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Manipulations to War | ||||||
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Category: Pre-OotP Characters:Sirius Black Genres: Drama Warnings: Death Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 19 Summary: Sequel to Harry's second Christmas. James and Lily are dead, and Sirius, Remus and Anwen are living in the Potter keep with Harry. They want him to have a well balanced childhood, but the need to keep him safe is greater. Sirius is working to unravel where the Potter money went while Anwen wants to discover why they were in Godric's Hollow and not safely in the Potter's home. Hitcount: Story Total: 18920; Chapter Total: 566 |
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Chapter 18: Malfoy April 18, 1984 “Are you okay, Luv?” Sirius asked his wife as they stood outside the large courtroom on the lowest level of the Ministry of Magic. “Not the way I would have picked to spend my twenty-first birthday,” she said slyly, “but to see Malfoy put away, finally, it will be the best gift I will ever get from the Ministry. It’s been almost five years, Sirius. It’s time someone stood up to him.” “The man stands nearly six feet, Anwen. Even standing up, you’re only going to come to his armpit,” Sirius said with a playful smile, knowing he was two inches taller and his beloved only came up to mid-chest on him. “That isn’t what I mean,” she said. Kingsley appeared in the hallway and came to stand with the pair. He would be giving the Auror reports evidence; Anwen was going to present the five girls' dying declarations. The two men saw the steely resolution in her face and decided she was ready. Sirius kissed her gently and did the closure on his plum Wizengamot robes and went to take his seat with the rest of the members of the wizarding ruling body to weigh the fate of one of their own. Sirius hoped enough of his fellow plum-clad witches and wizards would see the truth, not be swayed by the financial power Malfoy once had over them. When Malfoy was brought up on charges this time, Kingsley convinced the DMLE to freeze his assets. It wasn't complicated with Amelia in control; she had never liked the man and had developed a passion for seeing him come to justice when she read the reports Anwen and Kingsley had compiled during the war. There were rumours about Malfoy going back to when they were in school. He was in his seventh year when Sirius was in his first. While Lucius Malfoy's betrothal to Narcissa Black had been finalized before they went back for the nineteen-seventy-one to nineteen-seventy-two school year, that didn't mean he was faithful. Sirius often was sought out by others to tattle about what his older cousins got up to. First, it was about Andromeda's relationship with Ted Tonks. Sirius met the boy and knew he was so much cooler than anyone his family would ever set his beloved cousin up with, so he kept their secret and told his cousin he approved, not that she cared all that much what her almost twelve-year-old cousin thought. Then came the rumours about Cissy's betrothed. Sirius had known Malfoy all his life, not that it was all that pleasurable of an acquaintance. The Malfoys were one of the acceptable families the Blacks would associate with. He was a nasty, spoilt little boy who became a nasty, horrible, spoilt man. Rumours always seemed to get back to Sirius about Malfoy with a third or fourth year from another house. He approached Cissy about them, but she said that the first year had no idea what he was talking about. She was certain Sirius hadn’t even kissed a girl yet. How wrong she was about that. He and James had convinced some girls to play spin-the-bottle the first weekend they were at Hogwarts. When Sirius told Andromeda about what he'd heard, she told him she knew, and she'd warned Cissy, but Cissy was proud to be marrying Malfoy and wouldn’t hear a bad word. Sirius realized then that his cousin was wilfully blind to the monster who was her intended. With his assets frozen, they were surviving on the allowance Cissy had from the Black family. While her father was still alive, Cygnus was brought up on charges of aiding and abetting Voldemort financially. Knowing he'd been openly siphoning money from his vault to Voldemort's, there would be no way to escape the charge or bribe his way out of it. He fled with his wife, and they were living somewhere in the Baltic region. His vault was immediately sealed, which meant Cissy's allowance was stopped from Cygnus' vault. Orion, upon his death, had left a parchment deeming his wife the controller of their gold, and all was fine for a few months, and Walburga generously gave to her niece. However, when Orion's will was read in early nineteen-eighty, about six months after his death, his sole beneficiary remained his eldest son, Sirius. When Sirius sat down and began to untangle the family financials, he was aghast at how money was leaking from everywhere. He stopped all family