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"Listen to me, if you're kidding I swear—" Amelia started to say, but Nick cut her off.
"Mrs. Bones, I think you know very well what is at stake here," he said seriously, "Do you really think I would waste my time just to play a prank on you and your ministry?" he asked.
And listening to him Amelia calmed down again, and I was surprised to see how Nick controlled the situation with so few words.
But a part of me wanted to say that he would actually love to pull a prank on the British ministry, but I wisely kept silent.
"Sigh... I'm sorry, but if you're really right—" Amelia started to say, but I cut her off.
"We are," I said, and she looked at me for a moment.
"IF you're right, the ministry made a big mistake... And that's not going to be good," she continued.
"We know we're right, and as for the ministry's mistake... Well, now is a great time to try to correct this mistake before things get worse" Nick said.
"Yes…" Amelia agreed, "And I think I have to start by verifying that what you said is true, not that I'm doubting you, but I can't act on your words alone"
And listening to her I shrugged, as that was to be expected.
"But before that, tell me Mr. Night, what did you mean when you said you found out that Pettigrew is alive?" she asked me, and I stared at her for a few seconds.
"I don't mean to offend, but I don't think giving you these answers right now is going to help us much" I said, "And honestly, I still don't trust you enough to tell you what I know"
"But if you don't tell me how you found out that Pettigrew is alive and where he is, I won't be able to correct the mistake the ministry made 12 years ago," she snapped, and Nick snorted.
"And tell me Mrs. Bones, what are you going to do when you get the answers? You may be the Head of the DMLE, but even you know that you alone can't do much against the entire ministry and the other wizarding families" he said, disdain in his voice.
"And what do you think I should do? I can't just sit around and do nothing," she said with a small frown.
"Well, how about starting by not trying to do it all yourself? We've been working on this case for a long time, so it would be easier if you worked together with us" Nick replied, and that made Amelia stop, looking at us carefully as she considered.
...
...
...
"I can agree with that, but I'll need more proof that what you're saying is true" she said after thinking for a few minutes.
And listening to her Nick and I looked at each other.
"Well, we have the necessary proof" Nick started to say.
"But for us to show them to you we'll need to go somewhere else" I continued for him.
"And what are we waiting for? Let's go then" Amelia said rising from her seat.
And listening to her Nick looked at me again, and I just shrugged.
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-Nights' House – Living Room-
"I'm starting to think we should make this room our official meeting room," I muttered to myself.
Sitting in the living room were obviously me, my parents, Amelia, Nick and Penny, and Ted and Andromeda, who came after I sent them a letter talking about the meeting with Amelia.
Tonks wasn't here because she still had to study some things Moody was teaching her, and Sirius was hiding in his room, listening to everything through a magical device created by Nick.
And as for Cele, she was in her room playing happily, completely oblivious to the fact that an important meeting was taking place in our living room.
"I see you have quite a large group here," Amelia commented.
"Only the best of the best" I joked, and she huffed.
"But well, where are those proofs you were talking about?" she asked, and I looked at Ted and nodded.
He then waved his wand, and a cage came flying from my room and landed in my hands.
I then placed the cage on the ground, and with a wave of Nick's wand the cage opened and Pettigrew in his rat form was levitated out of the cage.
Pettigrew was paralyzed thanks to a small spell cast by Penny, which left the target paralyzed for many hours while also preventing the Animagus transformation.
"And here is Peter Pettigrew!" I said, gesturing to the ugly rat, "He was hiding all this time as a pet rat of a wizarding family, and if you look closely, you can see the lack of a certain finger on his forepaw."
Amelia, who had previously looked at the cage and the rat with a strange but curious gaze, froze in bewilderment.
"An Animagus…" she murmured.
"Yes, and if you want to confirm you can cast inspection spells on him," I said, and Amelia looked at me for a moment before sighing.
"It won't be necessary," she said.
"Well, does that mean you believe us now?" I asked, and she paused for a moment.
"Look, it's not that I don't believe you, but you should know very well that Pettigrew being alive would only clear Black of a murder charge. He would still be found guilty of murdering the 12 Muggles and betraying the Potters." Amelia said, with an apologetic look.
I knew she was right, and I also knew that the other evidence we had was just a few ghost reports and portraits and some ancient parchments, and that none of it could be considered concrete proof.
But I also knew that we had very good evidence, which was Sirius himself, who together with Pettigrew made our defense case very strong.
"Well, we have other proof as well…" I said slowly, not sure it would be a good idea to reveal to her that Sirius was here.
