Promises Unbroken

Promises Unbroken

Chapter Thirty-Three: Turning Points

"Get--"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Ernie Jordan spun around like a top before he collapsed, allowing the Aurors on his team just enough time to see the shocked expression that would be frozen on his face for all eternity. He hit the ground in seemingly slow motion, as those following watched his fall with wide eyes, taking their mission down with him in the process. Ernie had been one of the most experienced living Aurors, professional, powerful, and capable--not to mention dammed lucky. But his luck had just run out today when he'd stepped around a corner just a few feet away from their arrival point and run into an ambush.

"DOWN!" Sirius finished the sentence for the dead wizard and threw himself forward, knocking his shoulder into Hestia Jones and sending her flying. Wand in hand, he rolled left, sticking close to the alley wall, and risked a glance over his shoulder before he looked around the corner.

They were trapped. The dead-ended alleyway had definitely been prepared for their arrival, and Sirius could feel his skin tingling as Anti-Apparation wards came into effect. The end of the alleyway appeared to be only a brick wall, but a quick Dark Detecting Spell revealed a layer of wards designed to keep anyone from touching it, lest they die a very nasty death. They were trapped.

Sirius' head whipped around as he heard shouts, and he peered cautiously around the corner. Green light sizzled past his nose, but before he jerked out of the way, he counted eight Death Eaters, all of whom were advancing in their direction. If we had arrived on time, we would be dead already, he realized. Due to a slight glitch in scheduling, Ernie's team had actually left three minutes early--and were still alive because of it. But if they didn't act soon to escape this trap, that wouldn't matter much. Dead was dead no matter when it happened. Sirius eased his head around the corner once again, allowing the tip of his wand to peek out.

"Impedimenta!" he bellowed, jerking his head back before he could see the results. Several angry shouts, however, told Sirius that he must have hit something, and he turned back to face the others on the team.

There were five of them, counting himself, and Hestia Jones was the most experienced of the others, but there was something in her wide eyes that made Sirius queasy. None of them had ever done this before, he knew, led a team into combat and realized the frightful responsibilities that entailed. Even Jones, as experienced as she was, had only worked in pairs or as a member of someone else's team. Ernie Jordan had been the glue holding them together, and although they weren't about to fall apart without him, they were leaderless and searching for answers.

Sirius provided them. "Coleman, Whitenack--drag those dumpsters over here and give us some cover. Everyone else, stay against the wall and stay down! There are at least eight Death Eaters over there."

"We can't stay here!" Jones was on her feet before Sirius could object, taking a cautious step to the right. "If they trap us--"

Sirius dragged her down just as green light filled the space she'd just left. "I said to stay down," he snarled. "And I meant it."

No one else moved, and Sirius risked a quick glance at their faces. His fellow Aurors were tense but not paralyzed with fear, which attested to the strength of their training. They were looking at him, now, though, waiting for answers--and Sirius was the newest of them all, technically, intended to be little more than an observer on his first mission back. But battle plans, he knew, rarely survived first contact with the enemy. An ironical smile touched his lips for a moment, too, as he remembered his old Mentor's fascination with a Muggle named Murphy. Well, if anything, Alastor and Murphy were both right about that, Sirius thought. Everything has definitely gone wrong.

Three dumpsters floated to the alleyway's entrance, slamming down into place with a crash and forming an effective barrier between the Aurors and the Death Eaters. He rolled back to avoid them, and watched with satisfaction as one landed just a few inches shy of where he'd been. It wouldn't last long, Sirius knew, but he'd take every spare moment that he could get. Again, he turned to his colleagues.

"Who's the best curse breaker amongst all of you?" he demanded. No time for niceties. No time for politeness. Just enough time to act.

"I am," Jones replied.

Thud. A spell struck the centermost dumpster, which for a moment burned red. Not for the first time, Sirius was thankful for the sturdiness of Muggle architecture; that thick metal would take a while to overheat or burst.

"Then get to work at cracking the Anti-Apparition wards," he commanded. "We need a way out."

