|
A Thought or Two | ||||||
|
Category: Pre-OotP, Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama Warnings: Mental Abuse Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 87 Summary: Auror Spook Kitty Fawley thought the difficult part of her return to the UK would be getting Sirius out of prison and recovering Harry from his Muggle relatives. Turns out that was the easiest thing she would do. To help them, Kitty will delve into a mystery deeper than any she faced in the field. Hitcount: Story Total: 134226; Chapter Total: 3030 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: Hello All, sorry that I've been MIA, but I've been struggling with blurry vision and headaches. Thankfully I'm feeling some better and was able to finish this chapter. I am also going to answer reviews today. I hope you enjoy this. Thanks for reading and reviewing, MNF |
Previous Next |
|
||||
|
Chapter 11: New Dress Kitty and Sirius strode into the courtroom behind Remus and Minerva, looking every bit the pureblood power-couple they were. Arthur had come down early to save seats immediately behind the defendant's table. King and Amelia were already in their places as part of the prosecution team that would end up flipping sides as the evidence against Sirius would be proven inaccurate, incomplete, or just fabricated. Before Harry’s party, Kitty and Sirius had reluctantly gone to Diagon Alley to find the right robes for him to wear to the trial. They chose a set of grey ones that perfectly matched his eyes. He decided on a formal linen shirt, well starched, but no necktie. It was a compromise with Kitty; if he wore suitable shoes — not his riding boots, he didn’t need a tie. With his long hair pulled back and secured with a delicate leather strap and his beard and mustache trimmed meticulously, Sirius was every inch the gentry his birthright provided in the magical world. The jewel-encrusted Black family crest (not something Sirius wanted to wear but understood its purpose) was affixed over his breast. Cornelius Fudge became tangled in his own feet at spying the enormous emeralds that made Sirius' cufflinks. He stifled a laugh, although he wanted to guffaw loudly at the puny man. Instead, Sirius walked by with Kitty’s arm through his, ignoring the shorter man completely. Not surprisingly, Kitty was unimpressed with everything she found on Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, so she took a short trip to Milan to find an outfit. The pale blue robes fit her like a glove, and her stiletto peep-toes allowed her to stand nearly as tall as Sirius. The dress wasn’t deeply cut, but careful placement of a skin-toned panel made the gown appear to plunge. To not give away the secret, she wore a single strand choker of graduated diamonds, the center one about the size of a baby niffler. The dress had long sleeves with similarly nude panels inlaid. The skirt was slim in the front, fanning out into a train in the back. Lest people had forgotten who she was, the diamond, pearl, and aquamarine crown on her head would remind them. Kitty wasn’t just gentry; she was a princess. "You don't do things by halves, do you, Kitty?" Amelia asked as she came over to say hello and admire the pair. “Paris?” “Milan,” the fashion-plate princess replied. “I went this morning before our court time. I’m glad magical alterations only involve the wave of a wand.” "You're nothing if committed to looking good. Lunch when we're done?" “As long as we go into Muggle London to do it. I don’t want to be stared at on Diagon Alley,” Sirius said. “You know the press will have word when the verdict is announced. “Rules it is then,” Kitty chirped. “My treat.” “Good, I can’t afford it on my salary,” Amelia said. She turned and walked away, leaving Kitty and Sirius a moment before the trial began. Kitty took both of Sirius' hands and held them close to her heart, the other close to his. "Look at me, please," she said, and Sirius tore his eyes away from their clasped hands so close to her breast. "This is a formality. You are an innocent man, the surrogate father of little Harry, best friend of Remus, and the only man I have ever loved. What they did to you was inexcusable, and they will pay. Whatever happened to you while you were there is past, and not who you are. I know your heart. I know what love resides in it. Our life awaits when we pass through this inconvenience. I will be right behind you. If you need me, just reach, and my hand will be there." Kitty leaned down and kissed his hand that was holding hers close to her chest. Sirius, encouraged by her speech, brushed his lips over hers before she'd moved away. Her only response was to raise the right side of her lips and softly emit a brief chuckle. Cornelius Fudge was paying close attention to the couple, loathing the happiness they seemed to share. She would not win this battle. Everything they had found had pointed at Sirius Black as being the killer of James and Lily Potter and Peter Pettigrew. Yes, he'd broken Sirius' wand out of frustration, thereby making it impossible to check the final spells that