TRIED AND CONVICTED

By P.A.R.

A/N: Oh, dear heavens! It's a story with multiple chapters!

Yes, dears, I'm back. I have stories. Hopefully you have reviews.

Now, in relation to an answer I gave Unicorn Whisperer, let me give you some sort of idea what will be coming over the next several months.

Tried And Convicted is the first story to go up. The reason for that is because I wanted to wrap up some loose ends from The Bonds That Tie. Mostly where Sirius stood legally. Next comes Enemies, if I can ever get the bugger finished. That one is giving me more trouble than any other story I've done based on the fact that, one, it's a nearly total OC story, two, the relationships in it are very complexed, and three, the whole story is very.....intricate. I'd readily put Enemies up against audiaa2's Veracity for the 'Most Complex Story Plot Line' award any day. Next will be Runaway, which is currently a short little Katlin/Harry story (Ya'll remember Katlin? Our favorite little Deatheater from The Bonds That Tie.). Then Family Relations. Then a short break most likely (you remember P.A.R.'s vacation). Then Family Ties.

You'll notice the distinct lack of any time frames being mentioned this time.

There's a reason for that.

I stink at time estimates.

It's just not fair for me to keep promising you guys when stories will be going up and then consistently missing the deadlines, no matter the reasons. So I've stopped promising these stories based on time lines. I simply promising they will go up. I just honestly can't say when. And I do apologize for constantly missing time frames and it seeming like I'm stringing you guys along. I'm really not. It's just that I plan stories to be short and then....well....., like this one. Tried And Convicted was suppose to be three to four chapters. NOT ten! And it takes a lot longer to post a ten chapter story than a four chapter one based on my posting schedule. This inevitably trickles down to making all the stories post later than I planned. Also, I didn't plan to put Runaway up until later. But for character reference reasons, it has to go up earlier then Family Relations. ('Character reference reasons' simply means that characters (or situations involving characters) are mentioned in a story that need some prior explanation, usually related to Family Relations.).

So, bare with me and hang in there. I will post these stories, I just can't say when.

Oh, and ignore the title. It only makes sense to me. If you're really that interested, ask. I'll be glad to explain.

Postings for this story will be on Sundays and Wednesdays. Barring, of course, unforeseen circumstances.

On with the story.

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: All characters of the Harry Potter series (hereafter known as 'legal property') are the sole ownership of J.K. Rowling (hereafter known as 'owner of said legal property'). No infringement on any copyright of owner of said legal property of the legal property is knowing intended. Published by author (hereafter known as 'other') for entertainment purposes only. No monetary or personal gain was knowingly made by other with the publication of this story, which was based on ideas and characters created by owner of said legal property as they pertain to legal property. No plagiarism of legal property or of any ideas of the owner of said legal property was knowingly intended by other. This statement is fully transferable and is legally held binding for all chapters of the story Tried And Convicted as they are presented under different chapter headings and titles for individual chapters.

Chapter One: First

The day started as pleasantly as one could expect considering the circumstances. Remus was walking down the street while a large black dog walked at his side. Both were tempering their pace to accommodate the small child who walked presently behind them, holding fast to the tail of the large dog.

Remus finally turned to the child as they approached the outskirts of the town. "Harry," He instructed the child, "keep up please."

Harry obediently quickened his pace while he shifted his position until he was now walking between Remus and the dog, one arm draped over the dog's back for balance.

Harry's development over the past few months had been astonishing. While he still remained an unusually quiet child, he was now walking about a great deal more, although he showed definite favoritism to going for walks with Padfoot as opposed to anyone else. But Remus suspected this had a lot to do with height more than anything else. 'Moony' was a bit short next to Harry when he was standing up. But Padfoot seemed just the right height.

"You doing OK, Sirius?" Remus asked.

The dog looked up at him and whined.

"It'll be over by this afternoon." Remus promised. "Then we can go home and forget about all of this. You'll have your godson and a life free of the ministry. ANd I'm making stew tonight."

Padfoot whined softly again. Despite Remus' reassurances, and the promise of his favorite meal, Sirius couldn't help but be worried. Three weeks ago the ministry had, in a very long winded letter, explained that they were going to present Sirius' testimony under Veritaserum to a jury so that they could clear the matter up once and for all.

Sirius and Remus had both protested vehemently. The understanding was that Sirius was only wanted for questioning. Now he was going to trail for James and Lily's murderers?

But the ministry had explained to an irate Dumbledore, who had sheltered Sirius against the ministry with the promise Sirius would answer their questions eventually, that they only were looking to clear Sirius publicly, and the show of a trail would do that effectively for all involved. A 'simple trail', the ministry had called it. A formality. Just so everything was done legally.

