The Lewis House 4 страница

"I've already been convicted of this murder. I've served time for it. I've been pardoned by the Ministry and now I'll commit the crime if I see a need." Sirius's voice had grown quite soft. "And make no mistake, Peter. I see a need. Get on your feet."

Peter had not moved. He had curled up on his side and begun to sob soundlessly within the Muting Charm. His face had been a revolting river of mucus and tears.

"On. Your. Feet."

"Black," Snape had suggested icily, "he doesn' t seem to be responding to your barbaric threats. Kill him on the floor, if you're going to do it this way. Or stop being an imbecile about it and keep him alive."

Sirius had laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "You're the imbecile if you want him alive, Snape. He'd have sold you out to Voldemort in a second if he'd've known what you really were."

"And I'm certain he did sell me out, the moment he realized my true position," Snape replied smoothly, and repealed Sirius's Muting Charm. "There. Speak. Tell me, Wormtail, when I fled the Death Eaters and you discovered that Percy Weasley's information was false, who did you blame?"

Peter had rocked stupidly on the floor; though his voice was restored, he was nearly unintelligible in his fear.

"I didn't blame - Malfoy did - our Master - going to kill me - you ruined our chances -"

Snape had looked on, coldly. "He's better use to us alive. Give him to me."

"No way in hell."

"If you have a brain in your head, Black, you'll listen to me now. He may have information in that weak head of his and it would serve us to get it out of him before we dispose of him."

Remus had shuddered. "My God, Severus. You sound like..."

"If I sound like Voldemort to you, Lupin, it is only because you have never heard him at his worst. Has he, Wormtail?" Snape had smiled at Peter, barely - a vampiric sort of smile. "How fortunate that you stopped by. I've just completed a batch of Veritaserum, and I'm sure you'll be willing to help me test it."

Peter had only shaken so violently that the loose skin of his chins had quivered.

But in silent agreement with Snape's plan, Sirius had flown Peter to the dungeon's classroom desktop, and bound him there, face-up.

"Try this, and do tell me what you think," Snape had said lightly, still smiling, as he held a vial of the newly-brewed, crystal clear potion above Peter's open, sobbing throat. "We really don't have time for a Cooling Charm, do we, Black?" Snape had asked mildly, gesturing to the potion, which was still so hot that it steamed in the vial.

Sirius had smiled, grimly. "No. We certainly don't."

The Veritaserum had been administered. Peter had screamed in pain.

Remus screamed in pain now - but silently - returning most unwillingly to the present as his legs began to morph entirely into the wolf's legs. His arms slid from their sockets. His vocal chords shifted, his hearing abandoned him, and his tail began to push from the base of his spine, sending him forward onto half-clawed hands, which were not yet quite paws. His face elongated, and as his head began to collapse into the shape of the wolf's, the memory of Peter grew further and further away as the final agonies of transformation wracked his muscles, his bones, his mind. He could barely make out the rest of the scene, barely cling to the final moments of sanity that were left him before the wolf claimed him entirely.

"Tell me your name." Sirius had stood above Peter's limp figure, fire leaping in his eyes. He clearly relished the opportunity to interrogate his traitor.

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Why are you at Hogwarts?"

"I ran away from my Master. He was going to kill me."

"Why?"

"Because I killed Percy Weasley and there was more information to be got from him before he was disposed of."

Remus had nearly gagged at the callousness of that reply. Snape had been entirely unfazed. Sirius had pressed on.

"But why come to Hogwarts?"

"My Master can't get in here. It's the only safe place."

"You knew that we were here."

"I thought that I could hide."

Sirius had laughed. "Not from me," he'd nearly whispered. "Never from me. Now tell us what you know about Voldemort's plans. Anything and everything you know..."

Remus could think no longer. His bones shifted into their temporary skeleton, his muscles strapped into place around them, and the last half-inch of unbelievably uncomfortable fur shot through his hide. The memory of Peter's sniveling faded and Snape disappeared from view, and for a moment there was only Sirius's face, Sirius's voice - cold - purposeful - demanding the truth....

And then darkness. Instinct. Present. No past, no thought unrelated to this moment, no memory. Moonlight through the bars of the trap, tuning his blood. Footpads on concrete. Sharp sounds - magnified sounds. Cool, soft, muted colors. The unmistakable smell of wolves. The smell of wolves, everywhere - but none among them a friend. None among them a mate.

Nowhere the smell of Padfoot.

Moony whined softly, and curled up to mourn his loss once more.

