Author's Note: So, here we are. Taking another kick at the old can that is A Witch, A Wizard And A Mechanic. Just a heads up, this will start out VERY different from the previous version, so be prepared. Now then what to expect from this fic, or rather the WARNINGS. There will likely be at least some mild (by my standards) bashing of Ron and Molly. So if that's a deal breaker I guess this is your stop right here. Dumbledore will be fairly manipulative, leaning towards the 'Evil/GreaterGood!' Dumbledore end of the spectrum. There will be clichés as I am of the opinion that including some is not necessarily a bad thing. For the moment things will stay rated T for the most part with maybe a scene here or there leaning a bit more M rated. I can't promise what timescale I'll be working on with updates but will do my best to keep updating consistently. ALSO: Just figured I'd let you know I posted a proof of concept chapter for a story idea I had.

Update: Edited and updated somewhat as of Oct.22.2019. Some changes may be in effect.

Disclaimer: I don't really know that it needs saying. But I do not, repeat, DO NOT, own Harry Potter. Anything you can identify as being specific to the published series written by JKR is obviously hers. I don't make any money of this either way. Anything relating to other series that I reference obviously belongs to it's respective creator. Only original characters and ideas belong to me. Again, it's not like I make any money off it though. This will probably be the one time I post a disclaimer.

Reviews: Deeply appreciated but not by any means mandatory. Please keep this simple tenant in mind should you wish to review. Please be courteous, as in please show the base modicum of civil courtesy you would show a complete stranger. And finally, while constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. And if you feel the need to be harsh, well at least have the common courtesy to provide the means for me to address your concerns by signing in before reviewing. Thank you.

The Night Of August 6th-August 7th 2013:

It was not a good night to be wandering alone in the dark. It had rained earlier that day, making things damp, and caused a sort of hushed quiet to fall over Little Whinging. The pall cast by the dark clouds still lingered overhead, making it darker than would perhaps be usual for Surrey at this time of year. To make matters worse, a fog was rising, further lowering visibility.

Nevertheless, that was the position the godson of Sirius Black, one Harry James Potter, found himself in after blowing up his foul aunt. Not as in the 'Boom!' and meaty chunks of the woman raining down on his other relatives, kind of blown up. Though that would have been more satisfying in a grim sort of way. No, as in the inflated, blown up 'like a balloon' kind. Not that Sirius Black would have blamed the boy he was tailing in the least if it had been the former. He'd overheard some of the vile things the woman had been saying that evening. In his place, he wouldn't have reacted much better than his godson had.

What Sirius was doing was foolish he supposed. What was he thinking, lurking here in the dark, trailing the kid? What could he possibly do when it really came down to it? Oh he supposed in a pinch he could use the canine form he was currently inhabiting to defend the lad should worse come to worst. But he desperately wished to approach instead, though he had no idea what he would possibly say to him.

'Hi Harry, I'm Sirius Black, I'm actually your godfather even though I look like a raving lunatic! Oh and I totally didn't betray your family to their death's like everyone has likely told you, trust me!' Yeah, that'd probably not go over too well with the kid…

The kid in question was nervous enough already, he could tell, dog's senses being much sharper than a human's generally. He could smell the fear the boy was exuding following the incident back at Privet Drive. More, he could actually hear Harry's laboured breath, worried mutterings and even his racing heartbeat during quiet moments where the boy had paused to choose a direction.

Mostly the lad was worried about the consequences of using his magic so. At least judging by his muttered thoughts he was. Sirius wished he could comfort the kid, but laying aside the issues he had already pondered, he wasn't sure he could honestly allay any of his fears. After all the Ministry was notoriously inconsistent in the way it meted out justice. His own case proved that well enough, didn't it?

Sirius was still reflecting on these things as the boy finally slowed to a stop and took a break from dragging his heavy school trunk, leaning himself against a low garden wall and looking about. The tired and worried muttering resumed and he watched the lad run a shaking hand back through his unkempt hair roughly in a way which was painfully reminiscent of his father.

"No Muggle money … " Harry muttered, "Could hit Gringotts I suppose … What's a little more magic after all? Could magic the trunk —" He trailed off darkly, and Sirius winced. He couldn't easily follow the boy into Diagon Alley, not without risking getting caught anyway. Harry himself would almost certainly be waylaid by the Aurors if he went there.

He watched as the boy nervously looked around before opening his trunk and rifling through it. Had he been in human form he would have grimaced, something else was making Harry nervous, it was all there for someone with a little knowledge and skill to see. He wondered if Harry had noted his pursuit, he hadn't meant to make the lad more nervous than he already was after all…He pondered that, then tested it stepping a little more into the alleyway from which he was observing the lad.

Harry almost immediately stiffened, he could even see the hairs on the boys neck go up and Sirius sighed quietly. He watched as Harry straightened and looked about alertly. If this kept on he was going to spook him, he didn't want that, who knew what Harry would do if he was even more scared than he already was?

He could back off he supposed, or … he could reveal himself. Carefully of course. He settled on his haunches before nodding, deciding to give the second option a try. At the very least he could get a read on his friend's son. He shifted back to human form and watched as Harry who had returned his attention to the trunk straightened again, gripping his wand tightly.

Sirius cleared his throat and spoke. "You won't need your wand, I promise you, I won't hurt you." He said, wincing slightly at the way his voice rasped after so long barely being used.

The boy started his wand coming up and igniting at a muttered spell, Sirius didn't move merely letting the light fall on him and squinting at the bright light. "Gah, way to turn on the high beams kiddo."

Harry's eyes widened and he almost took a step back, but stopped, perhaps his brain finally had caught up with what had been said. "Who are you, I —" He stopped. "Hang on, I recognize you, you were on the teli!" He snapped, his wand tip staying firmly fixed on the man sitting against the garage near him.

Sirius chuckled darkly, "Yes I suppose I would be, not surprising given what they think I did." He admitted, testing what the boy had heard.

"They said you were a murderer." Harry murmured darkly, eyeing him suspiciously.

Sirius grimaced at that, well the bobbies were another group he'd have to look out for he guessed. Shame that. He turned his attention back to the youth in front of him, "They're wrong, but can be forgiven I suppose, not even the wizarding world knows the truth about what happened that night. Not that they tried too hard to find out …"

The boy scowled. "What? So you're innocent, is that it? I'm pretty sure most escaped criminals claim that."

Another dry rasping chuckle made it past Sirius' lips at that. "Yeah I suppose they do, not that many escape Azkaban. None before me that I know of actually." He mused, thinking on that. The boy was sharp he'd give him that. Though he suspected the suspicious side of him hadn't come about from any training, rather from learning the hard way not to trust people.

"Azkaban?" Harry asked shortly, his wand still not wavering from where it was pointed at his face.

Sirius shivered thinking of the location in question. "It's the wizarding world's prison, here in Britain at least, and my…residence for the last twelve and a half years. Nasty place." He supplied making no move aside from leaning his head back against the wall briefly.

"And why are you here, following me then?" Harry asked eyeing him darkly, with eyes which were painfully similar to Lily's.

Here the former prisoner smiled ruefully, "Watching your back actually, as I should have been all along. Saw you blow up your aunt and make a run for it by the way, figured I should make sure you didn't run into any trouble. Good job with that, she had it coming."

"Why?" Harry asked shortly, at Sirius' querying eyebrow he elaborated. "What am I to you, why do you care what happens to me?" That made his godfather wince once more, so Harry truly had no idea who he was or what his relation to him was. That stung in a number of ways.

"Because I swore to your parents I'd look after you if anything happened to them." He saw Harry's eyes widen, and nodded soberly. "Not that I did a good job of it. Screwed it up right away in fact."

The boy was shaking now. "Who are you, and how did you know my parents?"

The older wizard looked at his hands tiredly before fixing his eyes on Harry's again. "My name is Sirius Black. As to how I know — knew, your parents, that is a very long story. But the short version was that I was their friend."

The boy blinked at him numbly, shifting just a touch closer. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"You don't," Sirius admitted calmly. "In fact most of the wizarding world would tell you without hesitation to not trust me and run for your life. But I didn't attack you earlier did I? And I'm just sitting here letting you point a wand at me without resistance." He pointed out reasonably.

"Why are you talking to me then? What do you want?" Harry asked eventually, after allowing his eyes to skate over the man across from him. A small amount of the suspicion having ebbed away. It was a start at least.

"Just to see how you're doing, just to check and ensure you are alright." He stated plainly, running his own hand slowly back through his messy hair. Then shrugged. "Maybe so I could tell you my side of things if you want to hear it." he allowed, it had after all been a vague hope in the back of his mind. "Beyond that? I don't know. Not sure what I can really tell you."

The boys green eyes, which still reminded him of Lily's watched him uncertainly. "You want me to hear your story? Surely a policeman or whatever would be better if you're really innocent like you claim?"

Sirius chuckled ruefully. Merlin just how much had they been withholding from the lad? "The Aurors, wizarding police if you were curious, who arrested me barely questioned me kid. They threw me in prison without a trial. No, going to them would just about be a sure fire way to get myself kissed."

That produced an understandable look of confusion from Harry which was positively comical. "Kissed?"

"By a Dementor," He clarified, "One of the creatures that guard Azkaban. They call the process of those monsters sucking out your soul and eating it, the Dementor's Kiss." He noted bitterly, thinking of the euphemism and the creatures in question. Harry shivered at the thought of what he'd just described. "As for why you? Well, you're James and Lily's kid, even if I have to spend the rest of my life on the run I need you to know the truth about what happened."

The boy was silent for a while looking at him stoically, "Look, why don't you turn off the light and I'll move into the light by that post there. No sense blinding me or drawing the Muggles' attention eh?" He suggested.

Harry nodded slowly, and gestured with his wand, and Sirius pushed to his feet slowly before stiffly shuffling a few feet over to lean against the light standard near the mouth of the alley. His joints still ached from so long spent in his small cell in Azkaban. It was only as he leaned himself against the pole that Harry finally nodded and countered the light charm.