Dumbledore had begrudgingly agreed, since he was held on his word of promising Sirius would appear before the ministry. Regardless of how the ministry had abused the wording.

Continuing down the road toward the ministry offices, Remus constantly kept watch about them for any trouble. He had insisted on apparating to a certain point and then walking the rest of the way to the offices when he noticed how nervous Sirius had seemed the last few days. He had hoped that if his friend had anything on his mind, that would be the opportunity to voice it, as well as give them some last minute strategy planning time. But Sirius had remained quiet the entire trip. His only distraction being Harry yanking on his tail.

When they arrived, Sirius, now back in his human form, was taken by several Aurors to another area of the building while Remus and Harry were shown into the courtroom. The look on his friend's face as the ministry guards had led him off had worried Remus considerably. It wasn't just nervousness anymore. Sirius' expression as he handed Harry over to him had been one of pure fear. Remus had tried to reassure him one more time before they parted. Telling him he would be waiting for him with Harry after the trial was over. But the haunted, frightened look had never left Sirius' eyes as the guards led him away.

The courtroom itself wasn't very imposing. It was very much, in fact, like a muggle courtroom. What Remus did not like was the amount of people present for this 'simple trial'. The seats behind the banister rail were positively packed with people. A few even stood in the back, stretching up to make sure they could see the front of the room. Most of the ones who sat in the first few rows had parchment and quills out. And most of those were already writing enthusiastically or speaking softly as the quills danced across the parchment, paraphrasing with a good deal of color what the person holding the parchment was saying. There was no jury present. The ministry had explained that in order to expedite the trail, and since Sirius would be testifying under Veritaserum, the judges seated to hear the evidence would decide the verdict.

Remus was led to a seat in the corner of the front row. A rush of whispers accompanied him as he took his seat, holding Harry in his lap.

For his part, Harry had gotten very quiet. Something Remus suspected had a great deal more to do with all the people around him than Harry's trying to be 'a good boy'.

For the next half hour, Remus did his best to keep Harry occupied. But the child was already starting to notice his favorite person was nowhere nearby and, while he had settled in well enough to accepting Remus' company almost as well, the fact remained that when Harry wanted Sirius, Harry wanted Sirius.

Harry had started to figget and was getting more and more agitated when the door on the opposite side of the room opened, causing Remus to jump slightly. Six men filed in, all wearing robes trimmed in a rich velvet around the neck, sleeves, and trailing down the center in front. They all wore identical black sashes draped around their necks with the exception of one of them, who wore a sash of gold. Remus suspected this was the high judge, and was the one who would rule over the trial.

A door on the opposite side of the box the judges were filing into opened. Remus turned quickly to the sound, as did most of the attention in the courtroom. After a brief pause, Sirius was finally led into the courtroom. A wave of whispers rolled through the gathered crowd as a very stoic Sirius was led to a chair on a slightly raised platform that was surrounded by a banister rail. The chair was situated at the edge of the judges box, out in the open where he could readily be seen by most of the people gathered to hear the trail.

A loud banging of a gavel brought the whispers to a stop.

"Today," the judge with the gold sash around his shoulders began, "we are gathered to hear the testimony of Mr. Sirius Black in regards to the murders of James and Lily Potter, and the attempted murder of the child, Harry Potter."

Remus could hear the scratching of quills behind him. The sound positively grated on his nerves. But most of his attention was focused on his best friend. Harry's attention had shifted to all the new activity taking place around him. But as soon as his godfather appeared, the child fixed his attention solely on Sirius.

As he was led into the chair and directed to take a seat, Sirius never once looked around him. He seemed, in fact, utterly oblivious to the hushed whispers, scratching quills, and rustling of parchment going on in the gallery next to him. Instead he sat in the chair facing forward. His whole body posture as ridged as a military cadet on inspection. His eyes never moved from staring at the wall before him. Even when Harry, on seeing his godfather led into the courtroom, happily cried out 'Pafoot!' before Remus could stop him. But a whispered rush of giggles were the only answer the child got. Sirius didn't so much a turn to his godson as he was led past where they sat and was directed to his own chair.

"Very well." The judge in the gold sash announced formally. "As that Mr. Green, as the ministries resident expert on questioning of defendants under Veritaserum could not be present today, the ministries potions master, Avery Trennerson, will be directing the questioning of Mr. Black."

Remus watched as a small man entered the courtroom. The small bald spot on the top of his head of brown hair reflected the over head lights. To Remus the man looked decidedly unfriendly. Moving almost as rigidly as Sirius was sitting in his chair, he approached the judges and bowed low before them.

The high judge tilted his head slightly in response.