~*~

Sirius Black stood on a craggy rock in the middle of an isolated Welsh bay and stared out towards the sea. Behind him was a cove, hidden from Muggle eyes, and in that cove, rising out of the water, was a castle. The castle was named Culparrat, and it was the location of the new holding cells for those awaiting trial for their involvement in the recent war. It had been underwater for centuries; seaweed still covered its uppermost turrets, and ghosts of sea creatures still roamed its halls.

Standing on the rock, facing the opposite direction, Sirius felt that his mind was empty - everything was clear and simple. A strong wind rustled his dark hair, and made his black and gray robes sail behind him. For a moment, he felt truly, entirely free. A moment later, however, an owl landed on his shoulder, holding out its claw so that Sirius could detach a roll of parchment from its leg. Sirius read in an untidy scrawl,

Black,

Lunch is over. Get back here, you lazy dog.

M -

Sirius chuckled. "M" was Mad-Eye Moody, the infamous Auror. Moody must have just arrived from Azkaban, with another transport of Stunned prisoners. With a deep sigh, Sirius turned once more to glance out towards sea, and then, with a 'pop', Disapparated off of the rock.

A moment later, Sirius was standing at the entrance of the castle. Several Charms were already in place to prevent Apparating in and out of the building itself. Sirius performed the counter-spells to bypass the ones that he had helped set up, entered the castle, and after several minutes of winding down unlit hallways, he arrived in a damp, moldy-smelling room. A thick man with a wooden leg was pacing restlessly. The dim light in the room made the craggy face even more ominous, and one small, dark eye was rolling around like a marble in his head.

"How many?" Sirius asked Moody, nodding his head towards a doorway, which led into one of the holding cells.

"Eight in this transport," Moody answered, fixing a gaze at Sirius with his other, normal eye. "We’ve still got four more groups to send out and then all will be clear at Azkaban. I can’t tell you how happy all of us are. I’m getting dead tired of creating a Patronus every half-hour. At least now we'll be able to push the Dementors inward and hopefully isolate them without worrying about the damage that they may cause the prisoners."

"Well, I don’t imagine that it’s going to be that much easier to Stun these people every twenty-four hours," said Sirius, gloomily. "We'll have to start conducting trials almost immediately."

Moody said fiercely, "It's not necessary to hurry too much. A wizard can be Stunned every day for a year and not be worse off for it. Look what happened to me."

Moody had survived being Stunned for an entire school year by Bartemius Crouch, Jr., a Dark wizard who impersonated Moody and kept him locked up in a cellar. Sirius decided to drop the topic. He headed to the door that led to the holding cells and opened it. The castle was frighteningly silent. The door led to a long corridor and Sirius walked down towards the end with Moody thumping along beside him, pointedly not looking through the bars in the doors. Finally, at one of the last rooms, Sirius stopped and Moody pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket.

"I'll need you to verify," he said to Sirius, squinting at the parchment and clearing his throat.

Sirius nodded, took a step towards the door, and holding out his wand, uttered a spell to open it. After hesitating a moment, he and Moody entered the room.

Eight wizards lay on top of rickety cots lined up against the walls. All appeared to be sleeping soundly. These wizards were among several hundred whom had been accused of working for Voldemort during the war. They were unshaven and their hair looked as if it hadn't been combed in weeks. That would change soon - members of the M.L.E.S. had gone out and rounded up the house-elves belonging to the accused. Since many suspected Dark wizards came from old wizarding families, quite a few house-elves had

been gathered. Most of them had been found wandering aimlessly and sadly around the houses of their former masters and had been ecstatic at the opportunity to work again. Hermione had suggested paying them, like the Hogwarts elves that were assisting in the rebuilding of the school, but so far, all had refused. The presence of these magical creatures made Culparrat a refreshing and humane change from the deplorable conditions in Azkaban.

Moody began to read names from the parchment as the two of them marched along the perimeter of the room. "Silvershots, Frank - that's a surprise, that one is. Verio, Rupert - I went to school with his father, we brought his wife over earlier this morning - you remember?" Moody continued reading from the list while Sirius surveyed each prisoner. Finally, they reached the end, and Moody pulled a quill out of his other pocket and handed it to Sirius along with the list. "Just sign here," he directed, "you know the drill. We'll have a series of forms outlining their crimes by the end of the day."

