Chapter Text
Prolgue:
In the gentle dusk of Halloween, 1981, from inside a small house in Godric’s Hollow, came the cries of an infant. The toddler stood trapped in his crib, little fists clutching the bars of his wooden prison. His round rosy cheeks were wet with tears, as were his green eyes. The boy’s dark hair, or the few tufts there were of it, had been streaked with white. Underneath this striking patch of hair was a small fork of lighting, only a little paler than his skin, that branched across his forehead. Moments earlier, he had been a normal child, with normal black hair and a normal forehead. Now everything had changed, whether the small boy knew it or not.
“Mama?” whispered the child, staring at the young woman collapsed on the floor in front of him.
“Mama?” he asked again, his voice full of confusion and fear. “Dada?” he continued, “Moony? Pafoot?”
There was no answer. In years to come, he would not remember these people, nor this house, but the searing green light that had collapsed his mother would not be easily forgotten.
He was The Boy Who Lived.
***
“Sirius Black,” proclaimed the head of the Wizengamot loudly, “You are accused of betraying the Potters’ location to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and first-degree murder of their close friend Peter Pettigrew.”
Sirius drew in a breath, regarding the stern faces looking down at him. His eyes flicked to Remus, who smiled at him encouragingly.
“How do you plead?” boomed the ministry official.
Sirius sat up as straight as he could (which thanks to various posture classes in his youth, was very straight indeed).
“Not guilty.” he replied.
“Very well,” continued the man, a tall and intimidating character with long brown hair, “Let us proceed. The defence may now state their case.”
Sirius’ representative, Martha Madden, who was a friend from school that had kindly agreed to help him, stood up and walked to the centre of the room, positioning herself next to him.
“Sirius Orion Black is not guilty on all accounts,” she announced, “As a close and loyal friend of the Potters, and a staunch opposer of You-Know-Who and everything he stood for, all charges against Mr Black are therefore false. The man who betrayed the Potters is not Sirius Black, but Peter Pettigrew.”
It was hard to know which way his case would go, Martha herself had admitted this to him, but she seemed confident there was at the very least sliver of hope for Sirius. He would take what he could get.
“The offence may now state their case.”
A ministry lawyer, Warren Stint was his name, stood before the judge.
“Sirius Orion Black is guilty on all accounts according to eyewitnesses to the murder and familial ties to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”
Familial ties, thought Sirius scornfully. Even if the odds (and general public opinion) were against him, there were definitely holes in Stint’s case.
He shifted uncomfortably in his restraints and glanced at Moony again. He didn’t notice this time, too focused on the judge, and Sirius wondered if this would be the last time he saw his beloved Remus Lupin. He tried to shake the thought from his head. Of course it wouldn’t be, he assured himself. Stint began the offence and Sirius swallowed, hard.
Warren Stint brought forward witnesses to Sirius’ fight with Wormtail, who all reaffirmed the current story. Next he explained Sirius’ lineage and the Black family’s allegiance to Voldemort. He brought up that there was no evidence of Pettigrew standing with the Dark Lord in terms of upbringing or actions and finally reseated himself.
Martha Madden stood up.
“To prove Mr Black’s true loyalties I will bring forward a series of his friends and teachers.” she began, “Remus Lupin, will you please present yourself to testify.”
Remus descended from the viewing gallery and to the witness stand, beside Sirius and Martha.
“Do you, Remus John Lupin, swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth or be henceforth stripped of your magic?” asked a ministry official, pressing her wand into Remus’ hand.
“I do.” replied Moony.
She removed her wand and walked away. This time Remus looked at Sirius, and they shared another encouraging look.
“Objection!” interjected Stint, all eyes turned to him.
“What is your objection?” asked the head of the case.
“Remus Lupin is a known lycanthrope and therefore unfit to testify.”
Sirius’ expression darkened. Several members of the Wizengamot muttered amongst themselves.
“I don’t see how lycanthropy makes him unfit to testify.” retorted Martha sternly, “He was a close friend of Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and the Potters from Hogwarts. He has valuable input into the situation.”
There was a small stretch of silence.
“Objection overruled.” decided the long-haired man, breaking the quiet of the room.
“Thank you,” she addressed the judge, then turned to Remus.
“Is it your belief that Sirius Black killed Peter Pettigrew?” she began.
“No,” responded Remus, drawing a few gasps from around the room, “Sirius would never cast a killing curse or any other unforgivable, not even on a death eater, let alone a former friend.”
Remus’ answers were rehearsed, Martha had made sure that everything he needed to say (and to not say) had been scripted, even if he was telling the truth.
“How would you explain Pettigrew’s disappearance and single finger?” she asked him pointedly. No doubt this was the question in everyone’s minds.
“Peter was an illegal animagus,” he said, “As was James and as is Sirius. They managed to do this when we were all still in school, in our third year. They did this to be able to comfort me while I was… during full moons at school, so I wouldn’t be alone. James was a stag, Sirius is a dog and Peter… was a rat. This can be confirmed by their patronuses. It’s my belief that Peter cut off his finger and transformed into a rat to escape and frame Sirius. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”
“Is Sirius Black a close member of the Black family?” questioned Martha.
“No,” said Moony confidently, “He was never close with his parents or his brother Regulus. When he was sixteen, he was disowned from the Black family. He doesn’t share their ideologies, nor has he been in contact with any of his close or extended family members - except for Andromeda Tonks, who was also disowned - since the age of sixteen.”
