleep.

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

It was three o'clock in the morning. Stanfordshire sat back as he hung up the receiver. He had finally reached Deputy Chancellor Smith through muggle telephone and finished begging for the life of his case. He had been sending owls all over town trying to contact him earlier. He was enormously tired, but he had secured his last hope for Black's case: permission to use a witness who worked for the Deputy Chancellor. That testimony was now critical. Now he needed to track down this witness and discuss the D.C.'s grant of permission for testimony in tomorrow's proceedings. He hoped that the paperwork owl would arrive in time, but in the meantime, Stanfordshire knew he needed to talk to this witness face-to-face.

He downed another cup of coffee and picked up the telephone again.

"Hello, this is Daniel Stanfordshire. I'm very sorry to call you in the middle of the night, but it is crucial I see you before the morning."

"What is this about?" said a rough, sleep-muddled voice on the other end of the phone.

"I just talked to Deputy Chancellor Smith. He has authorized you to testify in Black's case tomorrow. We need to meet to discuss what you'll be saying."

"Oh. Right. Let me get in the shower."

"Could we meet for breakfast?"

"That sounds fine."

"Breakfast, then. How about 5:00 at that place that's open 24 hours over on Brick Lane . . . . the Beigel Bake I believe it is? You know the one I'm talking about?"

"That's the place. I'll be there."

With that arranged, Stanfordshire took off his robes, loosened his tie and collapsed on his office sofa.

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

Cordelia had tried to sleep, but gave it up after a restless few hours. She prepared a cup of tea and settled herself on the couch by the window, watching the street lamps and cars moving past. At last she picked up her pen and began writing a letter.

She wrote and rewrote and rewrote. Crumpled paper littered the floor around the couch. Most of the time she couldn't really see what she was writing. Her cheeks were wet, her nose kept running and her eyes felt like someone had rubbed sand into them. Half the pages were ruined by watery smudges and streaks of smeared ink. Finally, after endless writing and crying, she tore a couple of sheets off the notepad but didn't crumple them up. Instead she carefully folded these sheets and slid them into an envelope. She addressed it to Sirius and tucked it into her briefcase.

With that done, she went to the kitchen and turned on the coffeepot. She rubbed her neck and stretched as she glanced out the window. She could see the first green blue tinges of color on the horizon indicating that the night was at last over. She left the kitchen and climbed the stairs to take a shower and prepare for the day that approached.

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

Across town, Harry rolled over and glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time. Although it was only 5:30, he decided it at last seemed late enough to get up. He eased himself out of bed, glancing to be sure that Ginny was still asleep. He moved to the bathroom to turn on the shower, but then he instinctively turned across the hall and opened Hermione's door. He had intended to make sure she was awake, and he wanted desperately to talk to her about Sirius, the trial, and all the implications of the spells and their failure. His stomach lurched for a moment when he saw that her bed had not been slept in. Then, remembering that she'd spent the night with Cordelia, he went in and sat down on her bed. Lost in thoughts, Harry watched the approaching dawn from her window. At last, he stood up, shook his head to help clear the cobwebs and headed back towards the bath. Removing his t-shirt and shorts, he stepped under the hot water, hoping it would revive him.

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

Judge Tandy called the court into session promptly at 8:30; Hermione was startled from her thoughts by the sound of the gavel. She and Cordelia had again dashed through the press throng, who added questions about the previous day's testimony to their refrain, then met up with the others in the courtyard an hour earlier. She'd not been surprised to see that no one appeared to have slept well. Stanfordshire had not joined them until they reached the courtroom, and they presumed he'd been with Sirius or handling last-minute preparations for the day's testimony.

Sirius was led into the courtroom. He was manacled and the chains around his ankles clanked as he walked. He looked pale and tired. His eyes appeared vacant, and Hermione noticed with alarm that they seemed unable to focus on anyone in particular. She cringed to think of what Cordelia must be feeling. As the bailiff waved his wand to remove the chains and manacles, Sirius seemed to relax a bit but still didn't look anywhere but straight ahead.

The jury was then brought in through a door behind the judge's dais. Hermione caught the eye of Juror #7, and a chill went down her spine. There didn't seem to be any warmth at all in those eyes.

Judge Tandy asked Stanfordshire if he was ready to proceed, and he stood up, glanced back at Sirius and approached the witness box. "Yes, Your Honour. The defense calls Mr. Sirius Black to testify."

Sirius, looking tense but determined, strode briskly to the witness box. After establishing basic facts, Stanfordshire wasted no time in launching into substantive questioning. "Do you consider yourself to be a Dark wizard at this time?"

"No," Sirius replied shakily as he cleared his throat.

"Have you ever considered yourself a Dark wizard?"

"No."

"Do you now, or have you ever, practiced the Dark Arts?"

"No, never." Sirius followed Stanfordshire with his eyes as the attorney paced the courtroom.

"Were you ever a supporter of Lord Voldemort?"

"No, never. In fact, quite the opposite. I was always a target for Lord Voldemort, both in the '70s and the '90s, and I managed to neutralise quite a few of his most trusted servants in the recent war. So, given all that, I can't imagine that I was held in very high regard by the Dark Lord." Hermione noticed his voice was gaining strength, but his hands shook as he ran them through his hair.

"So you believe that Voldemort considered you a prime target before your incarceration in Azkaban and afterwards?"

"Yes."

"Let's talk about the time before you were unjustly imprisoned in Azkaban. Did you know . . . ."

The spectators watched as Winchell Careye touched an Obelisk on the prosecution's desk. It glowed red for a moment, and Judge Tandy interrupted Stanfordshire's question. "Since this is the first time we've had an objection to one of the attorneys' questions, I'll take this moment to remind the jury that when one of the attorneys charms the Objection Obelisk, they are communicating to me that they believe the questioner has stepped out of bounds. If I agree, or want to hear more about their objection, I will either ask the attorney to rephrase the question or I will call both sides up to the bench. At this moment, I see no need to have Mr. Stanfordshire revise his question, so I will ask him to go on."

And Stanfordshire did, asking, "Did you know you were wanted by Lord Voldemort in those years?"

"The year before James was murdered, we heard we were on a list of people Voldemort wanted to eliminate. The Potters were at the top of the list, but I knew I was on there as well."

"Why were you on this list, if indeed there was a list?"

"I imagine that he was trying to kill off most of the powerful wizards who were working with Dumbledore against him."

"So, you would describe yourself as a powerful wizard?"

"I believe I was a threat to him, yes. I do have some special and rare skills," Sirius admitted.

"One of those special skills being the animagus transformation?"

"Yes."

A murmur rippled through the courtroom.

"You mastered this transformation when you were a fifth year student, is that correct?"

"Yes."

Stanfordshire gradually elicited the specifics of undergoing the animagus transformation as he questioned Black.

"This ability to transform into an animagus form -- this was not a skill that you publicised widely though, correct?"

"Correct," Black answered.

"Who knew that you were an animagus?"

"James Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew."

"Professor Dumbledore, your headmaster and, to some extent, your supervisor in your battles against Voldemort, didn't know about it?"

"No. We kept this information a secret amongst ourselves."

"So, why would you have reason to believe that Lord Voldemort would know you were an animagus or otherwise an exceptionally skilled wizard?"

"I wouldn't say that I knew that Voldemort was aware of these specific powers; however, James and I both believed that someone was passing inside information to Voldemort, because of a few close calls and coincidences. I'm sad to say that we suspected the wrong friend, however. We both believed that Remus Lupin had turned to the Dark Arts."

"Why did you suspect him? Was there anything in his background which would make you believe that he would fall in with Dark wizards and witches?"

"When he was a young child, years before we first met him, Remus was bitten by a werewolf, and obviously, he became a werewolf himself. In 1980, Voldemort's underlings put out the word that any witch or wizard who had been touched by Dark magic would naturally move to his side. We stupidly believed them and were considering confronting Remus, but we never did."

"Why would you hesitate to confront him?"

"We were hoping to get more solid proof about whether Voldemort really could have such power over wizards who were werewolves, even wizards who despised the Dark Arts. Also, neither of us could bear the idea that one of our oldest friends would betray us."

"So, loyalty to your friends is important to you?" Stanfordshire queried.

"Yes, I consider myself to be very loyal to my true friends."

"And, yet you stand here accused of betraying your close friends, James and Lily Potter, to Lord Voldemort and his forces in late 1981. Did you betray your friends?"

"No, I did not," he said softly, looking away for the first time.

"James Potter had chosen you, his best friend from schooldays, to act as Secret-Keeper for him and his family. Is this correct?"

Sirius nodded. "You'll need to answer verbally for the court record, Mr. Black," Stanfordshire prompted.

Sirius cleared his throat and blinked repeatedly. "Yes, James chose me to be their Secret-Keeper."

"Please tell us when this decision was made and what happened after that point, Mr. Black," Stanfordshire said.

"I discussed this with James and Lily around the middle of October of that year . . . 1981 that is. They told me that they'd been feeling some pressure since shortly after their son Harry's birth. We'd become increasingly worried in the previous few months that Voldemort and his forces were closing in on them. They had spoken to Professor Dumbledore at Hogwarts, and he had suggested that they designate someone as their Secret-Keeper and have the Fidelius Charm performed so as to safeguard their whereabouts. We decided that I would act as Secret-Keeper. James was my best friend at Hogwarts. . . . . I was Best Man at their wedding. . . ." Sirius trailed off.

"You agreed to act as Secret-Keeper for the Potters in mid-October 1981 then?"

"Yes."

"And did you in fact act as the Potters' Secret-Keeper when the Fidelius Charm was performed?" Stanfordshire asked pointedly.

Sirius shook his head, then quickly added a verbal "No" before Stanfordshire could prompt him.

"Why did you not act as the Potters' Secret-Keeper then, Mr. Black?"

Sirius swallowed hard, taking a deep breath before speaking. "I . . . I convinced James that I would be the most obvious choice to be their Secret-Keeper. I thought the Death Eaters would come after me immediately, and so I thought it would be more of a foil if they used our friend Peter Pettigrew as Secret-Keeper instead of me. I . . . I thought I could elude or detract Voldemort and his supporters, buying James and Lily some time. I reckoned that I was clever enough to fool them and keep them off-course for awhile, and I assumed they'd never think that Pettigrew might be the Secret-Keeper. Peter was . . . well . . . not exactly known for his ability to stand up to people. We thought Voldemort would peg him as the last bloke that the Potters might choose to be something as important as their Secret-Keeper," Sirius paused.

"So, when exactly was the decision made to have Peter Pettigrew act as the Secret-Keeper instead of you? Do you recall?" Stanfordshire cut in. Hermione thought Stanfordshire appeared to be trying to keep Sirius focused and moving forward with the testimony.

"Yes." Sirius stopped briefly to run his hands, which were still shaking, through his hair. "I finally convinced James to use Pettigrew on the evening of October 24^th."

"You seem very certain about that date, Mr. Black. It has been 20 years . . . why would you remember the specific date so clearly?" Stanfordshire pressed.

"October 25^th is my birthday," Sirius replied quietly. "It was my 22nd birthday that year."

"I see. So, were you present when the Fidelius Charm was performed for the Potters, Mr. Black?"

"No. The charm is performed only in the presence of the person performing the charm, the Secret-Keeper and the protectees. Lily, who was quite talented with charms, was actually able to perform the charm herself, rather than have another person involved. So, as best I know, only the three of them were present."

Judge Tandy interrupted Sirius as the prosecution Obelisk lit up the desk. "Mr. Black, you said that you were not there when the charm was performed. Therefore, you couldn't know who was there. I ask the jury to disregard Mr. Black's last statement."

She asked Stanfordshire to continue, and he said, "Mr. Black, did you see Peter Pettigrew on the night of October 24, 1981?"

"I did. I left James and Lily's house shortly after Peter arrived in Godric's Hollow that evening."

"Did you see the Potters at any point after that night?"

Sirius looked away for a moment before replying in a quiet voice. "No. I had other matters to attend to that week. I was traveling during that time period as well."