"Very well, Mr. Trennerson." The judge told him. "You may begin."

Remus thought the diminutive man turned on Sirius with all the subtlety of a shark turning on it's prey. The man had a flat black folder-type book in his hands which he opened and scanned for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Sirius, snapping the book closed again as he did so.

"Mr. Black," Trennerson began, "were you the Potter's secretkeeper?"

"Yes."

Remus' head snapped up from having momentarily turned to watch Harry playing in his lap. He didn't even remember later hearing the tidal wave of whispers break out behind him or the frantic scratching of the quills as Trennerson seemed to pause momentarily for effect before asking the next question. When Remus had asked Sirius that very question a few days before, Sirius had denied that he had been James and Lily's secretkeeper. Although he had refused outright to tell Remus who had been the secretkeeper, or to say why he wouldn't divulge who the person was, he had sworn to Remus that it had not been him. That at the last moment he and James and Lily had decided mutually to chose someone else due to the fact that Sirius was far to obvious a choice.

"You were their secretkeeper?" The man before Sirius rephrased the question so it was now more of a statement for Sirius to agree to or deny.

"Yes." Came the same, dulled answer.

The man went on with his questions without hesitation. "Mr. Black, did you betray James and Lily's location to the dark lord?"

The answer, though delivered with a seconds hesitation, was as blunted as the others, despite the commotion it caused.

"Yes."

Remus sat in stunned silence. His attention almost fully fixed on Sirius as the court room exploded again with voices whispering around him and several reporters now running for the doors behind them to quickly dispatch owls.

The man before Sirius waited patiently for the courtroom to quiet down.

"Mr. Black," he asked carefully, as though making sure everything he said was fully understood by the man seated before him, "did you answer the last question truthfully?"

"Yes." Sirius answered dully.

"Is there any reason for you to lie about the answer to that question?"

Sirius paused. An act that seemed to slightly fluster the man standing before him.

"Mr. Black," Trennerson repeated, "is there any reason for you to lie about the answer to that question?"

Sirius hesitated slightly again. "No." He answered finally.

Remus knew the reason for the question and why it was asked in the manner it was. Sometimes, the person answering questions was coerced into giving certain answers. Someone may have placed a spell on them before hand, forcing them to answer questions about certain matters in only one way. Although rare, since the magic involved in fighting the effects of Veritaserum was so difficult to perform and make work correctly, the possibility had to be properly ruled out.

"You were their secretkeeper?"

"Yes."

"You betrayed them to the dark lord."

"Yes."

"You conspired in their murderers?"

"Yes."

The man paused as though he were considering the next question.

"Mr. Black," he asked carefully, "are you a Deatheater?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Black, do you bare the Dark Mark on your arm?"

"No."

The courtroom exploded into a buzz of hushed whispers again. The judges quickly called for silence.

The judge with the gold sash leaned over the front of the box. "Why does the defendant not bare the Dark Mark if he is a Deatheater, Mr. Trennerson?"

"It has long been suspected, your honor," Trennerson explained, "that Mr. Black is, in fact, a member of the dark lord's Elite. This is a very select group of the dark lord's followers. So select, that many of them no longer even refer to themselves as Deatheaters. They are simply the 'Elite'. The members of this group are not required to be branded with the Dark Mark, though several of them choose to. The fact that Mr. Black admits to being a Deatheater but does not bare the Dark Mark proves his affiliation with this group within the dark lord's followers."

The judge seemed to consider the answer, then settled back in his chair as the man began his questioning again.

"Mr. Black, did anyone else outside of the dark lord's followers have a part in the plot?"

Sirius started to answer the question, but abruptly stopped.

Remus, who had had his attention focused solely on Sirius and each answer he gave, turned his attention to the man asking the questions. The man looked.......the only word Remus had for the expression was stunned. In fact, Remus didn't think the man could have looked more confused suddenly than if Sirius had stood up just then and started to sing a bar song.

"Mr. Black," the man said again, phrasing the question very carefully, "was there anyone else outside of the dark lord's followers part of the plot to kill James and Lily Potter?"

Again Sirius started to answer the question.

And again he stopped.

One of the trail judge's leaned over the bench.

"Why doesn't he answer?" The judge asked.

Trennerson looked very nervous, but finally seemed to gather something of his wits about him again.

"It is likely due to the fact that Mr. Black himself is not actually a Deatheater par se, your honor." The man answered. "Therefore, he, himself, was not one of the dark lord's followers. The question is asking if he knows of anyone else outside of the dark lord's followers, or the Deatheaters, who might have had a part in the plot to murder the Potters. But Mr. Black sees himself as someone outside the dark lord's followers, or the Deatheaters. But the question is does he know of anyone else. So the question is causing a bit of trouble, you see."