Nodding his thanks, Sirius settled down onto the ground again. Harry nodded slowly, "Alright, what's your story then. I'll hear you out, but I won't promise anything else."

"Fair enough," Sirius said tiredly. "Just give me a minute to figure out where to start, okay?"

The boy nodded and leaned against the garden wall patiently still not quite taking his wand off him. Eventually Sirius found a place to begin and started speaking. "Back in school, your father, myself, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, were friends. We called ourselves the Marauders, in many ways we were as close as brothers." He said smiling wistfully at the memories. It was good to be able to think of them without the Dementors sucking the enjoyment from him. Then another thought occurred to him as he watched Harry absorb that. "Actually your grandfather all but adopted me as an unofficial Potter after I ran away from home. So in a way I was a brother to James…" He noted smiling fondly at the memory.

"Why did you run away?" Harry asked, his eyes suddenly alight with interest.

Sirius considered how to explain it without getting into the ugly details. "My parents were … not nice people Harry, my mother more than my father. He was stern and distant, but she was violent, abusive and above all a bigot of the highest order." He said scowling at recalling those last couple years in his family's company. "I was very grateful when Charlus took me in."

"That was my Grandfather's name?"

Sirius blinked at Harry, momentarily stunned, how could it be the lad didn't even know his grandfather's name? "Yes, and your grandmother was called Dorea. She was my great aunt actually. So technically I guess that means we're distantly related."

He sighed as Harry processed that and stretched a bit, "Anyway, as I was saying we were friends back in the day, and when we eventually grew up and left Hogwarts your father and I worked together. He was my best friend, a brother like I said. Unfortunately the war was on at that point … I'll uh, spare you some of those details for now, maybe I'll tell you another time, but they're not really important at the moment." Harry nodded his understanding, for which Sirius was grateful.

"Something happened, though I don't know what it was personally, and someone determined Voldemort was after your family and a couple others for some reason. You were sent into hiding." He explained patiently and Harry watched him avidly, Sirius fought the urge to smile at the way his wand was no longer so carefully pointed his way. "Do you know what the Fidelius is?"

A shake of the head was his answer. "Its a method of concealing a location magically making it invisible and even erasing the knowledge of its existence from people's minds. Then storing the secret in a person's mind. That person can then dispense the secret to those who need it. Though those told can't tell anyone else on their own." He saw Harry understood and continued. "The charm has a weakness though, the secret has to be held by a third party. A secret keeper. Don't ask me why, because honestly I don't know. Magic crafting was never my specialty."

He scratched his jaw tiredly, feeling a modicum of disgust at the greasy grizzled feeling of the hair in his fingers. "Point is this was the method used to hide your family and it was nearly the perfect system to protect you. Unfortunately we made a mistake. We cast the spell, Dumbledore himself overseeing the original process. I was to be the secret keeper as your father's best friend." He grimaced, and sighed feeling the tears already starting to form in his eyes and dashing them away irritably. "But we got ahead of ourselves, over thought it and came up with a clever ploy. At least that's what we thought." He remarked bitterly.

"We thought that as it was a certainty I would be the first guess for being the secret keeper, we should change it in secret. So we did, passing the secret from myself to our friend Peter Pettigrew." He sighed, "We didn't know it then, but Peter had turned traitor. He sold out you and your parents to Voldemort."

He would be hard pressed to describe and identify all the emotions flowing over his godson's face. "He betrayed them? He was their friend and he betrayed them?"

Sirius nodded, seeing the outrage and anger in the boy's face. "Yes, he did, though here is where we come to my own mistakes and how I ended up in Azkaban. I arrived at your home, pulled you from the wreckage, and met Hagrid, he told me Dumbledore had sent him to secure your safety. I was so angry though! I knew what must have happened, that Peter must have turned on us, and with Dumbledore handling your safety for the moment, I thought I had a chance to hunt the rat down." Harry nodded numbly in understanding.

"I tracked him down a while later, in Manchester, I confronted him in the middle of a busy street, like a fool. He had been playing me though, he knew all along I'd be hunting him, that I'd want to make him pay for what he'd done." Sirius admitted, regret aching inside him. "He shouted out to the street, accusing me, loud and clear to all who could hear, of betraying your parents. Then quite deliberately, mocking me the whole time, cut off his own finger and fired an explosive hex at the street, igniting a gas main. It killed several muggles and knocked the living daylights out of me…He changed forms and ran for it. Taking shelter in the sewer as a rat."

Here he sighed, feeling weary and defeated.

"The Aurors showed up before I'd regained my senses and found a bunch of dead muggles, me unconscious and Peter's finger. Everyone around relayed just what Peter had accused me of, and as the Aurors already suspected me of being the traitor, seeing as last anyone knew I was the secret keeper. So I was hauled away, no trial, no real questioning, when I finally came to I was in Ministry custody and nobody would listen when I tried to tell them what had really happened. I spent twelve and a half years in Azkaban…until I escaped."

Harry stared at him wide eyed, and Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry you know? In a way it's my fault you were living with those people…" Here he paused and scowled, considering that. Why would Harry have gone there of all places?

"What?" Harry asked, seeing his expression no doubt.

"Hmm?" Sirius said inarticulately before realizing what his godson was asking. "Oh sorry, just reflecting is all. It's a bit odd, your mum and her sister never got along all that well, I'm surprised she arranged for you to go there…"

Harry, blinked. "She didn't, at least I don't think she did?"

"Wouldn't it have said in their will?" Sirius asked, curious.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know, don't know that they had a will. Dumbledore just says that it's the safest place for me."

That brought the older wizard up short. "That's odd. I—I don't know what to make of that. James always said I'd be looking after you, but that obviously fell apart when I got arrested. I would have thought there would have been others before Petunia though."

Harry considered him for a while. "Let's say—Let's say I believe you. What now?"

Sirius felt a little better knowing that he had Harry at least tentatively believing him. "I don't know Harry," He saw Harry's disbelieving look and explained. "Look, I'm a wanted man, if things were different, I'd try to take you in as I was supposed to, but…" He shrugged. "As it is I'll be lucky to keep from getting thrown back in jail. And that's if I'm lucky."

His godson nodded, a bitter expression twisting his face. "It figures that I wouldn't be able to live with the person my parents wanted me to…even when he's free." He grimaced, then shot him an uncertain look. "And there's no way you can prove you're innocent?"

Smiling thinly Sirius shook his head. "Not that I can see. Traditionally a defendant provides their memories or a testimony under truth serum, but I think just about anyone I could approach would kill me on sight if they could."

He had expected that to be the end of it, and for Harry to accept that there was nothing they could do. Though he was gratified that Harry seemed at least willing to believe him. Harry however was looking at him calculatingly, pursuing the problem with all the single-mindedness and determination a stubborn teenager his age could muster. "Just about anyone?"

Sirius chuckled, he recognized that stubborn expression well enough. James had worn it often enough after all. Usually when pondering the conundrum that was Lily Evans. "Yeah, I mean I think given half a chance I could talk Moony around, but they wouldn't listen to him anymore than they would to me. Maybe Amy under the right circumstances…"

"Moony, Amy?" Harry asked quickly.

He chuckled, realizing Harry likely wouldn't know them by those monikers, if at all. "Nicknames. Remus Lupin who was also your dad's friend, and Amelia Bones, my old girlfriend."

Harry watched him stoically. "Why wouldn't they listen to Moony or her?"

"Well, they might listen to Amy I suppose, she is an Auror after all, but— Well I'd be surprised if she'd want to see me ever again considering everyone believes me a traitor." Sirius pointed out.

"What if it was me asking?" Harry intoned quietly. "I mean, I know I'm not exactly on the laws good side right now but…"

That once again brought his godfather up short. It had possibilities…why hadn't he thought of that?

"Uh…Well I imagine Amelia would listen to you. I'm surprised she wasn't one of the ones you were lined up to stay with after me…" Sirius stuttered a bit.

Harry eyed him stoically. "Look, if you're really innocent…then it's wrong that you're being hunted, and I—You said you'd never even had a trial. If I can get you that much by talking with somebody? Then I should, right?"

Sirius reflected on the character of his old flame. What Amy had been doing with him, he'd never understood. She'd always been a bit of a stickler for justice and rules, while he and the rules could barely look each other in the eye. Especially back in the day. Him not getting a trial…well. Maybe she'd just accepted it before because she'd assumed he was guilty like everyone else? The possibility she'd hadn't believed in him back then stung, but —

"Well, I can't say I don't like the idea of being free a great deal." Sirius admitted chuckling. "If you want to give it a shot, I'll tell you what to do. But you have to realize, you may still be in trouble for what happened with that woman right?"

Harry paused briefly considering that, before shrugging. "If I'm in trouble, then I'm in trouble. At least this way I might be able to do something worthwhile…" the lad paused before looking at him questioningly. "If I do this, how would I go about it?"

Sirius sat and pondered that, his admittedly somewhat foggy mind, latching onto the promise of potential freedom like a drowning man to a raft. It took a few minutes but between the two of them they were able to come up with a rather simple set of possible solutions.

Sirius found it harder than he'd expected parting company with his Godson. Still, he was pleased with how well their reunion had gone. He had very little in the way of hope that freedom would soon be his, but at the very least he'd gotten the chance to speak with Harry.

Amelia Bones, bumped the door to the offices of the DMLE open with her hip, her hands otherwise occupied. One of them holding her briefcase and newspaper. It really was far too early in the morning in truth, but she had work to catch up on, so the other hand with taking a sip from her rather large coffee.

As almost any good copper can tell you, coffee is the lifeblood upon which the justice system is founded. It is the means by which police officers everywhere survive long nights on stakeout, chasing down leads or simply going over paperwork. Without coffee many an officer would soon devolve into a quivering pool of misery or go off their rocker after one too many nasty cases. Amelia had been an Auror long enough that she could no longer rely on the standard cup of the stuff to get her going in the morning, or avert the ever looming meltdown.

