The Trials

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The days flew by as Sirius’ trial approached. All except for classes.

Professor Rosenberg, Professor Summers, Professor Morgan, Professor O’Brien and Professor Giles had all taken leaves of absence. No one knew where they’d gone, but Harry and his friends had been miserable, as Professor Snape had taken over Defense Against the Dark Arts yet again when he came back from his own excursion into oblivion. Charlie, or Professor Weasley (Ron and his brothers couldn‘t say this without a snickered,) had taken over Magical Lore, and watching Professor Flitwick try and teach physical defense was actually humorous.

Sirius arrived at Hogwarts late Tuesday night, wearing a heavy black robe, the hood up. On either side walked Remus and a blond woman, who looked quite pale.

Harry blinked. It had been two days since his return from Azkaban, and he’d never seen the woman before.

"Harry?"

It had been Sirius’ voice.

Harry threw off his invisibility cloak and walked up to Sirius. "How are you?"

Sirius sighed, and put his hood down. He looked much better than two days prior. His black hair was cut to just above his ears, parted down the middle, his teeth were very clean, and he looked like any other wizard Harry had ever seen.

The blond woman gripped Sirius’ arm as she stared at Harry. "Oh, Merlin. It’s like looking at James all over again…"

Harry’s attention snapped to her.

Sirius sighed. "It is, isn’t it? Lily‘s eyes, though."

The woman sighed and shook her head. "I’m going to kill Voldemort with my bare bloody hands."

Remus sighed. "Sarah…"

"Sarah?" Harry repeated. "Sarah Marshall?"

"Oh, hell, I haven’t been called Marshall in forever," the blond snickered. "I’m a married woman." She winked at Remus, who sighed and shook his head.

"You’re Torianna’s mum!" Harry cried. "Bloody hell!"

"Oy," Sirius snapped. "Just cause Sarah curses doesn’t mean you can, too. Merlin, Lily’d have my head on a platter if she heard you say that."

"But, you are, aren’t you?" Harry asked Sarah. "You’re Torianna’s mum."

Sarah nodded, and then stopped. "Wait… how do you know about Torianna? She’s in the states, you’ve never met her, have…" She turned a harsh stare to Remus. "You didn’t tell me she was here."

Remus blinked. "I wanted to surprise you."

"I don’t know weather to kiss you or kill you."

"Preferably, neither," Sirius voiced. "Can we find my room. I’d really like to actually sleep on a bed for the first time in fourteen years."

Sarah grumbled. "Mother fucking Petigrew… I’ll kill him, I will…"

"Will you keep the cursing to a minimum?" Remus snapped. "First of all, we’re in a school. Second of all, Lily’s son is standing right here. If we‘re not careful, she‘s going to start haunting us."

Sirius sighed. "Sometimes, I wish she would. Where’s Wesley?"

"Preparing for tomorrow," Remus replied. "Now, come on, let’s find you a room."

"Potter! Ten points from Gryffindor for being out of bed after hours!"

Remus, Sirius and Sarah looked past Harry to Snape.

"’Lo, Severus," Remus smiled. "How was the mission?"

Snape glared. "Potter. Bed."

"Put a shoe in it, Severus," Sarah snapped. "Before I do."

Snape glared. "None of you are teachers here," he said sternly. "I, however, am."

Sirius raised a hand. "Legal guardian. Now sod off."

"Twenty points from Gryffindor, for foul behavior from the alumni."

Remus automatically held Sarah back. "Sarah, calm down. We’re all on the same side, here."

Snape turned his nose up at them and walked off.

"Ugly little shit," Sarah grumbled.

Sirius sighed. "Y’know what?"

"What?" Remus asked.

"I could use a bed. And some fire whiskey."

Remus glared. "You are not getting drunk the night before your trial. Save it for Halloween."

The three adults went silent.

Sirius finally cleared his throat, and addressed Harry. "You should go to bed. You’ve got class in the morning."

"No," Harry replied. "I’m coming to the trial. With Ron, Hermione, Evelyn and Torianna."

Remus shook his head. "There’s no reason for all of you to miss class. You‘re staying here."


Evelyn brushed her hair out and sighed at the boy behind her. "What are you staring at?"

Remus and Sirius had caved. Even Sarah, after seeing Torianna for the first time caved.

"How do you know I’m staring?"