For the first time since he'd known her, Jones didn't argue. She just nodded and went to work. "Got it."

Thunk. Trash flew up in the air and rained down upon them like a particularly smelly and sticky storm. Sirius pried a rotted banana peel off of his face. "And somebody ward up those dumpsters before they explode!"

"I've got it!" Oscar Whitenack turned away, but Sirius caught sight of a curse through the small gap between the leftmost dumpster and the wall.

"Watch for Reductor Curses!" he cried, but it was too late. The center dumpster exploded, pelting the Aurors with burning hot metal fragments. Several cried out in pain.

"Damn." Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke for the first time from Sirius' right.

He turned his head ever so slightly. "You all right?"

"I'm fine," the black Auror answered calmly, lifting his wand. "Just scorched a bit. Engorgio!"

"Good idea," Sirius said approvingly as the two remaining dumpsters swelled to almost twice their original size, filling the gap that had been left when the center one blew up.

Thud. More spells impacted with their dumpster barricade, but both metal containers held strong. Whitenack had finished just in time.

"Any progress?" Sirius called to Jones, who had been regulated to the back of their line for her own safety.

"No!" she snapped angrily. "And if you keep interrupting me, I won't make any!"

Sirius just shook his head, mumbling under his breath. "Polite."

He hadn't meant for anyone else to hear him, but Whitenack grinned as he reached Sirius' side. "She's always like that," the young Auror commented easily. "The dumpsters are done. So what now, boss?"

"Atereperium." Sirius fired a Dark Searching Spell over their impromptu wall, and the results came back almost immediately. "Eight of them. Five of us. We don't have time for this crap." Thunk. The dumpsters shook. "Stay here."

"What?"

But Sirius was moving. Carefully, he edged forward, easing in the small opening between the left dumpster and the wall. For once, he was grateful for the fact that he was still gaining weight back; Sirius didn't think he'd have fit at all if he was up to his normal muscle mass and size. The opening was just narrow enough, though, that he found himself stuck before he could make it to the point where he wanted to be. He took a deep breath and lifted his wand carefully, putting as much control into his magic as he could muster.

"Reducio," he said quietly, and was rewarded to see the dumpster shrink by several inches--just enough to allow him through. Squeezing forward, Sirius looked out at the scene on the other side.

Eight Death Eaters were firing spells steadily at the dumpsters, knowing that they'd crack eventually. As Sirius watched, however, one broke off from the rest and summoned a broom from somewhere behind himself--Sirius threw himself backwards, cursing as the Death Eater lifted off into the air.

"Incoming!"

Flat on his back, Sirius fired off a Stunning Spell and missed, and heard Kingsley, the only one to react fast enough and look in the right direction, cast a quick Incinerator Curse. The tail end of the Death Eater's broom caught on fire, but he continued coming on, his wand lifted high and aiming right at Oscar Whitenack. Sirius twisted, struggling to bring his wand around before it was too late.

"Ava--"

"Everbero!" he cried. Sheer power sent the Death Eater flying from his broom, and he hit the far right hand wall with a sickening and wet crunch, sliding to the ground and lying still. Meanwhile, Kingsley's fire continued burning in the far corner, adding eerie light to their battle.

A shout from Mucia Coleman made Sirius' head whip around so hard that he cricked his neck. While the Aurors had been distracted by the flying Death Eater, the others had taken the opportunity to levitate themselves to the dumpster tops. Six of them were now standing there, firing spells down on the Aurors. Kingsley and Coleman cast simultaneous Shield Charms, which ate up the brunt of the attack, but Sirius heard Whitenack cry out in pain to his right. His instincts, however, lit off. Six, Sirius thought frantically. Where's the seventh?

He twisted aside and rolled, coming up in his crouch while his eyes tracked desperately. Suddenly, he spotted a shadow entering the same opening he'd created only moments before. This Death Eater was short and slender, and very quiet in his movements--and as the shadow disappeared, Sirius realized that he had to be using a Disillusionment Charm to hide himself.

"Incendio!"