So here she was, bolstered by her extra-big cup of joe, nodding her thanks to the Auror, her subordinate, who quickly held the door open for her before heading on towards the front desk, manned by a fairly ubiquitous middle aged female desk sergeant.

"Any urgent notices for me today Alice?" Amelia asked the woman who looked up from her own paperwork.

The woman shrugged, straightening her horn rimmed glasses before speaking, "Hey boss—nope, nothing critical, word from your assistant is that you have a visitor waiting for you, but I can't say I know much about that myself." She replied in a fairly thick Yorkshire accent. "Other than that? We've got two teams out right now investigating potential sightings of Black out near the Isle of Wight."

That last bit brought her up short,"When you say 'near' the Isle of Wight…"

Alice smirked in amusement, "Seems someone thought they spotted him rowing his way to France in a dingy out there last night. Though how they could tell it might have been him in the dark like that I have no clue."

Amelia rolled her eyes at that, otherwise maintaining a carefully neutral expression at the reference to Sirius Black. It was…not easy, hearing his name, even after all these years. She'd never wanted to believe he'd done what he was accused of, but after multiple rebuffed attempts to get in to talk to him, to ask him why, she'd forced herself to accept that it was the truth.

"Mad-Eye beat you in, but I expect it'll be another half-hour at least before Scrimgeour shows," Alice continued oblivious to the small eddy of disquiet which had swirled through her boss' mind.

Amelia nodded, grumbling in acknowledgement. That was about the usual around here. Mad-Eye, crazy old coot that he was, had no life save that which revolved around being an Auror these days. What he'd do when he was eventually forced to retire she didn't know, but she would bet it wouldn't be pretty. Then again there was the small chance he'd pull his head out of his arse and approach Pomphrey again after all these years, but she wasn't optimistic.

As for Scrimgeour…he wasn't a bad man per se, but he lacked the moral fortitude she preferred in her Aurors. He struggled to keep himself clean and clear of the politicking which sometimes washed through the Department. Not the sort to show up early unless he absolutely had to, but then again he rarely had need to in the first place. His responsibilities were not such that he found himself backlogged on paperwork liaising with the various other departments of the Ministry as he did.

"Alright," Amelia said, huffing a sigh. "Well, I'll go see to this visitor then, whomever it is, and then we'll see about getting everyone together for a meeting. Just make sure everyone is up to date on things."

Alice nodded, "Sound's good boss. I'll make sure the conference room is clear."

With that Amelia made her goodbyes and started winding her way back through the office bullpen, nodding to a couple of the other unfortunates who were in this early. Waking one poor soul who had fallen asleep at his desk to urge him to return home or at least grab some proper shut eye on a bed in the bunk rooms.

She reached the elevator on the far end of the floor just as an Auror Trainee was, causing her to hold the door for the younger witch. A young woman, with fluorescent pink hair and a heart shaped face, Nymphadora Tonks was both an unholy terror and exceptional asset to the Auror corps. It was proof positive that Tonks, as she preferred to be known, was a newbie, as she was bouncing happily on her heels while blowing bubbles with her gum without a cup of coffee in her hands despite the early hour of the day.

"In early this morning, Trainee?" Amelia greeted smiling wryly at the woman while pushing the button to her floor.

Tonks blushed, an impressive display considering the woman's peculiar abilities. "Figured I'd get some paperwork out of the way. Not that I wasn't eager to make a run for it anyways ma'am. Mum was on a tear this morning."

Amelia snorted in amusement, it made sense that the only one who could ride herd over Tonks would be the woman's own mother, a rather intimidating master healer called Andromeda. Amelia had come to know, as any who had been around healers enough, that you messed with a medical professional at your peril.

The elevator reached her floor and Amelia stepped out, calling out to Tonks over her shoulder. "Have a good day Trainee."

"You as well boss," she heard behind her as she started making her way through the corridors to her office, eventually coming to a surprisingly plain door behind which she found her office. Again, one of the Auror guards on duty held open the door for her.

"Morning Savage," she greeted, nodding to the witch in question.

"Morning ma'am," Auror Ellen Savage greeted in reply.

At the sound of voices her personal assistant looked up from her notes and smiled tiredly at her, hands firmly fixed around a large mug of her own black coffee elixir. The woman certainly looked like she needed it, judging by the tired shadows around her eyes. Not unexpected she supposed, everyone had long hours with Black on the loose.

"Morning Kelly," She greeted.

"Morning madam Director," the young woman said formally. While the two of them were friendly, Amelia had never managed to convince the other witch to drop the honourifics while on duty.

"Anything I need to know about this morning?" the Director asked.

The woman nodded, "Two things of note ma'am, though they're related."

At her expectant look Kelly pulled out a sheet of paper and looked it over quickly, "Bit of a kerfuffle last night ma'am, bout of accidental magic out in Little Whinging Surrey. Magical reversal squad had to be called in. They've got it well contained, but as it so happens your guest is the kid responsible. Already sent the notification to Mafalda, no sense having her lot hunting for the lad if he's already here right?" she said with a pointed nod towards the waiting area across the room.

Amelia turned to regard to area's sole occupant and blinked in surprise. Sitting there staring quietly into space was a smallish boy with messy black hair and startling green eyes. Just like James and Lily, she thought with a dull ache in her chest.

She swallowed thickly for a moment before turning to her assistant, to confirm her initial impression. "Is that who I think it is?"

Kelly smiled tiredly. "Yes ma'am, it is. He says he has something important to discuss with you. Saw no harm in letting him wait for you to get in. Your schedule's usually pretty clear this time of day."

Well, that certainly explained why Kelly had allowed a visitor in to see her so easily. Kelly had a soft spot for kids, and add to that just who this particular youth was, and she understood the woman's choice under the circumstances.

Nodding sharply she turned back to considering the lad who had finally seemed to notice her presence and was looking at her curiously. "Of course, good job Kelly. I'll see him momentarily."

Straightening herself out a bit, as much as was possible anyway, before moving across the room towards the boy. Harry, upon seeing her approach stumbled tiredly to his feet to greet her. It was only then that she noticed he had not only his Hogwarts school trunk with him but his owl as well. A gorgeous snowy who peered at her intelligently from its cage.

"Good Morning Mister Potter," she said, trying to ignore just how much of her lost friends she could see in his face. "My assistant tells me you have something important to tell me. Why don't you come to my office and we'll discuss it?"

"Er—yes ma'am, thank you ma'am," he stuttered, before pausing, "Um—can I leave my trunk and Hedwig here?"

Hedwig, she assumed from the context had to be his owl. She also couldn't help but notice how uneasy and uncertain he seemed. "Of course, just a moment." She agreed turning to her assistant again. "Kelly would you be so good as to watch over Mister Potter's things while we have our little meeting?"

The woman bobbed her head in agreement, "Of course, Madam Director."

With a little encouragement Harry wheeled his belongings over to the woman who stowed it all behind her desk, then followed Amelia into her office.

It was not a terribly impressive place, her office, not by Ministry standards anyways. It was decorated in dark woods and finely upholstered furniture, but it wasn't terribly large. Add to that that almost every surface was cluttered with the detritus of her work and it wasn't very comfortable all things considered. There was a large map of the British Isles behind her desk on the wall surrounded by mugshots of those on their current most wanted list. In the corner by the window overlooking the Ministry's central plaza was her owl which was dozing on its perch.

Hurriedly tidying away her things, she placed her mug on her desk before clearing some things off one of her chairs so that Harry might sit. When he hesitated she smiled reassuringly at him, "Why don't you take a seat Mister Potter?"

He did so, appearing to appreciate how comfortable it was as he relaxed into it. Finally, once she was certain he was situated she leaned forward in her own chair, resting her forearms on the desk, and spoke,"now then, what brings you here today Mister Potter?"

"Er—just Harry please." Harry offered after a moment's hesitation.

She nodded slightly. "Harry it is then," she agreed before cocking her head at him slightly. "Am I right in supposing you are here about your little incident in Little Whinging last night?"

He blinked in surprise, before nodding cautiously. "Yes," he agreed before stopping and frowning, "Well sort of, it's all related really…" he said wringing his hands a little in his nervousness.

"Well why don't we see what we can do to sort this out. I'm sure all things considered we can get this handled without too much trouble," she said, doing her best to reassure the boy, while pulling out a notepad.

"That sounds good ma'am, er—ma'am?" He stuttered, "It was suggested I ask you to help me provide a memory for you to—um, review."

She blinked in surprise at that, "A memory? Who—" She shook her head. "Typically pensieve memories are only required for more serious cases Harry, not for bouts of accidental magic."

He seemed uncertain to her eyes but nodded nonetheless. "Okay, but I still think I should show you. It'll be easier than explaining. Er—do you know how to do this ma'am, because I have to admit I have no idea where to begin."

She considered that, wondering just who had counselled the boy to request the use of a pensieve, and why. "Yes, I know how Mister—Harry…" she said, as she mulled that over, before nodding. "Alright, yes we can do that."

She reached into the lowest drawer of her desk, the one warded to protect the precious artifact this procedure would require. She drew out the bowl like construct and set it on its stand in the middle of the desk.

"This is a pensieve. In case it wasn't explained to you, it holds a person's memory so that it can be viewed in person, or as a projection," she informed him stepping out from behind her desk. "Now, so as not to alarm you, I'm telling you I need to pull out my wand, alright?"

He nodded a little more certainly and she pulled it out and stepped up beside him. "Now, the way this works is you have to focus on the memories in question as best you can, then I'll use a spell to draw off a copy which I can deposit into the pensieve for viewing. Do you think you can do that?"