"I’m standing in front of a mirror, dumb-ass."

Draco sighed. "You really think he’s innocent, don’t you?"

"I know he’s innocent," Evelyn replied. "Listen, if Dumbledore, and Remus, and Harry think-"

"Potter’s an idiot," Draco said bitterly. "Don’t listen to him."

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Bite your tongue about my friends around me, will you?"

"Can I bite your tongue instead?"

"Y’know… it was only a month ago that you had no idea what sex was," Evelyn commented. "Now, you’re getting all kinky? What is this?"

Draco smirked. "Maybe I really am evil," he replied.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. How did you get into the Gryffindor tower, again?"

"Ron let me in," Draco replied.

She blinked and turned to him. "Ron?"

Draco shrugged. "Ron."

"So… you guys are friends?"

"I wouldn’t say friends," Draco replied, shifting uncomfortably. "I’d say… casual acquaintances who like to call each other rude, tactless names."

Evelyn smirked. "He’s your buddy."

"Kiss my arse."

"There will be no arse-kissing," said a sharp voice. "What is he doing in the Gryffindor common room?"

Evelyn rolled her eyes at her father. "Give it a rest, Dad. Draco’s fine. He’s just staring intently at my ass."

Sirius blinked. "Please tell me you’re not dating him…"

"And what if I tell you I am?"

Sirius turned a glare on Draco. "If you don’t keep your hands off my kid-"

"Dad… go get ready for court," Evelyn instructed.

Draco stared as Sirius fumed for a moment, but stormed out of the portrait hole. The man was everything Professor Wyndham-Pryce had described, and Draco had to admit to being intimidated. But he didn’t have to admit it to anyone else.


Harry sat in-between Ron, who was wearing his shades again, and Hermione. On either side of them sat Torianna and Evelyn, along with Remus and Sarah. Dumbledore sat in front of them, next to Draco, along with Arthur and Molly Weasley, and Bill, Percy, and Charlie.

The trial had been going quite slowly, as all of the evidence against Sirius was presented to Fudge and the rest of the court.

Sirius sat in the very front, next to Wesley, who looked stiff as a board.

Harry sighed deeply. It was going to be a long day.


"We lost the track again," Angel called.

"Shit!" Faith cried. "Shit, shit, shit! Where could this shithole be?!"

"Wherever he is, he’s not here," Willow commented. "Maybe some kinda tracking spell would do the trick?"

"Not done by you," Giles told her. "Not here. We’re too close."

"I hate Little Hangleton," Angel commented. "Even when I was a vampire this place gave me the creeps."

"It should," Buffy replied. "This is Voldemort’s stomping ground."

Willow sighed. "He can’t be far, can he? This place must be smaller than Sunnydale." she asked.

Buffy sighed heavily. "I miss Sunnydale. The big bads were so uncomplicated. They just killed to kill. Indiscriminate. Didn’t matter who you were or where you came from. They just killed you."

Angel looked around as they walked through the town, earning strange stares from other passers-by. "What do you guys think about the grave yard?"

"I think it’s our best bet," Buffy replied. "Onward to the cereal boxes of death."


They’d asked Sarah to take an oath as she got up on the stands. She did, and one of the potion makers began to explain the implications of the Veritaserum to her, but she just glowered at him, took the mug from him, and chugged the whole thing.

"Bloody brilliant," Ron muttered. "Guess now we know why Torianna’s such a bad-arse."

Harry smirked briefly, but kept his eyes on Sarah as Wesley asked the questions and the truth, the real truth, came out.


"COME BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE FUCK!"

Peter Petigrew wet himself.

He had a very angry-looking brunette chasing him through the cemetery. He screamed, and hit something very hard.

He looked up, expecting to see a person, but looked up to see a mausoleum. "Hell."

He was dragged to his feet, and turned around, to face the two slayers, the witch, the warrior and the watcher.

"Finally," Faith sighed.

Before Petigrew could apparate or even struggle, he was slammed in the face, and passed out.


The entire court broke into chatter as Sarah’s account of what happened fourteen years prior came to a close. She was led off the bench, by Wesley, as the potion hadn’t worn off.

Fudge banged a gavel, and the court settled down. "We will continue this trial tomorrow, at the request of Mr. Wyndham-Pryce. Adjourned."


"You okay?"

Sarah turned her zoned-out gaze from out the train window to her daughter.