members' withdrawal abilities, except their personal vaults, and then put each family member on a smaller monthly allowance. Cygnus was ignored, and his money was folded into the larger Black family vault. Sirius knew the funds being sent to Cissy were plenty for them to feed, clothe and maintain their home, but Lucius had no money for bribes this time. Should he be found guilty, Lucius' vault would be sealed until Draco, his young son, who was Harry's age, reached his adulthood. Sirius would assure Cissy that his school needs would be paid for from the Black Family estate, but they would need to live on her allowance. Sirius was seated next to Remus, who held the Potter's seat as Harry's legal designee. Sirius had needed to install someone shortly after James' death; otherwise, the family could lose the seat to some ancient laws and political machinations. He and James had finagled the seating charts shortly after Orion's death so they could sit together. Usually, Kingsley would be on the other side of him, but he wouldn't be voting today as he was giving testimony. Jeffrey Nighman, Alice's father, was in the Parker family seat as their designee. Next to him was Augusta Longbottom, his daughter’s mother-in-law. The Dumbledore seat was next to her, and they wondered whether Aberforth would arrive to take it up. He never had while Albus was the Chief Warlock. It was possible it would be lost, as there were no younger Dumbledores to take it up. Amelia climbed into the elevated chair of the presiding member of the Wizengamot, usually the chief, but elections had yet to be held since Dumbledore’s undignified departure. The DMLE had to do some housecleaning after numerous allegations were presented about several senior members in the trial run-up. There were also serious allegations against several officials of the Ministry. While the investigations were continuing, Amelia would preside, as she was considered a woman above reproach. Anwen, Kingsley, and two other Aurors Sirius wasn't sure he knew the names of came in and sat in the small section for witnesses. It appeared that even former Death Eaters weren't coming to the aid of one of their own. Louise Malfoy did appear, but she was sitting in the gallery, her face obscured by a large hat sat low on her head. Sirius liked Louise, who was his mother's best friend. Louise was as close as Sirius had ever come to maternal love after he was sorted into Gryffindor, as she always hugged him and wanted to know how he was doing in his classes when the Malfoys visited. Malfoy looked horrid when they brought him in, and Sirius had to stifle a laugh because it was discovered that Malfoy was going grey and had been charming his hair. He now had about an inch or so on either side of his middle part of grey-white hairs. He looked like an albino skunk. Amelia read the charges, and the list was long. The worst of his charges were the alleged rape, torture, and eventual murder of five Muggle-born witches aging between twelve and sixteen. The first up was Kingsley, and he read the final Auror reports of how and where they found each girl. He was followed by one of the other Aurors, a chap named Wardsmith, specializing in forensic evidence. He explained what was found at each of the sites and how it was preserved. Piece by piece was brought forward, introduced, and admitted into evidence. The other Auror, a woman named Littlebrow, explained how the bodies of the girls were handled once they expired, whether at the scene or in St. Mungo's. The defence did little cross-examination of the Aurors, fearful of what else might be lurking in their official files. Then Anwen was called forward. “Please state your name for the record,” the clerk asked Anwen. “Anwen Llyn Parker Black,” she said proudly. She’d chosen to replace her childhood surname of Hodgson with her grandmother's birth name, Parker, to recognize her wizarding heritage. There were whispers regarding the name, but there was nothing anyone could say or ask as it was legally recorded. “Do you swear to tell the truth on your wand and magic?” “I Do.” “For the record, what is your profession?” “I am an Auror with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom,” she said calmly. She was then asked about her absence from the department, and she gladly told people of her choice to stay home with their young, adopted son and then the daughter she’d had with her husband. "What brought you back to work?" he asked, and Anwen let the slightest smile escape from her lips. “After the attempted break-in at Azkaban, I was asked to return to the Aurors so that I could investigate why the Board of Directors had not met regularly, as is prescribed by this body.” “Why did they want you to lead the investigation?” “Because the defendant, Mr Malfoy, was the Head of the Board of Directors, and I had, in all my time in the Auror department, been investigating him for the sexual assaults, financial improprieties, and bribery charges he is brought up