Harry paused considering, "How carefully do I need to remember? I mean—"

She smiled, understanding his concern, few could remember any event in such detail as to be truly useful. "Just think of the memory in question as best you can the spell will draw out the details on its own."

He seemed somewhat comforted by that and nodded his assent. "Okay, I think I can do that."

She then brought her wand up to his temple, "Okay, now focus on the memories and I'll begin."

Harry clenched his eyes shut, clearly focusing as best he could on what he needed to show her and she murmured the incantation under her breath. "Memento Mori".

It was slow at first, but soon enough she was pulling a goodly strand of memory away from his head until no more would come. "Very good Harry, I think that will be enough," she said ending the spell and watching him relax, opening his eyes.

She drew the memory on the tip of her wand over to the bowl before depositing it in the misty interior which seemed to condense or congeal upon contact into a clear slightly pearlescent liquid.

"Now, do you wish to view this memory with me?" She asked.

He hesitated then shook his head, "Not really ma'am. I mean, there's some not so pleasant stuff in there and I've already had one, er—blow up tonight."

She smiled in understanding. "Very well then, why don't you step outside for a moment. It's not that I don't trust you but it's against policy for me to be…away, while someone is in my office."

He nodded scrambling to his feet surprisingly fast. "Okay ma'am. I'll just er…go then," he said, heading to the door and opening it before slipping out.

Amelia frowned, what was it about this memory that had him so uneasy? Was it whatever happened to cause him to use accidental magic? Was he afraid he was in trouble? It wasn't impossible she supposed, but even Mafalda likely wouldn't set the dogs on him for an accident. Especially if the reversal squad had easily cleaned it up…

Looking to the memory drifting in the bowl she sighed, there really was only one way to find out she supposed. Standing once more behind her desk she placed her hands on either side and lowered her face into the bowl.

She was not prepared for what she saw.

Amelia staggered slightly as she was ejected back out of the memory, and she had to draw in a couple of steadying breaths, running her hands back through her hair shakily, before she could consider herself properly under control again. That had been…surprising, and very hard to watch, for a number of reasons.

It had been difficult to view right from the start, watching the way her old friend's child had been so badly mistreated by his relatives, and Amelia vowed to look into the matter more closely. Although she had to admit she found it oddly refreshing to be running down a case herself, instead of delegating it to a subordinate.

She'd never admit it of course, but she'd felt a bit of guilty satisfaction when he'd inflated that odious woman rather spectacularly. She certainly understood Harry's initial panic however, especially considering she knew of the existing warning on his record.

She had even assumed the memory was nearing its end, shaking her head at the foolishness of youth as Harry took off into the night, and had prepared to be ejected from the memory, only for it to continue despite her expectations.

So she followed the retreating boy at a brisk pace, watching him carefully to see what might have instigated his need to include this portion of the memory. She had noticed his increasing agitation and wondered what had caught his attention.

Only to be shocked, as Harry had been, when a certain escapee from Azkaban had shown his face.

That had been the hardest portion to watch. Amelia had investigated cases of child abuse before, but she had not been prepared to come face to face, so to speak with Sirius Black.

She'd felt a chill run down her spine at the painfully familiar, if somewhat stress roughened, voice of Sirius Black sounding from behind her, whirling and freezing the playback to find her one time friend—and more—standing there patiently watching the lad.

Sirius Orion Black, she had examined his ravaged face and emaciated frame closely as she paced over to him. His usually jovial attitude, which she had remembered with a pang in her chest, was gone, replaced by this gaunt spectre.

It was hard to see him like this, perhaps especially like this. Though, she had to concede as she gazed upon him longer and longer, he could have been a lot worse off than he was. It was peculiar though, why was he so…relaxed. Nowhere to be seen was the lunatic which she'd expected to see. Just what had he been playing at she wondered.

Finally she managed to tear her eyes away from him and resumed the memory's playback and had been shocked to her core by what had followed.

At no point did Sirius move to attack, or even approach Harry. Instead he sat there patiently and told his version of events for that night so long ago. The night so much of her world had come crashing down.

She'd been shocked and appalled, by Sirius' claims that he'd never even received a trial. Part of her mind had protested, that it couldn't possibly be true, could it? But the rational part of her brain had responded that it could indeed be true at that. The times following the war had been chaotic and confused, a man's trial could easily have been lost in that mess.

Her shock had only doubled when he'd carefully and patiently explained how Harry could safely travel to, and access the Ministry of Magic to approach her. Not only that, but instructing the lad on how to request the use of Pensieve memories.

It had been…hard, listening to him speak of her. She could hardly believe the small note of sorrow and tenderness he had in his voice when he mentioned her name.

Finally, just before the memory ended, he told Harry where he would be waiting for her to approach him. Hogsmeade, the Shrieking Shack. She was one of only a few people who understood the significance of that building to Sirius.

As she thought back on all that she had seen in the pensieve she took meticulous notes, being careful to leave out her personal feelings on the matters she witnessed. Those were no one's business but her own.

She finally laid down the notebook, taking another moment to steady herself before stepping out from behind her desk and heading to the door. Pulling it open and stepping through, she looked about.

Amelia couldn't help the little smile which quirked her lips as she saw Harry introducing Kelly properly to his familiar. The beautiful snowy owl preening under the attention and affection she was receiving.

It was only when she approached that they looked up and acknowledged her, Harry's eyes suddenly taking on a questioning and worried cast as he looked to her hopefully. Smiling reassuringly she nodded to him, before turning her attention to her assistant, "Kelly, I need you to make a run down to records in person, look for any transcripts or records of Sirius Black's trial and bring them to me," she instructed firmly.

Kelly nodded seriously and pushed to her feet, "I'll see to it immediately Madam Director," she assured her, pausing only briefly to smile at Harry before leaving the room.

"Why don't you come into my office again Harry, and we'll go over a few things?" Amelia suggested once the other woman had departed.

He bobbed his head agreeably and murmured a small goodbye to the owl before moving to follow her.

Once in the office she turned to regard the lad as he stood there eyeing her cautiously. "Now, I suppose the first thing I'll want to do is make sure you haven't been placed under a compulsion or confundus of some kind. Last I knew Sirius—Black, wasn't able to do such a thing wandlessly, but it's best to be careful given what I've just seen."

Harry worried his bottom lip uncertainly, but nodded his understanding. Drawing her wand she approached him. "I'm just going to cast a few detection spells, okay, Harry?"

Receiving his acceptance she began casting, runic sigils drawing themselves in the air as she placed detection spells upon him and began her scans. To her relief, she found that he was apparently entirely clear of any mind altering magics which could be cast wandlessly.

She stood back and considered him thoughtfully as the scans cleared and the sigils faded away. "You show no sign of compulsions, or confounding, which is good. Though I must say it makes things rather more complicated in regards to Sirius I think…"

Pausing, she went over all the relevant information in her head, before looking to him again, "I will, however, be investigating your relatives."

Harry looked decidedly uncomfortable at that declaration. "You don't need to do that ma'am. I'm well shot of them now I suppose—" he mumbled, "I wouldn't want to be a bother."

Amelia fought down the desire to frown. "Free of them or not, Harry, there are other concerns to consider," she said firmly, before pausing and considering how to explain. Harry just stared at her uncomprehendingly.

"Very well, let's be frank then. Have you ever heard of a Witch or Wizard being abused as you were Harry?"

Harry flinched at the bald statement, and looked away, clearly embarrassed. "No," he mumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

"There's a good reason for that," she said grimacing, "It is extremely dangerous to abuse a young Witch or Wizard. It can have especially dangerous outcomes due to our magic."

She paused, while he absorbed that, then continued. "Even the worst members of our society will generally shy away from abusing a child physically. Though that doesn't mean other sorts of abuse don't occur."

Harry look decidedly uncertain, not knowing where she was going with this. Nevertheless, there was a small curious look in his eyes as he regarded her. "There is a…phenomena—a creature if you will. It's called an Obscurus. It is the manifestation of an abused magical child's powers as they lash out against those who abuse them," she explained patiently. "Very powerful, and very dangerous. They've been known to level whole neighbourhoods and kill dozens if not hundreds of people. It is—speaking plainly now—a miracle that you have not generated such a creature with your magic considering what little I've seen of your treatment at the hands of those…people."

He flinched, and nodded, wide eyed at what she had just described. She pressed on, once assured that he understood. "That is but one reason we must investigate instances of abuse Harry. Do you understand now?"

Harry nodded hurriedly,"Yes, ma'am."

She smiled at him, he was very polite. More than any boy his age she'd met before. "Good. Now, why don't we sit down and I'll go over a few points with you in regards to the memories you showed me. I just need a bit of clarification before we can move forward."

He sat with her, and for the next few minutes they went over details while they waited for Kelly to return. Touching on how he'd felt when that woman had been saying those things, and while running away. She pointed out that she'd noticed his tension even before Sirius had properly revealed himself, and asked if he'd noticed he was being followed.

He had just shaken his head on that last point, "No ma'am, I just had this…weird feeling I guess," he admitted with a shrug, and she surprised him by nodding understanding. She was no stranger to the sort of sixth sense some people developed. Aurors in particular tended to find themselves developing such after long enough in the corps.

It was then that Kelly finally returned, her arrival heralded by a knock at the door. "Enter," Amelia called looking towards the source of the knock.

Kelly looked uncomfortable as she entered, "My apologies Madam Director, I couldn't find any records of the trial. Only a transfer order to Azkaban Prison."

Amelia nodded neutrally, not letting on just what she was feeling as the reality that Sirius had likely never received one at all sank in.

"Very well, then I have a couple things I need you to do for me, Kelly, and I need you to make sure it stays quiet." At the woman's nod she pressed on, "First I want you to find Master Auror Moody—"

Early Morning August 7th 2013:

The muffled crackle of multiple apparitions could barely be heard over the steady pattering drumroll of the rain, as three figures clad in the red-brown trenchcoats of the Auror Corps arrived in the middle of a disused side street in Hogsmeade.