were cast, but it was just a formality. That Dumbledore had agreed with him, had named Black as a Secret Keeper, and then Death Eater made the lack of a trial and his immediate admission to Azkaban possible. Fudge knew his career was based on this arrest; it had to stand. He was disgusted that his primary witness, Auror Shacklebolt, conversed with the guilty party and his guests. Black’s attorneys paraded in together, nearly in lockstep. Fudge admitted he only knew two, and those were from occasional seminars put on by the International Confederation of Wizards. Fudge scoffed in his mind the best the Fawley fortune could buy, hating the father and daughter in a flint-like way. His disdain was burning hotter, new parts of his soul catching. Kitty sat down directly behind Sirius, and he immediately reached out for her hand. While he knew the charges were about to be demolished by his legal team, it didn't mean it would be comfortable to sit through the proceedings. Remus reached forward to squeeze his friend's shoulder, and then he took Kitty's other hand in his. Because Dumbledore was one of the litigants in this trial, he could not preside over the trial. The International Confederation of Wizards had stepped in and provided a witch to hear the case. Kitty tried not to smile when Rosina Del Grotto entered and climbed to the Interrogator’s chair. She was the Minister of Magic for the Italian Ministry. The princess-witch couldn't help but wonder if her father pulled some strings, but if he did, she was not going to say anything. Madame Del Grotto was strict and precise and expected those she was surrounded by to be the same. “Isn’t that your —” Remus whispered in her ear before she cut him off. “Yes. Be quiet.” The clock had not finished it's tenth chime when Madame Del Grotto began the proceedings. The prosecution went; first, Fudge bumbling through the evidence from the Potter's house, the Muggle street, and what they found when they captured Sirius. When Dumbledore was in the witness chair, Sirius closed his eyes and squeezed Kitty's hand tightly to remain calm. Listening to his former Headmaster and leader of the Order of the Phoenix talk about the relationship he had with James made his stomach turn. He didn't know the half of it–his telling of Sirius's choice as the Secret-Keeper made him want to roar. Madame Del Grotto was quite hard on the British Chief Warlock about his behavior, specifically why there was no trial — not even a Veritaserum Trial — before Sirius was thrown into the high-security section the wizarding prison. Dumbledore believed he knew the whole truth, so he needed no further investigation. The prosecution rested, and the defense began their refutation. To the defendant's surprise, Kitty was called as the first witness. "Trust me," she whispered as she slid her hand from Sirius’ and walked to the interrogation chair. Her dress required a dramatic flourish of the train, so she was not sitting directly on it. Kitty then straightened her tiara to ensure everyone knew she was wearing one before she trained her eyes on the judge's assist to proceed. She swore on her wand to the tell truth, lest have her magic diminished. “Princess Ekaterina Fawley, how would you prefer to be addressed?” the first attorney asked. "You may call me Ms. Fawley, thank you for asking," Kitty answered calmly. Having already decided with the team she'd hired to represent Sirius, her clothing was more than enough to remind those gathered of her place in not only wizarding society but also in the English gentry, a full recitation of her titles would have been overkill. “Can you tell us about the events of the seventeenth of July, this year?” "Certainly. I had been away for several years for work, and I arrived at my parents' home in Paris to learn the news of the Potters deaths, Harry's disappearance, and Sirius's imprisonment. My father relayed the facts about our former professor, Minerva McGonagall's attempts to free Sirius. When he'd finished his story, I immediately fire-called Minerva and then took the Floo to her home where she filled in facts, like where little Harry Potter was." “I understand that the child is no longer at said residence?” “No, he is not. James and Lily Potter had named Sirius and me his legal guardians, should they die. We were also made godparents at his birth. I simply had to show the documentation to Magical Child Protection Services, and I was able to bring him home to me. I am in the process of legally adopting him,” Kitty quickly explained. “I understand there will be charges brought regarding his care while he was in this interim care?” the attorney asked, already knowing the answer; she was the one who would be managing the charges in the magical world for Harry not being given to Sirius. “Yes, although that trial will be at a later date. Presently the chief witness, Harry Potter, is too traumatized to be presented to the court.” “How unfortunate. So, what happened between the evening of the seventeenth and the morning of the twentieth when Mr. Black was released from Azkaban?” the attorney