Fire filled the narrow opening, and the Death Eater emerged screaming. Within a second, Sirius' opponent had extinguished the fire, though, and was suddenly on their side of the wall--"Ingulra!"

His opponent dodged the Throat Cutting Spell just in time, and came around with a manic gleam in his eyes that Sirius could see even through the slits in his mask. "Crucio!"

He twisted and dodged, knowing that he was in too confided of a space to succeed, but Kingsley's Stunning Spell struck the Death Eater just in time. But there were no seconds to spare for thanks. Sirius screamed over his shoulder, feeling artificial wind start to whip around himself and knowing it wasn't good.

"Jones!"

"Shut up! I'm almost there!"

Despite the gravity of the situation, he grinned. Some things would never change.

Sirius jumped back into the fray, noticing that Whitenack was up, using his wand in his right hand now as his left hung uselessly by his side. Six Death Eaters still faced them from atop the dumpsters, and the fight was constant motion as both sides dodged and twisted, trying to avoid death in such narrow confines. However, the Aurors were definitely at a disadvantage, outnumbered with only four of them fighting and on the downhill side of things. The Death Eaters were certainly using the dumpsters to their advantage, too, firing down spells from their superior height and targeting Aurors from above.

Time to change the odds, Sirius thought nastily, turning to the side with a wave of his wand. "Resiacio!"

A drainpipe tore free of the far right wall and crashed into three of the Death Eaters, knocking them howling from atop the dumpsters. Then, suddenly the odds were on the Aurors' side, and Sirius saw Whitenack take down another Death Eater with an excellently timed Strike Spell. One of the remaining enemies, however, grazed Coleman with a Reductor Curse, and the brown haired Auror collapsed. Sirius tried and missed with a Conjunctivitis Charm, and watched his target also dodge Kingsley's Full Body Bind.

"I've got it!" Jones cried just as two of Sirius' earlier targets climbed back on top of the wall, returning the odds to four against four. Jones' Paralysis Charm sped past Sirius' ear, but she missed, too, as Whitenack cried out in pain, struck by a Bone Breaker Curse and clutching his ribs.

"Kingsley, take Mucia and go!" Sirius commanded. He didn't know any of them well, but the big black Auror struck him as the most levelheaded of his colleagues and the most capable of piggybacking another as he Apparated. There was no argument; the big Auror simply lifted Mucia Coleman's still form, and raising his wand, was gone.

Sirius fired off a Choking Spell and shouted at Whitenack over his shoulder. "Oscar!"

The injured Auror didn't need to be told twice; in a second, he, too, was gone. Now it was four Death Eaters against Sirius and Jones, and he wasn't about to tempt the odds. He reached for Ernie Jordan's body, pulling it close. "Let's go!"

Sirius raised his wand and waited a heartbeat for Jones to disappear first, then Apparated.

----------------

They arrived in at the Apparition Point inside Auror Headquarters, just off the Ready Room. It was the only non-warded part of the Headquarters, and was surrounded by heavy walls and protected against incursion. The Apparition Point might have been accessible to almost anyone, but getting out could indeed be a problem. Especially if you weren't an Auror.

Sirius immediately joined Kingsley in kneeling by Mucia Coleman's side. She was breathing regularly but shallowly, and her features were pale. Before he could ask if Kingsley had tried to wake her yet, the black Auror lifted his wand. "Enervate."

Mucia stirred immediately, opening her eyes and trying to sit up. Kingsley, however, pushed her back down. "Stay still," he said quietly. "We're back at Headquarters."

As she relaxed, Sirius rose and moved to Oscar Whitenack's side. The youngest of them all was a mess; his left arm hung uselessly and his right was wrapped protectively around his ribs, which had to hurt badly, judging from the pinched look on his face. "How are you feeling, kid?"

"Awful," Oscar replied quietly, glancing at Ernie's body. Sirius' stomach did a flip-flop as he followed the young Auror's gaze. Ernie had a son, he remembered. Lee Jordan, friends with Harry at Hogwarts. No child deserved to lose a parent like this.