Amelia looked to one of her companions, a somewhat stooped and hobbled older gentleman with an artificial leg and an electric blue replacement for one of his eyes. "Mad-Eye, seeing any wards or traps?"

He paused allowing that strange orb to rove over the house across from them for a moment before shaking his head. "A basic 'repulsion' ward of some kind, old, but nothing else lass, and our escapee is waiting for you upstairs," he growled after a moment.

She nodded slowly in understanding, considering the implications of that. "I'm the only one he's invited, you and Shack stay back here unless you see us start fighting." She ordered.

A small grumble met this, but Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody nodded acceptance. If she were to guess he was simply uncomfortable with the idea of her heading in without immediate backup.

She cast an eye about over the street around them, and upon seeing no bystanders who might get caught up in things, strode purposefully across the road and up to the front gate.

Pushing the gate of crumbling paint and rotted wood aside she walked carefully up the cracked paving stones out front the house and up to the front door. Here, she paused briefly considering knocking, before deciding against it. She pulled out her wand and tapped it against the lock once, "Alohomora."

The lock clicked in response to the spell and the door swung open, it's hinges creaking ominously in the dim light of morning. She paused only briefly considering the darkness within before stepping through and closing the door behind her with a click. There was no chance that ancient door would hinder Mad-Eye and Shacklebolt any should she need backup.

The house was, speaking plainly, a moldering ruin, the wallpaper peeled in great swaths away from the holes punched in the wall beneath them. She tried to ignore what looked to be large claw marks scratched into most every surface. She knew just what, or rather who, had made those claw marks.

She decided against wasting any more time looking about and raised her voice to call out. "Black, you in here?"

There was a brief pause, "Yeah Amy, I'm up here. Just give me a second." Came a familiar voice from above. A few moments later, after some creaking of boards overhead, a shape appeared on the stairs above her.

"Sorry about the lack of light," Black said conversationally, "Don't have a wand on me. Not that the fixtures in here ever worked all that well. You're looking well Amy." He said this last part as he stepped into a mote of light streaming through a hole in the wall behind her.

For a moment her voice caught in her throat upon seeing her old flame's face again and hearing his voice. It almost physically hurt to see him so, so weathered and drawn, gaunt from the strain of surviving Azkaban. Gone was much of the joyful light in his eyes or the cheerful cast to his face.

To her credit, she collected herself quickly, "Sirius. You held together better than I'd expected."

He allowed a short, rasping bark-like laugh slip past his lips. "If you say so. As you're here, and didn't storm the building with a whole squad of your aurors I'd guess that you spoke with Harry?"

She nodded calmly, "I checked for a record of your trial too, couldn't find anything. That combined with what you told Harry is enough for me to justify bringing you in for a proper questioning under veritaserum. I presume you will cooperate?"

He smirked dryly, and she hated the way his humour failed to light his eyes as it once did, then he nodded. "If you promise I won't get kissed by a Dementor or thrown back in Azkaban without a trial, I will."

She couldn't help it, her eyebrow quirked curiously at him, surprised by the implied trust in that statement. He must have seen it, and interpreted it correctly as he explained a moment later. "I know you Amy, or at least I did, you would never go back on your word once it's been given."

She tilted her head in acknowledgement, oath-breakers were abhorrent to her, something he indeed would know about her. "Very well, I promise you that you'll be handled with all due process. Does that satisfy you?"

He probably understood why she was so careful with her wording, promising only what she could in good conscience deliver, but he nodded acceptance anyways.

"Now, for the sake of appearances, I need to restrain you, will you comply?" She asked formally, reaching for the magical suppression cuffs on her belt.

He stepped forward silently, hesitating briefly, eyeing her uncertainly before placing his wrists together and raising them in front of him. She snapped the cuffs in place around his wrists before stepping up behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder, trying not to allow her own internal conflicts show on her face. It felt so wrong to be doing this to him, even now.

"Good, come on Sirius, we'll join the others outside and get you to an interview room." She explained, before guiding him to the door.

As they made their way down the path from the house Mad-Eye and Shack stepped up to meet them and she noticed the amiable way Sirius nodded to both of them. "Kingsley, Mad-Eye," he greeted.

Kingsley nodded silently in return, dark eyes surveying him impassively.

"Black," Alastor grumbled, eyeing him suspiciously. "I really hope you're not just giving us a run around."

Sirius chuckled, "Not this time."

Moody just grunted, before nodding and looking to her for instructions. "Portkey for interview room 1?" She prompted.

Alastor drew a silver ring off his belt before expanding it with a touch from his wand, allowing all four of them to grip it at once.

"One prisoner for interview room 1. Activate." Amelia intoned once everyone had firmly gripped the ring.

There was the characteristic hook behind the navel feeling and they were gone, leaving the abandoned side street to once more descend into silence.

Harry was stirred from his weary ponderings, while sat in the waiting room to Madam Bones' office, by the sound of someone giving a yelp. He looked up just in time to see a young woman straighten up after nearly tripping through the doorway. Watching in fascination as her hair oscillated through a few different colours before settling down to pink while she glared suspiciously at the door behind her. Harry noticed Kelly appeared amused by all this when he glanced her direction.

Finally however the young woman turned away from the door and regarded him, a bright smile splitting her face and her hair very briefly flaring blue before once again changing back. "Wotcher, Harry Potter right? I'm Tonks!" The young woman greeted, and Harry was struck by the thought that she was likely barely out of school herself, such was her obvious youth.

He nodded a touch cautiously, "Just Tonks?"

She continued to grin brightly at him, "That's right," was her short answer, and he decided to just go with it. After all, it was not the strangest name he'd heard in the Wizarding world.

"Okay," he replied, nodding understanding.

"Great," She said, clapping her hands together, "Now, the boss lady - Madam Bones to you - asked me to escort you, if you're willing, to Saint Mungo's. She just wants to run you through a general check up. Make sure you're alright and all that."

Harry winced, he didn't like the idea of going to a hospital all told. Tonks apparently saw his expression as she chuckled, "I know, I don't like going to see a healer either, but—" She said giving him a lopsided smile. "The boss feels it's likely important, and who are we to argue, right?"

He couldn't help the small smile which tugged his lips at her irreverent attitude and nodded acceptance. She beamed happily at him in return, "Great! You know how to floo I assume?"

Again Harry winced, but he bobbed his head in agreement. "Yes, I'm not very good at it though." He hedged.

A snort of amusement met this statement, "That's okay kiddo, I'm not either." She confided giving him a small wink. "Come along, we'll use the dispatch room's floo to get there. My mum's on duty today at the hospital. We'll be going to see her. Bonesy thought you might like her a bit more than some of the others, or the medic we have on duty here right now."

Harry had no clue as to why that might be the case, but saw no reason to dispute her assertion either. "What about my things?" He asked indicating his trunk and Hedwig's cage.

Tonks paused considering that, chewing her lip thoughtfully, "Any problem with leaving them here for Kelly to watch over?" She asked.

Harry considered that for a moment, "Are we coming back here after?"

She nodded, "Yup, that's the plan." She said, popping her lips slightly on the P in 'yup'.

He nodded slowly, "Okay—assuming Kelly is okay with that?" He said before looking over at the woman in question, who nodded in return.

"That's fine Harry, shouldn't be too much trouble, an owl is actually a bit easier than Madame Bones' fish. You would be surprised how hard it can be to keep them alive." She assured him, indicating a fish tank resting against the far wall..

Tonks smiled, nodding her thanks to the other woman, before gesturing for Harry to follow her, waiting for him to get to his feet first. Once outside the room, she led him through the hallways back to the set of lifts he'd ridden up earlier. Again, as they were riding down a couple floors, Harry observed her hair shift colours several times, and he felt his curiosity get the better of him.

"How are you doing that?" He asked, indicating her hair when she looked to him questioningly.

"Hm? Oh, the hair! I'm a metamorph Harry, means I can shift my appearance any way I want to." She informed him.

He blinked in surprise, that was quite unlike anything he'd ever heard about. "That must be handy," he ventured after a moment.

This seemed to throw her for some odd reason before she snorted in amusement and ruffled his hair fondly. "It can be, true enough. Can also be a bit of a pain in the arse too actually. Forget just how long your legs are supposed to be and you spend your entire day tripping over them." She told him as they entered the dispatch room and she started over towards the floos.

Here she paused and turned to regard him seriously. "Alright, address is 'Saint Mungo's Reception' okay?" She said, making sure he'd heard her clearly. "You go first okay, in case I need to follow you to a wrong address."

He had a brief flashback to his unfortunate sojourn down Knockturn Alley the year previous. That was something he'd prefer to avoid this time around.

He took some floor powder from the pot provided and threw it into the flames which turned green. "Saint Mungo's Reception." Harry called before stepping into the flames.

His arrival this time was little better than his previous experiences with floo travel, sending him spinning on his backside across the floor instead of firing him out like a ball from a cannon like before.

The room had barely stopped spinning when Tonks stumbled through the floo behind him. He gratefully took her hand when she went to help him back to his feet. It was only then that he got a chance to look at the room around him, and he had to say he was mildly disappointed. The reception room to Saint Mungo's wasn't all that different from that of any hospital Harry had ever seen depicted. Rows of chairs before a desk and set of doors. The only thing which really gave away this wasn't an ordinary hospital were the gas lamps instead of normal electric lights.

Tonks ushered him along to the desk. "General check-up with Healer Tonks?" She said to the welcome witch behind the desk.

The woman didn't even look up from her magazine, a copy of witch weekly, as she replied in a bored voice. "General Healing is third door on the left through the doors."

Tonks just shook her head ruefully at him, before rolling her eyes and leading him through the doorway in question. True to the bored woman's instructions however they found a door marked 'General Healing' three doors down in the hallway beyond.