asked. “I began investigating why Sirius had been put in prison. My first conversation was with Remus Lupin at his home,” Kitty said. “You knew how to find him? I’m told he was also missing for much of the same time you were away.” “I always knew where he was. When I had to go out of the UK for work, Remus moved into the grounds of my estate to act as the agent. He also did some tutoring work in the area." “What did he tell you?” The attorney asked. “Remus said that his initial gut response was to blame Sirius, thinking he had indeed been made Secret Keeper. However, after the initial shock of hearing the Potters were dead and Harry was in hiding, he began thinking about the situation in earnest. It only took him a moment to realize there was no way that Sirius would have ever betrayed James, and by extension, Lily and Harry.” Kitty recounted. “He said that he went to Professor McGonagall immediately with his reservations about how everything was handled. The pair began to work on Sirius’ release.” “Do you agree with this assessment?” “I do. Mr. Lupin agreed to share his memories with me. When accosted only minutes after hearing the news of his friends' deaths, he thought Sirius was the cause. Rational thought took over by dawn, and he knew his former roommate and good friend was not to blame." “Would you have thought Mr. Black guilty of such a crime?” “Never.” “Can you explain why you do not think Mr. Black was capable of betraying Mr. Potter?” “I have the honor of knowing both men since I was a tiny girl. Sirius, James and I, grew up together, often in the care of James’ mother, Euphemia Potter. She was a dear woman and was more of the nurturing, loving woman one associate with mother than my own has been. She taught me to be a lady and a woman. I miss her dearly. “We, the three of us, were each other’s best friends when we were children. I watched Jamie and Siri become extremely close. When we went to Hogwarts, it would have been a travesty had none of us been in the same house. James and Sirius were brothers in everything but shared blood. When the Blacks threw their eldest son out of their home, Jamie and I were at the Potters waiting for him. Sirius and I always spent our holidays and summers at the Potter home, at least until they passed. Then it was James and Lily's house that hosted us. They chose a four-bedroom place so that we could each have our rooms. While the boys continued to be my dearest friends, the two of them had a bond that they would have carried to death. I’m quite certain Sirius would have rather died than have his friend do so.” Kitty’s ice-queen exterior showed a crack when a tear formed in her eye while talking about the boys. “What about your relationship with the pair?” "James Potter was my hero. He'd rescued me from climbing too high in trees when we were small, to saving me from overly handsy dates at balls. He understood me. His mother had harbored the hope that I would marry James one day, but we never developed those feelings. I was with him the first time he saw Lily Evans on the Hogwarts Express. From the moment we walked through the passageway, it was obvious the gents were going to rule our year, if not the school. We'd found a compartment, and they went off to make mischief. Lily came in, asking if she could join me. I welcomed her, and we started comparing our lives. James and Sirius returned as the train went into motion, already completely disheveled, and James stumbled over his feet and fell at hers. Not knowing quite what to do, he asked her to marry him. She was stunned. Sirius picked him up, and James stared at Lily the whole way to school. I was happy when she was sorted into Gryffindor. She was my first female friend.” “So, you’re saying Mr. Black was Mr. Potter’s closest friend, and would not have become a Death Eater?” “I swear on my magic there is no way that Sirius Black would ever have become a Death Eater or would have ever betrayed any of the Potter's. I know Sirius' heart better than any living person, probably better than anyone who has ever been alive." Before this, Kitty had avoided Sirius' gaze, but at her pronouncement, she looked at him, surprised at how moved she was by the love she found there. “How would you characterize your relationship with the defendant?” “Sirius Black is the only man I have ever loved. He is the only person who knows my heart fully. He is that one person in all the world who is meant to make me happy.” The silence in the courtroom was complete. Kitty looked away from Sirius, needing to regain her composure. Thankfully, for her anyway, the attorney turned to the steps she took to ensure Sirius’ release. Kitty kept her answers short and precise. When Sirius’ attorney finished, Kitty was prepared to leave the stand, but Cornelius Fudge stood, intending to cross-examine her. She inwardly groaned. “Hello, Princess Ekaterina,” Fudge said in an icy tone. “We heard many pretty words about how Mr. Black was as a youngster. Shall we talk about him as an adult and the lengths you went to in freeing him?” |
| Reviews 87 |
Previous Next
|
