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CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO:

Sirius Black was not having a good day.

In fact, he'd had very few good days of late. He was cooped up in his family home – which at least wasn't as dreary as it used to be, courtesy of Winky and Dobby – but it still was a place he hated, and he couldn't even leave it. He was extremely irritated at the time traveler for locking him up – he couldn't help but think with resentment that the future Harry's actions were completely contrary to the statements he had made during the first Order meeting, when he had said Sirius died because he became restless at being cooped up. Oh, he could probably overrule the time traveler's orders, since he was Lord Black himself and Winky answered to him over the time traveler, but the reminder that he had died the last time around because he had left the house kept him from setting foot outside.

What could I do out there as a wanted man anyway? he tried to tell himself. It didn't help that his prankster mind came up with a whole slew of things he could be doing under glamor, or even in his dog form.

The thing that made this day worse than others was that he had finally accepted something that he had begun to notice months before, not long after he broke out of Azkaban. He was occasionally unsure of the time he was in. Some days he was sure that his brother was about to walk in the room. Or James, a joke on his lips. Some days he had whole flashbacks to days long past, of fighting and curses and dying friends. Ever since the time traveler had told him that he would be seeing a mind healer as soon as possible he had been arguing inwardly that he didn't need one, even while part of his mind whispered traitorously "Don't you?".

Today he had accepted, reluctantly, resentfully, that the time traveler was right. He was not in his right mind.

And then he received notice of his trial, which would take place the next day. Conflicting emotions arose within him as he read the letter he had waited on for so long: Relief that he would finally be proven innocent, annoyance both that it had taken so long and that Harry had managed to get him a trial so quickly, anger toward Albus for never getting him a trial despite being Chief Warlock… Hesitancy at the thought of seeing Amelia again.

He didn't think anyone but Remus knew that they had once been engaged, but more than that – he didn't know how she thought of him now. He was still stuck in the past, not having really lived for the past fourteen years or so, and definitely still had feelings for her – but she had believed him a criminal of the worst kind for all those years, had raised her niece alone and become Minister of Magic. There was no way she was still interested in him, and Sirius was reluctant to see her again. It would hurt too much.

Sighing deeply, Sirius let the parchment fall to the tabletop and cast a weary glance over the newspapers scattered there. At least he was up to date on the happenings of the wizarding world. It had only been five days since Harry had confined him to Grimmauld Place – though if he was honest with himself, he had been confined here before that anyway – and quite a bit had happened in that time; regardless of how he felt about the time traveler, he had to admit that he was efficient.

Just then the doorbell rang, and Sirius stood to get it. He slid his wand into his hand, though – he couldn't think of many people that would visit and not come through the Floo. Peering through the peephole, he wasn't sure whether to smile or scowl, for both Harrys stood on his front step.

Opening the door, he frowned at the elder Harry. "Why didn't you just open the door yourself?"

"It seemed rude when it's your house," the young man smiled sheepishly. "I was really unfair to you the last time I came, and I wanted to apologize for that."

Sirius blinked in surprise. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but it sure hadn't been that.

"It's okay," he said eventually. "You were right."

The Harry that was so foreign to him blinked, clearly also taken aback by his words. Then a smile spread over his face, and for the first time Sirius could see the Harry he knew in this stranger.

"Come on in," he said gruffly, stepping aside to let them in the house. "Good to see you, Harry."

"It's good to see you too," the teenager said, giving Sirius a hard hug. "How are you?"

Sirius snorted. "Apart from the fact that I need a mind healer and am stuck in the house I grew up in? Well, at least those house elves do good work," he said, pointing with no little satisfaction at the spot a huge portrait of Walburga Black had once occupied.

"Oh, they got rid of her?" Harry exclaimed in delight. "Finally!"

"You can say that again," Sirius laughed. "Come, let's have a bottle of butterbeer or something," he led the way to the kitchen, but before they got there Hames said, "Actually, I brought a little something I'd like both of you to see."

"The pensieve?" Harry asked shrewdly. "You said you'd need it later when you took it from the vault."

"Right," Hames replied with a nod, looking from Harry to Sirius. "I'd like to put in my memory of today's trial for you to see." He didn't mention whose trial it was, but saw in Harry's face that he suspected whose trial it was. "It'll be all over the paper tomorrow, but I thought you two deserved to see it before then. Is Remus around? He deserves to see this, too."

"He should be in his room," Sirius replied, pointing up at the ceiling. "I'll go get him."

"Thanks, Sirius," Hames smiled slightly, relieved that they were being so civil around each other this time. Maybe Sirius has good and bad days; that would make sense, Harry thought, not knowing that earlier Sirius had thought of this day as a particularly bad one.

"Dumbledore?" Harry whispered when Sirius was gone, receiving a tight nod in reply. "That bad?"