Though they found themselves in a waiting room, which was notably empty, Harry wasn't immediately ushered to one of the seats. Instead Tonks made straight for a woman standing near the front desk. "Hey Mum, you get the Boss Lady's message?"

The woman, who's name tag on her lime green robes read 'Andromeda Tonks, Senior Healer', was about as tall as her daughter, though with a distinctly more buttoned up and proper demeanour. Her hair, brown and curly was tied back in a rough knot behind her head and she had serious dark grey eyes.

"Ah, hello Nymphadora, yes I received the Director's message." She said looking up from her clipboard where she'd been filling out some parchment work.

Harry felt a note of amusement upon hearing the younger woman's actual name. It was somewhat ironic that she'd gone out of her way to conceal it after all, only to have it revealed to him not ten minutes later. Tonks was apparently less amused, looking embarrassed and annoyed more than anything.

Andromeda's lips quirked in what Harry assumed was amusement at her daughter's discomfort before looking to him. "This is him I presume?" She started before nodding, "Yes I can see it now, he does look like his parents doesn't he?"

He was impressed, her eyes hadn't immediately gone to his scar, and even when they did it was only for a moment before fixing once again on his eyes. "Hello ma'am," he greeted.

Her expression, which had thus far been tightly controlled softened somewhat. "You can call me Andromeda lad. Or Healer Tonks if you prefer."

He bobbed his head in acceptance and she gestured for him to follow her. "This way then. Oh, be a dear and stick around Dora?"

Tonks responded much more favourably to this name than the previous one, smiling again, "Yes mum. I'll be right here if you need anything," She said indicating the waiting area.

Harry followed along behind the older woman down the hall and into an examination room. "Alright, up on the bed. You don't need to lie down just yet though."

He complied immediately hopping up and allowing his legs to dangle off the edge. She was looking at her clipboard again when she next spoke. "Alright, Harry. It's nice to meet you. As I said before, I'm Healer Tonks. Amelia mentioned in her message that she wanted a general check-up run on you, said she had reason to be concerned." She said, eyes flicking up to his own to ensure he understood.

"Now, strictly speaking we don't have to do this if you don't want to. It is after all your right to turn down an examination. That being said, you should know the Director wouldn't have requested it unless she thought it was important."

He wasn't fond of hospitals, few were, but…he'd never had a proper check-up before this, it was true. Could it hurt to get looked over? "If she thinks it's necessary…" He eventually allowed.

She smiled approvingly, "Excellent, now then, any previous injuries I should be aware of?" She asked briskly.

And wasn't that a kettle of fish, he supposed. Where did he begin?

"I don't really know what you'd consider important." He said after a few moments.

She frowned thoughtfully for a moment, "Broken bones, concussions, major illnesses, allergies, exposure to toxic potions or poisons…anything more than a minor cough really." She speculated.

Well that narrowed things down a touch he supposed. "I've broken a couple bones before, though the worst was a quidditch accident." He admitted, thinking of the time Lockhart had vanished the bones in his arm. "Madam Pomphrey fixed that up right away though."

She nodded understanding, and he considered some more. "Never been seriously sick before, I don't know if I have any allergies."

Andromeda made another notation here on her board. "I'll run an allergy test on you in a bit then."

It was then a thought occurred to him. "The only poisonous thing I can recall was that Basilisk last year."

The effect was immediate, the Healer stilling before looking up at him sharply. "Basilisk?" She asked, much to his confusion.

"You know, the one that was petrifying students at Hogwarts," He elaborated hoping to jog her memory.

A shocked blink later and she was staring at him intently, "There was a Basilisk at Hogwarts? Petrifying students?"

He frowned, confused now, "You didn't know? Wasn't it in the news?"

She shook her head, eyeing him uncertainly. "No, they mentioned a couple students had experienced accidents last year which rendered them unable to study, but they said the matter was being handled by Hogwarts staff."

He frowned and she considered him. "And it got close enough to attack you? How were you not killed by its eyes?" She eventually asked.

He shrugged. "I had help, it was blinded first, and actually come to think of it, it was probably mostly dead by that point considering how close I had to get to stab it..."

Her eyebrows had climbed a good way up her forehead. "You were exposed to its venom though?"

He nodded, rolling up his sleeve to show her the scar from where its fang had bitten into him. "Yeah, when it bit me."

Her eyes widened, apparently she'd misunderstood when he'd said he'd encountered the thing. "It bit you? How are you still alive?"

He shrugged, "Phoenix tears, Fawkes—that's Dumbledore's phoenix—came to help me when I fought the thing in the Chamber of Secrets. It was Fawkes that got the thing's eyes by the way."

He really didn't understand the fuss. It was dealt with, he'd killed it himself. No sense worrying about it any more, right? Regardless, she stopped staring at him, then took a step back and rubbed tiredly at her eyes before blowing out an exasperated breath. She then straightened and headed for the door, "Just a moment please."

Pulling open the door she stepped outside and fired off a spell down the hall. There was a muffled yelp a moment later and soon enough Tonks appeared in the doorway, rubbing her backside. "Ow mum, a stinging hex, really?"

"Step inside," Andromeda instructed brusquely.

Once the door was closed behind them Andromeda turned to regard her daughter. "What do you know about a Basilisk being found at Hogwarts?"

Tonks' skin paled dramatically, before she began stammering. "Er—I'm sorry, what? A basilisk? When was a basilisk at Hogwarts?"

Apparently that inarticulate answer was enough to convince her mother she had been unaware of such a thing and the healer looked back to Harry. Casting a cynical eye over the boy on the table. "Something tells me this is going to take longer than expected."

As promised, the portkey had taken the four of them directly into a DMLE 'Interview' room. Which really was only slightly different from an interrogation room, except for the fact that it lacked a two way mirror.

The aurors helped Sirius stay on his feet, his poor condition making it hard for him to catch himself when the portkey and the world stopped spinning.

Once safely off to the side Amelia levitated a table to the centre of the room and then set some chairs around it. She didn't release his shackles just yet however waving him to a seat and securing him to the edge of the table, before taking a seat across from him.

"If you'll be seated Mister Black, we can begin." She instructed.

Once Sirius was seated Kingsley left the room, while Moody took up a position leaned up against the wall, watching them both carefully from beneath grizzled grey brows. Sirius didn't miss the way that artificial eye was fixed on him unblinkingly.

Amelia pulled out a notepad and set up a dicta-quill on the table between them.

"The date is August 7th, 2013, and it is…" She paused to check her pocket watch. "Just coming up on 7:00 A.M. This is Director Amelia Bones presiding over preliminary interrogation—sorry, 'interview' of Azkaban escapee Sirius Orion Black. For the record, Master Auror Alastor Moody is also in the room."

She paused considering Sirius while the quill finished copying down her words. "Given the circumstances, we'll need to do a legilmency scan to check for any occlumency shields which might interfere with the questioning. Do I have your cooperation in this regard?" She asked eyes flicking to Sirius' own.

He nodded, "Yes Ma'am, you do."

Apparently the need to do this as cleanly and clearly as possible was not lost on him. That was good, it'd make things simpler.

Nodding her thanks she spoke again, "As Sirius Black has given his consent I will now attempt the scan."

She looked him in the eye, his own gaze meeting hers steadily and suddenly she was inside his head. She could tell it was distinctly uncomfortable for him, but focused her efforts against his shields, questing a probing to judge how effective they were. Finally after a minute she stopped, and he winced massaging his forehead against a headache.

She looked to the dicta-quill again, "Note for the record, I have determined that Sirius Black does indeed possess rudimentary Occlumency shields. Can speculate that extensive damage observed is due to time in Azkaban Prison. It is my considered opinion that these shields are far from sufficient to interfere with the use of veritaserum or a more in-depth legilmency probe."

Here she turned to regard Moody, "Master Auror Moody, if you will administer the test for anti-serum?"

Moody stepped forward and began casting detection spells on Sirius, which the man sat still for. After a bit Moody stopped. "I don't detect anything beyond a mild nutrient potion lass."

Amelia hummed thoughtfully, "The scan found only traces of a low grade nutrient potion in his system."

She checked again to ensure the quill had caught everything thus far, before returning her attention to the task at hand. "Sirius Orion Black, do you consent to the use of Veritaserum?"

"I do," was the prompt reply.

She looked to Moody who withdrew a vial of the potion in question from his jacket. "Do you Master Auror Moody swear to the quality of the serum being used?" She asked patiently.

He nodded, "I Alastor Moody do so swear, on my honour, that this does of Veritaserum is confirmed to be of sufficient quality by the DMLE's apothecary."

Amelia nodded in satisfaction, "The oath has been accepted by myself as Director of the DMLE." She reported, "Master Auror Moody, if you would be so good as to dose Mister Black with the serum we may begin."

Sirius tilted his head back obligingly and Moody dropped three drops of the potion into his mouth. When Sirius once again straightened he had the slightly vacant expression and still countenance of someone under the influence of the potion.

"We will begin with a battery of security questions to confirm the prisoner's identity." She asserted before looking Sirius in the eye again. "What is your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black." He reported blandly.

"What house were you sorted into at Hogwarts?" She asked next.

"Gryffindor," was the prompt reply.

She nodded again, "Answer the next question in the negative. Did you play quidditch as a beater for Gryffindor's house team while at Hogwarts?"

"N—yes." He stuttered, the potion forcing him to be honest despite the instruction.

She considered his responses before nodding, "Veritaserum is confirmed to be working." She murmured, "Very good, we can begin."

She considered Sirius a moment before steeling herself and beginning the questioning in earnest. "Sirius Black, are you a Death Eater?"

"No." A simple answer, but one with serious consequences for the British Wizarding world she knew.

"Have you ever been, or desired to become a Death Eater?" She asked hedging their bets, just in case.

"No." He answered again, and Amelia felt a knot of tension begin to loosen in her chest and guilt settle more deeply in its place.

"Did you betray the Potters to the Death Eaters and the one calling himself Lord Voldemort?" She asked, admirably managing to say the Dark lord's name without so much as a hitch.

