Running

Chapter 21

The entire courthouse was silent. Over a decade later and fact had been proven to be fiction. Sirius Black was innocent. Peter Pettigrew was alive and very much guilty. The only sound in the room was the scratching of Rita Skeeter's quill. No one moved. Outside the Wizarding World was bubbling with commotion, they had no idea what the outcome of this trial could mean.

Sirius was beginning to recover from the effects of the Veritiserum and could feel a smile forming on his face. He looked over to his godson who was beaming back at him. Why Harry would be so happy about this, he did not know. But it didn't matter. He was out. He was free. And he could finally continue living his life.

Suddenly a cry rang out in the courtroom. "No!"

Everyone's eyes shot to the chained man in the centre of the room. "No! There's a mistake, I would never betray them, they were my best friends!" Peter thrust his hands out, pointing at Sirius. "It was him! I swear it; it was him!"

Dumbledore's low voice filled the room. "Mr Pettigrew, you aren't making matters easier for yourself." He sounded disappointed. In what? Well, who can tell with Dumbledore? All Sirius could think about was finally getting these blasted handcuffs off.

As the court finally began to file out into the public, Peter's continuous shouts of denial were muffled by the admonishments of the public. He would shout and scream and backtrack. One moment he had nothing to do with their deaths, another he was forced into it by the Dark Lord. Unfortunately for him, the truth was out, and there was nothing he could do about it.

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Sirius had been escorted to another room. Still dressed in his prison uniform, he sat in a small chair by the window. God, he thought to himself, I'm never closing any curtains ever. Come rain or shine, night or day, any view was better than the waters surrounding Azkaban prison. A plate of food and a change of clothes was brought to him, just the start of the reparations required after the trauma of Azkaban. He was to be reinstated as Head of houses Black, Lestrange and Malfoy, in turn regaining all his assets and keys to quite a few vaults at Gringotts. For once, he saw a bright future for himself.

He practically inhaled the food in front of him and just as he was beginning to wonder whether he was allowed to leave the room a timid knock came from the door.

"Come in?" it sounded more like he was asking for permission than they were. He would need to get used to privacy and actually being respected again. The knob of the door turned and in walked Albus Dumbledore, and behind him Harry Potter.

He wanted to run up to the boy and hold him close, holding himself back believing the child would view him as a stranger, not realising his godson wanted to do exactly the same. Sirius had never been free in the old timeline, and Harry could clearly see the effect. It had only been an hour, but Sirius looked lighter and happier than he ever had in the few short years Harry had known him. He'd wanted to meet with Sirius alone, but he had no idea where he was and though he hated the man, he was never going to turn down Dumbledore's offer.

"You look well, Mr Black," Dumbledore began, his smile not truly meeting his eyes.

"Feeling well," Sirius grinned, "Well, as well as one can be after a decade with dementors."

"Yes quite." There was a brief, awkward pause. "Well, I thought you might like to meet the boy who put this into the works. It was Harry who exposed Pettigrew and then practically begged to be at the trial."

"Harry?" Sirius was stunned. How had this 11-year-old boy managed to do what the entire Wizarding World had failed to? He'd exposed the rat, got Sirius an actual trial and in turn, granted him his freedom.

"Yep," Harry smiled, though he was already tired of Dumbledore hanging around and wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible. "I'd be happy to tell you all about it, though I'm sure Professor Dumbledore has far more important things to be doing than listen to a story he's already practically been a part of, so you needn't hang around for my sake, sir."

Unaware of Harry's blatant dismissiveness of him, Dumbledore was not about to leave the two of them alone together this early in the proceedings. If he couldn't manipulate a new plan regarding their relationship, he wouldn't be able to do what was right for the Greater Good. He needed to completely supervise this interaction. "No no Harry, I already had my schedule cleared for the day. You, however, don't have all that much time. I'm sure your family have missed you, we must be getting you back to them quickly."

"His family?" Sirius asked confused. "What family?"

Dumbledore sat in uneasy silence, not wanting to admit who Harry's guardians were, correctly predicting Sirius' response... "The Dursleys," Harry happily pitched in, knowing it would most like anger his godfather. Dumbledore's false smile faltered. "Though I wouldn't call them family." Before Dumbledore could interrupt with some waffling speech about the importance of blood ties and familial relations, a quiet "What?" punctuated the room.

"He's been left in the hands of the Dursleys?" Sirius' words were slow and deliberate. His anger was cold and raging. "You were there," his gaze fixed on Dumbledore, "You helped them write their will. Lily clearly stated her son was never to go to them." Sirius' voice was slowly rising, he sounded as though he was ready to tear off Dumbledore's beard. "No." Sirius shook his head. "No, you aren't going to them. I'm your godfather. You're staying with me. I don't care what you say," he said before Dumbledore could interrupt, "He's under my care from this point on." Harry's smile could not possibly grow further. He had planned to try and live with Sirius but he hadn't expected it to happen quite so fast.

"Now, now Sirius," Dumbledore began, trying to regain control of the situation. His false calm demeanour was working in overdrive to cover up the anxiety within. "You've only just returned from Azkaban, do you really think your care would be what is best for the boy?" It had come across far more condescending than he'd have liked, but he was panicking now. This was the exact opposite direction he had wanted things to go in.

"It's better than staying with them," Harry joined in.

"They are your guardians, Harry," Dumbledore began.

"I am." Sirius seemed just as surprised as Dumbledore, though he was the one saying it. "The will states me as his first choice as guardian unless something happens to me."

"Something did happen to you."
"Yeah, well it's stopped happening," Sirius snapped, evidently frustrated, "So, if you could kindly leave, I'm sure that the Weasel family could do with your advice after harbouring the rat for so many years." Dumbledore could clearly see this was a battle he'd lost. He wouldn't even be able to contest this in court; everyone would side with the man they'd wronged for the past decade. This entire situation had ruined so much: Sirius would now be hailed as a victim and a hero, Harry would be under his care and Dumbledore would have no way of overseeing any of it. He sighed and walked out of the room without saying another word.

The minute the door closed Harry couldn't help himself. He ran into his godfather's arms, who was understandably shocked by the sudden affection but held his godson close all the same.

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03/08/2023 - This edit was more just fleshing out the characters a little more. As always, let me know what you think :)