"Yeah," he breathed. The adrenaline rush was rapidly wearing off, now, and Sirius suddenly felt very tired. But there were other things to do, first. "Kingsley, Jones, are you alright?"

"Fine," Jones replied coolly.

"Just a little scorched," the big black Auror repeated, and Sirius glanced in his direction, noticing for the first time the bloody burn running down the right side of Kingsley's bald head. "If I had hair like the rest of you, it wouldn't be so bad."

"Good," Sirius said quietly, then moved forward to activate the unlocking spells layered on the Point's only door. The spells weren't too complicated, but they were monitored so that the Aurors on duty would know the moment that door was opened. Accordingly, Sirius didn't expect to have to wait long for company, and wasn't disappointed. Within seconds of the doors moving aside, James burst through the opening.

"What happened?" he demanded immediately, knowing that they were back entirely too early. But then Sirius watched his friend stop cold upon catching sight of Ernie's dead body, Mucia's prone form, and Oscar's pained face. "Oh, God..."

James immediately knelt by Ernie's side, checking for a pulse even though the look on his face revealed that he knew he wouldn't find one. After a long moment, he stood and looked at the others. "What happened?"

"We were ambushed," Sirius answered quietly. There would be endless rounds of debriefings, he knew, but the answer wasn't that complicated. "When we Apparated in, they knew we were there, and were waiting for us. Ernie went down before anyone had a chance to react."

"All right," James said slowly. "Let's get you five out of here, then."

----------------

Her office door opened before Arabella had a chance to reply to the knock. Irritated, she looked up, but the feeling faded as she saw the serious expression on her visitor's face.

"We have a problem, Arabella," Dumbledore said gravely.

"What is it?" Her stomach clenched anxiously; those words, coming from Dumbledore, were never lightly used.

"Three Muggles found a body today here in London. It had been left outside for nine days, and defied all Muggle attempts to identify the remains. Also, the cause of death seemed to be inexplicable to Muggle medicine."

Arabella knew exactly what that had to mean; they'd seen it before. "The Killing Curse," she said flatly. "Who was it this time?"

"Bartemius Crouch--"

"What?" 'Bella cut him off with shock. Crouch had only escaped nine days ago, and part of her couldn't believe that he'd been stupid enough to get himself killed before they could catch him.

"--Senior," Dumbledore finished.

It took Arabella a long moment to digest what he'd just said, and even then it didn't make much sense. "You must be mistaken," she managed. "I was just talking to him an hour ago."

"I think, 'Bella, that you and I both have been associating with the wrong Barty Crouch," the Minister said levelly. "But that is were Lily comes in."

'Bella's eyes transferred to the slim, red haired witch standing just inside the office door, which she'd shut when Arabella wasn't paying attention. Lily nodded to her in greeting with an ironic half-smile, and then the head of the DMLE turned back to face her boss. "Polyjuice Potion, you think?"

"I do. But there is only one way to find out."

A Death Eater impersonating the Deputy Minister of Magic, 'Bella thought to herself. What a disaster this is going to be. I can only imagine what the press is going to make of this... Damn you Crouch! How could you go and get yourself killed by your own son? She sighed. "When are you going to confront him?"

"In one hour. I've already sent for James and Sirius, but there are some issues down in the Auror Division that they had to clear up first."

"Ernie. I know." A stab of sadness invaded Arabella's heart. Ernie Jordan had been an Auror back in the days when she'd been one herself. He had been quite a few years younger than her, of course, but they had always been good friends. James had made a point of telling her personally when Sirius and the others had returned over two hours ago; as far as she knew, the team was still deep in the debrief process as they tried to figure out what exactly went wrong.

"Yes, indeed," Dumbledore answered heavily. "His loss, I fear, will plague us for some time."

"James thought they were betrayed," Arabella said suddenly, remembering her short conversation with him earlier. "He and Sirius both seem to be of that opinion. Could Crouch be the explanation?"

"Not unless you told him," was the quiet reply. "Because I certainly did not."