"Yes, I’m alright. Just a little dazed from the potion. You?"

"I’m okay, I guess," Torianna replied. "It’s been a weird few weeks… hell, it’s been a weird existence, lately."

"Existence, you’ll find, is nothing but weird," Sarah smiled. "This has to be some trip. Don’t suppose you were expecting to meet your parents when you signed up for this thing?"

Torianna shook her head. "Nope. Not at all."

"Do you miss the states?"

Torianna shrugged. "Sometimes. Miss my friends. Fit in there much better than I do here. Evelyn fits in well here, though."

"I noticed," Sarah replied. "She’s with a Malfoy, I hear. Sirius is going to sh- I mean… he‘ll-"

"Shit?" Torianna asked.

Sarah shook her head. "Don’t say that. I don’t care so much, but I think your father might get upset. And It‘ll make me look like a bad mum."

Torianna smirked. "Yer not a bad mother."

Sarah sighed and put a hand through her daughter’s hair. "Dumb luck I ended up with you and your father, you know. Dumb bloody luck."


"I don’t see why we have to be here," Percy complained. "I have a lot of work to do."

Molly sighed. "We’re here to support Harry and Sirius."

"But what if Sirius really is guilty?" Percy asked.

"He’s not, Dear," Molly replied. "I trust Dumbledore more than anyone."

Percy sighed. "I suppose. I just want to get back to work."

Arthur sighed. "Tomorrow evening, Percy. Just be patient. This means a lot to Harry."

Percy sighed again. "Fine. But did you see Fudge giving those odd stares at Ron? Those shades look ridiculous!"

Molly and Arthur didn’t reply. Only sighed at each other.


Charlie sighed as he paced the main halls of Hogwarts that night.

"What are you waiting for?" Bill asked him. He was sitting on the floor, flipping through a magazine.

"A girl."

Bill snorted. "You think some girl is going to walk through that door and-"

The double doors swung open harshly, and a short, pale brunette rushed in and threw her arms around Charlie.

Bill got to his feet, his magazine forgotten. "Bloody hell." He looked up. "Where‘s mine?"

Faith sighed, and looked at Bill, her arms still around Charlie. "Another brother?"

"My older brother," Charlie told her, kissing the top of her head. "Bill, this is the girlfriend. Faith."

Bill nodded. "Nice t’ meet you."

Faith nodded. "Yeah." she looked up at Charlie. "We have a present for Dumbledore."


"Oh, god," he whimpered. "Please don’t hurt me."

Sarah snarled, as Remus did his best to hold her back.

"Calm down, woman!" he cried. "We need him, remember?"

Buffy sighed as she finished bounding Peter to a chair. Across from her, Faith was doing the same to Sirius.

"This really isn’t necessary," Sirius told her. "I can just turn into a dog, and then you wouldn’t know what to do."

"Sorry," Faith shrugged. "Giles’ orders."

"And we animagus-proofed the office," Willow added. "Can’t have rat-boy running off on us."

Dumbledore entered his office, followed by Cornelius Fudge. He stopped dead in his tracks at the scene.

"Hey, Professor," Buffy greeted. "Oh! Hey, Cornhole! You should see this, too."

"His name is Cornelius," Giles informed her.

Buffy glared at Faith. "You told me his name was Cornhole!"

Angel raised an eyebrow at Faith. "Cornhole?"

Faith nodded. "Cornhole Fudge-Packer."

"Ew," Willow muttered.

"That’s…" Fudge stammered. "That’s Peter Petigrew."

"Darned tootin it is!" Willow cried. "We caught him."

"Actually," Buffy said slowly. "He kinda ran into a crypt. But that’s not the point!"

"Why is Sirius tied up?" Dumbledore asked. "Has he been trying to light Professor MacGonagall on fire again?"

"It’s a precaution," Giles replied. "Just to make sure he doesn’t try and kill Peter. Yet."


The trial the next day was swift.

Peter was given the Veritaserum, given a life sentence in Azkaban, and Sirius’ name was cleared. Remus presented him with a large bottle of fire whiskey on the way home, and Sarah began throwing out suggestions on where he could find a place to live.

Harry was ecstatic.

"No more Dursleys. No more cupboard. No more Dursleys."

"You said that, already, Mate," Ron replied.

"I don’t care," Harry said quickly. "NO MORE DURSLEYS!"