Astrophile [J.P]

Chapter 75

~ I'm gonna trust, I'm gonna embrace,

All the uncertainty I will face. ~

***

As the day came for Harry's hearing in front of the Wizengamot, the whole of Grimmauld Place was brimming with a wave of uncertainty. Harry and the rest of them were nervous, despite trying to maintain a cool air.

Arthur was going to accompany him to the Ministry and even though he appeared calm on the outside, he was anxious too. The Ministry under Fudge had become a very stagnant place with only a few witches and wizards holding all the power and using it for their benefit. But he didn't tell Harry that as the boy was already quite stressed.

The two left shortly after breakfast and with their departure, the tension in Grimmauld Place thickened. So, to diffuse it and to keep the others occupied, Molly put them all to work, clearing up the doxies and the boggarts from the spooky old house.

Felicity had sensed that Sirius was upset and anxious for Harry so she went after him and found him in the attic with Buckbeak. He was tending to the bird, his only companion in that painfully long time before the Order had started to use his family home as the Headquarters.

Hearing the sound of her footsteps, he paused and turned around to see her.

"Fel, what are you doing here?" He asked, a soft smile creasing his lips even though he looked slightly disturbed earlier.

"Nothing much, just wandering around. How's Buckbeak?"

"Doing stellar. Oh, you haven't yet met him, have you?" He stepped aside and Buckbeak stood up, spreading its wings upon seeing a new visitor. The attic was expanded by magic to easily fit the Hippogriff and allow it enough space to spread its wings and stand up.

Felicity cautiously approached the magical creature, bowing at first as her cousin told her to. Buckbeak reciprocated the bow and it was then that Sirius gently took her hand and placed it on the winged creature's plumage.

It was clear that she was worried that the Hippogriff would lash out but over time, Buckbeak had adjusted to the confinement, not very unlike Sirius himself. Perhaps that was why they found comfort with each other as they seemed to be kindred souls to one another.

"Relax Fel, he likes you. He's not going to knock you off like he did with Malfoy's son."

Fel shook her head, a slight smile tugging upon her face as well upon recalling the story she had heard from the Weasley twins and Ron about Draco's antics in his third year.

"You're worried about Harry," she finally voiced out her concern once Buckbeak was seated and devouring the food Sirius had brought for it.

"It goes without saying. The Ministry has turned against him and no one knows better than me how they can twist their narratives to get the verdict they want," he sighed wearily, grey eyes dimming slightly as he turned to face her.

"But Dumbledore would be there, I don't think he will not intervene as Harry is still a student at Hogwarts," she spoke up, reflecting on the matter, "he will sort things out."

He shrugged, "I hope so. We have trusted Dumbledore with everything but sometimes the old man has his reasons that make him act in a way neither of us would expect."

The atmosphere was heavy so she tried to diffuse the tension a bit, "Why are you being so me today? I never thought even Sirius Orion Black could become a pessimist."

"Azkaban, my dear cousin. Twelve years in that hellhole changes people."

The sorrow behind those words was evident and Felicity placed her hand on his shoulder, attempting to provide some comfort. She couldn't atone for all that he must have gone through in that hellish prison but she could reassure him that she was with him.

Sirius pulled her closer in a hug, his arm wrapping around her. Normally, she would have pulled apart immediately but that once, she gave in, knowing it was a much-needed gesture for both of them.

Sirius and Felicity had been through some of the darkest times of their lives together, becoming each other's sole support. But when they needed that support most, he had been sentenced to Azkaban under a false allegation while she had been shunned from the wizarding world.

Now after so many years, they were standing at the same crossroads, with another war threatening to take everything that was left of them.

"I won't let this war take everything away from us again," she whispered, her voice quivering under the weight of those words. "I can't bear to lose the very few people who are left... I can't..."

Sirius nodded, patting her head affectionately in an elder brotherly gesture that he used often with Regulus, "We won't let it ruin us further. We have lost enough. No more now."

James, Lily, Marlene, Regulus, the Prewett twins, and countless friends and family members had been snatched from them in the first war. Now the second war was looming closer and the people at risk were Harry, the Weasleys, Remus, Tonks, and everyone else standing on the side of light battling against the dark.

"We will fight," he whispered, his voice full of determination, "we will fight for everyone we have lost and everyone we can't lose anymore."

It was a solemn oath that they were pledging themselves to but all the losses they had borne left them no choice but to take that stand. In the face of darkness, their enemy, they had to stay strong.

By the time they came downstairs, Molly had received Arthur's message that the trial went well. The Ministry, especially Fudge and Dolores Umbridge had tried to twist the case but Dumbledore had shown up on time. He handled the situation, and the trial dissolved with Amelia Bones also taking his side.

Harry wasn't going to be suspended from Hogwarts. That was one burden less from the weight already crushing them all with the worsening situation of the wizarding world.

Harry and Arthur were returning shortly so Molly decided to whip up a celebratory feast. All of them needed cheering up, especially Harry as he had been so tense about the trial.

***