The answer was the same as before, "No."

"Were you the Secret Keeper for the Potters?" She asked next.

"No."

She felt she knew the answer to the next part but had to ask anyways. "Who was the Secret Keeper?"

"Peter Pettigrew." He intoned, and she remembered the person in question. A shy lad, or at least he had been back in Hogwarts, always tailing behind the rest of the Marauders…Seemingly insignificant, a mistaken assumption that had cost them it seemed.

"So he was the one who betrayed them?" She asked, for clarity's sake.

"Yes," He agreed.

"Is that why you went after him. Why you killed him? She asked, asking for the sake of the information she knew the question would dredge up.

"Yes, however I didn't kill him." He responded.

She recalled what she'd heard from Harry's memory of Sirius' previous recounting of the events. "Can you give me an account of that night from your perspective?"

For the next few minutes Sirius did precisely that, detailing the events of that evening to her without embellishment or exaggeration, his tone even and measured the whole way through. At the end of it she sat back in her seat and sighed, it had been almost word for word what he'd told Harry. "Well, this is quite the situation we find ourselves in. Alastor, if you could administer the antidote?"

Mad-Eye did so, and a few moments later Sirius was back to his old self, sagging slightly in his seat. "I have more questions, but they are nothing so critical as to necessitate using truth serum for." She explained to him.

Sirius shook his head, clearing away the last of the cobwebs caused by the serum. "Ask away."

She inclined her chin in thanks. "Firstly, I feel the need to ask, how did you escape Azkaban? If we have a security breach there…" She trailed off, her point clear.

"Then you'll need to close it so nobody else uses it to escape, I know." Sirius finished for her, and she nodded agreement.

"Simply put, I turned into Padfoot and slipped through the bars, once I was skinny enough, the Dementors ignore animals for the most part. From there it was simple enough to slip out of the building and make for shore."

She processed that, admiring the simplicity of that solution. She had to ask though, "If you could do that, why didn't you do so earlier?"

He sighed, his expression chagrined. "Mostly, lack of sufficient motivation I guess. At the beginning I had to wait until I was thin enough. After a few months that wasn't an issue but it's really hard to judge time in there so I kept up hope that someone would notice they'd locked me up by mistake and come get me out. I thought it would be better to it the right way instead of running and confirming that I was the bad guy. Then when I finally realized that no one cared anymore, the Dementors had been affecting me long enough that I just didn't care enough to escape. I didn't lose my mind like most of the others thanks to Padfoot - and knowing that I wasn't guilty wasn't a happy memory so they didn't steal that either. But yeah, they still drained out the feelings I needed to force myself to think it was a good idea to attempt such a long swim as a distinctly underweight dog."

"What made you desperate enough to try now then?" Amelia closed her eyes and murmured. It was impossible to ignore how she was one of those who had abandoned Sirius to that hell.

Here Sirius scowled, but didn't answer right away, "You see that copy of the Prophet earlier this summer, the one with the Weasley family winning a lottery and going on vacation?"

She nodded, vaguely recalling the issue in question. "Yes, how did you get a copy of the Prophet though? And why was it significant?"

Sirius shrugged, "Fudge was on his yearly inspection of the prison, I talked him into giving it to me. Took me a bit to notice it but the youngest boy, the paper said he was friends with Harry, he had a rat with him. A very familiar rat, with a missing toe on his front paw."

The significance of that was not lost on them after the questioning under serum. "Pettigrew…." Amelia murmured, before turning to regard Moody. "Are the Weasleys back from their vacation yet?"

"Don't know, but I can find out." He said, stumping out of the room, a determined look on his face.

She turned her attention back to Sirius, before glancing down at the dicta-quill. "With my authority as Director of The DMLE I hereby rescind the Kiss-On-Sight order for Sirius Black." She said first, smiling slightly at Sirius who sagged in relief. "Also under my authority as Director of the DMLE I hereby declare Sirius Black cleared of all charges relating to the deaths of James and Lily Potter, Pettigrew and over a dozen Muggles. End Dictation."

The dicta-quill stopped writing and she removed it from the parchment. She then pushed to her feet and stepped around the desk unshackling him from it and helping him to his feet. "The Ministry will almost certainly require a hearing of some sort in front of the Wizengamot, but it could be worse."

He snorted in amusement, "I'm more than willing to put up with that if it'll mean I'm free and clear."

She eyed him stoically for a moment before surprising him, and herself in all honesty, by pulling him into a hug. "I'm so sorry Sirius."

He hesitated a bare moment, before hugging her back. "It's okay Amy, or…well, it will be." He murmured.

She sighed, understanding his hesitation, he'd expected better of her. "I should have looked closer once I became Director…"

"If you had, in all likelihood someone would have accused you of being too close to the case and forced you to recuse yourself." He reminded her gently.

She nodded, while that was certainly true, it didn't make her feel any better about it though.

He looked her over speculatively, "Just tell me one thing Amy, did you believe I was guilty?"

She swallowed thickly, "Not right away." She admitted eventually. "But after I'd hit nothing but roadblocks and official warnings for interfering for months I admit I began to doubt myself…doubt you."

Sighing, she looked away, "I am sorry Sirius, I should have known better."

The silence which stretched following that grew intensely uncomfortable for her before Sirius finally spoke again, "I know it must have been difficult to believe in me considering the job they were likely doing to drag my name through the muck." He eventually allowed.

She smiled weakly, she knew that was likely the closest she'd get to forgiveness for now. "Maybe; doesn't mean I don't hate myself for failing you though."

He shrugged, "What's done is done, and cannot be undone. No sense dwelling." He said a bit briskly, looking away himself.

True enough, she supposed, however before she could offer anything else in the way of apology there was a knock at the door, and Moody stepped back inside. "According to Arthur's coworkers he won't be back until later this month."

She considered that, but hesitated, she knew what she would likely be forced to order now was almost certainly enough to give the politicians indigestion. "We can't risk Pettigrew catching word that Sirius has been cleared before they return." She murmured, getting a nod in return from Moody. "Brief a Hit Wizard squad and send them out after them. Make sure they understand it's the rat they're after and that he's an animagus. Can't risk him getting away. Also, please make it clear they should at least try to maintain a low profile."

Moody needed no further instruction and once again departed. Once the door closed behind him Amelia turned back to Sirius. "You'll be staying in here for a short while Sirius - shouldn't be more than a few hours - until I can get the right people informed that you're cleared. Then we'll move you to a safe house."

"May I ask what you plan to do with Harry?" Sirius asked, plopping himself back down in his chair.

She paused considering just what she could reasonably tell him. "We'll see what the medical examination turns up first I think. But if things go the way I think they will, he might be in Saint Mungo's for a few days. After that? We'll see what he wants to do, but I think it might be possible to have you two housed together, with supervision." At his questioning look she explained. "You are not in great shape right now Sirius, physically or mentally. I'd be remiss if I allowed Harry into your sole care right now. I'll be seeing what I can do to get you the help you'll need."

He seemed to grudgingly accept that and nodded, so she pressed on. "In the meantime I'll read in one of the Department's elves and have this place fixed up a little more comfortably." She assured him.

There was another knock at the door and Kingsley poked his head inside. "Boss? Just got a message from Auror Tonks. Seems there's a matter requiring your attention at Saint Mungo's. She says there's no rush, but it's important enough to warrant your attention. She did sound...a little worried."

She sighed, it seemed today was going to be a busy one. "Alright, I'll be right along then."

He ducked out again, and she looked to see Sirius now looking concerned, "I'll make sure Harry's alright Sirius."

He seemed to hesitate then a thought occurred to him, "Auror Tonks? Did Andi change careers?"

She couldn't help the small smirk of amusement which graced her lips, "Nymphadora actually. Andi and Ted's little girl. She's damned good too. You'd be proud of her."

He smiled in amusement, no doubt thinking of the woman in question, "Good on her. Okay, well, I won't keep you then."

She was just about to the door before she stopped and turned to regard him one last time. "Sirius?"

He looked over at her expectantly. "It's good to see you again. I hope once this is all sorted we can talk about things?"

Again that hesitation and doubtful flicker which cut her to her core, but then he nodded slowly. "I'll look forward to it."

She gave him a brisk nod before turning and striding out.

It took only a few minutes to see to the things she'd promised Sirius, sending an elf off to see to his care before leaving the DMLE office for Saint Mungo's. She'd also ensured that nobody except that elf would be entering that interview room without her express permission. They couldn't risk it getting out they had Sirius until they had all their ducks in a row.

It took only a short time to find her way through the hospital to the general healing offices, where she found Tonks waiting outside an examination room door.

"Report Auror Tonks?" She instructed briskly as she joined her.

Tonks shifted uncomfortably, her hair oscillating colours a couple times before she spoke, "Mum found some things which…concern her, even beyond the things you warned her to expect." Tonks said eventually, "I think it'd be best if you spoke with her directly about it. It's a doozy boss."

She raised an eyebrow questioningly at the woman, then nodded and turned to knock at the door. There was a short pause before it opened and Andromeda Tonks ushered her inside. "Amelia, glad you're here, I should start off by telling you that we have Mister Potter's permission to speak freely about what I found."

Amelia for her part nodded her thanks to Harry where he sat on the edge of the examination table, before looking back to Andromeda. "Alright, what's the matter then?"

The other woman took a deep breath and ran a hand back through her hair in an unusual show of nerves for the woman. "Were you aware of some of the insanity that's been going on at Hogwarts the last couple years?"

Amelia had to admit, whatever she'd been expecting, it wasn't that. "I'm sorry, what?"

Andromeda sighed in aggravation, raised a hand and started ticking things off on it, "Trolls, a Cerberus, possessed teachers, a fraudster with a penchant for Obliviation, and a literal ancient monster roaming the halls? Any of that sound familiar?"