The judge frowned. "Not really."

"Questions under Veritaserum have to be phrased very carefully, your honor." The man replied. "This one simply wasn't worded correctly. I do apologize. But really, I think that is all the evidence that needs to be heard. The man has answered the questions under Veritaserum, your honor." The man continued, turning again to the judges. "There can be no doubt we have finally heard the truth about the incidents surrounding the murderers of James and Lily Potter."

Another of the judges looked down from his seat on the raised platform. "Can Mr. Black state 'why' he did such a thing?" The man asked.

The man looked thoughtful for a moment. "My understanding, your honor," he replied smoothly, "was that the ministry was only interested in whether or not Mr. Black had anything to do with the Potter's murders, not 'why'. And as I've stated and you yourselves have seen, each question under Veritaserum has to be asked in a manner as that there is little room left for interpretation by the person being questioned. I would require another day....or more.... to list my questions to put to Mr. Black if you would wish to pursue that line of questioning."

The judge seemed to consider the suggestion of dragging out the questioning, then shook his head. "Mr. Black will have plenty of time in Azkaban to consider if he would like to ever explain that to us." The judge turned to his colleagues. "The judges will reconvene here tomorrow with a verdict."

As the judges left the room, Remus was snapped out of his stupor by Harry suddenly wiggling about in his lap. As he looked up, the guards were taking Sirius out of the courtroom as well. Remus watched as Sirius walked by him. But his long time friend didn't even acknowledge him. He walked right past Remus, ignoring even his godson, who reached out and grabbed his robe, holding onto it for dear life.

"Da!" He cried loudly.

One of the guards grabbed the child's wrist and wretched it away from the cloth.

"Let go." He snapped forcefully at Harry.

Remus quickly pulled Harry back and held him tightly against him as the child started to cry.

Sirius never turned once to look at his godson. His stare remained glazed and fixed in front of him.

Remus watched the small procession until they had led Sirius completely out of view.

It wasn't until a sniffing, frustrated Harry hit him solidly on the arm that Remus seemed to come back to the things around him. Looking about he saw a now nearly empty courtroom with only a few people left in the seats talking rapidly about the trial.

Getting to his feet unnoticed with Harry in his arms, Remus headed quickly out of the courtroom. As soon as he was a short distance down the road, but far enough away from the town not to be seen, he disapparated.

Q&A

You know the routine. You've had yours. Now I get mine.

Family Life

Mihoshe: Of course, Dear. Feel free to post it at your site. As long as I'm given credit, I'm honored to have others want to put my stories on their websites.

Lotesse: Read but haven't reviewed! Why of all the........*P.A.R. stops, noticing Unicorn Whisperer standing to the side tapping her foot and looking stern.*........Ummmmm. Oh! Look! A review! P.A.R. is soooooooooooooo happy! Lotesse is not like the some other people who willingly admit that they are BAD people for not reviewing stories they have read, but beg leniency due to time restrains.

Whereas I would agree the scene hit the ground running and I have indeed admonished (gently) other writers for doing this very thing, it worked for me.

I have not seen the last two Star Wars movies, but I am trying. As for how the mighty have fallen, I think of dear Ms. Rowlings and the fact that we have yet to see hide or hair of book five and I get shudders down my spine. All too often a writer puts out a book that suddenly takes off and their career is secured. They promise the book is a long running sequel and that they have the whole story laid out and just need to 'flesh it out'. Bu then, for whatever reason, they get bored with the whole project, would rather be off doing something else, and the last parts of the series are less then the quality of the first parts. I do hope that doesn't happen with Rowlings' story.

Should Harry have an adverse reaction to portkeys since the last one he touched was the Triwizards Cup? I should think so! Just look at what happened there! And granted, maybe he should have run from the thing screaming. But he's also kind of busy right there to be focusing too much on any one thing. After all, he's not sure who just apparated him away from his safe(?) home.

Awwww, NUTS! Spelling police again? And I still have all those old unpaid spelling tickets in my trunk! But the lights are very pretty.

Due to my utter lack of mastery of the English language, Dear, what exactly is wrong with 'Strike One'? Unless it actually appears in the story uncapitalized.

Strike Two.....yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Your, You're. I'm forever getting them mixed up.

Actually, I really liked the last line in the second chapter. I couldn't find a better place to end that scene.

Sirius would be more than happy to pick up where he left off with Arabella. After all, he was going to marry the woman. But it has been fourteen years. He has no idea where things stand between them. Nor does he have any explanation for why she 'never wrote to him' while he was in Azkaban.

