Things were quiet that night, as everyone mulled over the news that Sirius could once again be free. Sirius, himself, was holed up in his study, going over everything in his mind and writing it all down. He made sure to add everything that had been happening since he escaped too, just in case. He put in his notes the things that the Ministry had done, and said, to and about him. He included the newspaper articles that claimed that he snuck into the Ministry and clogged the pipes. There were others, but he wanted to point out just how inept Fudge was.
Then he had a thought, he could use this opportunity to help his godson. He was going to ask about the man representing Harry while he was at it. It was an affront to the House of Black, and Potter, the way he and his heir was treated by the government. He wrote all that Harry and his friends had told him had happened to Harry, the years at Hogwarts, the threats, the ridicule, everything. Especially the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and what happened at the end.
If the lawyer thought Harry was lying, then he would chuck it all and find someone else. If one lawyer could see a case, then he was sure there would be others. He hoped it didn't come to that, but if it did, he'd put Harry first.
He did have a fleeting thought that maybe he should read the book he gave Hermione, to see if there was any dirt on this Waters guy, but if the guy was on the up-and-up then that might do more harm than good. Still, he'd ask the girl about what she found, since he knew she would disregard his words and read it as soon as she could. Bookworms were just wired that way.
The next morning, after breakfast, while Sirius was talking to Waters, the Golden Trio were in Harry's room again, since it was more private and nicer. Harry's two friends were a bit miffed that they had to be with Harry each time they came, since the room would not register in their minds until Harry mentioned it. Hermione was especially upset about this, because there were many times she wanted to talk to Harry, but couldn't remember where he was.
Right now, they were discussing Sirius and the great news. Each hoping for the same outcome. That Sirius would be free. They too went over the night they had found out about Pettigrew, to make sure that it was fresh in their minds. That way, if they got called on, they would remember what happened that night. Hermione was very good at reminding them what happened. Ron had been in so much pain that his memories were foggy. Harry had been so angry that night that his were muddled too. But Hermione has a very logical mind that helped her refresh their memories.
"Harry," Hermione started after they were done, "do you think Sirius could get you represented?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side a bit, unknowingly echoing Sirius' thoughts.
"I don't know, maybe. It would be nice to have a legal representative in my corner. I mean, Ted's a great solicitor, but I might need to have a court lawyer to help with all this Ministry stuff," he answered thoughtfully, going into the same frame of mind as Sirius, and thinking of jotting all his woes down on paper.
"Do you really think that they are out to hush you up?" Hermione asked softly, taking it in this time. If they really were after Harry, she'd have to do some major research just to have some facts on their side. Laws change over the years and she didn't want to have secondhand misinformation. She wasn't an attorney, but she could help with research.
"Don't know," Harry shrugged, liking how she was taking it seriously. He really loved the thought that she was in his corner. For all her faults, Hermione was his friend, and she was scary smart. "Do you want to take the chance?" he asked, looking at her to see her reaction.
"No," she answered, shaking her head. "I'll start my research today," she added, giving him a small smile.
"Thanks, Hermione. I don't say it enough, but you are a lifesaver and I'm glad to have you as a friend," Harry said, giving her a one-armed hug.
She smiled at him and returned the hug, then picked up a muggle notepad to start taking down things she might need to read. She knew that the library was open, and that Sirius said that she could do some research, so that made her more determined. She also knew that there were books she would not be able do read, but maybe she could ask Tonks or Mrs. Tonks to help.
"Maybe you should write it all down," Ron said as if reading Harry's mind. "That way if this Waters bloke needs it, you have it all prepared."
"That's a brilliant idea, Ron," Hermione agreed, flipping to a new page in her notebook. She poised her pen to take down things in chronological order when Ron made her pause.
"Don't need to sound so surprised," the redhead grumbled, rubbing his nose, and glaring at her.
"I'm not," she protested, settling back in her chair, dropping her pen in her lap.
"Sure sounded like it," came the annoyed comeback.
"Stop, you two," Harry spat, not wanting what had so far been a good morning to be ruined by these two bickering. "Ron, she was probably startled that she didn't come up with it. Hermione, you did come off as a bit condescending," he said, looking with narrow eyes at each person as he named them.
"Sorry," both teens mumbled, then Hermione held up the pen as if to say, 'let's do this'. Harry quirked an eyebrow and then they got busy. It took hours, with contributions from all involved, for them to get it all on parchment. They finished and headed down the stairs to talk to Sirius. It was after ten, so they thought he'd be done by now.
"Sirius," Harry called as he knocked on the study door, "are you there?"
"Come in," came the cheerful reply.
Harry and his friends trooped in and took seats around the room.
