Come Home + Sirius Black

twenty one: together

Charlotte never ended up returning to her office. She would have been too anxious to focus on her work. Only a few moments after Harry had entered the courtroom, Dumbledore had arrived with a frail-looking old woman with him. He hadn't stopped to say hello, merely leaving the woman to wait with her outside as he went in.

The woman, who Charlotte knew as Mrs. Figg and had only ever heard stories about her from Harry when she was forced to babysit him by the Dursleys, attempted to make small conversation, but with her mind preoccupied, Charlotte could not bring herself to give any more than a few polite responses.

After a few minutes of painful waiting, the doors opened once again, the third-oldest Weasley boy impatiently ushering in the witness.

The entire hearing took no longer than forty minutes, its ending being indicated by Dumbledore's swift exit. He again did not stop to reveal the trial's result to Charlotte, nor did he stop as Harry called out to him from inside the courtroom.

The sound of the Wizengamot dismissing could be heard from within, and soon enough, Harry came through the doors at a quick pace.

"Harry! Dumbledore didn't say —"

"Cleared," he said, out of breath, shutting the doors behind him. "of all charges!"

Charlotte smiled wide, pulling her godson into a tight hug. "Oh, I knew it! There was no way they could possibly find you guilty, given the evidence, but —"

The doors to the courtroom flew open again, and the members of the Wizengamot soon came trickling out. When the location of the hearing had changed, she knew that it meant it would be with the full court. Still, to see them all exiting the room made her unsettled.

Amelia Bones was the only one who had stopped upon seeing Charlotte and Harry still in the corridor. "Morning, Wilson."

"Good morning, Amelia," she said. "I actually wanted to ask you, why was —" Her question was answered before she could even ask it, as Fudge had just exited the room, sandwiched by Percy and an insufferable woman that Charlotte knew to be Dolores Umbridge. With Fudge continuously trying to discredit Dumbledore and Harry, it was obvious that this was a failed attempt to rid himself of Harry.

Amelia followed Charlotte's gaze, then looked back to her and Harry sympathetically. "Why don't you take the day off?"

The suggestion surprised her, considering Charlotte had already wasted an hour of her workday. "Are you quite sure?"

Amelia nodded, then turned on her heel to follow the rest of the Wizengamot towards the lift. "See you tomorrow, Wilson."

"Come on then," Charlotte said, giving Harry a gentle push towards the lifts. "I'm sure everyone will want to celebrate.

"...I think I'll go with you when you go to the Dursleys," he said, and when Charlotte looked at him with a bit of confusion, he added, "I want to see their faces when they find out I haven't been expelled."

This made Charlotte laugh, but the moment of amusement was cut short upon seeing Lucius Malfoy engaged in whispered conversation with Fudge at the end of the hall.

Their presence hadn't gone unknown either, as Lucius turned to narrow his eyes at them as they approached the lift. "Well, well, well... Patronus Potter. The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter. Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes... Snakelike, in fact..."

Instinctively, Charlotte placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. He had told her weeks ago that Lucius Malfoy was among the Death Eaters the night of Voldemort's return. But now was not the time nor place to challenge him.