As for Arabella obviously being informed of his innocence? I don't remember if I put that in the story of not. But just for the sake of putting things right, Arabella wanted very badly to believe in Sirius' innocence and she never completely believed that he was guilty of any of the things people said. But 'informed' of his innocence? No. SHe was never told for sure.

Sirius is trying to be on speaking terms, and he's getting a very cold shoulder. But the reason for that was explained in a later chapter.

Avoiding each other? Again, Sirius is trying his utmost to be friendly and 'test the waters' as it were. Currently he's finding the temperature just above freezing.

They're not avoiding each other out of any misguided feelings of professionalism. Arabella simply doesn't want to spend any time in his company. But she's trying to be civil to him for Harry's sake.

That line is perhaps a little out of place. But I'm the first one to say that whole chapter read a little stilted. I was trying to sort through the emotions Harry would be feeling at that moment. Take into consideration all he's been through in the space of likely less than thirty minutes. The poor kid's got to have stripped some emotional gears as fast as his feelings must be changing in that scene.

All those scene's beginning the same way. Hmmmm, I never noticed that before.

Personally, I see Harry as an emotionally starved individual. And I tend to write him as willingly and happily accepting any affection he can get. (And just as a side note, I want to put in here to any and all who read these things, that 'no', that has nothing to do with how Harry reacts to a certain character in Family Relations. So don't go there with me.)

I always looked at that situation this way. Lily must have seen James over the summer holidays. Sirius and James were always together. Petunia MUST have met Sirius. She was a teenage girl once. He was a teenage boy. James was seeing Lily. You work it out.

And yes, yes, she probably hated magic even back then. But it was a cute idea, so I ran with it.

*P.A.R. looks about fearfully.* You're SURE there are no spelling police coming? Anyway, as a practicing godparent myself, I can well tell you I have no concept of the word 'no' where my godchild is concerned.

HEY! Come on, Lotesse! That's a GREAT plot device! Heaven knows it's been used enough, so it must work, right?

But seriously, thank you. I'm pleased beyond words that you like Arabella. Especially since she's in all three stories of this series and her relationship with Sirius figures rather prominently in all of them. Especially in Family Relations.

Regarding how Sirius broke Arabella's status to Harry.....well, Harry ask a question. Sirius answered it. And true, subtlety is not poor Sirius longsuit.

Ummmmmm, these pictures your mentioned of Sirius snogging. Is this....ahhhhhh.......an imagination thing? Or.....ummmmmm......do they ACTUALLY exist somewhere? *Be a good reviewer. Tell P.A.R. where the pictures are.*

About Harry's not telling Arabella what he's up to in trying to contact Sirius. You place most of that on the fact that Harry's still not really comfortable with Arabella. After all, he literally only just met her, and knows practically nothing about her or how she'll react to things. And he's already gotten a healthy dose of how she feels about Siruus. She all but kicked him out of her house. That and he doesn't want to hurt her feelings.

I'm just thrilled you like Arabella so much. Most readers did respond well to her, but some did not.

I try desperately not to write Harry as perfect and doing no wrong. He's a teenager, for heavens sake. And to top it off, he's tasting freedom for the first time. Granted, the kid's got more sense than most, but he's still gonna wanna test those wings now and then. Hence the whole Diagon Alley thing. But we're not there yet, are we?

Yeah, I like 'Retroactively' too. Mostly because half the people I say it to don't know what it means and it sounds very intimidating.

You had to have some snogging in this. After all, poor Sirius and Arabella have been apart for fourteen years.

Harry's adjustment to having a 'mother figure' kind of comes in later. He's actually trying to work with the idea that for the first time in his memory, he has a mother and a father figure in his life. And all the good and bad that goes with it.

Awwwwww. P.A.R. is glad she is missed. Nothing touches a writers heart like mone.......ahhhhh, knowing she's missed. Thank you.

Harry is lying about his dreams due to their content. That being that in them, for all intents and purposes, it seems that Arabella is attacked and possibly killed by Voldemort. And Harry knows his dreams sometimes do come true, but not always. Basically, he doesn't want to worry Arabella and Sirius needlessly.

I have no idea where the idea of Sirius staying with Harry as Padfoot came from. Some people liked it, others had issues with it, and in fairness, I could see their point, sort of. But I'm with you. Nothing gives me comfort like having my little cat sleeping on the pillow above my head and the other sleeping by my feet. Heaven!

Chapter eleven will, as I have often said, hold a special place in my heart. IT was where I started writing Harry Potter Fanfictions. Literally, this was the first thing I ever wrote and Family Life developed from this one chapter.

The fact that Harry is always walking in on them (well, almost always), is sort of a running joke throughout the story.