----------------

The group assembled in the Minister of Magic's office was an odd one, at least in Sirius' opinion. Behind the desk, of course, was Albus Dumbledore, with Lily Potter sitting to his left and Arabella Figg to his right. James and Sirius both leaned against the back wall, the most obvious (but not only) security measures taken. An outsider would not have understood why those particular two Aurors were present; old friends they might have been, but one was the head of the Division, and the other was its newest member. However, a more educated spectator would have understood the reason for their specific presence. Like Dumbledore, Arabella, and Lily, both were members of the Order's Inner Circle.

The door opened slowly, revealing Bartemius Crouch. His expression was haughty and confident, just as it always was--until he noticed the five people in the office, and his step wavered ever so slightly. Crouch's eyes focused on Lily for just a second too long, and that was when Sirius knew Dumbledore was right. Lily's uncanny ability to "see" through Polyjuice Potion was well known enough, which certainly explained why the "Deputy Minister" had avoided her presence for the last week and a half. What wasn't well known, though, was the Anti-Polyjuice Charm that she and the Unicorn Group had created.

Lily cast the charm under her breath, and Crouch's form immediately wavered and collapsed, revealing a younger man who bore a strong but not perfect resemblance to the wizard whose appearance he'd stolen. The question was, did he realize it?

"Sit down, please, Barty," Dumbledore said quietly.

The young wizard hesitated, and then blinked, seeming to realize what must have happened. He started to turn, but James and Sirius had come off the wall together and around either side of Dumbledore's desk, moving towards him swiftly. Sirius reached out and closed the door as James spoke.

"I believe the Minister asked to you sit down," he said politely.

Crouch's gaze darted from James to Sirius and then back again; neither Auror had their wand out, but the power and threat in their presence was clear. The Death Eater's eyes sharpened, though, and Sirius knew he was still considering action. Whatever else Crouch Junior might have been, he was no coward.

"Do not," Dumbledore said quietly, "make this any more difficult on yourself than it already is."

Greater wizards than Crouch had crumbled when faced with Dumbledore's implacability; this one was no exception. After a moment's hesitation, the young wizard sat down.

"Now," the Minister of Magic said calmly, "we will spare ourselves the tedium of examining how you came to be where you are. I think all in this room can guess that you used your father to escape and then overpowered him shortly afterwards--how quickly does not matter. The question, however, remains: what do we do with you?"

Crouch's chin jutted out and his beady eyes met Dumbledore's defiantly. "You'll have to kill me."

"My dear boy, I will do nothing of the sort." The old wizard smiled slightly. "However, I will insure that you stand trial, both for your earlier crimes and for the murder of your father."

"You can't prove anything," Crouch declared, but there was a bit of unease in his voice.

"No?" Arabella Figg spoke up for the first time. "Our file on you is quite complete, Mr. Crouch. You've been a very careless Death Eater, not to mention the fact that impersonating a Ministry official is a serious crime by itself."

"There is another option," Dumbledore said quietly. Crouch looked at him suspiciously, and he continued: "I think everyone in this room understands what your master does to those Death Eaters who have been foolish enough to be captured. However, if you cooperate with the Ministry, we can protect you."

Crouch snorted. "I will not spy for you."

"Nor would we trust you to do so!" Figg declared. "You're missing the point, boy. The option is to cooperate, not freedom. But we will save your life."

"You against the Dark Lord?" Crouch laughed. "I would rather trust in a flubberworm to defeat him than the likes of you!" He shot to his feet, making James and Sirius both tense for action. "I'll tell you what you can do with your offer. Because I will never betray my master. I would rather die than serve the likes of you!"

Dumbledore, however, did not even blink as Crouch continued, his voice growing higher and higher.

"I am not a coward, unlike those of you who sit and hide in this room, terrified of the Dark Lord's powers! You create lies about him because you cannot bear to see the truth! You will never understand the power and majesty of my lord! I will be proud to die in his service if I must, rather than sink to your level." He sneered. "Cooperation between wizards and animals! Wizards respecting Muggles! Polluted blood and half-breeds! It disgusts me, and I would rather die a thousand deaths than submit to that."