Stanfordshire then quickly set about leading Black through a series of questions to elicit where and when he was each day, beginning with October 25, 1981. At last, they reached the crucial time period of Halloween evening and the next day. Sirius kept his gaze fixed on Stanfordshire. It was almost as if he was maintaining his balance on a tightrope by focusing on his questioner.

"What happened the night of October 31, 1981?"

"Halloween evening I tried to check on Peter. He wasn't at his flat, and this somehow didn't feel right to me. I can't explain it fully, but that's when I realised something was amiss. . ," he lapsed into silence. Hermione felt Harry stiffen slightly beside her, but when she looked over at him, he was giving Sirius an encouraging smile. "That's when I flew to the Potters' house."

"What time was this?" Stanfordshire asked.

"I spoke to Rubeus Hagrid about 1:00 that morning; he was already there when I arrived."

"Could you please identify Rubeus Hagrid for the record, Mr. Black?" Stanfordshire interrupted.

"He was the gamekeeper at Hogwarts at that time. Albus Dumbledore had dispatched him to rescue Harry from the Potters' home."

"So, he was there when you arrived. Please tell us what happened then."

"Hagrid was taking Harry away from the house on Dumbledore's instructions. I begged him to let me take Harry instead, but Hagrid insisted that Dumbledore had his reasons for wanting Harry taken elsewhere. He wouldn't tell me exactly where he was taking him though. I reluctantly agreed, and I loaned Hagrid my motorbike for the journey since Harry had been on it a few times before, and the motion always put him asleep." He reached up to wipe his forehead. "If I'd only guessed how things might turn out, I would have insisted on taking Harry with me, as I'm his godfather. If I'd only done that instead of searching for Peter . . . .," Sirius stopped speaking abruptly and looked down at his clasped hands.

Stanfordshire seemed anxious to get him focused again, quickly throwing out a follow-up question. "So, how long did you remain in Godric's Hollow after Hagrid left with Harry, Mr. Black?"

Sirius remained silent for a short while before looking up and continuing his testimony. "Well . . . I stayed there in Godric's Hollow . . . near James and Lily's home for quite awhile. The muggle police were in and around the house for hours, and a few Magical Law Enforcement officers were unobtrusively gathering what they needed. There weren't very many of the Ministry types though -- I guess because they were all off celebrating Voldemort's disappearance. Finally. . . I left . . . well, I left when they took them away." Hermione couldn't help but notice that Sirius' eyes were overbright. He looked like he was in immense pain.

"The bodies?"

Sirius nodded and then remembered to speak. "Yes."

"And what time was this -- do you recall?" Stanfordshire asked quietly.

"It must have been after dawn . . . maybe 7:00 or 8:00 o'clock I would guess," Sirius answered in a very withdrawn voice.

Stanfordshire didn't allow Sirius much respite from this emotionally grueling testimony, quickly beginning detailed questioning about his arrival in London and what he'd done up until the time he caught up with Pettigrew. He began to draw out the basic facts of the confrontation between his client and Pettigrew.

"So, you lent your motorbike to Rubeus Hagrid so that he could take your godson Harry to his relatives. Where did you go at that point, and how did you get there?" Stanfordshire continued.

"I apparated to London to search for Peter Pettigrew. I was the only one who knew who was responsible for James and Lily's death," Black responded.

"How did you find Mr. Pettigrew in London? In other words, where did you look for him, and how long did it take for you to catch up with him?"

"Well, Peter had been living in London. He was a Ministry employee after all. I lived not far from him, so I began by searching all the obvious places: his flat, neighbourhood haunts, the Ministry. I didn't really expect to find him in any of those places. I began making discreet inquiries with friends and acquaintances who might have seen him. Everyone was too busy celebrating Voldemort's downfall to pay me much attention as it turned out. That is, no one really understood why Voldemort was defeated, and they certainly hadn't pieced together enough of the story to be suspicious of me or any of the Potters' friends yet. They knew, of course, that James and Lily were dead and that Harry had survived; that news spread quickly enough." He paused briefly, took a deep breath and continued. "So, at last I got a tip from Davey Gudgeon that Peter might have been seen at a celebration in a restaurant on Tudor Street. I set off, but I didn't find him in Halson's Pub. As I left the pub, I thought I spotted him hurrying down Tudor Street ahead of me some distance."

"And what time was this?" Stanfordshire interrupted.

"This was about 2:00 in the afternoon, more or less."

"On November 1, 1981?"

"Yes."

"So, you saw Pettigrew ahead of you on Tudor Street around 2:00 that afternoon. What did you do once you saw him?"

"I called out to him, and I continued hurrying towards him."

"And how did he respond?"

"He whirled around. He began to yell and accused me of betraying James and Lily. He screamed, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' I wasn't thinking very clearly. I didn't have my wand at the ready. I'd been so engrossed in finding Peter . . . well, I don't reckon I had much of a plan about what I was going to do when I found him. But, I guess Peter seemed to know what he was going to do if he encountered me."

As one, the jurors turned their heads to the red Obelisk in front of Careye. Judge Tandy noted the objection, stopped Sirius' answer and asked Stanfordshire to rephrase the question.

"Let's try to get at this another way, Mr. Black. Mr. Pettigrew didn't pause at all when he saw you?"

"No. He . . . " Stanfordshire held up a hand to keep Sirius from continuing to speak. "So, tell us what he did after he screamed at you, if you would please."

"I began fumbling for my own wand, but I couldn't seem to get to it fast enough. Just as I was pulling it out of the pocket of my cloak, the explosion occurred."

"Did you hear Mr. Pettigrew speak anything at all before you heard the explosion?" Stanfordshire interrupted.

"I didn't hear anything, no. But, he was far enough away from me that I wouldn't have heard him speaking unless he raised his voice."

"Did you see him moving his lips perhaps? Could you tell if he might have been speaking?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, I had looked down as I tried to extricate my wand. I wasn't watching him at all at that point."

"All right. So, what did you see after the explosion?"

"Well, I immediately looked to where Peter had been standing. He wasn't there, and I was furious with myself that I'd lost him again. Then, I saw all the rats running from where the explosion had occurred, and it began to dawn on me. I suddenly knew what Peter had done. It was brilliant, really. He had transformed and was escaping with all those rats. And, he'd framed me for the murder of those muggles in the process. I swore quite a lot at that point, and then everything seemed to dissolve away."

Stanfordshire then had Sirius testify about being taken into Ministry custody, questioned briefly, incarcerated at the Ministry and then ordered to be taken to Azkaban without a trial. He admitted to not remembering a good deal of what happened those few days. "But, you were taken before the Council of Magical Law before you went to Azkaban?"

"Yes. In this very room in fact, although it looks rather different now."

"Describe what happened at that proceeding if you will please."

"I wouldn't call it a proceeding really. Bartemius Crouch, who was the head of the Council of Magical Law at that time, simply called me to stand in front of him. I was manacled and a leg locker curse was put on me once I was standing in front of him. He told me that the Council had sufficient evidence to justify imprisoning me, that there was no need for a trial. He said he had reviewed the statements of the muggle eyewitnesses and had heard testimony from Professor Dumbledore that clearly established a motive. He said it was obvious that I had betrayed the Potters since Dumbledore testified that he had knowledge that James Potter selected me to be the Secret-Keeper."

"What did you say in response to these statements by Mr. Crouch?"

"I tried to defend myself, but before I even got one sentence out, he put the Devocalunatus curse on me so that I couldn't interrupt or speak on my own behalf at all."

Stanfordshire paused for dramatic effect. "The head of the Council placed the Devocalunatus curse on you while you were attempting to speak up for yourself?"

"Yes," Sirius said clearly.

"And you had no legal counsel at this time?"

"No. I was never given an opportunity to even speak with a lawyer before I went to Azkaban, and no attorneys ever go there."

"After the Devocalunatus curse was placed on you, what happened next?"

"Crouch pronounced that my motive for committing these crimes was that I was acting as Voldemort's chief assistant. He maintained that I betrayed Lily and James in order to show my loyalty to Voldemort."

Stanfordshire summoned a thin folder from the desk, showed it to Sirius and asked the judge to mark it as the next defense exhibit. The prosecution did not object this time. "Mr. Black, please read the cover of this folder," Stanfordshire asked.

"Determination of the Facts Surrounding the Deaths of James Potter and Lily Evans Potter, November 2, 1981, as created by the Council of Magical Law, Bartemius Crouch presiding," Sirius read. Stanfordshire asked him to look through the folder and describe its contents.

"It contains a sixteen-inch long piece of parchment. On this parchment, it appears to be the entire transcript of the, well, I have to call it a hearing. I don't have another word for it."

"There's nothing else in there?"

"There's an order authorizing my transfer to Azkaban, Extreme Security level, and an index, which lists only these two documents. Each piece of parchment has the Ministry seal, which shows that they were created by Crouch's department, and they're all dated November 2nd." Sirius handed the folder back to Stanfordshire, who moved to his next question.

"Did you betray your friends, James and Lily Potter, and their son Harry, your godson, to Lord Voldemort and his forces in late 1981?"

"No, I did not," Sirius answered loudly and firmly. He finally looked around the courtroom after he said this. Most eyes were riveted on him.

Stanfordshire gave Sirius a small encouraging smile.

"So, you didn't betray the Potters, and you did not kill Peter Pettigrew. You were not allowed to speak to an attorney or even indeed in your own defense, and you were summarily thrown into Azkaban, presumably, at that point, for life?"

"Correct."

"Yet, you escaped from Azkaban twelve years after you were incarcerated. Is this correct?"

"Yes," Black admitted.

"Why did you wait twelve years? What motivated you to make an escape at that juncture?"

"I saw a photograph of Peter Pettigrew in the Daily Prophet. He was in his rat form, but I recognised him all the same. The photograph showed him with Arthur Weasley and his family. The picture's caption said the Weasley children were students at Hogwarts. I guessed that he was a pet to one of them, since he was sitting on the shoulder of a boy I met about ten months later, Ron Weasley, Arthur's youngest son." Hermione felt Harry stiffen next to her, and she realised that her own hands were trembling. She forced herself to focus on the courtroom as Sirius went on. "I knew Harry would be at Hogwarts by this time, so Peter would be poised to harm Harry. I realised that I was the only one who knew that he was still alive . . . and that he was a supporter of Voldemort. Seeing Pettigrew free and in a position to hurt my godson was the impetus for my escape."

"Did you in fact see Pettigrew after your escape from Azkaban?"

"Yes, several times in fact."

Stanfordshire questioned him about each of the different times Sirius had seen Pettigrew alive, finally ending with the night of April 13, 1997.

"I had taken my animagus form and was hiding behind a tombstone in Little Hangleton. Voldemort was holding court, and Pettigrew was at the center of the circle. Apparently he had done something that disturbed Voldemort. I couldn't hear everything that was said, but I did hear Voldemort shout 'Conflagratum.' There was a flash of fire and a horrible piercing scream and then just a pile of ashes where Peter had been standing."

Stanfordshire again smiled at Sirius and gave the jury a long glance before announcing to Judge Tandy that he had finished questioning this witness.

Judge Tandy called a brief recess at this point. Sirius' shoulders sagged and he sat back in the witness chair for a bit before being led out of court. Hermione turned to Harry, "He did pretty well, don't you think?"

"He did great. I knew this was going to be difficult for him, but now it's out there on the record. No more lies."

Hermione turned to see Cordelia speaking quietly to Mr. Weasley. She looked concerned but not as tense as she had before the testimony.

Judge Tandy called the court back into session as Winchell Careye approached the witness box, shuffling his notes in one hand.

"Mr. Black, would you say that you have a malicious side of your personality?"

"No, not really."

"Were you ever involved in a plan to kill Severus Snape?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "It was not my intention to kill Snape during that incident -- I simply wanted to scare him off a bit."

"Did you not send him to meet your friend, Remus Lupin, a werewolf, on a full moon?"

"I was simply giving him the information he'd been nosing around trying to find out for months. He's the one who chose to act on that information and risk his own neck."