The reason Family Life has no Author's Notes (or Q&A) is because I posted this story all at once. That's right, all forty-nine chapters in one day. I had no idea my stories would get so popular or that I would start doing those often long, complicated things called Authors Notes and Q&A. The fact of the matter is, I regret deeply posting Family Life as I did and had I to do it over, I would have posted it one chapter at a time.

Harry was indeed looking at Wormtail from a distance. The rest you can just account to the fact that one, he was tired of shopping half the day, and two, he was eager to see his friend. You over look obvious things when you want to see something badly enough.

The leather jacket I kind of thought was funny. It was actually poking a little fun at the fact that most of the fanfictions I read that have Sirius in them have him in leather of some sort. This story actually has a lot of inside jokes in it. And a lot of them, to my surprise, were caught.

*P.A.R. is happily walking along one day when suddenly a nasty plot hole opens in front of her and she walks right into it.*

Actually, no, Arabella doesn't know about Peter. How could she? Sirius went to Azkaban almost immediately according to canon. He never wrote to her and she had no contact with him at all. Now, why didn't Sirius tell her his suspicions before that? Keeping in mind that Sirius had only suspicions that Peter had told Voldemort where James and Lily were. For all he knew for sure, Voldemort had tortured it out of the little rat. Granted, he sure seemed to go after him like he had proof, but we were never told that for sure. O.K., so, why is she snogging on the sofa with a man who may have killed her best friend? Because she doesn't believe it. She never did. And seeing Harry and Sirius together, she can't ever believe Sirius would have done anything to hurt his godson. But I'll stand and take my medicine like an adult. (Though I'd rather stand in the corner and clamp my lips shut like a child.) Yes, this absolutely should have been spelled out better in the story. Somewhere Sirius needed to explain to Arabella what happened that night, and when I take Family Life down for revisions, I may attempt to incorporate it. Although as I think about it, it would seriously alter the plot and may just have to be one of those things that never got corrected.

For the Deatheaters getting by the ministry. They get just a little leeway here. They just apparated into a scene of confusion. People are running about, curses are flying about the alleyway. People are nearly trampling them, and the little rat is screaming 'Sirius Black' at the top of his lungs. Who would you go for?

In regards to Madeye Moody, keep in mind that as far as we know, Dumbledore didn't know Sirius was innocent either until Book Three. After that, when would Dumbledore have told Moody, and why? And how would he have proved it to the age-old Auror? It would have been just his word. Granted, that carries a lot of weight, but still, it's a lot to accept that someone who spent twelve years in prison for crimes they were convicted of was actually innocent. I also didn't want Dumbledore just 'running to the rescue', as it were. Everything's going wrong, Dumbledore shows up, explains everything, and everyone is happy again. I wanted Moody believing Sirius based on some hard, cold facts. Things he would have derived out of the situation as a whole. I also see Moody very much as a person who needs solid proof. Not hearsay.

Yes, I have been admonished quite a bit for making Harry cry way too easily in this story. But the kid's going through a lot. Sometimes it doesn't take a lot to push you to tears. Past that, chalk it up to my anguish-loving nature. In fact, one of the things I have against the books is that he never seems to cry. Even at things that would reduce the most hardened adult to tears. GoF drove me crazy. The kid stood right next to someone as they were killed. I don't know many fourteen year olds that would have handled that as well as he seemed to. Rowling repressed Harry's emotions so much in those last chapters I could have screamed. I desperately wanted to see the poor child break into tears in Sirius' arms when he woke up in the hospital wing. What did I get? Diddle! And when Harry met Sirius again for the first time face to face in GoF. What was his reaction? Hi. How are you?

Please! Give me anguish. Give me hugs. Give me tears and lots of 'I missed you's'. The kid showed more emotion in the letters he wrote to Sirius than when he met him face to face again.

*P.A.R. climbs down off her soapbox.* O.K., I'm done now.

So, yes, Harry gets to run rampant and free with his emotions in my stories.

Lily of the Valley: Twenty seconds? Heavens, a speed reader! Just what I need. Well, you should be through this story in about an hour then.

Glad you like Arabella.

Pensives are good.

Sirius and Arabella get married and Harry gets to live with them? Boy, you don't know me very well. That would be way too easy. Catch Family Relations when it comes out. As much as I like Arabella, I have to say she has a long way too go before she could replace Sirius in Harry's life. Harry likes her well enough. But he has only just met her.

As for The Bonds That Tie, many people seemed to miss that yes, Harry was crying because his scar was hurting him. Glad you caught that.

Diamond

Kri: Thank you for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked the story. The whole story actually revolved around the last scene. Hence, the title.