on today.” "You were the expert on Mr Malfoy, as far as the Auror department went?" the prosecuting solicitor asked, and Anwen nodded. They started with the newest allegations first, and it was easy to see that he had not called the Board of Azkaban Prison together, and as such, the conditions had declined, and the staff were lax in their practices. They moved quickly through the financial and bribery charges too. More than one member of the Wizengamot was implicated, and it was promised that more arrests would be forthcoming. Soon they were discussing the sexual assaults in detail. Unlike when any of the other Aurors spoke, Anwen used the girls’ first names and talked about their final minutes. "The youngest was Erin Coleman," Anwen said. "She had just turned twelve and was little more than a child. She was home on her Christmas break from her first year at Hogwarts. We found her in an abandoned house less than a mile from her parent's home. She was a bloody mess, slashes on her breasts and torn to bits down below. There was no way to staunch the bleeding, so I did what I could to calm her and fed her a pain potion. No healer was going to reach us in time since we were in her Muggle neighbourhood." Anwen stopped to take a deep breath. “She begged me to tell her parents she was sorry, although it wasn’t until I pulled the memories of the night out of her mind I understood why. A note had fluttered into her room through the window she'd kept open for her owl, and she believed it was one of her Hufflepuff roommates that wanted to meet her at the park three doors down. Only, it wasn't her roommate. Mr Malfoy incapacitated her, then put her under the Imperius Curse and forced her to participate in his sexual activities. His wife gave him an alibi for the night in question. Still, while questioned under Veritaserum after his arrest, Mr Malfoy admitted he engaged in the activities seen in Erin's memories." On she went, methodically explaining until all five girls were given their time in court. It was emotionally exhausting for Sirius to listen to, and he wondered how Anwen was handling it. The prosecution rested, and before Amelia could call for a much-needed recess, the defence stood and began their cross-examination with a screaming taunt. “Aren’t you biased against my client because of a misunderstanding that took place in Hogsmeade in nineteen-seventy-nine?” the witch who was leading Malfoy’s defence asked. "If you're speaking of my attack by Mr Malfoy, Ms Lestrange, her husband, my deceased brother-in-law, and one other now deceased Death Eater, I would hardly call it a misunderstanding. I was sexually assaulted by Mr Malfoy and Mr Lestrange, put under the Cruciatus Curse by Ms Lestrange, and had my shoulder broken by Regulus Black. I spent nearly a week in the sexual assault ward at St. Mungo’s and then several months recovering at the Potter Keep.” “No charges were ever brought due to this alleged attack.” “No, they were not, and not because I didn’t want them to be. Unfortunately, my attackers were able to buy their way out of being charged, except for Mr Black, who lived on the run until his death a few weeks later.” “So, you’re saying that this alleged attack didn’t make you hate Mr Malfoy?” “I don’t hate your client. I try not to hate anyone, and no, the incident did not make me bitter. Instead, I used my frustration, my fear, and my disgust as a catalyst to become a better person and eventually an Auror. I never wanted anyone else to live through what I did. That these girls, as well as countless Muggle girls, lived through worse will disturb me for the remainder of my life.” “I see,” she said. “It’s interesting that everyone who attacked you is related in some way to your husband’s family.” "Actually, I believe it's my relationship with him that was the impetus for the attack. It was an embarrassment for him, a pureblood from the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black to be dating a Muggle girl.” The attorney opened her mouth to speak, but Anwen beat her to it. “After having the displeasure of meeting my husband’s parents, his father, who hurled disgusting epitaphs at his son and then proceeded to punch him several times, and his mother, who attempted to curse us as we left the house, I find that my husband is the odd man out in the Black family. “Oh, but we did have an enjoyable Boxing Day dinner with his cousin Andromeda and her family when we were dating. She seems to have turned out fine as well." The attorney appeared frustrated by Anwen's answer and wasn't sure what to say. Anwen had proven unflappable, which clearly wasn't what they were expecting. The group of attorneys had their heads together, and Anwen bit the inside of her mouth to keep from laughing. She took a drink of water and prepared as a new barrister, a man with ill-fitting robes and what appeared to be a mustard stain on his lapel. Anwen found it easier to speak to the stain rather than the man as spittle kept