"But that was rather malicious, wouldn't you say?"

"No more than he deserved," Sirius retorted. Hermione saw Stanfordshire flash Sirius a warning glance.

"All right then. You've testified that you've never been a Dark wizard. Are you telling us you've never dabbled in the Dark Arts?"

"No, never."

"Never dabbled in illegal spells or potions?"

"No."

"Never done any illegal magic?"

Sirius stalled but glared at Careye. "No."

"Didn't you know being an unregistered animagus was illegal?" Careye asked loudly.

"Well, yes, we knew that . . . but . . . ."

"So you lied just now . . .about doing illegal magic?"

Sirius hesitated. "Yes, I guess I misstated that."

"Misstated, yes. We'll address your other misstatements, I mean, statements, later on," Careye said.

Now it was Stanfordshire's turn to turn his Obelisk red. Judge Tandy admonished the jury to disregard Careye's statement and asked him to go on to his next question.

"Let's go on to the night you decided not to be Secret-Keeper. You say the reason you were not the Potters' Secret-Keeper was because you were trying to fool Voldemort. Let's for a moment accept that as the truth. Wasn't that a bit arrogant to think you could fool the greatest Dark wizard of this century with a simple bait and switch?"

"It was a chance we decided was worth the risk, at the time." Sirius ran his hands over his face.

"Wouldn't a more realistic reason be that you didn't want to stick your neck out like that?"

"NO!"

"You knew whoever was the Secret-Keeper would be tortured and most likely killed. You just didn't want to risk it, did you?"

"NO! That's not it at all . . . ."

"That's all, thank you," Careye interrupted, changing the subject abruptly. "You say you don't remember anything from the time Ministry officials showed up on Tudor Street until you found yourself in a jail cell much later that evening?"

"Yes," Sirius said suspiciously.

"So you had a black-out?"

"I suppose you could call it that."

"Have you had any others?"

Sirius looked startled by this question. "Yes," he answered hesitantly.

"Where and when?"

"If I could tell you that, they wouldn't be black-outs now would they?"

"Yes, but you must remember something?"

"I had them regularly in Azkaban, and a few the year after I escaped," Sirius answered.

"So you have trouble remembering good portions of your life?"

"That's a bit strong. I don't think I've ever blacked out for more than a few hours."

"Have you ever doubted your mental stability?"

"Mr. Careye, I spent 12 years in Azkaban. Most wizards go insane there. Of course I've doubted my mental stability," Sirius said as he glared at Careye.

"Right then, moving on. Mr. Black, you've testified that you convinced James Potter to switch, to use Peter Pettigrew as Secret-Keeper rather than yourself. But, you concede that the only other people who knew about this switch were James and Lily Potter and Peter Pettigrew, all of whom are dead. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"We heard through the testimony sphere that Albus Dumbledore believed that you were the Potters' Secret-Keeper. Am I correct then that there is no one other than yourself who can testify that you were not the Secret-Keeper?"

"You are correct; there is no one else," Sirius replied quietly.

"All right. And, from your earlier testimony, it seems that no one can corroborate exactly what you were doing on the evening of October 31, 1981. Is this correct?"

"I was alone on Halloween evening. I'd just arrived back in the country that afternoon. I had dinner and then made plans to check on Peter at his flat."

"Very well. Let's move forward to the point where you and Mr. Pettigrew met up in London during the afternoon of November 1, 1981. You testified just now that Mr. Pettigrew confronted you and that an explosion occurred while you were searching for your own wand. Correct?"

"Yes."

"How long would this have taken, Mr. Black? The search for your wand and the explosion occurring, that is. An approximation is fine," Careye questioned.

Sirius shrugged. "It's hard to say exactly."

"Would less than one minute be fair?" Careye pressed.

Sirius nodded warily. "Could you reply verbally for the record, Mr. Black?" Careye asked. "Yes, probably less than one minute would be a fair estimate," Black answered.

"Yesterday's testimony established that Mr. Pettigrew lost a finger during the confrontation on Tudor Street. So, are we to believe that Mr. Pettigrew hurled a curse that caused the explosion of the gas main, cut off his own finger and transformed into a rat, all within the space of something less than one minute?"

"Yes, that's possible," Sirius said slowly. "The curse wouldn't have taken but . . . " Careye cut him off shortly. "No need to elaborate further Mr. Black."

Having concluded his cross-examination, Careye returned to his seat, and Judge Tandy asked Stanfordshire if he had any redirect questions for his client.

"Yes, Your Honour, I do," he replied as he walked briskly to the witness box. "Mr. Black, how long would it take to cast the Destructiva curse?"

"No more than it takes to say the words and point one's wand so . . . 5 seconds at most."

"You saw Mr. Pettigrew transform into a rat at different times?"

"Yes, many times."

"How long would this transformation take, approximately?"

"Mere seconds . . . it's nearly instantaneous. You decide to make the change and you transform. 2-3 seconds at most," Sirius answered.

Stanfordshire indicated he had no further questions, but Winchell Careye stood to pose further questions.

"Mr. Black, you say that the transformation should only take a matter of seconds. Is this how long it takes you to transform?"

"Yes," Sirius answered.

"But, if a less powerful or less skilled wizard mastered the animagus transformation, would it still be only a matter of seconds or might it not take considerably longer to achieve the transformation?"

Sirius considered Careye for a moment. "If a wizard can transform at will, the transformation takes only seconds."

"Is it not possible for a wizard to transform into an animagus form, but struggle to do so?" Careye persisted.

"A beginner might struggle for awhile, yes. But, once a witch or wizard has mastered the transformation, it would only take seconds."

"Thank you, Mr. Black."

Judge Tandy turned to him. "Thank you, Mr. Black. You can step down now." She called a lunch recess at this point.

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

As the court reconvened after lunch, Hermione observed that Stanfordshire appeared to be in good spirits. He was smiling as Judge Tandy called the court to order and asked him to proceed.

"The defense now calls Captain Colin Shanihan as its next witness," Stanfordshire stated in a clear voice.

Hermione could hear the murmur rise from the gallery as people speculated about who this witness might be.

The bailiff opened the door to the courtroom and ushered in a tall slender man with short black hair and a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. As he approached the witness box, Hermione noted his striking resemblance to Sirius.

"Captain Shanihan, please state your occupation for the record if you would."'

"I am a Captain in the International Federation of Wizards Enforcement Corps. Currently I'm on special assignment and report directly to the Deputy Chancellor."

"Could you please tell the court how you reached this position? In other words, please briefly trace your employment history from the time you finished school to the present."

"After completing my education at Hogwarts in 1986, I enlisted in the International Federation of Wizards Enforcement Corps. I specialised in tactics and reconnaissance. After Lord Voldemort was reincorporated, I was recruited by the Special Combat Forces Division. One of my tasks at that time was to monitor the activities of suspected Death Eaters and other criminals, including Sirius Black."

"Was this an official task assigned to you by your commanding officer?"

"Yes, it was."

"Were you asked to monitor the activities of all suspected Death Eaters or just specific individuals?"

"I was ordered to monitor a select group of specific individuals."

"I see. Was Sirius Black one of the individuals designated in your orders, Captain Shanihan?"

"Yes. Mr. Black was considered a very dangerous criminal at that time. I was to track Mr. Black, observe him, and determine his motivations. I was asked to assess which side he was on," Shanihan explained.

"What did you report to your superiors at the IFW in this regard?" Stanfordshire asked.

"My conclusion was that Mr. Black was not a Death Eater and was actively engaged in the struggle against Voldemort's forces, to great effect I might add." Hermione saw him glance with respect at Sirius.

"Did you make periodic reports during the War years, or did you only report your findings after the final defeat of Voldemort?"

"I made some interim written reports to my superiors over the course of time. I filed a very detailed report with my conclusions and findings at the end of the War."

Stanfordshire probed further. "What happened after Voldemort was defeated? Did you continue to monitor Mr. Black's activities at that point?"

"The source and nature of my orders changed after the War ended," Shanihan replied quietly.

"Please elaborate."

"At that point, I was ordered by the Deputy Chancellor to covertly assist Mr. Black in eluding capture by the Ministry."

At that statement, Hermione heard the courtroom began to buzz excitedly, and a very well-dressed wizard got up and quickly left the courtroom, slamming the door behind him.

"What was that about?" Hermione murmured to Harry.

"He's the Ministry's criminal liaison to the IFW. I presume, by his reaction, he had no idea Sirius was being assisted by the D.C. and is going to raise some hell about it with them."

"Did you know, Harry?"

"No. I had no idea."

Once the whispering died down, Shanihan continued. "If I saw Black was in danger of being captured, cursed, or even detected, I was to deflect attention away from him. My orders were also to impede any attack against him by the Ministry or by dark forces."

"What was the purpose of this assignment, Captain Shanihan?" Stanfordshire pressed.

"I was chosen for this assignment because of my training and my physical resemblance to Mr. Black. I'm unaware of the exact underlying purpose of my orders, Mr. Stanfordshire. You would need to pose that question to the Deputy Chancellor himself."

Stanfordshire returned to the defense table and picked up some papers and walked back to the witness box. "Captain Shanihan, can you identify these for the Court?" he asked as he handed the stack of papers to the witness.

Glancing at them briefly, he nodded. "Yes, these are my reports and notes relating to my observations of Sirius Black during the recent war," Shanihan replied.

At this statement, the prosecution Obelisk flashed in yellow to indicate that Winchell Careye wished to have a conference with Judge Tandy. He and Stanfordshire approached the bench. "Your Honour, I fail to see the relevance of this testimony to either of the cases against the defendant. I move that it be stricken as irrelevant and that the defense be ordered to dismiss this witness and proceed with their real case, if they have one," Careye hissed in an undertone.

"Your Honour, Captain Shanihan's duties during the War put him in the unique position to corroborate the claims of Mr. Black as to where he was at certain times. We're merely establishing the context of Captain Shanihan's responsibilities at this point. And, as Mr. Careye well knows, Captain Shanihan was included on the list of potential witnesses provided to this Court and the prosecution by the defense before this trial began. I hardly see that there are grounds to object to his testimony at this juncture," Stanfordshire added in a clear, firm undertone.

"The prosecution was given no clue as to the nature of this individual's proposed testimony, Your Honour, and was never shown the documents that the defense is trying to admit," Careye began, but he was interrupted smoothly by Stanfordshire.

"Your Honour, surely the prosecution isn't going to claim that they had inadequate time to seek additional information about this proposed witness. The list of defense witnesses was submitted well before the Court's deadline in fact."

Judge Tandy nodded at Stanfordshire. "Mr. Careye, you assuredly had sufficient time and warning to prepare for this witness. But what about the documents, Mr. Stanfordshire? Were they provided to Mr. Careye's office?"

"We provided the witness's calendar, but we weren't able to persuade the Deputy Chancellor's office to allow us to release the papers. They are understandably confidential, and I think we all understand the trouble they could cause if they were to fall into Dark hands."

Judge Tandy considered the matter for a moment before responding. "I'll allow this line of questioning to continue, Mr. Stanfordshire, but please get to the point. We don't want to be here all week with this witness. With regard to the documents, other than the calendar, they can't be admitted as evidence, but the witness can use them to refresh his recollection."

Thank you, Your Honour," Stanfordshire replied quickly, before turning back to the witness and asking Shanihan to examine his notes from April 1997. "Can you tell the Court where you were on April 13, 1997?"

"Yes. I was in Little Hangleton, observing a meeting of Lord Voldemort and his inner circle of Death Eaters."

"What happened that night?"

"I was observing this meeting from behind a headstone while under an invisibility cloak. I had been waiting there for several hours since I'd heard that there was going to be an important gathering. I'd also heard through my sources that Mr. Black would likely be there as well. At that point, I still wasn't sure enough about his motivations to know if he would be there as a supporter or opponent of Lord Voldemort. At last, Voldemort arrived and summoned his Death Eaters. Once they were all assembled, the Dark Lord gave a speech detailing the transgressions of one of those assembled. He forced this wizard to come to the center of the circle of Death Eaters. Two of the Death Eaters eventually had to drag him forcibly to the center of their midst. On Voldemort's instructions, they removed his hood and cloak. Voldemort then told all those assembled to pay close attention to what happened to a Death Eater who had dared to cross him."