Siriusly Bored

Lin-z: Whereas I don't have a lot of time to review, I do try to do it when I can. But time restrains do make it difficult sometimes. Glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you for thinking of my father. We're all very pleased in the family to have him doing so well.

Mayleesa: Thank you. And thanks for the belated birthday wishes. Of course, my father doing so well was the best present of all. Thank you again.

Elizabeth Bathory: I'm glad you enjoy my Baby Harry stories. However, I will always recommend The Unicorn Whisperer to anyone who likes stories of this type. Cute, fuzzy like little bunnies stories that have Sirius in them with Harry as a baby. Her stories are great and enjoyable reads.

Karla: I'm impressed! I get welcomed back before you even read the story? P.A.R. is very impressed! Thank you!

And thank you for thinking of my father and the birthday wishes. Due to the outcome of the circumstances, it was, indeed, a very happy birthday.

Corina (Mako) Borsuk: Yup! Sirius and Remus came off very well together in this story.

Uni!

Hey Uni! What's up!

Well, your stories must have something going for them. I just recommended you to Elizabeth Bathory for some good Sirius/Baby Harry stories. And I don't recommend stories I think are a waste of time. Which yours definitely are NOT.

Didn't you just LOVE the first chapter of Tried And Convicted? I did warn people about this story.

When will the upcoming stories be posted? Well, Tried And Convicted should run the next five weeks or so. Next should be Enemies, which, due to certain relationships in the story is giving me a lot of trouble. After that I'm betting on Runaway being out next. That's a short Katlin/Harry story. It sort of figures in with Family Relations, so it has to go up first. Then Family Relations, and finally Family Ties.

You'll notice there were no dates given. See the Author's notes for the reason there.

Somehow I doubt James ever made it to the strip club.

Four stars and two thumbs up!? I think that's the best rating I've ever got!

Nicky: Well, lets face it. Would YOU want to anger Lily? Like Sirius said; she won't kill you, but she will probably hurt you a lot. Never anger an overprotective mother, folks.

I'm glad you're looking forward to meeting Orion Black. He is definitely one interesting character. And his wife is pretty interesting too.

Well, Tried And Convicted is definitely going to be twice a week. The rest I don't know about yet.

Silverfox: Well, as I just said in Unicorn Whisperer's answer, somehow I don't think poor old James ever got to go tot the strip club. So Remus and Sirius were stuck paying for their own drinks.

Orion and Snape are most definitely not friends. But then, Orion doesn't exactly work and play well with others. But neither does Snape.

Jon's Sunshine + Rupert's Princess: Yup. P.A.R. is back cranking out those stories. What can I say. Vacation got boring. Missed my reviews.

summersun: GOLD STAR! Yes, indeed! You've won the first one on my return from vacation. Why? Kind of a strange reason really. But you never really know why I'll give these things out. The reason is you asked how long it takes me to write Q&A. Man, I've been waiting for someone to wonder about that! Well, generally, if I'm just answering for one chapter, it takes about two to three hours. The one at the end of Siriusly Bored, because I was writing for several months of questions over several stories, it took about three to five hours. For some reason, this time it took me about five hours. Not sure why.

Somehow I see Remus going along more or less just to keep Sirius company. Probably end up reading a book.

Storyspindler: Try not to laugh out loud in a computer lab, Dear. People will stare.

Hope you're enjoying the story.

Zimmy Russell: They won't let you review? Why is Fanfiction.net being mean to you, Dear?

Thank you for thinking of my father. He is, indeed, doing very well.

Nice to see you back as well.

Karla ([email protected]): I have two Karla's now, so I have to differentiate. THANK YOU for liking the 'tail conversation'. I was beginning to wonder if people understood what Sirius was eluding to there.

PadfootProngs: Glad you liked the story. I'll try to get over to yours. But as I always tell people, unfortunately my time is very limited and I don't get to read half of what I would like to.

Jake: I appreciate the review. Thank you. Whereas I try to read other peoples stories and do a review on them, time does not always permit. At this point I have to tell people I am behind on the reviewing list right now.

Essence of Magic: Hey! Kentucky! Part of my family is from Kentucky! Didn't go to a lot of camps. Went camping a lot though. Does that count?

As you can see from the list above in the Author's Notes, Family Relations is a 'bit' behind schedule. I'm not even promising a release date anymore. So just call me 'Rowling' and be done with it. (And look, I'm even giving you stories inbetween to keep you entertained, just like 'someone' else.).

Thanks for thinking of my father. He is doing very well and should be just fine, his doctor says.

Why do you get to start school August 21st? Everyone here in central Florida is going back the first part of August.

Lotesse: Oh, dear. *sigh.* The woman with her spelling police again.