Sirius was already at the door. He couldn't stand being in that room - in that cell, with all of those people. He couldn't believe that Simon Flannery was capable of Dark magic - the two of them had played together as children. And what about the others? Once outside the room, Sirius took a deep breath. "Tomorrow I'll be in London. Remus has agreed to come with me and meet with the lawyers. We've rounded up everyone we can find. I'm hoping that we can start trials next week."

Nodding, Moody said, "And we'll have to figure out a way to deal with the Dementors. We've got a section of Azkaban set up to try to hold them. We've had a few more wizards volunteering to come up and supply a Patronus. We haven't quite figured out how that's going to work, but until we find a way to destroy them or keep them at bay, it's the best solution we have. We'll have to get it straightened out soon though - if you're starting trials next week, then prisoners could be arriving back at Azkaban very soon."

"I just wish we could find a way to keep the guilty ones at Culparrat after the trials. I can't in good conscience send anyone back into that hell."

Moody looked as though he disagreed with this line of thought, but merely grunted and took his leave. Sirius headed towards the small room that he had set up as a base station in the castle. He already had four cabinets full of files on each person currently being held at Culparrat. He stretched his arms, threw back his head, took a deep breath, and began carefully looking through the file he had started working on that morning. Knowing that what he was doing was right and just gave Sirius the energy to carry on.

~*~

Remus wandered out into the well-tended garden of Lupin Lodge, clutching a letter in his hand. The letter, which had apparently arrived with the morning paper, bore the familiar Hogwarts crest at the top. It was amazingly still outside - although it was nearly eight o'clock in the evening, the day was still bright and warm. He preferred the summer, when the days were long and the nights short. His transformation the night before had been relatively painless. Nothing could stop the feeling of intense loneliness that he felt every time the wolf arrived each month, but the Wolfsbane Potion and the end of the war made it seem a bit more bearable after it was finished. He had Apparated around midday, fallen into bed, slept late, and, as far as he could tell, no one had really paid any attention to this. He was glad, because he didn't want the teenagers to spend their relaxing summer worrying about him.

Sitting down on a stone surrounded by some rather tall, purple, jungle-like plants, he stretched out his legs and read the letter for the twelfth time.

Dear Remus,

I am writing in the hope that you will consider doing a favor for a former professor and old friend. As you are well aware, we are trying to rebuild Hogwarts in time for it to reopen next year. It is common knowledge that you were considered one of the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers that Hogwarts has seen. I know your feelings on returning to this position, and I will not offer it to you again. I would, however, like to ask you to consider returning to Hogwarts as the professor in charge of teaching Care of Magical Creatures. The appointment would not begin until the next school year. Being a magical creature yourself, I find you ideally suited for the job. Please consider the offer.

Warmest Regards,

M. McGonagall

Headmistress

Remus folded the letter again and watched, amused, as a Capperclaw beetle crawled along one of the leaves of the plant that surrounded him. Professor McGonagall was correct in assuming that he'd prefer that post to any other. It was also true that, despite Remus's role in defeating Voldemort and the new respect that this commanded from people formerly afraid of him as a werewolf, Remus had received no significant job offers since the war. He knew that Arthur would work on repealing the Ministry restrictions on employing werewolves when he had the time, but Remus wasn't sure that Ministry work would suit him. Right now he was getting by on his savings and the rent that Sirius insisted on paying him. Remus liked to work - throughout his life it had been such a struggle to find employment of any kind that when he did, it always seemed like a special gift. It was hard, though, to plan for the future when the house was so nice right now, with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny filling it up, and Sirius...

Sirius. Remus squinted up into the sky, where light from the sun was shining brightly as it slowly began to set behind some clouds. Sirius should be home by now. Remus would talk it over with him. He also needed to talk to Sirius about his rigorous work schedule - a conversation that he really wasn't looking forward to.

He rose, dusted off his robes, and headed back into the house. He saw an orange creature slinking in through the kitchen entrance and knew that Sirius must be home. Crookshanks and Sirius shared a special bond, and the cat almost always managed to be at home when Sirius arrived from work. When he opened the door, he saw Sirius sitting at the kitchen table, elbows on the table, and head clenched in his hands.

"Sirius?" Remus asked tentatively, closing the kitchen door behind him. Sirius didn’t look up, but put one of his hands down on the table and continued to stare downwards.

"Sirius, what’s wrong?" Remus pressed again, moving to sit across from his friend.

"I’m just tired," he finally answered, stretching his other arm out in front of him and fiddling with the vase of flowers in the center of the table.

"Hard day at work?" Remus asked, feeling that he knew all too well that Sirius was not going to talk to him about this. To his surprise, Sirius sighed and answered simply, "Yes."

