Okay this chapter took forever and for that I apologise. The pressure of school has begun again, especially since it is A-level year so I haven't had much time. Plus this fics starting to give me a little trouble but hopefully I should get through it okay since I'm nearly at the end.
As for another fic after this, don't hold
your breath. The way things are going right now it looks like I'm going to have
to put my writing on hold indefinitely after this is finished. This year is so
important that I don't think it's fair to my readers to have a fic going that I'll
never be able to update. It's annoying, because I really do enjoy writing but
looks like I'll just be reduced to reading fanfics from now on. That's not for definite
however; if stuff slows down I may write again, I hope so anyway.
Another author's note: I was recently looking at profiles of my favourite
writers and much to my shock I found that Malli has passed away. She was
writing a fantastic fic, 'The Phoenix Child' and her writing will really be
missed. This chapter is dedicated to her.
Thanks to:
Draco Slytherin Vampiress
Charmedfanatic3000
Lostangel92
Dreamer Child
CelticHeiressFiona
Wllw979 – apparently new borns are so exhausted by the ordeal of being born that for the first night or two they are too tired to wake up too often
Silver Warrior
SiriusEarendil
Tigertiger02
Mika
Thorn of Blood – I agree with the potion thing, I could've done something better but I didn't have much time
Erak
Kyra2 – Sirius will definitely have a conversation with Peter
Chapter 38 – The Trial
A tiring six weeks passed and a muggy June rolled in. Abby was growing at a rate that astonished Sirius and Buffy. She was waking up regularly in the night which meant that neither of them was getting much sleep. To Buffy's delight her body was beginning to resemble its pre-baby self, slayer healing powers she supposed. She had once again begun training with Faith and was getting back into shape.
June 2nd was an important day for all of them, Pettigrew's trial was set for it and Buffy travelled up to the Ministry in London with Faith to watch it while Giles and Sirius remained home with Abby, listening to it on the Wizarding wireless.
They arrived at the Ministry early, made their way down to courtroom ten where the trial was being held but found it nearly full when they got there. Buffy and Faith squeezed onto the end of one of the many stone benches surrounding the walls that rose in levels so that everyone had a clear view of the centre of the room where there was a chair with chains wrapped around the arms, apparently to bind whoever sat in it.
Buffy looked around the room and spotted many of the Order members, including many of the Weasleys that she threw grins at. She then turned her attention to the highest bench at the end of the room where Sirius told her the Wizengamot would sit in judgement on Pettigrew. She spotted Minister Fudge near the centre of the high bench talking quietly with the monocle wearing witch next to him. He looked pale, ill even and Buffy wondered how comfortable he was as Minister nowadays.
Dumbledore sat in the middle, as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, his fingers steepled together and apparently deep in thought.
A low buzz of conversation filled the room but it died down quickly when the door in the corner of the dungeon opened. A man walked in, pale, weak and balding flanked by two men, Aurors. They led Pettigrew to the chair in the centre of the room and forced him down into it where the chains on the arms came to life and bound him tightly. The Aurors remained flanking him.
Minister Fudge stood up from his chair, his
complexion waxy and his eyes tired.
"Peter Pettigrew," he spoke loud enough
that his voice echoed around the large stone dungeon. "You are brought before the
Wizengamot on the charges of being in the service of He-who-must-not-be-named
and betraying the Potters to him. How do you plead?"
Pettigrew was whimpering, crying pathetically in his chair in the centre of the
room.
"How do you plead?" Fudge repeated
heavily. Pettigrew looked up at him and cowered.
"Not guilty," he mumbled. Fudge raised
an eyebrow but did not deign to comment on his plea.
"You
will now be questioned," he informed Pettigrew with a sneer on his lips. "But
first we will administer Veritaserum."
Buffy sat up and watched Pettigrew whimper. She had not known this would
happen, this must be new. She had known that Dumbledore would interrogate
Pettigrew but the use of Veritaserum was new.
"No!" Pettigrew shrieked as the Aurors
held his head back. "No!" He tried to clamp his mouth closed but one held his
nose while the other poured in a few drops of the clear liquid.
The act was brutal to the point of
violence. It was pitiful to watch and Dumbledore presided over it, a
disapproving look on his face. From what Buffy knew of him, she knew this had
not been his idea. He did not condone violence and believed in redemption above
all else. He stood up.
"Let the record show that Veritaserum
has been administered to the defendant," he said gravely. "Now, we may begin.