Well, yes, 'behind' schedule, I'm afraid. But if you check the Author's Notes you see I'm giving you plenty to keep you entertained while you wait. Give me some credit. Come on. I'm not being mean, am I?

Girl, do you take Advanced English classes or something? Oh, no. Wait. You read a lot. 'Recalcitrant'? I even had to look that one up! Heavens! Where do you find these words? P.A.R. is impressed!

Why didn't you think of that? Because despite that I constantly complain about not having enough time to get things done, there are the rare, but every-so-often days, when P.A.R. has WAY too much time on her hands. On those days, I think up stuff like this. But the whole 'Remus thing' just seemed logical to me based pretty much on what you said.

lilahp: Thank you for thinking of my father. And indeed, the most important thing to me is that he is doing well.

Short!? I think this topped out as one of my longest one-shots!

What is not cute about Sirius?

I don't know how 'interesting' Peter is as a character, but he certain is one that, in retrospect stories, can not be ignored. He was, after all, a Marauder. He was part of the group. And James and Lily thought enough of him to make him their secretkeeper. Granted, most people would like to see him spend the rest of his life as a perpetual motion cat toy for Crookshanks, but in this story he was still one of the Marauders in good faith. He's not even written in this story as thinking of going over to Voldemort. He's just 'Wormtail' in this story.

If Peter was willing to betray people he had been friends with for seven years, I doubt he had much trouble handing over a baby to be killed that he knew for a little over a year.

I'm sure Rowling will eventually put in the story what caused Peter to betray his best friends.

Actually, I've been spending a bit of time over at FictionAlley.com. It is a very nice site and I may start posting some of my stories there. I think Family Life was already requested by someone else to be posted there by them, which, as long as they keep my name on it, is fine with me.

Sorry, no Star Trek novels. Some of my friends write for them though. They pay well. Unfortunately, I have to say that I don't read books on writing. I read books, and that is honestly where you are going to learn about how to write. By reading others work. I highly recommend at least one creative writing class, but more for esthetics than learning to write. I mean, I've always stood by the premise that you can either write or you can't. And nothing in this world is going to 'make' you a writer. I don't care how many books on it you read or how many classes you take or how many professionals you talk to. The spark has to be there to begin with. You have to love to write. Look at me. I spend HOURS doing this stuff? For what? Money? No. Fame? Not yet. Bored? Sometimes. But overall I do it because I simply love to write and have been doing it for close to if not over three decades now. Have I gotten a lot published? Some. But that was never the goal for me. I just wanted to create something that was mine.

Man, up on the soapbox for the second time today. *P.A.R. climbs down and puts the soapbox away.* Sorry.

Three beginnings is not good, Dear. I've found you only really need one. But I'm with you on that writing thing. I'm great at starts. Great at ends. I stink at middles.

Unfortunately, no, the job thing is still very much up in the air and getting worse with each passing day. But there is still hope, and I'll cling to that, thank you very much.

Now, that last comment.....that either deserves a 'thank you', or an 'oh, rats, I have competition for the ghost-writer job!', depending on which of us you're thinking of for the job. I'd gladly take it myself. I still hold out hope that one day Warner Brothers will realize what a little cash cow they have here for publishing fanfictions and start putting out books. I mean, Star Trek does it, as well as Star Wars and several television shows. Come on, Warner Brothers!

Cassandra Rettop: Thank you very much. And, no, Siriusly Bored was a one-shot and only has one chapter.

All About Me: Cute name, by the way. And thank you. I'm glad you liked it.

Abby: Ummmmm, you seem to have some problem with the thought of Remus in a strip club.

Honestly, he's probably only going to keep Sirius company.

Thanks for asking about my father. And I'm glad your family member is doing well also. It is truly amazing what physical therapists can do for victims of a stroke. They do great work.

The gift is gratefully received.

UnrepentantReader: Thanks for thinking about my father. I appreciate everyone who asked or sent well-wishes. My family is very blessed in his recovery.

I'm guessing TDL is 'the dark lord'? True, Peter was with Harry. But Remus and Sirius were right there as well. Even trying to make something look like an accident would have been hard. And besides, Peter likely was around Harry a lot as a child, yet the kid survived without any attacks for fifteen months. So Peter probably missed LOTS of chances.

Thanks for the review.

Reviews are as of 08072002. If I missed you, please say something. Again, I'm trying to get to reviews as quickly as I can. If I promised you a review and have not done so yet, please tell me. Uni, you don't need to say anything. You're next.

And just remember the man who was praying one day, ask, 'Dear Lord, I've never asked for anything, but if you let me win this TV, I'll ask for a lot more stuff because then I'll know it works'.

See you on Wednesday.