"What's up, kids?" the man asked, sitting behind his desk with a full-on grin.
"How did your talk go?" Harry inquired, setting the notebook down on the coffee table.
"Great, he says he's going to get my story in the paper the day he files his grievances. He said that way they can't cover it up. Well, they could, but it would make them look bad. And the Ministry doesn't like to look bad," the cheerful man answered, his grin never leaving his face.
"Won't they look bad anyway? Sending an innocent man to prison," Hermione wanted to know.
"Sure, but they can pass the knut on that one. Tell everyone it wasn't them, and such," Sirius explained. "After all, it was Bagnold, Crouch and Dumbledore that dropped that quaffle. If they had done their jobs, I wouldn't have spent more than a day in a holding cell. But Crouch hated me, and my family. Bagnold was just ineffective, one of the reasons we were losing so badly. Dumbledore, well, I'm not sure of his actions, or inactions, as the case may be."
"Stupid old men," Harry grumbled under his breath. Sirius smiled at him and nodded.
"Oh, I guess that makes sense. When is all this going to happen?" Ron asked, itching to ask about Harry being represented.
That grin got bigger. "Tomorrow."
"Wow, so fast," Harry gasped, happy that his godfather might be a free man soon.
"Money talks," the man said, his grin turned into a smirk.
Hermione was going to rebut that, but she knew that it was true. Even in the non-magical world, those who had money had power. She didn't' like it, but that is the way the world worked. So instead she said, "I know what you mean. Look at Malfoy."
"You're right on that," Harry agreed with a grimace.
"Do you think he can take on Harry's case?" Ron asked, not waiting a moment longer. He knew all too well that those without money had little say in how the world worked. He really didn't want to have that discussion.
"I asked, but Harry doesn't really have a 'case', per se, he has concerns," Sirius explained, his grin falling a little. That didn't help his frame of mind. He really wanted Harry to have a good life. He was waiting to be free to do the adoption, then Harry would never have to go back to those horrible people again.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, his brow wrinkled in thought.
"I mean, he can do something about the Prophet, but Ted has already compiled what is needed, and the article will rebut anything they say. What Waters can do is keep track of everything and see if he can make a case. That and he's going to make sure the Prophet prints what he tells them too," Sirius answered, leaning back and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was getting a headache, his emotions kept jumping all over the place.
"How's he going to do that?" Ron wanted to know.
"I have shares," the happy man stated, sitting up again.
"Oh," was the answer.
"So, what else did you talk about?" Harry inquired, hoping to change the subject.
"Well, he said that Ted is going to appeal for you to get the Order of Merlin, First Class for your fighting the basilisk. That's one story that was never covered up, just downplayed," he stated happily, his smile back full force.
"What on earth would I do with one of those?" Harry asked, completely bewildered.
"It'll give you a seat on the Wizengamot, for one," Ron said, thinking things through as quickly as possible. "And it'll stop people from calling you a liar. I mean, you can easily show them the corpse, if it came down to it."
"Doesn't he already have a seat?" Hermione asked, tapping her chin, also going over what it could mean.
"No, the Potters were wealthy, no doubt, but they never had a seat on the Wizengamot. Only Official Wizengamot employees, scribes and such, Head of Departments in the Ministry, Special Advisors like Malfoy, Senior Aurors, Holders of the Order of Merlin, 1st and 2nd class, and those that the Minister grants, read bribes. Most of those families are Dark, like mine. We're members of the Twenty-eight, so we were granted seats ages ago, like most families on the Wizengamot. How do you think all those ridiculous laws got passed? The Dark and Neutral outweigh the Light," Sirius answered, rubbing his goatee.
"So, does that mean when you get free, you'll be sitting there?" Harry asked, thinking of all the good things he could do by accepting.
"Yes, but I'll have to 'debate' with the likes of Malfoy though," the tired man said, once more trying to get his headache to ease.
"Malfoy," Ron grumbled.
"Yep, they are also part of the Sacred, but they really don't hold much influence," Sirius said, gleefully. "He has to bribe for anything he wants. Rumor has it that he lines Fudge's pockets. I'm waiting until all that gold runs out. Now with You-Know-Who back, that might happen quickly. War isn't cheap."
"It's cheaper when you don't have to pay your soldiers," Harry said, thinking of all the Death Eaters enslaved to the… man. Instead of getting paid, they were paying to be tortured. A funny thought came to his mind as they all lined up to get their bags of gold, dressing in full Death Eater regalia, and getting blasted with the Cruciatus Curse as it was handed to them. He chuckled a bit, but he waved of the looks of inquiry. He didn't think they'd find it funny. Well, not Hermione.