Amelia felt her brow furrow as she tried to make sense of that. "No, at least I don't think so. Can you explain?"

Andromeda nodded, "Yes, though it might be better for Mister Potter to tell you personally."

Understandably, she turned her attention curiously to the lad in question, who shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny.

"Harry, can you tell Amelia here what you told me about the…protections, for the Philosopher's Stone?" Andromeda requested, causing Amelia's brows to go up in surprise. The Philosopher's Stone? What in the world did any of this have to do with an Alchemical masterpiece? The Stone was said to be able to confer eternal life and to transmute lead into gold. Not something one just found lying around.

"Um…sure." He started stuttering a bit, "Dumbledore had the stone moved from Gringotts the same day I went to Diagon Alley for the first time. Had Hagrid take care of both things you know? Not that I knew that's what was going on at the time ma'am." He started, babbling a bit.

"Turns out that was what the break-in at Gringotts was about. When we got to the school we were warned to stay away from one of the third floor corridors unless we wanted to 'die a most painful death'." He elaborated.

It was here she raised a hand to stop him. "I'm sorry, are you telling me Albus Dumbledore came into possession of the Philosopher's Stone somehow and hid it at Hogwarts?" She asked, a touch incredulously. It was after all a pretty unbelievable thing to accuse the headmaster of.

He nodded seriously however, "Yeah, pretty much."

She couldn't help but shake her head, a touch mystified by it all. Before she questioned him further however, Andromeda spoke again. "And then he announced to basically the whole school where it was being kept in a way which was pretty much guaranteed to have students sniffing around for something," The woman noted dryly.

Amelia rubbed tiredly at her eyes, this was way too much to handle on so little sleep. "Alright, I feel like I'm only getting part of the story here. Can you tell me, from the beginning, before Hagrid picked you up, just what happened in your first year?"

She spent the next hour or so listening to Harry recount his introduction to the magical world and his first year at Hogwarts. When he finally wound down, she found herself once again rubbing tiredly at her eyes. Part of her wanted to believe he was making everything up, but there was something inside her which told her he wasn't.

"Albus, just what the hell are you doing?" She muttered to herself.

The stone - whether it was real or not didn't matter - and the horrifically planned defences around it, the incident with the Troll, the Cerberus, a baby dragon of all things, and a murderous creature of then unknown nature skulking in the forbidden forest. That didn't even touch on the fact first years had been sent into the Forbidden Forest with only a wandless half-giant for protection and the fact that monster they'd encountered turning out to be a certain Hogwarts professor who had found himself possessed by the spectre of Voldemort.

Those were just the moments which could be termed 'highlights'.

"Alright, let me just start by saying, 'No' I did not know about any of that. Quirrell's death for instance was reported as an accident. And due to Hogwarts' relative autonomy the investigation never went anywhere, so the case was closed."

She turned her attention back to Harry. "I will tell you this right now, Quirrell's death at your hands would have, at worst, been classified as self-defence."

Harry relaxed a little and she pressed on, "I may have my issues with Dumbledore right now, but I will agree with his assessment that Quirrell was a dead man walking the moment he was possessed. You merely caused the spirit possessing him to flee, expediting that death."

He nodded weakly in understanding.

After considering him for a moment, she looked him seriously in the eye. "First, I want you to know that you're not to speak of what I'm about to say outside this room. Not until I state otherwise. Okay?"

He nodded agreement, looking at her curiously. "Harry, you should know that pretty much all of the Headmaster's dealing with all this have been highly suspect to put it mildly. If not blatantly illegal and immoral as in the case of covering up the incident and hiding the stone in a school full of children."

Harry nodded slowly, and she continued. "Many would tell you that the headmaster is next to infallible, or at worst harmlessly absent minded. I will tell you that this whole thing reeks of a setup however. Those protections on the stone were woefully inadequate even for students. And far below the capabilities of the staff. What any of them were thinking I haven't the foggiest, but an investigation into the matter will soon be launched."

Here, Harry shifted uncomfortably. "You won't close the school will you? I mean, I really like it there and…" He trailed off, but she got the message loud and clear. He didn't want to risk being forced to go back to his relatives.

That he preferred the school where he had been in mortal peril to his relative's house really said it all, didn't it?

"I won't lie to you Harry," She said calmly. "The school may close for a bit while the investigation is ongoing."

Harry winced.

"That said, you won't be going to your relatives again. We'll be investigating them too." She continued, this time earning a look of relief.

She nodded then sighed, turning over the page in her notebook, which had filled up rapidly with notes over the last hour. "Now, can you tell me about your second year? Same as before Harry, start where you left off with first year."

Again another hour or so passed before Harry was finished.

Amelia found herself groaning tiredly to herself, leaning back on the stool she'd conjured for herself part way through Harry's retelling of the first year. "Yes, I think we can definitely say there will be an investigation of the school. At the very least because of that Acromantula nest…" She muttered.

Here she looked back to Harry who was looking decidedly sheepish. "Can I see your scar Harry, the one from the Basilisk?" She requested, looking for just one thing to latch onto that would confirm all of this.

He nodded and rolled up his sleeve so that she could see it. She looked at the wound, a circular pattern of raised red flesh, and sighed as she nodded acceptance, before looking to Andromeda. "Would I be right in assuming you checked that to confirm what it came from?"

Andromeda nodded briskly, "Yes, and it's exactly what he says it is, the wound from a Basilisk bite."

Amelia paused considering her options for a minute before nodding to herself. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. Andromeda here will be seeing to all your health concerns."

The healer in question nodded firmly to Harry, who offered a weak smile back. "I'll be happy to help in this." She assured him.

Amelia dipped her chin in thanks to the woman before looking back to Harry, "I believe I'll be assigning her daughter as your guard and watcher until all this is over."

She had to raise a hand to stall him, "But first, I'd like to get your memories of several key incidents from your testimony. Can we do that?"

The lad seemed a little put out at being prevented from voicing his immediate approval of the idea she'd floated, but bobbed his head in agreement anyways.

"Andi, could you grab say…two dozen memory phials please?"

Andromeda left promptly to do just that. "You'll be glad to know Sirius is cleared of any wrongdoing and the kiss-on-sight order has been rescinded. Also with Auror Tonks looking after you it might be possible to place you and your godfather in the same accommodations so you can get reacquainted."

Harry smiled genuinely, "You mean he's really innocent?"

She laughed at his enthusiasm. "Oh I doubt anyone would ever describe Sirius Black as innocent, but he is most certainly not guilty of being anything more than a scamp and rogue." She assured him, deciding against muddying the waters with the incident in school involving Severus Snape and Remus Lupin.

It was then that a thought occurred to her, "I suppose I should inform Andromeda of that too actually, she's his cousin you see."

Harry nodded considering that point, and others. "What will happen if you find…whatever it is you'll be looking for in the investigation."

She paused considering what she could reasonably speculate about with him. "Hard to say. So much is wrong at Hogwarts judging by what you've said. I can guess that Dumbledore might lose his position as Headmaster however. He had no right placing the students in that much danger."

Here Harry's expression turned maudlin, and she smiled sympathetically at him. "You really liked Dumbledore didn't you?"

He sighed and nodded, "He was always so nice to me…"

She snorted in wry understanding, "He's 'nice' to everyone Harry. But don't let that fool you, he's a far more cunning wizard than he lets on. I'd strongly recommend against speaking with him about Sirius should you see him again any time soon."

Harry nodded understanding, just as there was a knock at the door and Andromeda was back. "Alright," Amelia said sitting up a bit, "One thing before we begin. I was just talking with Harry, Andromeda, and something occurred to me that I should let you know."

At the healer's curious look she explained, "As of a couple hours ago I've found Sirius Black innocent of the things he was imprisoned for. For the moment he's being held in isolation at the DMLE under a pseudonym I arranged for him."

She held up a hand to hold off any questions for the moment, "We'll be moving him to a better location soon I imagine, at which point I'll need a healer to look him over. Twelve years in Azkaban has done a number on him.

For the first time since they'd gathered today, Andromeda looked as though she truly might lose some of her tightly held self control, tears gathering in her eyes. "I'd be glad to help out with that. I never really believed he was guilty anyways."

Speaking of guilt, Amelia felt a twinge as some of her own guilty flared reared up again. Still, she had other matters to attend to before she could spend any time processing that, so she gave herself a little shake and got back to the matter at hand. "Good, now, let's see about collecting those memories Harry."

It took a good half an hour to finish collecting memories of everything pertinent to the investigation. In fact, at one point, she had to send Andromeda out for an additional dozen phials before they finished up.

"Ma'am, is it okay if I ask what you are going to do with all those memories?"

Amelia pondered that for a moment, then nodded assent. "First I'm going to show them all to a couple people in particular and then I'm going to have them help me approach the Minister—carefully I might add—so that we can get authorization for an investigation at Hogwarts."

He nodded thoughtfully, "And I can really see Sirius again?"

She smiled at his enthusiasm, "I want Andromeda to sign off on him before we do that Harry, and besides, you've got a bit of healing to do yourself!"

He smiled ruefully, but dipped his chin in acknowledgment. "But once that is done, I don't see any harm in it."

Again that bright genuine smile lit up his face and she turned back to Andromeda, "Thank you for all your help Andi, let me know if you need anything from my end. I'll get back to you as soon as I can about Sirius."

"Will do Amy," Was the reply that came back at her.

With that they parted ways, and Amelia left the room, though not before she heard Andromeda explaining to the poor lad why all potions taste so foul. It sounded like Harry was going to be sampling a lot of them judging by groan of protest she heard from Harry just before the door closed behind her.

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed it. Please rate, review, comment, subscribe etc. Special thanks to Bearmauls, Temporal Knight and My Parents. PLEASE NOTE: if anyone is willing to help me out by being a beta for this story just drop me a line. Update: also thanks to Q Elwyn D, Volksbrot and Bonsly24 as of oct.22.2019