A matter of Law

9

Azkaban Prison, North Sea

Sirius Black looked up when he heard a human guard approach. He thought the guard was coming to do a round of cell checks and leave, as they usually did, but the guard stopped outside his cell.

"You have a visitor, Black. Come over here so I can put these cuffs on you, and no sudden moves."

Slowly, Sirius walked to the bars and put his hands, one above the other, between two of the bars. He stood still as the guard placed the magic suppressing cuffs on his wrists, and then drew his hands back into the cell.

"Take one step back."

He stepped back as ordered, and the guard opened the cell, and then took one of his arms to pull him into the corridor. Sirius wondered who had come to see him. He tried, but couldn't remember ever having a visitor before. The guard led him down several staircases and through several corridors, before stopping at a room with a closed door. Opening the door, he led Sirius inside.

Glancing around, he saw a table with two chairs, one of them occupied. Sirius gingerly took the other chair, sitting down. The look on his face was one of resigned acceptance.

"No touching anything but the table, Black."

As Sirius nodded in understanding, he focused on his visitor. The visitor held up one finger, the universal signal for 'wait a moment', and turned to the guard.

"I'll be erecting a one way silencing charm. You won't be able to hear us, but we'll be able to hear you."

The guard waved his hand as if to say 'go ahead', and the charm was cast.

"Now then, allow me to introduce myself, Mr. Black. My name is Brian Greengrass, and I'm a solicitor. Lord Arcturus Black hired me to represent you."

"Grandfather is still alive then?"

"Yes he is. And last I saw him he was in relatively good health. Mr. Black, to give me a more complete picture, so I can more adequately represent you, can you tell me what you remember about when you were brought here?"

"Well, a few weeks before Halloween in 1981, I was visiting my friends James and Lily Potter, and their son, who is my godson Harry. We had been talking about what was happening in the war, and James said that Albus Dumbledore wanted them and the Longbottoms to go under a Fidelius charm and hide. James wanted me to be their Secret Keeper. I agreed at first, but maybe a week or so before Halloween, I spoke to them again, and suggested the Secret Keeper be changed, since as James' best friend I was the obvious choice."

"Albus Dumbledore wanted both the Potters and the Longbottoms to go under a Fidelius? Did James say why?"

"James said something about a prophecy, but I don't know what it was; only that Dumbledore wanted them to hide."

"I see. Please go on."

"James and Lily called Albus Dumbledore to where they were, and said they wanted a different Secret Keeper, since I was an obvious choice. Dumbledore suggested we ask another school friend by the name of Peter Pettigrew. He was in our circle of friends, but we weren't as close to Peter as James and I were. So he'd be a less obvious person for Secret Keeper if Death Eaters or even old Voldy found out the Potters and Longbottoms were in hiding. After James and Lily agreed, Dumbledore brought Peter to where we all were and recast the Fidelius, transferring the Secret from me to Peter Pettigrew. And then on Halloween, James and Lily were killed. Since Peter had told me the Secret directly after the transfer, I was able to go to where they had been hiding. The house was a wreck, so I started checking to see if I could find any of them. James was at the bottom of the stairs, and Lily on the floor of the nursery next to Harry's crib. Both were dead, but Harry was still alive, although he had a bad cut on his forehead. I tried to heal it, but I've always been pants at Healing spells. Since Peter had been Secret Keeper, I knew he had to have told old Voldy or one of his Death Eaters, because when I went to check on Peter earlier that day, only an hour or two before James and Lily died, I couldn't find him."