"What happened at that point?"

"Voldemort raised his wand and quite calmly said, 'Conflagratum.' There was a burst of light, and the wizard was reduced to ashes within moments."

"Do you know the identity of this particular Death Eater, Captain Shanihan? Did the Dark Lord speak his name?" Stanfordshire asked.

"Yes, the Dark Lord referred to him as 'Wormtail.'"

"This sounds like a nickname or code name. Did you ever learn what this man's real name was?"

Shanihan nodded. "Yes, 'Wormtail' was in fact a nickname of Peter Pettigrew's." The courtroom began to buzz excitedly once again.

"Did you learn that 'Wormtail' and Peter Pettigrew were one and the same person on that night or at some later time, Captain Shanihan?" Stanfordshire asked.

"I learned of this connection later. When I wrote my written report detailing the events of that particular night, I researched the identity of the mysterious 'Wormtail,' and learned of Peter Pettigrew's nickname through Ministry files, newspaper accounts and IFW resources."

"Are you certain that the man you saw tortured and killed that evening in April 1997 was in fact Peter Pettigrew, the wizard allegedly murdered by Sirius Black in November 1981?"

"Yes. I uncovered numerous photographs of Peter Pettigrew while researching 'Wormtail's' identity. I am certain it was the same person," Shanihan responded confidently.

So much conversation broke out in the courtroom at this statement that Judge Tandy had to bang her gavel repeatedly to restore order. She told Stanfordshire to continue his questioning once the furor had died down.

"So, from your vantage point, you could clearly see the Death Eater who was subjected to Voldemort's Conflagratum curse?"

"Yes."

"And, how soon after this event did you view photos of Peter Pettigrew?"

Shanihan paused briefly. "I would say within two days at most. I returned to my office immediately the next morning and began researching the identity of a wizard known as 'Wormtail.'"

Stanfordshire held up several photographs of Peter Pettigrew. "Is this the person you saw murdered by Voldemort in April 1997 and identified as 'Wormtail' in your report?"

"Yes, it is. He was not missing a finger in the graveyard in 1997. However, my IFW research had uncovered the statements of young Harry Potter who had described the reincorporation of Lord Voldemort. So, when I compared these photographs with my memory, I concluded that it was assuredly the same individual."

"Was there anyone else present that evening in Little Hangleton, apart from Voldemort and the Death Eaters?"

"Yes. Behind the third headstone to my left, I noticed a large black dog. I could make out the shape and the markings. He didn't see me, of course, although I thought at times he could sense me."

"What was the significance of this dog?"

"It was Mr. Black in his Animagus form."

"So you can state, under oath, that Peter Pettigrew was killed April 13, 1997, not November 1, 1981. Is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Thank you Captain Shanihan. No further questions at this time."

Georgianna Blythe rose to cross-examine Shanihan for the prosecution. Hermione thought she looked somewhat nervous as she approached the witness box.

"Captain Shanihan, you've stated unequivocally under oath that Sirius Black was not a dark wizard or a Death Eater and was in fact covertly assisting the forces allied against Voldemort. But, isn't it possible that Mr. Black fooled even you? How can you be so certain that he was in fact working against, and not for, Lord Voldemort?"

"No, it's not possible," Shanihan replied in a confident voice. "You see, I followed Black's every move for over a year at one point. He couldn't possibly have fooled me."

"In your earlier statements, Captain Shanihan, you noted that you were observing the activities of several suspected Death Eaters, including Mr. Black. How is it that you were able to follow Mr. Black's 'every move' and yet also keep these other individuals under your surveillance?"

"I oversaw the surveillance of a select group of suspected Death Eaters. For a period of at least a year, however, I devoted my own efforts solely to following Mr. Black's every movement. I delegated surveillance of other individuals to subordinates under my command. If you allow me to consult my calendar, I could provide you with specific dates."

"That won't be necessary," Blythe replied curtly. "Let's assume that Mr. Black apparated suddenly and without warning. Could he not have eluded your surveillance for periods of time in this situation?"

"Actually, no. During that time period, I used a surveillance talisman to keep constant track of Mr. Black's whereabouts. It's not a surveillance procedure that is sanctioned under the I.F.W.'s Code of Magical Surveillance Practices and Procedures for long periods of time, but for that one-year period, he certainly could not have eluded me for more than a few seconds at most."

Shifting gears, Blythe asked him about his research that identified the murdered wizard called "Wormtail" as Peter Pettigrew. "You said that as many as two days elapsed from the time that you saw this man murdered and the time that you were able to locate photographs of Peter Pettigrew from your research. Is this correct?"

"Yes," Shanihan responded.

"How far away were you from the circle of Death Eaters when you witnessed the murder of this Death Eater referred to as Wormtail, Captain Shanihan?"

"I was approximately 30 meters away," he answered.

"You testified that this Death Eater's hood was lowered to reveal his face prior to this death. How long was his face exposed to view before he was ignited by Voldemort's curse?"

"Probably less than one minute," Shanihan conceded.

Blythe indicated that she had no further questions. Stanfordshire called a succession of witnesses, including Harry, to testify that Peter Pettigrew's nickname had indeed been "Wormtail." Harry was also able to testify that Voldemort referred to Pettigrew by that name. At last, he recalled Sirius to the witness box to testify on this score.

"I just need to clarify something from your previous testimony, Mr. Black. In 1974, was it your understanding that it was or was not illegal to do an animagus transformation?" Stanfordshire asked.

"I did not believe that it was illegal to do the transformation itself."

"Did you believe that it was illegal to do an animagus transformation and not register your animal markings with the Office of Animagi Registration?"

"Yes, it was illegal to fail to register the animagus markings with that office," Sirius answered.

"In other words, it's not the transfiguation itself that's illegal, but it is illegal to fail to register with the Office of Animagi Registration at the Ministry?"

"Correct."

"Mr. Black, you were school-mates with Peter Pettigrew. Is this correct?"

"Yes. We were dorm-mates for seven years in fact," Black answered.

"You testified previously that Mr. Pettigrew was one of your three closest friends during your time at Hogwarts. Is it safe to assume that you knew Peter Pettigrew very well, that you were close friends?"

"Yes, Peter and I, together with James Potter and Remus Lupin, were a close group. We were dorm-mates, and we began to call ourselves the 'Marauders.'"

"So, you were each known as a 'Marauder'?"

"Yes, but we also had individual nicknames. Other than Remus, they were based on our animagus forms. I transform into a large black dog, similar to the Newfoundland breed, and I was known within our circle as 'Padfoot.' James transformed into a stag, and we called him 'Prongs.' Remus, of course, being a werewolf got tagged with the nickname 'Moony' during our second year at school. And Peter transformed into a rat, and so we called him 'Wormtail,'" Sirius answered.

"But, this was surely a school-days nickname that he would have only been known to the four of you, right?" Stanfordshire pressed.

"No. After we left Hogwarts, we each used our old Marauder nicknames as 'code names' as needed, and not just amongst ourselves. I would not be at all surprised if Peter used his nickname in connection with his Dark activities."

After Blythe completed a brief cross-examination of Black and he was dismissed, Judge Tandy asked Stanfordshire how he wanted to proceed. He announced that the defense was prepared to rest its case. Winchell Careye stood and stated that the prosecution had also completed its case in the Pettigrew portion of the trial. Judge Tandy announced that she was recessing court for the day rather than start testimony in the Peregrine murder case at this late juncture.

Hermione and Harry, with Cordelia close behind, moved closer to Sirius as they each wanted to wish him goodnight. Sirius was staring at Stanfordshire in unconcealed astonishment. "Who is this Shanihan bloke and where did you find him?"

"I knew him growing up. We were neighbours. When I took this case and began going through your files Sirius, I discovered that the Deputy Chancellor himself had reviewed your Ministry records. I knew Colin worked for the IFW and had some connection with the D.C.'s office. His mum had been bragging to mine about his accomplishments. I owled him to see if he could tell me anything about what the D.C. had learned and if he knew anything more about you. Rather hit the jackpot, didn't I? He obtained authorization from the D.C. to fill me in on his work. It was never intended that he would testify. However, when yesterday's events unfolded, I contacted the D.C. himself to wangle permission to have Colin testify. It was only when I told the D.C. that we could well lose this case without Shanihan's testimony that he relented."

"Why would the D.C. care if I'm convicted or not?" Black asked quickly.

Stanfordshire considered him. "Perhaps you'll have an opportunity to ask Captain Shanihan more about that later."

Harry, Hermione, and Cordelia were equally amazed at this turn of events. Cordelia stepped up first. She reached for Sirius' hand and asked, "Are you all right?"

"I survived one night, plus things are looking a bit brighter. Tonight will be better. Hell, I may even sleep," he said with a very forced smile.

They said their good-byes as the bailiff came over and waved his wand to fasten the chains about Sirius' ankles and the manacles onto his wrists. As Sirius left the courtroom, Hermione saw him turn to look directly at Cordelia and mouth silently, "I love you."

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

Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Cordelia went to a nearby Italian restaurant and spent a couple of hours discussing the case and its prospects. After all the speculation had been exhausted, Cordelia got up to leave. "I have to go into my office and check my messages. Hermione you don't need to stay with me. I'll be all right tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, and if even Sirius thinks he might sleep, maybe I'll get a couple of hours."

Ginny got up as well. "I need to go over to the magazine office also. I'll walk out with you, Cordelia." She turned to Harry. "I'll see you later, but it might be late, depending on what I have neglected these past few days."

He nodded and leaned over to kiss her quickly. "That's fine. I've got to check up with work as well. I also want to do some research on these Operatives."

Hermione laughed. "That's just what I was going to do. Shall we research together? We haven't done that for a number of years."

"I'd love to, but I do need to go into work for a bit first. Shall I meet you in the Stonehenge Library later?"

"Yes, that's fine. I'll see you there in a few hours then?"

Harry nodded, and they all went their separate ways in much better spirits than the previous night.

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

Hermione took a seat outside the courtroom the next morning. She had met Cordelia at the Obsidian for coffee and escorted her to the Ministry building. The crowd of reporters had diminished slightly, but what they lost in numbers they made up for in volume, calling out questions about the Deputy Council's involvement with Sirius.

Cordelia had wanted to take a few moments alone to collect her thoughts in the courtyard before coming into the courtroom. Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice behind her. "Hullo." She turned around and smiled to see Rufus standing behind her. He looked uncomfortable and was shifting his weight rapidly from one foot to another.

"Hello, Rufus. It's good to see you again," she said quietly.

"Things are going well for your friend it would seem," he commented, still not looking directly at her.

"Yes, well . . . we're hopeful. Things look better than they did this yesterday morning." He nodded. "How are you?" she added.

"I'm fine . . . just fine." He seemed about to say more, but just said, "It was good to see you Hermione," in a gruff voice as he glanced up over her shoulder. He hurried down the hall towards the waiting room for the Peregrine witnesses without another word, and she soon surmised the reason as Harry slid in beside her. They chatted briefly before heading inside the courtroom.

Judge Tandy called the court to order and asked the prosecution if they were ready to make their opening statements in the case against Sirius Black for the murder of Sloan Peregrine. Georgianna Blythe made brief opening remarks, and Stanfordshire similarly confined himself to a short opening statement.

The prosecution called Jeralyn O'Neill as its first witness. Blythe led her through a series of questions leading up to her arrival at Sloan Peregrine's home.

"Now, Ms. O'Neill, please tell the court why you chose to attend this meeting of Dark wizards?"

"Well, of course, I didn't know that was the purpose of the meeting, did I? No, I had been told it was a meeting of that divination group that Sloan ran, E². I don't usually go in much for the divination stuff, you know. But, I was in town visiting Sloan and I wanted to spend every moment I could with him. And, well, Sloan told me that I could speak to a herbologist friend of his who would be there. I make herbal remedies, so naturally I wanted to talk to this wizard while I had the chance."