Suddenly, though, his wand was out and whipping over to face Dumbledore. Crouch was moving faster than any of them anticipated, but the old man never moved.

Sirius' stunning spell hit a fraction of a second after James' did, but both impacted Crouch in the chest and he fell like a rock, bouncing off the chair and lying still. The two Aurors exchanged glances and grim smiles; they had been expecting trouble, of course, but it was always nice to get it over with.

"Well," Lily remarked dryly. "That was enlightening."

"Enlightening indeed," Dumbledore said quietly. He rose and came around the desk. "Thank you," he continued. "But now I believe it is time for another meeting."

----------------

The eight of them filed into the room at midnight; they would have preferred to do so sooner, but the necessity of waiting to see if Snape was called out (which he wasn't) and dealing with Crouch Junior had delayed matters a great deal. By the time Sirius took the Power seat, he was bone weary, and the failed raid from that afternoon seemed as if it had been days in the past. Remus, Snape, and Dung had all been informed about the reason for this gathering, but every alert eye was focused on Dumbledore now, who looked even more tired than Sirius felt as he lowered himself into the Wisdom seat.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," he began. "I feel we have some very important matters to discuss. First, though, I would like to talk about something even more important Barty Crouch's death."

A chill ran around the table, and Sirius, like the others, stared at Dumbledore, trying to figure out what he meant. The seriousness in his quiet voice alerted them all to the fact that something was amiss, and a heavy bolt of dread began to form in Sirius' stomach as he let his eyes drift around the table. The only one who did not seem anxious and mystified was Snape, who was looking at the others with pronounced suspicion in his dark eyes. Finally, Dumbledore continued.

"As most of you know, Ernie Jordan died today in Auror raid. He and his team were ambushed, leaving one dead and two seriously injured. The raid, however, was unscheduled. Even the Aurors on Ernie's team did not know where they were going until the last minute. No one knew, except for the people in this room."

The silence was overwhelming, and Sirius fought the urge to hold his breath. When he'd spoken of his concerns to James, earlier, he hadn't been completely sure what the Aurors' debriefs would turn out. He'd been certain that someone, somewhere, must have slipped, and then he'd been just as certain that the blame belonged to Barty Crouch, Jr. However, he'd known something was wrong when both Dumbledore and Figg claimed not to have told the Death Eater about the raid.

Which meant someone in the Inner Circle must have betrayed them.

Dumbledore took a deep breath before speaking again; all the others were staring at him in shocked silence. "I would not like to believe the worst unless it is proven that I must do so," he said quietly. "And I apologize in advance in case I am wrong, which I dearly hope I am. But I ask--ask, mind you, not command--that each member of the circle takes Veritaserum to prove his or her innocence."

The others seemed not to know what to say. The Order of the Phoenix's Inner Circle had always existed purely on trust. In the beginning, it had been composed of legendary witches and wizards like Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, David Potter and Armando Dippet--all of whom were now dead. But even the Second Circle, formed with the addition of four twenty year olds who had joined solely on the basis of Dumbledore's character judgment, had trusted one another implicitly. They'd had to. Anything else would guarantee almost immediate death, because any one of them could break the Circle, thus destroying the entire Order of the Phoenix. Without trust, they were nothing.

The possibility of betrayal from within was sickening. Swallowing, Sirius spoke first. "I will take it."

"And I," James said immediately.

At Sirius' left, Lily nodded, and Remus, too, responded in the affirmative. After a moment, Snape nodded, and next to him, Fletcher, at Temptation, did so as well. Finally, Figg inclined her head unhappily, making the decision unanimous.

"Severus, if you will please fetch the Veritaserum," Dumbledore asked politely. As Snape rose to do so, their head said apologetically, "I see no reason to delay."

"I agree," Arabella Figg grunted, standing and removing a tea tray from the side table. "We might as well try to make this as palatable as possible."