"Let's just say that a few things came to light that I hadn't known about before," Hames replied, laying a finger to his lips to stall any more questions. A few seconds later two men joined them, Remus immediately sweeping the older Harry into a hug.

"It's so good to see you, cub," he spoke into Harry's hair, feeling the young man hug him back with everything he had. They released and exchanged smiles that spoke louder than words before Remus turned to hug the younger Harry. "You too, Harry," he said, and Hames wondered why Remus called him his cub but his younger self by his name. "So, what brings you here?" he asked curiously. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, it's just a surprise!"

"Well, today we visited the Dursleys and Gringotts," Hames replied, "and now Harry here is emancipated! May I introduce you to the new Lord Potter," he swept a grand bow in Harry's direction, grinning at Harry's laugh.

"That's wonderful!" Sirius exclaimed. "Congratulations! We definitely need to break out the firewhiskey to celebrate!" he grabbed Harry's hand in both of his and pumped it excitedly.

"Ah, perhaps we'll save the firewhiskey for when he's older," Remus interjected amusedly, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Congratulations, Harry."

"Thanks, Professor," the teenager grinned.

"Please, call me Remus – I haven't been your teacher in quite a while," the werewolf said. "I insist," he added when it seemed as though Harry would object.

"I'll try," Harry grinned crookedly.

"That's all I ask for," Remus smiled. "However, I get the impression that your new status isn't the reason for your visit..?" he turned to Hames.

"Right," the young man said, his expression becoming more serious. "There was a very important trial today, and I want the three of you to see it. I brought a pensieve and I'll watch it with you; it'll take a few hours, though."

"That sounds like a pretty long trial," Sirius frowned. "Whose was it?"

Harry shook his head. "You'll see." Pulling the pensieve out of his pocket, he set it on the table and restored it to its original size. With the ease of long practice he extracted a memory from his mind and placed it in the pensieve before turning to his companions. "Shall we?"

OoOoO

When the four were ejected from the pensieve at the end of their viewing they all sported different expressions. Harry looked slightly ill despite having mostly known what to expect; Remus appeared to be struggling to control himself, and Sirius seemed ready to strangle the wizard with his bare hands. Hames just watched them with an inscrutable expression.

"THAT MOTHERFUCKER!" Sirius roared, bringing down both fists against the table. Hames decided at that point that it would be prudent to shrink and pocket the pensieve. "He had spells on us, didn't he?" he snarled at the time traveler. "All of us?"

"Yeah," Harry replied with a tight expression. "The Marauders were all dosed to high heavens. Unless Pettigrew wasn't; I'm not sure what he had on him. I only know that you two," he gestured at Sirius and Remus, "and Dad had nearly as many spells and potions affecting you as I did."

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" Sirius yelled, turning away and hitting the wall violently. "HOW DARE HE!"

Harry looked to Remus, wondering how he was dealing with the revelations of the trial. The werewolf was standing stock still, rigidly clenching his fists and jaw and trembling with the effort of it.

"Remus?" Harry asked quietly, reaching out to touch the werewolf lightly on the shoulder and trying to ignore the spike of hurt he felt when Remus twitched away from the touch. The younger Harry was wisely keeping away from the adults, watching them somewhat warily. "What do you need?" Harry asked Remus, not knowing what to do to help the man he loved like a father.

"Calming draught," Remus bit out, and Harry immediately pulled one out of a pocket, thrusting it at the older man. Remus grabbed it and ripped out the stopper, tipping back the contents in three large gulps; almost immediately his muscles relaxed, and he exhaled shakily as he lowered the empty vial.

"Thank you," he said, his eyes shadowed as he handed the vial back to Harry. The younger man accepted it with a searching look, eventually deciding that Remus would be okay. Pulling another vial out of his pocket, he hefted it in his hand and called, "Sirius! Catch!" The other man turned and Harry lobbed it at him, the vial easily caught in the marauder's fist. "Drink it, please, and let's discuss this calmly, okay?"

Sirius appeared ready to argue, but then Remus turned to look at him and he swallowed the potion without argument. He, too, instantly became calmer.

"That motherfucker," he said, as though to tell them that he still hated Dumbledore, potion or no.

"I quite agree," Hames said darkly.

"Actually, he's more likely to be a fatherfucker," Harry interjected, looking sheepish when the other three turned to him with identical repulsed expressions. "Sorry."

"Ugh," Hames shuddered. "Even I found that disgusting, and I like men!"

"I said I'm sorry!" Harry complained.

Hames shuddered one more time for good measure before grabbing a chair and sitting down. "Sometimes I wonder about my sense of humor," he muttered, looking up with a mischievous smile when Remus laughed. "Maybe I shouldn't," he said smugly. "Come on, grab a seat and let's talk about that trial."