I didn't have to think about it too much though, as I heard Sirius' bedroom door open and him walking down the hall towards the living room.
I turned to him as soon as I felt his approach, and seeing that, those in the room followed my gaze.
"Hi Amelia" Sirius said as soon as he arrived in the living room, looking into Amelia's eyes.
Amelia stared at Sirius in a mixture of surprise and shock, but she quickly recovered, and I saw her hand twitch, and I knew she was preparing to pull out her wand.
"Mrs. Bones, I suggest you don't do this," Nick said, also having noticed the movement in Amelia's hand.
"And why shouldn't I do that, when Sirius Black is in front of me?" she asked in a cold voice, glancing slightly at Nick, only to notice that he already had his wand out and was pointing it at her.
She then looked around, noticing that not only Nick, but Andromeda and Penny also had their wands out.
"You know that what you're doing is a crime, and that I can arrest everyone here this very moment for helping to hide a fugitive from the Ministry, right?" Amelia asked, looking at all of us seriously.
"You could TRY" I said, emphasizing the word try, "But you won't" I simply said.
"And why do you think that?" she asked me, not taking her eyes off Sirius.
"I don't think, I'm sure" I said with conviction, "And even if hypothetically you tried and succeeded in arresting us, how would you explain to the French Ministry the arrest of two of the most influential people in your community, in addition to the arrest of several others innocent people?"
"Innocent people? I don't see how a group of people who are helping a convicted criminal can be innocent" she said looking at me mockingly.
"Well, it turns out that the French Ministry received the evidence we have that Sirius is innocent and they themselves came to the conclusion that the real culprit of everything is Pettigrew, so to them we and Sirius are just innocent people" I shrugged , and then I looked at Amelia smugly, "And since the French Ministry, which happens to be better than the British, knows we're innocent, they probably wouldn't let the Flamels' friends go to jail for a stupid mistake... A mistake your Ministry already made by arresting Sirius without trial 12 years ago."
And just as I finished speaking, Amelia was left staring at me, with the room falling into a tense silence where the others were preparing to do something if she tried to reach for her wand.
"Sigh... I think Susan underestimated how smart and cunning you can be," Amelia said, relaxing her body.
Seeing this, Nick, Penny and Andromeda lowered their wands but continued to look warily at her.
Amelia then turned to Sirius, who was also eyeing her warily as he approached me.
"So... can someone explain to me why Sirius Black is here?" she asked.
"Well...it's a long story," I said, and Amelia looked at us for a few seconds before sitting down.
"I have time," she said, and I looked at Sirius who simply shrugged.
"Okay" I said.
I then proceeded to tell Amelia about how I found out that Pettigrew was alive and was an Animagus, obviously changing the story a bit since I didn't want to talk about the existence of the Marauder's Map to her.
I also talked about how I had interrogated the portraits and ghosts in the castle, as well as the house-elves, and that after some research, I began to doubt the fact that Sirius was a murderer and a traitor.
I then went on to talk about how I found Sirius on Halloween night and how I captured him, and that after a little questioning I had come to the conclusion that he was indeed innocent of all the crimes he was accused of.
After that I told her about bringing Sirius into my house, and how I had gathered this small group together with the intention of getting a true trial to exonerate him and make Pettigrew pay for his crimes.
"Well...that's surprising to say the least" she said once my explanation was over, a little stunned by the information she had just acquired.
"That was exactly my reaction" Andromeda snorted.
Shaking her head, Amelia returned her focus to us.
"I can see you guys spent a lot of time planning everything" she said, and then a curious look came over her face, "But it makes me question why you guys need my help"
"Simple, we need someone reliable who works in the ministry and has a high position there, preferably in some law sector, and you happen to be the ideal person for this job because of your fair and reliable personality" I said with a shrug.
"I see," she said with a nod, feeling some satisfaction in knowing she was considered fair and trustworthy.
Seeing that she accepted my explanation, I decided to ask the long awaited question.
"So how would you like to join this group of two wizard lawyers, a muggle lawyer, a doctor, two immortal alchemists, a wanted fugitive and a third year Ravenclaw?" I asked with a slight playful smile on my face.
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I haven't seen weirder groups" Amelia said, a slight amused smile playing on her lips, "And as for joining the group... Why not?"
And with that a smile came to my face.
End.
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(End AN: Today I'll have to spend the day taking care of my little brother, who unfortunately is in a rebellious phase... But luckily he spends most of his time watching TV or playing games)