A single tap of her wand brought the kettle to a boil, and as she sat down, the head of the DMLE passed the tray around. For his part, Sirius passed; he didn't like tea already, and adding Veritaserum to it would only combine his two least favorite substances. To his left, however, he noticed as James poured a generous amount of both milk and sugar into his cup with a grimace. James usually drank tea without embellishments, but then again, this wasn't exactly normal tea, either. Or at least it wouldn't be in a moment.

Snape returned with a two vials in his hand, one silver one of Veritaserum and the other clearly the antidote. He handed both to Dumbledore without a word. Seating himself again at Dumbledore's right, he declined the tea tray when Fletcher tried to hand it to him, taking only an empty cup, as Sirius had. It seemed that he, too, wanted to simply get it over with.

"Thank you all for doing this," the Order's head said quietly, passing the silver vial left to Remus. "Three drops, please."

Remus' face was calm as he did so and passed the vial on. When Lily finally handed it to Sirius, he allowed the requisite amount to drop into his cup and sent it on, not wanting to think about it. He'd taken the potion before, of course--Aurors did so regularly in the course of their Survival Training, which helped to explain James' expression of extreme distaste--but Sirius had always hated it. His time in Voldemort's hands certainly hadn't helped matters, either, because the Dark Lord wasn't subject to Ministry guidelines and had once wanted the Potters very badly. At least this time no one is forcing the stuff down my throat

The vial passed from James to Fletcher and finally to Snape, who poured it into his cup without a second glance. Of course, since he'd undoubtedly made the potion, Snape would trust it--and for once, Sirius was very glad that he had a high tolerance for Veritaserum. It just wouldn't do to get sick on one of Snape's potions. He'd never live that one down.

At Dumbledore's nod, one by one, they downed their portions. James, Sirius noticed with mild amusement, pinched his nose tightly before drinking his hot glass of tea all in two gulps. He turned a bit red around the face afterwards, but managed to keep the Veritaserum down. Sirius, on the other hand, just swallowed the three drops as quickly as he could and tried to ignore how his stomach rolled upon contact with the potion. Remus actually managed the best out of all of them (including Snape) and managed to drink his tea as if there was nothing untold inside the cup at all.

Several long moments passed in silence as they all waited for the Veritaserum to take effect. Sirius stared at the ceiling, feeling his stomach rolling unpleasantly and trying to ignore it. At least they would find some answers tonight. It was possible to fight Veritaserum, of course (that was a skill shared by at least four of the Auror-trained wizards at the table, although Sirius was willing to bet that Snape had picked it up somewhere along the way, too), but it was impossible to lie through it. Direct questions had to be answered truthfully--the only way around that, as Sirius knew perfectly well from personal experience, was not to answer at all. And in this situation, doing so would be as good as an admission of guilt.

Finally, Dumbledore turned to Remus and spoke. His voice was quiet, but Sirius had no doubt that the Order's head was employing every bit of his skill at Legilimency in addition to relying upon the potion.

"Did you mention this afternoon's raid to anyone?"

"No," Remus answered clearly. The ease in his voice was odd; Remus had always gotten sick off Veritaserum before. Potions never seemed to agree with him very much, including the Wolfsbane Potion he was required to take every month. This time, though, the Truth Potion didn't seem to be affecting him adversely at all.

"Have you ever betrayed the Order of the Phoenix?" Dumbledore asked.

"No." Remus' voice was still steady.

"Have you ever, in any way, shape, or form, served Lord Voldemort?"

"I have not."

Dumbledore nodded, seemingly satisfied, and passed the antidote to Remus as he looked at Arabella Figg, repeating the same questions and receiving the same confident answers. Like Remus, Figg didn't seem to be any worse of the wear due to the potion, but when Dumbledore finally turned to question Lily, she was looking a little green around the edges. But the same questions received the same answers, and then it was Sirius' turn.

His stomach was still churning madly, and it was hard to meet Dumbledore's eyes as the world started rotating around him. Sirius blinked once, forcibly regaining control of his senses; however, Dumbledore's voice still sounded as if it came from a great distance.

"Did you mention this afternoon's raid to anyone?"

"Yes," Sirius replied honestly. "I discussed it with the team before we left."