forming in the corners of his mouth and then dripping down his rather unkempt moustache. “The alleged memories of these girls, where have they been kept?” he asked. "All evidence, memories, reports, and any other sundry items have been stored in the Auror locker in the basement of the building. They were in Kingsley Shacklebolt’s personal locker.” "We understand you have a copy of the memories and reports. Is that true?" "It is. They are in my vault at my home. Kingsley also had a set in his vault at Gringotts." “Why would you keep extra sets of the evidence, Ms. Black?” “Because your client has always evaded prosecution or conviction, and often because evidence had gone missing. Nothing was going to disappear this time,” Anwen said confidently. The barrister looked defeated as he headed back to the table, and the team chose not to put Malfoy on the stand, as they were fearful of what else might come out. Amelia put it to a vote. With over seventy-five percent of the Wizengamot choosing to convict, Lucius Malfoy was sent to Antarctica with a combined sentence of one-hundred-thirty-one years, served concurrently. A celebration dinner was being prepared by Hindsa and Peng, and everyone would be gathering to share in the happiness of Malfoy's conviction. The person who played the most significant role wasn't moving among her friends, however. She was sitting, feeding her daughter while talking with Lily and Fee. “How do you feel, dear?” Fee asked her. “Exhausted, happy, overwhelmed, confused, empty,” Anwen rattled off slowly. “The first three make sense,” Lily said, “but confused and empty?” “I thought I’d be more gleeful at finally putting him in jail, but I saw Narcissa’s face and then Louise’s and I…I hated that I ruined their lives too. As for the empty feeling, this was the biggest, longest thing that I’ve ever done outside of helping to keep Sirius from being hexed by his exes when I was younger. I can’t help but wonder if I will slip from project to project in my life. We’ve got this whole Tom Riddle/shards of bone mystery now, and I don’t want it to consume my attention and life.” “Anwen, your work won’t consume you,” Fee said. “That little girl and my dear grandson will, along with any other children you and Sirius have. I know you want a large family, so embrace that. Let your family fill you up, dear child.” "Winnie, what happened to you, it changed you. You recovered, and you had a resolve that we hadn't seen," Lily said. "You are a powerful witch, and we all knew it, but after the attack, you started to train, and you are a force of nature now. Your attitudes changed as well. While you always had a good heart, you became committed to ensuring the Death Eaters wouldn't attack girls and women like they had been doing. That said, it's okay for you to put it all behind you now. The worst offender is gone." Anwen shifted Lizzy to burp her, glad she was among women since she didn't have a blanket to cover her bare breast with and looked at the two who she considered her family and began to cry, even while tending to her daughter. “It’s okay to let it out, sweetheart,” Fee cooed at her. “I wish I was there to hold you.” “Me too,” Anwen croaked. It was a cathartic cry, washing away the residue Malfoy had left on her soul. Somehow the tears allowed the emptiness in her heart to be filled with the love of her children and husband, and when she stopped weeping, she was filled with joy. When she found Sirius, Lizzy happily sleeping in her arms with her tummy full, he was worried by her blotchy face and red eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asked, gathering her gently in the circle of his arms. "Nothing now," she said. "I was with Fee and Lily, and they helped me remember that I got over my attack years ago, and now it was time to let Malfoy go too. We will never hear from him again. Sirius, I know Lizzy isn't even a year old, but I want to start trying for another baby. We were lucky to quickly become pregnant the last time, but we might not be this time. I want to build our family and then enjoy being their mother and your wife. “Does that mean you’re going to stop working?” he asked, surprised after how stunning she was today. "No, I need the mental stimulation, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to be involved with the children. I'm gone three mornings a week, Harry isn't even home for two of the days I'm gone, and if we have another baby quickly, we can hire a nanny to watch the little ones." “Well, then, baby-making it is,” Sirius said with a waggle of his eyebrows, which caused Anwen to laugh. “Ever the hound-dog, aren’t you?” Sirius howled at her question. Unfortunately, his noise awoke Lizzy, who wasn’t happy about having her late afternoon nap interrupted. “Come on, my sweet girl, let’s go get you in your swing,” Sirius said, taking Lizzy from his wife, allowing her to get ready for their guests and the celebration. |
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