"I see. So, you say you were in town visiting Mr. Peregrine. What was the nature of your relationship with Mr. Peregrine?"

Jeralyn sighed, let her eyes fill with tears and snatched at a handkerchief to dab her eyes. "We were romantically involved. We were very much in love. Why, we were talking about getting married early next year sometime," she paused to dab at her eyes some more. "And now . . . he's been murdered. We'll never have our future . . . our children . . . our happy little home in the country, and all because of him!" she cried dramatically, pointing her finger directly at Sirius.

"We'll get to Mr. Black in due time, Ms. O'Neill. Do you need a moment to compose yourself?" he asked gently.

"Yes, please," she murmured behind her handkerchief. After a few moments, she took a deep breath and nodded at Careye.

"Let's backtrack and talk more about this herbologist friend that Sloan Peregrine had told you about. Did you in fact meet with this wizard at Peregrine's home?"

She nodded vigorously, still dabbing her eyes for effect from time to time. "Yes. We talked about herbs in Sloan's living room for quite some time. We talked so long that we missed the beginning of the meeting, which was being held in the basement. I . . . I think he was trying to detain me . . . keep me from seeing that Mr. Black was in attendance. I think he was trying to buy Black some time so that he could murder my beloved!"

The glow from Stanfordshire's Obelisk spurred Judge Tandy to put a halt to Jeralyn's recitation of her personal beliefs, as she instructed the witness to stick to the facts. "The jury should disregard the witness's last statement, and it will be stricken from the record," she added.

"So, you recognised Mr. Black -- you could identify him?" Careye pressed.

"Oh my, yes."

"And, why do you have reason to recognise Mr. Black? From photographs or a personal relationship?"

"Both. I had seen his photo on the "Wanted" posters ever since my school days. He was so frightening! I had nightmares about him for some time when I was a teenager." She shuddered.

"You just mentioned that you also had personal acquaintance with Mr. Black. Explain that for us if you will please."

She sighed deeply, looking at her hands. "Well, a few weeks before Sloan was murdered, Mr. Black found me at my workshop. I was mixing up herbal remedies when Mr. Black burst in. He tied me up . . . and . . . and I was so frightened. I didn't know what his intentions were you see. He kept making threats. I thought he might rape me. Some of his threats were very sexual in nature."

"What did Mr. Black give you as a reason for breaking into your workshop, Ms. O'Neill?" Careye asked.

"He was looking for a wizarding relic that I had. I collect the odd relic now and again -- just a personal hobby mainly. I make a bit of cash from it sometimes, but it's not my primary line of work, you understand. Anyway, Mr. Black had somehow discovered that I owned this particular relic, and he was insistent that I tell him where it was."

"And, did you tell him?"

"Yes, I told him he could have it," she nodded tearfully. "I hoped that he would take it and leave."

"Did he not leave after you told him he could have it?"

"Yes, but he left me tied up, and he made up some story about the herbal remedies I was brewing at the time because officials came to my workshop and arrested me not long after Mr. Black left."

"I'm sure that was very traumatic for you, Ms. O'Neill. But, let's go back to your testimony about seeing Black for the first time in Mr. Peregrine's home if we can. We need everyone to hear about what happened in that basement when Mr. Peregrine was murdered. You said that you and this herbologist entered the basement late, after the meeting at already begun. Tell us what you saw when you walked in on that meeting if you would please," Careye said.

"Well, we walked in along the side and were heading toward seats when I heard Sloan saying that a wizard named Ian Black would be willing to teach us all the animagus transformation. I looked up to see who this wizard was, and I recognised him as Sirius Black at once! I shouted out to Sloan that this wizard was the infamous murderer Sirius Black, and the next thing I knew, I saw Black aiming his wand at my Sloan and cursing him. I ran screaming towards Sloan." She paused and dabbed at her eyes some more before moving on. "And . . . he was . . . he was dead. Everyone was screaming and rushing up to us."

"Where was Mr. Black during all this -- after he had cursed Mr. Peregrine?" Careye inquired.

Jeralyn shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose he had already made his escape. I was focused on Sloan." She dissolved into tears again.

Careye told Judge Tandy that he had no further questions for this witness, and she instructed Stanfordshire to begin his cross-examination. He strode forward to stand in front of her in the witness box, with a few notes in one hand.

"Good morning, Ms. O'Neill. I'm Daniel Stanfordshire, attorney for the defendant Sirius Black," he said courteously. "I have a few questions for you regarding your testimony just now." Jeralyn nodded warily.

"You testified that you had been told you could meet with one of Mr. Peregrine's herbologist friends -- that this was your real reason for coming to this meeting?"

"Yes," she answered firmly.

"Is this the herbologist that you met with that night at Mr. Peregrine's home?" Stanfordshire showed her a photograph of Rufus Frost, who looked as though he would rather be anywhere other than in that picture frame.

"Yes, it is," she muttered. Stanfordshire entered the photograph into evidence and turned to her again. "And, had you or had you not met Mr. Frost at any time before that night?"

"I had not met him before," Jeralyn answered.

"I see. You're certain you had never met this wizard, Rufus Frost, in the past?"

"Positive," she said defensively.

"Right then. Let's move on to your testimony regarding Mr. Black and the time he visited you at your 'workshop,' all right? Now, you just testified that Mr. Black visited you at your workshop before Mr. Peregrine was murdered. Let's see . . .," he began to fumble through his notes. "Yes . . . Mr. Peregrine was murdered on August 7^th. And, you testified that Ministry officials arrested you after Mr. Black left you tied up in your workshop. Correct?"

"Yes," she answered slowly.

"I have here your Ministry arrest record, and it appears that you were arrested on August 10^th. That would be after Mr. Peregrine was murdered in fact, would it not? Were you arrested at some point before August 7^th that I'm just not aware of, or was this arrest on the 10^th the only time you've been taken into official custody in the last few months?" Stanfordshire pressed.

"I've only been arrested once, and it was a farce," Jeralyn began hotly.

"So, you were arrested once and it was on August 10^th -- yes or no, Ms. O'Neill?"

Jeralyn glowered at him but muttered, "Yes" in a soft voice. At his urging, she repeated her answer in a louder voice so that the jury could hear her.

Hermione saw the prosecution talking amongst themselves in urgent low whispers.

"Now . . . you say that you recognised Mr. Black when you saw him in Mr. Peregrine's basement. You called out his true identity to Mr. Peregrine, and then you saw Black cursing Mr. Peregrine. What curse did he use on Mr. Peregrine, Ms. O'Neill?"

"Well, it must have been the Killing Curse, mustn't it?" Jeralyn said sharply. "Sloan was dead instantaneously. What other curse would cause that?"

Hermione saw Georgianna Blythe cover her face with her hands as Jeralyn flashed a satisfied look at the prosecution table.

"Did you hear Mr. Black use the words 'Avada Kedavra'?" he asked.

"No."

"Did you see green light issue from Mr. Black's wand -- the green light that is the tell-tale sign of the Avada Kedavra curse?"

"No."

"So, you didn't hear Mr. Black utter the words and you didn't see the green light that would characterize the use of the Avada Kedavra spell. Did you see or hear what Mr. Black said when he pointed his wand at Mr. Peregrine?"

"No, I was looking at Sloan, not Mr. Black."

"But, you testified earlier for Mr. Careye that you saw Mr. Black point his wand at Mr. Peregrine and curse him. Did you or did you not see Mr. Black cast a curse at Mr. Peregrine, and if so, did you or did you not see or hear which curse he used?" Stanfordshire asked sharply.

Jeralyn glared at him. "I saw him pointing his wand at Sloan and then I looked at Sloan."

"So, for the record, Ms. O'Neill: you did not see or hear Mr. Black cast a curse on Mr. Peregrine."

"Right," she muttered sullenly.

"So, you ran up to Mr. Peregrine and discovered that he was dead. What did you do?"

"I threw my arms around him . . . I'm afraid I was quite upset," she said tearfully. "I kissed him over and over again. I suppose someone must have pryed me away from him at some point once the investigators arrived."

"You kissed his face?"

"Yes," she said, nodding emphatically.

"So, you turned his body over then?"

"No, I didn't move him. . . wait. What do you mean, turned his body over?" Jeralyn looked bewildered.

"Please describe for us what you saw when you ran up to your lover's body, Ms. O'Neill."

"He was just lying there, not breathing. And, like I just said, I threw my arms around him and kissed him repeatedly. I was sobbing."

"He was lying face up when you ran up to him?" Stanfordshire asked loudly.

"Yes . . . yes, he was." Jeralyn seemed a bit hesitant, as though she sensed that she was falling into a trap.

"You didn't notice that Mr. Peregrine had an arrow protruding from his back when you ran up to examine him?"

"From his back?" she said blankly.

"Yes. Did you not notice the arrow protruding from his back?"

"No," she repeated but more hesitantly still.

"You examined your lover and determined he was dead, but you failed to notice the arrow protruding from his back?"

"Yes," she said reluctantly, but with a very slight wink in the direction of Sirius.

"Thank you Ms. O'Neill. I have no further questions for this witness," Stanfordshire told Judge Tandy.

The prosecution directed further questions at Jeralyn. Hermione derived from the nature of the questions that Jeralyn had been less than forthcoming with the prosecution and that Jeralyn's testimony just then was not exactly what they had agreed on previously.

The prosecution then called several other witches and wizards who had been at the meeting in Peregrine's home. They all accused Sirius of killing Peregrine; however, when Stanfordshire cross-examined each of the these witnesses, he made sure each of them emphasized that Sloan Peregrine fell to the floor on his stomach, facing down with an arrow clearly protruding from his back. None of these witnesses could remember Jeralyn O'Neill even approaching Mr. Peregrine, let alone sobbing over his dead body.

After a brief mid-morning recess, Stanfordshire began the defense case by calling Rufus Frost as the defense's first witness. He established basic facts about Rufus and then began his questioning.

"Mr. Frost, had you met this witch, Jeralyn O'Neill, before August 7^th?" Stanfordshire showed Rufus a photograph of Jeralyn, which he then introduced into evidence.

"Yes. In early July, Sloan Peregrine gave me a list of herbs and said that a friend of his was having trouble procuring a proper supply of the herbs. He asked me if I would select the herbs for her and deliver them to her in Cardiff."

"So, you delivered herbs to this witch in Cardiff in July?"

"Yes."

"Did you meet with her personally, or did you just deliver the herbs someplace without meeting her?"

"Oh, no, I met her. She had a package that I needed to take back to Mr. Peregrine. So, I gave her the herbs. She examined them and proclaimed that they met her standards. Then, she gave me the package to return to Mr. Peregrine."

"So, the two of you definitely recognised one another when you met up again several weeks later at Mr. Peregrine's home?"

"Definitely. We had a fairly long conversation about herbs; it seems she wanted to hire me to acquire herbs for her on a regular basis. We were working out the logistics of delivery and discussing my consulting rates as we went down to the basement," Rufus explained.

"She clearly remembered meeting you in Cardiff?"

"Yes, definitely. "Rufus seemed puzzled by the line of questioning but was clear in his answers.

"So, please tell us what happened when you and Ms. O'Neill proceeded to the basement at Mr. Peregrine's home."

Rufus repeated what he had told Harry after his arrest. He and Jeralyn had come in and were heading toward seats when he looked up and recognised Sirius Black. He had called out Black's true identity to Sloan Peregrine.

"How is it that you recognised Mr. Black's true identity, Mr. Frost?"

"I had met him at a party the week prior to this meeting," Rufus said quietly.

"You met him at a party?"

"Yes. I met him at his godson Harry's birthday party. I was dating Hermione Granger at that time."

"What did you think about the notorious Mr. Black attending a party? Did any of the other guests not object to his presence?"

"I was surprised . . . and frankly a bit disturbed by his presence. But, everyone else at the party accepted him and enjoyed his company. I admit that I thought he didn't seem to fit the part of a 'Dark wizard.' In any case, I had just seen him at this party the week before I walked into the meeting at Sloan's home, and so that's how I recognised him so easily," Rufus added.