"Here's what we've written up about Harry's years at Hogwarts," Hermione said, reaching over and picking up the notebook and handing it to Sirius. "I've also found a few things that could help you from that book you gave me. I didn't read it before bed, well not after the boys talked to me, but I did get up early and have a peek."
"What sort of things?" Sirius asked, taking the notebook. He gave it a queer look, then started flipping through it. He marveled at the thin paper, and how neat Hermione's handwriting was. He was glad it wasn't Harry's, that boy's writing is atrocious.
"Well, it's mostly Muggle baiting, and affairs and such, but the Malfoys used to deal with the Royal Family. There's even rumor, sustained by fact, that one tried to marry a Queen. They started politics in the Wizarding World when we went into hiding, bribing and funding campaigns, things of that nature. That might be why they don't hold much weight in the Wizengamot," she added smugly.
"What?" Ron exclaimed, sitting up straight in shock. "The Malfoys dealt with Muggles? Wow, I never would have thought that." This tidbit of information could be used to taunt Malfoy Jr. He could just see that ferret's face when he asked about that. Maybe he should get Harry to teach him the Patronus, he would use that memory.
"No, she right. I vaguely remember all that coming up when Narcissa married Lucy. My mother didn't want the marriage, because Old Lucy wasn't in good standing. He's bribed his way into everything, though, so my father agreed to it. He felt the man was Slytherin, through and through," Sirius stated thoughtfully, like reaching for an old memory. His parent fought over that one. However, since they were only the Aunt and Uncle, it didn't matter what they thought.
"Malfoy mean bad faith in French. So that is probably why they were in England to begin with, they pissed someone off there and were exiled. That branch anyway," Hermione added a bit gleefully.
"Wow, I never knew all that. I mean, I should have looked it all up, what with me and Draco being 'enemies'," Harry said with a grin. Like Ron, he was thinking of how he could use this to his advantage.
"How did they become part of the Sacred Twenty-eight, if they're from France?" Ron wanted to know.
"I don't know, they must have come over early enough to have been counted, or they just have that long of a lineage," she answered, thinking hard on what little she knew.
"It's the lineage, I'll wager," Sirius said, he too thinking hard. "That and whoever dreamed up the Sacred twenty-eight, only added pureblood that never married 'beneath' them. So, it wouldn't matter if they were French or not, they were in Britain and 'pure'. That's why the Potters aren't on there," he added, trying to remember which family started it all.
"While all this is well and good, how does it help us?" Harry asked, getting back to the matter at hand.
"It doesn't really, but I thought you'd like to know," Hermione conceded with a bit of a huff.
"Back to Harry's 'case', it's a good thing you wrote all this down. Waters asked me to get you guys to do that," Sirius said, thumbing through notebook again. He might read it before handing it over. If he could get free, he'd try and get custody of Harry, get the blood adoption done and over with. Harry would still be James' kid, but he needed someone in his corner that couldn't be removed. The Black Family, while not large, had a great amount of pull in the Ministry. That and if he made them look good, but blaming the last regime, then he could use that over Fudge's head. Maybe the man would get his head out of his arse.
He still wasn't sure what to do about Dumbledore. As far as he had reach, Dumbledore's reach was far longer. Though, he did have more money than the old man.
"What about Harry's family?" Hermione asked delicately. She noticed Harry grimace, and shot him a concerned look.
"I've already pointed Waters to the Dursleys," Sirius said, giving Harry a slightly pitying look. "That's going to take longer, since there really was no evidence, and he'll have to go Muggle," he added, looking at his hands for a moment, and picturing them around that uncle's fat neck.
He wasn't sure there would be a case on them. From what Harry had told him, they were very good at hiding the abuse. He was sure the Dursleys had covered everything up by now. Still, just in case, he was going to have Harry write all that down too. After all, there was still the holes in the wall from the bars. Maybe they were stupid enough to not cover that up. An 'out of sight, out of mind' type thing.
Sirius started reading the first page of notes. He asked some clarifying questions, and they chatted over the words a bit. After about an hour and a half, Sirius decided that Harry needed more lessons, and sent the other two away, until it was time for dance lessons.
Ron and Hermione, seeing they weren't needed, decided to see what everyone else was up to and went to find the other teens.
"Sirius," Harry said, when his friends left, "are we going to do the adoption before or after you're free?"
"Well, we can wait, but I want to do it before I leave this house. Malfoy might be after me, he still thinks his prog is going to inherit," he said, his headache getting worse at that thought.
"Oh, okay," Harry said slowly, not wanting to think about that.
"Okay, let's get started on this. I have a headache and want to take a nap," Sirius said, rubbing his forehead.