"Did you speak of the mission with anyone else?"

"No." His stomach did a back flip, and Sirius struggled not to blink.

"Have you ever betrayed the Order of the Phoenix?" Dumbledore asked.

"No."

"Have you ever, in any way, shape, or form, served Lord Voldemort?"

Sirius coughed. "No."

"Very well," Dumbledore said, and Lily started to pass the antidote to Sirius.

Then the world went into a flat spin, and Sirius felt his body convulse as the Inner Circle got a good look at the remnants of his dinner. Unfortunately, throwing up didn't make him feel any better. He was suddenly cold, and a distant corner of Sirius' mind recognized the fact that he was shaking madly. Lily's hand was on his shoulder, and she was pressing a cup to his lips. From far away, he heard James say his name and heard Snape curse.

"No, don't give him that!" He heard a crash and Lily's startled yelp.

"Sirius? Sirius, can you hear me?" James was shaking him, but the world had gone dark.

"Damn it, I should have known this would happen!" Snape snarled.

"What's going on?" Lily demanded.

Sirius was shaking, and his body convulsed again, harder, as he threw up a second time. A second set of hands was on his shoulders, anchoring him and not letting him fall. He was cold, so cold...

"He's going unconscious!"

"Sirius!" Remus shook him hard.

He wheezed for air, but his entire throat burned. Sirius threw up a third time, and heard Figg curse in the background. Then everything went black.

----------------

When he woke up, he was still shaking. Someone had wrapped a blanket around him, though, and he was lying on a couch. When Sirius opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Dumbledore's crooked nose mere inches from his own.

"How do you feel, Sirius?"

"Awful," he croaked. His throat was so dry that it hurt to talk.

"Here." Standing above him, James handed Sirius a glass of water.

"Thanks." He sipped carefully, noticing that the rest of the Inner Circle was arrayed around him, all watching him with worried eyes. Even Snape seemed mildly disturbed by the whole process--or at least sick to his stomach, but that could have been the Veritaserum, too.

Dumbledore was still leaning over him, studying Sirius over the rims of his glasses with concerned blue eyes. "Were you exposed to Veritaserum in Azkaban, Sirius?"

"Yeah." Memories welled up unbidden, but he forced them down. That was the last thing he needed right now. "And before. Lots."

"Ah," the old wizard breathed. "It is as I thought, then."

"What?" His mind was still too fuzzy to follow a great deal of logic.

"Overdoses of Veritaserum seem to have caused you to react very adversely to the potion," Dumbledore answered. "Especially, I believe, to Veritaserum brewed by Severus Snape."

"Or any of my potions, for that matter," Snape added stiffly. "I suspect that you have encountered at least a few of them."

"Yeah." Sirius swallowed dryly. "A few."

He was starting to warm up, finally, and had stopped shaking. Slowly, Sirius sat up, partially surprised that no one tried to stop him, but grateful that he was able to manage. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that someone's Cleaning Charm had taken care of the mess he'd made. He took another sip of water.

"How did the rest of the questioning go?" he asked.

"Perfectly fine," Dumbledore replied cheerfully. "It seems that I was wrong and young Crouch must have found out somehow...but that does not matter. We shall find out the reason eventually."

"Oh."

"You'll be pleased to know, Sirius, that Dung threw up his Veritaserum, too," James added with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Not nearly as badly as you, I might add," Fletcher protested archly.

"Regardless of who threw up worse than who," Lily interjected, "I think it's time to get Sirius home. Do you think you can Apparate?"

"Give me a few minutes and I'll be fine," he replied immediately, then wondered how much of a lie that would turn out to be. He was feeling better, though, and wormed his way free of the blanket without any major mishaps. Only then did he notice the worried blue eyes of Remus Lupin still focused on him.

"I'm not going to have you wandering into my school like that again, am I?" he asked quietly. "Three-quarters dead is not an acceptable state."

Sirius swallowed. There was no lying to Remus, who had seen him when he'd escaped from Voldemort's hands and knew what kind of mess he'd been. "I'll be okay," he said after a moment. "Really."