"What happened after you shouted out his true identity to Mr. Peregrine?"

"I heard Black shout 'Sensorum Obstructiva' at Sloan."

"What did Mr. Black do at that point, Mr. Frost?" Stanfordshire asked.

"He cast another curse, but it didn't hit Sloan," Rufus answered.

"How do you know that it didn't hit Mr. Peregrine?" Stanfordshire asked.

"I heard a 'ping' sound at the time, and when I looked away from Black to Sloan, Sloan was already sprawled on the floor, face-down with a cross-bow arrow protruding from his back. At the time, I supposed that Black's curse must have hit one of the statues and that this caused the 'ping' sound that I heard. There were two statues armed with crossbows on either side of the podium where Peregrine had been speaking. Since we all saw Sloan lying on the ground face-down with a cross-bow arrow protruding from his back, it seems to me that his curse must have hit one of those statues."

"Do you believe Black was aiming his wand at a statue?"

"No, he definitely was aiming his wand at Sloan. I was watching Black."

"So, is it possible that Sloan moved and Mr. Black's curse hit one of those statues instead of Mr. Peregrine?"

Rufus nodded. "Yes, I think that is most likely what happened, based on what I observed."

Stanfordshire passed the witness to the prosecution, and Georgianna Blythe made a brief cross-examination. She questioned him closely about his impressions of Black from Harry's birthday party, but Rufus didn't falter from his earlier testimony that Black had impressed him that evening. She then attempted to cast some doubt on his memory of the events the night Peregrine died, but Rufus didn't waver from this testimony either. Stanfordshire then called two additional witnesses. The first witness, a thin witch in her early forties with long red hair, recounted that she had been sitting close enough to Black to hear him utter 'Stupefy' after he cast the 'Sensorum Obstructiva' spell. Blythe was unable to effectively discredit this witch's testimony.

"So, you were not watching Sloan Peregrine at that time as everyone else at the meeting seemed to be doing, Ms. Hanford?"

"No, I was definitely watching Mr. Black," Emma Hanford had replied fervently.

"And why is that?" Blythe had pressed.

"Sirius Black was a few years ahead of me at Hogwarts. When that herbologist wizard called out his true name, I looked over at him and realised that it was indeed that handsome boy from my school days. I was . . . well . . . very focused on Mr. Black at that point," she said with a shy smile.

Blythe had wrapped up her cross-examination, and Stanfordshire then called Sirius back to the witness box. He first asked him to explain the purpose of his attendance at this meeting.

"For the past several years, I have been engaged from time to time by employees of the International Federation of Wizards to assist in investigations of dark wizarding circles. I was asked to attend this meeting since I had been involved in this particular case from the beginning," Sirius responded.

"How did you make contacts within the International Federation of Wizards when you are supposedly a wanted criminal, Mr. Black?"

"That is confidential. You would need to obtain testimony from officers at the I.F.W. regarding that subject," he answered.

"Very well then." Hermione thought it sounded as though Stanfordshire and Black were attempting to circumvent similar questions by the prosecution on this topic. She glanced at Harry and he shrugged. "Let's move on to the meeting at Peregrine's home," Stanfordshire continued. "When Mr. Frost revealed your identity, what did you do?"

Black elaborated that he had cast the Sensorum Obstructiva spell to confuse Peregrine; he explained that Peregrine would have otherwise been able to anticipate his own next moves through the glasses talisman. Stanfordshire asked him to explain the glasses talisman. He then had Black establish that it was the same talisman that they had introduced as an evidentiary aid in the Pettigrew case.

"So, you knew from your investigations how the eyeglass talisman worked, and you were attempting to prevent it from being used against you by Peregrine?"

"Yes," Black answered firmly.

"What did you do after casting the Sensorum Obstructiva spell?" Stanfordshire asked.

"I cast a simple stunning spell at Peregrine. I pointed my wand at him and yelled 'Stupefy.' But, the Sensorum Obstructiva spell must have caused him to stumble a bit, and he moved too quickly for me to adjust my spell. My stunning spell hit one of those armed statues, and I saw one of the arrows hit Mr. Peregrine in the back. He had turned away from me, so the arrow hit him from the rear."

"But, your intent was simply to stun Mr. Peregrine, not to murder him?"

"I merely wanted to stun him as a defensive tactic. Barring no other alternative, I would have apparated from the Peregrine home, even though this would have been an enormous setback to the I.F.W.'s investigation of Peregrine's Dark activities," Black answered sincerely.

"Thank you, Mr. Black," Stanfordshire said as he indicated to the prosecution that they could cross-examine the witness.

Careye strode over to the witness box purposefully. "Who hired you to act as an investigator in this I.F.W. investigation of Sloan Peregrine?"

"As I told Mr. Stanfordshire just now, that information is confidential. You would need to question one of the officers in the Intelligence Division of the I.F.W.," Black answered firmly.

Careye pressed on with some additional related questions in this vein, but Sirius stood his ground, repeating over and over that only an officer at the I.F.W. could answer those questions. At last, Careye turned to the sequence of events at Peregrine's meeting.

"You testified Mr. Black that you merely cast a simple stunning spell in self-defense. Why was the Sensorum Obstructiva spell not sufficient as a self-defense measure?"

"Those glasses are a powerful talisman. I didn't know for sure if the Sensorum Obstructiva spell would be enough to counter-act those glasses. I was in a defensive posture and needed to act quickly. If I had waited to see if the obstruction spell had been effective, I might have been too late. I cast the stunning spell immediately in succession after the obstruction spell."

"But, you testified that you saw Mr. Peregrine had turned his back to you and was stumbling from the effects of the obstruction spell, did you not?"

"I saw him stumbling and could see that he had turned only after I had cast the stunning spell. I cast the spells one right after another, with barely a pause to draw breath in between them. I didn't have time to judge the effects of the obstruction spell before I cast the stunning spell. It's a matter of self-defense," Black answered.

Careye asked a few additional questions, but Hermione believed he hadn't done much to cast doubts on Black's version of events. She could see that Harry looked pleased with this segment of the testimony.

When Stanfordshire announced that he had concluded the defense's case, Judge Tandy asked the prosecution if they were also ready to make closing arguments. Winchell Careye stood and announced that the prosecution was also ready to close. Judge Tandy asked both sides if they wanted to make the closing statements before or after a lunch recess. Both parties agreed to make their statements before lunch, so the jury could be dismissed to begin deliberations.

Careye moved over to stand directly in front of the jury to make his remarks. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the defense has attempted to demonstrate that Sirius Black is himself a victim, a victim of a transgression of justice. We concede that the defendant's rights were disregarded, even blatantly ignored if you will. But, it is critical that we all remember that this was wartime, ladies and gentlemen. The defendant was arrested and imprisoned during a very trying time for the Ministry. It is not advisable for us to try and second-guess the actions of those Ministry representatives now, with benefit of hindsight. We cannot possibly imagine the circumstances under which they were operating. We can admit that a miscarriage of justice did take place, but we must not lose sight of the fact that the defendant has had a fair trial at last. He has had his opportunity to convince us that he is not guilty of the crimes of which he stands accused. The defense has, however, utterly failed to demonstrate convincingly that the defendant is in fact innocent of these crimes.

"The spells and talismans used by the defense in the demonstration on Tuesday could not and did not establish that Peter Pettigrew did not die in November 1981. What is clear is that Mr. Pettigrew's finger was severed in November 1981. But, I remind you that the magical evidence introduced to demonstrate that Mr. Pettigrew lived beyond that time failed. It failed, ladies and gentlemen, because Peter Pettigrew did indeed die on November 1, 1981 in London. He was murdered by the defendant, Sirius Black.

"The defense is now apparently relying on the somewhat dubious testimony of Captain Shanihan, who claims that he witnessed the murder of Peter Pettigrew in 1997 at the hands of Lord Voldemort. I remind you that his eyewitness account, however, was made as a result of his brief glimpse of a Death Eater from 30 meters away. The Death Eater was hooded and shielded from view until something less than one minute before he died. This was a Death Eater he had not previously seen before, and indeed he needed to spend several days researching who the murdered Death Eater might have been. He bases his conclusion that the murdered wizard was Peter Pettigrew on the photographs that he found several days after said murder. And, as I just noted, Captain Shanihan testified that he viewed the man's face for less than a minute and at some distance.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the evidence introduced by the defense fails to establish conclusively that Peter Pettigrew survived his confrontation with the defendant in London in November 1981. I ask that you convict Sirius Black in the murder of Peter Pettigrew and in the murder of twelve muggles who were killed in connection with his curse of Pettigrew on November 1, 1981.

"We also ask that you convict Sirius Black for the murder of Sloan Peregrine. You have been given very little evidence other than the word of the defendant himself that Black did not intend to kill Sloan Peregrine when he cast spells at him that evening. The defendant's word is simply not reliable, and we ask that you look objectively at the evidence in this case. He cast an obstruction spell at Sloan Peregrine, and then when he was stumbling to recover from the effects of this spell, the defendant ruthlessly cast a stunning spell that was intended to hit, and did hit, an armed statue. We maintain that the defendant had the motive, opportunity and intent to kill Mr. Peregrine that evening. We ask that you convict the defendant, a lying, mentally unstable, completely untrustworthy Dark wizard in this last of his string of heinous crimes. Thank you."

Stanfordshire stood after Careye had taken his seat again. He moved directly in front of the jury box and made eye contact with each juror in turn as he spoke. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you must consider all the evidence presented in these proceedings very carefully. The prosecution would have you believe that the defense has failed to meet its standard of proof. We, however, counter that it is the prosecution that has failed to establish that Sirius Black did murder Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggle victims in November 1981. The defense has submitted convincing testimony and magical evidence that establishes that Peter Pettigrew was alive after November 1981. If he was alive after that day, then Sirius Black could not have killed him.

"On the question of motive, yes, you have only the word of Sirius Black himself as evidence that he did not act as the Potters' Secret-Keeper. You only have his word that a last-minute switch occurred and that Peter Pettigrew served in that role in his stead. However, you do have the word of a good many witnesses who testified of Mr. Black's role against the Voldemort forces in the recent war. His own godson, Harry Potter, who defeated the Dark Lord once and for all, also testified that Sirius Black did not betray his parents.

"You heard the testimony and witnessed the curse trajectory analysis demonstrations of Jane Wycliffe of the Ministry's criminal forensics division. These demonstrations clearly show that if one arranges the people in the locations borne out in the statements of the muggle eyewitnesses, Sirius Black could not have cast the curse that killed Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles. I remind you that the model showed a completely different result if Mr. Black had cast the curse on Tudor Street that day. Additionally the models showed that if Pettigrew had cast the deadly curse, Pettigrew would have been unscathed, as would Black, and twelve muggles would have been killed. These are the same twelve muggles who did indeed die that day.

He took a deep breath and looked carefully at each juror before continuing. "As you all know, the spells that we performed in Tuesday's proceedings did not go according to plan. We unfortunately did not foresee that the Wizard Replication Spell would remove all of the magical essence from Pettigrew's bone fragments. This rendered the glasses talisman useless for purposes of establishing that Mr. Pettigrew was alive after November 1981. I would remind you though that the Ministry has maintained that Pettigrew's finger was all that remained after Pettigrew was allegedly murdered by Sirius Black on Tudor Street. Yet, you did undeniably see that the bone fragments, when subjected to the Wizard Replication Spell, created an image of a wizard, a wizard who bore a great likeness to Peter Pettigrew. In fact, if you look at the photographs of Peter Pettigrew that have been submitted into evidence and will be available to you when you deliberate on this matter, you cannot fail to see that the wizard in the photographs and the wizard whose image appeared in this courtroom on Tuesday are one and the same.