Harry slumped in his chair and glared at his godfather. "Why do I have to learn all this stuff again? It's not like I'm going to use it anytime soon," he asked mulishly, arms folded in defiance.
"You might not need it now, but isn't it better to know then to be caught unawares? Especially if you're going to get an Order of Merlin," Sirius returned, putting the recount of Harry's years aside, and getting up to get a book from the shelf. He took it and returned to his chair. He then handed it over to Harry. "This is the book I learned from. It's got some cutthroat things in it, that you can take or leave. What it will do is give you an edge. You said you were almost sorted into Slytherin, maybe it's time to let a bit of that snake out. I know I am." He grinned, then rubbed his forehead again.
He didn't know why his head was aching, and as soon as he thought of it, he called Kreacher.
"Master calls," the elf grumbled.
"I need a headache potion, a strong one," the dogman said, closing his eyes against the pain.
"As Master wishes," Kreacher said, snapping his fingers, making the vial appear.
"Thanks, Kreacher, that's all," Sirius said, picking up the vial, and downing it. The relief was instant.
"Are you coming down with something?" Harry asked concerned.
"No, it's just stress. I'm still suffering from Azkaban. When I get too stressed out, my head hurts," Sirius explained.
"Have you seen anyone about it?" was the anxious reply.
"Yeah, Poppy said that if I practice my Occlumency, then it'll get better. I have been, but with so many bad memories, it'll take a minute," Sirius said, giving the boy a reassuring grin. "Get to reading. I'm fine," he added, pointing to the book.
Harry huffed and opened the book and thumbed through it. It seemed dry and boring. He snapped it shut and put it on his lap. His face took on a mulish expression. He didn't want to read this stuff when he could be researching other things. Like spells, or curses. Something that would help him with Voldemort.
"Why can't we practice dueling or something," he asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"I'll tell you what, you read that, and I'll teach you a few tricks. Be warned though, there'll be a test," Sirius stated. He wasn't going to let Harry slide on this. It was stuff he needed to know.
"Oh, and what happens if I fail?" the teen asked smugly. Thinking there wasn't anything Sirius could do to him. Forgetting the man was his magical guardian.
"Besides me not teaching you? I could write to McGonagall and have her yank you from the team," the man answered mildly. "I could make you stay in your room until it is read," he added ticking off things on his fingers. "I could send all your friends back home, so you don't have distractions," he held up the third finger. "There are lots of things I could do," he said, lowering his hand and shrugging.
"Why would you do any of that?" Harry exclaimed, completely flabbergasted that anyone would go to such extremes to make him study.
"I didn't say I would, I said I could," was the nonchalant answer. "You need to know this, Harry," he reiterated. "If you don't, the politicians will eat you alive. Not to mention, you could become broke, likely from scandals, and swindling."
"Fine," Harry said, pouting. He took up the book and started reading it.
"If you have any questions, let me know. I'm going to be right here if you need me," Sirius said, taking up the stuff the kids wrote and started reading it.
"Okay," Harry said, feeling a bit better that he wasn't alone in this.
The two read for about two hours, then it was time for dance lessons. Harry still wasn't doing well, but he gave it his best shot. When they were done, Sirius took Harry to the basement and taught him a few spells that he could use to get out of a sticky situation.
"These spells will help. Learn them as perfectly as you can. Having a few spells that you can do subconsciously will get you out of tight spots," Sirius said after Harry had learned them well enough.
"I know what you mean," the boy said solemnly, thinking about how the disarming spell always leaped to his mind. And how well that spell had got him out of the graveyard. So, he took his godfather's word to heart and practiced the Tripping Jinx, the Jelly-legged Jinx, and a few others. They were first year spells, but if done without incantation, they would buy him more time to either shoot off other spells, or get away if outnumbered, like he always seemed to be.
"You did good," Sirius praised, clapping him on the back and leading him up the stairs. "Now, go to bed. It's been a long day."
"Alright, good night," the tired teen said, heading to his room.
"Night." When Harry had disappeared, Sirius went to his study and read the notebook a bit more. He would hand it to Waters in the morning. Soon enough, he was tired enough to head to be himself.
Everyone slept peacefully that night, all dreaming of what would happen when Sirius was free. Well, most, some of the teens were dreaming about teen things.
The next morning two headlines blared across the pages of the Daily Prophet and The Witch Weekly. The first was on the Prophet, it read, SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT OF ALL CHARGES? The second was in The Witch Weekly, FRIENDS OF THE BOY-WHO-LIVED TELL ALL; A EULOGY TO CEDRIC DIGGORY.
Harry just knew there was going to be chaos today.