"What happened?"

Sirius put his head down on the table and grabbed it with his hands, and then finally lifted it and said, "It's just - the Stunning. I'm not sure that it's right. But we can't think of any other way to keep them all in Culparrat until the trials."

"But Sirius," Remus said rationally, "people can be Stunned for weeks, months even, without any serious effects. And I'm sure that the trials will all be done within the year. Moody was Stunned daily for ten months."

Sirius snorted. "I wouldn't exactly say that it didn't effect Moody."

"He was like that before."

"Yes, but..." Sirius stopped as Crookshanks leapt up onto his lap and began to purr. Sirius stroked the cat's orange fur absentmindedly.

After a moment, Sirius continued, "It's immoral to Stun innocent people like that."

"But you don't know if they're innocent or not. It's part of our legal system."

"Guilty until proven innocent?"

"Sirius - " Remus hoped that his voice sounded soothing, "There's been a war. These are supposed war criminals - not petty thieves or people who have been accused of turning their teakettle into a frog. There's a danger of Dark magic being used, and Stunning really is the best short-term solution. Would you prefer to have the Dementors guarding the place?"

"No," admitted Sirius truthfully, "but we could set up Charms to keep them in! Muggles don't Stun their prisoners, do they? They put them behind bars. We could do the same, and then place Wards all around Culparrat to keep them in."

"Sirius, I agree with you in theory - but I really don't see how that will work. Think about it. Think about how you escaped from Azkaban - "

"Yes but I was innocent! That's exactly my point!" Sirius stood up quickly and Crookshanks fell to the ground with a thud.

Remus flinched. He had spent years trying to remain calm in the face of confrontation. He replied in a steely voice, "Yes, you were innocent, but you were never given a trial. These people may or may not be innocent, and you are being kind to them by Stunning them until they can defend themselves, rather than locking them away in Azkaban without any defense. Don't you see?" More quietly, he continued, "Sirius, you are doing exactly what you need to be doing, and it's the right way. No one would ever accuse you of being a hypocrite."

Sirius was now standing and staring out of the window into the garden. Remus stared at his tall, tense form, and thought for the thousandth time about the unfairness of what his friend had suffered - of how he himself had suffered.

It was quiet for a few minutes. Sirius broke the silence with a small laugh, ran his fingers through his cropped hair, and turned to Remus, "Well, never mind about all that. You're right of course. Now tell me - " he walked back over to the table to sit down, "how was your latest transformation? I've been so busy that I didn't ask. You still look a bit tired. You hadn't come back by the time I had to leave this morning."

Remus shrugged, "I go through it every month," he gave a dry laugh, feeling himself choke up a bit for some reason, "with the Wolfsbane Potion, it's really nothing. I just sleep. The transformation itself is still difficult but the in-between part is much easier."

"Can't I come with you next time?"

Sirius was looking straight at him with his deep-set, light blue eyes. Remus opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He wanted Sirius with him during the transformation, of course he did. But this was his demon, and Sirius was busy with his own problems at the moment. Finally he answered neutrally, "No one but werewolves can be in that shelter overnight on the full moon. And you’re away enough in any case - Harry’d rather you were here."

As soon as Remus mentioned Harry's name, Sirius's eyes clouded over. "Damn it," he muttered. Then he looked around, blinking, and asked, "Where is everyone anyway? It's awfully quiet around here."

"They're at the Snout's Fair with Ron. They said that they weren't going to stay late - just have a butterbeer or two, and then come home. I think that Harry's learned what he can handle from now on. He's going to stick to the softer stuff."

Remus hoped that this comment would lighten up the conversation a bit, but Sirius mumbled, "He's so much like his father. Lily could drink James under the table. You know, Moony, if I could see both of them right now, I think I'd start a fight. What were they thinking, making me a godfather? Harry is obviously going through some sort of private hell right now and I know no way to help him."

"Once again, Padfoot, you're doing what you can. Harry knows it and appreciates it. And whatever he's going through, really, he's going to have to learn how to deal with it himself, in his own way."

"Hopefully the Quidditch will help take his mind off deeper things for a while."

"Well, you can't expect him to heal all of his wounds overnight. When a person goes through traumas like he has, it can sometimes take years to sort out, and sometimes it never sorts out at all - you should know."

Remus was afraid that perhaps he had gone a bit too far this time. Sirius was staring at him intently, in a way that made him both happy and angry at the same time. Airy laughter could be heard coming through the garden, and Remus realized that the sun had now set, and he lifted his wand to turn on a light.