"Yesterday, you heard Captain Shanihan's testimony that he witnessed the murder of Peter Pettigrew at the hands of Lord Voldemort in April 1997. Even if you believe that Captain Shanihan could not have viewed the murdered Death Eater long enough or at a close enough angle to accurately connect him with the photographs of Peter Pettigrew, the murdered Death Eater was referred to as 'Wormtail.' Captain Shanihan's own research clearly established that a Dark wizard known by the nickname of 'Wormtail' was Peter Pettigrew. We introduced testimony from a number of witnesses regarding Pettigrew's nickname.

"Most importantly, you have the word and testimony of Sirius Black, not only regarding his former dorm-mate's schoolboy nickname of 'Wormtail.' More important than that: you have heard the wrenching testimony of Sirius Black with regard to his decision to convince the Potters to change Secret-Keeper at the last minute. You heard his testimony about the heartbreak of discovering his best friends had been murdered. You heard him wondering what might have happened if he'd insisted on taking his infant godson to care for as James and Lily Potter wished, rather than seeking out Peter Pettigrew. You heard him testify about his confusion and shock as he met up with Pettigrew in London, how Pettigrew outwitted him so cleverly. You heard his emotional testimony regarding the miscarriage of justice perpetrated against him by the Ministry of Magic. You heard him testify that he witnessed Pettigrew's eventual murder by Voldemort in a graveyard in Little Hangleton. I would point out that Mr. Black's account of this murder matches exactly with Captain Shanihan's testimony.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as I told you in my opening statements. You are presented with the opportunity now to correct a grave miscarriage of justice. Sirius Black has never been a Dark wizard, and he has in fact spent his entire adult life, both before being unjustly incarcerated in Azkaban and after his escape, fighting Lord Voldemort and the dark forces that still exist in our community. This community owes him an immeasurable debt of gratitude. We owe him justice. I leave this decision in your capable hands.

"Mr. Black also did not murder Sloan Peregrine. As you have heard, Mr. Black was employed in the investigation of dark activities of Mr. Peregrine. He cast a stunning spell against Mr. Peregrine as a defensive tactic, but as he emphasised in his own testimony, he did not intend to kill Mr. Peregrine. The prosecution would have you believe that Mr. Black purposefully murdered Sloan Peregrine; however, I remind you that the prosecution witnesses are simply not credible in their basic understanding of the facts. We wholly discredited Ms. O'Neil's testimony, and she herself admitted that her answers to the prosecutor's direct examination questions were almost fully incorrect. We ask that you consider the evidence in this case very carefully as you deliberate. Mr. Black is no more guilty of this murder than he is of any of the others of which he stands accused. We are confident that you will at long last give Sirius Black the recognition for his services to this community against the dark forces that he so richly deserves. We are confident that you will return a verdict of 'not guilty' in both cases. Thank you."

The courtroom was dead silent as Stanfordshire took his seat. Judge Tandy made her instructions to the jury and dismissed them to begin deliberations. She then quietly announced that the court would break for a lunch recess at this point.

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

Hermione, Cordelia, Harry, Ginny, George and Arthur Weasley had all gone to lunch at a wizarding pub near the Ministry headquarters. Stanfordshire told them they might as well be gone for awhile as the jury was unlikely to return a verdict quickly. They had all been cautiously optimistic as they discussed the effect of Captain Shanihan's testimony and the overall case. They were all in agreement that Stanfordshire's closing arguments had been inspiring and even impassioned. Hermione knew Harry was still disturbed by Juror #7, but he didn't voice his fears to any of the others.

After lunch they all dispersed. Cordelia said she needed to take a walk; Harry decided he needed a run to take his mind off things and get rid of pent-up energy. Ginny needed to check on some business matters quickly, and Arthur and George decided to go back to the Burrow and fill Molly in on what was happening. Hermione volunteered to go back to the courtroom so that she could spread the word when the jury returned. They agreed to meet back at the courtroom at 5:00 that evening if they hadn't been contacted before then.

For Cordelia, the minutes stretched into hours. Time was all but standing still. She was certain her watch was no longer working. She'd found a park with a beautiful lake near the Ministry building. She'd been lost in thought and must have walked around the lake at least 10 times before she looked up to see a white snowy owl soaring over to her. "Thanks Hedwig," she commented as she took the note off the owl's leg, gave her a cracker she had stashed in her purse and began to run back to the Ministry building.

She skidded to a halt just in time to duck behind the corner of the building. "Damn media vultures," she muttered as she saw what must have been a hundred reporters and camera operators crowded in front of the main doors. A hand tugged on her shoulder. Stanfordshire had spotted her and was leading her the opposite direction from the crowds.

"I know a different way in. You certainly don't want to have to deal with that today," he said quietly.

"Yes, I was waiting for Hermione to charm me into the building."

"You don't think your natural beauty alone would do it?"

Cordelia glared at him, but he smiled and raised his hands in supplication. She smiled back nervously.

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

At last, they had all taken their seats in the courtroom. The judge called the court to order and addressed the jury foreman. "Have you reached a verdict?"

The oldest wizard on the jury stood up and reported, "We have, Your Honour, although it is not unanimous."

"The law permits up to 2 dissenting jurors in these types of cases. Are there more than two jurors who disagree with the majority?"

"No, Your Honour, just one."

Hermione glared at Juror #7, who sat with a grim smirk on her otherwise lovely face.

"In the matter of the murder of Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles in November 1981, we, the jury, find the defendant, Sirius Black, not guilty."

A great noise went up in the courtroom. There were cheers and exclamations of every kind. Hermione looked quickly from person to person. Harry was beaming. The Weasleys were smiling broadly, and George and Ginny were cheering loudly. Cordelia had her hands clasped to her mouth and her eyes were rapidly filling. Sirius had a whole host of emotions cluttering his face, primarily relief.

Judge Tandy tried in vain for several minutes to restore order to the court. She finally did so after firing bright blue sparks from her wand, which snapped as they each exploded.

The foreman looked back at his paper and cleared his voice. "In the matter of the murder of Sloan Peregrine, we the jury unanimously find the defendant, Sirius Black, not guilty."

The courtroom once again broke out in chaotic noise.

With the verdict in, Judge Tandy dismissed the jurors. She instructed Sirius to go to the Criminal Deprocessing office to regain his personal effects. Court was dismissed, and the crowd began to disperse. Cordelia asked Judge Tandy if she could stay in the courtroom until Sirius had completed the deprocessing procedure. Judge Tandy agreed. Sirius' other friends agreed that a celebration was in order and decided to meet at The Golden Snitch in Diagon Alley. Cordelia indicated that she and Sirius would join everyone there as soon as he was finished at the Ministry.

Harry, Hermione, and the rest of the group emerged from the courtroom to a flood of camera lights and shouting reporters. Stanfordshire had followed them all out to make a statement. Once he addressed the crowd, the rest of the group was left in peace as they made their way quickly out of range.

After the jurors were dismissed, the lone dissenting juror spent a few minutes in the Ministry cafeteria with a plate of their delicious chips. The room was almost deserted as the press and trial watchers had descended on Black's defense team in the hallway outside the courtroom. After a few minutes' scribbling, an owl left through the cafeteria skylight bearing yet another note to the juror's home office.

The note read:

Sorry! I tried. I just want to watch the show here for a bit longer -- it's almost a class reunion. I'll be back in a few hours, and I promise to make this up to you then.

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

About 45 minutes after the jury was dismissed, Sirius emerged into the now-empty courtroom. Cordelia had stretched out on the front bench; her eyes were closed. He tiptoed over quietly and leaned down to kiss her. She opened her eyes and immediately got up and hugged him very tightly. He picked her feet up off the ground and swung her around. "You made it through!" she exclaimed.

"It's over. Finally!" he said, slumping onto the bench. "It's really hard to believe that it's all over, and I'm cleared . . . of everything!" He paused. "Wow!"

She sat down next to him. They sat there for a bit, just absorbing the reality of it all.

Finally he said, "Let's get out of this bloody awful place and celebrate, shall we?"

"We're supposed to meet everyone at a place called The Golden Snitch. Do you know where that is?"

"Ah, yes. I've spent way too many evenings there in my past life . . . drinking far too much ale. Let's go!" he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders tightly and kissed her again happily.

By the time Sirius and Cordelia arrived at The Golden Snitch, Harry had bought everyone a round of drinks and most of those involved with the trial had arrived, including Judge Tandy and her husband Aaron, whose law firm was located just next door. She agreed that it was probably inappropriate to celebrate with the acquitted party, but that morning, she'd planned to meet her husband there and could explain her presence as a mere coincidence. Harry had set up some wards so that anyone could enter except those with Quick Quotes Quills and cameras. Some smart journalists still found their way inside, but most of the obnoxious ones were thrown off the trail.

The Golden Snitch was a wizard pub located at the opposite end of Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron. While the Leaky Cauldron was a great place for a meal, The Golden Snitch was where wizards and witches went to celebrate and have a good time. A dark oak bar ran the length of one side of the pub; the small dance floor towards the back had sparked more than one romantic evening. While it wasn't a particularly large place under average circumstances, it could expand indefinitely to accommodate a festive magical crowd.

On this particular evening, there were only a handful of witches and wizards who were not part of the group that came over from the Ministry courtroom. The large crowd was laughing and talking excitedly as Sirius crossed the room holding Cordelia's hand. He clapped Harry on the shoulder. Harry turned and they embraced. Hermione got a hug and a twirl as did Ginny. Sirius then turned to shake Stanfordshire's hand. It seemed the two men had reached an uneasy peace for as soon as Sirius smiled uncertainly at him, Stanfordshire grinned back happily. They chatted briefly before Sirius turned to speak to the various Weasleys who had been able to come over to the Golden Snitch. After more conversation and consuming more than one shot of Balvernie, Sirius climbed on top of a chair and spoke up at last.

"May I have everyone's attention?" He waited for silence. "For those of you blokes unfortunate enough to have your quiet evening disturbed by our rather loud and soon to be raucous group, I wanted to announce the reason for this tremendous celebration." The other witches and wizards in the pub craned their necks and shifted in their seats to look at Sirius.

"My name is Sirius Black." With those words a murmur sped through the bar. "It's been over twenty years since I was able to speak my name in public without fearing for my life. Today I was finally cleared of all the crimes of which I was unjustly accused. I'm a free man! A round of drinks for everyone here - I have some toasts!"

As he waited for everyone to be served up a fresh drink, Sirius noticed Colin Shanihan come in. Once everyone was holding a drink, Sirius began speaking again. "Here's to Daniel Stanfordshire, the best damn wizard lawyer in the country, even if he does play the part of an insensitive git every now and then!" Loud cheers erupted from those who had been at the trial.

"Here's to Colin Shanihan, whoever the hell you are, for saving my arse on apparently more than one occasion. Hey, and don't leave too soon. I want to talk to you!" Everyone laughed loudly and clapped wildly again.

"Here's to Hermione Granger for being very smart, but also human. I promise not to hold the spell order against you." Sirius smiled broadly as Hermione blushed. Everyone was laughing good-naturedly, and she also seemed to be about to argue that point when Sirius saw Harry touch her arm. She and Harry locked eyes for a moment, and then Hermione visibly relaxed and smiled back at Sirius, raising her glass.

"Here's to Harry, who has saved my soul twice now, as well as my life on more than one occasion. I couldn't ask for a better godson." Harry shook his head, looking extremely embarrassed even as the crowd cheered again.

"And finally, before you all get too bored or I get too drunk, here's to Cordelia." He paused as people glanced over at her. "You are my soul. I couldn't have gotten through this without you. I wasn't sure I was going to make it in that cell these past two nights, but I'd picture your blue eyes and that would keep me going for just a little while longer. Thank you for going through this with me and still loving me. I love you."

"Okay, that's it! Go on with your lives and don't mind us if we get loud. Let's have some music." Sirius walked over to Colin who was introducing himself to Cordelia. He grabbed Cordelia and swung her into a deep dip followed by a very passionate kiss.

"Ah, sorry," he said to Colin, "just had to do that." He smiled as he brought Cordelia back up into a standing position. With one arm still around her waist, Sirius extended his hand to Colin. "Who are you?"