Please state for the record your name."
"Peter Pettigrew," he replied in a flat voice that was unrecognisable from his original shrieks. His face had slackened; it was blank, void of expression as the serum pervaded his brain.
"And
you attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for seven years?"
Dumbledore said, staring hard at Pettigrew.
"I did," Pettigrew replied impassively.
"You
were friends with James Potter at Hogwarts weren't you?" Dumbledore asked
sternly. Pettigrew nodded.
"He was my best friend," he answered in
an odd, childlike way. "And Remus Lupin and Sirius Black."
"And you continued to be friends with
all of the aforementioned people past Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked, an
expression of foreboding on his face that Buffy couldn't fathom.
"Yes, we were in the Order together,"
Pettigrew answered blankly and Buffy understood. Fudge stood up suddenly.
"The Order?" he asked suspiciously.
"The secret society that Dumbledore set up
during He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's first rise to fight against him," Pettigrew
said, unaware of what he was divulging. Fudge stared hard at Dumbledore, an
internal struggle apparently occurring. Then he looked resigned.
"Continue," he said, slumping down in
his seat. Dumbledore looked at him swiftly, appraisingly and then turned back
to Pettigrew.
"Your friends thought you were acting
against Lord Voldemort correct?" he asked. Pettigrew nodded.
"But were you truly acting against Lord Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked darkly. Pettigrew shook his head.
"I
was acting as spy for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," he said passively. "I was
passing him information on the Orders activities. And on the Ministry, where
possible. For a year before he fell." A loud gasp sounded round the courtroom
and then the babble of frantic voices broke out.
"Quiet please!" Fudge demanded
imperiously and the room quietened.
Dumbledore's eyes had not moved from
Pettigrew.
"Did you act as Secret Keeper under the
Fidelius Charm when James, Lily and Harry Potter went into hiding for Lord
Voldemort?" he continued in his calm voice.
"Yes, they thought that no one would suspect me
because I had no talent," Pettigrew said slackly. "They thought everyone would
think it was Sirius Black and not me so they would leave me alone."
"Did you tell Lord Voldemort where Lily
and James Potter were hiding?" Dumbledore asked, his fierce gaze even more
intense.
"Yes, I betrayed them to Voldemort,"
Pettigrew said. "I told him where they were hiding so he could kill them. I
didn't want him to kill me so I told him." Dumbledore spoke before conversation
could start up again.
"Tell us what happened after," he
commanded. Pettigrew stared blankly ahead of him and began to speak.
"I stayed at Headquarters, I knew what
would happen. But then someone came and said that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was
dead and so were Lily and James but not Harry. And I knew that the Death Eaters
would want to kill me, we had lost everything when He-who-must-not-be-named
fell. I knew that he wouldn't be gone forever and that I had to hide and I had
to let everyone think I was dead. No one in the Order knew I was secret keeper,
they all thought Sirius was. I tried to run but Sirius found me, in a street
full of muggles. He wanted to kill me because he was the only one that knew I
betrayed James. I yelled at him so they could all hear that he was secret
keeper, blew the street apart, cut off my finger and then turned into my animagus
form and ran away."
This time Dumbledore let the talking around
him rise up. He turned and looked at Minister Fudge. A curious contest of wills
was occurring that Faith and Buffy couldn't quite understand. The Wizengamot
began to confer and after a moment, Fudge and Dumbledore joined in.
"Is that it?" Faith murmured to Buffy. "Is
it done and dusted? Is Sirius free?"
"I
guess so," Buffy said doubtfully. "I mean they have to sentence Pettigrew I guess."
The courtroom once again quietened down.
"The Wizengamot have conferred," Fudge
said, staring down at Pettigrew with disgust. "The crime is so heinous,
something of the like we have never heard in this courtroom. An innocent man
has been incarcerated in Azkaban for twelve years for the defendant's crimes.
Lily and James Potter were killed at his hand. The Wizengamot call for a revoke
of the sentence placed on Sirius Black. He is a free man from this moment
forward. As for Peter Pettigrew, we sentence him to a lifetime in Azkaban
Prison."
The people round Buffy and Faith began to clap, cheering raucously for the
sentence. Buffy and Faith joined in, both clapping slowly and trying to fathom
their feelings on the situation. Before them Pettigrew was led away, dragged
away by the Aurors flanking him. The veritaserum was still working on him and
he gazed at the clapping people blankly, not realising they were cheering his
doom.