Martha looked pointedly at Stint. Sirius was in half a mind to do the same, but felt it was perhaps the wrong moment.
“Why was Mr Black disowned?” she asked Remus. What a question, thought Sirius.
“He ran away from home,” explained Remus, “To go and live with James Potter, because he didn’t want to live with his birth family anymore. His views differed too much from them, especially when there was talk of the war coming. The Potters took him in as one of their own and he was very grateful to them. James and Sirius were like brothers… they were family.”
“Did Mr Black ever express sympathy or loyalty in regards to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at any point while you knew him?”
“No, he always hated Voldemort and everything he stood for.”
There were some gasps at the mention of Voldemort's name. Martha ignored them.
“Did Mr Black ever express sympathy or support for blood-puritists?”
“Sirius doesn’t believe in blood purity and he’s had lots of Muggleborn friends through the years.”
“Did Mr Black ever express discrimination or hate against Muggles?”
“Never,” confirmed Moony, “In fact, he regularly interacts with muggle culture and enjoys listening to muggle music and wearing muggle clothes.”
“Could you describe Mr Black’s friendship with James Potter?”
“They were very close, the very best of friends,” explained Remus, “They met in their first year of Hogwarts and were inseparable from that point onwards. They were some of the closest in our group, that is to say, myself, Sirius, James and Peter, especially after Sirius moved in with him, and that’s why Sirius was made Harry’s Godfather. Like I said, they were practically brothers.”
“Could you describe Peter Pettigrew’s friendship with James Potter as well as with you and Sirius?”
“Peter was always…” Remus trailed off, clearly Wormtail was still a sore subject for him, and Sirius knew he was somewhat uncomfortable with the scripted response to this question, “Always the odd one out.” He continued, “He was very shy and quiet, and not as close with the rest of us as we were with each other. He and James were on good terms but definitely not as close as James and Sirius.”
Sirius swallowed again, thinking back on their old friend.
“And what were Mr Pettigrew’s political allegiances?” questioned Martha, “Did he support You-Know-Who?”
“I didn’t think so,” replied Remus uneasily, “It’s possible. Peter was significantly less vocal about politics than the rest of us. He was a pureblood but I don’t think his family were anti-muggleborn.”
“Do you believe that it was Peter Pettigrew who betrayed the Potters?”
“Yes,” replied Moony confidently, “I don’t see who else it could have been, there were only a select few of us who were secret keepers. I’m certain it wasn’t Sirius, and I know it wasn’t me, it was Peter.”
“What do you think could have incentivised Mr Pettigrew to betray the Potters and frame Mr Black?”
“It’s hard to say,” replied Remus uneasily, “After we’d all finished Hogwarts we didn’t see him very much, he’d sort of drifted away. Maybe that was our fault for not holding on enough, maybe he resented us for that, or maybe he grew apathetic in our time apart… I… Peter was the only one without a partner between us, he… he only saw Harry a handful of times, I don’t think he knew Lily as well as me and Sirius. Maybe he felt ostracised, or left out. During war, having community, and family is so important, or at least it was for me. Safety in numbers, but also a sense of unity. Peter… Peter didn’t have that as much as we did as far as I know. And… well, despite being in Gryffindor Peter was always a… a coward.” Remus looked uncomfortable saying it, but Martha had thought it was for the best. “While he might not have necessarily supported Voldemort it’s possible that if he was threatened or even feeling threatened - which we all were at this point - that he would have betrayed James and Lily.”
“Thank you for your testimony Mr Lupin,” concluded Martha, “You may return to your seat.”
Remus got up from the stand and walked back up to the viewers gallery, giving Sirius an encouraging look as he went.
Next was McGonagall, and after that Dumbledore, Andromeda and finally Marlene, who all confirmed Sirius’ estrangement from his family and their values, as well as their suspicions that the boys had been animagus, and their confidence that they’d had the magical ability to pull it off. Sirius was asked to transform into his animagus form as well as cast a patronus, which he did and in turn further confirmed their story.
“I would like to remind the Wizengamot that the examination of Sirius Black’s wand yielded no evidence of any unforgivable curses or any other type of lethal spell. The last magic he used before being taken into custody was a disarming spell, which according to the aurors who apprehended him, was not directed at them.” stated Martha.
She then brought up these aurors to testify, as well as bringing back an eye witness of the event.
“Sirius Black will now confirm this story with Veritaserum.” she explained, and Sirius swallowed again. With the majority of the wizarding world against him, Sirius needed something big to win his case and convince them all of his innocence. The veritaserum was that something big. It wasn’t often used in court cases, and only in severe ones, not to mention you had to be of age and the use had to be approved by the head judge, but once in effect it leant potency to any story. Sirius only hoped it would work. A small vial of ministry-administered Veritaserum was brought to him and, all eyes on him, Sirius tipped back his head and drank the potion.
“Did you kill Peter Pettigrew?” asked Martha clearly.
“No.” replied Sirius.
“Have you, at any point, worked under He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or any of his followers to provide them with critical information?”
“No.” said Sirius.
“Did you betray the location of James, Lily or Harry Potter to anyone while they were in hiding?”
“No one.” responded Sirius.
“Is Peter Pettigrew an animagus and is his animagus a rat?”
“Yes.” he confirmed.
“Do you support He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, blood purity, the dark arts or anti-muggle sentiment?”
“No.” he denied.
“Thank you,” finished Martha Madden, fixing him with a firm smile, “That will be all.”