"I thought we established that back in the courtroom," Colin said with a smirk.

"Daniel told me you knew each other as kids?"

"Yes we did, before they moved away. We were the only two wizard kids on our street. We lost touch when they moved to London, but our mums have kept up and constantly brag to each other."

"You work for the International Federation of Wizards and not the Ministry, did I get that correct?"

"Yes. I've been assigned to the Deputy Chancellor for nearly five years now. What is it you want to know?"

"Who are you?" Sirius repeated in a rather bewildered sort of way.

"They originally called me a Covert Operations Wizard, but I told them the acronym was ridiculous." He paused and both Sirius and Cordelia grinned as they worked it out. "So, then they changed it to Covert Intervention Wizard. That was a bit better, but I suggested operative rather than wizard. You know -- less sexist and all that. Anyway, everyone agreed on Covert Intervention Operative. But, honestly we're usually just referred to as Operatives."

"Okay, but why on earth were you assigned to keep tabs on me?"

"The Chancellor assigns Operatives for certain witches and wizards that have particular significance to him."

"Why would the Chancellor be interested in me?" Sirius asked, taking a sip from his drink.

"You have a meeting next Tuesday with the Deputy Chancellor. That's something you should ask him then. I'm just the hired help. They'll be contacting you about the meeting. Oh, and you'd better get that animagus registration done before you talk to him. He's a stickler on procedure."

"Will you still be . . . monitoring . . . me, now that I've been cleared?" Sirius asked uncertainly, adding, "I don't much fancy the idea of being followed."

"I won't be your Operative anymore if that's what you're asking," Shanihan answered with a smile, as he finished off the ale he had ordered.

"You do look a bit like me."

"Well, that's part of the reason I was assigned to you."

"Best keep you away from Cordelia," Sirius muttered, only half-joking. He glanced at Cordelia who laughed and shook her head.

"Ah, no worries on that score. I'm already in a . . . um, . . . long-term relationship," Colin replied, sounding evasive

"Maybe the four of us could have dinner sometime then?" Cordelia put in.

"He'd like that, I think." Colin said slyly.

"Right. Well, thank you for testifying. You may have saved my life."

"That's my job, remember."

"Thanks all the same."

Just then a tanned blonde wizard walked into the Golden Snitch, and Colin raised his hand in a slight wave to him. The wizard crossed the pub towards them. Colin stood up, and they embraced and kissed briefly. "Speak of the devil," Colin laughed. "Aiden Lynch, this is Sirius Black and Cordelia Hunter."

They all shook hands as Aiden said, "Nice to finally meet you. I know much more about you than you'd probably prefer."

"This is certainly more than odd, but I suppose that's a good thing." Sirius commented. Then a flicker of recognition spread across his face. "Aiden Lynch, THE Aiden Lynch? I've seen you play. You're amazing! You fly almost as well as Harry!" Sirius said with a wink to Harry who had hurried over when he recognised Aiden.

"I saw you in the Quidditch World Cup in 1994 - that must have been awful for you." Harry interjected.

"Ireland did win, but you're right, it's not my most memorable match. Krum is always hard to beat. Right now we're 4 and 2, his favor, but I play him again next month so we'll see."

Most of the wizards and a smaller number of witches then congregated for a considerable time around Aiden, discussing Quidditch loudly as more and more drinks were consumed. The conversation began to wind down as various couples migrated off to dance or excuse themselves to get some dinner. The music wizard unexpectedly cued up a swing song, and Harry, who'd had his fair share of Guinness, grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her out on the dance floor.

Cordelia leaned against Sirius as his arms wrapped around her. They watched Harry and Hermione dip, swirl, and spin. They seemed to be the only ones in the pub who could dance to swing music or perhaps they were just so skilled that they intimidated other couples from giving it a go. As the song ended, a slow romantic ballad began. Harry and Hermione returned to the table. Harry pulled out a chair for Hermione to sit down in and offered his hand to Ginny. She smiled brightly and accepted.

Inspired, Sirius whispered in Cordelia's ear, "I think I'm intoxicated enough to try a spin about the floor. Care to join me?"

"You'd look pretty silly out there alone."

They moved onto the dance floor. He encircled her waist with one arm as she draped an arm over his shoulder. They joined hands, and he held them close to his heart as they moved slowly about the dance floor. They danced in silence for a bit. Sirius sensed Cordelia wanted to ask him something. "What's wrong?"

"Did you really threaten to rape that witch who testified today?"

Sirius let out a derisive snort. "You've got to be kidding. That witch told so many lies on that witness stand she should be in Azkaban forever on just the perjury charges alone. No, it was quite the other way around. She went on and on about how she had a crush on me when she thought I was a Dark wizard. She offered to give me the relics in exchange for sex with her."

"And, is that how you got those bone fragments then?" she asked with a sly smile.

"NO!" he said emphatically. "I flatly refused . . . .," he paused and smiled as he noticed that she was smiling at him now. "You're having me on?" he said indignantly.

"Well, after all, I can't fault her for wanting to have sex with you." She smiled suggestively at him, arching her eyebrows. They soon had eyes only for each other, and before they knew it, they were engaged in some excessively passionate kissing.

Cordelia broke the kiss briefly to caution with a smile. "Don't you dare put your hands there while we're out in public! That can wait until later."

He chuckled and moved his hand a bit closer to her waist. "Sorry, sometimes I just can't seem to help myself. How much later, by the way? Could we leave now?"

"Don't tell me you're already tired of celebrating?"

"I am feeling a bit fuzzy . . . like I could use a bit of fresh air."

"I'm all for some fresh air. It's supposed to be quite lovely out tonight."

Sirius got a strange glint in his eye, as a large smile spread over his face.

"Uh oh . . . You look dangerous," Cordelia muttered.

"I've just had a marvelous idea. Come on."

He took her hand and began saying goodnight to everyone. They soon headed out into the night, and he announced that he wanted to go back to her place. When they got to her flat, he told her to put on something casual. He suggested jeans and trainers and a jacket to "keep the wind off."

"I'll be back in half an hour," he said mysteriously and then apparated away.

While she was surprised by this turn of events, having assumed a different scenario unfolding once they reached her flat, she was intrigued. After she'd changed clothes, she took a seat on the stoop outside her flat to wait for him to return.

He arrived back right on time, perched on the motorbike he'd driven the night he filled her in on who he really was. He used the bike so rarely she often forgot he owned it. But seeing the motorbike wasn't all that took her breath away. As he got off, she began to fan her face and pretended to be in danger of fainting.

"What? You've never seen a bloke in a leather jacket and trousers before? These are very practical if you fall off. I never used to ride without them."

Cordelia had collapsed on the steps and began to laugh. "Oh my! I've always thought you were sexy, darling, but you're down right hot in those! Can we go inside now? As much as I'd love to sit here and just look at you in those - it would be ever so much more fun to take them off of you."

Sirius was smiling and shaking his head. He tried to speak a couple of times but just laughed. "And I thought I was bad," he muttered. "No, I'll strip for you later, but this will be better. Trust me."

Cordelia was really laughing now. "What could be better than extricating you from those trousers?"

"All right, all right . . . I was afraid of this. They really aren't meant as an aphrodisiac. They protect your skin if you fall, and they help cut the wind. Come on. . .get on the bike!"

"Ahhhh, I see - you want to take me somewhere?"

"I want to take you on the ride of your life," he said, finally getting her to stop laughing as she took his hand.

He got on the bike, and she clambered on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. They rode for what must have seemed like ages to Cordelia, past all the quiet outlying suburbs. At long last, he stopped and glanced around. They were alone on the road. Sirius drew his wand out of his jacket and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and began to speak. A flood of blue light issued from his wand and seemed to be absorbed by the bike. He put his wand back in his jacket. "Hold on."

He set off down the road again, going faster and faster until they took off from the ground and climbed to a height of 30 meters. Sirius let out whoop. Cordelia was speechless, and as he turned back to grin at her, he saw the surprise, amazement and the tiniest bit of fear etched on her face.

At long last, he landed the bike in an open field far from London. It was quite dark, but the sky was lit by a half moon and hundreds or even thousands of stars. Sirius looked truly happy, even peaceful. He wasn't whooping or manic, just content. He looked over at Cordelia.

"That was incredible, Sirius. Why haven't we done that before?" Cordelia exclaimed as she got off the bike.

"I couldn't. I tried a couple of times, but my heart wasn't in it. It reminded me too much of what I couldn't have. Plus, it's . . . well, a tad illegal. All right, actually it's a flagrant violation of wizarding law. Misuse of muggle artifacts."

"Okay, so you've just been acquitted, and you rush right out and break another couple of laws. Do I need to call . . . er, sorry . . . owl Stanfordshire in the morning?"

"Not unless we get caught," he said with a bit of a mad glint in his eye.

"You're incorrigible!"

"And you are beautiful," he said glancing at her as he sat down on the grass next to the bike.

"You're just saying that," she said as she stretched out next to him with her hands under her head, looking up at the stars.

"I'm hoping to impress you with my subtle seduction techniques."

"Ah, so you've tired of the 'drag her to the bedroom and blow the place up' techniques?"

"Yes, much too dangerous," he laughed, then turned serious. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not tonight. Tonight is for you to celebrate, not worry about whatever happened. We'll worry about it later. Not tonight." She was looking at the stars again. "Which one is Sirius?"

"It's that one right over there," he said, pointing up and to the left. He turned to face her, and leaned in to kiss her deeply. Pulling back, he said casually, "So you enjoyed the bike ride?"

"Something new to tell my mum," she laughed. He was stroking her hair, and his hands wandered down to unbutton her shirt. "Is this the part where I'm permitted to get you out of the 'to die for' sexy trousers?"

"I'm certainly not going to object to you undressing me."

She sat up, straddled his legs and removed his jacket, and then proceeded to unbutton and remove the white dress shirt he had worn to the trial. At this point she mock swooned again, rolling back onto her back. "No shirt, leather trousers . . . be still my heart!" She was laughing again.

Sirius rolled his eyes and lay back on the grass, waiting until she had stopped laughing. He rolled over and began to tickle her, which didn't help her regain her composure. He finally tried to stop her with a kiss.

He murmured with his lips against hers, "Maybe if I stick my tongue far enough down your throat, you'll stop laughing at me and make love to me."

"I'd never laugh at you, darling," she said between fits of giggles. He groaned and rolled onto his back, waiting patiently. She finally took a deep breath, calmed down, rolled over on top of him and kissed him, passionately.

"Is that better?" she asked as she ran her tongue down his neck and over his chest.

"It'll do," he whispered back, finishing off her shirt and camisole.

The breeze was chilly that night, but they didn't notice as they were warming each other quite nicely. The grass was rather moist, but they didn't notice that either. In fact, they were oblivious to everything except each other. Their hands and mouths moved instinctively to give each other the most pleasure. As their bodies fit and moved together in time to the rhythm of the night sounds, they seemed, particularly on this night and in this place, created exclusively for each other.

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

As they finally separated and lay back to regain their breath, composure and clothing, Sirius began to laugh. This time Cordelia tried to stop him with a kiss but gave up and tickled him instead.

"Where'd you put my shirt, wench?"

"It's over there with those marvelous trousers, which I expect to see on you again sometime," she said as she pulled on her jeans.

At last, they got back on his bike. Sirius flew it back to an inconspicuous spot outside of London and then drove it the normal way back to her flat.

As they stood outside her door, he hesitated going inside with her. She turned to him and said, "I really need to go into the office tomorrow . . . er . . today . . . later. But you can stay, can't you?"

"I would, but I have a feeling that once I go to sleep I'll be out of it for a very long time. I don't want you to have to worry about waking me. I'll call you once I get up. Dinner?"

"All right. That was the ride of my life, Sirius."

"The bike or the other one?" he asked with a smirk.

Cordelia whacked him on the shoulder, but didn't answer. They kissed, and again, broke off, and kissed again.

"Right then. Good night," Cordelia said with a smile.

Sirius smiled a smile that Cordelia had never seen on him. He looked so much more than happy.