"Do you enjoy sitting in the dark?" Ginny burst into the room from the garden, cheeks flushed and a smile on her face. Hermione followed, with Harry not long after. They looked as though they had consumed several butterbeers. When he saw Sirius, Harry stopped and said with a grin, "Sirius! Did you know that you're a celebrity?"

Both men looked at Harry blankly, and Hermione pulled the morning's Daily Prophet out from the pile in the corner of the kitchen. "Didn't you see this, Remus?" she asked, placing the paper in front of him. "Sirius is on the front page."

Remus looked down at the paper and Sirius walked around the table to stand behind him. There was a black and white picture of Sirius glinting up at them. He was squinting towards the camera, but looked extremely handsome. Harry snatched the paper back from them and began to read, in a loud, exaggerated voice,

WRONGFULLY ACCUSED WIZARD

ENSURES FAIR TRIALS FOR ALL

Eloise Midgen, staff reporter

Picture by Colin Creevey

The face in this picture bears no resemblance to the long-haired, sunken-eyed convicted murderer who escaped from Azkaban five years ago. Sirius Black is a handsome man, with clear, light-blue eyes, roguish black hair, and, when it shows itself, a boyish smile.

Harry stopped reading and shot a glance at Sirius. "Go on then, show us your boyish smile, old man." Sirius reached over to smack the back of his head, but Harry ducked. Remus looked on Harry in surprise, unaccustomed to seeing him in such good spirits. Of course, Harry's lighthearted tone was clearly the result of a butterbeer or two... but that wasn't the whole of it. Remus looked shrewdly from Harry, reading, to Ginny, who was watching with very bright eyes as Harry continued.

Everyone now knows that he bravely fought with the Order of the Phoenix during the recent war. When the war ended, Black looked forward to spending a quiet summer at the manor of his friend, Remus Lupin,

"You live in a manor, Remus," enthused Hermione, teasingly. "Did you know that?"

and caring for his famous godson, Harry Potter.

"That’s me, all right." Harry took a deep breath, and sighed dramatically. Remus had the impression that the three of them had already read the article several times aloud that day, and after a moment, Harry continued.

But it was not to be. Early in the summer, Black was contacted by the Ministry of Magic to help find a way to control the Dementors, who were intent on performing their deadly Kiss on every accused Dark wizard in Azkaban.

Since late June, Black, along with Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, has been scouting the country looking for a location for a holding cell where prisoners will be kept away from the Dementors before standing trial. The new prison, "Culparrat", is suspected to be located in Wales, although the exact location remains a mystery to all but a select few.

In London yesterday, Black told the Daily Prophet "I was never given a trial. The Dementors almost had me and I was innocent. I will do everything in my power to make sure that each and every wizard and witch at Culparrat receives a true judgment."

Black refused to comment on techniques that might be used to try to determine which wizards were or were not acting of their own accord during the war. It is a well-known fact that Veritaserum is not entirely reliable in determining whether or not an act was performed while under the Imperius Curse.

By this point, Harry’s voice had grown quite sober, as had Sirius’s face. Remus looked from one to the other of them, wishing there were some way to ease the tension of these issues, and knowing that there wasn’t. He was about to interrupt and attempt a change of subject, when Ginny snatched the paper from Harry.

"Don’t stop there!" she protested, nudging him slightly. "You’re just getting to the good part. Oh, and you may want to grab a tissue, Sirius - this gets to be touching." She grinned and cleared her throat.

Arthur Weasley, Minister of Magic, also will not yet disclose methods that will be attempted to keep the Dementors at bay. His only comment was, "Our goal is to develop a humane way to keep prisoners in Azkaban without using Dementors at all. We're working on it."

Meanwhile, Sirius Black soldiers on and the families of those imprisoned may rest easy, knowing that their loved ones will be tried in a just and moral manner. When asked if, now that the war was over, he planned on starting any sort of family on his own, Black looked suddenly bashful, and told us, "I don't have time for that right now, but I suppose there's always possibility. That's the joy of freedom."

Ginny stopped reading, her hand over her heart. Harry watched her with a smile playing on his lips, while Hermione gave an exaggerated sigh. Sirius looked at the ground, apparently embarrassed, and Remus couldn’t help grinning. It was high time that a little of Padfoot’s teasing nature came back on him. And before anyone could say anything else, three owls swooped into the kitchen and dropped letters onto Sirius's lap. He looked up, startled.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04